Complete and utter noob. Please read before you lock.

[RJ Powell**]

A short introduction:
OK, heres the deal. I am a hobby fighter(boxing, muay thai, a little no-gi), i train everyday just for the love of the sport. I am on a maintenance type diet and i want to shift alot of my training focus on gaining strength. I am just lost about where to start, it is such a broad topic. And i read the FAQ and stickies, it still seems like it is geared towards "seasoned" lifters, not complete noobs. I just want a well-rounded, full bodied beginners routine i can constantly build on.
-I extracted the major questions and put them on the bottom for the guys that don't care to hear my noobish rambling.

First of all, i have never lifted weights(consistently) in my whole life. Nor have i ever performed a squat, deadlift, or benchpress(well, i benched a little on the football team)
I am aiming to shed some fat later in the year(25%bf right now), and i have been reading some books on it, with really good information on diet & nutrition, but when i get to the Strength training section, it is geared more towards bodybuilding.

Basically a whole bunch of machine and isolation movements, with brief passing mention of the real good exercises. Given, the books i am reading are geared more towards the average joe or jane.

So what i am getting at is, is there a reason for these body-part splits and several sets with 10-15 reps. Do these have any particular advantage when it comes to lowering my bodyfat percentage? Or are old fashioned DLs, and Squats just as good for my purposes?

here are my goals:

-Get stronger in general

-Look ripped (not in an obsessive bodybuilder sense, i'm not too hung up on looking pumped/tanned, or being super symmetrical, i just want a low BF%, who doesn't want that?)

-Increase my performance on the mat, basically brute strength
------------------
umm....ok fuck this, i'll just get straight to the point

Questions:

Is there anything magical about bodypart splits and "pump" reps, compared to the big 3 and low reps when it comes to shedding bodyfat, increasing vascularity, and raising ****bolism?

I don't wanna get slow, but i have been thinking about it and i realize that i will only get slow if i train slow. Like those real slow muscle contracting movements (concentration curls,lol..), so i am pretty convinced that i should lift explosively more than anything, am i on the right track here?

I do some form a conditioning/calisthenics everyday (pushups, BW squats, bridging) in fairly high reps, can i still continue with this provided that i vary the intensity/reps high/low everyday?

I know you guys don't like bodypart splits in general, but i was thinking of doing an upperbody/lowerbody(alternating) split 3x a week, both sections get done 3x every two weeks. Sound alright to start with?

What is your opinion on doing pullups and dips with weights attached to a weightbelt? Will it build pretty good overall upper body strength? I was also thinking of supplementing this with Overhead presses and Snatches?

*and for lower body, i was just thinking Deads, Squats, Lunges(to a lesser extent) some low-impact Romanian deadlifts
*I will train my grip/neck strength everyday, with levering/bridging and a whole crapload of grip/wrist torture exercises.
*abs will be trained everyday with traditional. sometimes weighted floor exercises. in high reps. For the purposes of my sport

Are there any decent Isolation or machine exercises i can throw in? I know bicep curls make you guys cringe, but i'm sure there has to be some use in stuff like bicep curls and certain pulley movements.

Finally, reps and sets, from what i see, you guys advocate 5x5 sets, but what do you think about warmup sets of 10/12 reps, then going straight for the jugular with the 5x5 etc? I just dont wanna injure my noobtastic body.

thanks alot guys, all of you input is well appreciated and will be looked into with the utmost amount of salt grains.

-RJ

 

[ChaseT.]

You should read statisticool's log.

 

[RJ Powell**]

Thanks man, i shall give it a look-see.

EDIT: i just read it and.......for some reason i am turned off by it, i don't think we have the same goals, i'll keep reading it though, thanks.

 

[Cap'n]

You should read statisticool's log.

That was rather mild. Tired tonight?

To the TS. To reach your goals, eat better, do the routine in the FAQ to a T.

Read the FAQs in the training forums. All of your questions are pretty much answered in them.

Bodypart splits = bad

5x5 can be done by increasing the weight each time to a max set of 5. So the 4x5 before that are warmup sets. But you should have already done a general warmup before anyways.

 

[Cap'n]

Thanks man, i shall give it a look-see.

EDIT: i just read it and.......for some reason i am turned off by it, i don't think we have the same goals, i'll keep reading it though, thanks.

P.S.

He's fucking with you

 

[Deleted member 130905]

Everything is well sorted out, and you're definitely in the right area. This is what it comes down to..

