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slicer
02-23-14, 4:46 pm
Hey All! I just wanted to see if I could get the Animal community to help clear some things up that are confusing the hell out of me LOL. It seems everywhere I look there is conflicting info on which routines are better suited for beginners. I am 31, 5'11, 240lbs and mid-high 20's bf%. I have been lifting for a few months now and seen some very nice strength as well as muscle gains. On BP I started doing 145lbsx5 and that was my 5 rep max. Just 3 days ago I was able to get 205 x 8 just trying to see how many I could get. My DL and squat are still lagging some but I am working hard on them as I have always had weak knees and back. I was just wanting to see from you guys if you thought a BB 4 day split or Upper/Lower split would be best at this stage in my training goes? Looking over the HRT solo it looked brutal but fun as hell at the same time. I would like to cut some fat atleast until I can see some of the gains I have made. Thank you all in advance for any and all info you would be willing to give.

Maccabee
02-23-14, 9:29 pm
Most powerlifters that I have come across like to do upper body workouts and lower body workouts. Bodybuilders tend to do major muscle groups on their own day.

Bodybuilder might do:
Sun- Quads, Hams, Calves
Monday- Shoulders, Traps
Tuesday- Rest
Wednesday- Back, Biceps
Thursday- Chest, Triceps
Friday- Rest
Saturday- Rest

Powerlifters might do:
Sunday- Squat, Assistance movement to improve the squat
Monday- Overhead Press, Assistance movements to improve the overhead press
Tuesday- Rest
Wednesday- Deadlift, assitance etc...
Thursday- Bench Press, you get the idea
Fri- Rest
Sat- Rest

There are many routines and programs out there. The best thing to do is to identify your goals and go after it.

Animalpak.com has good routines somewhere around here for bodybuilders of all levels.

Some popular powerlifting programs out there would be 5/3/1, Cube Method, Paul Carter's Base Building is a good program as well....these are great powerlifting programs to start with.

As times goes by you will figure out what works best for you.

dannynb
02-23-14, 11:18 pm
HRT solo is great, even for beginners. Don't over think things brother. No set split is better than others. It's all about the intensity.

knotahumanbeing
02-24-14, 12:01 am
Check out Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 book...it's a very simple and easy program for the beginner to the advanced level competitor. Also look at Brandon Lilly's cube method for another book to help you start off.

Rob

Firefist
02-24-14, 12:11 am
As Rob above stated, 5/3/1 is a great program. 5x5 is also a good one to start with.

Swolepez
02-24-14, 2:22 am
For beginners I think the push/pull/ leg split is great. For one it consist of more compound movements and not to many isolation exercises. It also doesn't take up to many days to do (3x per wk).

So the split would be something like:
Mon OR Tues : push day (chest/tris/shoulders)
Wed OR Thurs: pull day (back/bi's/traps)
Fri OR Sat: legs (quads/ hams/calves)

If your goal is losing body fat, you ca add cardio on the off days to start off with.

If I could do it all over again, I would probably do a push/pull/legs split for my first year and just hammer out the basics.