Hi Guys!
I have just been doing a lot of thinking about programs for beginners and I though it may be useful if I shared the routine I have developed, along with my reasoning, on paper.
So the routine I have thought of is essentially a full body routine based around Squats, Overhead presses and Pull Ups. Secondary exercises shall be push ups and bent-over rows. We shall also follow the fundamental stretching
First of all let me address the reasons why I have picked these exercises.
The squat is the fundamental builder of strength. It exercises the thighs, the lower back, the spine, the calves and the upper back to a degree. Plus being a movement in which the entire body moves (i.e closed chain movement), the carry over of strength gained through squatting happens in almost every activity.
The main variation we will be using is the front squat. (We used back squats in the last session). Basically after observing your squatting technique you guys have 3 problems- lack of hip flexibility, which prevents you from going deep, an unstable core (mid section) and lack of spinal strength. All these problems will be corrected by front squats, plus it also paves the way for the development of a solid back squat.
We will also be practicing the Olympic back squat for one set every workout, to hone the technique, plus to get some high reps done. You can't do that with front squats.
Overhead presses build powerful shoulders and when done properly strength all the scapula stabilizers, the traps, the rib-cage muscles, and the triceps and pecs. It opens up the entire shoulder girdle and strengthens the rotator cuff muscles when done properly. 90% of all shoulder problems among athletes nowadays come from starting hard and heavy with the bench press, having improper posture, weak external rotators and a lack of overhead flexibility. Intelligently
The overhead presses we will perform will be done with the feet together, knees, hips and abs locked, chest out and with a shoulder width grip pressing directly overhead in a natural fashion. That means no excessive splaying out of the elbows. Full lockout will be reached and held. No swaying or bending of the spine. Absolute stability.
We will not clean and press the weight as we were last time. We will un-rack it from the incline rack and press directly. Learning how to clean the weight to the shoulder properly is too technical right now.
Pull ups are an absolute must to both balance out the pressing work you are doing and to properly develop the upper body. The volume of pull ups we will do will at least be equal to the amount of pressing we are doing.
Push ups and bent over rows work the upper body from angles that are not hit by overhead presses and pull ups. They will however be used as a high rep set at the end of your upper body work, in order to provide a pump to the muscles there were just properly trained using the basic exercises.
The stretches are essential in order to eventually improve squatting technique.
We will use the most basic system of programming, which will use all the components of a good strength and muscle training program.
Remember, without hard contractions (for a beginner that means heavy weight), strength will not increase and muscles will not grow. At the same time, without several repetitions, micro-trauma to the muscles won't happen and overcompensation won't occur. Thus we need to train HARD (many reps) and train HEAVY. However such training will deplete your system and exhaust you. Therefore, we will limit the number of heavy reps (anything over 80% of the max you can lift) to 20 per exercise per session. We will also limit the total number of reps to 40 per body part (i.e push ups + overhead work, and Pull ups + rows). At the same time, we will exercise only 2 times a week using full body routines. This is because this builds your endocrine system and elicits a very powerful muscle building response. On these 2 days, you will play no other sport. This way you will prevent burnout. Plus every 5th week, one workout off, and the other will be light.
The workouts will be as follows. Let us say we exercise Wednesdays and
Wed and Sun Workouts-
Warm up with jumping jacks/ Skipping for 5 mins.
Lets assume max Overhead press is 40 Kgs, max chin ups in a row are 6, max row is 45kgs and Front Squat 40kgs.
1. 4 reps Overhead press with a weight you could use for 8 reps, say 30 Kgs.
2. 2 reps of Chin ups.
Repeat 1 and 2.
This stage will warm up the body and perfect technique.
3. 2 Reps Overhead press with a weight you could press 4 times, say 35 Kgs.
4. 1 min Break (Atleast)
5. 3 Chin Ups (Half of Max).
6. 1 min Break (atleast)
Repeat 3, 4, 5, 6, for a total of six times.
This stage will build strength and muscle.
The secret is to concentrate on all the muscles and the joints and to cultivate perfect technique. Cherish every rep.
7. Using a variation of push ups which you can perform in perfect technique for 30 reps, perform as many as you need to in order to get a good, but not excessive pump. (if max is 30, do 25).
8. Using a weight you could row 20 times when fresh, say 32 Kgs, Row until your upper back and lats are fully pumped. Row to the chest.
The purpose of these 2 steps is to simply enhance recovery and teach you how to connect to your muscles.
9. Front squat a weight you could front squat for 6-7 reps, 3 times, say 30 Kgs. Take a min break and repeat.
10. Front squat a weight you could squat for 4 reps, for 2 reps, say 35Kgs. Take a 2 min break.
Repeat 10 for a total of five times.
11. Load the bar to a really heavy weight, say 50kgs. Unrack in in the back squat style, hold for 5 seconds and re-rack it. Don't squat. This builds tendon and bone strength.
Repeat 11 for a total of 3 times.
12. Olympic Back Squat a much reduced weight, say 25 Kgs, for 20 reps in one set.
Take a 5 min break.
13. Get into the appropriate bridge hold and hold the stretch for 30 seconds.
14. Same with twist hold.
15. Touch your toes 3 times.
Repeat 12, 13, 14 a total of three times.
16. Do the cuban press with a light weight (say bar only) for 6-8 reps, twice. This will prevent and cure shoulder and postural problems.
Go home and relax.
You must eat at least 25gs of protein within 45 mins of the last exercise. Milk, meat and eggs are preferred sources. Ideally the largest meal of you day must be within 3 hours of exercise. Also, be sure not be be excessively hungry before exercise. An empty stomach is good, but don't starve.
