I want to start lifting but i have no concept of what to actually do.

[Deleted member 1212]

You can start with something like
Day 1
Bench press 5x5
Overhead press 3x8-12
Skull crushers 3x8-12
Lateral Raise 3x 15

Day 2
Pullups. If you cant do one, google exercises that can be replaced and build up to pullups, like negative pullups.
Barbel row/inverted row/dumbell row, any kind of row. Do 5x5
Farmers walk/rackpulls/shrugs (you can skip these if you want but it will build your upper traps and back for a more yoked and dominant look) 3x5
Bicep curls 3-4x8-12


Day 3 and 4 will be the same as day 1 and 2 but you can do slight adjustments like doing your overhead press first 5x5 and benchpress after 3x12
On these days you can also switch out the triceps variation with a pushdown instead of skull crushers.
If you wanna do a leg exercise, add it to day 3 and remove one of the back workouts. Do something light that wont kill your recovery like a bodyweight squat, lunges, reverse lunge,pistol squat or something.



This will build the most important muscles for pure aestethics. Deadlifts and squat are completely unnecessary for aestethics and will drain alot of energy from your upper body training.
Id also recommend adding leg raises( a super easy to do and probably the most effective ab exercise there is). You can simply do these on the offdays or structure them in to the end of your workout.

i dont need a spotter for any of these exercises? thx btw

 

[ropemaxx]

i dont need a spotter for any of these exercises? thx btw

You only need a spotter for bench, but you can also have the safety bars on the side if you do it in a rack, then you wont need a spotter.

 

[Deleted member 1212]

You only need a spotter for bench, but you can also have the safety bars on the side if you do it in a rack, then you wont need a spotter.

ah so i think the bench presses at planet fatness have those where the bar is built into the rack

 

[ropemaxx]

ah so i think the bench presses at planet fatness have those where the bar is built into the rack

GL man. Just remember that there will always be people who look like this

telling you to squat 3 times a week and that your routine sucks. Ignore them

 

[chad-lite-ascender]

Cope. Walk and good diet> cardio as you wont burn any muscle or increase your appetite

Girls prefer ottermode my bro

 

[ropemaxx]

Girls prefer ottermode my bro

whats that

 

[Deleted member 1212]

GL man. Just remember that there will always be people who look like this View attachment 757068
telling you to squat 3 times a week and that your routine sucks. Ignore them

so for a aushwitz survivor body type like me do i eat meals before workout or after?

 

[ropemaxx]

so for a aushwitz survivor body type like me do i eat meals before workout or after?

So you are skinny? Well since i never was a skinny guy when i started lifting i cant give you the perfect advice for you but:
Most important thing is your #1 your protein intake, and 2# your calories.
Eat something like 3-500 above maintenence everday, max. Anything more will just be added fat and eventually you will look like shit.

I would say to eat after workouts. Its not an requirement at all but more your personal preference. I do intermittent fasting personally and do best on it. if i eat anything over a 500-700 calorie meal before working out i will feel sluggish as hell, so i personally work out better fasted.

What would you estimate your body fat to be?

 

[ropemaxx]

Google a leanbulk, as opposed to a dirty bulk to get the best answer on what you need to eat.
Calculate your daily protein need, these are easy to google.
Dont be freaked out if you only reach 80% of your protein intake, its perfectly fine, because some of those will be abit extreme.

 

[Deleted member 1212]

So you are skinny? Well since i never was a skinny guy when i started lifting i cant give you the perfect advice for you but:
Most important thing is your #1 your protein intake, and 2# your calories.
Eat something like 3-500 above maintenence everday, max. Anything more will just be added fat and eventually you will look like shit.

I would say to eat after workouts. Its not an requirement at all but more your personal preference. I do intermittent fasting personally and do best on it. if i eat anything over a 500-700 calorie meal before working out i will feel sluggish as hell, so i personally work out better fasted.

What would you estimate your body fat to be?

below 10% if i had to guess my body is comparable to david laid before he got ripped. i have 0 appetite

 

[ropemaxx]

below 10% if i had to guess my body is comparable to david laid before he got ripped. i have 0 appetite

oh brutal dude. Well its all a matter of the law of thermodynamics. If you eat in a calorie surplus, you will gain weight, there is nothing more to it.

Maybe just eat more appetizing foods that are high in calories if you struggle to gain weight. Nuts, and high calorie carbs

 

[randomuser2407]

his body is like 2/10. Why would anyone follow him? lol

He is in his 40s, you can't compare him to guys who are in their 20s. Show me a guy in his 40s or older who has a better physique without drugs, I bet you won't find one.

 

[ropemaxx]

He is in his 40s, you can't compare him to guys who are in their 20s. Show me a guy in his 40s or older who has a better physique without drugs, I bet you won't find one.

lol, i think most guys in their 40s look better than him, thats how bad he looks. he looks like shit because he is like 30% body fat? wtf

 

[randomuser2407]

lol, i think most guys in their 40s look better than him, thats how bad he looks. he looks like shit because he is like 30% body fat? wtf

No, what you don't understand is that he has loose skin so he will never look ripped and he isn't trying to because he doesn't need to look good because he is married and isn't training to get laid but to get as strong as possible because that's what he likes doing.

You judge him but I bet you're not nearly as strong or as muscular as he is, so you better shut up.

 

[Deleted member 10413]

also mirin alucard avi, i just finished that anime like a week ago that shit was so god damn good

alucard avi is best

 

[ropemaxx]

You judge him but I bet you're not nearly as strong or as muscular as he is, so you better shut up.

My goal is not to be strong or muscular. My goal is to look good. I would bet 99% of people would say my body looks better than his, and that is not even an accomplishment.

 

[Idontknowlol]

Don't fall for the full body strength routines, those are made for people who want to look like fat power lifters

Hop on a push / pull / legs routine, rep range 8-10, do some HIIT and eat high protein, moderate carbs and fat, and you'll look good naked soon

If you are a total begginer, start with a 3 day compound excersise program, just for a month or so, to get used to the lifts, but dont stick to it for longre than that

 

[randomuser2407]

Don't fall for the full body strength routines, those are made for people who want to look like fat power lifters

Hop on a push / pull / legs routine, rep range 8-10, do some HIIT and eat high protein, moderate carbs and fat, and you'll look good naked soon

If you are a total begginer, start with a 3 day compound excersise program, just for a month or so, to get used to the lifts, but dont stick to it for longre than that

You're a delusional idiot and so is @ropemaxx

It's impossible to be muscular without being strong as a natural lifter. You'll never see a guy with a big chest who can only bench press 135 lbs for 5 reps, you'll never see a guy with wide lats who can only do 5 chin ups, you'll never see a guy with big arms who can only curl a 50 lb bar (25 lb dumbbells).

The compound movements will add the biggest amount of muscle mass on you because they work many muscle groups at the same time. Even for someone who never did curls, if they have a strong bench press, overhead press, barbell row and weighted chin up, their arms would still be very big. Curls do help though I'm not denying that, but compound movements are what will give you most of your muscle mass.

