Was recommended not to do Stronglifts..
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+1In addition to my previous reply, this does not necessarily mean that I think StrongLifts is the answer for you, I just wanted to lay out why I think a full body type of setup will be far superior for you. There are plenty of ways to program a full body routine without doing SL.
That is why I recommended something like 5/3/1. Less frequent -and overall- stress and impact on her medically-questionable knee(s).
Also there is much slower ramping of the weight in 5/3/1 so you have more time to recover as well as to build strength in the ligaments and tendons.
Been there, STILL doing that.1 -
I didn't read every reply so I'm possibly repeating what's been said, but I'll give my opinion as professionally as possible.
Can you still make progress with body-part splits? Yes.
Is it optimal? Very much no, and it's likely not even close.
I will try to explain why:
Every time you train you are causing adaptations which give you the opportunity to get better at the exercises you are doing. When you bench press, you are providing a training stimulus to the muscles used in benching. You are learning and improving technique involved in lifting the weight. You are improving the rate at which signals are sent causing muscles to fire. You are causing short term increases to muscle protein synthesis which allows you the opportunity to grow bigger muscles.
Basically, training is the thing that causes cool stuff to happen which makes you awesome.
If you only have 2 days in the week to train, which is something you mentioned earlier in this thread I believe -- and you had to choose what to do during those sessions, you're substantially better off choosing methods of training which allow the previously mentioned awesomeness to occur in as many places in your body as you can, precisely because you are only going to be able to cause these things to happen twice in a week.
Up to a point, the more often you can cause all this awesome stuff to happen, the more opportunity you have to be awesome.
If you did something like biceps on day 1 week 1 and legs on day 2 week 2, then back in week 2 day 1 and chest in week 2 day 2, you'll have barely trained your entire body once in 2 weeks.
If you train with a full body routine, you'll have trained your body 4 times in that two week period.
This applies to all of those adaptations I mentioned and it also applies to the skill component of lifting. Lifting weights is not exclusively about applying a stimulus to cause muscle growth, it's a skill. Being good at a particular lift allows you to move more weight which then allows you to apply a greater training stimulus and make faster progress.
All of the above are valid reasons why you should probably NOT do a body-part focused routine ESPECIALLY in a situation where you have limited time to train.
I'm afraid the advice you were given was exactly opposite of what you should be doing, and I don't say this to insult your boyfriend.
Someone having an impressive physique does not necessarily indicate that they have the background knowledge to provide accurate advice. Much in the same way that someone who does NOT have an impressive physique would be unable to provide good advice.
There are people on this board who aren't in amazing shape who are incredibly well read, who absolutely give great advice. Likewise there are people who are in phenomenal shape who routinely post information that the current body of evidence largely disagrees with.
Finally, you CAN still make progress doing a body-part split. If you enjoy it, and that's what you WANT to do, great! Do it and have fun, there's nothing wrong with that.
Best of luck.In addition to my previous reply, this does not necessarily mean that I think StrongLifts is the answer for you, I just wanted to lay out why I think a full body type of setup will be far superior for you. There are plenty of ways to program a full body routine without doing SL.
This is by far the best answer on this thread. It clicked a lot for me. Thank you for your kindness, and explaining it in such a way.
It does make sense through and through, and I know I am frustrating some people by saying I will do this Push/Pull split for a month. But the reason for that is how much I have enjoyed it. But its literally only been two workouts. Im not overloading trying to learn so many different workouts, and get to feel how which workouts affect which body muscles. Its all new to me. This is just me 100% learning. I agree, I don't think I will progress as far/fast doing this, and I really like the idea of a full body workout. But without the knowledge, I am just hanging tight and doing what I am told and enjoying the fact that I actually enjoying working out again. Doing 100 squats with 2lb dumbbells in the previous home dvd's I use to do killed my motivation. Flying windmills with weights? WHAT IS THAT. But now its just about lifting something up and putting it back down, and i LOVE it. I love the simplicity and I can say (in a good way), I have never felt as accomplished or sore as I do after this first week of lifting.
