Need backup with A & B routine

M

ministry

New Member
Hello all, I was member before as Ministro but couldnt get my password so had to create this new account.

I was reading sample routine that takes 6 weeks, but i dont understand how each 2 week block can be done if i want to use A & B routine, with the 75,80,85,90,95,100 percentage.
Can anyone gimme a hand or link me how can i design my routine? ill be preciated
Peace
 
If your A & B routines have completely different exercises then I just keep track of them and increment them separately. If you have an overlap say doing Calf Raises in both routines then you could either repeat the same increment in B as you did in A or you could still increment every workout. It really depends on what you prefer and how many increments you can fit in between your starting and ending weights. Repeating increments only twice will not be a problem because your body will not adapt to the weight that quickly.

I use a mix of both ways. For something like Wide Grip Pull Ups split with Narrow Grip Chin Ups I use the same increment in A & B because my starting and ending weights aren’t that far apart. However, for something like Calf Raises which I’ve sometimes done in both parts of the split I increment them every time I exercise A & B because of the bigger difference in starting and ending weights affords me more increments to use.

Was that clear as mud?
 
yup clear as mud lol......
But still dont know how to set up routine. If i go with A & B then i would only work 3 times A and 3 times B in the first 2 weeks block.
I wonder how its possible to train A & B in 2 weeks so i can do 75,80,85,90,95,100 ( this means 6 times A and 6 times B). i hope u can understand me now, the first post was clear as mud lol.
Hope someone else arround can give me a hand
peace :)!
 
I get it. Well I imagine most people do it as I think you’re talking about where they do A B A on Monday, Wednesday, Friday one week and then B A B the next week. The simplest way is probably just to extend the cycle so that it lasts longer than two weeks allowing for 6 increments. The two weeks per/micro-cycle is just a convenient way of organizing things not and actual principle or part of HST. Actually so are the number of increments which could be 4, 10, 12 spread over as many weeks as you can keep it going. It will make your cycle last a little longer but as long as each workout is a full body workout you will get the job done.

You could do it continuously if your schedule allows. So it would be A B A B A B so that you work out Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. It’s not quite 6 of each every two weeks but it’s closer.

You could also what I did my first cycle which was ABABAB where I worked out Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday with Friday off. That will get you 6 of each workout in two weeks.


Depending on your total volume you could even do something like what I’m doing now. Which is ABCABC going Saturday thru Thursday with Friday off. At the beginning of my cycle where I am now I’m doing full body workouts every day with a sort of Heavy/Medium/Light split based on a Leg/Pull/Push scheme. In other words I do a Heavy compound exercise for the specific body area on it’s day followed up by lighter isolation exercises on the following two days. That way each major body part, except legs, is getting hit every workout but only heavy once every three days. Other than that I’m incrementing all exercises normally but only twice a week.

I’m also using linier progression rather than 15s, 10s, 5s. As the weights increase and I’m finding I’m not recovering my strength to progress on my Heavy workouts I shift the isolation exercises so each body part gets a full day off. When it gets really Heavy I shift the isolation exercises again so that the whole routine becomes a standard Leg/Pull/Push routine with one day on and two days off for each major body part. I like doing it this way because I get better hypertrophy early in the cycle by working each body part every day and by the end I’m focusing more on strength gains so I can lift more weight in my compound lifts on the next cycle.

This post lays out how it works:

http://thinkmuscle.com/forum/showthread.php?39264-Grunt11-s-Training-Log&p=222478#post222478
 
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grunt11 said:
The simplest way is probably just to extend the cycle so that it lasts longer than two weeks allowing for 6 increments. The two weeks per/micro-cycle is just a convenient way of organizing things not and actual principle or part of HST. Actually so are the number of increments which could be 4, 10, 12 spread over as many weeks as you can keep it going.
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Yup, that's what I did for my last HST cycle at the end of last year. When the weights started getting heavy, I split my workouts into A B A, B A B. It took a few weeks longer, but I was able to finish my cycle using the lifts I wanted.
 
