Im a new bulker.

[ilcrba]

I am getting serious about working out. Havent really done much real working out before but now I want to. I am going to start bulking. Is there a workout that everyone here believes works good? Over at bb.com all they believe in is SS. So I just want to see what another group of guys suggest. Thanks

 

[EasyEJL]

if you are just starting, it almost doesn't matter what you do, so long as you do a full workout program made by someone professional.

 

[ilcrba]

Well i was starting on SS. but being deployed and the job I do it is hard to stay consistent. So I want to do something while. I have decided to go with this.

A Simple beginner's Routine
You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. The first work out is your heavy work out. The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets. The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.

Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight. Choose a starting weight and start light.

These are the seven exercises you will be starting with.

Squats
Bench Presses
Bent-Over Rows
Overhead Barbell Presses
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
Barbell Curls
Calf Raises

You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
The first week do all 4 sets for 8 reps.
The second week do all 4 sets for 9 reps.
The third week do all 4 sets for 10 reps.
The fourth week do all 4 sets for 11 reps.
The fifth week do all 4 sets for 12 reps.
If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and

repeat the cycle. If you didn't get all of the reps on the fifth week then repeat the cycle with the same weight. You shouldn't need more than one minute rest between the warm up sets and you shouldn't need more than one minute thirty seconds between the work sets.
Do some cardio and abs work on non weight training days.

 

[EasyEJL]

that sounds ok at least for a start

 

[ilcrba]

how effective would a split be for me? like monday,tues,thurs,fri kinda thing?

 

[EasyEJL]

nobody can say till you try it. Particularly considering you don't have your height, weight or age in your profile theres no way to even guess. Full body workouts every other day like that can be a bit rough if you are over 35.

The simpler it is at first, the better I think, and with the full body its the same workout each time

 

[ilcrba]

im 21 about 5'9 and weigh 150lbs. ive done splits before and like them. and i also done ss and liked it.

 

[EasyEJL]

In the end it doesn't matter much. Anything will work for 2 months

 

[R1balla]

i have always done a split of some sort. to change things up, i will do 5x5, but even when i first started out, i did a split. ive tried upper/lower splits...etc and they dont do anything for me. split works best for me. i always change up my routine though.

 

[swan1209]

Well i was starting on SS. but being deployed and the job I do it is hard to stay consistent. So I want to do something while. I have decided to go with this.

A Simple beginner's Routine
You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. The first work out is your heavy work out. The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets. The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.

Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight. Choose a starting weight and start light.

These are the seven exercises you will be starting with.

Squats
Bench Presses
Bent-Over Rows
Overhead Barbell Presses
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
Barbell Curls
Calf Raises

You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
The first week do all 4 sets for 8 reps.
The second week do all 4 sets for 9 reps.
The third week do all 4 sets for 10 reps.
The fourth week do all 4 sets for 11 reps.
The fifth week do all 4 sets for 12 reps.
If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and

repeat the cycle. If you didn't get all of the reps on the fifth week then repeat the cycle with the same weight. You shouldn't need more than one minute rest between the warm up sets and you shouldn't need more than one minute thirty seconds between the work sets.
Do some cardio and abs work on non weight training days.

Sounds like a great routine to me. This seems to be the only type of routine I can gain any mass on. When I start getting into the 5 days high volume splits I just end up getting burnt out and feel like sleeping all the time, and since I can't sleep all the time with school and work, I just end up feeling deflated and losing motivation to work out at all. I say stick with this routine for as long as you can continue to add a little weight each workout and maintain good form. When you hit a plateau, then switch to a different routine, or even a completely different rep scheme for a few weeks. Don't be afraid to come back to this routine though, if your increasing the amount of weight you lift on these core exercises and the calories your eating, you will gain weight.

 

[ilcrba]

what you mean for 2 months

 

[swan1209]

what you mean for 2 months

I think he just means that the same routine should yield results because your body will still be adapting. Don't take 2 months as a hard and fast rule, everyone will be a little different and there are not cookie cutter routines that work for everyone for exact amount of time frames. Your workout is a good one, also look into 20 rep squat routines, HIT, and mike mentzer's heavy duty when you need to switch things up, i.e. when your routine outlined here stops yielding results.

 

[EasyEJL]

For most guys, somewhere between 6 + 12 weeks is as long as you can stay on any straightforward simple program and make strength/size gains before it starts to peter off. Particularly at the start you can go a little longer. So do the full body for the first 2 months, take a week off, then find a split you like and try that for 2 months. There are ways to build in more periodization and variation to get results to continue longer but its nice anyhow just to switch up. Just an an example, switching the order of exercises as well as making big changes to rep range/sets at the 8 week mark can extend how long a program works for you