Whole Body Routine
 

:squat2:Just starting back after a week rest that turned into 3 weeks. I was doing single body part per day routine.

Started this week:
Day 1-Back Squats, Flat BB Bench, BB Row (sit-ups, hyper ext's.)
Day 2-16 Mins. HIIT Cardio
Day 3-Back Squats (Lighter), Deadlifts, Standing Military Press
Day 4-16 Mins. HIIT Cardio
Day 5-Back Squats, Flat BB Bench, BB Row
Day 6-16 Mins. HITT Cardio
Cardio is- Treadmill, (5 min. warmup), (2 min. at 5.5mph, 1 min. at
7mph, alternated for 16 min), (5 min. cooldown). Working towards 1.1 ratio.

Today will be Day 5. Man am I sore!! More than I can remember.
Question: Should I add SLDL's for Hamstrings?

I will add more of the assistance exercises when the serious sorness subsides. Was going to ask if I should be continuing while DOMS is this bad. But I'll probably be done with Day 5 before I read a repply.

Also, should I be alternating this ie: (A B A) ( B A B), from week to week>

That isn't a routine posted, just a list of days and exercises. It may seem like a small thing, but knowing whether you're doing "3x5" of deadlifts versus "3x15" makes a huge difference in determining how effective your routine is.

Also hugely important, what is your goal? I get the sense from the HIIT work that you're looking to drop body fat... is this correct? What time frame are you working with? How does your diet play into your goal? etc, etc

You're going to be sore on almost any new program you start. It's just your body getting used to it. This is especially prevalent with squats making people sore.

Starting Bill Starr's Novice/Intermediate 5x5 program this week. I used this last week's workouts to get a feel for my 5 RM's. I entered my numbers on the spreadsheet and printed it out.
Want to gain muscle size all over and loose the excess fat that I have. I'm 5'11, 214 lbs. Figured from what I've read here and elsewhere that HIIT Cardio would be the least catobolic and burn the most fat. Constantly working on improving the diet. Mainly trying to get 300g protein with good carbs and fat.

You've been doing this for less than a year and you're on a 5x5 with interwoven HIIT? I don't know how you feel but that seems like an awful lot, that would keep anyone torn down pretty hard. I don't think (check anyways though) that 5x5 rotates the way SS does, especially with the lighter day built in on Wed. in the middle. If the DOMS is really bad, I would think about cutting down on the HIIT at least for now so you can focus on adding LBM (assuming you eat clean, which may not be a safe assumption). Then after you finish 5x5 maybe do a cutting cycle?

That'd just be the way I'd do it to get the most of my 5x5 but I'm no expert on that routine.

out of curiousity...what are your maxes?

Essentially, don't do a ton of work if you don't have to. Don't settle for a single increment of progression when you can get a lot more over the same timeframe. Don't add weight to your personal record 1x in 6 weeks when you can get 2x in 6 weeks or 4x in 8 weeks, or 12x in 16 weeks. Carrying that to the true novice or beginner, don't settle for the intermediate plan of varying training loads within the week for an increment of progression at the end of the week. If you can add weight to the bar every session, do it. Progression is the goal, work is what one does to elicit it and work should be appropriate; the program doesn't matter as long as verifiable progression is taking place. Don't be dumb or let your ego or perceived training experience rule program selection. Get in the fastest lane you can and only move over if you have to.

Was re-reading the program and came across the above which really clarifies alot. I've never been on a program. Would just add weight to the bar when I could get 6-8 reps for 3 sets. Gotta get the SS book I guess. Thought I was ready for 5x5 "Novice/Beginner" but I want to get into what's best for me.
Squat--240lb
Bench--215lb
Deadlift--250lb
Row----205lb
MP----130
These were my 1RM's before the 3 week layoff.
Any suggestions on how I should structure this coming week in case I don't have the book for a few days?

I think I found the answer to my question. I looked at this before but it did'nt register for some reason.

