Simplify and Win!

Hi guys,

I love this thread and have been following this as a good guideline for my program. My initial program alternating A + B program had like 12 exercises each lol and was far too much.

Currently it is as follows (very similar to etothepii's workout).

Workout A:
Squats
Incline Bench Press
Pull Ups
Upright Rows
Weighted Crunches

Workout B:
Deadlifts
Military Press
Pendlay Rows
Dips
Leg Raises


I think i saw some nice gains. Stayed the same weight but i look a lot more muscular  
biggrin.gif
 must have lost some fat!
I'm currently learning how to do cleans (full/power/hang), clean and jerk and also the snatch (which i probably won't do cos i hate them lol). How would you guys incorporate these exercises into the workout? Would you replace full clean and jerks with squats/deadlifts along with military/upright rows? Or keep em? Also, my trainer told me not to do high reps due to fatigue and normally does lots of sets of 1-3 reps with 30-60s rests. e.g. 3+3+3+2+2+2+1+1+1

Any suggestions will be much appreciated!  
laugh.gif
 
sorry that this has probably been posted a million times but was reading through threads and dont really know whats going on. when it says 15 10 10 5 5 5 is that for each exercise each session or is that the different number of sets/reps in each session? should you just stick to the main 7 or shuold you focus on A/B work out? sorry for all questions help would be appreciated!
 
ohh the other thing was... are u meant to do it 3 times a week or 4?? as in 1 week A B A B or week 1 A B A week 2 B A B
 
s_hutch said:
sorry that this has probably been posted a million times but was reading through threads and dont really know whats going on. when it says 15 10 10 5 5 5 is that for each exercise each session or is that the different number of sets/reps in each session? should you just stick to the main 7 or shuold you focus on A/B work out? sorry for all questions help would be appreciated!
Click to expand...

Welcome

That would be the number of reps per session, number of sets is usually 1 or 2 for 15's/2 for 10 and 3 for 5's

Man whether you stick to the main set or alternate A/B is up to you really whatever suits or works best!
 
s_hutch said:
ohh the other thing was... are u meant to do it 3 times a week or 4?? as in 1 week A B A B or week 1 A B A week 2 B A B
Click to expand...

That to is up to you, but you will have to structure things nicely if you are doing it 4 x/week, its best then to approach teh A/B/A/B routine structure!
 
Hey guys! I found the HST link on the Starting Strength wiki page about a month ago as I was finishing a 3x5 Starting Strength routine, and before that I was doing a Bill Starr 5x5. I'm happy with the results I got in the last three months of training, which was mostly strength gain (and fat loss that came along with proper nutrition etc.). So now I want to put on mass as well, hence me posting on here :)

I did my RMs last week and I'm ready to start.. I want to do a split A & B three times per week (introduce other lifts to what I was doing prior to this).

I signed up to ask for help in splitting my lifts between A and B.

I have done RMs for:
Squat
Dead-lift
Bench Press
Dips
Seated Cable Row
Pull-ups
BB Press/DB Press
Calf Raises (one isolation exercise because they are my weak point)

Less is more, so it says.. but am I missing anything here? My other question is would I squat and dead-lift on the same day, or split them up? (I've seen examples of both right here on the board as I've read a number of topics, and that confused me.)

Any other suggestions are much appreciated. Thank you guys in advance!
 
stain said:
Hey guys! I found the HST link on the Starting Strength wiki page about a month ago as I was finishing a 3x5 Starting Strength routine, and before that I was doing a Bill Starr 5x5. I'm happy with the results I got in the last three months of training, which was mostly strength gain (and fat loss that came along with proper nutrition etc.). So now I want to put on mass as well, hence me posting on here :)

I did my RMs last week and I'm ready to start.. I want to do a split A & B three times per week (introduce other lifts to what I was doing prior to this).

I signed up to ask for help in splitting my lifts between A and B.
Click to expand...

Hey Stain, welcome to HST!

I'd do this

A)
Squat
Bench Press
Seated Cable Row
BB Press
Calf Raises


B)
Deadlift
Dips
Pull-ups
DB Press
Calf Raises

Because you are keeping it simple you might need a bit more volume for each exercise. Try something like this:

15s: 2 x 15
10s: 2-3 x 10
5s: 3-5 x 5

If you switch to negatives for any exercises in weeks 7 & 8, add in some metabolic work for those exercises by doing a set of 15s or you may start to feel a little 'flat'.
 
Lol said:
Hey Stain, welcome to HST!

