samsonitebaggage
New member
Hey, just made my first custom weightlifting plan, and I wanted to gauge peoples opinions of it/how to tweak it for best results.
About me: 5'8", M, 145lbs, weightlifted a bit in the past (nothing serious), fairly active, had labor jobs in past. I've moved to a new city for 12 months on coop and am committing myself to get healthy and build a good foundation of strength before I move back home.
Current strength: dumbbell press 55lbs 3x6 (or 50 3x8), squat 135 lbs 3x8, RDL 110 3x8 easily (no bench or deadlift numbers yet. As you can see, I'm pretty underdeveloped, especially in my legs.
Since mid May I have been following a 4 day upper lower split (twice over per week) using linear progression and a few of my exercises are starting to plateau. I wanted these first few months to be a nice reintroduction to the gym to work on my form again and get a good baseline for strength
Here's where my new plan comes in. I want to finish out current LP until end of august (as per my initial plan), and transition to a pretty tough, 5 month bulk. This will be to pack on developmental strength, not necessarily for aesthetics, but to build a really solid foundation with compound movements/main muscle groups.
Ive searched a few beginner/novice plans and have settled on Reg Parks Beginner Routine (with tweaks below):
(AxBxAxx BxAxBxx)
A: Back squat 3x5, chinups/pullups 3x5, bench 3x5, barbell curl 3x5
B: Front squat 3x5, row 3x5, standing press 3x5, deadlift 1x5
A and B both get: calf work 2x15-20, wrist work 2x10
Here's where I need advice. Since this program does not really include a lot of volume, I want to up the numbers. I really want to focus on the principle that volume builds strength, but as I'm sort of new, not sure how much recovery I will need. I got this next idea from Alexander Bromley on youtube: Volumize!
Instead: ABxABxx, everything stays the same except back squat, bench, front squat, deadlift. Each week I want to increase number of sets (from the base set described in Reg Parks Plan) by 1. on the fourth week I deload for recovery. To further aide recovery, I want to stagger my 'peak weeks'. So if I am on my peak bench week, I will be doing 5x5 bench at ~70%. at the same time I will be doing back squat at 3x5, front squat at 4x5, and deadlift on deload.
This way, each of my 'top load weeks' for one of the 4 main movements will not be on the same week as any other. I even made sure the two lifts for the same day are on opposite schedules. When starting the program i start everything at base sets and start with one excersice on 4x5 wk2, wk3 4x5 becomes 5x5 and another excerices becomes 4x5, wk4 5x5 becomes deload, 4x5 becomes 5x5, 3x5 becomes 4x5... you get the idea. I will not jump into a 5x5 right away and will have a month to get prepared for the volume.
The idea is that its a very beginner friendly, all inclusive plan, which hits the main movements at really high volume, wave loading (with sets instead of reps). My 3x5 set is at 55% max, 4x5 at 60-65%, 5x5 at 65%-70% and at the end of the cycle, I increase the weight of the lift substantially (10-20 pounds).
If I fail sets for a day, continue as normal. If I fail two days in a row(for one exercise), do baseline reps at current weeks weight to finish out the cycle, deload, and resume again at a weight halfway between the failed weight and the previous weight.
Questions: Is this way too much, should I scale back?
Will I need a deload week if I reset my sets every third week? (i.e. sets from 5x5 to 3x5 with a weight increase will be a good enough deload?)
Follow-up to previous, do I need deload especially since my first day is ~55% 3x5
If I cut out deload, should I also remove one of the 4 lifts from this volume schedule to make sure i have no overlapping 'peak weeks'?
Am I completely overthinking this schedule?
I would love some suggestions about the feasibility of this/what you think about the accessories, bulking, difficulty etc. I want to hammer this down now because when I start this program I really want to stick to it so there is no guessing.
Thanks!
TL
R Regs parks beginner routine with juiced up volume. Plan is in bold.
About me: 5'8", M, 145lbs, weightlifted a bit in the past (nothing serious), fairly active, had labor jobs in past. I've moved to a new city for 12 months on coop and am committing myself to get healthy and build a good foundation of strength before I move back home.
Current strength: dumbbell press 55lbs 3x6 (or 50 3x8), squat 135 lbs 3x8, RDL 110 3x8 easily (no bench or deadlift numbers yet. As you can see, I'm pretty underdeveloped, especially in my legs.
Since mid May I have been following a 4 day upper lower split (twice over per week) using linear progression and a few of my exercises are starting to plateau. I wanted these first few months to be a nice reintroduction to the gym to work on my form again and get a good baseline for strength
Here's where my new plan comes in. I want to finish out current LP until end of august (as per my initial plan), and transition to a pretty tough, 5 month bulk. This will be to pack on developmental strength, not necessarily for aesthetics, but to build a really solid foundation with compound movements/main muscle groups.
Ive searched a few beginner/novice plans and have settled on Reg Parks Beginner Routine (with tweaks below):
(AxBxAxx BxAxBxx)
A: Back squat 3x5, chinups/pullups 3x5, bench 3x5, barbell curl 3x5
B: Front squat 3x5, row 3x5, standing press 3x5, deadlift 1x5
A and B both get: calf work 2x15-20, wrist work 2x10
Here's where I need advice. Since this program does not really include a lot of volume, I want to up the numbers. I really want to focus on the principle that volume builds strength, but as I'm sort of new, not sure how much recovery I will need. I got this next idea from Alexander Bromley on youtube: Volumize!
Instead: ABxABxx, everything stays the same except back squat, bench, front squat, deadlift. Each week I want to increase number of sets (from the base set described in Reg Parks Plan) by 1. on the fourth week I deload for recovery. To further aide recovery, I want to stagger my 'peak weeks'. So if I am on my peak bench week, I will be doing 5x5 bench at ~70%. at the same time I will be doing back squat at 3x5, front squat at 4x5, and deadlift on deload.
This way, each of my 'top load weeks' for one of the 4 main movements will not be on the same week as any other. I even made sure the two lifts for the same day are on opposite schedules. When starting the program i start everything at base sets and start with one excersice on 4x5 wk2, wk3 4x5 becomes 5x5 and another excerices becomes 4x5, wk4 5x5 becomes deload, 4x5 becomes 5x5, 3x5 becomes 4x5... you get the idea. I will not jump into a 5x5 right away and will have a month to get prepared for the volume.
The idea is that its a very beginner friendly, all inclusive plan, which hits the main movements at really high volume, wave loading (with sets instead of reps). My 3x5 set is at 55% max, 4x5 at 60-65%, 5x5 at 65%-70% and at the end of the cycle, I increase the weight of the lift substantially (10-20 pounds).
If I fail sets for a day, continue as normal. If I fail two days in a row(for one exercise), do baseline reps at current weeks weight to finish out the cycle, deload, and resume again at a weight halfway between the failed weight and the previous weight.
Questions: Is this way too much, should I scale back?
Will I need a deload week if I reset my sets every third week? (i.e. sets from 5x5 to 3x5 with a weight increase will be a good enough deload?)
Follow-up to previous, do I need deload especially since my first day is ~55% 3x5
If I cut out deload, should I also remove one of the 4 lifts from this volume schedule to make sure i have no overlapping 'peak weeks'?
Am I completely overthinking this schedule?
I would love some suggestions about the feasibility of this/what you think about the accessories, bulking, difficulty etc. I want to hammer this down now because when I start this program I really want to stick to it so there is no guessing.
Thanks!
TL
R Regs parks beginner routine with juiced up volume. Plan is in bold.