Weightlifting is often overlooked by the general sports fan base, especially by football and baseball fan boys of “back in the day” when people believed that lifting was bad for sports performance. But you have just picked up your first “insert general lifting magazine” and instantly want 20 inch arms and a chest that roars “I bench 500 POUNDS!!!” You’re ready to put in years of work under the bar to get big and strong and look grotesque doing it, and you will accomplish this by following the 6 day bodybuilding split provided by “insert general lifting magazine”.
Stop right there Justin Beiber look-a-like. To get the gains you want you will need to do more than bench and curl 6 days a week. You will also need to dial in on your nutrition, use the right supplements for the right reasons, and of course have a kick ass training method. In this 3 part series I will discuss each of these aspects of lifting, helping you as a beginner to learn the basics and capitalize on them. Part 1 will cover training, part 2 nutrition, and part 3 will finish it off with supplementation. By the time you are done reading through this series, trying things your own way, then coming back to re-read the article and actually listen for a change you will be ready to take your body to the next level.
As we begin looking at your training let’s go back to the scenario presented above. First off, as a young gun with no real training experience, a 6 day split is simply out of the question. Yes you will make some gains on it, but right now you could make gains by drinking a monster and busting out a few curls every day, and NO you do not want to do that. The first thing you need to know is how to properly perform the lifts. If you go full Rambo on your training with crap form you won’t get too far as you will more than likely hurt yourself quickly. This will be covered in a later article, so for now we will assume that you have the basic form down for each lift. Be sure you know the basics and use them no matter what program you choose to start off with; back squat, flat bench, deadlift, barbell row, pull-up, dip, pushup and of course sit ups (which you will find to be the least used).
Now as for the program. The standard programs are Rippetoe’s, Mad Cow 5×5 and a new addition of Jim Wendler’s 5,3,1. Each program calls for at least 3 days of the week, 531 is set for 4 days originally. We will use 531 for our example as it is gaining a lot of popularity very fast and I’m seeing many new guys starting with it. 531 is based around the squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press. I am currently trying it out for barbell rows and so far can say it’s going to work great. I won’t give you the full template with all the ideas as that’s what you should buy the book for, but here’s the basic gist of it. You start out by knowing your true 1rms on the 4 lifts. Next you take anywhere from 10-20% off of that max, this is your training max for the cycle. Week one you do 3 sets of 5 up to 85%, week 2 3 sets of 3 up to 90%, week 3 a set of 5 at 75%, a set of 3 at 85%, and a set of 1 at 95%, week 4 is a deload. You are encouraged to rep out the last set to a couple reps shy of failure, but it is okay to only do the required reps. After each cycle you increase the training max by 10 lbs. for lower, and 5 lbs. for upper.
This program is to be ran long term over several months, so I recommend giving it a solid year before trying something different. As a new trainee you will make incredible gains, you may even turn your previous training max into your 20 rep max within the first year! But remember, keep your starting training max at something you can do for a solid 3 reps with a few left in the tank. To finish part 1 off here is a basic starting cycle of 531 that I have had people use with great results.
Monday-Squat
-Squat-531
-Glute ham raises-5 sets of 10-20
-Leg Press-5 sets of 10-20
-standing calve raises-3 sets of 8-10 (1 sec. hold at the top)
-seated calve raises-3 sets of 25 (1 sec. hold at the top)
Wednesday-Bench Press
-Bench-531
-Barbell row-5 sets of 10-20
-Dips-5 sets of 10-20 (use assistant devices like the above if necessary)
-rear delt Dumbbell raises-3 sets of 10-15
-Barbell curls-3 sets of 10-15
Friday-Deadlift
-Deadlift-531
-DB Lunges-5 sets of 10-20 (use bodyweight only if you can’t use weight yet)
-Back Raises-5 sets of 10-20 (hold a plate in front of your chest if you need some extra resistance)
-Decline situps-3 sets of 15-25 (add weight if necessary)
-Leg Raises-3 sets to failure (start out with knee raises if you cannot perform full leg raises yet)
Saturday-Overhead Press
-Overhead Press-531
- Pullups-5 sets of 10-20 (use an assisted pull-up machine, a jump stretch band to assist, or even the pull down machine if you cannot perform at least 5 pull-ups)
-Pushups-5 sets of 10-20
-Dumbbell hammer curls-3 sets of 10-15
-Facepulls-3 sets of 12-20
This template has worked great for a trainee of mine and helped increase their true 1 rep maxes by a good 25-50 lbs. each. Give it a try and if it doesn’t work for you, refer back to the 531 book you should have bought to learn all about the program and its principles. Part 2 will be up shortly, in it I will cover the basics of nutrition to help get you on the right track to gain some good size and lean mass. With that I’ll leave you with a word of advice to get ready for part 2; be prepared to eat A LOT.
Stay strong and stay safe.
