started doing compound exercises...

[halflife3]

I've been reading lately that compound exercises are a good way to build mass for beginners (such as Rippetoe workout), so I've been doing bench press, squats, deadlifts, and barbell overhead press. However, I do sneak in some isolation exercises like concentration curls.

Anyway, I have a few comments/questions:

Squats: Since my legs aren't strong and I want to prevent a mishap, I'm only doing 50 lbs. on a standard barbell. It's going okay, but my knees are hurting!!

Bent-Over Barbell Rowes: Well, I tried this exercise using a barbell, and it's hard to keep my upper body steady. As I lift up the barbell, I slightly bend up my upper body. I feel like my form for rowes is better with dumbbells, as I lift up the dumbbells and sort of bring them out to my side.

Overhead Press: One of my main goals is to develop big shoulders (sort of like Brock Lesnar). This seems like a good exercise, but how much is too much? Is it okay to do this shoulder press 3 days a week (4 sets of 5 reps)?

 

[suncloud]

I've been reading lately that compound exercises are a good way to build mass for beginners (such as Rippetoe workout), so I've been doing bench press, squats, deadlifts, and barbell overhead press. However, I do sneak in some isolation exercises like concentration curls.

Anyway, I have a few comments/questions:

Squats: Since my legs aren't strong and I want to prevent a mishap, I'm only doing 50 lbs. on a standard barbell. It's going okay, but my knees are hurting!!

Bent-Over Barbell Rowes: Well, I tried this exercise using a barbell, and it's hard to keep my upper body steady. As I lift up the barbell, I slightly bend up my upper body. I feel like my form for rowes is better with dumbbells, as I lift up the dumbbells and sort of bring them out to my side.

Overhead Press: One of my main goals is to develop big shoulders (sort of like Brock Lesnar). This seems like a good exercise, but how much is too much? Is it okay to do this shoulder press 3 days a week (4 sets of 5 reps)?

isolation has its place too brotha. very useful for prolonging a pump, and fully exhausting the target muscle.

as far as overhead presses go, i would do them 1-2 times a week, and if you're going in 3x per week, try upright rows on one of those days - probably on friday. its another great shoulder exercise.

for squats, try doing them unweighted and concentrate on form. many times, knee problems occur when your knees extend out past your toes. when doing it with weights, check your form again just to be sure.

 

[Resolve]

Upright would be a good addition to the routine, but bear in mind that any press movement is going to activate the deltoids, whether vertical or horizontal.

Dips, Incline Press, Bench Press, etc, all are going to involve and work your shoulders - and incorporating these horizontal presses will develop your chest as well, which will keep your physique balanced and actually aid with your Military (Overhead) Press.

For squats and bb rows, a factor that often gets overlooked is the huge amount of activation in the core that goes on - you need strong abs, spinal erectors and obliques to stabilize your torso for those movements. Keep practicing your squats with light to no weight until you have the form down perfectly, and learn the deadlift. Nothing works the core like deadlifts.