new man with a question

[tonyboloni]

Hey all,

New man on board. I have a question about blending powerlifting and bodybuilding. I like the idea of basic compound movement with lighter weights and higher reps than a powerlifting workout. I found what follows below on the web:

Routine:
Monday:
Bench 5x5
Close Grip Bench 3x6
Bicep Barbell Curls 3x8
Hammer Curls 3x8
Weighted Crunches 3x10

Tuesday:
Squat 5x5
Box Squat 3x6
Good Morning 3x6
Calves 5x8

Thursday:
Bench 5x5 (See Bench Chart)
JM Press 3x6
Barbell Rows 3x6
Pullups 3x6
Cable Crunches 3x10

Friday:
Deadlift 3x6
Good Morning 3x6
T-Bar Rows 3x6
Military Barbell Press 3x6
Front Plate Raises 3x6
Calves 5x8

Any tweaks ie: rep counts would be welcome. Honestly..until I shear off somebody fat I'll probably skip the ab work and substitute Power Cleans for the Good Mornings. Thanks, I look forward to your imput.

[Onerepmaximum]

I suppose to each their own. I like the idea of doing one muscle group per day by itself if you have the chance. That's my perference though. Some of those splits seem a litte strange to me.

[Tink]

I have no clue about this, but just wanted to say welcome!!!

[tonyboloni]

Here's what's behind the question. I'm coming back after a long layoff. I would prefer as many compound lifts as possible to re establish a strength base before starting to fragment the body into splits.

I'm not anti-isolation movement; but I do think there should be some solid training under the belt before they are used. I thought of the term powerbuilding, entered it and that's what the internet dredged up.

My concerns: that many compound movements, five days a week doesn't allow for much recovery time for a drug free 40 year old man.

NO, I'm not pointing finger at enchanced lifters who use, I'm not interested in starting that debate; it's been beat to death--to cut right to the chase I have no problem with enhanced performance. Who knows what the future holds........but now I'm starting back at square one with only food/weights/rest at my disposal.

Should I be looking at some sort of beginners 3xweekly routine. Since I have a bench and Oly weights in the basement that's why I thought a basic routine sounded good.

Thanks for the welcome Tink

[tonyboloni]

Found this at the board: sounds more reasonable:

http://www.mmsfitness.com/showthread.php?t=11638

I like the compound movements plus the rest intervals between workouts.

[mac83]

what exactly are your goals?

[tonyboloni]

Here are the goals I would like to accomplish:

First...redevelop overall strength. The years away from the gym have taken a large toll on basic usable strength, particularly in my upper body. The research I've done via the internet seems to indicate compound movements for restoring/creating a systemic strength response when used. They also increase balance and flexiblity during the aging process. I'm only 40 but....40 got here before I knew it; it is time for me to start making some long range plans for creating usable strength (I don't want to be an oldster who falls and lacks strength to push himself up) plus weight training benefits bone density.

Second: drop body fat to acceptable levels. It's the old story: stop going to the gym, get fat, lose muscle mass. I need to move continuously for 30-40 minutes a day whatever that may be: fast walk, rope skip, bicycling etc. This, coupled with the lifting, should result in a drop in body fat with an increase of fat free mass.

Third: Yank the daily diet back into line: I flourish on a diet composed of meat, non starchy vegetables, a little brown rice, some fruit, no sugar...just like the diet my high school football coach gave us. It's time to go back to what works; I've gotten away from eating the basic diet...and, in combination with no lifting and no aerobics, have turned into the standard American tub of lard.

That the goals and the game plan

[Jumbo]

Originally Posted by tonyboloni

Found this at the board: sounds more reasonable:

http://www.mmsfitness.com/showthread.php?t=11638

I like the compound movements plus the rest intervals between workouts.

yeah i posted in this thread and am going to do this 5x5 routine, i think its great for getting the biglifts in and getting to rest n recover every other day w/ weekends off. The way im doing it is

Mon- legs w/ squat as base of routine
tues-off/some cardio
weds-chest w/ flatbench as base of routine +abs
thurs- off/some cardio
fri-back w/ deads as base of routine
sat- shoulders n arms + abs

so it breaks down to a 4 day split w/ tues., thurs, and sun. off every week, best training split i've ever done so far IMO. I also agree w/ onerep that you should do one major bodypart per day/session, the only one i doubled up on was shoulders n arms. If you'd like i can post my exact routine for you? I may start an online journal here anyways.

[tonyboloni]

Jumbo,

I'd like to see you post your spin on the routine with the extra shoulder/arms/abs day. Yeah, I'm looking to build basic core strength..but some "tee shirt" muscle wouldn't be so bad either.

[Jumbo]

well if you just want shoulders n arms day here it is. Oh and i chose to do this on saturday instead of tues or thurs cuz it gives time to recover between bench day and shoulder day as i do heavy shoulder presses on shoulder day and don't want it to effect my bench and vise versa.

first # represents reps, second represents weight used

seated barbell shoulder press

5 x 205
5 x 205
5 x 205
5 x 205
5 x 205

side lateral raises

10 x 35
10 x 35

one hand cable front raises

10 x 30
10 x 30

cable upright rowes

10 x 120
10 x 120 i like to pause for a few seconds at the top n slowly descend, can u say burn.

face pulls

10 x 110
10 x 110

ARMS......i superset a bicep excersise w/ a tricep excersise and do everything 3 sets 8 reps on arms accept for last excersize i go to 15....that rep range gives me the best results.

concentration curls.........................one arm dumbell extensions
8 x 45.......................................8 x 55 repeat for 3 sets each/total.
incline curls...................................skull crushers
8 x 35......................................8 x 110 repeat for 3 sets each/total
standing ez curls............................tricep press down
15 x 70.....................................15 x 150 repeat for 2 sets total

the last sets i go to fifteen to get a good final pump/burn and leave w/ swollen fried arms. This sounds like a lot but i get shoulders done in about 40 mins and arms in about 25-30 putting me at just over an hour in the gym and I swear by the results i've gotten.