Gym and fitness (32 Viewers)

Oggy

and the Cockroaches
Dec 27, 2005
7,514
Zach can you recommend me some good workout plan with focus on gaining muscle???

I've tried 5x5 you've posted some time ago, it was really good plan, although I'm not sure is it right for my goals...

Dule I know you are doing something similar, are you satisfied, and can you post it?
 

Dostoevsky

Tzu
Administrator
May 27, 2007
89,029
Zach can you recommend me some good workout plan with focus on gaining muscle???

I've tried 5x5 you've posted some time ago, it was really good plan, although I'm not sure is it right for my goals...

Dule I know you are doing something similar, are you satisfied, and can you post it?
I'm also doing 5x5 but a bit different/modified. I'm skipping on deadlifts.

Day A: Squat, shoulder press, pull ups (with weights), dips (with weights). The last two exercises I do instead of deadlifts
Day B: Squat, bench press, barbell rows

Then repeat. What I do is every time I go there I add 2kg on each exercise (I started with light weight). So, now when I'm at my ~max and when I fail to do 5 sets of 5 then next time I'm stuck on the same weight. If that fail happens 3 times in a row what I do is decrease the weight for 10%. It's basically a strength training but my gains are massive and better than before (8-12 rep range).

Right now I'm doing squats with 108kg, shoulderpress with 62kg, pull ups with 26kg, dips with 38kg, bench with 80kg, rows with 84kg

Even if I'm skipping arms I'm getting results everywhere. This program helped me a lot to gain strength, fix my form and gain muscle so I really like it. However, now that I'm at these high weights (for me) it's really exhausting and killing my motivation. My brother also got a bad injury so I took a break and nowadays I'm outside on the bars doing bodyweights.
 

Oggy

and the Cockroaches
Dec 27, 2005
7,514
I'm also doing 5x5 but a bit different/modified. I'm skipping on deadlifts.

Day A: Squat, shoulder press, pull ups (with weights), dips (with weights). The last two exercises I do instead of deadlifts
Day B: Squat, bench press, barbell rows

Then repeat. What I do is every time I go there I add 2kg on each exercise (I started with light weight). So, now when I'm at my ~max and when I fail to do 5 sets of 5 then next time I'm stuck on the same weight. If that fail happens 3 times in a row what I do is decrease the weight for 10%. It's basically a strength training but my gains are massive and better than before (8-12 rep range).

Right now I'm doing squats with 108kg, shoulderpress with 62kg, pull ups with 26kg, dips with 38kg, bench with 80kg, rows with 84kg

Even if I'm skipping arms I'm getting results everywhere. This program helped me a lot to gain strength, fix my form and gain muscle so I really like it. However, now that I'm at these high weights (for me) it's really exhausting and killing my motivation. My brother also got a bad injury so I took a break and nowadays I'm outside on the bars doing bodyweights.
Well you pretty much described the same thing I went trough with that program, although I stopped after 8 weeks because I started to feel pain and discomfort in my back. I also saw results in those five weeks, I've got bigger, but I'm pretty complicated person and now I'm not sure :D Also What I liked the most is that I've trained only three times per week, so I had a lot of time for other activities too.

How many times per week do you train? And do you do only those 5 sets of 5 repetitions, or you are doing some warm up sets too?
 

Dostoevsky

Tzu
Administrator
May 27, 2007
89,029
Well you pretty much described the same thing I went trough with that program, although I stopped after 8 weeks because I started to feel pain and discomfort in my back. I also saw results in those five weeks, I've got bigger, but I'm pretty complicated person and now I'm not sure :D Also What I liked the most is that I've trained only three times per week, so I had a lot of time for other activities too.

How many times per week do you train? And do you do only those 5 sets of 5 repetitions, or you are doing some warm up sets too?
My schedule is fucked up most of the time. When I was doing it right what I did was one day on, one day off, and then repeat. But considering my lectures, exams and other crap on shoulders I just have to when I can. I try to do it right but sometimes I have to skip. Yesterday I did 10 sets of 10 wide pull ups and my back is killing me totally :D This program is IMO very hard physically, if not the hardest.

I do warm ups too (for squats, shoulder press and bench press). I do 4 sets of warm ups usually (only one for dips because if I skip I feel like my bones are going to explode).

Am I the only one who'd like to see Zach post a pic?

No homo
Interestingly he did post one, but not much could be seen.

