Routines that you've made the biggest gains on

[Off Road]

I agree with you Cards. I think the biggest lesson a newbie can take from this thread is that all these routines are focused on compound movements and recovery.

[muscled]

Full body, 3 times a week or less, with focus on the heavy compounds and lots of meat, eggs and milk.

Very low reps on Squat, Bench, Deads, OHP and Barbell Rows. Sprinkle ins ome pullups, chins n dips. Occasional barbell curl and cgbp. Thus far, it has taken me from 175 to 193. Brief, intense, brutal, painful and blissful.

[Travis Bell]

Full body, 3 times a week or less, with focus on the heavy compounds and lots of meat, eggs and milk.

Any more detail? What compound movements are you doing? Sets and reps, that sorta thing?

[Travis Bell]

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

Just a bump on this question so it doesn't get buried

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.

Exactly! It doesn't mean people should just shoot from the hip, pick a program that is outlined for you, not you making your own program. The biggest mistake that newbies make when designing a program is that they pick and choose exercises that are either way to specific, or they just do ones that they like.

[Coqui]

Bill Starr's 5 X 5 Started in July

[Cirino83]

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

Sure, here ya go:

Day 1: upper power

BB Flat Bench (3x5)
Weighted pull-ups (3x5)
Seated Pulldowns (8,6,4) switch sets from front to behind
BB Military Press (3x5)
Shrugs (8,6,4)
Close Grip Bench (3x5)
Tricep Rope Pulldowns (2x8) hold last rep 90 degrees until failure
BB Curls (2x6)


Day 2: lower power
Squats (3x5)
Deadlifts (3x5)
Calf Raises (3x8)
Weighted Hip Flexes (3x5)
Ab work


Day 3: Cardio or off day


Day 4: upper hypertrophy
Weighted pull-ups (3x10)
BB Bent Over Rows (3x10)
Pulldowns (3x10)
Seated incline DB shrugs (2x20)
DB Incline Bench (2x15)
BB Bench (2x10)
Lat Raises or Military Press (2x10)
Tricep Pulldown (1x10) pause last rep

Day 5: lower hypertrophy
Squats (3x8-10)
DL or SLDL (3x8)
Abs or Core work
Neck Harness (2x10)

[Kal el]

German Volume Training has worked best for me over short periods of time.

Mondays: Chest & Back
Dumbbell bench press 10 x 10
Barbell rows 10 x10
Dumbbell Pull overs 3 x 12



Wednesday: Legs & Shoulders
Squats 10 x 10
Deadlifts 10 x 10
Shoulder press (dumbbell) 10 x 10



Friday: Arms
Barbell Curl 10 x 10
Close grip bench press 10 x 10
Dips 3 x as many as you can

[Meat_Head]

I don't know how you guys can do anything after 10x10 squats or deads in GVT, I could barely stumble to the car after that.

Well I've been very inconsistent, but I did advanced GVT when I was 17 or 18 and had fantastic gains, packed on more muscle in a short period of time than I ever have. Anyway it goes something like this(copied and pasted from another website):

Workout 1

The goal of the Advanced German Volume Training method is to complete 10 sets of 5 reps with the same weight for each exercise. You want to begin with a weight you could lift for 10 reps to failure (10RM), if you had to push it. For most people, on most exercises, that would represent 75% of their 1 R.M. load. Therefore, if you can bench press 300 pounds for one rep, you would use 225 pounds for this exercise.

Workout 2

Increase the weight by 6-7% and strive to do 10 sets of 4 reps with that weight.

NOTE: It is not uncommon on the second workout to be able to complete all sets of 4, as your work capacity will have improved from the first GVT workout.

Workout 3

Increase weight of Workout 1 by 8-9% and strive to do 10 sets of 3 reps with that weight. Yes, you are reading it correctly—8-9%, not 6-7%.

NOTE: During sets 6-7-8, you will think your spleen wants to come out of your right eye, but stick with it as sets 9 and 10 will be the easiest.

Workout 4

Use the weights you used in Workout 2 and go for 10 sets of 5, which you should do easily. If not, you have the Testosterone count of a castrated field mouse who consumes xeno-estrogens by the barrel.

Workout 5

Use the weights in workout 3 and go for 10 sets of 4, which again you should do easily. Otherwise, you are one of those Americans who eats an average of 60 dozen donuts a year (no kidding, that is what the average American eats, and if you take out the average tofu-eating Oregonian, the average Ohio resident probably eats 79 dozen).

Workout 6

By now you should be able to do 10 sets of 3 at 275 pounds with no problem. If not, your training background is probably slow tempo Kettlebell power snatches performed on the Bosu Ball.

