workout routine for strength?

junior360

New member
whats a good routine in order to get stronger faster? more weight with less reps or less weight with more reps?
 
i usually do routines of 8 reps then 6 then 4 reps if i'm to go up in weights and get stronger....next thing i'll be trying is the 5x5 training in the powerlifting forum posted by dr sust. Looks like an intense routine that will get the strength up in a few months
 
start heavy were you can rep 10 count as a challange resistance add 10 pounds for next 8 to10 reps, add 5 pounds for the next 5 to 8 reps, continue to add 5 pounds for the next 2 to 5 reps, this is just to know were your max is.

on the fallowing 2 days going to this same routine body part start on weights were you left off at 2 to 5 reps if you can rep more with this weight 5 reps then add 5 ponds more repeat this process in your routine..

next 2 days repeat your challenge weight again if you can't do more than 3 reps, you met your challenge now drop 5 pounds to get to 6 reps and keep it there for a week, as soon as you master 8 reps add 10 pounds keep it at this challenge weight until you master it.
then add 5 pounds and so on
 
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I've been doing my "tweaked" version of 5 3 1 for 2 years now and am still seeing consistent strength gains. After I'm done with the 5 3 1 part of my routine I'll slap 50% of my max on the bar and do 5x10. Light weight/high reps directly after heavy lifting feels so therapeutic to me, and I can really focus on hammering down my form without any risk of hurting myself. I'm not afraid to skip a day or take a week off if I'm not feeling "right". Long term goals are way more important than that quick fix.
 
I like to mix things up and do both. It's probably not optimal, but it keeps me enjoying the training and that's really important to me. You need to discover what rocks your boat and do that imho.
 
Reverse pyramid training starts with a warm up set, a over load set, two follow up sets and a dropset. I will discuss each one specifically to make sure you get a good grip on how this works. The first thing I will tell you is that all sets are to failure. It may take some time to figure out the weight that is correct for the specific exercise but that is a part of the game. Keeping a log of your workouts and the weight you use is critical!

Secondly your to have no more than 45 seconds rest between sets and 1 minute rest between exercises. There are exceptions to this with dead lifts and squats which allow up to 1 1/2 minutes between sets. I will give an example of a 5 day workout split, which is what I recommend.

The warm up set

This is simple and obvious. The warm up set is the most important set of the exercise. It prepares your body for the chaos your about to bring upon it. When warming up, take your time with your reps. Do your warm up slowly, focusing on being a bit more explosive on the flexation and coming down slow on the negative. This explosive flexation and slow negative should be done in every rep of every set of every exercise. The recommended warm up set is usually 15 reps. You should be failing at the 15th rep, so do some experimentation and figure out what weight to use.

The overload set

Here is where you fatigue your muscle with a set that is about 85-90% the weight of your max on the exercise. This causes your muscles to quickly reach a point of failure. The reps of this set should be about 4-5 MAX. It may take you some time to figure out what the correct weight for this target rep range is. As I said before, it takes some experimentation to figure out what this weight may be so be patient with the process.

The follow up sets

The next two sets are where you do all that lovely damage to your muscles so they can repair themselves and grow. There are two philosophies i follow in the follow up sets. I will either do two 8 rep sets or a 6 rep set and then a 8 rep set. Again, these sets are to failure so you must find the weight that will work for your target rep range. Always remember to be explosive on the way up and slow on your negative.

Dropset

At the end of each exercise (with the exception of dead lifts and squats) you are to do a simple 20-30 rep dropset. There is no rest between your 4th set and this dropset. Take a light weight and try to do 20 to 30 reps. Again be explosive on the flex and slow on the negative. Your arm day has a specific reverse pyramid superset I will detail in the workout routine.