Whether you do high reps or low reps, as long as you are getting stronger, you will get bigger, the main difference between high weight and low weight is that low weight allows you to do lower volume higher frequency while low weight forces you to do high volume low frequency.

Since protein synthesis for natural lifters lasts only up to 48 hours, it makes sense to train every muscle group every 48 hours because that gives you the best protein synthesis which means you will get stronger and build more muscle. That is why bro splits don't work well for natural lifters but full body training 3x per week is the best.

The best programs focus on the same compound movements.
To get a good physique, you just need to get strong at the 6 main compound movement (weighted chin up, overhead press, barbell row, bench press, squat and deadlift). Accessory lifts like the barbell curl and the tricep extension should only be done to help you get better at the main lifts, so they need to be done at the end of your workout and at low enough volume to allow you to train the main lifts more.

Push pull legs routines are bad because they don't use enough of the 6 main compound movements, they focus mainly on machines which have terrible movement patterns compared to compound movements.

The only valid alternative to a full body program is an upper lower, the problem with the upper lower though is that it makes you train 4 days instead of 3 but gives you a frequency of 2 (2 days per week)
Meanwhile, on my full body program I have a frequency of 3 (3 days per week), for the bench press, the squat and the overhead presss) which will guarantee that I make faster and more efficient progress on those lifts.

The reason why you believe that it's possible to get big without getting strong is because you listen to guys who are weak but big because of steroids and they lie about their drug use by telling you that they are natural, and since you can't spot a fake natty, you believe them.
Most muscular guys in commercial gyms are on high amounts of drugs, that is because they don't actually know how to get big as a natural. That is because they believe the lie that you can separate muscle and strength.


Also, it's very easy to understand why there isn't a difference between high reps and low reps. If a guy can do weighted chin ups with 100 lbs, overhead press 200 lbs, bench 300 lbs, squat 400 lbs and deadlift 500 lbs, do you really think he is still going to be skinny?
If you really believe he would be skinny at that strength level, then it means you believe that if he drops the weight a bit and does high reps, he is magically going to gain all his muscle mass.

What seems more logical? That a guy who got really strong got really muscular? Or that a guy who is really strong was skinny until he did high reps with lower weight? The answer is obvious. You can only gain muscle mass by getting stronger.

Also, there is a common fallacy amongst gym bros that powerlifters are somehow fat and ugly because they are strong, but the truth is that elite powerlifters train specifically for powerlifting but powerlifting isn't about strength alone. Powerlifting is about doing whatever it takes to get as strong as possible on the squat, bench press and deadlift. Powerlifters get fatter because it allows them to lift more weight. While bodybuilders get leaner because it makes them more aesthetic. Powerlifters and bodybuilders also use different kinds of drugs, there are drugs that can make you look big without getting strong and there are drugs that can make you strong without looking big.

And the reason why natural powerlifters of average height look tiny is because they only focus on the squat, the bench press and the deadlift. But since they don't do the overhead press, the weighted chin up and the barbell row, usually they have muscular imbalances in the shoulders and in their upper back and lats, that is why their frame looks more narrow, because the squat and deadlift mostly work their legs, and the bench press only works their chest and arms. Because they use only one upper body lift, they usually have smaller arms too. That is because, to succeed in their sport, aesthetics don't matter, only their strength on specific exercises matter.

So, the reason why powerlifters look fat and not as aesthetic is because: 1) They usually have a high body fat to lift more weight and 2) They only train the big 3 (squat, bench press, and deadlift) which means that their upper body is underdeveloped.

Full body programs aren't powerlifting programs because they don't focus on the big 3, they focus on general strength development, so instead of doing 3 compound movements, you would do 5 or 6 and you'd have useful accessory lifts at the end of each workout to work on your weak points.

 

[ropemaxx]

You're a delusional idiot and so is @ropemaxx

It's impossible to be muscular without being strong as a natural lifter. You'll never see a guy with a big chest who can only bench press 135 lbs for 5 reps, you'll never see a guy with wide lats who can only do 5 chin ups, you'll never see a guy with big arms who can only curl a 50 lb bar (25 lb dumbbells).

The compound movements will add the biggest amount of muscle mass on you because they work many muscle groups at the same time. Even for someone who never did curls, if they have a strong bench press, overhead press, barbell row and weighted chin up, their arms would still be very big. Curls do help though I'm not denying that, but compound movements are what will give you most of your muscle mass.

No disagreement here so the rest of your rant is waste since i never said what you imply.
Ofcourse compounds are the bread and butter
Ofcourse you have to get stronger on your key lifts
The difference is that deadlifts and squats are not key lefts for an aesthetic physique. Squat is a leg builder, deadlift is a mix but mostly legs. If you want big traps, there are better options than deadlift. If you want the best abs possible while taking stimulus to fatigue ratioto fatigue ratio of deadlifts and squat, the argument is even more absurd.

The fact that a muscle is activated during an exercise doesn’t mean that the exercise will bring that muscle to its full potential.
Direct exercises for the mid-section turn the abs into the weakest link in the chain and force them to get stronger since there’s nowhere to hide.
Due to the extra demand, the abs receive greater stimulation and thicken faster.


Why are you 5x5 squat proffesors so cult like in your mentality? If you enjoy the exercise and want big quads/legs, do it. If you wanna powerlift, do it. But if you wanna build an aesthetic physique? Totally unnecessary

 

[randomuser2407]

No disagreement here so the rest of your rant is waste since i never said what you imply.
Ofcourse compounds are the bread and butter
Ofcourse you have to get stronger on your key lifts
The difference is that deadlifts and squats are not key lefts for an aesthetic physique. Squat is a leg builder, deadlift is a mix but mostly legs. If you want big traps, there are better options than deadlift. If you want the best abs possible while taking stimulus to fatigue ratioto fatigue ratio of deadlifts and squat, the argument is even more absurd.

The fact that a muscle is activated during an exercise doesn’t mean that the exercise will bring that muscle to its full potential.
Direct exercises for the mid-section turn the abs into the weakest link in the chain and force them to get stronger since there’s nowhere to hide.
Due to the extra demand, the abs receive greater stimulation and thicken faster.


Why are you 5x5 squat proffesors so cult like in your mentality? If you enjoy the exercise and want big quads/legs, do it. If you wanna powerlift, do it. But if you wanna build an aesthetic physique? Totally unnecessary

My point is that neglecting your legs is very lazy and it is a terrible mistake even for someone whose goal is just to look aesthetic.
Like I said, yes you don't have to get tree trunk legs, but you should at least get a minimum of leg development otherwise you won't look proportional. When trying to be aesthetic, being proportional is very important. In 1 year of serious training, you can reach a 315 lb squat and a 405 lb deadlift and then your legs will probably be big enough to look proportional to the rest of your body.

The biggest mistake you can make is having weak noob level legs, and a strong advanced level upper body, your legs should at least be intermediate level otherwise they will look weird.