I wish there was a specific plan I could tailor to my two days a week, that didnt involve squats as much as SS or SL does, and would tell me what to do each day, but so far haven't found that. It may just be that I have to make up my own plan eventually, and heck, maybe down the road squats will even appear.
But I genuinely appreciate everyones feedback and opinions on this. The recent replies have been very enlightening. And I have been reading articles here and there on Mark Rippetoe's site.0 -
Depending on what time you go the gym, you might also want to take into consideration which pieces of equipment are more utilized as a deciding factor (ie will you have to wait longer for the barbell or the dumbbells or the cables or the bench,...)
Luckily this gym is fairly new, and not in the best location for many (except super close to us, win!), so the traffic has been minimal. At its busiest I have only seen 7 other people in there. Half of them for cardio. Plus they have 3 different benches too. I love not feeling crowded.0 -
I didn't read every reply so I'm possibly repeating what's been said, but I'll give my opinion as professionally as possible.
Can you still make progress with body-part splits? Yes.
Is it optimal? Very much no, and it's likely not even close.
I will try to explain why:
Every time you train you are causing adaptations which give you the opportunity to get better at the exercises you are doing. When you bench press, you are providing a training stimulus to the muscles used in benching. You are learning and improving technique involved in lifting the weight. You are improving the rate at which signals are sent causing muscles to fire. You are causing short term increases to muscle protein synthesis which allows you the opportunity to grow bigger muscles.
Basically, training is the thing that causes cool stuff to happen which makes you awesome.
If you only have 2 days in the week to train, which is something you mentioned earlier in this thread I believe -- and you had to choose what to do during those sessions, you're substantially better off choosing methods of training which allow the previously mentioned awesomeness to occur in as many places in your body as you can, precisely because you are only going to be able to cause these things to happen twice in a week.
Up to a point, the more often you can cause all this awesome stuff to happen, the more opportunity you have to be awesome.
If you did something like biceps on day 1 week 1 and legs on day 2 week 2, then back in week 2 day 1 and chest in week 2 day 2, you'll have barely trained your entire body once in 2 weeks.
If you train with a full body routine, you'll have trained your body 4 times in that two week period.
This applies to all of those adaptations I mentioned and it also applies to the skill component of lifting. Lifting weights is not exclusively about applying a stimulus to cause muscle growth, it's a skill. Being good at a particular lift allows you to move more weight which then allows you to apply a greater training stimulus and make faster progress.
All of the above are valid reasons why you should probably NOT do a body-part focused routine ESPECIALLY in a situation where you have limited time to train.
I'm afraid the advice you were given was exactly opposite of what you should be doing, and I don't say this to insult your boyfriend.
Someone having an impressive physique does not necessarily indicate that they have the background knowledge to provide accurate advice. Much in the same way that someone who does NOT have an impressive physique would be unable to provide good advice.
There are people on this board who aren't in amazing shape who are incredibly well read, who absolutely give great advice. Likewise there are people who are in phenomenal shape who routinely post information that the current body of evidence largely disagrees with.
Finally, you CAN still make progress doing a body-part split. If you enjoy it, and that's what you WANT to do, great! Do it and have fun, there's nothing wrong with that.
Best of luck.In addition to my previous reply, this does not necessarily mean that I think StrongLifts is the answer for you, I just wanted to lay out why I think a full body type of setup will be far superior for you. There are plenty of ways to program a full body routine without doing SL.
This is by far the best answer on this thread. It clicked a lot for me. Thank you for your kindness, and explaining it in such a way.
It does make sense through and through, and I know I am frustrating some people by saying I will do this Push/Pull split for a month. But the reason for that is how much I have enjoyed it. But its literally only been two workouts. Im not overloading trying to learn so many different workouts, and get to feel how which workouts affect which body muscles. Its all new to me. This is just me 100% learning. I agree, I don't think I will progress as far/fast doing this, and I really like the idea of a full body workout. But without the knowledge, I am just hanging tight and doing what I am told and enjoying the fact that I actually enjoying working out again. Doing 100 squats with 2lb dumbbells in the previous home dvd's I use to do killed my motivation. Flying windmills with weights? WHAT IS THAT. But now its just about lifting something up and putting it back down, and i LOVE it. I love the simplicity and I can say (in a good way), I have never felt as accomplished or sore as I do after this first week of lifting.
