Help! I need to change my lifting routine...

[DoogieT]

I keep reading that a person's body adapts to their weight routine so they need to change it to avoid plateauing. I've been doing the same routine at the gym for about two and a half months and don't know what to change it to. I'm trying to put on muscle and lose fat. This is what I've been doing, and I do the same thing every other day at the gym, but I change the order depending on what's available:

Curls

Shoulder press

Bench press

Dips

Assisted pull ups

Squats

Ab crunchie weight machine

30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical. I can't run because I have scoliosis and my back locks up.

Any suggestions? I want to incorporate deadlifts.

[Kewilson]

Deadlifts, as you say. I used to do medicine ball chops with spare weight plates but ended up dropping them when I shortened my routine (this isn't to say they're a bad exercise, though). I also like* dumbbell lunges (walking or stepping).

*I like their effect, but if you ask me how I feel about them in the last half of the last set, I wouldn't give as good an evaluation.

[airen123]

hanging lifts and planks instead of ab machine.

[bigm141414]

A few questions:

What are your goals? A good base of strength? Or a mix of decent conditioning?

How long have you been lifting?

How have you been progressing?

Do you add weight every session?

Do you track and log your workouts?

The standard novice routines look like this:

A Day

Squat 3(5)x5

Bench 3(5)x5

Deadlift 1x5

B Day

Squat 3(5)x5

OHP 3(5)x5

Cleans or BB rows 3(5)x5

Alternate between those two schemes every other day. Increase weight every session. 5lbs for bench, OHP, 10lbs for squats/dead lifts if you can handle it. This routine should last you 9 months to a year before you need to start thinking about changing it.

There are some accessory exercises you can do for warmup/cool down or on off days, such as Romanian dead lifts to work the spinal erectors and posterior chain (very helpful to increase dead lifts), planks are good as airen mentioned. Front squats are a fun diversion as well and the focus more on quads. Jogging is fine on rest days and/or if you enjoy it. It all goes back to your goals. Oh and my new favorite thing to do for fun is DB snatches.

Get rid of the ab machine as squats and dead lifts will give your core all the workout you need.

Note: I am biased towards strength, because well, I am a Warrior and love being wicked strong.

[161803398874989]

A Day

Squat 3(5)x5

Bench 3(5)x5

Deadlift 1x5

Chinups 3 sets

B Day

Squat 3(5)x5

OHP 3(5)x5

Cleans or BB rows 3(5)x5

As of the third edition.

[WizardTrip]

Bigm has this one covered. I am also biased towards the strength side of things. I've been doing the SL 5x5 routine for coming up on ~6 months and still seeing gains. May switch over to 3x5 on some weeks just to change it up and get some more lbs on my lifts, but still weighing that option.

I also work in pull-ups, chin-ups, and push-ups as well. On rare occasion I'll throw some curls in just for the bulging bicep look walking out of the gym (the vain part of me )

As of the third edition.

Damn! On DL day?!?! Well, OK then...

[Relic]

Progressive overload (always increasing the weight) will pretty much take care of any plateau problems you might have because it ensures that each workout is harder than the last one. Plateau problems using progrssive overload will likely be from not enough recovery(proper rest,sleep,or diet), as apposed to your body getting used to a routine.

Don't forget that cardio isn't restricted to just running, biking, and eliptical. A weight lifting/ bodyweight circut can be a fun change of pace.

[DoogieT]

Wow, that was a lot of feedback. Thanks, everybody.

I want muscles and strength. I'm not interested in endurance, so I'm doing high weight and low reps. I've been lifting weights on and off for years, but only have been seriously lifting them and seeing any kind of change in my body since January. I might just stick with what I'm doing and increase the weight, it's been working okay so far. I don't think I could increase by five pounds every side, I think that's too much. I track them in my iPhone and I have a pretty rough idea of what I can do.

A few questions:

What's OHP? What's a hanging lift? What are cleans and BB rows? Is it okay to start doing deadlifts with just the bar on the floor? I had a trainer show me how to do them but he set the bar on these plastic square thingies because he said the floor was too low. Maybe I could put it on the bench press bench?

