In weightlifting, you can train as a powerlifter or a bodybuilder, and you can compete as either. I initially started with calisthenics, mastering both the push-up and the pull-up. Unsatisfied with certain muscles' underdevelopment, I added some dumbbell work, for the sake of building those muscles - bodybuilding. I limited myself to the 8-12 rep range for the most part - even on my compound exercises. This lead to poor results in the Squat, poor leg development, and a massive back. This was the bulk of my training.
Through reading and researching more online. Things caught my eye, such as 20 rep squats. I enjoyed them, and applied the 20 rep range to other exercises. I also, in having seen Tom Platz's leg routine as well as others, increased my total volume of squats as fast as I could. This made me better and more comfortable with Squats due to honing my technique through more frequency and volume.
I started lifting very heavy in the 8 rep range, and this caused my recovery time to increase more and more, until I was able to train 2 days a week, and I was pretty demolished after the first day of training. Throughout my lifting career, I've thought it a waste to lift so infrequently (less than 3 times a week). And I still did at the time, and I still do as of now. The more time you spend lifting, the better your technique will be, and the healthier you will be. I didn't like having so many rest days, and I felt my flexibility slipping away.
After much research, I gravitated towards the gem that is Arnold's Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding. I had heard of it before, but was skeptical. The muscle magazines are so laughable to me that I had unfortunately gotten to a point where it was hard for me to objectively discern whether something was valid or not, and I leaned on invalid. In this book though, he has The Bodybuilder's Beginner Routine, and I quite like it.
I'm familiar with Starting Strength and Strong Lifts, and both are known as strength training programs for beginners. I hadn't come across many bodybuilding programs, and was fascinated by the phases in the routine, and how training quickly jumps to 6 days a week with lots of volume. I still did my pet lifts, and didn't follow the routine very closely at all, but it was the base of the new routine I had crafted. A common phrase is that if you don't follow a program 100% then you're not doing the program. I've never followed a program to the T. I am simply too knowledgeable and experienced to blindly follow someone else's routine geared for the masses.
After some time on the bodybuilding routine 6 days a week, my body gave in, and injuries popped up. Overtraining was a cloud over my head. I dropped workout days for the sake of recovery, but continued dropping those days until I was at about 2 days a week again. This is by no means a matter of laziness. My workout days decrease when the weight gets heavier, therefore taxing my body (especially the central nervous system).
It had been about 2.5 years into my training, and I had still yet to do one set of any exercise in the 5 rep range. I had a total paranoia that I was min-maxing, and would only do high rep ranges for the sake of muscle growth - my main goal. What I discovered is that rep ranges are not so black-and-white. I humbled myself and programmed a routine in which every lift utilized the 5 rep range. I also began sprinkling in singles, doubles, and triples (mostly singles). I was previously under the belief that singles were ego lifts, and were always 1 rep maxes. But now I understand that they're crucial in building power, strength, and mental confidence.
Whenever I climb the ladder of poundage on a given exercise, it's scary to lift a weight you have not yet lifted. The first time I Deadlifted 225lb was a scary experience as was 315lb and 405lb. Now that I've done 455lb, I scoff at 405lb, and treat it like it's nothing. This is mental confidence.
I have enjoyed my strength training the last 1.5 months. I used more volume than a typical strength program, but again only trained 2 days a week b/c I was lifting so heavy. I gained a considerable amount of strength in that 1.5 months of strength training. I put 45lb on my Squat PR, an extra 110lb on my Hack Squat PR, 50lb on my Deadlift PR, an extra 160lb on my Sumo Deadlift, and 30lb on my Bench Press.
Although I want to milk my strength training program longer, my body would prefer the bodybuilding style routine again. I never go backwards in my training, and so opposed to following my old bodybuilding routine, I crafted a new one last night. It is a hybrid between bodybuilding, strength training, and power training.
I will ramp up the weight of every exercise by 5lb each session. This is what I have always done.I don't really comprehend the inability to get linear gains. I've deloaded hundreds of times, and I just ramp back up, working on technique.
I'm very happy with where I am in my training. I love the new inclusion of Front Squats, the Trap Bar Deadlift, and Muscle-Ups. I tried Overhead Squats today, and really liked them, so they may become part of my staple too. I feel I'm at my strongest, my smartest, my sharpest, and my conditioning is fantastic.
My main goals right now are to increase my Squat and Bench Press. I am going to try Weighted Muscle-Ups very shortly. I am also on the hunt for a 500lb Deadlift. My legs still have much potential, and are far from where they will be.
Bench Press - 275lb
Squat - 315lb
Deadlift - 455lb
Pull-Ups - 3*135lb
Military Press - 160lb
Hack Squat - 365lb
Shrugs - 5*420lb*2
Lateral Raises - 60lb
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