villaglint Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 One thing I would say about deadlift and back issues (and I've said it before) is that you shouldnt just write them off through worries about making it worse. I did that for years and suffered from lower back issues for a long time, I did physio, chiro, stretching, ice/heat, sports massage and none of it worked. I started doing the deadlift and my back was immeasurably better within 2 weeks and has been fine ever since. I'm now at the point where I'm scared to go a week without doing DL in case my back issues come back! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Absolutely spot on. Same here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Looks good to me. For someone starting from scratch, I might not bother with bis, tris and calves, though. Maybe not delts either. I'd probably stick some direct glute work in there. Oh really? Glutes? Possibly. Beginners may well get enough direct glute work through squat and deadlift variations but I'm a massive fan of hip thrusts and their carryover for the bigger exercises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 31, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2015 As a beginner you will get newbie gains very quickly once you start on any kind of a sensible plan. Try and do a bit of everything at the start. But do it to a plan. Don't be indiscriminate. Get a simple programme that hits every area but as JB says, try the big lifts (but at low weights). If you were to base a plan around 2 alternating big compounds (1 day of bench press & squat, 1 day of deadlift & overhead to use my own example) with supplementary isolations then I think you'd be pleasantly surprised. Use the 5x5 stronglifts method of increasing the weight by 2.5kg on very visit every time you succeeded with 25 lifts on the previous visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCU Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Finally did deadlifts last week for the first time and I think I may have a new favourite exercise! My back and hammies were on fire the following few days, never felt anything like it. I know that'll wear off but I'm so glad I'm now including the big 3 in my routine. Now I need to knuckle down on my eating more than ever. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 How important is stretching? Because stretching before using a piece of equipment can be the difference between you getting it and some other knob going on it whilst you're stretching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted August 11, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted August 11, 2015 Personally I'd never squat, bench or deadlift without stretching first. I might not bother if I was just doing curls or something. I usually just spend 5 minutes before my routine stretching out. Then if anything feels tight during my warm up lifts then I'll stretch those areas specifically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexbelowsound Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 I usually do my warmups on the equipment. 2 very lights sets of 20 focussing on contraction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 11, 2015 Moderator Share Posted August 11, 2015 Yeah I wouldn't be big on stretching. I'll do very light sets and just do the range of motion that I'll be doing on that exercise. I also never 'warm down'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaglint Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 In my experience everybodys muscles react differently so the best advice would be to find what works best for you. As far as the research though it is warm up and stretch down ie warm up the muscles you will be using before you start the exercise. Static stretching from cold and then exercising is the best way to pull a muscle. Stretching after exercise though (ie when the muscle has been used and is warm) is the best way to make lasting (flexiblity) gains and reduce building cumulative tightness in your muscles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted August 11, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted August 11, 2015 Foam rollers after squats when I was doing 5x5 was a god send. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YGabbana Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 A few light sets on the muscle im training then ill do my heavy sets. Bench for example ill warmup on 40kg,60kg and 80kg for 15 reps then stretch my arms and chest a little and do the heavy sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 11, 2015 Moderator Share Posted August 11, 2015 I'm obviously not benching what you are YGabbana but if I warmed up with 45 reps of weight adjusted for my working weight then there's no way I'd have enough left to do my working set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YGabbana Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 I'm obviously not benching what you are YGabbana but if I warmed up with 45 reps of weight adjusted for my working weight then there's no way I'd have enough left to do my working set. Depends on what your heavy sets are and whats light to you. My working sets atm are 6-8 reps. Everyones different mate its what works for you, ive trained like that for awhile with alot of volume and with dropsets especially on bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 11, 2015 Moderator Share Posted August 11, 2015 I'm still doing the 5x5 system on the bench so I have to have enough in the arms and chest to do 25 of my top weight (and if I succeed I add 2.5kg to the next workout etc etc). So I pretty much do a warmup consisting of 10x empty bar just to get range of motion, then a set of 5 at 60kg and then go to my working set which is currently 77.5kg. Trying to get back to 85kg which is what I had when I stopped last year. But if I went e.g. 50, 60, 70 then I'd be far too fatigued for the main event Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YGabbana Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 I'm still doing the 5x5 system on the bench so I have to have enough in the arms and chest to do 25 of my top weight (and if I succeed I add 2.5kg to the next workout etc etc). So I pretty much do a warmup consisting of 10x empty bar just to get range of motion, then a set of 5 at 60kg and then go to my working set which is currently 77.5kg. Trying to get back to 85kg which is what I had when I stopped last year. But if I went e.g. 50, 60, 70 then I'd be far too fatigued for the main event If your doing 5x5 theres no need to warmup in that kind of way anyway, keep doing what your doing and the weight will creep up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 In my experience, you won't realise the benefit of a good warm-up until you've been doing it for a couple of weeks at least. And from what I've heard from older lifters, you're likely to appreciate it even more in 10-20 years. I'm not sure many people realise quite how "locked up" or tight they become, particularly when following a bodybuilding-type routine. If you're aiming to maintain/improve athleticism, in addition to muscle and strength, then I'd say a solid warm-up and post-workout stretch is pretty important. I don't follow these to a tee but Joe Defranco's Simple 6 and Agile 8/Limber 11 are very effective. I stretch my hip flexors and hamstrings and do ankle mobility drills a couple of times every day (pretty much). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 25, 2015 Moderator Share Posted August 25, 2015 Does anyone else experience an enormous difference in their lifting ability between an evening session and a morning session? And if so, is there any way to reduce the effect other than going a bit later in the day ? Last Saturday I nearly pulled the arms off myself on the bench lifting a weight that I could manage much more easily on the previous Tuesday evening. Maybe I just need to warm up a bit more for the early morning trips because the aul' system simply isn't fully awake yet. Either that or at the weights I'm now doing, there's little point going in the morning time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted August 25, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted August 25, 2015 Do you eat before you go in the morning? That would probably make a difference. You'd be lacking energy if you hadn't had breakfast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 25, 2015 Moderator Share Posted August 25, 2015 Weekend morning breakfast is usually 3 eggs on toast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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