Honestly, I'm shocked and amazed at the changes I'm seeing in my body (and also thrilled) so maybe I should just keep on doing what I'm doing and increase the weight as I go...(and throw deadlifts into the mix).

[llsoszynski@gmail.com]

A few questions:

What are your goals? A good base of strength? Or a mix of decent conditioning?

How long have you been lifting?

How have you been progressing?

Do you add weight every session?

Do you track and log your workouts?

The standard novice routines look like this:

A Day

Squat 3(5)x5

Bench 3(5)x5

Deadlift 1x5

B Day

Squat 3(5)x5

OHP 3(5)x5

Cleans or BB rows 3(5)x5

Alternate between those two schemes every other day. Increase weight every session. 5lbs for bench, OHP, 10lbs for squats/dead lifts if you can handle it. This routine should last you 9 months to a year before you need to start thinking about changing it.

There are some accessory exercises you can do for warmup/cool down or on off days, such as Romanian dead lifts to work the spinal erectors and posterior chain (very helpful to increase dead lifts), planks are good as airen mentioned. Front squats are a fun diversion as well and the focus more on quads. Jogging is fine on rest days and/or if you enjoy it. It all goes back to your goals. Oh and my new favorite thing to do for fun is DB snatches.

Get rid of the ab machine as squats and dead lifts will give your core all the workout you need.

Note: I am biased towards strength, because well, I am a Warrior and love being wicked strong.

^^ what he said. If you do the big lifts and just increase the weight you should be good for a while. If you want to throw in other exercises, try chins or ous, add weight when they get easier. I personally do a big lift, a push, and a pull of some sort every session (Usually x2). Example would be deadlift, bent over single arm rows, and then pulls.

Just a thought! Although I am biased too, as a warrior, haha.

[bigm141414]

A few questions:

What's OHP? What's a hanging lift? What are cleans and BB rows? Is it okay to start doing deadlifts with just the bar on the floor? I had a trainer show me how to do them but he set the bar on these plastic square thingies because he said the floor was too low. Maybe I could put it on the bench press bench?

OHP - overhead press (i have a bad habit of using acronyms).

BB rows - BarBell rows. like a dumb bell row but with the bar bell.

Hanging lifts - hanging leg lifts. Grab a pullup bar and then raise your legs/knees as high as they will go.

Check out the Starting Strength Wiki for loads of information on barbell lifts.

[Waldo]

I want muscles and strength. I'm not interested in endurance, so I'm doing high weight and low reps.

Maximum muscle growth rate is achieved with a mixture of muscular strength and endurance training.

Endurance training doesn't mean repping out to an infinite amount of reps, but it does mean training your muscles to be able to do lots and lots of sets. This is done at lighter weights with more sets. There is merit to the whole pump thing (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy) but progress will easily stall without making concurrent strength gains.

Training both (generally periodized, though it can be down one after the other in a session) will maximize size gains. Muscles grow big both by being strong and by being able to do a lot of work. Each are separate facets. Getting stronger will do nothing for your work capacity, increasing your work capacity will do nothing for your strength.

[Hermione Gainser]

Bigm, "wicked strong"? Sounds like the Northeast rubbed off on ya

As far as where to start with deadlifts: I'm sure the starting strength wiki has a good recommendation but I believe strong lifts starts it at ~ 95 lbs. You want some weight on the bar but it doesn't hurt to go light to pattern the movement (practice with jsut the bar, etc). Prop it up on some steps or stacked weights so it's at the appropriate height (described in wikis)--middish shin area.

[DoogieT]

Will do. I think I'll start with 25 on a side and hope I don't throw my back out.

[DoogieT]

Also, where's the starting strength wiki? Is it part of nerd fitness? I just know the forums...

[bigm141414]

SS Wiki

SS: The Lifts

SS: The Program

All based on the wonderfully detailed book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.

[llsoszynski@gmail.com]

SS Wiki

SS: The Lifts

SS: The Program

All based on the wonderfully detailed book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.

Totally using. I've been trying to figure out where this stuff was for a while now!