Which lifting program is the best for you?

Chieflrg wrote: »

3bambi3 wrote: »

Sorry if I missed an answer to this question up thread: So I currently have a tiny home gym and have started running a dumbbell program suggested on the first page. My question is, what can I do to make the lower body work more difficult? I'm used to squatting/deadlifting ~200 pounds and so my dumbbell squats and deads seem ridiculous. Should I just do more reps? I'm not in a position to buy an oly bar or rack for my place or heavier dumbbells...yet, so I'm just looking for ideas on increasing intensity until I can pony up the cash for more equipment.

Im not sure of your goals, but more reps isn't the answer necessarily.

Paused and tempos will give you more of the feeling of more intensity without the actual load.

Also could do some unilateral work until you get the big weights.

TresaAswegan wrote: »

AigreDoux wrote: »

TresaAswegan wrote: »

AigreDoux wrote: »

TresaAswegan wrote: »

AigreDoux wrote: »

TresaAswegan wrote: »

AigreDoux wrote: »

Any feedback on The Strength Athlete 9 week intermediate program?
http://thestrengthathlete.com/freebies/

It looks fairly straightforward as far as giving explaination about how to run the program. Lots of info about RPE. (Personally I think it can still take some time to truly understand the RPE system, even though they gave a very thourough explaination. By that I just mean you'll learn it over time through familiarity with the lifts.)
It's definetly geared towards an intermediate lifter.
If you haven't exhausted your linear gains yet I would look into something like that first. (I would consider intermediate to be several years of strength training/not able to improve linearly any more.)

Hmm, not sure how to tell if I have exhausted linear gains or not. I have been lifting 1.25 years, but all gains have been quite hard fought and I often stall.

What program are you doing currently?

Started out with the book Strong, sequel to New Rules of Lifting for Women, did that for 9 months. Then did Strong Curves for a while. Currently 9 weeks into a template put out by Brad Dieter of Eat to Perform...it's 4 days a week with one day focused on each lift (squat, DL, BP, OHP) + accessories. So I guess in other words a "bro split" I've actually seen most progress with that as compared to the others but most likely just a lot of added volume. So thinking about switching to a 4 day/week focused more on the compound lifts. For a couple reasons, liked this better than 5/3/1.

I'm not very familiar with the Eat to Perform programs, but I'm guessing it's more strength focused than the programs you've done previously if it's focusing on the "big 4".
If you're seeing progress with that I would stick with it a while.
I don't think you're ready for an intermediate powerlifitng program with your current experience.

5/3/1 is often run with one day per week dedicated to each of the big 4 and accessories (but there are variations to this), I guess you might call it somewhat of a "bro split" if you ran it the traditional way. (I personally run it as an upper/lower split.) I am a big fan of 5/3/1, I would recommend getting Wendler's books if you were interested in learning more about it. There's a lot more info in the books than what you can find online.

TresaAswegan wrote: »

AigreDoux wrote: »

TresaAswegan wrote: »

AigreDoux wrote: »

TresaAswegan wrote: »

AigreDoux wrote: »

Any feedback on The Strength Athlete 9 week intermediate program?
http://thestrengthathlete.com/freebies/

It looks fairly straightforward as far as giving explaination about how to run the program. Lots of info about RPE. (Personally I think it can still take some time to truly understand the RPE system, even though they gave a very thourough explaination. By that I just mean you'll learn it over time through familiarity with the lifts.)
It's definetly geared towards an intermediate lifter.
If you haven't exhausted your linear gains yet I would look into something like that first. (I would consider intermediate to be several years of strength training/not able to improve linearly any more.)

Hmm, not sure how to tell if I have exhausted linear gains or not. I have been lifting 1.25 years, but all gains have been quite hard fought and I often stall.

What program are you doing currently?

Started out with the book Strong, sequel to New Rules of Lifting for Women, did that for 9 months. Then did Strong Curves for a while. Currently 9 weeks into a template put out by Brad Dieter of Eat to Perform...it's 4 days a week with one day focused on each lift (squat, DL, BP, OHP) + accessories. So I guess in other words a "bro split" I've actually seen most progress with that as compared to the others but most likely just a lot of added volume. So thinking about switching to a 4 day/week focused more on the compound lifts. For a couple reasons, liked this better than 5/3/1.

I'm not very familiar with the Eat to Perform programs, but I'm guessing it's more strength focused than the programs you've done previously if it's focusing on the "big 4".
If you're seeing progress with that I would stick with it a while.
I don't think you're ready for an intermediate powerlifitng program with your current experience.

5/3/1 is often run with one day per week dedicated to each of the big 4 and accessories (but there are variations to this), I guess you might call it somewhat of a "bro split" if you ran it the traditional way. (I personally run it as an upper/lower split.) I am a big fan of 5/3/1, I would recommend getting Wendler's books if you were interested in learning more about it. There's a lot more info in the books than what you can find online.

Thanks! Yeah I have the 5/3/1 books but didn't love the idea of that program. I can't really remember why. Maybe I should give it a second look.

