you got it in the right order: squat first, then on days you are dealifting put the non-dealift exercise in the middle.

Game,

it sounds like you don't have the book/DVD. Get them, I guarantee you won't regret it. You're probably doing it wrong right now.

Yeah it's just not as straight forward getting hold of em in the uk!

I'll contact amazon and try get em to ship me a $25 US one +postage or whatever...
Although if they don't do it, I'm really not sure how I'll get a hold one here.

I ordered mine from Amazon (I live in Norway), so yeah.

Looks like Amazon have finally started to allow international shipping without contacting them directly. Should be here around the 20th

Until then, what are some obvious mistakes you suspect I may be making, Soul?

FMLFMLFML.

OK so I'm doing SS and had the 1st workout of the 3 weekly workouts today. My schedule effed up due to bad planning, unplanned visitor's and this damn Independence day so I ended up doing only my squats and 2 out of 3 bench sets (and half of my deadlift warm-ups but no work sets). Normally I'd work out in 2 days again but I'd really like to finish this workout. Can I work out tomorrow and if so, should I do today's whole workout again or just the sets I missed? I know missing 1 day isn't huge but it really annoys me and if there's any sensible way to make up for it I wanna do it.

Edit: I just started my 4th week of SS in case that's relevant (recovery or something).

Good for you, re: shipping.

Obvious mistakes? There's plenty, heh. Like squat: probably not deep enough, probably not enough hip drive. Probably improper elbow positioning. Probably knees forward.

Learning a movement incorrectly will cause you tons of headache later on, so be sure to study all the vids you can, and check Rip's forum for form checks (which there are tons of).

man messing up one workout doesnt really matter. you will be fine doing the workout again tomorrow if you ate enough today, but you would also be fine just pretending today was a proper workout and carrying on as before. its just half a workout, no big deal.

ok, I can live with it being just technique until I get some more help, I know my techniques at least decent for now. Will be sure to watch some vids until the book arrives...

So compound barbell lifts are better at building muscle mass than isolation movements on machines. Why?

As far as I know the compound movements stimulate the body to produce more testosterone and growth hormone. What are the other reasons?

This may not be true. In fact, it is likely that it is false.

Training age and the degree of CNS stimulation you can recover from and CNS efficiency play a part in this. KyleB's answer neglects this.

I don't understand. What is your reasoning?

I don't really understand what you are saying.

what thremp is saying is that compound exercises are best for noobs and have effects beyond just building size that ultimately help build size.

kyle's reasoning is prob that most huge guys get huge with lots of iso exercises. most bodybuilders focus on them for example. go into the BB section of tnation and they have threads which are like this forum in opposite world ie

"man i ****ed about doing a SS type routine for ages if only someone had introduced me to iso exercises earlier!"

there is prob some science relating to hypertrophy but meh

Then you aren't in a position to learn the answer until you learn more.

What do I need to learn?

FFS no one gets huge doing iso exercises.

Ronnie Coleman after training for nearly 2 decades, and dieted down for contest prep still does super heavy DLs. These are incredibly draining on your CNS and moreso at his training age/condition. Its not like he showed up and did hamstring curls and leg extensions to get like that. He does as much compound work as he can tolerate and supplements with isolation work. As your training age increases the tolerance for huge CNS stimulating work goes down (see DL frequency). However, no one has curled their way to huge gunzzzz.

No clue. The post was pretty straight forward. I'd work through the resource guide.

What is the "this" to which you are referring here?

How precisely is it that (1) Training age, (2) The degree of CNS stimulation you can recover from, and (3) CNS efficiency play a part in "this"?

haha ronnie coleman is the least fair example to use due to being a freak even by BB standards. there are very big BBs out there who focus as much as feasible on iso exercises (obv a bit of bench and leg press is going to get in there too)

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

I don't think there is a whole lot of science to back this up or that it will have a huge effect on hypertrophy. Beyond a beginner question thread topic though, could be worthy of its own thread for discussion.

Oh yeah, I forgot you could do that.

If anyone can offer a clear explanation that is great, otherwise I'm finished and may research this and/or start a separate thread later.

My answer reflects the flawed nature of your question. Heavy isolation work can indeed build larger muscle mass than compound movements. However, like Thremp said, there are other factors you are not considering.

Most of this forum prioritizes strength training because it is typically correct to do so. Many of us are novices, some are in the novice-intermediate phase (like myself), some are rank intermediates (mperich, ISF, kpc), and we all trained for strength using compound movements. Isolation movements may very well be better for building muscle through sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, but this muscle is not terribly good at exerting force. Myofibrillar hypertrophy results from heavy compound lifting and other movements that directly increase strength.

This explains why a smaller man with the same height and genetic capabilities of a larger man can outperform the person who prioritized sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

In short: Do you train for strength? Or do you train for size? IMO, function beats form. Keep in mind that strength training will make you bigger and grow your muscles, but maybe not at the same rate as high-rep low/mid-resistance training common of bodybuilders.

Should a rank novice who prioritizes muscle mass and physique over strength and function do a novice bodybuilding program instead of SS?

Worked out today with little food / sleep in me the last few days so I knew it was going to be a terrible lift. I did:

squat
4x195
2x195
5x185

I dropped for the last set b/c I wasn't sure if doing only 2 reps is even doing anything for me. Is this thinking flawed?