Back in the Saddle

I was in the army for 8 years and was convinced to go into bodybuilding by some friends, since I had the wide shoulders and small waist look already. I really enjoyed it and made great strides, but once I got married and left the army, that all ended, heh. I went from 6'1" a ripped 225 lbs. to about 275 flabby ones over the last 12 years.

A few months ago, I decided I was tired of getting old and fat (instead of just old), so the wife and I joined a new gym in our small town here in Maryland. I have altered my diet, use an online site to keep track of nutrition and my exercise logs as well. I looked around on Bodybuilding.com a bit, read up and started back into the weight game with a basic powerlifting scheme of 3 days a week, 3-4 compound lifts per day with a 5x5 scheme. Just to try to gain back some lost strength, and start making some lean mass gains.

Did that for a few weeks and found you, read a lot of the articles on the blog, and on other sites, and dove in, buying all 3 books on Amazon. Since getting them, reading and rereading a couple times to absorb more, I decided to work on your Neo-Classical routine. I finished 5 ho-hum weeks of the basic powerlfiting beginner type routine to get back into some basic shape and started on yours from the 2nd book.

I am a couple weeks in and am thoroughly enjoying lifting again. The totally different types of workouts are breathing fresh air into me, and I can't wait to go back to the gym a couple hours after getting home from that day's workout (oh, and you are right about not being able to walk for a week after one of the calf workouts, along with the quads triset with the breathing squats).

Back in the old days, I was doing a basic push/pull/legs split, 3 on 1 off. Rinse and repeat. It did get tedious at times, and I did change stuff up, take an extra day off here and there, etc. Also, at that time I was most assuredly overtrained constantly anyhow, since I did PT at 5 A.M. with my unit every morning, then went to work and then hit the gym in the early evening. I ate like a horse and was ripped to shreds still.

Anyhow, I guess I am getting off-topic some. I am writing not to ask you for anything (you have provided plenty for us wanna-be's already with the articles here and the books), but rather to say I appreciate your effort. And although the 4th book about busy folks probably doesn't fit me exactly (I have stuck to a new routine of getting up at 4:30 in the morning to eat something, so I can hit the gym at about 5:15 and get back in time to shower and hit work), I will be buying it soon anyways. Just to see if there are any new ideas and such I can learn in case I ever do get tired of the 'early to bed, early to rise' thing.

To wrap up, just saying thanks for the work and research put into your books and looking forward to more new articles in the future.

- Brent Taylor


My Answer: Thanks bro! I'm getting all teary-eyed now (sniff!).

Seriously though I appreciate the kind words, and I'm glad that my books and articles have helped you out and given you renewed zest in the gym. Maintaining that enthusiasm to workout consistently is hard to do unless you keep learning and trying different things.

Believe me, I tested out a lot of different workout programs, exercises and diets. There is a wide variety of information out there, and most people (including trainers) only test a tiny cross-section of that knowledge. It took me a good 10 years of researching and testing in the gym before I said, "There's nothing else for me to learn."

So keep at it my friend. There is always something useful that you can implement in the gym that you haven't done before. As long as you are willing to push the limits, then you'll always have some motivation in the gym.


Hello! I am writing again because I have thought about how to train using this routine for 3 days. I decided, maybe I can combine Day 4 and Day 5 together? So the workout for Friday would look like this:

* Bench Press: 6 sets of 5, 4, 3, 5, 4, 3 reps (3 minutes rest)
* Deadlifts: 6 sets of 5, 4, 3, 5, 4, 3 reps (3 minutes rest)
* Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 5 sets of 10-12 reps (1 minute rest)
* Incline Dumbbell Curls/Skullcrushers: 5 sets of 6-8 reps (90 seconds rest)

Benches and deadlifts would be for maximal strength, and then shoulders, biceps and triceps to work my arms. Could this be the option for the workout?

However, if my body won't deal with it well, then I could try another option for this routine (one of these two that you recommended for me on your last blog topic).

Thanks for help!

Lauris


My Answer: The workout is way too long now. I've written the program as is for a reason. The maximal strength program alone would take 40-45 minutes to complete. Adding the physique exercises would add another half hour to your workout. You will overtrain if you continuously workout beyond 45-60 minutes. Go with the other options I provided you.

The Complete Strength Athlete, 3 Days a Week

Q: Hello! My name is Lauris! I am 18 years old. I've been training in the gym for about 1 year, so I am pretty much a novice, I suppose.