Exercises:
Exercises Set x Rep
Workout A Squat 3x5
Bench 3x5
Deadlift 1x5

Workout B Squat 3x5
Military Press 3x5
Power Clean/Row 3x5

Schedule: Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun
Odd Weeks Workout A Workout B Workout A
Even Weeks Workout B Workout A Workout B

Set Progression: Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Set 6
warmup warmup warmup 5xtarget 5xtarget 5xtarget

Weekly Progression: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week x
Weekly Target 5RM - 40lbs 5RM - 30lbs 5RM - 20lbs 5RM - 10lbs 5RM last wk + 10lbs last wk + 10lbs last wk + 10lbs last wk + 10lbs last wk + 10lbs
Sample 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 250 260

Volume: wu 1
wu 2
wu 3
set 1 2550 2700 2850 3000 3150 3300 3450 3600 3750 3900
set 2 2550 2700 2850 3000 3150 3300 3450 3600 3750 3900
set 3 2550 2700 2850 3000 3150 3300 3450 3600 3750 3900
Total 7650 8100 8550 9000 9450 9900 10350 10800 11250 11700

Cycle Length: No cycle length. Keep continuing until lifts stagnate

Between Cycles: Rest a week

On Failure: Once your progress slows, and it will happen eventually, reduce the load by 25lbs and start again for the given exercise
0 MinMax 1 MinMax Chart 1 None None FullPage Arial 8 0 0 12749.9853515625 5114.99267578125 1 1 15 Solid Narrow 14 Neutral Arial 8 Line Standard Marker 0 1 0 0 'Starting Strength'!$B$20 Sample None None 0 0 'Starting Strength'!$C$18:$L$18 0 'Starting Strength'!$C$20:$L$20 Bottom 0 0 1 0 Automatic Left 1 1 0 Minimum Between 0 Value Right

The previous was from a link posted by Wolf in, July of 06. Thanks

Just ordered SS online. Book -$29.95 Special offer--SS Training Log reg. $13.95 now $2.95 w/SS book Free shipping total $32.90
Barnes &Nobles has only used copies starting at $99 WTF!!!

Goodluck with that. You're essentially saying you can add 50lbs to your 5RM in just over a month. I seriously doubt that will happen with an exercise that has any sort of 'training age/experience'. 5lbs a week would be much more manageable (25lbs in 5 weeks).

Yeah, That's pretty ambitious gains. I'm just going to continue with the first weeks numbers until I recieve the SS book. Work on form. Then hopefully I'll be able to structure an achievable plan from the book.

i agree with kane 100 percent. dont bite of fmore than you can chew because you will do nothing but get frustrated

Absolutely agreed.

I agree as well.

The book will simply tell you some round about increments to add each workout based on exercise. If you were an absolute novice, never having touced a weight you could add ten or even more pounds a session on squat and deadlift and at least 5 pounds a session on bench.

Most people don't come to it as absolute novices and so, as Kane pointed out, different lifts may have different "ages" depending on what you've done in the past. Frankly however, I disagree with the notion of adding as much as you can to the bar each workout just because you can. Because from what I see it becomes something that sacrifices form.

You get guys adding ten or fifteen pounds to their squat each session for a while but what you don't see is them losing their depth and getting higher and higher as they go along or simply becoming a big pile of mush with a bar underneath it. I think it pays to be conservative and add less to the bar than you think you can. I think that the idea of fastest possible progression, the way it is often presented, is not really that great an idea.

And if I remember correctly you are around 50, right? You have some prior experience plus lots of "life" experience. That means you are coming to it with a lot of baggage. Imbalances, ineficientcies. Potential for injury is great, therefore. All the more reason to be conservative. And please nobody take this as me thinking 50 year olds have to treat themselves like crystal and can't keep up with the young guys. I know better than that.

It should be fastest possible progression while maintaining good quality.

I mainly just want to get into the whole body 3x per week deal. With the big 5 being my foundation, Squats, DL's, MP's, Rows, Bench. I'm going to let my body tell me whether I can add weight to the bar from week to week. I'll start out w/5lbs per week to get back up to my 5RM weight. I do everything ,except bench of course, in front of a mirror at the gym. I'm going to really concentrate on my form.
I just recently realized that I've been doing high bar squats. What a difference sliding that bar down farther on the back and spreading the feet a little more and pushing the knees out made. I at least go past parallel now and it feels better on the whole body. When I get the book I plan on reading over and over on the correct form on all of these lifts. I'll rember to keep perspective on whats attainable for this old guy and whats meant for that 16 year old trying to make Ist string Guard on varsity! The form explanations in the SS book are right on I hope?

Yes, the form suggestions in the book are right on. Good luck. :)

Thanks, just got back from the gym. Just checking my ego at the door and really concentrating on the mechanics. Feels good, I'm feeling the workout too, so I don't think I'm going to light. At the end I did a couple of those concentric pullups, can really feel those, maybe in a couple weeks I'll be able to get a decent pullup. Thanks again everybody.