Coming back after a long layoff

Sci

Sci

Well-Known Member
Hi guys!
back on the forum! (old username scientific muscle)
Been back into lifting for a couple months. I seem to get the best results doing full body workouts 3x/week.
I have been doing linear progression so far.
My plan is to keep doing linear progressive overload until I stall. Then once i stall, I will retest my maxes and start using the HST loading model.

Here is my current routine which has been working nicely so far.
Full Body, 3x/week, 3x8


Leg Press

Bench Press

BB Rows (Pendlay style)


Standing Press

Pull downs (close-underhand)




Upright Rows (wide grip)

Calf Raises
 
Oh and after I plateau on the traditional linear progression muscle memory "noob" gains, I will take a week retest my maxed, then take an SD and start a good old HST training log.
Looking forward to reconnecting with old friends, making new ones and getting HYOOGE!!!
 
Commercial gym nowadays. Good to see you Totentanz, seems you are bigger than ever.
 
A gym, nice. I liked having a good gym to go to. It was a lot more motivating than working out in my basement or garage. Hope it's a good gym. Seems that really great gyms are hard to find, so if you've got one, you're lucky.
 
Yeah, its the best I have ever been in. They have four squat racks, four power-benches, a bunch of cables and about 50 machines! Plenty of "big guys" in there too, to keep me humble and motivated.
 
Whew, the only problem is the workout is taking about 1.5 hours. The meat of the workout are the first four big compounds: leg press, bench press, Pendlay rows and Pulldowns. These four take about an hour to complete and I am pretty much wiped out.
the last three exercises are mainly just fluff, focusing on weak areas (shoulders and calves) and takes about half an hour. The last three are Press, Upright Row and Calf machine. I am wondering if I even need these last three?
The bench press works similar muscles as the press. The Pendlay rows work the rear delts and rotator cuff, just not as direct as upright rows. Leg press works calves since I use a low stance on the plate.

Any advice? Should I just keep the main four, to keep the workout under an hour? Or should I keep doing the whole thing and not worry about the long workout sessions?
 
As they're all good movements, why not alternate BB Rows with Pull downs, and Standing Press with Upright Rows. Then, whichever lift you're doing, do an extra set (or two) of that instead of doing the extra movement. Tends to save a bit of time compared to changing movements. The added benefit is that your workouts are a bit different each session. Might as well hit your calves at the end on every session as calves are tough as hell.
 
How long are you resting between sets? Also, I find that a routine takes about 15 minutes longer in the gym than it would working out at home, so going over an hour is pretty normal. I wouldn't be too worried about it unless you think you are overtraining or if you don't have time to fit that long of a workout in. If you do want to slim it down, I'd definitely go with what Lol suggested.
I know there was evidence that cortisol goes up when workouts are longer than an hour but I really don't think 1.5 hours is going to hurt you.
 
Thx for the tips
I am usually doing 2-3 warmup sets, and then 3 working sets per exercise. I have found that I need about 3 minutes rest between sets to recover strength for the big lifts. This ends up taking about an hour for the four big lifts, which doesn't leave much gas in the tank for anything else. Super-setting would definitely help with time, but this isn't really an option in a very big, busy gym where equipment is constantly changing hands.
I have decided on a simple solution. I am going to keep the calf work, but drop the direct delt work. I really think my delts are pretty toasted after heavy benching, rowing and chinning. It really feels like I am just going through the motions with the shoulder stuff at the end of the workout. Also, I have noticed many guys that have large delts simply have a large bench and row numbers. Martin Berkhan of LeanGains is a great example of a guy that has huge delts that have been primarily developed from benching and chinups.

I personally have noticed that benching in particular hammers my pecs and delts both about equally. I have finally perfected my benching technique over the last few months. After 3 sets of heavy benching, my pecs, triceps and front delts all really feel like they don't need any more work! As well as after rowing a barbell with a wide grip, my side and rear delts feel pretty beat up too.

Calves though, I have noticed are responding well to the direct work, so I will keep these in there, especially since they are my weakest area physique-wise.

This will bring my total number of exercises down to 5, which should be more manageable energy-wise and also keep my workouts from becoming a marathon, especially once I get into the heavy 5s stage of HST.
 
Yeah definitely trim it down then. You don't want the workouts to drag, it kills your motivation. One thing that is above all important is to do whatever you have to do stay motivated, to keep going to the gym and not lapse into laziness. It's easy to get lazy. I just spent the last few weeks scarcely touching the weights and told myself it was because I've been so tired from working so much, but in reality it's just an excuse, I could have kept up the routine. So do what you gotta do. If your delts start lagging, you can always specialize for a cycle or two but I don't think it will be a concern.
 
Yeah, I am going to try this abbreviated routine for awhile and see how it goes. If anything is lagging, I can always add movements, or start an alternating A/B split like Lol recommended. For now I really like hitting all my lifts 3x/week. I am seeing the most rapid progress this way do far, and it's very motivating this way. Seeing my numbers skyrocket.
 
Sci said:
I have finally perfected my benching technique over the last few months.
Click to expand...
Haha! I bet you'll be adjusting things for the rest of your lifting life! There's always a way to fine tune benching technique. :)
 
There is definitely a neural and technique advantage in practicing a lift 3x/week. I dabbled with a few different splits and frequencies, and noticed the most gains with higher frequency.

I give credit to the frequent benching in honing technique.
 
I am getting near my previous PRs, I am going to have to drop the workouts to every 72 hours for awhile. Once i am done pushing my maxes I can easily go back to 3x/week since HST uses submax loads. Body weight is near 200 lb.s with 33 inch waist. Feeling good it's gonna be a strong comeback.
 
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