The workout routine:


Day 1 Chest

Flat bench press 15, 4, 6, 8, 20

Incline bench press 15, 4, 8, 8, 20

Decline bench press 15, 4, 8, 8, 20

Flat bench flys 20, 20, 20



Day 2 Back

Bent over single hand rows 15, 4, 6, 8, 20

Wide grip pull downs 15, 4, 6, 8, 20

Narrow grip rows 15, 4, 6, 8, 20

Dead lifts 15, 4, 6, 8



Day 3 Shoulders

Military press 15, 4, 8, 8, 20

Side lateral raises 15, 4, 8, 8, 20

Front lateral raises 15, 4, 8, 8, 20

Shrugs 20, 15, 20



Day 4 Legs

Squats 15, 4, 6, 8

Leg extensions 15, 4, 6, 8

Leg curls 15, 4, 6, 8

Calf raises 20, 20, 20



Day 5 Arms

Bicepss

Dumbbell bicep curls 15, 4, 6, 8

Dumbbell hammer curls 15, 4, 6, 8

Ez bar bicep curls 15, 4, 6, 8

Straight bar cable system curls reverse pyramid super set:

Find the highest weight your can do 4 reps at. That is your starting point. Work your way down in weight on the cable machine doing 4 reps per set without any rest in between. Be sure to give yourself 1 min rest from your last exercise. Below is an example of it starting at 200lbs:

200×4

180×4

160×4

140×4

120×4

100×4

80×4

60×4

40x as many as you can

Triceps

Skull crushers 15, 4, 6, 8

Machine tricep exercise 15, 4, 6, 8 OR overhead tricep extensions (both hands using a dumbbell) 15, 4, 6, 8

Cable system Y rope tricep pull downs 15, 4, 6, 8

Cable system Y rope tricep reverse pyramid superset (yes, it is the same exercise as before, 1 min rest in between)



Find the highest weight your can do 4 reps at. That is your starting point. Work your way down in weight on the cable machine doing 4 reps per set without any rest in between. Be sure to give yourself 1 min rest from your last exercise. Below is an example of it starting at 200 lbs:

200 x 4

180 x 4

160 x 4

140 x 4

120 x 4

100 x 4

80 x 4

60 x 4

40 x as many as you can
 
Everyone here has given good advice. My suggestion is if you want to get strong you need to focus on compound lifts "the big lifts". These include squat, deads, bench, military, rows. You want to hit every major large muscle group at least once but preferably twice a week. In regards to rep scheme and volume. For strength yes stick with high weight and low reps as core of training BUT hit medium weight medium reps as well. Training exclusively in high weight low rep can cause CNS fatigue A.K.A burnout especially if high frequency is involved. Training with some hypertrophy range is good to allow muscular adaptations to supplement your neuro adaptations. They work in synergy.
 
Check out some of the Jamie Lewis/Chaos & Pain routines. Full bodyish every session. Rep ranges are:

15-30 sets x 1 rep
10-15 sets x 2 reps
8-12 sets x 3 reps

RPE @ 8.5-9/90-95% working weights. I put a decent amount on all my lifts within a couple of months.
 
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Heavy weights build strength, which helps you maintain muscle while losing fat. Lifting heavy weights with low reps won't help you lose much weight, but it will help you maintain hard-earned muscle while losing fat. High reps (12 or more reps per set) build muscular endurance but don't really build strength.(indianworkouts)
 
3Js style is the bests I've found for myself my skinny body. Not volume but crushing intensity. Mass and/or strength.
 
That's awesome. Keep up the work.

I'm out of commission now. High volume I just personally cant keep the reps. I cant keep reps with high volume and higher reps. I use drop sets, forced reps and thing like that for intensity.

if all goes well about 2 years from now I'll back under some iron and steel.

3J reps with Mike Mentzer style HIT. Slower reps than lots of people. ut nothing like 10 second ups and down. Mostly feel. No inertia from exploding up and controlling the down.
 
That's awesome. Keep up the work.

Didn't know he posted it for everyone, I got his plan when I hired him last cycle.
Been on it for about a month now and really have made some good progress in all areas.
But i'm switching over to how Kai Green trains, which is 20, 15, 10 reps and a fuckton of exercises.
 
