Routines that you've made the biggest gains on

[Travis Bell]

I thought we'd get a thread going about routines that people have made the biggest gains on.

I started bodybuilding type training when I was 16, but when I was about 18, I found a routine that I pulled out of an old M&F magazine that was supposedly something that Arnold used to do (looking back, I'm not so sure). It was a halfway decent program that was fairly intense. I really made some great gains both in my mass as well as my leanness. I got down to about 6% (bod pod) and was really having fun with it.

It was something like

Day 1 - chest and tris
Day 2 - Legs
Day 3 - Back and Bis
Day 4 - Shoulders/Traps
Day 5 - Legs again
Day 6 and 7 - off

So what have you done that's afforded you the greatest gains? I know Tom used to do some bodybuilding type stuff and still does today. CP does a lot of DC stuff that is working quite well for him.

Post it up bodybuilders!

[Irish Pilot]

My current routine has provided the best results thus far, and its fairly straightforward...

You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. I do MWF.
The first work out is your heavy work out.
The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets.
The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.

Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight.

Back Squat
Flat DB Presses
Bent-Over Rows
Overhead Barbell Presses
SLDLs
Barbell Curls
Calf Raises

Five week cycle as follows:
First week all 4 sets for 8 reps.
Second week all 4 sets for 9 reps.
Third week all 4 sets for 10 reps.
Fourth week all 4 sets for 11 reps.
Fifth week all 4 sets for 12 reps.

If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and repeat the cycle.

Now that Ive gone back to caloric surplus, Ive actually done a 3 week style of 8 reps, 10 reps, 12 reps, increase weight instead of the 5 week. Im sometimes change it up for variation (flat BB instead of DB, weighted chins instead of BORs, etc.)

[Off Road]

Good idea...

I'm not a bodybuilder per say, but I made the best gains on a 20 rep squat routine. It was an A/B routine where you'd work three days a week and rotate between the two workouts:

Routine A: (pull)
Squats 1x20
S.l.d.l. 1x12
Chins 1xMax
Rows 1x12

Routine B: (push)
Bar dips 2x12
Shoulder press 1x12
Rear laterals 1x12

[Sean S]

I had been "lifting weights" for about 12 years without much substantial progress in a long time. Then I started powerlifting and used a basic Westside template. That program combined with not being afraid to gain weight lead to huge gains over the next year or so. In less than a year my lifts went up as follows:
SQ - up ~120 lbs.
BP- up 60 lbs.
DL- up ~150 lbs.

Keep in mind this was after training these lifts directly or indirectly for 10+ years. Here's the formula that worked for me Westside template + weight gain + training with stronger people.

[Cirino83]

BGB, but that was only because I was bulking while doing that routine.

My current routine is something like this:

Day 1: upper power
Day 2: lower power
Day 3: HIIT/Cardio
Day 4: upper hypertrohpy
Day 5: lower hypertrophy

I like it alot better than BGB, although I am reading SS and will be giving that a try during this bulk.

[Travis Bell]

BGB, but that was only because I was bulking while doing that routine.

My current routine is something like this:

Day 1: upper power
Day 2: lower power
Day 3: HIIT/Cardio
Day 4: upper hypertrohpy
Day 5: lower hypertrophy

I like it alot better than BGB, although I am reading SS and will be giving that a try during this bulk.

Can you expound a little more on your current routine? It interests me

[Justin R]

It was something like

Day 1 - chest and tris
Day 2 - Legs
Day 3 - Back and Bis
Day 4 - Shoulders/Traps
Day 5 - Legs again
Day 6 and 7 - off

A buddy of mine does that same split minus the extra leg day(we play rugby so practice 2x a week plus game day on sat kinda limits your leg recovery lol) he does 3-4x5 for compound lifts and 3x7-8 for accessory work. He eats healthy, plenty of protein but not to much over maintenance and has put on about 25 lbs in the last 2 years with little to no increase in bf%.

I would definitely recommend that type of program to anyone looking to get in great shape and put on some lean mass.

[AnotherNumber]

Can you expound a little more on your current routine? It interests me

Me too, If you wouldn't mind.

[Hazerboy]

My best gains came when I was only training 2-3x a week, eating a lot, and doing 20 rep squats. I went from 135-160 in only a few months.

[Off Road]

One other workout I made BIG bodyweight gains on was Rader's Deadlift Program:

Deadlift= work up to a heavy set of 5 reps.
Deadlift (75%) = do one set of 15 reps, resting only at the top (lockout).
Bar dips = a couple of sets of 12 reps.
Barbell Curls = a couple of sets of 12 reps.

[twm]

intermediate 5x5 and a derivative of upper/lower that Cirino posted.

[DMedley]

Never sure what program has given me the greatest gains. I made my biggest gains when I workout between 18 and 20 years of age. Of course I would have made my biggest gains without working out during that time. How much was natural growth and how much credit to the workout? Beats me.

My favorite workout is from Reg Parks written in the late 1950"s if memory serves me well in my advanced years.

Phase One

45-degree back extension 3x10
Squat 5x5
Bench press 5x5
Dead-lift 5x5

Rest 3-5 minutes between the last 3 sets of each exercise.

*** Train three days per week for three months. ***

Phase Two

45-degree back extension 3-4x10
Squat 5x5
Bench press 5x5
Standing barbell shoulder press 5x5
High pull 5x5
Dead-lift 5x5
Calf raise 5x25

Rest 2 minutes between sets.

