When you stay so static as described above - there will be clear cut weak points that you're simply not going to improve on by doing the same thing. You might look strong and be strong with the main three lifts, but I guarantee you can look better and be stronger with an assortment of lifts depending on your body type, experience, and goals.
Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the routine I'm doing. For:
- Weighted Pull-ups, I recommend a dip belt. Specifically the Iron Mind De Rigueur Dip Belt. I purchased it six years ago. It's rated to hold 1,000lb, and has never failed me. It holds weight plates. I've done +135lb many times with it.
- Bench Press, I recommend The SlingShot by Mark Bell. This device protects the elbows, wrists, shoulders, and pecs from injury. You should still know and use good technique though, which I describe as elbows pinned to your sides, scapulae pinched together, and back arched.
- Deadlifts, I recommend wrist straps. My favorite have been Iron Mind Strong-Enough Lifting Straps. I used them five years straight with good success, but I tried a different type of straps, and had a severe wrist injury.
Some notes on the wrist straps for deadlifting - I've heard many people claim that wrist straps reduce grip strength, and it's true to some extent, but you can also do many things with the wrist straps that you can't do without them. For example, if your hands hurt to much to deadlift or rack pull, and you're waiting very long periods for your hands to recover - you probably want to switch to wrist straps to save time, and to get in more total volume.
If your hands hurt, you will lose mental confidence and it will sap your physical strength. The wrist straps prevent your hands from fatiguing. You may want to add chalk in to prevent hand fatigue. I have also found that if your hands are relatively larger than smaller, you may find barbells to be rather skinny, and you might find relief in your joints, wrists, and elbows if you were able to use a thicker barbell. Well, when you wrap the wrist straps around the barbell, you are thickening the diameter, and thus it hits the forearms differently, and the rest of the body.
If you've ever tried working out 6 days a week, you may quickly run into hand fatigue and hand pain. The wrist straps will prevent that to a great extent.
Also to note that if you're not using straps, you may switch to a mixed grip once your hands give out, but the lat muscles and biceps work very differently depending on the direction the palm is facing. If the palm is facing the bar, you will undoubtedly use more biceps and less lat than an overhand grip, and straps allow for an overhand grip even once your tired.
For diet, it's never been more clear to me that vegetables are the healthiest food and the best fuel for workouts and clean energy. Fruits are loaded with sugar, and people will say that the sugar in fruits is good for you because it's slower digesting due to the fiber in fruits, but if you try to eat every morning one apple, one orange, and one banana. You might find all the sugar hurting your teeth, and it's because there's 42 grams of sugar in those three fruits versus drinking one can of coke that has 39 grams of sugar. Compare this to three servings of broccoli, and you'll have a little more fiber, significantly more protein, and half the calories compared to the fruit.
I recommend not going carb crazy. If you want to eat pasta, use vegetable noodles. There's never going to be a need for an entire bowl of carbs. 37.5% Fat, 37.5% Protein, 25% Carbs might be a good ratio. I generally just keep in mind 33% for all three, but will ditch the carbs before anything else. I mostly consume greek yogurt, sushi, fried chicken (small amounts), vegetables, and grilled meat patties. I advise against microwavable preserved frozen foods. And I advise to eat smaller meals, and not binge eating to avoid digestion issues and stomach bloating.
For liquids I recommend coconut water, cold brew coffee, and g2 low calorie Gatorade. Water and tea are other daily drinks I recommend. As for alcohol in the active athlete's life, I recommend avoiding Champagne, wine, and beer. These will only slow you down. A clear hard alcohol such as Vodka will have the least amount of slow-down on the body compared to the rest. Darker hard alcohols will often have more sugars.
Two forms of calisthenics I recommend are Yoga and Muscle Control. I have two forms of yoga I'll do - either the 27 poses that you can find on these yoga mats - or Vivastra Kama Yoga (nsfw). I've done both of them for 5 years on and off. I mostly do the mat, but will do the other twice a week or so - perhaps on weekends. Muscle Control is largely misunderstood. Max Sick, a lifter from the early 1900s, was born a weak frail boy, and educated himself on body anesthesiology and muscle anatomy. He devised a set of poses, which if performed regularly, enhances the mind-to-muscle connection for easier and faster muscle contractions that will also make you look more toned, it will enhance digestion, improve posture, promote bloodflow, and will ultimately put your body under your control to a farther degree than which it currently is. Here's a link to Max's book.
So I recommend doing the yoga (27 poses) in the morning pre or post shower, and later in the day before dinner. Muscle Control can be done after the yoga either once or twice a day. By doing this every day, the body becomes conditioned to perform it every day. I notice my metabolism speeding up, and all muscles head to toe becoming more chiseled. Advanced muscle control involves contracting each muscle individually in both the stretched and contracted state as well as relaxing the muscle in both the stretched and contracted state.