I wish there was a specific plan I could tailor to my two days a week, that didnt involve squats as much as SS or SL does, and would tell me what to do each day, but so far haven't found that. It may just be that I have to make up my own plan eventually, and heck, maybe down the road squats will even appear.
But I genuinely appreciate everyones feedback and opinions on this. The recent replies have been very enlightening. And I have been reading articles here and there on Mark Rippetoe's site.
I really hate to throw even more information out there with all you have to digest, but the bolded above made me think of this article. Just two alternating full body workouts. He says that, although squats are preferred, you can sub leg press if needed.
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-beginner-weight-training-workout-routine/
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I didn't read every reply so I'm possibly repeating what's been said, but I'll give my opinion as professionally as possible.
Can you still make progress with body-part splits? Yes.
Is it optimal? Very much no, and it's likely not even close.
I will try to explain why:
Every time you train you are causing adaptations which give you the opportunity to get better at the exercises you are doing. When you bench press, you are providing a training stimulus to the muscles used in benching. You are learning and improving technique involved in lifting the weight. You are improving the rate at which signals are sent causing muscles to fire. You are causing short term increases to muscle protein synthesis which allows you the opportunity to grow bigger muscles.
Basically, training is the thing that causes cool stuff to happen which makes you awesome.
If you only have 2 days in the week to train, which is something you mentioned earlier in this thread I believe -- and you had to choose what to do during those sessions, you're substantially better off choosing methods of training which allow the previously mentioned awesomeness to occur in as many places in your body as you can, precisely because you are only going to be able to cause these things to happen twice in a week.
Up to a point, the more often you can cause all this awesome stuff to happen, the more opportunity you have to be awesome.
If you did something like biceps on day 1 week 1 and legs on day 2 week 2, then back in week 2 day 1 and chest in week 2 day 2, you'll have barely trained your entire body once in 2 weeks.
If you train with a full body routine, you'll have trained your body 4 times in that two week period.
This applies to all of those adaptations I mentioned and it also applies to the skill component of lifting. Lifting weights is not exclusively about applying a stimulus to cause muscle growth, it's a skill. Being good at a particular lift allows you to move more weight which then allows you to apply a greater training stimulus and make faster progress.
All of the above are valid reasons why you should probably NOT do a body-part focused routine ESPECIALLY in a situation where you have limited time to train.
I'm afraid the advice you were given was exactly opposite of what you should be doing, and I don't say this to insult your boyfriend.
Someone having an impressive physique does not necessarily indicate that they have the background knowledge to provide accurate advice. Much in the same way that someone who does NOT have an impressive physique would be unable to provide good advice.
There are people on this board who aren't in amazing shape who are incredibly well read, who absolutely give great advice. Likewise there are people who are in phenomenal shape who routinely post information that the current body of evidence largely disagrees with.
Finally, you CAN still make progress doing a body-part split. If you enjoy it, and that's what you WANT to do, great! Do it and have fun, there's nothing wrong with that.
Best of luck.In addition to my previous reply, this does not necessarily mean that I think StrongLifts is the answer for you, I just wanted to lay out why I think a full body type of setup will be far superior for you. There are plenty of ways to program a full body routine without doing SL.
This is by far the best answer on this thread. It clicked a lot for me. Thank you for your kindness, and explaining it in such a way.
It does make sense through and through, and I know I am frustrating some people by saying I will do this Push/Pull split for a month. But the reason for that is how much I have enjoyed it. But its literally only been two workouts. Im not overloading trying to learn so many different workouts, and get to feel how which workouts affect which body muscles. Its all new to me. This is just me 100% learning. I agree, I don't think I will progress as far/fast doing this, and I really like the idea of a full body workout. But without the knowledge, I am just hanging tight and doing what I am told and enjoying the fact that I actually enjoying working out again. Doing 100 squats with 2lb dumbbells in the previous home dvd's I use to do killed my motivation. Flying windmills with weights? WHAT IS THAT. But now its just about lifting something up and putting it back down, and i LOVE it. I love the simplicity and I can say (in a good way), I have never felt as accomplished or sore as I do after this first week of lifting.
