But you just gotta do what you enjoy. Adherence is always number one.

This is massively underrated.

A strength coach I follow on YouTube used to do some Q&A videos and, when he was asked "what's the best workout routine?" he said something along the lines of

"One that you'll do. The best way to train and the best time to train are good things to think about, but not as good as actuallly training. Too many people love to get caught up in the minutiae, but all that does is give youi more brain exercises. The more shit you think about, the more you paralyse yourself from overanalysis. The best time to train is when you get to the gym. The best workout to do is one that you will keep doing."

Makes a lot of sense really. I mean, there are some obvious things we can be doing wrong, such as not squatting or deadlifting, but after that it really is about what you're going to keep going back and doing

[best alternative exercise for deadlifts?]

So i'm back doing 5x5. I'm going to try and kick things up a notch this time though by adding some assistance work (dips, chins, hanging leg raises) and doing 10 minutes of intense cardio at the end of each session.

I'm going to be pretty pressed for time over the next few months so wish to avoid having to hang around for equipment if it's unavailable. Specifically could i get some advice regarding the best alternative exercise for deadlifts? If the squat rack is unavailable i plan to hit up the leg press, and the rest of the movements (bench, row, ohp) i should be ok to use dumbbells if i can't get a barbell.

You're going to struggle. You can do deadlifts with dumbbells tho if the barbell is taken. Or you could try depth swings with a kettlebell?

Hey guys, I know it's been a while, but I promise you I can still just about beat live poker.

Selling 25% of my action in today's £150+15 Xmas Deepstack at Dusk.

Going to sell @ 1.091 which makes the following numbers

5% = £9
10% = £18
25% = £45

Cheers.

@zerofive those four compounds you have mentioned clears things up for me a lot. I worry about pull ups atm, i don't think i am strong enough to string more than two together, so would the lat pull down machine suffice for that compound for now? The bench press I am pretty embarrassingly poor at I think, but may be a lot better now. The last time I tried it at the start of this routine a month or two ago I struggled with i think 50kg. I did have a dodgy shoulder though and considering how much i am lifting with the dumbells in other routines since I think i should have a much better crack at it. All about progression anyway so not being hard on myself. Bentover row I do 30kg either side 4x8, i could probably do 35kg, but my gym doesn't have dumbells between 30-45kg which is frustrating. For the shoulder press I can do 15kg-20kg dumbells on both sides, but i have a niggly shoulder that makes this routine a little tough but still achievable.

So my routine on upper body day will be this:

4x8 bent over row 30kg
4x4-8 shoulder press 15kg-20kg
Lat pull down machine 4x8 level 10/25
bench press (i might do the dumbell form? And test out what weight would be reasonable for a 4x8)

So with that being 16 sets i think 5 more routines with 2 sets of each is reasonable. So i am going to attack a weak area in the core, of abs and lower back and for vanity biceps and triceps

2x 6-8 12.5kg bicep curl
2x 6-8 12.5k bicep kickback
2x 8-12 30kg sidebend (would love 35kg here but same problem with no 35kg dumbells)
2x 12-15 abcrunch machine
2x8 25kg dumbell lift off of the ground with knees bent and back arched engaging lower back

26 sets may appear to be pushing it, but does the above seem at least somewhat reasonable? What would you guys suggest I change, or any views generally.

26 sets is a lot, but my high volume routines are all around the 24-26 mark, and that doesn't take abs into consideration, so the routine we're looking at here is okay. I think we can make one or two adjustments to make it even better though.

You said your gym doesn't have any dumbbells between 30-45kg, which I agree is very frustrating! You're in quite an interesting spot where you can't increase the weight to something you would fail @ 8 reps, so why not try this: starting with your weaker side (if you have one) pick the 30kg up and do as many reps as you can, then match that number on the other side. Rest for 60 seconds, go again, and so on. So instead of 4x8, it might look more like 14, 9, 8, 6. Just a thought.

