Newb routine

[Man of Steel]

Does this routine look good for a beginner with no experience of weight training who only has a bar, bench and plates?

Day 1
Hack squat
Bench press
Keystone deadlift
Barbell rows
Barbell curls
Core

Day 2
Deadlift
Military press
Close grip bench press
Chins
Grip
Core

All done with 3x8.

[Sam]

Looks fine to me, Maybe you could also add this : powerclean ( just to get the weight up) and 6-8 front squats to work the Quads a bit more.

Adding some lateral raises for deltoids and protecting the rotator cuff might be something to think about.

[Fred]

Wouldn't front squats or overheads have a better carry over to normal squatting for when he wants to do it?


Whats a keystone deadlift?

[Knighty]

I think some unilateral lower body work should be thrown in on at least one of the days to help improve conditioning and balance between both legs, and also some prehab work for the RC so they realise it is an important part of injury prevention

[Robert]

Persoanlly I would ditch CGB in favour of floor press or DB bench. A set of DB's is not exactly expensive.

Also, ditch Hacks and replace with zerchers (easy to do with a bench or 2 sturdy chairs, or even 2 piles of magazines!) or OHS.

Other than that, what knighty said. - the bit about unilateral. Not need at such an early stage IMO.

[Robert]

Also, make him buy a 2" bar form beng, and make him do everything bar DL's with it.

[PikeKing]

its never too early to do unilateral work

[Robert]

Ok, so that was a bit of a sweeping statement. Seriously now, his efforts would be better put into trainig hard and keepig things simple. Trying to include to many things is the downfall of many a routine, I too have been guilty of this in recent months.

[Man of Steel]

I would add in powercleans if I could do them properly and I forgot all about zerchers, I'll replace the hack squats with them. He can't really do front squats with no rack. I'll add in a couple of sets of 20 RC work. What's your reasoning behind dropping CGB Rob? I don't think he'll need lat raises with all the pushing and pulling. Keystone deadlifts are like RDL's but the bar is kept close to the body SLDL style. I might add in some OHS for his core.

[Robert]

CGB is not nessecary if your a BBer and can do floor press instead, IMO. You can use more weight on floor press (that is to say, I can) and so it would benifit hm more hypertrophy wise, and be less dangerous (assuming he got one of those crapola Argos benches).

[Man of Steel]

Here's the routine I'm going to give my nephew and I'll throw in a couple of DB's as well:

Day 1
Bulgarian squat 3x8
Bench press 3x8
Keystone deadlift 3x8
Barbell rows 3x8
Overhead squat 3x8
Hammer curls 3x8


Day 2
Deadlift 3x8
Military press 3x8
Floor press 3x8
Chins 3x8
Hanging leg raises 3x8
Cuban rotations 2x20

[Mark]

I would add in powercleans if I could do them properly and I forgot all about zerchers, I'll replace the hack squats with them. He can't really do front squats with no rack. I'll add in a couple of sets of 20 RC work. What's your reasoning behind dropping CGB Rob? I don't think he'll need lat raises with all the pushing and pulling. Keystone deadlifts are like RDL's but the bar is kept close to the body SLDL style. I might add in some OHS for his core.

The hack squats should stay. In my opinion, they are a massively under rated exercise.

EDIT: I assume you meant barbell hacks, and not machine hack squats.

[blacklab]

Looks good other than the keystone deads. Are they really necessary?

[Knighty]

I would perhaps arrange it so the quadriceps are being trained equally as much as the hamstrings...maybe move the overhead squats on to the second day

[Man of Steel]

Aren't Bulgarians quad dominant and the deadlifts are narrow. The Keystone's aren't necessary, just to give him a strong PC.

[Robert]

Some exercises are in the wrong order. Aside from that its fine.

Day 1
Overhead squat 3x8
Bulgarian squat 3x8
Keystone deadlift 3x8
Bench press 3x8
Barbell rows 3x8
Hammer curls 3x8

Day 2
Deadlift 3x8
Military press 3x8 (as an option, some people prefer this first - before DL's).
Floor press 3x8
Chins 3x8
Hanging leg raises 3x8
Cuban rotations 2x20

[Knighty]

The way I was looking at it was:

1) quadriceps dominant - Bulgarian squats
hip dominant - Keystone dead lifts

2) quadriceps dominant -overhead squats
hip dominant -dead lifts

[Robert]

You could even get rid of curls and make it upper/lower.

OHS
Bulgarian squat
Deadlift
Key-stone DL/SLDL
Hanging legs raise
Cuff work and grip

Mill press
Bench press
Floor press
BB row
Chin

???

[Knighty]

Like the look of Robert's routine... the frequency he could train could also be increased which is an added bonus

[Mike]

Key stone DL's are the same as RDL's right?

[Robert]

I also think if your going down the uni lateral route, then some sort of Db bench/row/press might be in order.

[Robert]

Key stone DL's are the same as RDL's right?
Essentially, but they have a gay-er name.

[Knighty]

Also I would rotate the unilateral exercise in 6-8 week blocks...for example, step ups, different types of lunges, different types of single leg squats, etc

[Man of Steel]

I like your first routine Rob, if I give him the second one he might find reasons to miss the 'boring' leg day. Every newbie loves to bench and curl ;) .

I was comparing the quad/ham dominance of sumo versus conventional deadlifts Knighty but I see what you mean. I'll probably use your unilat switching idea to keep his interest up.

Key stone DL's are the same as RDL's right?
Keystone's have the bar travelling next to the body while RDL's have the bar away from the body so the greater weight of Keystone's should mean more hypertrophy for him and they're easier to do.

Now, with all the thought we've put into this routine the little bugger'll better buy the weights off me on Thursday. 126kg, bar, DB's and bench for £35 :048: .