I wish there was a specific plan I could tailor to my two days a week, that didnt involve squats as much as SS or SL does, and would tell me what to do each day, but so far haven't found that. It may just be that I have to make up my own plan eventually, and heck, maybe down the road squats will even appear.
But I genuinely appreciate everyones feedback and opinions on this. The recent replies have been very enlightening. And I have been reading articles here and there on Mark Rippetoe's site.
I really hate to throw even more information out there with all you have to digest, but the bolded above made me think of this article. Just two alternating full body workouts. He says that, although squats are preferred, you can sub leg press if needed.
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-beginner-weight-training-workout-routine/
FWIW I think this is a great routine. I'm kind of starting over (injury/illness etc) so technically a beginner. I'm doing a sort of combination of SL and the beginner program in "a workout routine". It's a lot of fun and fit me better since I don't want to squat every workout, and am stronger in certain lifts than in others.( And also have a hard time being told what to do! )
You might like his routines (and his website is fun to read) he allows some accessory work and does sub the squats if needed. It's very approachable-and he has plans that you can move into once you outgrow the beginner program.0 -
I didn't read every reply so I'm possibly repeating what's been said, but I'll give my opinion as professionally as possible.
Can you still make progress with body-part splits? Yes.
Is it optimal? Very much no, and it's likely not even close.
I will try to explain why:
Every time you train you are causing adaptations which give you the opportunity to get better at the exercises you are doing. When you bench press, you are providing a training stimulus to the muscles used in benching. You are learning and improving technique involved in lifting the weight. You are improving the rate at which signals are sent causing muscles to fire. You are causing short term increases to muscle protein synthesis which allows you the opportunity to grow bigger muscles.
Basically, training is the thing that causes cool stuff to happen which makes you awesome.
If you only have 2 days in the week to train, which is something you mentioned earlier in this thread I believe -- and you had to choose what to do during those sessions, you're substantially better off choosing methods of training which allow the previously mentioned awesomeness to occur in as many places in your body as you can, precisely because you are only going to be able to cause these things to happen twice in a week.
Up to a point, the more often you can cause all this awesome stuff to happen, the more opportunity you have to be awesome.
If you did something like biceps on day 1 week 1 and legs on day 2 week 2, then back in week 2 day 1 and chest in week 2 day 2, you'll have barely trained your entire body once in 2 weeks.
If you train with a full body routine, you'll have trained your body 4 times in that two week period.
This applies to all of those adaptations I mentioned and it also applies to the skill component of lifting. Lifting weights is not exclusively about applying a stimulus to cause muscle growth, it's a skill. Being good at a particular lift allows you to move more weight which then allows you to apply a greater training stimulus and make faster progress.
All of the above are valid reasons why you should probably NOT do a body-part focused routine ESPECIALLY in a situation where you have limited time to train.
I'm afraid the advice you were given was exactly opposite of what you should be doing, and I don't say this to insult your boyfriend.
Someone having an impressive physique does not necessarily indicate that they have the background knowledge to provide accurate advice. Much in the same way that someone who does NOT have an impressive physique would be unable to provide good advice.
There are people on this board who aren't in amazing shape who are incredibly well read, who absolutely give great advice. Likewise there are people who are in phenomenal shape who routinely post information that the current body of evidence largely disagrees with.
Finally, you CAN still make progress doing a body-part split. If you enjoy it, and that's what you WANT to do, great! Do it and have fun, there's nothing wrong with that.
Best of luck.In addition to my previous reply, this does not necessarily mean that I think StrongLifts is the answer for you, I just wanted to lay out why I think a full body type of setup will be far superior for you. There are plenty of ways to program a full body routine without doing SL.
This is by far the best answer on this thread. It clicked a lot for me. Thank you for your kindness, and explaining it in such a way.
