Routine Design for Dummies 1.016702
 The DarkKnight |
eknight private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Because I see this regularly in threads and PMs, I thought I'd create a thread. I want to state, first, that there are dozens of great routines out there (Starting Strength; 5/3/1; Cube; any version of Westside; PHAT; etc.) that I generally advise over creating your own, made by people with tons of experience and knowledge, but if you simply HAVE to reinvent the wheel, here are my suggestions: These are based on human kinesiology and common sense. I can't teach anyone a decade's worth of anatomy and kinesiology, but I can help point you in the right direction. As for the common sense, if you don't have that, blame your parents and the genetics they passed on to you. Nothing I can do there. 1. All body parts twice weekly. For natural athletes, we want to take advantage of muscle protein synthesis rates, which remain elevated 48-72 hours post-workout. Training everything around twice weekly is optimal. 2. 10-12 working sets per workout for larger muscle groups (chest, back, legs) is sufficient for growth. I know some people love to do high volume routines. Good for them. The average athlete doesn't need 20-25 sets for chest twice a week. That's nonsense. Smaller muscle groups can be trained with great results with 6-8 sets twice a week. Hammering your muscles into submission will not make them grow more. Once muscle protein synthesis is peaked, adding more reps or sets isn't going to create more growth. It may increase muscular endurance. 3. Train movements, not muscles. I guarantee you the guy that works up to a 500 pound squat or 350 pound bench press is going to have better CSA (cross-sectional area of a muscle) than the guy who toils away trying to work his inner-outer-upper-lower-medial-lateral insertional fucktoralis major muscle. Get better at movements, and you'll get stronger. Get stronger, and you'll build muscle if your nutrition is correct. 4. Ratios matter. No, not macro ratios, but push:pull and ham:quad. If you value your shoulder health, and understand anatomy, you already know why I advise twice as much pulling volume as pushing. You have only a few major "pushers" on the torso (pec major, anterior deltoid, serratus anterior, subscapularis), but you have a ton of "pullers" (lats, posterior delts, traps, rhomboids, and three of the four rotator cuff muscles). Training should be set up accordingly. For the knee flexors and extensors, I advise a 1:1 ratio for males and 3:2 ratio for females of hamstrings:quads. Deads alone don't count- they do not actively flex the knee joint and don't recruit the entire hamstring complex. The literature shows that the greatest modifiable factor to ACL injuries is poor a poor ham:quad strength ratio. 5. Biceps and triceps. I advise at least one "extension" type of movement for triceps each time you train them. The long head of the tris originates on the scapula and assists in shoulder extension. Movements such as French presses, rolling DB extensions, and rolling cable pressdowns are good choices. Likewise, each time you train biceps, I advise either an incline curl type of movement, or a movement that ends with 20-30 degrees of shoulder flexion, like this:  6. Core work. Twice a week, same as everything else. 3 sets of each of the following or something similar: Hyperextensions (or reverse hypers); planks (or body saws); oblique work (static or active); trunk flexion/weighted trunk flexion. 7. Mobility work. It's not difficult, and it's not time consuming. YouTUbe "Limber 11," and do it 3-4 times per week. 8.. Back to common sense. Squats deeper than 100 degree knee flexion are of no greater benefit to strength or hypertrophy. Seated leg extensions are pointless. Ditto any shoulder press or lat pull behind your head. What's a good example of the above? Day 1: Pushing movement: 4 sets 3-6 reps Different push: 3 sets 8-10 reps Different push: 3 sets 8-10 reps Vertical pull movement: 3 sets 8-10 reps Horizontal pull movement: 3 sets 8-10 reps Different pull movement: 3 sets 8-10 reps Shoulder horizontal abduction or external rotation movement: 3 sets 8-10 reps (ie, face-pulls, band pull-aparts, DB or band external rotation movement) Scapular retraction movement 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps (shrugs, Y or W raises, prone trap raises) Biceps: 4-6 sets Triceps: 4-6 sets Day 2: Compound lower body movement (squats/deads/leg press): 4 sets 3-6 reps Second lower body movement, unilateral is my preference: 3 sets 8-10 reps Hip extension movement: 3 sets 8-10 reps Direct knee flexion movement: 3 sets 8-10 reps Calf movement: 3 sets straight leg, 3 sets knee bent. 8-10 reps each. Abs as above. Repeat template for days 3 and 4 substituting exercises as needed. I'm pretty sure, I'll add/amend as I go, since this was totally off the top of my head and typed with the baby and I playing with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy as I went. I'll adjust as needed. |
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Rand private msg quote post Address this user | |
| This should get moved to the FAQ or stickied separate. Nice write up |
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ErickFromOmaha private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Seated leg extensions are pointless? Usually I try to google before I jump on someone's thread and schooled but I see mixed opinions. Why is it useless | ||
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ErickFromOmaha private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Get schooled* | ||
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Fayzeh private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Great job @eknight! | ||
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LVjack private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I love me some behind the head shoulder press on the smith machine and some seated leg extensions! | ||
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ErickFromOmaha private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by LVjack That's what I'm saying! |
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qtdreams92 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by LVjack Hmm interesting  |
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LVjack private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @qtdreams92 Indeed. | ||
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The Dark Knight |
