Got Built?

Some of you have been training for a little while now – possibly using a full body workout like Basically, Training or some other routine and you’re ready to move into something with a little more variety – but without being overly involved.

Filled with optimism and keen to advance your training you google “exercise routines” – and your head promptly explodes.

There really is a lot of crap out there – usually with tag-lines extolling the virtues of “switching it up” or “muscle-confusion” – so let me save you some time and offer you a better alternative for your next workout plan.

My friend Patrick Ward of Optimum Sports Performance is a is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and holds a Masters degree in Exercise Science.  Patrick posted the following workout on his blog, and I liked it so much I asked him if I could post it here.

He very kindly obliged.

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K.I.S.S
I am a huge fan of keeping things simple. People are constantly asking what the best workout for someone new to training is and, with all the information out there (some good and some bad), it is easy to get confused.

Below is something I jotted down really quickly for a guy who was just beginning his training career and wondering what the best way to get started was.

Workout A

• Squat (quad dominant)
• Bench press (horizontal pushing)
• Chin up (vertical pulling)

Workout B

• Deadlift (posterior chain/ham dominant)
• Row (horizontal pulling)
• Dumbbell shoulder press (vertical pushing)

Alternate between between those two workouts 3 times a week.

Example:
Week 1

• Monday – A
• Wednesday – B
• Friday – A

Week 2

• Monday – B
• Wednesday – A
• Friday – B

Repeat.

Sets and Reps
On Mondays and Fridays perform 3 sets x 5 reps.
On Wednesday perform 3 sets x 10 reps

Intensity
Since you are totally new to training start with a low intensity and don’t worry about maxing out or hitting failure. Even though you are using 5 repetitions per set, this is not 5 max repetitions. You shouldn’t be hitting failure by rep 5. 70-75% intensity is generally a pretty good place to start. Focus on technique and developing great form and movement patterns. Form is paramount over everything else. Each workout you can try and add 5-10lbs to each lift as long as your form is solid. Do this until you reach a plateau.

When you start to hit a plateau and find it difficult to make any further progress, simply drop the intensity from your workout by about 15% for a week and the next week start from there and work back up in intensity over a few weeks to see if you can break your previous personal records.

Other things that you can add to this program
This is only the lifting portion of the workout. Of course if you want things to be well rounded (and you should want that!), you are going to need to have a good warm up and, in my opinion, some foam rolling to work on your soft tissue and some flexibility work. In addition, you will want to work cardio into your program (intervals work pretty well for that and they are time effective).

Other “newbie questions” that you will probably have.
Below are some answers to typical questions I get when I give someone a program that is simple like this:

• NO, you can not do this workout 4 or 5 times a week.
• YES, you must leave a day of rest in between each training session. I don’t care if you feel like you can do more.
• NO, you can not go in on Saturdays and train biceps.
• NO, you can not go in on Saturdays and train chest and arms

Patrick

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My comments:
Although the writing here is directed toward a novice male lifter, the split is appropriate for a novice female, even if her goals are different. As always, diet is a huge consideration – if you’re trying to lose (or gain!) weight and don’t know where to start, have a read: The do it yourself diet – comfort food for life.

The one small addition I’d make to this workout is a bit of optional core work, such as Bosu ball crunches, which I do almost like this – I just don’t bother with the twist.

Feel free to substitute in squat variations such as front squats, goblet squats or box squats if those suit you better. Likewise, you may find rack pulls or Romanian deads are easier to master than off-the-floor deadlifts as they are for me. You can even do Romanians with dumbbells if you prefer.

If you can’t do chinups quite yet, do negative self-assisted chins:

• Stand at the squat-rack or Smith-machine with the bar at eye-level. Use any grip you like, so long as it’s shoulder-width or narrower.
• Get to “up” any way you can, bend your knees and use the tops of your feet for an assist, slowly lower until you come to a dead-hang. Get back to “up” and repeat.
• An alternative to this is lat pull downs, same hand placement as above.

Some may prefer low incline dumbbell press over flat barbell bench pressing, or one arm dumbbell rows for bent over rows. And if you prefer Oly bar corner push-presses or Arnold presses to shoulder press, by all means do those. Just stick to the general format and rep ranges, and as always, stay away from machines for your lifts.

As with Basically, Training (the great thing about citing yourself is impunity for plagiarizing…)

• This is a three-day-a-week plan. Ideally, rest at least one day between workouts.
• You may choose to integrate carb-cycling into this plan, although it is not necessary. Of course, if you do, the workout days will be your high-carb/high calorie days. For some, this provides an added incentive to train.
• There is no good reason to get on a treadmill before you lift – cardio is not very good preparation for lifting – save that for after you lift. If you’d like to try something more effective, I suggest you use this dynamic warmup-and-stretch protocol. It’s short and to the point, and there are little videos for most of the movements so you can see how to do them.
• Take 1-2 minute rests between sets. THIS IS NOT IRON CARDIO!!!
• Start light, but try to increment the weight as possible.
• Optionally, finish each workout with 20-minutes on any cardio machine you like, at moderate intensity. Fast walking on the treadmill is fine – I do about 3.7 MPH at a 5% grade. No need to jog – ever. If you’d like to consider some other cardio options (such as the high intensity interval training Patrick suggested, or hill repeats), read here and here to see how you can build them into your plan.

Patrick wrote this for the novice lifter – but if you’ve never lifted before and even this much variation seems overwhelming, consider starting with “Basically, Training” for a month. When you’re ready, this balanced two-day split will be waiting for you and you’ll already know where to find it.

MariAnne