It does make sense through and through, and I know I am frustrating some people by saying I will do this Push/Pull split for a month. But the reason for that is how much I have enjoyed it. But its literally only been two workouts. Im not overloading trying to learn so many different workouts, and get to feel how which workouts affect which body muscles. Its all new to me. This is just me 100% learning. I agree, I don't think I will progress as far/fast doing this, and I really like the idea of a full body workout. But without the knowledge, I am just hanging tight and doing what I am told and enjoying the fact that I actually enjoying working out again. Doing 100 squats with 2lb dumbbells in the previous home dvd's I use to do killed my motivation. Flying windmills with weights? WHAT IS THAT. But now its just about lifting something up and putting it back down, and i LOVE it. I love the simplicity and I can say (in a good way), I have never felt as accomplished or sore as I do after this first week of lifting.
I wish there was a specific plan I could tailor to my two days a week, that didnt involve squats as much as SS or SL does, and would tell me what to do each day, but so far haven't found that. It may just be that I have to make up my own plan eventually, and heck, maybe down the road squats will even appear.
But I genuinely appreciate everyones feedback and opinions on this. The recent replies have been very enlightening. And I have been reading articles here and there on Mark Rippetoe's site.
I really hate to throw even more information out there with all you have to digest, but the bolded above made me think of this article. Just two alternating full body workouts. He says that, although squats are preferred, you can sub leg press if needed.
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-beginner-weight-training-workout-routine/I didn't read every reply so I'm possibly repeating what's been said, but I'll give my opinion as professionally as possible.
Can you still make progress with body-part splits? Yes.
Is it optimal? Very much no, and it's likely not even close.
I will try to explain why:
Every time you train you are causing adaptations which give you the opportunity to get better at the exercises you are doing. When you bench press, you are providing a training stimulus to the muscles used in benching. You are learning and improving technique involved in lifting the weight. You are improving the rate at which signals are sent causing muscles to fire. You are causing short term increases to muscle protein synthesis which allows you the opportunity to grow bigger muscles.
Basically, training is the thing that causes cool stuff to happen which makes you awesome.
If you only have 2 days in the week to train, which is something you mentioned earlier in this thread I believe -- and you had to choose what to do during those sessions, you're substantially better off choosing methods of training which allow the previously mentioned awesomeness to occur in as many places in your body as you can, precisely because you are only going to be able to cause these things to happen twice in a week.
Up to a point, the more often you can cause all this awesome stuff to happen, the more opportunity you have to be awesome.
If you did something like biceps on day 1 week 1 and legs on day 2 week 2, then back in week 2 day 1 and chest in week 2 day 2, you'll have barely trained your entire body once in 2 weeks.
If you train with a full body routine, you'll have trained your body 4 times in that two week period.
This applies to all of those adaptations I mentioned and it also applies to the skill component of lifting. Lifting weights is not exclusively about applying a stimulus to cause muscle growth, it's a skill. Being good at a particular lift allows you to move more weight which then allows you to apply a greater training stimulus and make faster progress.
All of the above are valid reasons why you should probably NOT do a body-part focused routine ESPECIALLY in a situation where you have limited time to train.
I'm afraid the advice you were given was exactly opposite of what you should be doing, and I don't say this to insult your boyfriend.
Someone having an impressive physique does not necessarily indicate that they have the background knowledge to provide accurate advice. Much in the same way that someone who does NOT have an impressive physique would be unable to provide good advice.
There are people on this board who aren't in amazing shape who are incredibly well read, who absolutely give great advice. Likewise there are people who are in phenomenal shape who routinely post information that the current body of evidence largely disagrees with.
Finally, you CAN still make progress doing a body-part split. If you enjoy it, and that's what you WANT to do, great! Do it and have fun, there's nothing wrong with that.
Best of luck.In addition to my previous reply, this does not necessarily mean that I think StrongLifts is the answer for you, I just wanted to lay out why I think a full body type of setup will be far superior for you. There are plenty of ways to program a full body routine without doing SL.
This is by far the best answer on this thread. It clicked a lot for me. Thank you for your kindness, and explaining it in such a way.
