I’ve been lifting for about six months, and I think this is the longest stretch I’ve been able to go without getting bored with it, because I’m at a gym this time and have access to a ton of equipment.
Variety can really make a difference, and some will say it’s good for your muscles anyways to do different exercises that are targeting the same muscle groups.
And the point of apps like this is that it makes it easy to say “today is push day, push is chest and triceps, show me chest and triceps exercises.” What’s wrong with a novice saying that?
Do the thinking every 4-6 weeks as you rotate the plan - but also repetition lets you track some progress (reps / weight / how hard set was).
And then there's the days where stuff doesn't quite work, but you have turned up anyhow. Those are days I chalk up to fun.
You're not going to like this, but lifting is about finding joy in the grind (like a lot of life). Gains are often incremental, but add up over time. For me, lifting is my alone time to listen to music and think. The lifting part is automatic.
If I would have told someone "I don't like running on the treadmill or on the track, it's super boring", the better response would have been to tell me that there are different ways to find enjoyment in running rather than just saying I should suck it up. For me, that was running in flat-ish urban-ish settings to take in the sights while signing up for an occasional race to give me something to work for. I never liked running in the rain so I just...didn't, unless I was on a training plan for an upcoming race or otherwise couldn't work around it. And so on.
For my lifting: variety, access to a sauna, and a public setting that allows me to watch and talk to other people have helped a lot. I'll see how far it carries me! (And I welcome more advice for making it enjoyable.)
There's only so much novelty in a squat, so you have to find something beyond that. For me it was powerlifting, for others it's getting bigger, and others it's getting better in their sport.
Also, I deal with people and complex problems all day long. The gym is my retreat. I speak to no one and focus on the relatively simple task of picking up a weight.
And the reason I mentioned accepting the grind is because exercise is a life long activity. There is only so much novelty, so the faster someone finds the discipline to do it beyond novelty motivation, the better.
But it's detrimental to a progressive/scienctific-like approach to lifting.
We want to know that over time we're getting progressive overload. That means you need consistency to watch that 1) The weight goes up for the same reps, or 2) the reps go up for the same weight (or 3, both). Unfortunately exercises are not direct replacements for each other meaning you cannot simply do the same for a variety of (eg:) bicep curls.
Once someone gets past what linear progression can achieve (see Strong lifts 5x5 app for example) then we start to do periodization or other plateau breaking patterns.
Uh, sources for that? As I powerlifter I have lifted with world class lifter who have a huge variations in their exercises. Bands,chains, boxes, pause/no pause, grip width, stance width.
The reason that works for a world class athelete is because they're extremely careful and persistent to periodize and have progressive overload.
Unless the commenter is an equivalent exception, it's bad advice to follow that, or any other, kind of advice from exceptional genetic folks.
It's very difficult to select the correct weight for an exercise when you're constantly changing it up.
What you're describing are simple modifications as a form of progression. Adding a band to a barbell bench press is still a barbell bench press. But going from barbell bench press, to weighted push up, to (incline|decline|flat) dumbbell bench, to iso lateral hammer machine, to smith, to (low, mid high) (cable, bench) flyes, to dips, to ... Is detrimental.
Most folks should try 12 weeks of the exact same exercise per body part with a RIR3, RIR2, RIR1, RIR0 cycle. (increasing weight each week and from cycle to cycle) . And most folks can do a reasonable selection of exercises for a year or two before they need to tweak for imbalance or personal details like insertions, or weaknesses.
Variety has also helped me do weightlifting without injuring myself. I hurt my back pretty badly doing back squats, probably because I was leaning forward too far, probably because I was overcompensating due to quad dominance. Because of an app like this website I was able to discover and try different squat variants that are helping me fill out the core and glute muscles I was lacking. Again, seems like a good thing.
Only real risk is people getting confused or frustrated as to why they're not making any progress. "Doing a bunch of stuff" is very different from training.
Progressive overload is the thing that needs drilled into the newbie's head. None of this is complicated, but doing a bunch of random stuff every time you enter the gym is a really good way to feel like your doing something all while accomplishing very little.
I've been lifting for almost a decade at this point. My philosophy on it boils down to: it's grueling, so... if you're going to do it, you should get the most bang for your buck. That said, changing up the routine in a structured manner is definitely a good idea very once and awhile (if only to deload for a bit).
Like many things, knowing the name or term of what you’re looking for is the gateway - without that you’re stuck floundering.
Or you know, you could go into a couple of fitness forums and see which programs pop up again and again.
Absolutely, read SS the book and apply its wisdom to corresponding lifts in the bodybuilding program you'll pick up instead. Then, once you are comfortable in the gym, slowly progress to add heavier lifts/sessions into your program. From there decide if you want to prioritize either.
RPE wouldn’t work either because beginners don’t know how to judge. Everyone who squats heavy knows that a huge part of getting good at it is learning how to keep pushing safely, even as the lift becomes more and more psychologically challenging.
Simply do 5 sets of 5 reps of the following exercises in groups. Do 2-3x per week as your schedule allows. You can super set the push/pull exercise, but not the leg. Take no less than 1 minute rest between the PP supersets, or the leg sets.
1. Bench press , Row, Squat
2. Overhead press, Pull up (weighted if need be), Deadlift
3. Bicep curl, Tricep press, calves
4. Abs, core, or lower back (1x per week)
Other details
- if the workout takes longer than you have time for, you can break up the 1-4 across more days (eg lift 4 or 6 days a week with pattern of 1&3, 2&4, 1&3, 2&4 (1&3, 2&4)
- add some weight every workout, even if it's the minimum 2.5 plates, or buy 1.25 micro plates to bring to the gym - once you are unable to add weight every workout, start to try and add weight every week - Every 12 weeks take a 1 week deload where you do 3x 10 reps of the above with about 50% of what you can actually lift
If you're a "hard gainer" continue with the above and for a 12 week block try the following tactics.