As for breathing, I highly Recommend Bas Ruten's O2 Trainer. I like using it during yoga and muscle control.
I mentioned the GZCL lifting method last post, and that method continues into this new routine I've assembled.
| WK1 | 85% | 3 sets of 5 reps | 15 total reps | ||
| WK2 | 90% | 4 sets of 3 reps | 12 total reps | ||
| WK3 | 87.5, 92.5., 97.5% | 1 set of 3 | 2 sets of 2 | 3 sets of 1 | |
| WK4 | 90, 95, 100% | 1 set of 3 | 1 set of 2 | 1 set of 1+ | |
Above is the formula for the GZCL method that grants you periodization and has you peaking on the 4th week in terms of strength. And below is the first month of my new routine:
First are the Training PRs, which you need to calculate each weeks weight intensity. So for WK1 Pull-Ups, it's .85 multiplied by 100 to determine how much weight for 3 sets of 5. The answer is 85lb.
| 100 | 195 | 405 | 250 | 250 | 290 | |
| PULL-UP | BENCHPRESS | RACK PULL | STIFF LEG | ROMANIAN | TRAP DL | |
| 8/10/2017 | Workout A |
| Thursday | Bench 165lb WK 1, 3 sets of 5 |
| Pull-Ups 85lb WK1, 3 sets of 5 | |
| Stiff-Leg Deadlift 215lb WK1, 3 sets of 5 | |
| Trap-Bar Deadlift 245lb WK1, 3 sets of 5 | |
| 8/12/2017 | Workout B |
| Sunday | Romaian Deadlift 215lb WK1, 3 sets of 5 |
| Shrug 170lb WK1, 3 sets of 5 | |
| Rack Pull 345lb WK1, 3 sets of 5 | |
| Rack Pull in back 345lb WK1, 3 sets of 5 | |
| 8/17/2017 | Workout C |
| Thursday | Pull-Ups 90lb WK2, 4 sets of 3 |
| Trap-Bar Deadlift 260lb WK2, 4 sets of 3 | |
| Stiff-Leg Deadlift 225lb WK2, 4 sets of 3 | |
| Bench 175lb WK 2, 4 sets of 3 | |
| 8/19/2017 | Workout D |
| Sunday | Romaian Deadlift 225lb WK2, 4 sets of 3 |
| Rack Pull 365lb WK2, 4 sets of 3 | |
| Rack Pull in back 365lb WK2, 4 sets of 3 | |
| 8/24/2017 | Workout E |
| Thursday | Pull-Ups 90lb WK3, 1 set of 3, 95lb 2 sets of 2, 100lb 3 sets of 1 |
| Trap-Bar Deadlift 255lb WK3, 1 set of 3, 270lb 2 sets of 2, 285lb 3 sets of 1 | |
| Stiff-Leg Deadlift 220lb WK3, 1 set of 3, 230lb 2 sets of 2, 245lb 3 sets of 1 | |
| Bench 170lb WK3, 1 set of 3, 180lb 2 sets of 2, 190lb 3 sets of 1 | |
| 8/27/2017 | Workout F |
| Sunday | Romaian Deadlift 220lb WK3, 1 set of 3, 230lb 2 sets of 2, 245lb 3 sets of 1 |
| Rack Pull 365lb 220lb WK3, 1 set of 3, 375lb 2 sets of 2, 395lb 3 sets of 1 | |
| Rack Pull in back 365lb 220lb WK3, 1 set of 3, 375lb 2 sets of 2, 395lb 3 sets of 1 | |
| 8/31/2017 | Workout G |
| Thursday | Pull-Ups 90lb WK4, 1 set of 3, 95lb 1 set of 2, 100lb 1 set of 3 |
| Trap-Bar Deadlift 260lb WK4, 1 set of 3, 275lb 1 set of 2, 290lb 1 set of 3 | |
| Stiff-Leg Deadlift 225lb WK4, 1 set of 3, 240lb 1 set of 2, 250lb 1 set of 3 | |
| Bench 170lb WK4, 1 set of 3, 180lb 2 set of 2, 190lb 1 set of 3 | |
| 9/3/2017 | Workout H |
| Sunday | Romaian Deadlift 225lb WK4, 1 set of 3, 240lb 1 set of 2, 250lb 1 set of 3 |
| Rack Pull 365lb WK4, 1 set of 3, 385lb 1 set of 2, 405lb 3 sets of 1 | |
| Rack Pull in back 365lb WK4, 1 set of 3, 385lb 1 set of 2, 405lb 3 sets of 1 |
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