Hey guys,
So i've been using the gym at work, which consists of one power rack and one smith machine and dumbbells. I've been doing your typical novice upper body workout. I joined a gold's gym yesterday, and am going to try to follow one of the programs in the OP.
Age: 24
Height: 6'3
Weight: 185lbs
Goal: lower body fat, incrase muscle mass
Current Training Schedule: MWF 6-7am
Current Training Equipment Available: Full gym
Comments:
This is the program i was going to follow since i havn't been able to learn power cleans yet:
Monday
Squat - 3 sets of 5
Bench Press/Press - 3 sets of 5
Chin-ups - 3 sets to failure
Wednesday
Squat - 3 sets of 5
Bench Press/Press - 3 sets of 5
Deadlift - 1 set of 5
Friday
Squat - 3 sets of 5
Bench Press/Press - 3 sets of 5
Pull-ups - 3 sets to failure
My question is, should i be adding isolation exercises into this routine? aka flys on my bench day, curls on monday/friday?
Currently I'm at about 16%bf. I'm trying to lean out a little bit and start getting stronger. I've been doing an upper body routine for about a year, and while it has been working a little, its extremely slow and not effective. I'm ready to do it right. Currently working out 6-7am fasted, following IF. I'm not sure if i should eat less than maintenance until i get about 12%bf then bulk, or do a clean bulk now.
Remember that the important part of this program is that you need to add weight to the bar
every workout.
Every.workout on every lift. 10lb per workout to the squat and the deadlift, 5lb per workout to the press and the bench. Once you stall (i.e, you'll reach a point in which the weights will be heavy enough that you won't be able to complete your reps) switch to 5lb increases on lower body and 2.5lb increases on uppoer body.
Also, you need to rotate the workouts weekly. You don't do press and bench press the same day; you alternate them, like this:
Workout A
Squat 3x5
Bench 3x5
Chinups
Workout B
Squat 3x5
Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5
So the first week you'd do ABA on Mo-Wed-Fr, but the following week you'll do BAB, then ABA the next and so forth.
Again: the most important part about this program is that you add weight to the bar every workout on every lift. Check this FAQ for further information
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:The_Program
I suggest you avoid isolation work for now, though you could add some curls after chinups if you'd like. Other than that avoid messing with the program. It might not look like much right now, but if you do it right it'll get heavy very soon, and also it'll get hard.
Try to do the program as is for at least 3 or 4 months.