*** Train three days per week for three months. ***

Phase Three

45-degree back extension 4x10
Squat 5x5
Standing barbell shoulder press 5x5
Bench press 5x5
Rows 5x5
Dead-lift 5x3
One-arm dumbbell press 5x5
Barbell curl 5x5
Lying triceps extension 5x8
Calf raise 5x25

Rest 2 minutes between sets.

*** Train three days per week for three months. ***

Notes: 5x5 includes two progressively heavier warm-up sets and three sets at the same weight. Increase weights at approximately the same interval, example: Back squat: first set 135x5, second set 185x5, followed by three sets of 225x5.

When you can complete the last 3x5 at a given weight, increase the weight on all five sets 5-10 pounds.

[thereturn]

ive just come back to the gym after a relatively long lay off (~3 years) and im using SS. I have made the most gains on this routine and ive been using it over the past 5-6 weeks. Currently using the following for reps, as of today
DL: 315 (up from 220 when i started)
Sq: 275 (up from 200)
Bench: 247.5 (up from 220)

[Clifford Gillmore]

GVT 10x10!!!

[Travis Bell]

Great post DMedley! Cool routine

[Clifford Gillmore]

GVT 10x10!!!

I should elaborate;

I did a squat, bench and dead based german volume training routine. I took the main movement, then 3-5 sets of 6-15 reps for acc work;

Squats

Squat 10x10
DB Lunges 5-6 x 6-10
Front squat 5-6 x 6-10
Weighted abs
Curls

Bench

Bench 10x10
DB Rows 5-6 x 6-10
Dips 5-6 x 6-10
Chins 25-30 reps, how ever many sets it took.

Dead

Deadlift 10x10
Dimel Deads 5-6 x 6-10
Good Mornings 5-6 x 6-10
Abs/Shrugs
Curls again


It wasn't good, and it goes against ALL things I recommend but it did work for me for a brief period of time. I think I burnt out, couldn't take and swapped to power lifting.

[brihead301]

The Texas Method for strength gains...

I'm doing 5/3/1 now though, and I'm getting some amazing size gains from doing the higher rep assistance work. I feel as if I will be making steady strength gains on it for a long time to come too though.

[Cards]

Day One:
2 push (1 vertical, 1 horizontal)
2 pull (1 vertical, 1 horizontal)
1-2 accessory movements

Day Two:
Variation Squat
Variation Deadlift

Monday- Day One
Tuesday- Day Two
Wednesday- Off
Thursday - Variation of day One
Friday- Variation of Day Two
Sat& Sun - Off

[dynamo]

Monday

Chest
Bench Press (5x5)
DB Bench Press (5x5)
Pec Deck (5x5 or 7x3 depending on energy(

Tuesday

Posterior
Deadlift (5x5)
Tbar Row (5x5)
Good morning (5x5)

Wednesday
off

Thursday

Arms/shoulders
Standing mil press (5x5)
Side Lateral Raises (5x5)
Front Lateral Raises (5x5)

Hammer Curl (5x5)
DB Curl (5x5)
Ez Bar (5x5)

CGBP or OH Tricep Extension (5x5)
Tri Push Down (5x5)
Single Arm OH Tri Extension (5x5)

Friday

Legs
Squat (5x5)
SLDL (5x5)
Calf Raises (5x5 or 7x4)

When I do this my first set of 5x5 includes my warm so my bench might be 135x15 then 225x5 then 275x5 then 295x5 315x1x1x1x1 etc but after my warm up every exercise afterwards is pretty intense. The whole volume thing is just a guide for me I listen to my body. If I can only get 3 then so be it I only get 3 but if I really want 5 I will find a way to knock out the other 2. Sometimes I don't always go for max effort either, but I stick close to this template. So far its afforded me a 320 bench 425 deadlift and 405 squat, in about a year. I made it by changing up WBB1 and reading a thread about how people do 5x5 but not really knowing what the originial 5x5 program was. When I was uber bulking I was doing 5 sets of 5 reps for 5 exercises, that worked really well but it took alot of time and after about 6 months I was too worn out to keep it up so 5x5x3 is good now.

[Songsangnim]

Day 1 (PM)

Squat
Leg press
Calf press


Day 3 (PM)

Flat bench (next week Row)
Chin up
Row (next week Flat bench)
Vertical bench (Hammer strength machine)


Day 6 (AM)

Deadlift
Dip.

[NickAus]

Just thought I would share what I did to pack on 3" to my thighs.
I did really well doing a 5 rep day-sets of 5's in the squat then assistance and a 10 rep day.
Think it was Mon 5's, Thur 10's.
This really worked for size.

[Judas]

I've tried a lot ov the usual routines, got good gains outta most ov 'em, but the best results have always come from my own. I haven't strayed far from my basic templates in three years, and i cant see the need in the near future either. For bench i use a fairly basic 5x8/5x5/3x3 scheme, open-ended, so it can take months. For squats i've actually moved onto something entirely different and now train them like a weightlifter exclusively, so essentially i wing it according to what i need to work on. For the O-lifts i'm just kinda playing it by ear, though lately i've found i can apply basic powerlifting program principals and get very decent gains... though i'm admittedly still a beginner in weightlifting so almost anything would work.

[joey54]

Actually, maybe German Volume Training in a 1 month time period combined with very good eating and rest periods.

[Travis Bell]

Has anyone done much with higher volume routines (lots of sets of 15+)?

[Cards]

Travis,
I know this isn't what this thread is about, but I like that this thread shows diversity. When we have new members come here we preach SS and then Texas Method, but this thread shows that there is a variety of ways to train and they should all be taken into account. Learn, apply, evaluate, and then change. I think most things fall into this model.