Day 1: Chest and Back

A-1: Barbell Bench Press
10 sets of 5 on a 40X0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

A-2: Lean-away Chin-ups
10 sets of 5 on a 40X0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

B-1: Parallel Bar Dips
3 sets of 6-8 on a 40X0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

B-2: One-Arm Arc Dumbbell Rows
3 sets of 6-8 on a 40X0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

Day 2: Legs

A-1: Back Squats
10 sets of 5 on a 40X0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

A-2: Lying Leg Curls, feet pointing away from the body
10 sets of 5 on a 40X0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

B-1: Dumbbell Lunges
3 sets of 6-8 on a 30X0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

B-2: Rack pulls from lowest pin level
3 sets of 6-8 on a 40X0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

Day 3: Off

Day 4: Arms

A-1: Incline Dumbbell Curls
10 sets of 5 on a 30X0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

A-2: Close Grip Bench Press
10 sets of 5 on a 30X0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

B-1: Thick Bar Reverse Curls
3 sets of 6-8 on a 30X0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

B-2: Seated EZ Bar French presses
3 sets of 6-8 on a 30X0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

Day 5: Off

Day 6: Chest and Back

A-1: Standing OH press
10 sets of 5 on a 40X0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

A-2: Pulldowns
10 sets of 5 on a 40X0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

B-1: DB bench press
3 sets of 6-8 on a 40X0 tempo, rest 90 seconds

B-2: One-Arm Elbowing Rows (the elbow comes out to the side, as if you were elbowing someone in the chops)
3 sets of 6-8 on a 30X0 tempo, rest 90 seconds


Sorry for the long post, but its an excellent routine for hypertrophy that I hope to try again soon!

[ZenMonkey]

Texas Method and Madcow

[Bodyguard]

i workout twice a week usally a low rep with a ton of weight.
once a month ill bench press an unloaded bar 3x100, it hurts really bad!!!

[Coqui]

i workout twice a week usally a low rep with a ton of weight.
once a month ill bench press an unloaded bar 3x100, it hurts really bad!!!

10 reps - this is easy
20 reps - man I could do this all day
30 reps - finally I'm feeling it
40 reps - wow this is starting to burn
50 reps - Can I make it all the way
60 reps - Ow Ow Ow Ow Ow
70 reps - Please let this be over
80 reps - I'm not going to make it
90 reps - Mommy!
100 reps - I'm just going to lie here for about 4 hours.

[J.C.]

This thread is great! I lost a lot of weight over the summer (construction work, not eating enough, no weight training) and I'm looking to bulk up quickly again over the next couple of months. Some good reading here.

Dmedley, how did you find that Reg Parks routine? I've seen his stuff before and find it very interesting but 5x5 on Squat and Deadlift 3x a week?! Does the body adapt to that much intensity? Also, how long were the workouts in the last stage? I heard he used to favour workouts up to 3 hours long, often with snacking during them. Which is very different from the "get out the gym within an hour" stuff you hear nowadays.

[Irish Pilot]

Sure, here ya go:

Day 1: upper power
...
Day 2: lower power
...
Day 3: Cardio or off day
...
Day 4: upper hypertrophy
...
Day 5: lower hypertrophy
...

This is a lot like Layne Nortons routine, except that he mixes the power/hype days.

[Travis Bell]

This is a lot like Layne Nortons routine, except that he mixes the power/hype days.

What do you mean he mixes the power/hypertrophy days? Like does them on opposite days?


Great input guys!. MeatHead, that was an awesome post.

It seems that one of the things that also jumps out at me is the volume you all have within the routines that helped you along.

Volume is huge. The weight itself is important, but achieving the proper volume or "time under the bar" is going to be vastly more effective than focusing purely on the weight your using.

Actually one of the things that I think people miss is that over time you should be able to increase your volume in the gym. Obviously it'll have to vary in intensity so your body doesn't get burnt out.

Does anyone occasionally do 2 sessions per day?

[Off Road]

It seems that one of the things that also jumps out at me is the volume you all have within the routines that helped you along.

I'm seeing some low volume stuff too.

[DMedley]

Dmedley, how did you find that Reg Parks routine?

Not sure where I got it originally. You can do a search for his workouts, I know there are a few different ones.

I've seen his stuff before and find it very interesting but 5x5 on Squat and Deadlift 3x a week?! Does the body adapt to that much intensity?

I believe the system does adapt. You also need to be eating big enough to fully recover between workout. I am 63 years old, eat around 2200 calories per day and have been both squats and deadlifts 3 times per week with no problems.

how long were the workouts in the last stage? I heard he used to favour workouts up to 3 hours long, often with snacking during them. Which is very different from the "get out the gym within an hour" stuff you hear nowadays.

