4 ms·
From personal experience I can say he's completely right. You may not like the presentation but this is pretty much exactly how I trained prior to people subtly
by sfn42 2y ago
From personal experience I can say he's completely right. You may not like the presentation but this is pretty much exactly how I trained prior to people subtly accusing me of juicing.
I did 5 exercises: deadlift, squats, bench press, pull/chin ups, shoulder/military press.
Do that 2-3 times a week, track your progress with some kind of workout log, do 3 sets of 5-8 reps of each exercise, add weight once you can do more than your target reps. Keep going until you buckle, at least for the last set.
This takes like 45 minutes or less once you have a routine going, and it works extremely well. The only supplements worth using are creatine and if you don't get enough protein in your diet you can use protein powder. If you're unsure just have a protein shake after each workout.
The way I think about it is this will give you something like 90% of your possible gains, for a relatively low time investment. It may be possible to do slightly better, but you will spend twice or thrice as much time for a tiny improvement.
Or, as the article author points out, you may spend twice as much time for less gains. If you're fine with that that's totally fine. Go to the gym to hang out with your friends, as long as you're happy who cares. This is advice for people who go to the gym for results.
- superposeur 2y agoAgreed, if you look beyond the bro-ey tone of the presentation, it is smart and nontrivial advice he is delivering here. It is so easy to get distracted by complexity (esp with so much competing internet advice). Picking a couple lifts then making the numbers go up on them is effective and underrated.
- joemazerino 2y agoThis routine is the Starting Strength routine. https://startingstrength.com https://startingstrength.com
- sfn42 2y agoYup. I think that is where I first learned about it, something like 15 years ago
- mnky9800n 2y agoI did this for a long time and then started working with a trainer who pointed out my hamstrings were likely super weak compared to other muscles and he was correct. So I added a leg machine and some other exercises that made my workout hit the muscles the main lifts mostly skip. But I agree, if you want to get strong go to the gym and be consistent. Nothing else works.
- sfn42 2y agoBoth deadlifts and squats work the hamstrings though. But sure, you can definitely add some exercises if you feel the need for it. I've personally never really worried much about hamstring strength. I'm basically just trying to maximize the gain while minimizing the actual gym time. Then I spend the rest of my time doing other things I enjoy more such as rock climbing and hiking. I've also dabbled a bit with running/jogging recently.
- mnky9800n 2y agoOh I used to feel this way and then I realized I rather enjoy talking nonsense with my trainer and then pushing for maximum gains. I can definitely tell my enjoyment goes up when working out with a trainer or another lifting partner mostly because of the encouragement.
- jbaudanza 2y agoI had the same problem. I think a lot of people reading this will have weak hamstrings. I think it's a natural consequence of desk work. Adding in some Romanian Deadlifts really forced me to focus on my hamstrings when doing lifts. It helped me breakthrough some plateaus with the conventional deadlift.