Last weekend I held my very first Advanced Knowledge Seminar. Only 3 people came but it was worth it. On the second day of the seminar one of the participants asked me for a simple programming template that can be used by any beginner endlessly for 3-4 years without worrying about periodization or cycling too much. After that of course, everyone needs to form their own training philosophy, but I gave the creation of such a template my best shot.
The objectives of this system is to Maximize strength and Size gains and have decent conditioning.
I call it the 3-5 system.
Very Simply, pick 3-5 exercises that work the entire body in combination. These are your main exercises.
Pick 2 small exercises to target weak points and areas of attention. They have to be really small exercises. We will call them secondary exercises.
Perform 3-5 sets of each main exercise. At least one of these sets must be a warm up set.
Do 3-5 reps per set.
Take 3-5 mins break between Sets.
Rest 3-5 days between workouts.
Do 3-5 mins of general warm up.
End every session with 3-5 mins of 3-5 stretches for the whole body.
Do conditioning sessions 1-3 days every week. (Sorry but this one cannot be fit into the 3-5 range).
Pick one conditioning exercise and perform 3-5 bouts of 3-5 mins each of intense conditioning.
Change all the variables every 3-5 weeks.
The secondary exercises must be performed after the main workout for 2 sets of 10-50 reps.
Its a very simple system. And the slight change in Rep and Set protocols every 3-5 weeks prevents staleness, as well as the change in the number of exercises and the exercises themselves. When you want an easy phase, pick 3 exercises, do 3 sets of 5 reps and rest 5 days. Pick the easy compound exercises from the list below for that phase. When you want to push it hard, pick 5 exercises, all hard, do 5 sets of 3 reps and rest 3 days.
Keep alternating between an easy combination of the variables and a hard combination. But no matter what you do, as long as you stick to the basic template, you will be working your Max Strength and Hypertrophy.
The conditioning template also makes sure you are doing something, and since you have to change the variables every 3-5 weeks there as well (along with the whole program) you will get decent conditioning variety.
You may pick the following exercises and NO other. Learn the proper form and execute every exercise to the best of your ability.
Main Strength Exercises (In no particular Order)-
Lower Body
Lower Body
1. Barbell Back Squat- Heel Elevated Hamstrings Touching Calves, Olympic Style
2. Powerlifting Back Squat
3. Front Squats
4. Overhead Squats
5. Pistol/Bodyweight Squats
6. Bulgarian Split Squats
7. Weighted Step Ups with a high stool
8. Trap Bar Deadlifts
9. Conventional Deadlifts
10. Sumo Deadlifts
11. Clean Grip Deadlifts
12. Snatch Grip Deadlifts
13. Deficit Deadlifts
14. RDLs
15. Good Mornings
16. Skater Squats/ King Squats/ Flying Lunges/ Shrimp Squats
17. Bridges
18. Barbell Hip Thrust
19. Ham Glute Raise
20. Sliding Leg Curls
Upper Body-
1. Chin Up/ Weighted Pull Ups
2. Military Press
3. Dumbell Military Press
4. Arnold Press
5. Handstand Pushups
6. One Arm Barbell Press
7. Tiger Bends
8. Bench Press
9. Push Ups
10. Incline Press
11. Decline Press
12. Parallel bar Dips
13. Straight Bar Dips
14. Front Levers
15. Bodyweight rows
16. Dumbell Row
17. Bent Over Row
18. T- Bar Rows
19. Sternum Chin Ups
20. Cable Rows
21. Chest Supported Rows
Others
1. Bent Press
2. Turkish Get Up
3. Clean and Press
4. Roman Chair Sit Ups
5. Leg Raises
6. Ab Roller with weighted vests
7. L- Sits
8. Planche Holds
9. Muscle Ups- Slow to medium
Secondary Exercises-
1. Hyperextensions
2. Reverse Hyperextenstions
3. Posterior Delt Fly
4. Lateral Raises
5. Straight Bar Curls
6. Standing Calf Raises
7. French Press
8. Leg Curls
9. Hack Squats
10. Sissy Squats
11. Swiss Ball Crunches
12. Incline Sit Ups
13. Reverse Curls
14. Dumbell Curls
15. Zottaman Curls
16. EZ bar curls
17. Skull Crushers
18. Knee Tucks
19. Planks
20. Pinch Gripping
21. Wrist Roller
22. Lying, standing and seated external rotations with a dumbell
23. Cable Pull Throughs
24. Heavy Kettlebell and dumbell Swings
25. Hospital Deadlifts
26. Heel Walking
Conditioning Exercises-
1. Sprints
2. Hill Sprints
3. Stadium Sprints
4. Kettlebell Snatch and clean and jerk
5. Farmer's Walk
6. Sledge Hammer Drills
7. Sandbag Carry
8. Tire Flipping
9. Prowler
10. Sledge Pushing
11. High Repetition Squats, with/ without weights
12. Hurdles
13. Car Pushing
14. Cycle Sprints
15. Wood Cutting
16. Stone Braking
17. Stone Throwing
18. Boxing
You can pick any stretches you want.
