My workout plan I will follow for 6 months. Anything obvious I should change?

[Jordan]

Hey there, I know this is not really a workout forum but I have not been part of one of those forums for many years so I thought I would check here first. I decided to start working out. It has been around 10 years since I started working out regularly. I made up a workout plan with exercises I like and that I can do at home. If anyone has any experience and can give any tips if you see anything I could change to improve it then please let me know. I have been very excited about starting to workout again and I even recorded my first workout. I am just looking for any advice or encouragement

Here are the exercises:

Diamond pushups
Pushups with raised legs on a chair 
Door frame pull ups 
Bent over one arm dumbbell row 
Overhead press 
Rear delt row 
Iso reverse crunch 
Bicycles 
ATG split squat 
Side leg lift 
Tibialis raises 
Calf raises

I plan to do 4 sets of each exercise and try to rest just 15 seconds between each exercise just doing as many as I can with good form. I just take as long as I feel I need between exercises trying not to take too long of a break. The short break I thought might save time and let me feel more of a burn on more of my reps. I think maybe I should add in a Romanian deadlift exercise to hit my hamstrings more. Is there anything obvious I am missing?

 

[Ulax]

First off, I like the desire to grow dude.

I'd recommend the following. Firstly, unless your already familiar with the form, I'd recommend getting a personal training session to get a really understanding of how to do the overhead press and Romanian deadlift. Plus any other compound exercise if i missed one. Secondly, I'd also research about what type of diet will support your goals.

On the other hand, unless you want to stick to your own programme, I'd recommend you purchase or get access to a well regarded home workout programme instead. If you get a well regarded programme then I'm confident you'll avoid many of the mistakes that prevent people from getting results in this area.

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by Ulax
Spelling

[Godhead]

Awesome bro, you seem to have a great frame, I bet some more muscle would fit your body type quite well.

Couple of questions: 

• What are your goals? Is it just general fitness or..?
• How often are you planning to work out each week? 
• Are you planning to do the same exact workout every time?
• How do you plan on progressively overloading?

[Jordan]

4 hours ago, Ulax said:

First off, I like the desire to grow dude.

I'd recommend the following. Firstly, unless your already familiar with the form, I'd recommend getting a personal training session to get a really understanding of how to do the overhead press and Romanian deadlift. Plus any other compound exercise if i missed one. Secondly, I'd also research about what type of diet will support your goals.

On the other hand, unless you want to stick to your own programme, I'd recommend you purchase or get access to a well regarded home workout programme instead. If you get a well regarded programme then I'm confident you'll avoid many of the mistakes that prevent people from getting results in this area.

 

Hello, Thanks for replying, I might need to look at my form on the different exercises. I will try watching youtube videos and watching my own video to see any differences especially for the 2 exercises you mentioned. I kind of just like the idea of creating my own program for now. It might not be the best to reach my goals the fastest and ne the safest but it makes me more interested in doing it which is more important to me. I am open to making changes here and there as I experiment and learn what works best. 

My diet, I eat the same thing usually 3-4 times per day which is rice, lamb, broccoli, carrots, zucchini butter salt all cooked and mixed together. I also eat some fruit like oranges, apples, bananas, pears, avocados. I have not gotten sick of this food for several years. I will need to eat more now that I am exercising more. 

3 hours ago, Godhead said:

Awesome bro, you seem to have a great frame, I bet some more muscle would fit your body type quite well.

Couple of questions: 

• What are your goals? Is it just general fitness or..?
• How often are you planning to work out each week? 
• Are you planning to do the same exact workout every time?
• How do you plan on progressively overloading?

Hello, Thanks for replying.

1. My goal is to get some strength and muscles generally over my whole body over the next 6 months. I want to prevent injuries. I would like to start rock climbing after 6 months if my knees are feeling ok. I would probably want to start more rock climbing focused training if I end up rock climbing. I used to rock climb indoors recreationally but stopped after injuring my foot and knee. 

My 2nd goal is to get my knee fixed which seems to me IT band syndrome. Stretching seems not to help at all. I think I need to strengthen my leg muscles and self massage a lot around my hip and quads. 

2. I was planning on working out 3 times per week. I was thinking if my muscles hurt too much I could alternate going easier on legs one day and easier on upper body the next. I will probably do full body workouts for now. I could try other types later.

3. I was planning on doing the same exercises but possibly alternate on doing 2 sets and 4 sets for the leg or upper body each time. 

4.To progressively overload, I just planned to always do as many reps as I can to failure. If I can do 15 or more reps I will either increase the weight on the dumbbells or if it is a body weight exercise I will see if I can find a more difficult variation. This should increase the overall volume as I get stronger. I maybe should take a look at some home workout plans to see what they do. 