The main reason why I encourage everyone to train their squat and deadlift to the highest strength level possible is because even though after the intermediate level they would look fine, by not training them, you're leaving gains on the table, because by not doing squats and deadlifts it won't make your upper body able to handle more volume so by neglecting your legs, you won't make faster gains on your upper body, so you'll only spend less time in the gym, but why would you go to the gym if not to get the most muscular body you can get as a natural lifter? Unless you're shorter than average, your legs will never be too big anyways and if you don't train them, it won't benefit you at all.

It's not that I am an elitist, I don't even like powerlifting as a sport, I mainly focus on general strength training because I know that this is what will build the most impressive and most muscular physique as a natural lifter, regardless of genetics.

 

[NeanderthalMax]

LONG POST, but it can help you not make the mistakes I did and has a decent program at the bottom

Best Strength Coach in my opinion is Pavel Tsatsouline and Mark Rippetoe. Best bodybuilding YouTuber is probably Jeff Nippard.

Rep ranges 1-5 is best for strength, 6-8 is hybrid between strength and size, 9-15 is best for size. 15+ better for endurance. I recommend staying in the 4-8 for compound lifts (Bench, Squat, DL, bent-over row, etc) and 8 to 15 for isolation lifts (Curls, calf-raises, etc).

Note that all rep ranges are good and will increase size and strength, picking the right one just will optimize it more (Maybe 10% better?)

Make sure you research proper form for all lifts and practice with light weights before going crazy.

Here is a routine it is a solid PPL twice a week. It is more of an intermediate routine, but you can use now too. It has a main strength lift per day and other accessory lifts for bodybuilding:

MONDAY PULL DAY 1:
-Bent-over row (5x5 with 4-minute rest in between sets) TARGET MUSCLE: Lats and traps
-Bicep curls (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Biceps, duh
-Face-pull (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Rear deltoid (deltoid = shoulder), lower trap, and teres major and minor
-One-handed farmer's walk (6 walks (3 for each hand) until failure with 90-second rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Traps, forearms and obliques

TUESDAY PUSH DAY 1:
-Bench Press (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Chest
-Cable lateral raise (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: side delt
-Tricep extensions (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: in the name
-Underhand dumbbell flies (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: upper chest
-Leg raises (4 sets to failure 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: abs

WEDNESDAY LEG DAY 1:
-Deadlift (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Just about everything from your heel to the back of the neck
-Lunges (4x8 with 2:30-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Glutes and quads
-Calf-raises (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: In the name

THURSDAY PULL DAY 2:
-Weighted chin-up/pull-up (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Lats, traps, and biceps (if chin-up)
-Explosive upright row (4x8 with 2:30-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Traps, rear delt and side delt
-This one you start with the bar on the ground, you grip it like you are doing a DL and then you pull it up to your chest.
-Reverse fly (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Rear delt, teres major and minor and some trap.
-Cross hammer curl (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Brachialis and Bicep (This one is good if you want arm width)

FRIDAY PUSH DAY 2:
-Overhead Press (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: All of the shoulder
-Lateral raises (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Side delt
-Close-grip incline dumbbell bench press (4x8 2:30 minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Upper chest
-Tricep Pushdown (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: In the name
-Ab wheel (4 sets to failure 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Abs and obliques

SATURDAY LEG DAY 2:
-Squat (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Quads, glutes and lower back
-Leg curl (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Hamstring
-Leg extension (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Quads
-Calf-raises (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: In the name

 

[ropemaxx]

My point is that neglecting your legs is very lazy and it is a terrible mistake even for someone whose goal is just to look aesthetic.
Like I said, yes you don't have to get tree trunk legs, but you should at least get a minimum of leg development otherwise you won't look proportional. When trying to be aesthetic, being proportional is very important. In 1 year of serious training, you can reach a 315 lb squat and a 405 lb deadlift and then your legs will probably be big enough to look proportional to the rest of your body.

The biggest mistake you can make is having weak noob level legs, and a strong advanced level upper body, your legs should at least be intermediate level otherwise they will look weird.

The main reason why I encourage everyone to train their squat and deadlift to the highest strength level possible is because even though after the intermediate level they would look fine, by not training them, you're leaving gains on the table, because by not doing squats and deadlifts it won't make your upper body able to handle more volume so by neglecting your legs, you won't make faster gains on your upper body, so you'll only spend less time in the gym, but why would you go to the gym if not to get the most muscular body you can get as a natural lifter? Unless you're shorter than average, your legs will never be too big anyways and if you don't train them, it won't benefit you at all.

It's not that I am an elitist, I don't even like powerlifting as a sport, I mainly focus on general strength training because I know that this is what will build the most impressive and most muscular physique as a natural lifter, regardless of genetics.

Didnt you advocate squatting 3 tims a week? How the hell does that not remove training from the upper body?
Heard of central nervous system, fatigue and recovery?

If you do a heavy deadlift, it will impact your whole working schedule.

The biggest mistake you can make is having weak noob level legs, and a strong advanced level upper body, your legs should at least be intermediate level otherwise they will look weird.

You really need to rethink your position. Think about this statement for a few minutes and realize how ridiculous it is. The biggest mistake in the gym is not working your legs enough? I have a very strong feeling you must have heard this by someone like Blaha or other youtuber who is worshipping the squat. Guranteed

 

[ropemaxx]

LONG POST, but it can help you not make the mistakes I did and has a decent program at the bottom

Best Strength Coach in my opinion is Pavel Tsatsouline and Mark Rippetoe. Best bodybuilding YouTuber is probably Jeff Nippard.

Rep ranges 1-5 is best for strength, 6-8 is hybrid between strength and size, 9-15 is best for size. 15+ better for endurance. I recommend staying in the 4-8 for compound lifts (Bench, Squat, DL, bent-over row, etc) and 8 to 15 for isolation lifts (Curls, calf-raises, etc).

Note that all rep ranges are good and will increase size and strength, picking the right one just will optimize it more (Maybe 10% better?)

Make sure you research proper form for all lifts and practice with light weights before going crazy.

Here is a routine it is a solid PPL twice a week. It is more of an intermediate routine, but you can use now too. It has a main strength lift per day and other accessory lifts for bodybuilding:

MONDAY PULL DAY 1:
-Bent-over row (5x5 with 4-minute rest in between sets) TARGET MUSCLE: Lats and traps
-Bicep curls (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Biceps, duh
-Face-pull (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Rear deltoid (deltoid = shoulder), lower trap, and teres major and minor
-One-handed farmer's walk (6 walks (3 for each hand) until failure with 90-second rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Traps, forearms and obliques

TUESDAY PUSH DAY 1:
-Bench Press (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Chest
-Cable lateral raise (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: side delt
-Tricep extensions (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: in the name
-Underhand dumbbell flies (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: upper chest
-Leg raises (4 sets to failure 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: abs

WEDNESDAY LEG DAY 1:
-Deadlift (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Just about everything from your heel to the back of the neck
-Lunges (4x8 with 2:30-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Glutes and quads
-Calf-raises (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: In the name

