Additional Exercises / swapping exercises

paprad

I had asked this in another thread and then figured it should have a thread of its own, so it doesn't get lost

The original design of the routine recommends that no additional exercise is done for the first 3 cycles and then to add only one at a time.

cmierun said

As for adding extras, I added weighted triceps dips (on a bench) after round 3, and added pull-ups after round 4.

pandorakick :

As for adding exercises, I'm only now adding something new: glute work! Did my C6W3D2 workout today and added hip thrusts at the end at 25 kg. The weight didn't feel that heavy, so I think I can easily go up at least another 10 kg. Next time though, I'll try barbell glute bridges instead. Those will be a tad easier to arrange because I won't have to drag a bench halfway across the gym to the barbells or vice versa laugh

jasonheyd :

You can eliminate curls at any time, substituting standing upright rows, again towards the end of the routine.

Q12: Can I substitute any of the exercises in this routine for other exercises?
A: as a general rule, no, you can't (barring certain situations where an injury may prevent you from doing a specific movement). One exception being the curls, which can be substituted for standing upright rows ... This is more of a compound exercise and it actually fits the rest of the routine more nicely. Curls were added by all pro mostly because "everyone would want to do them anyway", so if your ego will survive it, go for the upright rows instead of the curls - it's a far better overall body exercise. Up to you though.

With that said, upright row is a controversial exercise in its own right. If you do it incorrectly, you can really bugger yourself, and it's not something that's easy to detect as it's happening.

I actually do upright rows as part of my routine, and use an EZ bar to reduce some of the strain that a straight bar can cause, but see these for some info re: upright row safe/unsafe:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=137279673&p=735641273&viewfull=1#post735641273 (post #15)

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/are-upright-rows-safe-qa.html

http://www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/members/Will-Upright-Rows-Wreck-Your-Shoulders.cfm

If you wanted to swap something our for curls but want to avoid upright rows, you could substitute lateral raises, shrugs, and/or face-pulls (the latter requires a cable or resistance band system of some sort I guess).

Apart from adding upright row and, for now, keeping curls, I haven't made any additions to the list of exercises I'm doing. I do abs-only stuff on off-days, and walk/jog a day or few a week, depending on how I'm feeling & how busy I am. Usually the jogging's reserved for Sat, and then Sun = full on slob (aka "rest") in preparation for my heavy day on Monday.

paprad

I like the bicep curls actually - i suspect it is just that it feels nice to do, heh! My only grouse is that I seem to be failing on it since I figured out they should be done last (I was earlier doing them before SLDL) - and it's not improving my SLDL any now that that has come ahead, but since my SLDL is heavier, I think my biceps are more tired now than they were before. Presumably my hams/back are stronger than my biceps since the SLDL wasn't affected either way.

I wanted to add pushups because I am pretty bad at that, but I wondered if some lowerbody work would be better since I am doing very low weights on squats. And then I think, if I could do more work on my legs, then why not be able to add on more weight instead?! So perhaps glute bridge/hip thrust might be a better plot since it would work the glute/back without more stress on the knees - would that be right?

RE adding shrugs/lateral raises. I read somewhere that they increase the traps, and hence not such a great plot for women who already have broad shoulders and thick neck. I believe dumbbell OHP also increases the traps - and I even wondered if my neck creaking, which is a month old, is due to stiff traps.

pandorakick

Both OHP and SLDL also target traps, so I personally wouldn't add a trap specific exercise! Being low on squats is also a consideration of mine to add extra leg & glute work instead of upper body stuff.

As for glute bridge/hip thrust: can't tell you yet how the stress on the knees is with those. Tried glute bridge this morning, but my form wasnt right: the bar just hurt my hips/pelvis too much with only the padding of my towel. Think I got bruises...

paprad

As for glute bridge/hip thrust: can't tell you yet how the stress on the knees is with those. Tried glute bridge this morning, but my form wasnt right: the bar just hurt my hips/pelvis too much with only the padding of my towel. Think I got bruises...

That video of BrettC demonstrating HipThrust - said one could use a foam roller that can get velcroed onto the bar to prevent the bar from bruising the bone.
I don't think I am ready for weighted hip work yet - just doing them without a weight will be tough enough!

claston77

IMO I think adding exercises depends on your goal. I was going to add pushups or glute bridges but as I was thinking about it I realized as my main goal is to lose fat there really probably is no point to adding them since I'm only looking to retain LBM in my deficit.Even though my booty is flat how can I really see how much work it needs until I shed this fat suit? :laugh: I know about newbie gains and all but I'm not sure if those are significant enough to add the extra exercises at this point. Once I get closer to my goal I'll reassess but right now I'm just going to run the program as is and pray I can break my four month stall :explode:

@paprad if you're looking to strengthen your legs maybe lunges and/or stepups would be good exercises to consider as well. They would definitely help with building them up and balance as well.

paprad

That's a good point Claston. I have a lot of pounds to shed and I think that is wise advice - will save my energy for managing the deficit and just pushing as hard as I can on AllPro.