[The0Self]

Just a little known fact of muscular adaptation:

If you’re focusing on max size, you won’t get as big as if you focused on max strength. If you’re focusing on max strength, you won’t get as strong (and therefore big) big as if you focused on max power.

Therefore, maximum speed on the concentric portion of the rep, from rep one, is a bit of a cheat code.

As far as the routine outline, this is the simplest while still optimal for a novice; thought optimal is not necessary:

*Squat 3x5

*Bench 3x5 (eventually can do before SQ)

*Deadlift 1x5 / *Row 3x5

*Press 3x5

Chin 2x8 / Curl 2x8

Facepull 1x20

Abs 1x20

 

3 nonconsecutive days / week

 

*Asterisk means to use maximum bar speed on the concentric from rep 1 (to 5), and add weight every single session. Reduce any individual lift by 10% when you miss your reps 3 sessions in a row.

Edited October 4, 2022 by The0Self

[Jordan]

27 minutes ago, The0Self said:

Just a little known fact of muscular adaptation:

If you’re focusing on max size, you won’t get as big as if you focused on max strength. If you’re focusing on max strength, you won’t get as big as if you focused on max power.

Therefore, maximum speed on the concentric portion of the rep, from rep one, is a bit of a cheat code.

As far as the routine outline, this is the simplest while still optimal for a novice; thought optimal is not necessary:

*Squat 3x5

*Bench 3x5 (eventually can do before SQ)

*Deadlift 1x5 / *Row 3x5

*Press 3x5

Chin 2x8 / Curl 2x8

Facepull 1x20

Abs 1x20

 

3 nonconsecutive days / week

 

*Asterisk means to use maximum bar speed on the concentric from rep 1 (to 5), and add weight every single session. Reduce any individual lift by 10% when you miss your reps 3 sessions in a row.

I never considered using maximum bar speed on the concentric portion of the lift. How long of a break between each set / exercise is recommended? I want strength and explosive power more than size but some bigger shoulders and leg muscles would be nice. I see abs and face pulls just have 1 set. I guess usually for the exercises focusing mostly one 1 muscle, just 1-2 sets are typically done and around 5 sets for the compound lifts is commonly recommended? 

I think my 15 second break idea is kinda not that good for a beginner. My muscles hurt quite a bit today which is one day after my first workout. I usually am the most sore 2 days after a hard workout when I used to lift 10 years ago. I hope I will be in ok shape tomorrow. I might start doing 1 minute breaks instead. 

[The0Self]

37 minutes ago, Jordan said:

I never considered using maximum bar speed on the concentric portion of the lift. How long of a break between each set / exercise is recommended? I want strength and explosive power more than size but some bigger shoulders and leg muscles would be nice. I see abs and face pulls just have 1 set. I guess usually for the exercises focusing mostly one 1 muscle, just 1-2 sets are typically done and around 5 sets for the compound lifts is commonly recommended? 

I think my 15 second break idea is kinda not that good for a beginner. My muscles hurt quite a bit today which is one day after my first workout. I usually am the most sore 2 days after a hard workout when I used to lift 10 years ago. I hope I will be in ok shape tomorrow. I might start doing 1 minute breaks instead. 

15 quality/effective reps per muscle group for novices is sufficient for maximum adaptation rate. 2 minutes minimum rest periods is what the science supports as optimal.

Only the last 5 reps of each set (would-be sets to failure) count as “effective reps” — so 15 effective reps amounts to 3 sets. Eventually this 15 number becomes 25+ (5+ sets, and generally not all on one exercise) but only at an advanced level (generally well over a 405lb deadlift).

Each rep is “even more effective/quality” if using maximum bar speed on the concentric/contraction phase. So by doing this from rep 1, you may have to take 10lb off the bar at first, but you’ll progress significantly faster.

5 sets for compound lifts is major overkill. Though it’s good for people who can’t lift heavy weight / it’s a good way to get more workload since the weight will be so light. Otherwise (and even for those people, really), 3 sets is generally optimal.

Adaptation period lasts no more than 48 hours. So 3d/wk full body is optimal until you’re quite strong (at least 315lb for parallel or even deep squat). Then 4d/wk upper/lower is generally best if you’re in a calorie excess — upper Mon/Fri; lower Wed/Sat.

Don’t regularly go to failure on the exercises with asterisks. You’ll run your nervous system and adaptation reserves into the ground. Though you will have to sometimes to know when to do 10% resets. 2 steps forward 1 step back basically (probably works out to more like 9 steps forward, 2-3 steps back). Smaller movements like curls can and should be done to failure.

 

Muscle soreness only lasts like 2 weeks. Just start light so it’s not too bad, and train through it. It will be gone in a couple weeks and basically never come back unless you add new exercises or do way too much, thereafter.