I started FST-7 Training.
FST-7 TRAINING SYSTEM BY PRO TRAINER HANY RAMBOD

FST, also known as Fascia Stretch Training, is a form of bodybuilding training that targets the fascia layer with 7 sets of an exercise performed as the final exercise for a muscle group. It;s highly effective for all stages of bodybuilding, from beginner to advance, and is considered to be a very flexible training regimen that is highly effective in achieving multiple fitness goals.

The goal of FST-7 is simple. By targeting the fascial layer directly beneath the skin (and above the muscle), when performed at 7 sets, it stretches the fascial layer to capacity, allowing for greater muscle growth. In theory, the potential of muscle growth depends entirely on genetics and the thickness of the fascia surrounding the muscle. For example, those with a thicker fascia will have a harder time building mass than those with a naturally thinner fascia.

As a two-tiered training system, the first principle is that the stronger a muscle is, the larger it is, which implies that its necessary to maintain a certain minimal strength level. From there, its important to focus on strength gains, which is followed by natural muscle growth.

The second principal focuses more around the fascia itself. By expanding the fascia through high volume sets (not reps) and pumping as much nutrient-rich blood into the muscle tissues, it helps to further expand the fascia. These 7 sets are performed on a specific exercise after 2-3 base workouts of only 2-3 working sets with heavier weight and fewer reps.

In terms of prioritizing which exercises to perform your FST-7 on, it depends entirely on your weightlifting experience. Typically, for beginners, its recommended to start with an isolation-type exercise to start (leg extensions). As you become more advanced you can start performing FST-7 on compound exercises (squat).



FST-7 TRAINING PART 1: CHEST
Barbell Incline Bench Press: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Flyes: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Cable Crossover: 7 sets of 8-12 reps

FST-7 TRAINING PART 2: BACK
Bent Over Barbell Row: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown: 3-4 Sets up 8-12 reps
Straight-Arm Dumbbell Pullover: 3-4 Sets up 8-12 reps
Seated Cable Rows: 7 sets of 8-12 reps

FST-7 TRAINING PART 3: SHOULDERS & TRAPS
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Front Plate Raise Press: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Side Lat Raise Press: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Cable Seated Lat Raise: 7 sets of 8-12 reps
Dumbbell Shrug Press: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Barbell Shrug: 7 sets of 8-12 reps

FST-7 TRAINING PART 4: BICEPS & TRICEPS
EZ-Bar Curl: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Seated Tricep Press: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Curl: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Overhead Cable Curl: 7 sets of 8-12 reps
Tricep Pushdown: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extension: 7 sets of 8-12 reps

FST-7 TRAINING PART 5: LEGS
Barbell Squat: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Leg Extensions: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Leg Press: 7 sets of 8-12 reps
Lying Leg Curls: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Seated Calf Raises: 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
Standing Calf Raises: 7 sets of 8-12 reps

FST-7 TRAINING ROUND UP
This training method has been used by some of the greatest physiques in bodybuilding and powerlifting history, most notably by Mr. Olympia winners Jay Cutler and Phil Heath. We understand that the success of this program is largely contributed by the bodybuilders or athletes individual genetic predisposition, but highly recommend it for those looking to take a new approach to their workout routine. Feel free to mix-and-match the exercises that you perform FST-7 on to find your "sweet spot".
 
^^^ I find high volume training impossible to maintain but the mix of higher reps and lower reps trips my trigger.

In a 4 set lift I will hit 12 reps (failure) on the first set but end up at 3-4 the last set if I take it through multiple exercises. I always ended my workouts with say push. after bench pressing lower reps and slower pace I would use a lighter weight for DB flies higher reps and then do closer gripes DB press to failure to really push the pumps.

I once ended a bench workout with a 4 drop set. My chest, arms and even lat area was so pumped my skin itched and my muscles felt like they were twice the size meaning how they felt hanging on my body. My specs and triceps felt like I had steaks implanted under my skin.

interesting. . . .
 
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