1. Eat a costco rotisserie chicken each day (or equivalent calories + grams of protein in any other food)
2. Add a Liter, Half Gallon, or Gallon of milk (progressively experiment starting small), Or equivalent calories and grams of protein
If you follow the above consistently for a year or two you will be ahead of something like 95% of gym goers. You might be behind optimal, but you'll be way ahead of most people.
check out fitness progress posts and you'll see some great looking bodies. the comments will be like "which routine pls" and the answer will be "huh? I just go to the gym consistently"
But many people aren't going to follow those routines. It's my impression that deadlifts and squats aren't good exercises for this use case because of the danger they present.
Sure, they might be "completely safe" when "done correctly", but somebody using an app and trying to mimic exercises they see in videos or pictures is only guessing at whether they do the exercises correctly. To build muscle you need progressive overload, but that also means that "doing the exercises correctly" gets even more difficult. With most other lifts it's not that big of a deal, but with squats and deadlifts the weights get really high. A dropped barbell with squat weights can easily lead to injury. Hell, it can lead to injury when it's even just lifted the wrong way.
And when you remove those two lifts then a lot of 'standard full body workout' regimes don't work anymore.
And while progressive overload is needed, no one is going from the bar to massive weight overnight. Also, not everyone needs to have the goal of being a power lifter. Peter Attia talks about wanting his older clients to be able to a 45lb kettlebell squat, the average weight of a toddler grandkid for example.
Yeah, people do worse in real life. They pick up stuff of varying weights all the time at odd angles.
Also, I would say that your grip is going to be a bigger liability in those situations.
A trainer spending a year "strengthening your core" is called theft.
I'm a man and know more about mens standards, but if you can't back squat at least 1x your bodyweight you are probably pretty weak. Similar for deadlift. And these are just bare minimums. Most humans are FAR more capable than this. Maybe just multiply these by 0.5 for a women just based on genetic strength differences.
You can start with the bar if you want, you will eventually learn through experience based on your body your form for squatting. And the internet as well as being able to record yourself are readily available for practically everyone. Given that you can definitely learn the basics of form without necessary needing a trainer.
That's what we call a benefit. The reason those people are suddenly lifting their body weight? They've gotten stronger! Deadlift from day 1, people. Your back will thank you. If you're worried about it, ask someone to check your form at the gym (most people are friendly!), or just post it online (I did this when I first started lifting).
Being able to bend over and pick something heavy up off the ground is a pretty fundamentally important human movement.
If you are an olympic lifter, almost everyone is taught how to bail these lifts from the beginning with the empty bar. Most people aren't and lift in racks built just to be able to safely lift heavy. Its on you if you don't actually set up the safety bars for yourself.
Even barring that, the injury rate in squatting is quite low compared to most other sports and athletic activities of similar intensity.
It's one thing to use such a tool to find new exercises to target a specific body part but then you should probably use the source the tool is importing videos from, not build a full workout just to see.
This might be useful for physical therapists or body builders though.
the deadlift is something you've done a million times whether you know it or not, though the novice is probably more uncoordinated than they realize at higher weights. like it would be a struggle if not dangerous to move a couch, for example. this is a very practical skill to develop, and you're still "targeting" the same muscle group as...
...a prone hamstring curl. how often do you find yourself prone and flexing your knees against a load? probably never, right? how do you contextualize a movement like this to someone's day to day? what i mean is, what is even compelling about a movement like this and what does it actually mean to someone just starting out?
i'm the world's biggest proponent of "keep it simple, stupid" when it comes to working out, especially as a novice. super detailed split routines are more often than not overwhelming and set people up to develop bad habits while never meaningfully addressing the core issue that drive many people to go to the gym in the first place: people suck at moving.
In daily life, the body is used to move with many muscle groups working together. By using a targeted exercise, you can create muscle imbalances and injury is more likely (especially stuff like tendonitis).
I don't think I'd put a beginner on a bodybuilding program.
Not to mention, compounds mean learning the correct form for 4 lifts, where isolation means learning the form for ~30 lifts.
to anyone here who routinely jumps to one plate without warming up and struggles to hit depth: know that i pity you, but you can still back off and get good at these movements if you really care.
I got injured doing a 225lb warmup on squats. If I had to diagnose what actually happened, I'm overly tight and the synovial fluid caused some injury.
But that injury lasted 1-2 months, I just didn't squat. I've been neglecting stretching for to long.
I admit you're probably right if your goal is to get good at bodyweight squat...
Muscle does not 'build' without eating. Size comes from calories plus progressive loading.
As for as health goes, every person (particularly those untrained) would be more healthy with more strength. More strength means less likely to injure oneself in everyday movements and less likely to have events like falls as they get older. And to loop back around to the top, squats are key part of this type of health.
High (comparative) weight + low reps builds strength (and muscle recruitment) without (necessarily) building lots of new muscle fibers. Muscle hypertrophy happens most often with lower weights and higher repetitions, plus loads of calories. A program like "Starting Strength" is not about hypertrophy.
Any exercise is potentially "unhealthy," particularly if it requires specialized movements. You can learn proper form for "base" lifts like the squat and deadlift without any equipment at first.