Routine Help

[binlid]

Hey everyone! I have a question for a routine. Currently I’m doing Upper Lower 4x a week (U - L - R - U - L - R - R). Recently though, I feel like my progression hasn’t been very good. So I’m wondering, is Straight Arm/Bent Arm 4x a week with different core and leg work on corresponding days a good routine? I can’t really find many recent discussions on Straight Arm/Bent Arm in this sub, so that leads me to think it’s not the most effective routine, but it seems interesting and in line with my goals. I am 17m and my main goals right now are to get stronger and progress calisthenics skills like the planche and FL. I have access to rings and weights as well.

 

[chonstance]

@binlid Upper.lower is not a routine, is a split

Read the sidebar you can find answer to most of what you want

 

[binlid]

@chonstance I’ve read the sidebar and I know what exercises I want, I’m just really asking people if SA/BA as a split is worth it.

 

[trying1tohelp1]

@binlid Well duh. Look at the split. It’s good for a beginner but when progress stops or you don’t feel like you are getting good feedback from the work out then it’s time to either up the reps, up the sets, or increase the difficulty(usually in that order) until you see and feel progress again. Try a push-pull-legs rest then push pull. Or a legs push pull rest then full body. Switch up your rest days to one rest day a week. Make gradual changes rather than swapping everything.

 

[binlid]

@trying1tohelp1 Fair, it’s not that I’m not seeing progress, I’m just not seeing much profession in my skills. From what I can tell, SA/BA will let me get in the skill days I want while also still letting me train upper body hypertrophy 2x a week.

 

[jermyn]

@binlid What were you doing in your previous Upper Lower routine? That would help to know how to help. It may be more of a problem with sets & reps or exercises than the split itself.

I'm not sure I'd suggest SA/BA. That's a hard split to recover from.

 

[binlid]

@jermyn For my upper days I was doing this:

Pull-up Variation + Superset Lateral Raises
Dip variation + Superset Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
Row variation
Push-up Variation/Pike Push-up (Alternating every week)
Accessory work if I have time (Biceps)

Lower Days:

Squat
Hinge (RDL’s)
Calf Raises
Tibialis work

One handed farmer walks
Weighted Plank
L-sit

Monday and Tuesday are heavy days and Thursday/Friday are higher rep, more hypertrophy focused days.

 

[jermyn]

@binlid Okay the exercises look pretty solid. But do I have it right that you are doing Pull-Ups, then Lateral Raises alternated with sets of Dips?

If so, I would alternate the sets of Pull-Up and Dip with rest in between each and then save all the isolation work for the end. That would work better.

I'd also ditch the L-Sit on Lower Body day. Because that's an upper body exercise so it could interfere with the upper body recovery.

I hope that helps!

 

[binlid]

@jermyn I’m not doing alternating sets, since I find I do work best when I focus in on a workout. I DO superset lateral raises with pull-ups, because otherwise I’d never train my side delts EVER. I will definitely switch L-sit work onto an upper day, and sub in other core work for lower.

 

[deborah123]

@binlid

I can’t really find many recent discussions on Straight Arm/Bent Arm in this sub, so that leads me to think it’s not the most effective routine, but it seems interesting and in line with my goals.

SA/BA is very good if someone has a lot of goals related to working most of the bodyweight isometrics - planche, front lever, back lever, flags, elbow levers, and such.

The reason why it doesn't get talked about a lot is because push/pull, upper/lower, and PPL are common weightlifting splits which is more popular.

SA/BA is typically a bodyweight specific split, and very few people talk about it because most people in bodyweight know less about training than those lifting barbells. I use it with my athletes and clients all the time.

 

[binlid]

@deborah123 Do you think doing SA/BA 4x a week will be effective? I really want to progress my skills, and it seems to be a split that works specifically for that.

 

[deborah123]

@binlid Yes, use SA/BA with MWFSat type scheduling all the time.

 

[binlid]

@deborah123 Do you think I could use it with a MTThF scheduling? I go to the gym with a friend and he’s my main ride at this point, so I can’t really schedule outside of these days. If it’s not efficient, then I’ll probably just stick with upper/lower.

 

[deborah123]

@binlid

Do you think I could use it with a MTThF scheduling? I go to the gym with a friend and he’s my main ride at this point, so I can’t really schedule outside of these days. If it’s not efficient, then I’ll probably just stick with upper/lower.

That's fine too, though I personally prefer rest days more spread out.

The more back to back SA/BA you have then the higher increased risk of overuse injuries sometimes.

 

[binlid]

@deborah123 I think I should be able to manage it, I’ll try it for a few cycles and see how I feel. Otherwise, thanks for the info, appreciate it.

 

[esperanza20]

@binlid There's been some threads on r/overcominggravity also, but they're still uncommon. It might be a better sub for it though.