Questions about the program in "Idiot's Guide to Growth"

[Kerpal]

I'm getting tired of what I've been doing so I'm going to try out the routine Warboss Alex posted in the "Idiot's Guide to Growth" thread:

Squats 2 x 5
Squats or Leg Press 1 x 15 (lighter weight)
Good Mornings or Stiff Leg Deadlifts or Sumo Leg Press 2 x 10-15
Glute Ham Raise or Pullthroughs or Hyperextension 2 x 8
Calf Raises 2 x 10

Incline Press 2 x 5
Dumbbell Press (Flat/Decline) or Dips 2 x 8-10
Shoulder Press 2 x 8-12
Tricep Exercise 2 x 10-15

Deadlifts 2 x 5
Row or Chinup/Pulldown 2 x 8
Bicep Curl 2 x 8-10
Forearm Exercise 2 x 10-15

Questions:

1. Are the exercises listed in order of effectiveness? (IE: are good mornings better than stiff legged deadlifts?)

2. Glute ham raise - I googled this and it looks like you need a special piece of equipment I don't have, so I will do pullthroughs instead, is this: http://www.weighttrainersunited.com/pullthrough.html the correct way to do them?

3. Calf raises - Do you just hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand on tiptoe?

4. Shoulder press - Is this just a standing barbell overhead press?

5. Tricep exercise - Is this just any tricep exercise?

6. Row - Are Pendlay rows good, or is there a better way?

7. Forearm exercise - What is this?

[Warboss Alex]

I'm getting tired of what I've been doing so I'm going to try out the routine Warboss Alex posted in the "Idiot's Guide to Growth" thread:

Squats 2 x 5
Squats or Leg Press 1 x 15 (lighter weight)
Good Mornings or Stiff Leg Deadlifts or Sumo Leg Press 2 x 10-15
Glute Ham Raise or Pullthroughs or Hyperextension 2 x 8
Calf Raises 2 x 10

Incline Press 2 x 5
Dumbbell Press (Flat/Decline) or Dips 2 x 8-10
Shoulder Press 2 x 8-12
Tricep Exercise 2 x 10-15

Deadlifts 2 x 5
Row or Chinup/Pulldown 2 x 8
Bicep Curl 2 x 8-10
Forearm Exercise 2 x 10-15

Questions:

1. Are the exercises listed in order of effectiveness? (IE: are good mornings better than stiff legged deadlifts?)

NO THEY'RE ALL GOOD

2. Glute ham raise - I googled this and it looks like you need a special piece of equipment I don't have, so I will do pullthroughs instead, is this: http://www.weighttrainersunited.com/pullthrough.html the correct way to do them?

YEP

3. Calf raises - Do you just hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand on tiptoe?

NO, YOU NEED A FULL RANGE OF MOTION, USE A CALF RAISE MACHINE (SEATED OR STANDING)

4. Shoulder press - Is this just a standing barbell overhead press?

IT CAN BE ANY SHOULDER PRESS SO YES

5. Tricep exercise - Is this just any tricep exercise?

YES ALTHOUGH SOME ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS. FOR MOST PEOPLE I'D RECOMMEND SKULLCRUSHERS OR FRENCH PRESS

6. Row - Are Pendlay rows good, or is there a better way?

PENDLAY ROWS ARE GOOD BUT I PREFER 45 DEGREE ROWS. WHICHEVER YOU LIKE BEST

7. Forearm exercise - What is this?

AN EXERCISE FOR YOUR FOREARMS EG HAMMER CURL, WRIST CURL, REVERSE CURL WHATEVER

...

[Kerpal]

Thanks!

[EFFORT]

You can make yourself a glute ham raise using basic gym equipment

http://www.kvusa.com/wl/floorghr.htm

These will be very hard to do at first so start out doing partials

[Kerpal]

You can make yourself a glute ham raise using basic gym equipment

http://www.kvusa.com/wl/floorghr.htm

These will be very hard to do at first so start out doing partials

Thanks! :up:

[Kerpal]

OK, first day of this program completed today. Glute ham raises are awesome, my calves and hamstrings started cramping after the 2nd rep! :yes:

[Kerpal]

I just realized there's no explosive lifts in the program, would it be a good idea to replace rows or one of the other exercises with power cleans?

[Warboss Alex]

I just realized there's no explosive lifts in the program, would it be a good idea to replace rows or one of the other exercises with power cleans?

squats and deadlifts aren't explosive enough for ya?

[Kerpal]

Do they count as an explosive movement, even if they are being done relatively slowly with heavy weights?