There is so much variety in your choices for a reason. Dont be the guy who chooses to do heavy conventional deadlifts phase after phase without respite. You must always stick with the basics, but it is important to pick easy exercises once in a while in order to give your body time to recover.
At the same time, dont be the pansy who chooses Decline presses and cable rows phase after phase.
I have given a few core/torso training options as well in the others section of the Main lifts. This is because in some people their torso strength is holding them back and they need to be hammered seriously for a phase or 2. Just dont become an ab specialist by devoting 7 phases to Roman Chair Sit ups.
You have to be real honest with your secondary exercises. Always pick those exercises that strengthen your weaknesses. Most guys will never get around to doing important things like grip training. If you know you need it, pick Reverse Curls and Pinch gripping instead of EZ bar curls. If you are prone to shoulder problems pick Posterior Delt Flys and External rotations.
I will not be so dogmatic as to say you must pick one pressing and one pulling exercise every single phase, but in the long run, if you under develop one group, you are going to suffer. If you emphasize pulling one phase, do pushing next. Make sure that in the medium and long term, your upper body pushing and pulling power, and your lower body squatting and hinging power are in reasonable balance. If you can only do 3 chin ups but 50 pushups, you are headed for trouble.
Keep it simple, this is a very difficult program to mess up.
13. Deficit Deadlifts
14. RDLs
15. Good Mornings
16. Skater Squats/ King Squats/ Flying Lunges/ Shrimp Squats
17. Bridges
18. Barbell Hip Thrust
19. Ham Glute Raise
20. Sliding Leg Curls
Upper Body-
1. Chin Up/ Weighted Pull Ups
2. Military Press
3. Dumbell Military Press
4. Arnold Press
5. Handstand Pushups
6. One Arm Barbell Press
7. Tiger Bends
8. Bench Press
9. Push Ups
10. Incline Press
11. Decline Press
12. Parallel bar Dips
13. Straight Bar Dips
14. Front Levers
15. Bodyweight rows
16. Dumbell Row
17. Bent Over Row
18. T- Bar Rows
19. Sternum Chin Ups
20. Cable Rows
21. Chest Supported Rows
Others
1. Bent Press
2. Turkish Get Up
3. Clean and Press
4. Roman Chair Sit Ups
5. Leg Raises
6. Ab Roller with weighted vests
7. L- Sits
8. Planche Holds
9. Muscle Ups- Slow to medium
Secondary Exercises-
1. Hyperextensions
2. Reverse Hyperextenstions
3. Posterior Delt Fly
4. Lateral Raises
5. Straight Bar Curls
6. Standing Calf Raises
7. French Press
8. Leg Curls
9. Hack Squats
10. Sissy Squats
11. Swiss Ball Crunches
12. Incline Sit Ups
13. Reverse Curls
14. Dumbell Curls
15. Zottaman Curls
16. EZ bar curls
17. Skull Crushers
18. Knee Tucks
19. Planks
20. Pinch Gripping
21. Wrist Roller
22. Lying, standing and seated external rotations with a dumbell
23. Cable Pull Throughs
24. Heavy Kettlebell and dumbell Swings
25. Hospital Deadlifts
26. Heel Walking
Conditioning Exercises-
1. Sprints
2. Hill Sprints
3. Stadium Sprints
4. Kettlebell Snatch and clean and jerk
5. Farmer's Walk
6. Sledge Hammer Drills
7. Sandbag Carry
8. Tire Flipping
9. Prowler
10. Sledge Pushing
11. High Repetition Squats, with/ without weights
12. Hurdles
13. Car Pushing
14. Cycle Sprints
15. Wood Cutting
16. Stone Braking
17. Stone Throwing
18. Boxing
You can pick any stretches you want.
There is so much variety in your choices for a reason. Dont be the guy who chooses to do heavy conventional deadlifts phase after phase without respite. You must always stick with the basics, but it is important to pick easy exercises once in a while in order to give your body time to recover.
At the same time, dont be the pansy who chooses Decline presses and cable rows phase after phase.
I have given a few core/torso training options as well in the others section of the Main lifts. This is because in some people their torso strength is holding them back and they need to be hammered seriously for a phase or 2. Just dont become an ab specialist by devoting 7 phases to Roman Chair Sit ups.
You have to be real honest with your secondary exercises. Always pick those exercises that strengthen your weaknesses. Most guys will never get around to doing important things like grip training. If you know you need it, pick Reverse Curls and Pinch gripping instead of EZ bar curls. If you are prone to shoulder problems pick Posterior Delt Flys and External rotations.
I will not be so dogmatic as to say you must pick one pressing and one pulling exercise every single phase, but in the long run, if you under develop one group, you are going to suffer. If you emphasize pulling one phase, do pushing next. Make sure that in the medium and long term, your upper body pushing and pulling power, and your lower body squatting and hinging power are in reasonable balance. If you can only do 3 chin ups but 50 pushups, you are headed for trouble.
Keep it simple, this is a very difficult program to mess up.
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