Advice on Workout and HIIT

[aloofgoof]

I have read several threads in here and appreciate the people who take the time to help others.

the issue: I’ve been lifting for about a year after a several year hiatus and have plateaued after my noob gains.

I don’t want to use steroids. I’m overwhelmed with the different amount of workouts and advice available.

To get noticeably in shape, Is it generally better to do full body workouts each time with the six main compound exercises? I have been doing separate days for back/biceps, chest/triceps, and legs/shoulders and go to the gym three times weekly. I’m worried if I do full body workouts each time I won’t get enough volume in for each big muscle group for the week. What kind of volume should I be doing if I’m not on roids? Any good programs to follow for intermediate lifters or books to read? I have heard 5x5 is great.

If I do HIIT once or twice a week and also do resistance training three times a week will I lose too much mass? The dream is obviously to gain muscle and lose fat but this is not possible after a certain amount of time. I realize workouts aren’t as important as diet.

Advice appreciated.

 

[EyeBRollin]

To get noticeably in shape, Is it generally better to do full body workouts each time with the six main compound exercises? I have been doing separate days for back/biceps, chest/triceps, and legs/shoulders and go to the gym three times weekly. I’m worried if I do full body workouts each time I won’t get enough volume in for each big muscle group for the week. What kind of volume should I be doing if I’m not on roids? Any good programs to follow for intermediate lifters or books to read? I have heard 5x5 is great.

If I do HIIT once or twice a week and also do resistance training three times a week will I lose too much mass? The dream is obviously to gain muscle and lose fat but this is not possible after a certain amount of time. I realize workouts aren’t as important as diet.

Advice from a fellow natural recreational athlete:

"Bro-splits" where you train body parts on different days are complete junk. Anyone who advocates them are likely steroid users trying to sell you supplements and complicated training programs.

The best course of action to build an aesthetic, fit body the natural way is to start by building your strength base. The programs Starting Strength and Stronglifts 5X5 are very similar and highly effective. Between the two, SS is better than SL and 3X5 is a better rep scheme than 5X5. The key to breaking through plateaus is following the program. Incrementally increase the weight on major lifts 5 or 10 lbs each workout. Those programs in their purest form are as follows:

Workout A: Squat, Overhead Press, Deadlift (Only 1 set X5) / Power Clean / Chin Ups
Workout B: Squat, Bench Press, Barbell Row / Chin Ups

Alternate workouts A-B-A-B, with at least 48 hours of rest in between.

Power Cleans and Chin Ups become more important when your Deadlift gets too heavy (300lb+) to train every other workout. Power Cleans are difficult to do but recommended because they help the Deadlift get stronger. If you Clean, ditch the Rows and do Chin Ups with Bench Press. If not, do Chin Ups on A and Rows on B.

Once you can Bench 200, Squat 300, and Deadlift 400 you can worry about "cutting" into an aesthetic physique. Natural athletes cannot build strength while doing a lot of cardio due to recovery demands. It's better to get strong first, build the muscle, then worry about losing excess fat later.

 

[graves992]

Hello! I do isolation workouts, separately for abs, separately for arms and legs, as well as circuit training. First, you have to lose weight and then gain muscle. I really like the workout schedule above.

 

[FlexpertHamilton]

To get noticeably in shape, Is it generally better to do full body workouts each time with the six main compound exercises? I have been doing separate days for back/biceps, chest/triceps, and legs/shoulders and go to the gym three times weekly. I’m worried if I do full body workouts each time I won’t get enough volume in for each big muscle group for the week. What kind of volume should I be doing if I’m not on roids? Any good programs to follow for intermediate lifters or books to read? I have heard 5x5 is great.

Yes. Personally, I found the Madcow 5x5 workout to be fantastic as an intermediate program. https://stronglifts.com/madcow-5x5/

I would strongly suggest doing a rotation of deadlifts/squats + chinups/dips every workout at minimum.

Don't worry about volume so much unless your only goal is size.

If I do HIIT once or twice a week and also do resistance training three times a week will I lose too much mass? The dream is obviously to gain muscle and lose fat but this is not possible after a certain amount of time. I realize workouts aren’t as important as diet.

HIIT is not cardio, HIIT is anaerobic...you should be doing it the same way as a strength building workout ie 100% physical exertion followed by long rest periods.