As for the rest of you diet-
1. Lots of fruits and vegetables.
2. Eat at-least 70gs of protein a day. Its actually not that high once you do the math.
3. Eat when you are hungry, until you are pleasantly satiated.
4. Try to eat 3 good meals a day, plus a couple of healthy snacks- vegetables/fruits with tea.
5. Drank a LOT of water.
6. Limit the junk and processed food you eat.
7. Go nuts on milk, curd and paneer.
8. Again, lots of fruits and vegetables.
Read up on the exercises before Sunday.
The system I have given is a variant of the classic Doug Hepburn routine. Its also similar to the systems Reg Park, Paul Anderson, Arthur Saxon, Herman Groener, Arthur Saxon and pretty much every known successful strength and physique athlete has used as a basic routine.
The objective is to increase the weights on all exercises by something, every 2 weeks.
Last thing, there is no abdominal exercise included, because your abs will be waaay to overworked anyway with Chin Ups, Push Ups, Overhead Presses and Front Squats. Until all these movements become stable and powerful, there is no point doing additional stabilizer/abs work.
I realize that the system I have given is very different from the ones usually given to beginners today, but trust me it is the only one that works. There is no substitute for hard and heavy training on the Basics. You can always cut and finish your physique later. But without the basics, there is no point. However, the "basics" are hard, and therefore are avoided by most. True intense training has more to do with concentration and the levels of weights you use, than actual volume of work done. And that kind of work requires you to be utterly focused and dedicated. So most people train with high reps, waaay too often, to convince themselves that they are working hard. That is an idiots way of thinking.
Remember, all Marathon runners are lean and fat (that is, Soft lean). All sprinters are muscular and powerful and look half their age. What does this tell you about the human body?
Also hard muscle also burns fat, because it has a higher metabolic cost i.e it makes the body burn more calories, just by being around. So quality muscle will keep you lean and strong. And quality muscle can only be gotten by hard and Heavy training, with the basics, with plenty of rest and a cool head and concentration.
I am going to quote a couple of programs to show you what I am driving at-
Reg Park's Three Phase 5x5 Program
Phase One
45-degree back extension 3x10
Back squat 5x5
Bench press 5x5
Deadlift 5x5
Rest 3-5 minutes between the last 3 sets of each exercise.
Train three days per week for three months.
As Park explained it, 5x5 includes two progressively heavier warm-up sets and three sets at the same weight. He suggested increasing weights at approximately the same interval, for example:
Back squat: first set 135x5, second set 185x5, followed by three sets of 225x5.
When you can complete the last 3x5 at a given weight, increase the weight on all five sets 5-10 pounds. Also, he was strongly against training to failure, saying that it encouraged a negative mindset when attempting other heavy, near-maximal lifts.
Who was Reg Park? The greatest bodybuilder of the pre steroid era. He was insanely strong AND big. He weighed a 100kgs and was the second man ever to bench press over 225kgs and squat 250kgs.
Do 3 warm ups sets with an easy weight for 6 reps each.
Do 8 sets of 2 with a weight you could use for a triple.
Do one set of 10 to pump the muscle.
Move on to the next exercise.
Exercise twice a week.
Do Rows, Squats, Deadlifts, Bench and Military presses and weighted chins.
This routine was by Doug Hepburn. He was the world's strongest man for a decade and is still probably the greatest overhead presser who ever lived.
Perform 1 set of Bent Presses.
Perform 1 set of 3 overhead presses.
Perform 1 set of four of Deadlifts.
Repeat the entire workout one more time.
Take 3 days rest.
This was the system used by Arthur Saxon, the man whose one arm lifting records are unbroken to this day, and it has been a hundred and twenty years. He was once challenged by Eugene Sandow (Once Strongest Man of The World), to lift his infamous 275 pound barbell (over 130 Kgs), with one arm overhead. He claimed only he himself could lift it. Saxon lifted it 17 times with his left hand, and then held it overhead with his right hand, while he proceeded to drink 20 mugs of beer with his left. I am not suggesting you do that, but he was one strong guy.
Finally a quote from the great Arnold Schwarzenegger to end this long letter-
" I think the reason some bodybuilders
use delicate exercises, which I call chicken exercises, is that
they don't feel confident with the basic movements or with
themselves. The bench press seems so simple, they think they
should do something more complicated. But you can't use as
much weight when you make the exercise difficult, so it takes
away from the meaning of heavy training.
I liked the idea of really pressing a lot of weight.
Besides the ego satisfaction
I got from working with heavy weights, it gave my body
more mass, which I still felt I needed. It was an idea I couldn't
get out of my head. I was doing heavy squats, heavy bench
presses, and this provided some of the foundation work of my
body, which has always made me appear strong. Certain bodybuilders
lack that look. They have good bodies but they don't
appear powerful. The reason is inadequate foundation training.
Good early training shows up in the muscles around the spine.
There is really no exercise for those muscles; their development
is just an indication that you have put in some heavy ground
work, heavy squats and heavy dead lifts, a lot of lifting and row
ing. I had done these exercises from the start. I developed strong
basic muscles which gave me the powerful look people wanted
to see.
Reg Park had been a powerlifter; he had done squats with 600
pounds, bench presses with 500 pounds, and dead lifts of over
700 pounds. I saw no reason why I shouldn't continue in the
same groove. I won the German championships in heavy-weight
powerlifting before I stopped. My body weight was up to 250
and I convinced myself that it was time to chisel down, to start
getting more quality in my body."
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