After chatting with heybales on PM I have decided to take a small break - an exercise break for a week after I finish this cycle - and then a diet break when I start the new cycle. I have been doing this for 4-5 months now and he says it will do my body good, reset hormones and help with lifting better when I restart.

I've become rather addicted to AllPro so I fear taking a break from it even for a week will feel most odd - but maybe a mental break is also a good idea! My yoga guru used to tell us that yoga is about equanimity and so we should not get so attached to yoga that we can't bear to take a break from it!

claston77

Sounds like a good plan! I'm reducing my lifting to every three days (so twice a week) because I'm trying to jumpstart my weight loss so I'm doing a short round of Lyle Mcdonald's RFL. I know what you mean about feeling "addicted" to this routing though! It fits rather seamlessly into my current lifestyle and I love seeing the progress, mentally and physically. On your diet break if optimizing your hormones will be your focus just make sure you get 100-150g of carbs every day at a minimum so you can get your thyroid and leptin topped off for whenever you decide to diet again. I take one every twelves weeks or so when I'm dieting and I have been pleased that since I started incorporating them as well as strength training my maintenace calories have gone up. yay for more food!

:laugh:

paprad

Thanks Claston. Going high on carbs will be easy - I find it really difficult to keep them down, though when I am successful it makes a difference to my fatloss

sun_fish

That's a good point Claston. I have a lot of pounds to shed and I think that is wise advice - will save my energy for managing the deficit and just pushing as hard as I can on AllPro.

After chatting with heybales on PM I have decided to take a small break - an exercise break for a week after I finish this cycle - and then a diet break when I start the new cycle. I have been doing this for 4-5 months now and he says it will do my body good, reset hormones and help with lifting better when I restart.

I've become rather addicted to AllPro so I fear taking a break from it even for a week will feel most odd - but maybe a mental break is also a good idea! My yoga guru used to tell us that yoga is about equanimity and so we should not get so attached to yoga that we can't bear to take a break from it!

I recently took a diet/All Pro break. I was finding myself very hungry shortly after lunch, and after reading about diet breaks decided I would do one for 2 weeks. I figured my maintenance intake based on my previous 10 weeks - around 1800, and decided to do 1700 just to be on the safe side. Before the break I was a light breakfast and lunch girl, but during the break I think I realized that I need more calories for those meals, and I seem to do fine with a lighter dinner. Maybe this change is from the lifting? So, all is well back on a calorie deficit.

The All Pro break was for a week and came right after I finished cycle 2. I was having shoulder pain and took the week off, instead doing exercises that I did last March/April in physical therapy (diagnosis was "shoulder impingement"). I also added mobility movements from the book "Becoming a Supple Leopard", which has helped tremendously. I started my 3rd cycle last week, and decided to eliminate bench press, as that is what seems to be the culprit causing the pain. During cycle 2 I had tried de-loading, then single arm floor press, and still experienced pain. OHP appears to be fine. The break was nice, but I missed lifting, and was happy to be back to doing it. Not sure when I will add bench press back in, not likely this cycle.

During cycle 1 I added ab work and planks. Cycle 2 I decided to really focus on All Pro, and didn't do anything extra. Same with cycle 3 - no extras - will see about adding abs in cycle 4.

@claston - I like the idea of a diet break every 12 weeks - might start doing that myself. And yay for more food - I am hoping lifting will give me the same results!

jasonheyd

I think a week or two off every now & then is a good idea. Recharge & keep yourself from getting into a rut.

Re: curls, a lot of the core pieces of SBR hit the biceps, so it's not surprising if you feel like you're not curling as much as you'd expect or not making as much progress as you'd think on that exercise, especially if you're keeping the curls as the last exercise. That's actually why I keep them in my routine, but at the very end. A little extra work but, if they fail out, oh well.

Re: upright row, you can change the focus a bit by adjusting your grip on the bar. Narrow grip = more traps, wider grip = more delts. It's a nice compound exercise because it works delts, pecs, biceps, and traps (you'll also get some forearm and wrist work). To me, the "safe variant" with a wider grip and a pull to the chest rather than the chin feels like it's working the delts more than the traps, but who knows?

... and yes, OHP / Arnold Press will work the traps. With that said, all of the SBR are compound exercises (with the exception of curls) so you're not likely to see a huge size increase in any one area... or, in my experience, post newbie-gains, in any area given that SBR tends to be more focused on balancing strength & endurance gains, with size coming as a fringe benefit.

That's a little different than the AP-SBR FAQ that says it splits size/endurance, but according to the tape measure, my gains have been in strength & definition rather than size, which works for me. I suspect if you're really new to lifting, you might see a big jump in muscle size, but that didn't happen for me.

Coffee / brain break from project plans & PowerPoint is over, back to work. :grumble:

paprad

Thanks, Jason, that was so useful to know.