Was told in the asterisk-thread to start a thread about this instead so here it is, It's a modified Starting Strength workout and I feel I have the energy for the entire workout with some caffeine in me.

It is inspired by this thread:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/sho...readid=2509212

Workout A

3x5 Squats
3x5 Bench Press
2x5 Deadlift

added by me
3x5 Decline Bench Dumbell Press
3x8 Weighted Hyperextension with a 20 lbs weight
3x8 Vertical Leg Hip Raises

Workout B

3x5 Squats
3x5 Rows
3x5 Sitting Dumbell Press

added by me:

3x5 reverse curls
3x8 Weighted Hyperextension with a 20 lbs weight
3x8 Vertical Leg Hip Raises


and I do it the same way as a normal starting strenght.

Week 1
Monday: A
Wednesday: B
Friday: A

Week 2
Monday: B
Wednesday: A
Friday: B


Although I think Squats 3 times a week is a tad much maybe I can change it up so I do something else in that spot on the Wednesday spot every week?
Maybe 3x5 Front Pulldowns?

what I rep on right now on the big 3's are

Bench: 120 lbs
Squat: 130 lbs (just got the technique to go deep enough on these)
Deadlift: 220 lbs

Also I am 6'7" and 190 lbs


The hip raises and Hyperextensions are so easy they are almost like stretch exercises though. And I dont really know how to explain doing 2 sets of Deadlift, it feels great and the correct thing to do when im exercising :/

buy the book. I'm pretty sure you aren't using proper form based on a quick scan of that thread and your additions to the program.

Here's what the basic program is
A
Squat 3x5
Barbell Bench 3x5
Deadlift 1x5

B
Squat 3x5
Barbell overhead press 3x5
Chins (3 sets to failure) or Pullups or Power Cleans (5x3)

Don't do anything else yet. Just do the basics and keep the weights progressing.

I am using proper form, I have watched videos of Rippetoe himself explaining it from youtube and read about it on the starting strength wikipedia, the exchanged I have in the basics are from bodybuilding.coms recommendations and they give the take care of the same muscle groups.

Since I am so weak compared to my bodyweight I can maybe do 1 chin so thats out of the question and power cleans just seem to miss the point for me a bit.

I've tried the basics for a couple of weeks too and I feel I have a lot of spare energy after I've completed it so why not train some of the muscle groups that I miss during those basics?


Since you seem so opposed to changing them just a little bit I'd like to know why since very smart and good people over at both somethingawful.com and bodybuilding.com recommend such additions.

You should have kept going. If you're adding weight to your squats each time and you're not having a hard workout, you're doing something wrong or you didn't run it long enough. Trust me it's like the hardest goddamn thing on earth. I dread it sometimes.

The program is ALL about progression on the few basic core exercises. Doing other things only increases your fatigue and will prevent you from recovering by the next workout. This program was designed so that you could string together a bunch of workouts and add weight each time. The volume was carefully selected to give you the ability to recover enough between workouts. Less is more. The program was not designed so you could do as much as possible in a workout and end up fatigued for more than a couple of days.

Other than that, I'm not going to explain the theory of training for you. Go read madcows site (in the faq) THE ENTIRE SITE, and buy Rippetoe's book and come back with questions. I'm confident you'll get it after doing your own reading.



bb.com and apparently somethingawful are full of ******s who have no goddamn clue what they're talking about. Go read the official starting strength therad in the workout programs section for a good thread on the program. Anything else is not the program and will not give you the same results. Usually that is because everyone has A.D.D. and wants to add their own ****, and they end up buried in volume unable to add weight to their lifts.

I am adding to my lifts, if I have problem doing that I'll always prioritize the big 3 that rippetoe recommend and if I cant increase I'll just do the basics until I do.

I'll change the deadlift to 1x5 and try to really push myself so hard it feels like dying then :/ , I've just been a bit scared about adding TOO much towards the Deadlift since I started out with 80 kg and just like a month ago and now I'm doing 2 sets of 100.


And to say its full of people who dont know **** is a bit simple minded by you, there is A LOT of people on both sites with very good result and isn't training one of the places where it's good to be results oriented?

bb.com also has a lot of other interesting routines you might want to try. they have some sick 5 day splits and such that pretty much everyone recommends.

So you think squatting 3x a week is too much but you want to add a bunch of fluff in instead? Sounds more like you dont like squatting or something. Then again if I was 6'7 (!!!) I probly wouldnt like squatting at all...or benching. TBK is right tho with pretty much everything and everyone else will probly agree with him and if they dont we will mock them and they will become outcasts in the H&F forum cuz thats how we roll

Also, your new dl plan sounds about right. And also (sorry you posted in the middle of my post) im sure theres lots of ppl with good results because tons of stuff works when you are new to lifting. It just isnt optimal and you could get BETTER results with starting strength AS IS. You can think of adding ur own stuff when you've read all the stuff TBK recommended and some other literature (practical programming is a good one for intermediate strength training)

-Mike

alright I got the deal.

The thing about Squatting was if it was to strenuous for those muscles going at it that hard 3 times a week, all the things I added are other muscle groups which aren't primarily focused in the starting strength.

3x5 Decline Bench Dumbell Press - Bench..obv?
3x8 Weighted Hyperextension with a 20 lbs weight - Squats, deadlifts, rows, chins, oh press (standing version which you should be doing)
3x8 Vertical Leg Hip Raises - I dunno what this is but I know squats and deadlifts work whatever you are trying to target here, and better.

3x5 reverse curls - Deadlifts, chins when you can do them.
3x8 Weighted Hyperextension with a 20 lbs weight- See previous.
3x8 Vertical Leg Hip Raises - See previous.