There is a section in Rippetoe's "Starting Strength" about this, he talks about how strength at higher speeds increases strength at lower speeds but not the other way around, and about people who use 50-75% of 1RM for squats and deadlifts doing the lifts explosively to help build overall strength. That sounds more advanced than what I need right now though.

Anyway I've been doing power cleans for a while and I've noticed a huge difference in upper back size, I'm not sure how much of it is from squatting and deadlifting though and how much is from power cleaning. Are there advantages to rows over power cleans?

I have another question also; my right arm is much bigger and stronger than my left, would it be a good idea to do the accessory lifts in the program (curls, etc.) with the left arm only for a while till they even out? I have heard people say they will even out with time, but the whole time I've been lifting weights both arms have definitely grown, but they are still unbalanced.

Third question: I did Day 2 of the program today and the whole workout only took me about 35 minutes. Does that sound right? I almost feel like I'm "undertraining" now. A day of Rippetoe would usually take me about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. It might be because my upper body is relatively weak compared to my lower body, so I'm not pushing very heavy weights enough to get tired and have to take longer breaks between sets yet.

[Warboss Alex]

Nothing wrong with power cleans but as a bodybuilding movement they're inferior to the main powerlifting moves. I would stick with squats and deadlifts for now although cleans can be incorporated at some point. Go with the basic program for now.

Muscular imbalances are very common and yes, they will even out in time most likely but for now do sets with the weaker arm first and limit your reps with the stronger arm so it's held back while the weak one catches up. So start curling with the weak arm, say you get 8 reps, switch to the stronger arm and stop at 8 even if you could've got more.

[Warboss Alex]

As for workout times, 35 mins doesn't seem very long if you're warming up properly. How do you warm up? Throw in some abs if you're done quickly.

[Kerpal]

As for workout times, 35 mins doesn't seem very long if you're warming up properly. How do you warm up? Throw in some abs if you're done quickly.

I usually do between 2-4 sets (depending on exercise) with lighter weight for my warm up before moving on to the work sets.

IE:

Squat:

Warm up sets:

5 reps @ 45 lbs
5 reps @ 135 lbs
5 reps @ 185 lbs
3 reps @ 225 lbs

Work sets:

5 x 2 @ 265 lbs
15 x 1 @ 200 lbs

I think the chest/shoulder day just takes me much less time than the leg/back days because my lower body is much stronger than my upper body. Since I'm not pushing very much weight in the bench and press, I don't have to take very long between sets to recover. The days I deadlift and squat usually take longer to complete the routine.

I have another question. The routine is set up for Mon/Wed/Fri. So,


Monday:

Squats 2 x 5
Squats or Leg Press 1 x 15 (lighter weight)
Good Mornings or Stiff Leg Deadlifts or Sumo Leg Press 2 x 10-15
Glute Ham Raise or Pullthroughs or Hyperextension 2 x 8
Calf Raises 2 x 10

Wednesday:

Incline Press 2 x 5
Dumbbell Press (Flat/Decline) or Dips 2 x 8-10
Shoulder Press 2 x 8-12
Tricep Exercise 2 x 10-15

Friday:

Deadlifts 2 x 5
Row or Chinup/Pulldown 2 x 8
Bicep Curl 2 x 8-10
Forearm Exercise 2 x 10-15

However, I always work out on Tuesday/Friday/Sunday. Which workouts should be done on which days? I was doing:

Tuesday: Bench press/Press
Friday: Deadlift
Sunday: Squat

However, last night I did the 2 x 5 deadlifts and my back is really feeling it, I used to only do 1 set of deadlifts on deadlift days. Since I'm deadlifting on Friday and squatting on Sunday, this gives me one less day between deadlifting and squatting and one more day between squatting and bench pressing/pressing. Should I shift everything so that I have more time between the deadlift and squat days?

IE:

Instead of what I'm doing now, I'll do this:

Tuesday: Deadlift
Friday: Bench press/Press
Sunday: Squat

OR

Tuesday: Squat
Friday: Bench Press/Press
Sunday: Deadlift

I believe this would be a much better way to do the routine, is that right?

[Warboss Alex]

Friday: Legs
Sunday: Chest
Tuesday: Back

You got every combination except the right one. :D

[Kerpal]

D'oh! :p

Thanks :D

[Throttle]

Warm up sets:

5 reps @ 45 lbs
5 reps @ 135 lbs
5 reps @ 185 lbs
3 reps @ 225 lbs

Work sets:

5 x 2 @ 265 lbs
15 x 1 @ 200 lbs

Better (only an example, there are many ways to vary this):

12 x 45 lbs
6 x 75
3 x 105
2 x 135
2 x 165
1 x 195
1 x 225
1 x 245

5 x 2 x 265
15-20 x 1 x 200

your mileage may vary....