What I hate is when people don't want to post because of some.. random reason. I don't even care if the person is fat (not him), but we're discussing results. He himself stated how he's a fan of powerlifting and how he likes that look, yet he never wanted to post his. But oh well
 

Zacheryah

Senior Member
Aug 29, 2010
42,251
Well you pretty much described the same thing I went trough with that program, although I stopped after 8 weeks because I started to feel pain and discomfort in my back. I also saw results in those five weeks, I've got bigger, but I'm pretty complicated person and now I'm not sure :D Also What I liked the most is that I've trained only three times per week, so I had a lot of time for other activities too.

How many times per week do you train? And do you do only those 5 sets of 5 repetitions, or you are doing some warm up sets too?

Are you both deloading at week 6 ?

week 6=week4
week7=week5
...


its specifically there to not get the typical lower back problems.

I'd also recommant to do a lighter version after 18 weeks, to enable the smaller muscle to catch up
 

Fint

Senior Member
Aug 13, 2010
19,354
:tup: that's serious strength my man

Weird question, is it normal for someone to have a specific muscle group be enlarged without much work on said area?

I always had fairly big traps for my size, dunno what I could contribute it towards?
 

Oggy

and the Cockroaches
Dec 27, 2005
7,514
My schedule is fucked up most of the time. When I was doing it right what I did was one day on, one day off, and then repeat. But considering my lectures, exams and other crap on shoulders I just have to when I can. I try to do it right but sometimes I have to skip. Yesterday I did 10 sets of 10 wide pull ups and my back is killing me totally :D This program is IMO very hard physically, if not the hardest.

I do warm ups too (for squats, shoulder press and bench press). I do 4 sets of warm ups usually (only one for dips because if I skip I feel like my bones are going to explode).
I know, it's really hard. And I'm pretty busy too, working 5 days a week from 8h to 16:30h (often I stay longer), that means I have to get up around 6:30h and I'm never home before 17:00h, also I finally started writing thesis. That's why I'm looking for best possible and most efficient training plan, that can fit into my time schedule.

Are you both deloading at week 6 ?

week 6=week4
week7=week5
...


its specifically there to not get the typical lower back problems.

I'd also recommant to do a lighter version after 18 weeks, to enable the smaller muscle to catch up
I didn't, I thought that I should do deloading after week 10, I even increased weight more than I should on some exercises :D I've probably misread it...
 

Dostoevsky

Tzu
Administrator
May 27, 2007
89,029
I know, it's really hard. And I'm pretty busy too, working 5 days a week from 8h to 16:30h (often I stay longer), that means I have to get up around 6:30h and I'm never home before 17:00h, also I finally started writing thesis. That's why I'm looking for best possible and most efficient training plan, that can fit into my time schedule.
This one doesn't last long, I don't think you'll find a better one to fit your schedule while being THIS effective. It's really tough when you work like that, that blows.
 

Zacheryah

Senior Member
Aug 29, 2010
42,251
Yeah, i currently have a better schedule, but its not quite as time efficient.

5x5 is so freaking good time for progression

Just remember to deload to not kill the back

- - - Updated - - -

:tup: that's serious strength my man

Weird question, is it normal for someone to have a specific muscle group be enlarged without much work on said area?

I always had fairly big traps for my size, dunno what I could contribute it towards?
Thats genetic. traps are usually the first muscle to really pop out tho.

Big traps, naturally, could be an indicator of a good deadlift !

How are your back excercises going compared to the rest ?
 

Oggy

and the Cockroaches
Dec 27, 2005
7,514
This one doesn't last long, I don't think you'll find a better one to fit your schedule while being THIS effective. It's really tough when you work like that, that blows.
Yeah, i currently have a better schedule, but its not quite as time efficient.

5x5 is so freaking good time for progression

Just remember to deload to not kill the back
Please share it when you find the time.

And big thanks to both of you, you really helped me, I appreciate it a lot!!!
 

Suns

Release clause?
May 22, 2009
22,090
So here is the thing, I've been working out for 6 months now and I'm very much thinner. Old clothes (from when I used to weigh 75kg) fit me perfectly now but the problem is that the weight scale isn't showing what I'm seeing in the mirror and through my clothes. I started off at 86 kg and now I'm at 81. I've gained a lot of muscles, I know, but I would have thought I've been somewhere around 75 kg at this point. I work out 5-6 days a week and I do 45 minutes cardio and 45 minutes heavy weight lifting every time. I am 176cm tall and I think being 81kg is still too much for my height and for the effort that I've put in the last 6 months.
 

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