THURSDAY PULL DAY 2:
-Weighted chin-up/pull-up (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Lats, traps, and biceps (if chin-up)
-Explosive upright row (4x8 with 2:30-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Traps, rear delt and side delt
-This one you start with the bar on the ground, you grip it like you are doing a DL and then you pull it up to your chest.
-Reverse fly (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Rear delt, teres major and minor and some trap.
-Cross hammer curl (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Brachialis and Bicep (This one is good if you want arm width)

FRIDAY PUSH DAY 2:
-Overhead Press (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: All of the shoulder
-Lateral raises (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Side delt
-Close-grip incline dumbbell bench press (4x8 2:30 minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Upper chest
-Tricep Pushdown (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: In the name
-Ab wheel (4 sets to failure 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Abs and obliques

SATURDAY LEG DAY 2:
-Squat (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Quads, glutes and lower back
-Leg curl (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Hamstring
-Leg extension (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Quads
-Calf-raises (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: In the name

Lifting 6 times a week
High intensity
Natural

You can only pick two

 

[randomuser2407]

LONG POST, but it can help you not make the mistakes I did and has a decent program at the bottom

Best Strength Coach in my opinion is Pavel Tsatsouline and Mark Rippetoe. Best bodybuilding YouTuber is probably Jeff Nippard.

Rep ranges 1-5 is best for strength, 6-8 is hybrid between strength and size, 9-15 is best for size. 15+ better for endurance. I recommend staying in the 4-8 for compound lifts (Bench, Squat, DL, bent-over row, etc) and 8 to 15 for isolation lifts (Curls, calf-raises, etc).

Note that all rep ranges are good and will increase size and strength, picking the right one just will optimize it more (Maybe 10% better?)

Make sure you research proper form for all lifts and practice with light weights before going crazy.

Here is a routine it is a solid PPL twice a week. It is more of an intermediate routine, but you can use now too. It has a main strength lift per day and other accessory lifts for bodybuilding:

MONDAY PULL DAY 1:
-Bent-over row (5x5 with 4-minute rest in between sets) TARGET MUSCLE: Lats and traps
-Bicep curls (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Biceps, duh
-Face-pull (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Rear deltoid (deltoid = shoulder), lower trap, and teres major and minor
-One-handed farmer's walk (6 walks (3 for each hand) until failure with 90-second rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Traps, forearms and obliques

TUESDAY PUSH DAY 1:
-Bench Press (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Chest
-Cable lateral raise (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: side delt
-Tricep extensions (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: in the name
-Underhand dumbbell flies (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: upper chest
-Leg raises (4 sets to failure 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: abs

WEDNESDAY LEG DAY 1:
-Deadlift (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Just about everything from your heel to the back of the neck
-Lunges (4x8 with 2:30-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Glutes and quads
-Calf-raises (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: In the name

THURSDAY PULL DAY 2:
-Weighted chin-up/pull-up (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Lats, traps, and biceps (if chin-up)
-Explosive upright row (4x8 with 2:30-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Traps, rear delt and side delt
-This one you start with the bar on the ground, you grip it like you are doing a DL and then you pull it up to your chest.
-Reverse fly (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Rear delt, teres major and minor and some trap.
-Cross hammer curl (4x10 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Brachialis and Bicep (This one is good if you want arm width)

FRIDAY PUSH DAY 2:
-Overhead Press (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: All of the shoulder
-Lateral raises (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Side delt
-Close-grip incline dumbbell bench press (4x8 2:30 minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Upper chest
-Tricep Pushdown (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: In the name
-Ab wheel (4 sets to failure 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Abs and obliques

SATURDAY LEG DAY 2:
-Squat (5x5 with 4-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Quads, glutes and lower back
-Leg curl (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Hamstring
-Leg extension (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: Quads
-Calf-raises (4x10 with 2-minute rest) TARGET MUSCLE: In the name

Most of those exercises are a waste of time, you put too much focus on the accessory lifts. And using shorter rest periods doesn't make you progress better, it's actually the opposite, it will only help you with your cardiovascular endurance but it won't make you stronger or bigger to do that.

Honestly, the best programs I have seen put focus on 3-4 compound movements done in a 3x5 fashion, with 2 accessory lifts added in the end. And they are usually high in frequency and low in volume

Leg day is retarded because the squat alone will give you most of your leg mass, and it will make your abs really strong at the same time.
By doing leg curls and leg extensions, you're actually wasting energy that could have been invested in the squat instead so you'll make much slower progress.

The only important exercises in there are: the barbell rows, the bench press, the deadlift, the overhead press, the chin up and the squat.

The only good accessory lifts in there are: the bicep curls, the facepull, the farmer's walks and the tricep extensions.
Everything else is fluff and pump bullshit that will only ruin your recovery while not helping your main lifts.

And your other issue is that with such a crazy high exercise selection, you lack frequency since every exercise is done only once per week, how can you even do progressive overload on such a poorly written program?
The answer is simple: you can't because every exercise is done only once per week, so you only get 1 opportunity to add weight every week which means that you will progress much more slowly and you will never get strong and muscular.

Instead, you should do the squat, bench press and overhead press 3 times per week for 3x5, and the barbell row and deadlift 1.5 times per week, the barbell row for 3x5 and the deadlift for 1x5.

Progressive overload is the main factor in muscle growth, if you are not getting stronger on a lift, you're not gaining any muscle mass and you're wasting your time and your extra calories. If you train on such a poorly written novice program, your extra calories will end up as fat and you'll look even worse than you do now a few months later.

 

[NeanderthalMax]

Training legs should be about strength and being athletic. Having athletic legs

Lifting 6 times a week
High intensity
Natural

You can only pick two

Look at the program, with exception of the DL in leg day 1, all your muscle for pushing, pulling and legs get 72 hours of rest in-between days. If you are eating right and sleeping well this is more than doable. Like I said, it is an intermediate program so he might want to work his way up to it. Also rests are longer than most programs. If he lives a sedentary lifestyle there is 0 reasons why his CNS can't handle 6 days of 1 hour of exercise. If he deloads once in while he will be fine.

 

[NeanderthalMax]

Most of those exercises are a waste of time, you put too much focus on the accessory lifts. And using shorter rest periods doesn't make you progress better, it's actually the opposite, it will only help you with your cardiovascular endurance but it won't make you stronger or bigger to do that.

Honestly, the best programs I have seen put focus on 3-4 compound movements done in a 3x5 fashion, with 2 accessory lifts added in the end. And they are usually high in frequency and low in volume

Leg day is retarded because the squat alone will give you most of your leg mass, and it will make your abs really strong at the same time.
By doing leg curls and leg extensions, you're actually wasting energy that could have been invested in the squat instead so you'll make much slower progress.

The only important exercises in there are: the barbell rows, the bench press, the deadlift, the overhead press, the chin up and the squat.

The only good accessory lifts in there are: the bicep curls, the facepull, the farmer's walks and the tricep extensions.
Everything else is fluff and pump bullshit that will only ruin your recovery while not helping your main lifts.