I'm wanting to get off the eat to perform program when I finish this cycle cause it is taking too long. It takes me usually at least 1.5-1.75 hours, so I'm having to get up st 4:15, and I want a bit more sleep. I could type out the whole program, but for an example, today was
Back squats, warm up then 5x2
RDL 4x8
RFESS 4x8
reverse lunge 4x8
Back extension 4x30
Farmer walks 4x40 ft
2 ab exercises which I didn't even finish yet so I need to go back and do tonight.

For reference, when I do two compound lifts (squat and deadlift/ squat and bench/etc) it usually takes me at least an hour to do warm up and working sets for both lifts. So the program you were looking at may not save you that much time compared to what you're doing now any way. (It wouldn't for me at least.)
Have you tried supersetting any accessory work?

DancingMoosie wrote: »

@Famof72015 What do you not like about 5x5? Are you looking for something with more accessories to use your dumbbells? What do you think of strong curves?

psuLemon wrote: »

Famof72015 wrote: »

DancingMoosie wrote: »

@Famof72015 What do you not like about 5x5? Are you looking for something with more accessories to use your dumbbells? What do you think of strong curves?

I just think I will get more toned using my barbell rather then dumbells. No what's strong curves?

5x5 program are barbell based. And i just had a client go from 23% bf down to 16% bf with a dumbbell program in 6 months and she only lost 6 lbs.

sardelsa wrote: »

@Famof72015 I thought you had a coach helping you out? Are there no programs on the first page that catch your interest?

Gallowmere1984 wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

AigreDoux wrote: »

Thanks! Yeah I have the 5/3/1 books but didn't love the idea of that program. I can't really remember why. Maybe I should give it a second look.

I didn't go with 5/3/1 because I thought it was unnecessarily complex. If you think, simpler is better like I do, I don't think you'll just find the same thing upon a second look.

I think you can do equally well with other programs. Personally, I am using the Waterbury 10x3 method which works well for me but there are any number of other "simpler" intermediate programs that you could try.

At it's core, 5/3/1 is very simple actually. Jim just intentionally built a lot of possibilities into the accessory work, so it's a program that can be modified to work for almost any goal.

Blackironbarbell has a really good calculator that you can use for it, that lets you select all of the variables that you want from 5/3/1, 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, Beyond 5/3/1, and all of the other random accessory/warmup stuff that Wendler's written in his blog, on challenges, etc.

TresaAswegan wrote: »

Gallowmere1984 wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

AigreDoux wrote: »

Thanks! Yeah I have the 5/3/1 books but didn't love the idea of that program. I can't really remember why. Maybe I should give it a second look.

I didn't go with 5/3/1 because I thought it was unnecessarily complex. If you think, simpler is better like I do, I don't think you'll just find the same thing upon a second look.

I think you can do equally well with other programs. Personally, I am using the Waterbury 10x3 method which works well for me but there are any number of other "simpler" intermediate programs that you could try.

At it's core, 5/3/1 is very simple actually. Jim just intentionally built a lot of possibilities into the accessory work, so it's a program that can be modified to work for almost any goal.

Blackironbarbell has a really good calculator that you can use for it, that lets you select all of the variables that you want from 5/3/1, 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, Beyond 5/3/1, and all of the other random accessory/warmup stuff that Wendler's written in his blog, on challenges, etc.

Do you mean Black Iron Beast? (Or is there another awesome calc out there that I'm not aware of?)

I agree, I find 5/3/1 to be pretty simple, and using the calc to print it off makes it so you hardly even have to think about it. Goes hand in hand with the infor from the books etc. and it really can be molded to fit any goals or schedules. (And once you have your base program established you can really just add 5-10 lbs at the start of each new cycle. Easy.)

3bambi3 wrote: »

_benjammin wrote: »

@3bambi3
Are you doing Bulgarian(rear foot elevated) split leg squats?
Single Leg Romanian deadlifts?

Forgot about single leg deadlifts, thanks!

cnbbnc wrote: »

I've been doing the "A workout routine/muscle building routine" for about 8 weeks now (love it!) but I'm really starting to struggle with the weight increase for some lifts.

What's best to do at that point?

TR0berts wrote: »

cnbbnc wrote: »

I've been doing the "A workout routine/muscle building routine" for about 8 weeks now (love it!) but I'm really starting to struggle with the weight increase for some lifts.

What's best to do at that point?

Which lifts? And what, exactly, is the struggle? Is it the actual weight, such that you have a hard time doing 1-2 reps? Or is it that you're getting to 4-5 reps, but can't seem to get to the 6-8 (or whatever it is for those lifts)?

Generally speaking, isolation lifts (lateral raises, curls, tris...) will stall out before compounds (squats, bench, etc). Provided, of course, you didn't start too heavy on compounds and/or too light on isolations. What LolBroScience mentioned is good. Or, you could try a different variation of the lift - such as hammer curls or barbell curls instead of dumbbell curls, for example.

