This is a program for the lifter who wants to get stronger and isn't concerned with putting on a lot of mass. Every lift listed here can be performed with a barbell. A few of the lifts require some other equipment, such as a bench or a squat rack, but there are plenty of combinations that can be done with a barbell only. If you need descriptions on how to perform a lift, look here.
THE LIFTS
There are many more lifts that fall under the four categories here than what I have provided. These are just the basics that will work your whole body, develop your coordination, and provide an excellent base for future lifting.
Presses:
Military press, floor press, bench press.
Pulls:
Bent-over row, body row, pullups, chinups.
CREATE A PROGRAM
1. Choose one type of squat OR deadlift, not both.
2. Choose one type of press.
3. Choose one type of pull.
4. Test youself in your three chosen lifts to see what weight allows you to acheive about 10 reps in each lift (you will be using a different weight for each lift, of course). The weight you pick should be challenging, but you should still be able to crank out 1-2 more reps before failing.
5. Take a couple days off, then get started!
THE SCHEDULE
1. You will be doing this program 3 days/week, with a day off in between each workout. Mon-Wed-Fri, Tues-Thurs-Sat, etc. Whatever days work best for you, whatever time of day works best.
2. Each day, perform 3 sets of 5 reps for each lift. Start with you Squat or Deadlift, then move on to your Press and Pull. Rest ~3 minutes between sets.
3. To begin with, use the weight that you chose for each lift that allowed you to get 10 reps. But remember, you are only going to be performing sets of 5 reps.
4. Each workout day, add 5 lbs. to each lift. Continue in this way until you can only get 3 reps on a given lift. Then drop the weight back down (but not all the way) and start over on your next workout day. For example, say that you started your bench press @ 100 lbs. After 7 workout days you got up to 130 lbs. and only got 3 reps. On your next workout, you would use 105 lbs. for your bench press. This is known as "cycling". There are many different ways to cycle, this is just one of the simplest. Each of your three lifts may be cycled independent of the others.
NOTES
This is a variation of the program outlined in "Power to the People", an excellent book on weight lifting by Pavel Tsatsouline. Visit the publisher's website http://www.dragondoor.com to order the book, and to use their extremely helpful training forum. This is only one way of doing things out of an infinite number of possibilities. No program will work forever, no matter what you may think. The human body is simply too good at adapting. When you stop making improvements, this is known as a plateau. Some ways to break through a plateau are:
1. Take a week off and get some rest.
2. Stick with the same program but use different lifts.
3. Try a new program. (For more ways to make yourself stronger, look here.)
Also, it would be wise to have someone who knows what they're doing observe your lifting technique to see if you are doing it properly. You should naturally get better of course as you practice, but certain bad habits can become ingrained if you don't catch them early. Some general guidelines would be to lift slowly (but not exaggeratedly slow), keep the weight under control at all times, and never sacrifice form to get another rep or lift more weight. If your form starts to fall apart, give yourself an ego check, put the weight down, and call it good.
You may also be wondering whether you should be doing specific abdominal work, a warm-up, or some stretching. All these things are good, but beyond the scope of this site. The idea here is too provide a simple, effective program so that you will just GET STARTED and stop worrying about not having every little detail worked out ahead of time. If you absolutely need some answers, then:
**Abs: Yes, you can add specific abdominal work, just keep it simple and don't kill yourself with high reps. Look around and do whichever program appeals to you.
**Warm-up: Perform as much of a warm-up as you feel is necessary for your own body. 'Nuff said.
**Stretching: Of course stretching is good. The question is, will you do it? I say, work on changing one aspect of your health life at a time. Again, if you are motivated to do it, then look around and use whichever program you like. Some are better than others, but you can't really go wrong.
***NOW STOP READING AND START GETTING STRONGER!!!***