 

The only way you’d continue getting very sore with the same exercises, beyond about the 2 week mark, is if you trained poorly — at too low a frequency; like 1x/wk per muscle group.

Edited October 4, 2022 by The0Self

[Jordan]

2 minutes ago, The0Self said:

15 quality reps per muscle group for novices is sufficient for maximum adaptation rate. 2 minutes minimum rest periods.

5 sets for compound lifts is major overkill. Though it’s good for people who can’t lift heavy weight / it’s a good way to get more workload since the weight will be so light. Otherwise (and even for those people, really), 3 sets is generally optimal.

Adaptation period lasts no more than 48 hours. So 3d/wk full body is optimal until you’re quite strong (at least 315lb for parallel or even deep squat). Then 4d/wk upper/lower is generally best if you’re in a calorie excess — upper Mon/Fri; lower Wed/Sat.

Ahh I read 5x5 instead of 3x5 I think because I heard my friend talk about the 5x5 workout so many times in the past. I appreciate your input. I will experiment with how my body feels with more rest time between sets and less sets. 

For some reason I kind of like trying to get DOMS. I have heard before that more DOMS does not mean more muscle gains but my brain has a hard time believing that sometimes. It makes me feel like I am doing the right thing if I do many drop sets and can barely move for a week.  I will try my best not to overdo it.

[The0Self]

2 minutes ago, Jordan said:

Ahh I read 5x5 instead of 3x5 I think because I heard my friend talk about the 5x5 workout so many times in the past. I appreciate your input. I will experiment with how my body feels with more rest time between sets and less sets. 

For some reason I kind of like trying to get DOMS. I have heard before that more DOMS does not mean more muscle gains but my brain has a hard time believing that sometimes. It makes me feel like I am doing the right thing if I do many drop sets and can barely move for a week.  I will try my best not to overdo it.

If training properly, soreness goes away and basically never comes back, after about 2 weeks of training. It has absolutely nothing to do with growth, whatsoever.

Edited October 4, 2022 by The0Self

[The0Self]

@Jordan I made lots of useful edits/additions in the comment you just replied to btw

[Jordan]

59 minutes ago, The0Self said:

@Jordan I made lots of useful edits/additions in the comment you just replied to btw

Thanks. I reread that. It seems my 12 exercises with 4 sets each 15 second breaks all to failure 3x per week and wanting to add in Romanian deadlift in is a bit more than ideal. My body seems to be aching in agreement haha. I will think over my plan for tomorrow's workout. 

[The0Self]

On 10/4/2022 at 2:41 AM, Jordan said:

Thanks. I reread that. It seems my 12 exercises with 4 sets each 15 second breaks all to failure 3x per week and wanting to add in Romanian deadlift in is a bit more than ideal. My body seems to be aching in agreement haha. I will think over my plan for tomorrow's workout. 

Oh and btw the routine I outlined doesn’t include warm up sets. Do at the very least 2 sets of 5 ramped up right before each round of work sets.

So if your work set of deadlift was 315 you would do something like 135x5, 135x5, 225x5, then the work set — max concentric speed on every single rep including (and even especially) the first one — of 315x5. That would be 3 warm up sets. Do at least 2.

You should be adding 5lb every session to the bar on squats and 10lb for deadlift and make sure you’re eating enough to gain weight.

At least 100g protein a day bare minimum. Preferably .8-1g/lb bw.

And squats don’t count unless they’re to parallel or below. Quarter squats (above parallel) don’t get you strong, nor are they good for the knees.

 

You will eventually develop weak points, and you’ll cross that bridge when you get there, but it won’t happen for a while since everything is a weak point until squat is >315lb. The first weak points that generally present are 1. hamstrings, 2. the long head (aptly named the “lazy head”) of the triceps, and 3. glutes. The cures for those, respectably, are 1. glute-ham raise (or good mornings if no glute-ham device is available), 2. lying triceps extension with exaggerated shoulder stretch movement, and 3. either glute bridge or hip thrust (actually reverse hyper but good luck finding a gym with one). But it depends on your specific body type which weak points will present. The mechanism behind weak points is minimum effective volume for a muscle group not being met anymore.

Edited October 6, 2022 by The0Self

[Jordan]

Ok thanks. I plan to check how many calories I am eating and grams of protein, fat, carbs. I eat nearly the same thing every day so it should be easy. I weigh 175lbs so I will see if I am in the 140-175g of protein range. Right now I am lifting at home and just have pushup stands and dumbbells. I might be able to start a routine of going to my friend's house on Sundays to use his gym setup. 