TR0berts wrote: »

cnbbnc wrote: »

I've been doing the "A workout routine/muscle building routine" for about 8 weeks now (love it!) but I'm really starting to struggle with the weight increase for some lifts.

What's best to do at that point?

Which lifts? And what, exactly, is the struggle? Is it the actual weight, such that you have a hard time doing 1-2 reps? Or is it that you're getting to 4-5 reps, but can't seem to get to the 6-8 (or whatever it is for those lifts)?

Generally speaking, isolation lifts (lateral raises, curls, tris...) will stall out before compounds (squats, bench, etc). Provided, of course, you didn't start too heavy on compounds and/or too light on isolations. What LolBroScience mentioned is good. Or, you could try a different variation of the lift - such as hammer curls or barbell curls instead of dumbbell curls, for example.

TR0berts wrote: »

Upper body is what I'd expect, so that seems normal.

He's got a FAQ at the Bottom of the page that may address - at least, in a roundabout way - your issue.

What if it all just seems like it’s too much for me? Like I need to do a little less or something? What’s the best way to do that?

You have 3 choices here.

1: You can reduce frequency. This would definitely be my first choice. If you’re using the 4 day upper/lower split, just switch to the 3 day version. The slightly lowered frequency/extra day of rest between each workout should GREATLY improve any recovery related issues you may have. If you’re already using the 3 day version and it still seems like it’s too much for you, see below.

2: You can reduce volume. Change all of the exercises that call for 3 sets of 8-10 to 2 sets of 10 instead. If it STILL feels like it’s too much for you, see below.

3: You can remove accessory isolation exercises. For example, remove lateral raises and dumbbell flyes from the upper body workouts.

You can do a combination of the 3 choices above.

Of course, that advice (particularly #2) goes against conventional advice. But, it might be a good idea, if recovery is an issue.

I think it might be a good idea to first, go up in reps. So instead of 3x6-8, 3x8-10 or even 3x10-12. Then add another set, so you're going for 4xwhatever. Once you can do the 4xwhatever, then try adding 5 lb (or less, if you have fractional plates, such as 1 or 1.25 lb) and going back to 3x6-8. Since it is supposed to be a muscle building workout, added volume shouldn't be a bad thing. If doing this, and you feel you're having recovery issues, then maybe cut out the isolation lifts. One other thing mentioned on the website is that, if you're having recovery issues, then cutting down from a 4x/week schedule to 3x/week might help.

Obviously, another programming mode, such as GZCL or 5/3/1 might be in order. If nothing else, for those lifts it could work.

leajas1 wrote: »

cnbbnc wrote: »

TR0berts wrote: »

Upper body is what I'd expect, so that seems normal.

He's got a FAQ at the Bottom of the page that may address - at least, in a roundabout way - your issue.

What if it all just seems like it’s too much for me? Like I need to do a little less or something? What’s the best way to do that?

You have 3 choices here.

1: You can reduce frequency. This would definitely be my first choice. If you’re using the 4 day upper/lower split, just switch to the 3 day version. The slightly lowered frequency/extra day of rest between each workout should GREATLY improve any recovery related issues you may have. If you’re already using the 3 day version and it still seems like it’s too much for you, see below.

2: You can reduce volume. Change all of the exercises that call for 3 sets of 8-10 to 2 sets of 10 instead. If it STILL feels like it’s too much for you, see below.

3: You can remove accessory isolation exercises. For example, remove lateral raises and dumbbell flyes from the upper body workouts.

You can do a combination of the 3 choices above.

Of course, that advice (particularly #2) goes against conventional advice. But, it might be a good idea, if recovery is an issue.

I think it might be a good idea to first, go up in reps. So instead of 3x6-8, 3x8-10 or even 3x10-12. Then add another set, so you're going for 4xwhatever. Once you can do the 4xwhatever, then try adding 5 lb (or less, if you have fractional plates, such as 1 or 1.25 lb) and going back to 3x6-8. Since it is supposed to be a muscle building workout, added volume shouldn't be a bad thing. If doing this, and you feel you're having recovery issues, then maybe cut out the isolation lifts. One other thing mentioned on the website is that, if you're having recovery issues, then cutting down from a 4x/week schedule to 3x/week might help.

Obviously, another programming mode, such as GZCL or 5/3/1 might be in order. If nothing else, for those lifts it could work.

Yeah....I don't like #2 at all, but I'll increase the reps/sets. I never thought about the 3 day per week workout. I've always done 4 days, but maybe that's too much for me now and I haven't realized it....

I really appreciate you pulling up that info for me. Maybe one day I'll try 5/3/1, but I've been enjoying this program and I'd hate to give it up.

Also, you're working in a deficit (am I correct?) so I would assume you're not going increase volume as quickly as you did when you were bulking. I'm doing the same program and I've really enjoyed cutting back from the 5 day split I was doing to a 4 day. I've also stalled on overhead press and lateral raises. I think adding in an extra set is the way to go (for me).