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| @LVjack not sure if serious. BTN presses put the shoulder into extremes of abduction and external rotation, and add a huge amount of stress to the cervical spine. There's a ton of literature demonstrating this, including: http://www.iidca.net/descargas/articulos/Acciones_articulares_desaconsejadas.pdf ^^specifically lists BTN presses as contraindicated because of the "stress over the anterior capsule of the glenohumeral joint," due to "abduction and extreme external rotation." The article concludes that "it is recommended to perform the exercise in front of the face." And: http://www.nsca.com/uploadedFiles/NSCA/Resources/PDF/Education/Articles/NSCA_Classics_PDFs/Exercise_Modifications_and_Strategies_to_Enhance.pdf from the Strength and Conditioning Journal, which notes: "Exercises such as the behind the-neck press and behind-the-neck lat pull-down place the arm in abduction with extreme external rotation and some horizontal abduction. This positioning increases stress in the joint capsule, ligaments, and rotator cuff tendons." Regarding leg extensions, they forcefully create anterior tibial translation, with no co-contraction of the hamstrings, creating a ton of stress to the ACL- so much stress that after an ACL tear, they're not allowed by physical therapists in rehab. They also remove adequate contraction of the rectus femoris because of the position of the hips. So, they're not only dangerous, but they're not a very good leg developer! Functionally, consider this- when are you ever going to BACK into an object, grab it, and push it overhead? Never! You'd turn around and reach in front of you. Ditto seated leg extensions- that's not a natural movement. You wouldn't do that in your real life. For more on the knee: http://forum.simplyshredded.com/topic/13050/page/1/hamquadkneewut/ For more on the shoulder: http://forum.simplyshredded.com/topic/12290/page/1/shoulder-stability-vlog/ Both of the above exercises CAN be done, as can half-reps on the bench press. Doesn't mean they SHOULD be done. Effective and optimal are not the same thing. -3X |
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Zepa private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @eknight I will remove leg extensions from now on. What would you recommend for alternative ? | ||
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The Dark Knight |
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| Anything compound, or if you're really in love with the movement, standing TKE's with a band negate all of the issues with seated extensions. -3X | ||
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GoldenAesthetics private msg quote post Address this user | |
| is a back extension movement like this http://www.allthingsgym.com/apti-aukhadov-lying-back-extensions/ a good substitute for a hip extension movement? Because this exercise kills my hams and Glutes  |
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oceanair private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @eknight Great post |
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_RudeCrew private msg quote post Address this user | |
| But what about my intra-abdominal oblique? How many sets and reps? I don't see it on the template? Also, what about my knee? It's looking a little small so I want to put some size on it? Why is everything a question? Ok I'm done now? |
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The Dark Knight |
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| @GoldenAesthetics lol that's the point of a hip extension movement. The vid you linked isn't really going to work your glutes and hams. -3X | ||
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GoldenAesthetics private msg quote post Address this user | |
so it is not a good substitute  than i will add hip extensions |
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The Dark Knight |
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| Yeah, sorry, lol. -3X | ||
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The Dark Knight |
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| @oceanair thank you! @_RudeCrew I heard fapping helps intra-abdominal obliques. -3X |
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eventheodds1 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Insertional fucktoralis Major. You are the man. | ||
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jja0016 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| should sticky this | ||
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Coopsdaddy private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Now how about your preferred list of exercise,with a few subs just in case of equipment etc. Thanks for the advise |
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Zepa private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Coopsdaddy that would be great | ||
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The Dark Knight |
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| @Coopsdaddy that is a pretty good idea. I'm at work now, but we have no afternoon patients so I'll try to compile that list later today. -3X | ||
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Coopsdaddy private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I don't post a lot but do read a lot and it does get overwhelming,with age I have learned that all this heavy lifting a week takes a toll on me at least,back And shoulder health are important as well,I'm more concerned with being able to keep going consistently than maxing all the time,thanks for the help you provide on this forum! | ||
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Rawsteel private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Coopsdaddy You're not alone, luckely heavy weights are not necessary for hypertrophy, especially not maxing. Here's a good article that you might find interesting. |
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mikew private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Rand Quote: Originally Posted by oceanair Quote: Originally Posted by jja0016 Done - we could combine this with the FAQ but let's try it as a 2nd sticky thread. Great work @eknight |
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The Dark Knight |
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| @mikew thanks bro! So, "no patients," turned into "several late patients," thus, I will try to compose a list of exercises that I love tomorrow. -3X |
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Coopsdaddy private msg quote post Address this user | |
| No rush,thanks again! | ||
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ajm87 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Tremendous! | ||
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