I would like to start going to the gym and try the workout plan you shared at some point, but it is convenient exercising at home for now. Today I did nearly the same exercises as the first day but I gave more time to rest, did not go to failure most of the time and only did 2 sets for most of the lifts and 1 set on the shoulder, ab, calf and tibialis exercises. I did not try fast concentric lifting, but it does seem like a good idea. 

What I did today: (reps just as many as I could until I got close to failure)
#of sets / exercise

2x atg split squat
2x dumbbell Romanian deadlift 
1x calf raise
1x tibialis raise
2x diamond pushups on my knees (triceps were too sore)
2x pushups with feet on a chair
2x pull ups on a door frame 
2x bent over 1 arm dumbbell rows
1x Dumbbell alternating hand overhead press
1x Read delt row
1x ISO reverse crunch
1x bicycle

Today: 18 sets with around 1-2 min rest between sets / exercises

First day: 40 sets with doing my best to do a 15 second rest between sets / exercises

Took almost the same time. 

Still feeling motivated to keep it up.  Thanks again for your input and explanation.

Edited October 5, 2022 by Jordan

[Michael569]

I gotta ask, why not just sign up with the gym? 

Especially since it sems like you are trying to replicate many exercises that would be much easier to do in there. 

You can still do bodyweight now you can then enrich your routine with few complex moves to stimulate more hypertrophy. But maybe that's not desirable so ignore this if not. 

Either way, I admire your dedication. Hope you'll achieve your goals whatever they may be

Edited October 5, 2022 by Michael569

[Jordan]

5 hours ago, Michael569 said:

I gotta ask, why not just sign up with the gym? 

Especially since it sems like you are trying to replicate many exercises that would be much easier to do in there. 

You can still do bodyweight now you can then enrich your routine with few complex moves to stimulate more hypertrophy. But maybe that's not desirable so ignore this if not. 

Either way, I admire your dedication. Hope you'll achieve your goals whatever they may be

Hey thanks. The only gyms I have used in the past are city rec center gyms and they were a bit overcrowded. I did not like to have to wait for a bench or squat station or lift right beside someone else. I also don't have to worry about sweating a lot and I can workout with my shirt off. Also it is nice having my own bathroom and shower and kitchen right there. I am not sure if more expensive places have this problem. If they have lots of room and keep it nice and cold it might be worth it. I like the idea of spending the money that I would spend on a gym membership for a year on my own equipment. I don't have that much room but maybe I could get rid of my couch and kitchen table   

[The0Self]

If you’re going to be training at home, resistance bands are essential. The pink ones are generally a good resistance rating for fully grown adult males who train. Jason Blaha’s channel has all sorts of info on complete routines and exercise exercises you can do with them. They’re no joke — you can actually train with them and get gym-level results or better if you program and use them correctly.

Edited October 6, 2022 by The0Self

[BipolarGrowth]

Resting for 15 seconds is completely sub optimal for muscle growth and strength development unless the movements are under such a light load that they require such a short rest window to be effective. 
 

3 minutes rest at least on heavy compound movements is a good starting point but even 5 minutes of rest has more upside if you’re also interested in maximizing strength gains. 

[The0Self]

1 hour ago, BipolarGrowth said:

Resting for 15 seconds is completely sub optimal for muscle growth and strength development unless the movements are under such a light load that they require such a short rest window to be effective. 
 

3 minutes rest at least on heavy compound movements is a good starting point but even 5 minutes of rest has more upside if you’re also interested in maximizing strength gains. 

^^^ The general rule is: >2min no matter what. But on heavy deep squats, you're going to find that it takes >3min.

 

And @Jordan , contrary to popular belief, not only is muscle soreness not associated with growth, it actually inhibits it slightly. But it's unavoidable at first. After a few weeks, soreness goes away and never comes back -- unless you add new movement patterns (exercises), or greatly increase the number of sets (and oftentimes even that won't cause soreness, as long as you're used to the movement pattern).

So you want soreness to be gone ASAP -- the quickest way to do this is to train full body 3x/wk, even when you are sore. Training through soreness seems to make soreness less likely in the future -- a good thing. Not a very well known thing either.

The adaptation (growth) window for a muscle always ends 48 hours (at the latest) after the session wherein new adaptations were provoked, but it doesn't start until a sufficient level of microtearing has healed. Soreness means there was a lot of microtearing. Healing of microtearing is NOT the same as fatigue recovery though -- 100% fatigue recovery can take weeks. A sufficient level of microtear repair for the growth process to begin will generally take only a few hours, but if the session produced muscle soreness, this can take a full day or even more, significantly encroaching upon your very limited 48 hour adaptation window. And luckily, there is no need to be fully recovered before training a muscle again, but you should wait 48 hours, since there's already an adaptation window in play -- might as well let it play out.

Edited October 20, 2022 by The0Self