-Mike

the reverse curls are for my forearms, the hip raises are for my stomach.

the hyperextension is so easy like I said so its almost like stretching the back after the deadlift.

the decline bench hits another set of breast muscles then the normal bench, thats why a lot of people combine them.


The Reason I dont do standing press is because I have a very hard time not arching my back when doing them for some reason and I did a very poor rep one time and it almost felt like I was gonna injure myself, from what I've heard from numerous sources the sitting one is targetting the same damn thing.

as i've said in another thread, i dont know how people can think SS doesnt have enough work. perhaps they arent going hard enough or i am doing too much warmup.

squats alone take me half hour+. a typical squat workout for me is this:

1x10xbodyweight
1x10x20
1x8x40
1x5x60
1x3x80
3x5x95kg

today i was supposed to do workout A, squat, bench, dead.

i hit a new PR on squat @ 3x5x100kg, hit my first failure on bench at 67.5 kg for sets of 5,5,4. i went to do my first warmup pull and my back just couldnt do it so i left the gym. i was too fatigued.

but do whatever you want.

OP,

You can do what you listed. Your lifting poundage is low enough so that you'll recover adequately. There's no need for decline bench though, it's too similar to flat bench. Do the seated military presses you prefer instead.

Nothing's written in stone. It's your workout, you don't have to follow something to a T as long as you know how to fix your routine when your progress stops.

Isn't part of the point of doing the overhead presses to strengthen the core? Not doing them because you can do more sitting down is kind of

OP, quit calling your program Starting Strength. It's not Starting Strength. If you want to do Starting Strength, feel free to buy the book and follow it, but your program doesn't even follow the principles it lays out.

Why are you doing more than 5 repetitions in your warm-up sets? Just for fun? You think it warms you up better?

I do x10 on the very initial ones for squats. Its part of like a full body warmup.

You don't get it. You are accumulating fatigue over a series of workouts. Once you see it interfering it's already too late. More volume is going to make you stall sooner.

Dude, if you add weight to the bar, 1x5 will be just as tough as 2x5 was.


I occasionally post on bb.com, and it is full of idiots. That thread you linked from somethingawful was awful. true, you will get results doing basically anything passable, as doing something is always >>>>>>>>>>> doing nothing. You might notice a lot of the 5 day split kinda guys are decently big but are pretty goddamn weak, and they had to spend more time to get those (subpar) results.

That's what deadlifts are for.

ferserious? There aren't separate breast muscles being worked. It's 100% the same muscles and 95% each muscle is being worked to the same degree. It's like doing a press for every 15 degrees of angle change possible. It doesn't make any sense. Just do flat bench.


Perhaps it's something with your form you need to fix. I standing overhead press 135 lbs and I do not have these problems you are having. It's your form. Just cause it sux doesn't mean you should do something else. Work on it, this is a pretty easy lift.

sigh

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...enchPress.html

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...enchPress.html


why do you faghats have to be so condescending in everything you say? I'm just doing a program like I've read elsewhere. I can take criticism but this is just silly. Also yes of course its my form I have problem with on the military press, I've got a very thin upper body and I am 6'7" tall which makes it pretty hard for me to get the technique perfect on the standng press.

Also as you can see here according to exrx the sitting dumbell press hits exacly the same muscles.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...taryPress.html

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...lderPress.html


So please fill me in on what I am missing. If you can do so without talking down to me like I am a child who has ruined something precious too you.

No one is talking down to you. They are being pretty polite with their fairly thorough explanations on how what you are doing is not ideal.

heh, yeah I forgot this is the best "polite" the 2+2 special sub forums know.

I'll just let this thread die now and let you guys circle jerk on with your lives. I've taken your suggestions into consideration.

I think I can see your point but I think if you want to take that reasoning you'd end up isolating everything. Here's my point, the flat barbell bench works the same muscles as incline, and incline actually works less muscles according to exrx. And you can use more weight on flat bench then you can on incline which is important for this program. We don't need two different bench presses in this program. It'll just add too much volume when that's actually something that will make you stall sooner.

Well you can do your seated press. But I think you're missing out on some important things with the standing overhead press. I suggest working on your form instead of giving up on it.

Barbells can be incrementally loaded MUCH MUCH easier than dumbells, and that is pretty important in this program. You simply can't add 5 lbs (or even less) to your dumbell overhead press, they don't really make dumbells in 2.5 lb increments. You also can use more weight with barbells than you can handle with dumbells (setup and whatnot).

I've never had a problem with barbells and I don't see why you'd want to change something that is easy and is the most effective solution.

Also I want to make it clear that I really push myself on the 3 basics of the starting strength and AFTER those I compliment it, if I really cant do more then I wont do it.

I think you said before that it doesn't matter since if I do anything other then those 3 I will lose progress on them?

I am gaining pretty steadily at the moment gaining on all the basics. Also the back extension is recommended in the basic Starting Strength as can be seen here:

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wi...inner_Programs

So I'll atleast keep that. Although I will remove the hip raises now that I see that deadlift actually does have the stomach as a synergy and see if that does anything for that part of me.

Are you doing three tricep exercises? Are you doing 3 bicep exercises? Are you doing like 37 variants for lats and traps?

Why are your chesticles special?

Good post, and the above is a succinct statement of most people's problem with resistance training.

Also probably the reason so many give up on it. When you don't tend to get results, you do tend to give up. So you have to be very careful to do only stuff that gives you positive results rather than whatever pops into your head or entertains you.

On another note, I hate poker metaphors, but it occurs to me that this is a lot like playing poker. You have to be very sure what you want. Are you there to win money? Or to be entertained? Because each requires a very different approach, and if you kid yourself about what you're really after, you won't be happy with the results.

Trust me, as someone who did jillions of reverse curls as a young guy, they aren't going to do much for you.

If you are lifting heavy enough deads and squats often enough, you won't need any ab work.