I have plans for the summer to really train my strength, so I started to search some strength workouts. Then I read your article on Bodybuilding.com: The Complete Strength Athlete.

I think it's a very cool routine! But I was wondering: maybe you have something very similar to this routine, but just for 3 days a week. I think 4 days a week can be bit too heavy for me, I don't really know. Or maybe you can do some adjustments and send me the routine? :)

Thanks for your help!

- Lauris P.


My Answer: No Lauris, I will not send you an adjusted routine. That's why I wrote an article so that people can read it, learn from it, use it and adjust it to fit their own individual needs. I appreciate questions and comments from readers, but it'd be very time consuming to send everyone a free program.

If you want to adjust The Complete Strength Athlete program from a 4 day a week program to 3 day a week program, then you have 2 options:

1) Simply go through the sequence of 4 workouts in a time period of a week and a half. For example:

Monday - Explosive strength
Wednesday - Strength endurance
Friday - Maximal strength
Monday - Strength and physique
Wednesday - Explosive strength

...and so on and so forth. You figure it out and work it into your schedule.

2) You can skip Workout #4 (Strength and Physique) entirely and just do the other three since you're interested in strength and not so much physique.


Q: Hello, I have a program according to which I should train squats, bench press and deadlifts 3 times a week (+other muscles of course).

Is it wise to train squats and deadlifts in the same workout? If I changed day 2's squats and deadlifts to deadlift only, then I'd be doing squats only on day 1 and 3.

Or would it be better to train deadlifts twice a week and squats only one? I take 2 light sets and 2 hard sets (4 in all) on these exercises.

- CS


My Answer: Sounds like a powerlifting program. I personally do not like training squats and deadlifts together. It's like carrying both a shotgun and an assault rifle: despite the fire power, it gets a little too heavy and becomes more trouble than it's worth. Better to have a long gun and your sidearm.

But if you're just doing 2 hard sets for each exercise, then doing squats and deadlifts in the same workout should not be a problem. It's fucking redundant, but it's not a problem. If you want to avoid redundancy, then go with your option of squats twice a week and deadlifts once a week. Or simply alternate squats and deadlifts throughout the weeks:

Monday - Squats
Wednesday - Deadlifts
Friday - Squats
Monday - Deadlifts
Wednesday - Squats

...and so on and so forth. Like I told Lauris: you figure it out.

Fat Loss: Where to Start?

I have been reading your blog, and I am really impressed. But I am looking for concise information on losing weight and gaining muscle. I hope you can provide the right direction. I am 5'4", and I weigh about 212 lbs. I am really not sure where to start. I have been taking karate for the last 2 months. I have lost about 8 pounds, and I really like it. I want to lose 40 lbs. of weight and gain muscle.

Which of your books should I buy, and which training program should I follow?

Thanks,
William


My Answer: As far as which of my books would be best for you, I'd recommend Volume One or Volume 2: Neo-Classical Bodybuilding. Both volumes have a chapter on strength training for fat loss.

You might also want to go to the bookstore and pick up the June-July 2010 issue of Planet Muscle. I have an article on "Four Dietary Strategies" that will point you in the right direction as far as eating.

Filling out the Upper Pecs

I've been doing your hypertrophy for ectomorphs for about 2 months now and I've noticed that I am not gaining much mass on my pectoralis minors. Also, my bench press weight has gone down from being able to do 4 sets of 8 of 165lbs to not being able to get 3 of 175lb on my set of 6 in the hypertrophy workout. What do you think I'm doing wrong?

- Trevor Arjeski


My Answer: Hard to say what's going on unless I'm looking at your training log and looking at your numbers. Question is were you ever able to do 6 reps of 175 lbs? When you progress from 10 to 8 to 6 reps, the increase in poundages should be small. 2.5 to 5 pounds. Ten pound jumps would be too much, especially if you're nearing your 6RM.

Bottom line is you've been on the program for too long (2 months) and need to switch to a 5x5 program. Your upper pecs are not getting much growth, because you've been doing the flat bench press for 2 months. Switch to a 20 degree dumbbell bench press.

Now if you're looking to develop the pec minor specifically (and not just the upper portion of the pec major), then do some dumbbell pullovers alternated with standing barbell military presses. The pec minor is a small muscle underneath the pec major. If you develop the pec minor, then you'll get extra thickness in the upper chest area near the clavicles.

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