I'd do this

A)
Squat
Bench Press
Seated Cable Row
BB Press
Calf Raises


B)
Deadlift
Dips
Pull-ups
DB Press
Calf Raises

Because you are keeping it simple you might need a bit more volume for each exercise. Try something like this:

15s: 2 x 15
10s: 2-3 x 10
5s: 3-5 x 5

If you switch to negatives for any exercises in weeks 7 & 8, add in some metabolic work for those exercises by doing a set of 15s or you may start to feel a little 'flat'.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I have a feeling I'll be sticking around :)

That's exactly the split I did today... I mean, I did A in the same order except that I did one set only. I'll up it to 2 sets going forward. I'm assuming there is not a whole lot of difference between doing A B A, A B A, and A B A, B A B... correct?

And I'll be back reading more about the 7-8th week work as I don't fully understand it right now. My lifting 'experience' going back few years hails from few fitness books I found at the library and whatever the next guy was doing. Only if I knew where to get the right information. I believe I'm on the right track now :)

I'll spent some more time of the forums and perhaps start a personal journal so I don't mess about in the awesome thread this is.
 
stain said:
Thank you! I have a feeling I'll be sticking around :)

That's exactly the split I did today... I mean, I did A in the same order except that I did one set only. I'll up it to 2 sets going forward. I'm assuming there is not a whole lot of difference between doing A B A, A B A, and A B A, B A B... correct?

And I'll be back reading more about the 7-8th week work as I don't fully understand it right now. My lifting 'experience' going back few years hails from few fitness books I found at the library and whatever the next guy was doing. Only if I knew where to get the right information. I believe I'm on the right track now :)

I'll spent some more time of the forums and perhaps start a personal journal so I don't mess about in the awesome thread this is.
Click to expand...

Oh one more thing... Not sure how important this is... Now since I want to do A B A, B A B, etc. At what increments do subtract weights from my 15RM since there is only 3 workouts per exercise (and not 6) because of the A-B split? The calculator uses 5lbs increments, and would I use 10lbs accordingly? I mainly ask because my Squat and Dead-lifts are not the same, and same goes for all the other alternative exercises, for the exclusion of Calf raises, which are done in both A and B.

Thank you!
 
stain said:
Oh one more thing... Not sure how important this is... Now since I want to do A B A, B A B, etc. At what increments do subtract weights from my 15RM since there is only 3 workouts per exercise (and not 6) because of the A-B split? The calculator uses 5lbs increments, and would I use 10lbs accordingly? I mainly ask because my Squat and Dead-lifts are not the same, and same goes for all the other alternative exercises, for the exclusion of Calf raises, which are done in both A and B.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
To simplify your calculations pretend you are doing all exercises every day and calculate increments for all of them as if you were doing them. When you are going to workout you use the lifts and loads planned for the day (A or B) and ignore the others that way you'll always have the correct loads and increments independently of the lifts.
 
hey guys im kinda a newbie at hst, Ive done 2 cycles of it. the second cycle I did the simplfy and win.
A/B split
squat,flat bench, row, military press, iso bi's
dead, incline bench, row, miltary press, iso bi's
then 15 mins of cardio on elliptical
I like the simplfy and win, but it doesnt seem like im not doing enough, does anyone else feel this way. I notice that the original hst workout has alot more exercises.
any thoughts would help-thanks
 
jzawisza75 said:
hey guys im kinda a newbie at hst, Ive done 2 cycles of it. the second cycle I did the simplfy and win.
A/B split
squat,flat bench, row, military press, iso bi's
dead, incline bench, row, miltary press, iso bi's
then 15 mins of cardio on elliptical
I like the simplfy and win, but it doesnt seem like im not doing enough, does anyone else feel this way. I notice that the original hst workout has alot more exercises.
any thoughts would help-thanks
Click to expand...
If you don't think you are doing enough, raise the number of sets per exercise. The idea behind the Simplify and Win routines is not to do little volume is to simplify your workout. Instead of doing 3 different exercises for chest you can do 3 sets of one effective exercise for the chest. If you change 3 exercises for chest, each with a set for 1 exercise for chest with only one set you are indeed reducing volume too much.
Regarding your simplify routine I'd substitute one of the rows with a vertical pull (chin-ups or pull-ups). One other thing, you are doing military press on both routines AND doing incline bench on one. They all hit your front delts. Either don't do the military press on incline bench day or change incline bench with flat bench or dips to take some load off the delts.
 
