Beginners (noobs) Questions - V.4

[Shadiata]

I never responded to this post, but I have integrated a lot of these into my workout and have had really good results.
I just wanted to make sure I thanked you.

Awesome! Glad to hear this has helped you!

 

[Preston Jarrett]

Is there such thing as specific exercises or routines having more “carry-over” to martial arts training, or is “just get fit and strong by sticking to a solid S&C routine” a more ultimately practical way to view things?

 

[vision1]

Is there such thing as specific exercises or routines having more “carry-over” to martial arts training, or is “just get fit and strong by sticking to a solid S&C routine” a more ultimately practical way to view things?

A bit of both. I'd lean more towards the former and it's dependent on the individual.

 

[Preston Jarrett]

A bit of both. I'd lean more towards the former and it's dependent on the individual.

Hey, thanks for the response. Are there any routines or staples that you (or any other experienced people here) would recommend?

 

[vision1]

Hey, thanks for the response. Are there any routines or staples that you (or any other experienced people here) would recommend?

I really know nothing about you so I wouldn't know where to start in regards to recommendations.
What's your training history?
What martial art are you training for? Are you competitive?
What other goals do you have?
What training equipment do you have at your disposal?
What's your schedule like?

 

[Preston Jarrett]

I really know nothing about you so I wouldn't know where to start in regards to recommendations.
What's your training history?
What martial art are you training for? Are you competitive?
What other goals do you have?
What training equipment do you have at your disposal?
What's your schedule like?

I’d consider myself an “intermediate” lifter, but due to COVID, I’ve only consistently started back up recently. I ran in school and am still decent.
MMA is the end goal, but I haven’t started training yet. I mostly have (though still limited) experience in BJJ.
I mostly just want an edge in strength and conditioning so when I do start up, I’m not getting as gassed and tossed around quite as much as I would be if I never did S&C. Maybe that’s kind of a moot point, but I’m not totally sure.
The gym I go to has a great assortment of equipment: barbells, dumbbells, benches, squat racks, DL platforms, cables, etc. There’s also a track nearby.
I have access to the gym and track M-F, but I have a pull-up bar, slam ball, jump rope and resistance bands at home to utilize on the weekends.

 

[vision1]

I’d consider myself an “intermediate” lifter, but due to COVID, I’ve only consistently started back up recently. I ran in school and am still decent.
MMA is the end goal, but I haven’t started training yet. I mostly have (though still limited) experience in BJJ.
I mostly just want an edge in strength and conditioning so when I do start up, I’m not getting as gassed and tossed around quite as much as I would be if I never did S&C. Maybe that’s kind of a moot point, but I’m not totally sure.
The gym I go to has a great assortment of equipment: barbells, dumbbells, benches, squat racks, DL platforms, cables, etc. There’s also a track nearby.
I have access to the gym and track M-F, but I have a pull-up bar, slam ball, jump rope and resistance bands at home to utilize on the weekends.

How old are you?
You're most likely a beginner. I consider myself intermediate and I've been training for 15+ years.
If your end goal is MMA, that's what you need to focus on. Any basic 2-3 day full body lifting program will do. And then # conditioning workouts based on your ability to recover from the MMA sessions.

 

[Preston Jarrett]

How old are you?
You're most likely a beginner. I consider myself intermediate and I've been training for 15+ years.
If your end goal is MMA, that's what you need to focus on. Any basic 2-3 day full body lifting program will do. And then # conditioning workouts based on your ability to recover from the MMA sessions.

I’m 25. I got heavy into lifting my senior year of high school, but I’ve taken a couple of extended breaks since. Maybe my definition of “intermediate” is of a lower level than some or most.

Just sucks feeling like you don’t have enough leftover funds to responsibly afford MA training, though I can’t really complain since I don’t have to pay for my (non-MA) gym membership. Perks of being affiliated with the military.

 

[DrBdan]

Hey, thanks for the response. Are there any routines or staples that you (or any other experienced people here) would recommend?

Lots of programs here (sorry link in the FAQ is broken)

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/faq-update-beginner-intermediate-routines.1210858

From that link:

Here are some signs you might be a beginner/novice...