And your other issue is that with such a crazy high exercise selection, you lack frequency since every exercise is done only once per week, how can you even do progressive overload on such a poorly written program?
The answer is simple: you can't because every exercise is done only once per week, so you only get 1 opportunity to add weight every week which means that you will progress much more slowly and you will never get strong and muscular.

Instead, you should do the squat, bench press and overhead press 3 times per week for 3x5, and the barbell row and deadlift 1.5 times per week, the barbell row for 3x5 and the deadlift for 1x5.

Progressive overload is the main factor in muscle growth, if you are not getting stronger on a lift, you're not gaining any muscle mass and you're wasting your time and your extra calories. If you train on such a poorly written novice program, your extra calories will end up as fat and you'll look even worse than you do now a few months later.

If his goal is size he should care about accessory lifts. Squat is not very good for training posterior chain or calves, that is why you need to combine squats with an accessory for calves and another lift for hamstrings (RDLs are good). Exercise frequency is only important if your goal is strength, if it is size the frequency in which you train each muscle group is more important while exercises can vary. You focus on progressive overloading the main lifts to stimulate the muscle with mechanical tension. Accessory lifts are made for going to or very close to failure, consistent weight progressive overload is not that important for them since you are training to achieve metabolic stress growth, not mechanical tension. Look up mechanical tension training vs metabolic stress training.

If you think any beginner would be worse off after training in that program you have delusional dogma for your methods, so I am done waisting my time with you. Makes sense you watch Blaha, probably look bloated as shit like him.

 

[randomuser2407]

Didnt you advocate squatting 3 tims a week? How the hell does that not remove training from the upper body?
Heard of central nervous system, fatigue and recovery?

If you do a heavy deadlift, it will impact your whole working schedule.

You really need to rethink your position. Think about this statement for a few minutes and realize how ridiculous it is. The biggest mistake in the gym is not working your legs enough? I have a very strong feeling you must have heard this by someone like Blaha or other youtuber who is worshipping the squat. Guranteed

As long as the variables are managed properly, no it won't fuck up your central nervous system (CNS), that is why full body programs have fewer exercises and are done only 3 times per week and in a 3x5 fashion.

On Blaha's program, every month, I can add 15-20 lbs to my overhead press, 20-25 lbs to my bench press, 20-25 lbs to my barbell row, 30-40 lbs to my squat, and 30 lbs to my deadlift.

Even if I were to add a lot more volume and my CNS could handle it, my muscles wouldn't be able to handle that extra volume and I would have trouble trying to recover from my workouts.

What you don't understand is that at the end of each workout, it's not my CNS which is tired, it's my muscles, my CNS is fine because the variables are managed properly, so if I were to neglect my legs to put more focus on my upper body, instead of getting stronger, I would get weaker because I wouldn't be able to perform all the sets and reps because my muscles would be tired more quickly. And it doesn't matter if you try to compensate for this by doing high reps at a lower weight because the muscular stress remains the same so your progress will be the same.

So, neglecting your legs is stupid because your upper body won't progress faster when you do that, instead you'll just gain less muscle since everything will go in your upper body. That is why everyone should aim to get strong in their lower body, not just in their upper body. The program has to be balanced. Yes I squat 3 times per week but I also bench press and overhead press 3 times per week. Also, I don't do high volume deadlifts, I only do 1 set of 5 every other workout to work on my technique, my deadlift increases as my squat increases, there is direct carryover, that is because I am still in the linear progression phase, when that ends, I'll need a new program.

 

[NeanderthalMax]

The 3 Essential Workout Methods for Muscle | T Nation

There are three training mechanisms that contribute to building muscle. You need to use all of them to grow. Here's how.

www.t-nation.com

.

Good article, recommend reading

 

[Deleted member 7313]

i made good progress in a year just doing random shit for 6 months ngl. look up a list of muscle building exercises for each muscle. do them for 10 reps 3 sets 3 times a week and eat healthy and slight calorie surplus and youre good tbh.

 

[ropemaxx]

On Blaha's program, every month, I can add 15-20 lbs to my overhead press, 20-25 lbs to my bench press, 20-25 lbs to my barbell row, 30-40 lbs to my squat, and 30 lbs to my deadlift.

Why would a Jason Blaha program add more weight to your OHP than any other OHP program? Doesnt make sense

Anyone can say. " with this program you will add 20 lbs to OHP every month". Thats not how it works.

 

[randomuser2407]

If his goal is size he should care about accessory lifts. Squat is not very good for training posterior chain or calves, that is why you need to combine squats with an accessory for calves and another lift for hamstrings (RDLs are good). Exercise frequency is only important if your goal is strength, if it is size the frequency in which you train each muscle group is more important while exercises can vary. You focus on progressive overloading the main lifts to stimulate the muscle with mechanical tension. Accessory lifts are made for going to or very close to failure, consistent weight progressive overload is not that important for them since you are training to achieve metabolic stress growth, not mechanical tension. Look up mechanical tension training vs metabolic stress training.

If you think any beginner would be worse off after training in that program you have delusional dogma for your methods, so I am done waisting my time with you. Makes sense you watch Blaha, probably look bloated as shit like him.

"Squat is not very good for training posterior chain or calves"

You're so wrong. Both the posterior chain and the calves are worked during the squat, and during the deadlift also.

Calf raises are a waste of time because if you have small calves at a 500 lb deadlift, then it's due to genetics and nothing will get your calves bigger. Omarisuf is a great example of this, no matter how many calf raises he does, his calves look the same because of his genetics.

Hamstrings are the primary muscle worked during the conventional deadlift, so you don't need any other deadlift than the conventional unless your leverages make sumo a better option for you.

Also, no, frequency is extremely important for natural lifters, as I said, protein synthesis lasts only up to 48 hours, this means that if you do bench press on Tuesday, on Thursday those muscles stop growing and they have to be worked again, if you wait a whole week to train them again, then you'll miss out on so much progress. This is why the best programs for natural lifters use low volume and high frequency because you can't have both, and if you focus on high volume, your progress will be slower because of the 48 hour protein synthesis.

The only exception is if you take steroids. Steroid users can extend that 48 hour period over far longer periods of time so they can hit one different body part each day and blast it with as much volume as possible and it will grow just because the drugs prolong protein synthesis to an entire week.

consistent weight progressive overload is not that important for them since you are training to achieve metabolic stress growth, not mechanical tension. Look up mechanical tension training vs metabolic stress training.

This is even dumber than your first statement. You're basically saying that pumping up the muscles with high volume without making them stronger will make them bigger, but that's only true if you are on steroids. It works for steroid users because steroids alone will make their muscles grow and they boost protein synthesis so much that they only have to train all their muscles to failure and they will grow.

The truth is that without progressive overload, you won't make any gains, that is because muscle growth is only a side effect of muscular adaptations that occur when you get strong.

The reason why the body goes through those muscular adaptations is because it is a survival mechanism meant to help humans survive in tough environments, so when the body is exposed to high amounts of muscular stress over a long enough period of time and is given enough food to grow, the muscles grow to allow you to lift more weight to have a greater chance of surviving in a tough environment.