thanks for the response electric. i was doing 2 sets of 15, 10 and 5's. ill step it up. should i just get rid of incline and do flat, so i can stick with military press? i started my new cycle today. I did squats on the smith machine then did a superset of shrugs, then did flat bench then superset tri's, then rows superset bi curls, then did military press. and 15 mins on the eliptical. all supersets were 1 set.
 
jzawisza, there is no absolute answer but I think that if you want to keep military press every workout, it is best to drop the incline. If you can do dips they would be great replacements. If not, flat bench (maybe with DBs for some variety) would be good replacements.
For simplify and win routines people usually do 2x15, 3x10, 3-5x5. Of course this is personal as some people require more volume and some people require less. You should also check the loads you are using as they might be too low. Avoid going below 70-75% of the RM for the rep range you are using (ie, if you are doing 15s, try to start with at least 70-75% of your 15RM).
Basically the guideline for volume is:
Increase volume if:

You are never sore
You are never tired
You are not growing

Maintain volume if:

You are slightly sore most of the time
You are tired enough to sleep well, but not so tired you lose motivation to train.
You are noticeably “fuller”

Decrease volume if:

You are experiencing over use pain, and strain symptoms in joints and/or muscles.
You are tired and irritable all the time, yet don’t sleep well.
Strength levels are significantly decreasing.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Fausto said:
Volume - again for begginers

15 x 1 set / 10 x 2 sets / 5 x 3 sets, other variations can be used but this one seems to cause the most gains overall.
Click to expand...

Sorry, stupid question but when did it become like that? I mean doing different amount of sets in each rep mesocycle?
I thought it is 1 to 2 set in each. ...Huh?

Even Bryan himeself uses the method I was used to:
I warm up on the bike for at least 6 minutes with a lot of resistance (break a sweat). I do 2 "work sets" after an adequate warm-up on each exercise. On off days I do cardio for 20 minutes twice per day, while I'm dieting anyway.
Click to expand...

One more quote by Bryan:
I suggest you do 2 sets per exercise during the 15s. Then do 2 sets during the first week of 10s, and 1 set during the second week of 10s. Then do 2 sets during the first week of 5s, and finish doing one set (after warm ups of course) during the last week of 5s. Always warm up first regardless of how many work sets you are doing.
Click to expand...

Isn't three sets unnecessary, you can get the same effect with less sets?
But Bryan suggest using those higs rep sets after 5s though...
 
Entomba said:
Sorry, stupid question but when did it become like that? I mean doing different amount of sets in each rep mesocycle?
I thought it is 1 to 2 set in each. ...Huh?

Even Bryan himeself uses the method I was used to:


One more quote by Bryan:


Isn't three sets unnecessary, you can get the same effect with less sets?
But Bryan suggest using those higs rep sets after 5s though...
Click to expand...

Hi Entomba (is that an african name?)

Even though Bryan is telling us to do 2 sets then reduce he's not mentioning the weight he is using, you should remember he has been in this game for a very long time.

The idea as electric put it of doing 1 x15 2 x 10 and 3 x 5 is to keep a constant volume, with exception of the 10 's which become 20 everything thing else satys 15, is it starting to make sense?

Electric also mentioned you should keep your weight loads from 75% of rep max on for each rep range, eventually reaching 100% of that RM, capish?

On thing that this simplify and win can do if you really push your self hard byy running as close as possible to your max, is to give you a really good go at this thing, specially when you reach the 5's.

Lats but not least...you should know by now from reading around this forum that most of us believe that compounds give you more "bang for the buck", and if you use a A/B type training program you can still use enough variety using all main 7 exercises (Bench/Dips/Chins/Squats/Deadlifts/Military Press which turns into push press/Low Rows or Bent overs).

This should get you going...cheers!
 
im sticking with the simplify and win method. I like it because i get to fit in some cardio to lose my lower belly. But recently i've been feeling weak at the gym, I have no energy. It started halfway through the first session of simplify and win. Has anyone else felt this way. Any ideas what i can do to boost my energy.
 
jzawisza75 said:
im sticking with the simplify and win method. I like it because i get to fit in some cardio to lose my lower belly. But recently i've been feeling weak at the gym, I have no energy. It started halfway through the first session of simplify and win. Has anyone else felt this way. Any ideas what i can do to boost my energy.
Click to expand...

Something sounds supspicious, how long have you been at it?

Not exactly good to start someting halfway.

Are you taking creatine? Essential fatty acids and a multi vitamin?

2 options:

SD and start again

Go see your doctor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top