• You've never lifted weights before (that's an easy one)
• Your previous lifting experience involved a bodybuilder-type split (back & bi's day, chest & tri's day etc) and lots of isolation exercises.
• Your previous lifting experience was all or mostly done with machines
• You can't back squat your own body weight
• You've never squatted or deadlifted because you were told they are bad for your knees/back

It's never a bad idea to run a program for a beginner. At best you will make fast progress and at worst you will make a bit of progress, stall a few times and then you know it's time for something more intermediate.

 

[Preston Jarrett]

Lots of programs here (sorry link in the FAQ is broken)

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/faq-update-beginner-intermediate-routines.1210858

From that link:

Here are some signs you might be a beginner/novice...

• You've never lifted weights before (that's an easy one)
• Your previous lifting experience involved a bodybuilder-type split (back & bi's day, chest & tri's day etc) and lots of isolation exercises.
• Your previous lifting experience was all or mostly done with machines
• You can't back squat your own body weight
• You've never squatted or deadlifted because you were told they are bad for your knees/back

It's never a bad idea to run a program for a beginner. At best you will make fast progress and at worst you will make a bit of progress, stall a few times and then you know it's time for something more intermediate.

Luckily, only #2 really applies to me, but I’ll definitely check this out. Appreciate the help.

 

[SuperLuigi]

Hey guys, been lifting for a bit over 10 years, but nothing super serious and my leg routine has always just been lunges. So recent I tried getting into squats. I was just taking things slow until I hit a wall and could re-evaluate and that time has come. About a week ago I did 240 lbs for 8 reps then 250 for 3 reps and felt totally fine. Then I waited 4 days, and when I went to squat again I warmed with 200 lbs then tried 260 and I struggled to get 3 bad reps before giving up, and I tweaked my back a bit in the process. So now Im looking to evaluate my faults. Was jumping from 200 to 260 to much? Was it just bad form(I always do it in the mirror to try to watch the form)? Am I using a bad number of reps? Or am I not recovering properly(I often dont sleep well)?

 

[ChickenBrother]

[/SIZE] I struggled to get 3 bad reps before giving up, and I tweaked my back a bit in the process.

This seems to indicate you're still ego lifting and/or have bad form. Either of which mean you should go down in weight and get your form dialed in. For squats in particular, I'd recommend a novice powerlifting program like Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5. Squats 3 x week starting light and linear progression increasing 5 lbs every session. I did that 8 years ago after 20+ years of bodybuilder style bro splits + running and it was a game changer for me. Squats will fuck you up if you don't have clean form and that's the only way to be able to safely load up the bar.

 

[SuperLuigi]

This seems to indicate you're still ego lifting and/or have bad form. Either of which mean you should go down in weight and get your form dialed in. For squats in particular, I'd recommend a novice powerlifting program like Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5. Squats 3 x week starting light and linear progression increasing 5 lbs every session. I did that 8 years ago after 20+ years of bodybuilder style bro splits + running and it was a game changer for me. Squats will fuck you up if you don't have clean form and that's the only way to be able to safely load up the bar.

Thanks for the advice. How many reps before its time to bump the 5 lbs?

 

[Volador]

Hey guys, been lifting for a bit over 10 years, but nothing super serious and my leg routine has always just been lunges. So recent I tried getting into squats. I was just taking things slow until I hit a wall and could re-evaluate and that time has come. About a week ago I did 240 lbs for 8 reps then 250 for 3 reps and felt totally fine. Then I waited 4 days, and when I went to squat again I warmed with 200 lbs then tried 260 and I struggled to get 3 bad reps before giving up, and I tweaked my back a bit in the process. So now Im looking to evaluate my faults. Was jumping from 200 to 260 to much? Was it just bad form(I always do it in the mirror to try to watch the form)? Am I using a bad number of reps? Or am I not recovering properly(I often dont sleep well)?

Hard to know what happened as it could be a variety of things. Maybe the overall fatigue was already high and that session sent you over the edge, even though there was nothing wrong with it per se. Maybe you're trying to PR every session but shouldn't. Maybe it was some other thing, sometimes tweaks happen. Had you ever touched 260 before? If not, it would probably make sense to go for 255 before 260.