This is also why when you stop going to the gym, you start losing all your gains, because your body doesn't need those huge muscles anymore because it isn't exposed to high enough amounts of resistance training to need to maintain that level of muscle mass. However, when it gets put in that same environment (lifting weights), it is much faster to build muscle because your body remembers how it did it before, which is where muscle memory comes from.

The biggest sign of whether someone is on steroids or not is to compare their size to their strength, usually if someone can only bench 135 lbs but they have a huge chest, they are on drugs, it's the same with every other lift, however if they are really strong and look smaller, it's not because they trained for strength, it's because they are natural.

The reason why you believe all your bullshit is because you take your information from steroid users who lie about their drug use by claiming that they are natural when it's really obvious that they are not. I trust Blaha and Rippetoe because they are natural lifters who teach the most efficient path to a muscular physique.

 

[NeanderthalMax]

"Squat is not very good for training posterior chain or calves"

You're so wrong. Both the posterior chain and the calves are worked during the squat, and during the deadlift also.

Calf raises are a waste of time because if you have small calves at a 500 lb deadlift, then it's due to genetics and nothing will get your calves bigger. Omarisuf is a great example of this, no matter how many calf raises he does, his calves look the same because of his genetics.

Hamstrings are the primary muscle worked during the conventional deadlift, so you don't need any other deadlift than the conventional unless your leverages make sumo a better option for you.

Also, no, frequency is extremely important for natural lifters, as I said, protein synthesis lasts only up to 48 hours, this means that if you do bench press on Tuesday, on Thursday those muscles stop growing and they have to be worked again, if you wait a whole week to train them again, then you'll miss out on so much progress. This is why the best programs for natural lifters use low volume and high frequency because you can't have both, and if you focus on high volume, your progress will be slower because of the 48 hour protein synthesis.

The only exception is if you take steroids. Steroid users can extend that 48 hour period over far longer periods of time so they can hit one different body part each day and blast it with as much volume as possible and it will grow just because the drugs prolong protein synthesis to an entire week.

consistent weight progressive overload is not that important for them since you are training to achieve metabolic stress growth, not mechanical tension. Look up mechanical tension training vs metabolic stress training.

This is even dumber than your first statement. You're basically saying that pumping up the muscles with high volume without making them stronger will make them bigger, but that's only true if you are on steroids. It works for steroid users because steroids alone will make their muscles grow and they boost protein synthesis so much that they only have to train all their muscles to failure and they will grow.

The truth is that without progressive overload, you won't make any gains, that is because muscle growth is only a side effect of muscular adaptations that occur when you get strong.

The reason why the body goes through those muscular adaptations is because it is a survival mechanism meant to help humans survive in tough environments, so when the body is exposed to high amounts of muscular stress over a long enough period of time and is given enough food to grow, the muscles grow to allow you to lift more weight to have a greater chance of surviving in a tough environment.

This is also why when you stop going to the gym, you start losing all your gains, because your body doesn't need those huge muscles anymore because it isn't exposed to high enough amounts of resistance training to need to maintain that level of muscle mass. However, when it gets put in that same environment (lifting weights), it is much faster to build muscle because your body remembers how it did it before, which is where muscle memory comes from.

The biggest sign of whether someone is on steroids or not is to compare their size to their strength, usually if someone can only bench 135 lbs but they have a huge chest, they are on drugs, it's the same with every other lift, however if they are really strong and look smaller, it's not because they trained for strength, it's because they are natural.

The reason why you believe all your bullshit is because you take your information from steroid users who lie about their drug use by claiming that they are natural when it's really obvious that they are not. I trust Blaha and Rippetoe because they are natural lifters who teach the most efficient path to a muscular physique.

I am not underplaying the importance of mechanical tension and progressive overloading, they both are really important and CANNOT be ignored for good progression. But to ignore metabolic stress, a process that has been proven by multiple studies, is just not very smart. You should read the T-nation article.

I do agree about calves being mainly genetics, still think isolation work can help you reach your genetic limit faster. If you are doing conventional DLs and Squats that is enough for legs in my book, so I agree with you, I think I misunderstood you in that point.

 

[randomuser2407]

The 3 Essential Workout Methods for Muscle | T Nation

There are three training mechanisms that contribute to building muscle. You need to use all of them to grow. Here's how.

www.t-nation.com

.

Good article, recommend reading

You always have to consider the source, the 4 questions you need to ask yourself before trusting someone's advice are:

1) Does this person look like they lift?
2) Does this person look like a natural lifter (is their strength proportional to their size) ?
3) How good is this person at training people (what are the results of their clients, how many years have they been coaching people, and so on)?

In that case, not only does the guy not really look like he lifts, but he also has a weak amount and quality of testimonials from his clients.
So, he is shit at coaching people and he is shit at lifting weights himself.

Just because of those 2 things, anyone who takes this guy seriously is an idiot.

 

[randomuser2407]

Why would a Jason Blaha program add more weight to your OHP than any other OHP program? Doesnt make sense

Anyone can say. " with this program you will add 20 lbs to OHP every month". Thats not how it works.

No, when I say that the program adds this much weight to my lifts, I mean it because I used it, and that's the rate of progress that I saw for my second and third month, and that was after having to deload because of plateaus.

Even if you do more volume on the upper body lifts, you will not make faster progress than on that program because it's not a CNS issue, it's a muscular fatigue issue, just because you don't train your legs doesn't mean that your upper body will be able to handle more volume.

 

[randomuser2407]

i made good progress in a year just doing random shit for 6 months ngl. look up a list of muscle building exercises for each muscle. do them for 10 reps 3 sets 3 times a week and eat healthy and slight calorie surplus and youre good tbh.

Just because it worked for you doesn't mean it will work for other people, you must have really good genetics.

And besides, if you had been on a better program, you would have made much better gains, I know because my best friend has amazing genetics and I gave him my program and showed him everything and he became the biggest guy of the gym after only 2 years because of me. With a shitty program he would have made gains but he wouldn't be anywhere near as big as he is today without my help.

And most people don't have such good genetics so they'll stall on bad programs.

 

[Deleted member 6867]

bump

 

[randomuser2407]

bump

Why did you edit your comment?

 

[Deleted member 6867]

That's actually the worst gym ever. It's like Canada's very own version of planet fitness.

lol so affordable but the best gyms are the ones with saunas

 

[randomuser2407]

lol so affordable but the best gyms are the ones with saunas

No, the best gym you can get is a home gym. Mine is going to be ready very soon, I'm just waiting for my Rogue Fitness equipment to be delivered, I have all my weights and flooring already.

 

[NeanderthalMax]

You always have to consider the source, the 4 questions you need to ask yourself before trusting someone's advice are:

1) Does this person look like they lift?
2) Does this person look like a natural lifter (is their strength proportional to their size) ?
3) How good is this person at training people (what are the results of their clients, how many years have they been coaching people, and so on)?