I decided to post my first block routine to get some help, always better to ask before mess it.
volume is still a question for me. ill post A and B routines with sets and reps.

A
Squats 2 x 15
Leg extensions 2 x 15
Standing calf rises 3 x 15
Incline bench press narrow grip 2 x 15
wide grip palms down pull ups 2 x 15
lateral raises 2 x 15
standing barbell curl 2 x 15
standing pulley triceps 2 x 15

B
Deadlift 2 x 15
Leg Curl 2 x 15
Seated calf rise 3 x 15
Dips (weighted if necessary) 2 x 15
Seated row (pulley) 2 x 15
Military press 2 x 15
Bicep scott 2 x 15
tricep press 2 x 15


Every exercise will be done after a warm up set with 60 to 70 % of weight
I want to start on thursday, from tomorrow and after tomorrow i pretend to calculate my maximum of Each exercise with the 15 reps.
Also wanted to add barbell cleans, any idea if i can put it taking some exercise out?
Hope someone can help me out whats wrong or out of place, peace
 
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One question and one thing I might change. The question is that it looks a little light on the chest and heavy on the shoulders. I realize that dips and incline narrow grip bench will both hit the chest, dips especially if you lean forward, was this intentional, do you figure the two will give you a good enough chest workout.

One reason I ask is that heavy compound exercise like Bench Press, Squat Deadlift, Dips Pull/Chin Ups involve a lot of neural adaptation so I try to always keep them in my routine and mostly vary the isolation exercises. I’ve never dropped any of them out so I can’t say you’ll loose anything on your Flat Bench but I’m not sure the Dips and Narrow Grip Bench will be enough to keep you conditioned for heavy Bench Presses. Maybe someone with more experience at it can comment.

Something I’d consider changing is swapping the Leg Curls and Leg Extensions around. I think that would balance out your leg exercises better since Squats are more Quad intensive than Dead Lifts which tend to bring the hamstrings in more than Squats, especially if you do Sumo Dead Lifts. That way your Quads and Hams will get a more balanced workout each time. I think that having one or more days off between workouts should give you ample time for each to recover for the next session.

Either way it looks well rounded and should work very good.
 
thanks for the input grunt
About the chest it might be a bit light, yes. I put narrow grip incline bench press to hit more on the shoulders.
i was thinking to change deadlifts for stiff leg deadlift, that will mostly work hamstrings, and lower back, but i really dont know
how to vary the isolation exercises or what other exercise add to legs workout. What would you do to increase a bit the chest work?
thx again peace
 
For the chest you already have enough pressing movements Dips, Incline Narrow Grip Bench, Military Press and Dips so I would add an isolation exercise like Flyes (DB, Peck Deck, Cable) what every you prefer with the equipment you have available. If you’re worried about having to many exercises you could drop the Triceps isolation work since you’re already hitting them twice each workout with pressing movements two of which, Narrow Grip Bench and Dips can work them very well.

Many like to pair Straight Leg Dead Lifts with Squats for balance because they target the Hamstrings directly, but personally I prefer Sumo Style Dead Lifts. It still gives you all the benefits of moving heavy weight like the Standard Dead Lift but tends to focus a little more on the Hamstrings and Hip Adductors than the Quads. One thing to consider is other sports. Since Standard Dead Lifts focus more on the Quads they tend to be better for sprinters or moving forward with power and speed. Whereas Sumo Dead Lifts tend to be better for people needing more lateral movement. Any way you cut it either Standard or Sumo Dead Lifts belong in every workout routine if your serious IMO I would consider Straight Leg Dead Lifts mostly an isolation exercise for the Hamstrings similar to Leg Curls.

