Heavy Compound workout programs

brandonation_81

If you've done any compound workout programs, ones with only squats, deadlift, bench, over head press, and barbell row, how long did it take you to see results? What did you do for rest days? How was your diet?

not_a_runner

Results as far as what? Strength? Body composition? There's tons of variables.

vinceno21

I got my bench up a bit using the kizen bench program that silent mike put out. My bench spiked up 10 pounds in 7 weeks benching twice a week.

brandonation_81

TresaAswegan wrote: »

Results as far as what? Strength? Body composition? There's tons of variables.

Mainly strength and body composition. I just started the StrongLifts 5x5 program and was curious on other's experiences with heavy compound workouts

sammyliftsandeats

I'm not bulking but I did that program while eating in a small deficit and still gained strength.

Went from squatting the bar to 160lbs in 9 months. Deadlifting 95lbs to 200lbs. Bench still is poor at 80lbs but considering I skipped a few sessions and deloaded...it's getting there.

Newbie gains definitely did it's thing with me. I switched to 5/3/1 to try and get my numbers up.

I lost inches without the biggest change in weight. Went from size 10 to a size 4 in jeans.

I'm a 28 year old female who is 5'3" and 142lbs. You're a dude so your numbers will probably be bigger.

pdxhak

I do heavy compound lifts but do not follow the 5x5 routine. I do a couple of light sets and then jump the weight up. I like to finish with drop sets to get a little volume in.

Bench example from this week

135 x 12
185 x 10
225 x 8
265 x 4
265 x 4 (start dropset so no rest)
225 x 4
185 x 2-4
135 x whatever I can get

quiksylver296

I starting seeing visible results in about 4 months (eating at a .5 lb a week deficit). Strength results pretty much immediately, as I was adding 5 lbs every workout. I stuck with the 3X per week model. I did Stronglifts for 14 months before stalling out and switching to a different program.

I'm also doing my very first powerlifting competition later this month, and I credit that completely to starting off with Stronglifts.

not_a_runner

I have never used stronglifts specifically but my workouts are centered around the same lifts..

First, body composition. I think this is very dependent on body fat/diet. I was over fat when I started lifting, and gained more weight initially, so after a year of lifting I didn't really have any visible improvements in my body composition. You eat like crap, you look like crap. (I did have some muscle growth happening, but couldn't tell until I lost about 30 lbs. So there's one variable. Someone who started lean may see changes in body comp within a few months.

My strength started to improve within the first few weeks/months because I had never lifted (those noob gains).
Within my first year my maxes were about 135 lbs bench and 250 lbs deadlift, squat I can't really say because I was not squatting correctly at the time. After a 2nd year of training I'm around 165 bench/295 squat (relearned with good form)/345 deadlift.

I started out lifting 3 days per week, I've gone up to 6 for a while when I was doing more of a body part split, I'm back to 4 and hitting each compound movement twice per week. On my rest days I rest. Maybe do some walking, more recently I try to incorporate foam rolling and other things for recovery.

I gained about 30 lbs and lost it during this time, also had about a full year off in the middle due to health problems. Now I'm back at the weight I was when I started lifting, and my body composition has changed a lot, but I still have fat to lose.
So there is my spiel, if it makes any sense.
Personally, I kind of feel like my first two years of lifting were sort of just getting acquainted with it, I wasn't always consistent with things and didn't really understand the what's and why's. I'm looking forward to hitting some bigger numbers and further improving body composition now that I have a lot more knowledge under my belt.

Genetics plays a big part too. Some people just build muscle and strength easier than others.