Remember this is from a guy with a very old memory, but if memory serves me right it took about 1 1/2 hours depending on rest between sets.

[J.C.]

Ok, I'm just wondering about intensity then because if I do a true 5x5 across on squats I'm going to struggle to then do 5x5 across on heavy deadlifts. The deadlift is so intense many people now recommend you deadlift heavy fairly infrequently to allow recovery. 1x a week or less. Westside for instance generally approach getting stronger at the deadlift without actually deadlifting much. Although opinion varies. Sgt Rock on this forum goes against this and believes you should pull more frequently to get better at deadlifting.

Also, I'd need to take about three minutes rest between lower-body sets and probably a 5+ rest between my squats and my deads. So for five sets each that would already be quite a long time. And then you've got all that other stuff to do...

I really like the Reg Parks philosophy of working hard on the basic compounds, doing 5x5, so I'm just trying to figure out the bits I'm confused with... the only way I'm seeing this is if it's done at a significantly lower intensity, never to failure. If you're going for hypertrophy then I suppose that could work because all the volume would mean you'd still get enough work and you'd be able to cope with shorter rest times. If you were just trying to increase numbers then I'm sure the weights would get too heavy to keep that kind of thing up.

Thanks for putting it out there. I love seeing the old school methods of people like Reg Parks.

[vdizenzo]

Started with Bigger Faster Stronger for HS ball. Kept doing compound lifts thereafter. Now it's Westside. When I'm done competing I want to try SS.

[Off Road]

When I'm done competing I want to try SS.

LOL

[Sidior]

When I first started training I guess I made the most progress. Gained about 60lbs in 8 months and trained with high volume. Split looked like...
-Chest (usually 5 exercises, 3 presses and then 2 flyes or something)
-Back (barbell rows, tbar row, lat pulldown, seated row, deadlifts)
-Shoulders (seated dumbbells + maybe another 4 exercises, cant remember them all)
-Legs (squats, leg press, and another 3 machines)
-Arms (cant remember, but at least 3 exercises for my tris and another 3 for my bis)

Pretty basic and boring, not that well rounded either. But I was eating like a king and it got me going.

[Clifford Gillmore]

What do you mean he mixes the power/hypertrophy days? Like does them on opposite days?


Great input guys!. MeatHead, that was an awesome post.

It seems that one of the things that also jumps out at me is the volume you all have within the routines that helped you along.

Volume is huge. The weight itself is important, but achieving the proper volume or "time under the bar" is going to be vastly more effective than focusing purely on the weight your using.

Actually one of the things that I think people miss is that over time you should be able to increase your volume in the gym. Obviously it'll have to vary in intensity so your body doesn't get burnt out.

Does anyone occasionally do 2 sessions per day?

Time under tension is HUGE. It makes so much more sense to get more TUT, rather than relying on sets/reps.


I do 2 sessions per day every once in a while, but its not weight training - more stretchy rehaby stuff.

[Travis Bell]

Time under tension is HUGE. It makes so much more sense to get more TUT, rather than relying on sets/reps.

Well, just to clarify, time under tension normally refers to the actual lift, normally in powerlifting.

So for speed benching, time under tension is usually varied between 3 and 5 seconds for each set. That sorta thing

"time under the bar" is more just an expression that usually refers to spending time learning the lifts and doing them a lot. Lots of volume

[Travis Bell]

Started with Bigger Faster Stronger for HS ball. Kept doing compound lifts thereafter. Now it's Westside. When I'm done competing I want to try SS.

BFS I think is where a lot of people get their start if they played highschool sports. It's a very wide spread program that's for sure!

[Travis Bell]

I've done two sessions a day on occasion, usually if I do, it's far out from a meet. I'll do some more benching sometimes, sometimes I'll squat in the morning and pull in the evening or cardio in the evening.

it's hard for most people to be able to have the time to go in twice a day though. Since that's where I work it's a lot easier.

[Clifford Gillmore]

Well, just to clarify, time under tension normally refers to the actual lift, normally in powerlifting.

So for speed benching, time under tension is usually varied between 3 and 5 seconds for each set. That sorta thing

"time under the bar" is more just an expression that usually refers to spending time learning the lifts and doing them a lot. Lots of volume

I was really refering to TUT as in actual time moving the weight, similar to what Dave Tate was talking about in this article here;

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_a...ever_dave_tate

Siff said something about it too, but I think it was muscle fibre recruitment vs. muscle fibre growth. I'll have to look through super-training for an actual reference.