It does make sense through and through, and I know I am frustrating some people by saying I will do this Push/Pull split for a month. But the reason for that is how much I have enjoyed it. But its literally only been two workouts. Im not overloading trying to learn so many different workouts, and get to feel how which workouts affect which body muscles. Its all new to me. This is just me 100% learning. I agree, I don't think I will progress as far/fast doing this, and I really like the idea of a full body workout. But without the knowledge, I am just hanging tight and doing what I am told and enjoying the fact that I actually enjoying working out again. Doing 100 squats with 2lb dumbbells in the previous home dvd's I use to do killed my motivation. Flying windmills with weights? WHAT IS THAT. But now its just about lifting something up and putting it back down, and i LOVE it. I love the simplicity and I can say (in a good way), I have never felt as accomplished or sore as I do after this first week of lifting.
I wish there was a specific plan I could tailor to my two days a week, that didnt involve squats as much as SS or SL does, and would tell me what to do each day, but so far haven't found that. It may just be that I have to make up my own plan eventually, and heck, maybe down the road squats will even appear.
But I genuinely appreciate everyones feedback and opinions on this. The recent replies have been very enlightening. And I have been reading articles here and there on Mark Rippetoe's site.
I really hate to throw even more information out there with all you have to digest, but the bolded above made me think of this article. Just two alternating full body workouts. He says that, although squats are preferred, you can sub leg press if needed.
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-beginner-weight-training-workout-routine/
FWIW I think this is a great routine. I'm kind of starting over (injury/illness etc) so technically a beginner. I'm doing a sort of combination of SL and the beginner program in "a workout routine". It's a lot of fun and fit me better since I don't want to squat every workout, and am stronger in certain lifts than in others.( And also have a hard time being told what to do! )
You might like his routines (and his website is fun to read) he allows some accessory work and does sub the squats if needed. It's very approachable-and he has plans that you can move into once you outgrow the beginner program.
definitely a good read, and honestly the second version of that beginner workout is EXACTLY what I am doing now. Except for the ab workout, which I will probably integrate on my next workout. I need to add in a few other things on my Workout A, but its almost identical to the plan my SO came up with. Minus squats which I will sub for leg presses and something else.
thank you for that!0 -
Just my opinion, but if you're doing the beginner workout routine (even with the added on accessory exercises) don't even bother with the additional ab exercises. In reality he doesn't advocate for any additional exercises, and you certainly don't need them. You want to work your abs? Keep at the big, heavy compound lifts that are the heart of the program.
Deadlifts/squats/pull-ups and even bench/OH press (if you're standing) ALL engage your abs. Anecdotal, but my previous 6-packs were built with deadlifts, over head squats and sometimes sprints. They were never built with crunches.1 -
I didn't read every reply so I'm possibly repeating what's been said, but I'll give my opinion as professionally as possible.
Can you still make progress with body-part splits? Yes.
Is it optimal? Very much no, and it's likely not even close.
I will try to explain why:
Every time you train you are causing adaptations which give you the opportunity to get better at the exercises you are doing. When you bench press, you are providing a training stimulus to the muscles used in benching. You are learning and improving technique involved in lifting the weight. You are improving the rate at which signals are sent causing muscles to fire. You are causing short term increases to muscle protein synthesis which allows you the opportunity to grow bigger muscles.
Basically, training is the thing that causes cool stuff to happen which makes you awesome.
If you only have 2 days in the week to train, which is something you mentioned earlier in this thread I believe -- and you had to choose what to do during those sessions, you're substantially better off choosing methods of training which allow the previously mentioned awesomeness to occur in as many places in your body as you can, precisely because you are only going to be able to cause these things to happen twice in a week.
Up to a point, the more often you can cause all this awesome stuff to happen, the more opportunity you have to be awesome.
If you did something like biceps on day 1 week 1 and legs on day 2 week 2, then back in week 2 day 1 and chest in week 2 day 2, you'll have barely trained your entire body once in 2 weeks.
If you train with a full body routine, you'll have trained your body 4 times in that two week period.