I don’t think you need to change your isolation exercises. I was just commenting on my philosophy of exercise selection. I think it’s best to focus on compound movements that hit the whole body and stick with them so as not to loose neural adaptation. Especially important if someone hasn’t build up a good base of muscle and strength. After doing compounds for a while, how long depends on the person, (for me it was 2 cycles about 20 total weeks) I could see where I would benefit most from adding in isolation exercises to assist the muscles that weren’t keeping up with the rest. In my case Shoulders and Upper Back are far outpacing my Chest and arms so in my 3rd cycle I added in isolation exercises to try and bring them up.

A lot of it depends on where you are and what your goals are. There are many standards as to what level of proficiency you should have before adding isolation work here is just one:

http://exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.html

Don’t take it as gospel, just and idea of where you stand and what you should be working on. The best judge is looking at your proportions but you can’t go wrong building a powerful base with heavy compounds.

P.S. I think that the Leg Curls and Extensions are fine for Leg isolation exercises. Just that you get a more balanced workout by pairing Squats with Leg Curls one day and Dead Lifts with Leg Extensions the other. You quads will get much more work than your Hams by Squating twice a week than your Hams will Dead Lifting one. So Leg Curls Twice and Leg Extensions will balance thing out a little more.
 
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:)

thanks for all the info and your time grunt

just went back from a day calculating my max at 15 reps. thx i am not worned out...
im erasing triceps pulley from routine.
Also changed military press for shoulder overhead press
i was thinking to add flat bench dumbell flyes for chest in the "A" routine, after doing incline close grip bench press , you think is ok to add it at that specific day?
thanks again
 
I think adding Flat Bench and Flyes would be fine as long as your body can handle it, something you may only know by trying it. However, I would do the Flat Bench first then the Close Grip Bench and then the Flyes. Unless you have a pretty good reason to do otherwise it’s usually best to start with the most demanding compound exercise first moving to less demanding exercises as you go.
 
The routine will be like this but im in a trouble, ill explain :

Im starting my cycle tomorrow, and i have a schedulle problem.
the cycle needs to be ended by april 15th, im leaving town for 9 days, cant miss it, so if i am not finished my SD will be taken sooner, and the cycle incomplete !!.

A
Squats 2 x 15
Leg Curl 2 x 15
Standing calf rises 3 x 15
Incline bench press narrow grip 2 x 15
flat bench pech flyes 2 x 15
lat pulldown wide grip 2 x 15
lateral raises 2 x 15
standing barbell curl 2 x 15


B
Deadlift 2 x 15
Leg extensions 2 x 15
Seated calf rise 3 x 15
Dips (weighted if necessary) 2 x 15
Seated row (pulley) 2 x 15
overhead press (shoulder) 2 x 15
Bicep scott 2 x 15
tricep press 2 x 15


it was going to be A, B, A, B, A .................
I was going to work monday, wednesday, friday, sunday, tuesday,thursday,saturday,monday ......
starting with 80% and then 5 plus 5 (80,85,90,95,100)
if i do it that way i cant finish the cycle, cause it would take me 20 days per block and would be impossible to finish april 15th.
I also thought if i work consecutive days cutting volume at half, but im not sure if i would get overtrained or burned out, that way i would only rest sundays.
Any help would be preciated
 
I also thought if i work consecutive days cutting volume at half, but im not sure if i would get overtrained or burned out, that way i would only rest sundays.
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That’s how I do it except for Friday is my day off. But I have to make sure to eat enough and rest whenever I can. No cardio.

If your connective tissue and joints feel fine you could always skip the 15s. If you want to keep the 15s you could just use larger increments during parts of your cycle. I prefer to that near the beginning when the weights are lighter. That way you could still start with the weights you planned for the 15s but just progress through all or parts of the cycle more quickly.

If I were in your situation my preference would be to skip or compress the 15s and if necessary compress the 10s by using larger increments and then progress normally through the 5s.
 
Hey. Today i finished my last 15´s A routine. I pushed to limits and realized that all maxes increased by 5 to 15%. The biggest gain was deadlifting.
wednesday ill do last B routine.
Ill keep posting untill the end of cycle
I was wondering if i need to use the HS calculator to figure out my maxes at 10´s using my 15´s as base.
 
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