In that case, not only does the guy not really look like he lifts, but he also has a weak amount and quality of testimonials from his clients.
So, he is shit at coaching people and he is shit at lifting weights himself.

Just because of those 2 things, anyone who takes this guy seriously is an idiot.

View attachment 757567
View attachment 757568

How big your muscles is not a good indicator of how smart you are about training, it has more to do with your genetics. Just like we were talking about calves earlier are we going to assume Omarisuf is bad at coaching because he has small calves? Using steroids or not using steroids also has 0 to do with how smart you are about training. The best athletes don't make the best coaches in sports, it is a lot more about your knowledge and IQ. Having few testimonies is a fair point, but it doesn't mean he is a bad coach, popularity doesn't always equal quality.

Here is another video where that metabolic stress is discussed as an important component of muscle growth:


Your training methods are good, but they do take a more powerlifting approach. They really emphasize mechanical tension, which is not bad since it is the most important growth stimulant (out of the 3) and extremely important for strength. However, you can't ignore or deny that metabolic stress is also important for growth and should be included in all training programs for the highest optimization.

Getting tired of this, so gonna head out.

 

[ropemaxx]

No, when I say that the program adds this much weight to my lifts, I mean it because I used it, and that's the rate of progress that I saw for my second and third month, and that was after having to deload because of plateaus.

Even if you do more volume on the upper body lifts, you will not make faster progress than on that program because it's not a CNS issue, it's a muscular fatigue issue, just because you don't train your legs doesn't mean that your upper body will be able to handle more volume.

I mean i never claimed you will get stronger on the upper lifts because you skip leg day.
My original statement still holds true. If you wanna get an aesthetic physique to improve your chance with women. Squatting and deadlifts are totally unnecessary

 

[ropemaxx]

I trust Blaha and Rippetoe because they are natural lifters who teach the most efficient path to a muscular physique.

So you trust the least aesthetic guys in the fitness community on how to look aesthetic?
Getting stronger when you put on a ton of weight an fat is not impressive. Ofcourse you get stronger easily when you eat 5000 calories a day( Mark Rippetoe)

What a joke bro.

 

[Deleted member 7313]

Just because it worked for you doesn't mean it will work for other people, you must have really good genetics.

And besides, if you had been on a better program, you would have made much better gains, I know because my best friend has amazing genetics and I gave him my program and showed him everything and he became the biggest guy of the gym after only 2 years because of me. With a shitty program he would have made gains but he wouldn't be anywhere near as big as he is today without my help.

And most people don't have such good genetics so they'll stall on bad programs.

good genetics i have some of the worst genetics here
you people act like working out and making progress is so hard. you dont need a routine or whatever for good progress lmao. look at all these jacked 13-15 year olds , you think they follow a routine.

 

[Deleted member 10413]

Bro overlord is the shit. You have to watch it.

Im assuming you like solo leveling because of your avi so have you tried reading other stuff like:

Read Reincarnation Of The Strongest Sword God novel online free - ReadNovelFull

Read Reincarnation Of The Strongest Sword God novel online free at ReadNovelFull in Mobile, Tablet, iOS, Android, PC, Desktop. Author: Lucky Old Cat. Genre: Xianxia

readnovelfull.com

Read I Am The Sorcerer King Manhwa - Mangatx.com

About I Am The Sorcerer King Manhwa : 10 years ago, the monster horde from the rift formed from space and time started attacking the mankind. At the same

mangatx.com

The Gamer

Jihan Han is your typical high school student-- minus the fact the he’s acquired the special ability to view the world around him as a video-game. Not long after this discovery, he stumbles upon a hidden world filled with others just like him. Now, amidst juggling homework and completing quests...

www.webtoons.com

 

[johncruz12345]

Im assuming you like solo leveling because of your avi so have you tried reading other stuff like:

Read Reincarnation Of The Strongest Sword God novel online free - ReadNovelFull

Read Reincarnation Of The Strongest Sword God novel online free at ReadNovelFull in Mobile, Tablet, iOS, Android, PC, Desktop. Author: Lucky Old Cat. Genre: Xianxia

readnovelfull.com

Read I Am The Sorcerer King Manhwa - Mangatx.com

About I Am The Sorcerer King Manhwa : 10 years ago, the monster horde from the rift formed from space and time started attacking the mankind. At the same

mangatx.com

The Gamer

Jihan Han is your typical high school student-- minus the fact the he’s acquired the special ability to view the world around him as a video-game. Not long after this discovery, he stumbles upon a hidden world filled with others just like him. Now, amidst juggling homework and completing quests...

www.webtoons.com

No. I haven't I've heard of them tho.

 

[randomuser2407]

good genetics i have some of the worst genetics here
you people act like working out and making progress is so hard. you dont need a routine or whatever for good progress lmao. look at all these jacked 13-15 year olds , you think they follow a routine.
View attachment 758364

This is exactly what good genetics are. You have no idea how normal or bad genetics are because you have good genetics and the person that you know the most is yourself.

But I am not using genetics as an excuse to making no progress, all I am saying is that for me to keep making progress after my first month of lifting, I had to perfect my form and I had to use a good program with good progressive overload. If I were to use a bad program, I would make no progress.

Good genetics allow your body to make muscular adaptations faster and with less training stress, while bad genetics make slower adaptations which require more training stress. And some people are genetically gifted for muscle gain while others are genetically gifted for strength.

Usually, when you have total testosterone levels over 1000 ng/dl without drugs, it means that you have superior genetics to the average person so you will make easier progress in the gym. Mine are at 534 ng/dl, which is around half of that. Of course, testosterone levels aren't everything, but it does have an impact.

Also, my genetics made me tall and made it easy for me to remain skinny but difficult to gain muscle, I know because some of my ancestors had the same problem, no matter how much manual labour they did, they remained skinny and couldn't gain muscle, that is because they required harder muscular fatigue than manual labour could provide for them.

I also remember that I started lifting with a basic program from bodybuilding.com and no matter how many curls I did, my arms remained tiny and I couldn't gain strength on the curls, and if I ate a ton of food, I only got fat. Some people on this forum would claim that it was due to my testosterone levels but it was not because when I fixed my training, I made the best gains of my life.

That is why I said that what worked for you may not work for others. However, a good full body training program will work for most people because it's effective. And if you have good genetics, it will give you better and faster progress than your current shitty program.

 

[randomuser2407]

So you trust the least aesthetic guys in the fitness community on how to look aesthetic?
Getting stronger when you put on a ton of weight an fat is not impressive. Ofcourse you get stronger easily when you eat 5000 calories a day( Mark Rippetoe)

What a joke bro.

Mark Rippetoe doesn't tell people to get fat for the sake of getting fat. The GOMAD diet is only recommended to underweight guys who are not lactose intolerant and are unable to eat enough to gain weight.

What you don't understand is that as a natural lifter, although you don't need to bulk and cut, you need to be able to recover from your workouts, to do that you can't maintain a low body fat, you have to be in the 15 to 20% body fat range, otherwise your progress will be extremely slow.