This applies to all of those adaptations I mentioned and it also applies to the skill component of lifting. Lifting weights is not exclusively about applying a stimulus to cause muscle growth, it's a skill. Being good at a particular lift allows you to move more weight which then allows you to apply a greater training stimulus and make faster progress.
All of the above are valid reasons why you should probably NOT do a body-part focused routine ESPECIALLY in a situation where you have limited time to train.
I'm afraid the advice you were given was exactly opposite of what you should be doing, and I don't say this to insult your boyfriend.
Someone having an impressive physique does not necessarily indicate that they have the background knowledge to provide accurate advice. Much in the same way that someone who does NOT have an impressive physique would be unable to provide good advice.
There are people on this board who aren't in amazing shape who are incredibly well read, who absolutely give great advice. Likewise there are people who are in phenomenal shape who routinely post information that the current body of evidence largely disagrees with.
Finally, you CAN still make progress doing a body-part split. If you enjoy it, and that's what you WANT to do, great! Do it and have fun, there's nothing wrong with that.
Best of luck.In addition to my previous reply, this does not necessarily mean that I think StrongLifts is the answer for you, I just wanted to lay out why I think a full body type of setup will be far superior for you. There are plenty of ways to program a full body routine without doing SL.
This is by far the best answer on this thread. It clicked a lot for me. Thank you for your kindness, and explaining it in such a way.
It does make sense through and through, and I know I am frustrating some people by saying I will do this Push/Pull split for a month. But the reason for that is how much I have enjoyed it. But its literally only been two workouts. Im not overloading trying to learn so many different workouts, and get to feel how which workouts affect which body muscles. Its all new to me. This is just me 100% learning. I agree, I don't think I will progress as far/fast doing this, and I really like the idea of a full body workout. But without the knowledge, I am just hanging tight and doing what I am told and enjoying the fact that I actually enjoying working out again. Doing 100 squats with 2lb dumbbells in the previous home dvd's I use to do killed my motivation. Flying windmills with weights? WHAT IS THAT. But now its just about lifting something up and putting it back down, and i LOVE it. I love the simplicity and I can say (in a good way), I have never felt as accomplished or sore as I do after this first week of lifting.
I wish there was a specific plan I could tailor to my two days a week, that didnt involve squats as much as SS or SL does, and would tell me what to do each day, but so far haven't found that. It may just be that I have to make up my own plan eventually, and heck, maybe down the road squats will even appear.
But I genuinely appreciate everyones feedback and opinions on this. The recent replies have been very enlightening. And I have been reading articles here and there on Mark Rippetoe's site.
I really hate to throw even more information out there with all you have to digest, but the bolded above made me think of this article. Just two alternating full body workouts. He says that, although squats are preferred, you can sub leg press if needed.
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-beginner-weight-training-workout-routine/I didn't read every reply so I'm possibly repeating what's been said, but I'll give my opinion as professionally as possible.
Can you still make progress with body-part splits? Yes.
Is it optimal? Very much no, and it's likely not even close.
I will try to explain why:
Every time you train you are causing adaptations which give you the opportunity to get better at the exercises you are doing. When you bench press, you are providing a training stimulus to the muscles used in benching. You are learning and improving technique involved in lifting the weight. You are improving the rate at which signals are sent causing muscles to fire. You are causing short term increases to muscle protein synthesis which allows you the opportunity to grow bigger muscles.
Basically, training is the thing that causes cool stuff to happen which makes you awesome.
If you only have 2 days in the week to train, which is something you mentioned earlier in this thread I believe -- and you had to choose what to do during those sessions, you're substantially better off choosing methods of training which allow the previously mentioned awesomeness to occur in as many places in your body as you can, precisely because you are only going to be able to cause these things to happen twice in a week.
Up to a point, the more often you can cause all this awesome stuff to happen, the more opportunity you have to be awesome.
If you did something like biceps on day 1 week 1 and legs on day 2 week 2, then back in week 2 day 1 and chest in week 2 day 2, you'll have barely trained your entire body once in 2 weeks.
If you train with a full body routine, you'll have trained your body 4 times in that two week period.