If you have shoulder "issues", then perhaps keep the reps a little lighter on the overhead press. Maybe go for something you can get between 8-12, rather than 4-8.

Lat pulldown machine is good, but I reckon you've got to get some organic pull-ups in there as well. Go for 4xAMAP pull-ups, followed by 4x8 lat pulldown. Even if four maximal sets of pull-ups only gets you a total of 5 reps, it's still a way better exercise than the lat pulldown.

Bench with the dumbbells sounds like a good shout to me

Would typically never ever do kickbacks, as there are so so many better tricep movements. Dips are absolutely fantastic as a way of crushing your tri's and stretching your shoulders, along with some additional chest recruitment. If you don't want dips, then try push-ups. If you don't want push-ups then try the cable extensions. And if you don't want cables, then try an overhead extension.

Not entirely sure what that last exercise is, but it sounds beneficial for overall core development if you're going to be engaging your lower back. Sounds a lot like a deadlift variation to me, but I might be reading it wrong.

These are just some suggestions to make a good routine better, but if you like what you've got at the moment then by all means stick with it. After all, the best routine is one that you're actually going to do.

Some tough sessions this week, due to Xmas and NY I got 6 sessions in, as I cant only 3 next week and the week after.

Hit some serious momentum which culminated in a relatively easy 170kg dead for three.

Somehow have to get 3x3 130kg squats next week, not entirely sure how that is gonna work.

@Ant, I wasn't having a go, I did exactly the same. If I had my time again I probably would do the same again. I was trying to say don't get upset when volume drops, its just because you are doing it better.

Going on a gymnastic hype at the minute, my aim next year is a 230 deadlift for one followed by a back flip.

so for three years I have wanted to be as big and strong as possible, now I want to get to 80kg again as quick as possible. Obviously won't be quick because I want to progress my strength so I need to be patient. But hopefully gymnastics will be a big part of my routines going forward. I am 96kg with less flexibility than a hippo. So it is going to be a huge change.

I swear we share a brain Harvey. If we look at how our path has changed over the last couple of years, they would have very very similar ups and downs. I'm on the pilates hype as well as the athletic stuff right now. Getting strong is second on the list now behind getting supple. Never imagined it would ever matter to me, but when you look at the strongest guys and the most aesthetic guys, they have one thing in common: they are all very flexible.

"pick some big compounds and keep lifting until you can't pick the weight up any more. "

Can't go far wrong with this summary.

Bent over row, pull ups, bench press and over head press looks like a brutal combo. I'm even slightly tempted to give it a go myself at some point.

What do you think to doing this routine Monday and Wednesday and then perhaps legs Tuesday, arms Thursday?

I'm not currently doing anything for arms as I can't squeeze them in to my week. If I pull chest, back and shoulders in from three days to two then I have that extra day to work those guns. The alternative is of course to have two days upper body and two days lower......

If I was going to schedule an arm day into a 4-day split, I'd probably do back & traps / chest & shoulders / legs / arms. Me being me though, I'd still go for compound arm movements. Close-grip bench, chin-ups, and dips would be in there.

There's no reason upper/legs/upper/arms wouldn't work tho, if you very specifically want massive sleeves. Give it and go and see how you get on.

[bentover row]

I wouldn't mind an answer to if you could feasibly cover your whole upper body in a day though but realise I'm a taxing mofo, so you may ignore me 😊

Of course you can

The more of the body we cover in one workout, the less specific we have to be. It's feasible to do a full body workout in one session if we strip the whole thing down into raw compounds.

I recently posted my squats/deadlifts/upper routine that I'm following at the moment. The upper day basically covers bentover row for horizontal pull, bench press for horizontal push, pull-ups for vertical pull, and overhead press for vertical push. Boom, we've got an upper body workout in four movements. If you have a lagging body part, or posture problems etc. then you can extend this workout to cover it. For example if you have a touch of kyphosis, you might want to throw in some face pulls as well.

When you split your upper body workout into two parts, then you can start being more specific with your weak points, but if you're looking for a way to hammer your upper body, pick some big compounds and keep lifting until you can't pick the weight up any more.