And I would say a 20%+ offset for your last warmup is probably a bit too far from the top set, unless you're very familiar with your working weight. You could add another warmup that is somewhere around 10% off from your top set to get a better feel for what's realistic for that day. If you notice that you tend to overestimate your abilities, then going as close as 5% or less could help.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Thanks for the advice. How many reps before its time to bump the 5 lbs?

On the novice powerlifter programs, you go up 5 lbs every session on every lift, with 3 lifting sessions/week. But you intentionally start very light so the weight feels easy and you can focus on ingraining proper form. On squats, make sure to go to depth and do not cheat. The reps will feel easy for the first few weeks, but your body is building work capacity and learning proper form. By the time the weight starts feeling somewhat heavy, your form will be good and you will still be able to linearly progress for awhile before plateauing.

https://stronglifts.com/5x5/

I started this program as a 165 lbs natty 40 year old and it worked very well. You have to fight the urge to add more weight just because you think you can. Just follow the program. It recommends starting with just the empty bar (probably best practice for untrained people) but I think I started with 135 lbs on all lifts (felt very easy). Squats didn't really start feeling heavy until I got to around 5 x 5 at 235 lbs and I switched to 3 x 5 around there. But I was still able to linearly progress up to 3 x 5 at 295 lbs before switching to Mad Cow as an intermediate program and got some slower incremental gains before realizing I couldn't maintain them if I still wanted to train BJJ 3 x week. I probably should have switched to an intermediate program earlier but a lot of folks seem to think that squatting around 300 lbs for reps (assuming you're around average size) is the tail end of your linear noob gains if not earlier.

 

[Walker147]

Hi guys & girls

recently got back into boxing (no interest in fighting) staying in shape purposes and trying to include some strength workouts at the same time. I’m a little unsure on what’s too much, what’s not enough. My goals are mainly aesthetically nothing too intense on either gym or boxing just a healthy mix

recently I’ve been doing
Monday - Calisthenics 5 Sets to Failure
Muscle Ups
Press Ups
Squats (weighted to around 15-20 reps)
Pull Ups
Dips
Tuesday - Boxing Club
Normally involves conditioning, burpees, core workouts, pad and heavy bag, occasional sparring

Thursday - Strength 5 x 5
Deadlifts
Squats
Bench Press
Rows

Friday or Saturday - Boxing
6 Rounds on the heavy bag with a core workout at the end

enough sets to be making any strength and aesthetical gains? Ideally I don’t or can’t train much more than that, with 2 kids and the wife nagging at me

thanks for any advice, 1 more calisthenics or boxing based workout at home I can achieve if need be

 

[ASUThermo]

Hi guys & girls

recently got back into boxing (no interest in fighting) staying in shape purposes and trying to include some strength workouts at the same time. I’m a little unsure on what’s too much, what’s not enough. My goals are mainly aesthetically nothing too intense on either gym or boxing just a healthy mix

recently I’ve been doing
Monday - Calisthenics 5 Sets to Failure
Muscle Ups
Press Ups
Squats (weighted to around 15-20 reps)
Pull Ups
Dips
Tuesday - Boxing Club
Normally involves conditioning, burpees, core workouts, pad and heavy bag, occasional sparring

Thursday - Strength 5 x 5
Deadlifts
Squats
Bench Press
Rows

Friday or Saturday - Boxing
6 Rounds on the heavy bag with a core workout at the end

enough sets to be making any strength and aesthetical gains? Ideally I don’t or can’t train much more than that, with 2 kids and the wife nagging at me

thanks for any advice, 1 more calisthenics or boxing based workout at home I can achieve if need be

Seems like a solid weekly plan based on your goals.

 

[Walker147]

Thank you for your response.
Aim is more astheically, but athletically built of such rather than bodybuilding style. Huge respect for those that do mind just haven’t got that commitment.

Is 10-12 sets per week enough to make progression is muscle density, strength etc?

if increase to 6 sets per exercise on the callisthenic days is that too much for one workout!

 

[vision1]

Is 10-12 sets per week enough to make progression is muscle density, strength etc?

if increase to 6 sets per exercise on the callisthenic days is that too much for one workout!

It's called trial and error.
Enjoy the process.

 

[Walker147]

Thank you and as straight forward as that response is, it probably says everything, how about adding in a few sets of power cleans somewhere? Maybe after warming up on boxing days? Are the going to add anything or maybe alternate them with deadlifts?