Rippetoe teaches men how to add 60 lbs to their squat until they reach they can squat their bodyweight, then usually they can only add around 30-35 lbs to their squat every month, and in a matter of only around 6-7 months, they reach a 315 lb squat for reps. As for the deadlift, you only need to train your technique which is why there is a 1x5 once in a while that you have to do on the program. As for the upper body lifts, they take a bit longer to make progress but usually within a year with more frequency than starting strength provides, you can get your overhead press to 135 lbs for reps, your pendlay row to 200 lbs for reps, and your bench press to 225 lbs for reps.

After reaching those standards, most people become intermediate lifters because they reach the end of their phase of linear progression so to keep making gains, they need more volume and they need to periodize their training, you can find the information online or in Rippetoe's book "Practical Programming for Strength Training" which teaches you how to make a good intermediate and advanced program to keep making great progress.


The reason why people make bad progress on starting strength is because they are idiots who don't read the program properly. They do endless bulking past the 15-20% body fat range, and then they wonder why they got so fat, and they also fail to do proper progressive overload because they don't use proper form. Most people don't have the mobility to squat to depth properly which is why they quarter squat instead.

Rippetoe teaches people how to get strong because strength is the only thing that can build muscle which is why you'll never see a skinny guy who can do weighted chin ups with 100 lbs, overhead press 200 lbs, bench press 300 lbs, squat 400 lbs and deadlift 500 lbs.
All the guys who have reached this level are very muscular and ripped, they all have an impressive physique no matter how shitty you think their frame looks in the beginning, in the end, they all look very similar if they are at a similar height.

The reason why some guys look narrow is because their lats are weak because they never trained with weighted chin ups.
The weighted chin ups (or pullups) are what will build your V taper the most and make you look extremely wide no matter how narrow you may look in the beginning. Chin ups also build your biceps at the same time way better than bicep curls ever could, having a strong weighted chin up guarantees you will have huge biceps, and on the opposite end, pullups build the triceps more.

 

[ropemaxx]

Mark Rippetoe doesn't tell people to get fat for the sake of getting fat. The GOMAD diet is only recommended to underweight guys who are not lactose intolerant and are unable to eat enough to gain weight.

Lol giga cope. Mark rippetoe recommends absurdly high calorie diets. 99% of his students are permabulked fat people aswell.
They all look big sure, but unaesthetic as fuck

Chin ups also build your biceps at the same time way better than bicep curls ever could, having a strong weighted chin up guarantees you will have huge biceps, and on the opposite end, pullups build the triceps more.

hahahah i should just put you on ignore list. you truly are the perfect 5x5 squat 3 times a week, perma bulking sheep.
i literally mog colvins arms(no disrespect to him, he lifts for strength not to get big arms) although he has waay stronger chin ups than me.
bicep curls will forever and ever be the best bicep excercise to make your bicep big. its scary lunatics like you actually give training advice, holy fuck

The reason why some guys look narrow is because their lats are weak because they never trained with weighted chin ups.
The weighted chin ups (or pullups) are what will build your V taper the most and make you look extremely wide no matter how narrow you may look in the beginning.

Christ another retard comment. Obviously your lats will be the biggest when you can do weighted pullups at 100 lbs, there is no debating that.
But if you need to do 100lbs weighted pullups to have a v taper, your genetics are pure trash or you are fat and have a big waist.
Also if you have a good weighted pullups but have high body fat, like 90% of you permabulking squat retards, you wont have any v taper at all.

 

[randomuser2407]

Lol giga cope. Mark rippetoe recommends absurdly high calorie diets. 99% of his students are permabulked fat people aswell.
They all look big sure, but unaesthetic as fuck

Like I said, it's never explicitly written in the program that you need to do GOMAD or that you need to consume that many calories.

In the videos I posted, Rippetoe actually says the opposite of what you claim, he says to maintain a body fat that is between 15 and 20%, if you are below 15% and have no muscle mass, you are underweight, if you are above 20%, you are overweight, this is also what medical professionals recommend and most athletes performing at the highest level in sports like Hockey and Soccer have to maintain a 15% body fat at least because otherwise being too lean would have a negative impact on their performance.

The trick to not waste time cutting as a natural is to reach and maintain a body fat between the 15 and 20% range, while you get as strong as humanly possible, and then when you are satisfied with your gains, you can cut down to 10% body fat to reveal more definition.

You can't however start at 10% body fat and achieve the physique that you want while maintaining that body fat, it won't work because your body needs the extra fat to recover. When you are between 15 and 20% as a beginner though, since you can gain up to 24 lbs of muscle in your first year, you'll end up recomping if you maintain that body fat, so you'll gain weight but without getting fat.

Rippetoe did talk about 5000 calories but it's only an estimation and it only applies to guys who are very skinny and unable to gain weight on less than that. So it only applies to construction workers who are very tall.

Of course Rippetoe is fat, he is in his 60s and he has accumulated many injuries over the years and his body isn't what it used to be because he is very old. Even if you don't get injured in your entire life, you'll still feel weaker when you'll be older.

A personal trainer's ability to make his clients progress faster and better than everyone else is way more important than how the personal trainer looks himself. You can pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to a guy like Jeff Seid and make no progress or you can pay a natural strength coach who looks less impressive and make better results. If you trust fake natties just because they are more aesthetic, then you're an idiot.

 

[ropemaxx]

Like I said, it's never explicitly written in the program that you need to do GOMAD or that you need to consume that many calories.

In the videos I posted, Rippetoe actually says the opposite of what you claim, he says to maintain a body fat that is between 15 and 20%, if you are below 15% and have no muscle mass, you are underweight, if you are above 20%, you are overweight, this is also what medical professionals recommend and most athletes performing at the highest level in sports like Hockey and Soccer have to maintain a 15% body fat at least because otherwise being too lean would have a negative impact on their performance.

The trick to not waste time cutting as a natural is to reach and maintain a body fat between the 15 and 20% range, while you get as strong as humanly possible, and then when you are satisfied with your gains, you can cut down to 10% body fat to reveal more definition.

You can't however start at 10% body fat and achieve the physique that you want while maintaining that body fat, it won't work because your body needs the extra fat to recover. When you are between 15 and 20% as a beginner though, since you can gain up to 24 lbs of muscle in your first year, you'll end up recomping if you maintain that body fat, so you'll gain weight but without getting fat.

Rippetoe did talk about 5000 calories but it's only an estimation and it only applies to guys who are very skinny and unable to gain weight on less than that. So it only applies to construction workers who are very tall.

Of course Rippetoe is fat, he is in his 60s and he has accumulated many injuries over the years and his body isn't what it used to be because he is very old. Even if you don't get injured in your entire life, you'll still feel weaker when you'll be older.

A personal trainer's ability to make his clients progress faster and better than everyone else is way more important than how the personal trainer looks himself. You can pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to a guy like Jeff Seid and make no progress or you can pay a natural strength coach who looks less impressive and make better results. If you trust fake natties just because they are more aesthetic, then you're an idiot.

yes but those guys always go over 20% and never below 15%
anyway respond to my other comments