So it's been a while since I played and I'm crazy rusty. I saw this hand last night and thought it was interesting, although I've been wrong before...

$22 6-Max - blinds @ 75/150/20

MP raises to 345
SB calls
BB folds

Flop (960)

Both players check

Turn (960)

SB bets 450
MP folds

Basically wondering what % of the time you think MP can raise the turn profitably here in a vacuum, and what SB needs to have to continue or 3bet.

I thought specifically 88/99 would be a tricky hand to play if you're SB

[little daily sugary treat to motivate me]

Beast mode Sean and Matt, well done.

Warm up wise i jog to my gym which takes 5-6 minutes. I've started having one glass of Lucozade before as well. Seems to really give me a boost after a long day of work and is a little daily sugary treat to motivate me to keep the rest of my bulking diet as healthy as possible.

I weighed 75.5kg yesterday. Pretty pleased with that.

Talk to Harvey about his Skittles...

Back on the deadlifts yesterday for the first time in a few weeks. Managed a 180kg double over grip, no chalk. It didn't exactly fly up, but it wasn't a struggle either. Just going to pick one day when I'm feeling strong/positive to shoot for a 200kg. Not expecting it to be too much of a problem.

Ok so my 5x5 goals for the rest of the year is to hit these PBs for a five rep lift.

Squat: 100kg (Current PB is 80kg, I have done 6 reps at 100kg before)
Deadlift: 90kg (Current PB 70kg, my best ever 1 rep max was 100kg)
Bench: 80kg (Current PB 65kg)
Shoulder Press: 50kg (Current 35kg)

Given that I could hit quite a few of these targets about four months ago, my guess would be that in theory they should be easier to get to than if they were for the first time.

Current PBs:

Squat: 85kg
Deadlift: 80kg
Bench: 65kg
Shoulder Press: 40kg

Feel like I'm on target currently for all but the bench press right now by the end of the year.

Yeh looking good!

Where do you train, if you don't mind me asking?

347

What would you like me to do after 10?

 

Between 1 - 10

Please.

Sean, how long do those sessions take? They look like about 90 to 120 minutes to me. There's no way I could stay in the gym that long I have to admit. 45 minutes suits me perfectly in the morning and then another 30 minutes or so in the evening. Looks like a killer routine especially legs day. Enjoy!!

Can't imagine it ever taking longer than 60 minutes. Ideally would be in and out in 45 minutes, but the 5 rep stuff requires a little more rest, plus there are a few single leg/arm movements in there.

[Day 1: Squats]

The outline of the program is as follows: Day 1 is Squats, Day 2 is Deadlifts, Day 3 is Upper Body, and Day 4 is High Intensity Interval Training

Days 1-3 will follow this structure: Joe DeFranco's "Limber 11" to warmup, followed by a plyometric activation drill. Then we will perform the main lift, three accessory lifts, pull-ups, and something to target the abs to finish. Iwill be rotating some of the movements, but it will look a bit like this:

Day 1: Squats

• Sprints 5x10m
• Front Squat 5x5
• Romanian Deadlift 5x5
• Split Squat 5x5
• Single Leg Hamstring Curl 3x8
• Pull-ups 5xAMAP
• Hanging Leg Raise 3x15

Day 2: Deadlifts

• Box Jumps 5x3
• Deadlift 5x5
• Glute Bridge 5x5
• Farmer's Carry 5x15m
• Face Pulls 3x8
• Pull-ups Ladder (1 rep 10 secs rest; 2 reps 20 secs rest; 3 reps 30 secs rest; and so on until we miss the target)
• Russian Twist 3x15

Day 3: Upper

• Kettlebell Swings 5x5
• Bench Press 5x5
• Bentover Row 5x5
• Push Press 5x5
• External Shoulder Rotations 3x8
• Pull-ups 5x? (as many as you can do with textbook form)
• Weighted Plank 3x30seconds