This applies to all of those adaptations I mentioned and it also applies to the skill component of lifting. Lifting weights is not exclusively about applying a stimulus to cause muscle growth, it's a skill. Being good at a particular lift allows you to move more weight which then allows you to apply a greater training stimulus and make faster progress.
All of the above are valid reasons why you should probably NOT do a body-part focused routine ESPECIALLY in a situation where you have limited time to train.
I'm afraid the advice you were given was exactly opposite of what you should be doing, and I don't say this to insult your boyfriend.
Someone having an impressive physique does not necessarily indicate that they have the background knowledge to provide accurate advice. Much in the same way that someone who does NOT have an impressive physique would be unable to provide good advice.
There are people on this board who aren't in amazing shape who are incredibly well read, who absolutely give great advice. Likewise there are people who are in phenomenal shape who routinely post information that the current body of evidence largely disagrees with.
Finally, you CAN still make progress doing a body-part split. If you enjoy it, and that's what you WANT to do, great! Do it and have fun, there's nothing wrong with that.
Best of luck.In addition to my previous reply, this does not necessarily mean that I think StrongLifts is the answer for you, I just wanted to lay out why I think a full body type of setup will be far superior for you. There are plenty of ways to program a full body routine without doing SL.
This is by far the best answer on this thread. It clicked a lot for me. Thank you for your kindness, and explaining it in such a way.
It does make sense through and through, and I know I am frustrating some people by saying I will do this Push/Pull split for a month. But the reason for that is how much I have enjoyed it. But its literally only been two workouts. Im not overloading trying to learn so many different workouts, and get to feel how which workouts affect which body muscles. Its all new to me. This is just me 100% learning. I agree, I don't think I will progress as far/fast doing this, and I really like the idea of a full body workout. But without the knowledge, I am just hanging tight and doing what I am told and enjoying the fact that I actually enjoying working out again. Doing 100 squats with 2lb dumbbells in the previous home dvd's I use to do killed my motivation. Flying windmills with weights? WHAT IS THAT. But now its just about lifting something up and putting it back down, and i LOVE it. I love the simplicity and I can say (in a good way), I have never felt as accomplished or sore as I do after this first week of lifting.
I wish there was a specific plan I could tailor to my two days a week, that didnt involve squats as much as SS or SL does, and would tell me what to do each day, but so far haven't found that. It may just be that I have to make up my own plan eventually, and heck, maybe down the road squats will even appear.
But I genuinely appreciate everyones feedback and opinions on this. The recent replies have been very enlightening. And I have been reading articles here and there on Mark Rippetoe's site.
I really hate to throw even more information out there with all you have to digest, but the bolded above made me think of this article. Just two alternating full body workouts. He says that, although squats are preferred, you can sub leg press if needed.
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-beginner-weight-training-workout-routine/
FWIW I think this is a great routine. I'm kind of starting over (injury/illness etc) so technically a beginner. I'm doing a sort of combination of SL and the beginner program in "a workout routine". It's a lot of fun and fit me better since I don't want to squat every workout, and am stronger in certain lifts than in others.( And also have a hard time being told what to do! )
You might like his routines (and his website is fun to read) he allows some accessory work and does sub the squats if needed. It's very approachable-and he has plans that you can move into once you outgrow the beginner program.
definitely a good read, and honestly the second version of that beginner workout is EXACTLY what I am doing now. Except for the ab workout, which I will probably integrate on my next workout. I need to add in a few other things on my Workout A, but its almost identical to the plan my SO came up with. Minus squats which I will sub for leg presses and something else.
thank you for that!
* If lunges bother your knees less, they are also a pretty good option for replacing squats (same muscle groups with some shift between relative amounts, and still engaging your core).
* My workout is fairly close to a hybrid of the one linked above and Stronglifts (squats/lunges every session, lat pulls added on deadlift day.
* Some extra abs are pretty easy to work in without adding extra time to the routine if your gym has enough room for a mat next to the racks. (I hate wasting those ~1.5-2 min rest times between sets). Also some additional stretching.1
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