-Use the 5x5 from the FAQ to start off. It's a great beginner program.
-Post videos so every one can check your form so you don't hurt yourself.
-After a few weeks on the 5x5, you could add in complexes which are good for fat loss. Also, do sprints on days you don't lift if you're not too sore.
-Weighted chins and dips are great exercises.
-Lift with low reps and compound movements for strength gains.
-Certain isolation movements are good, but should never be a staple of your diet, more something you do towards the end of it.

 

[RJ Powell**]

I read the FAQ, but i saw no routine, perhaps i am going blind.

So as far as cutting bodyfat, does it matter whether you do a bodybuilding style routine or a powerlifting type? Because i want to train for real strength as well as lose some fat.

 

[Cap'n]

I read the FAQ, but i saw no routine, perhaps i am going blind.

So as far as cutting bodyfat, does it matter whether you do a bodybuilding style routine or a powerlifting type? Because i want to train for real strength as well as lose some fat.

Heavy lifting + proper diet + conditioning = awesomeness.

 

[RJ Powell**]

Dude, fennway, you are the man. Thanks for the help. How could i have missed that routine in the FAQ? I swear i am going fucking blind, too much jacking off.

thanks bro.

 

[Cap'n]

I read the FAQ, but i saw no routine, perhaps i am going blind.

So as far as cutting bodyfat, does it matter whether you do a bodybuilding style routine or a powerlifting type? Because i want to train for real strength as well as lose some fat.

Q: What kind of routine should I follow?

A: There are many routines that can help you develop strength, here are a few of the ones that are commonly used by our members:

Three day Pull/Press/Squat split:

Day one: Deadlifts
Deadlifts 5X5
One or two deadlift assistance exercises
Upper body pull exercise (eg. BORs or pullups)

Day Two: Bench
Bench Press 5X5
One or two bench press assistance lifts

Day Three: Squats
Squats 5X5
Front Squats 3-4X6
Whatever ham/lowback/quad assistance you

 

[RJ Powell**]

Heavy lifting + proper diet + conditioning = awesomeness.

OK! yeah i figured, it is just that these fitness magazines i see never talk about deadlifts and squats and manly stuff like that.

So it really made me question myself. Common sense would say that strength training is strength training, when it comes to fat loss at least. IDK, it just seems the compound exercises are so short, and my noob mind makes me think that it burns less fat, i was wrong. Tthanks for the help.

 

[ChaseT.]

That was rather mild. Tired tonight?

Occasionally, I like to be subtle.

 

[finnegan]

Okay, I'm going to bite the bullet and tell you to do a 5 x 5 to get a good base of strength, but once you've done that a couple times (say, 12 weeks) to get more mass and shed fat, go for a 4 sets of 8 reps routine with at least one explosive lift per session, two times a week, and two days of interval/ GPP conditioning per week as well. DO NOT cheat on the 8 reps part. If you can do more than 10 reps on your first set, you are wrong.
Eat clean, but eat a ton.
Fish Oil
Creatine.
Lots and Lots of water.
Good luck.

 

[Cap'n]

Okay, I'm going to bite the bullet and tell you to do a 5 x 5 to get a good base of strength, but once you've done that a couple times (say, 12 weeks) to get more mass and shed fat, go for a 4 sets of 8 reps routine with at least one explosive lift per session, two times a week, and two days of interval/ GPP conditioning per week as well. DO NOT cheat on the 8 reps part. If you can do more than 10 reps on your first set, you are wrong.
Eat clean, but eat a ton.
Fish Oil
Creatine.
Lots and Lots of water.
Good luck.

Don't listen to this guy. Not like he can fight or deadlift 600lbs or anything.

 

[ChaseT.]

P.S.

He's fucking with you

Dude!

 

[RJ Powell**]

Q: What kind of routine should I follow?

A: There are many routines that can help you develop strength, here are a few of the ones that are commonly used by our members:

Three day Pull/Press/Squat split:

Day one: Deadlifts
Deadlifts 5X5
One or two deadlift assistance exercises
Upper body pull exercise (eg. BORs or pullups)

Day Two: Bench
Bench Press 5X5
One or two bench press assistance lifts

Day Three: Squats
Squats 5X5
Front Squats 3-4X6
Whatever ham/lowback/quad assistance you

 

[RJ Powell**]

Okay, I'm going to bite the bullet and tell you to do a 5 x 5 to get a good base of strength, but once you've done that a couple times (say, 12 weeks) to get more mass and shed fat, go for a 4 sets of 8 reps routine with at least one explosive lift per session, two times a week, and two days of interval/ GPP conditioning per week as well. DO NOT cheat on the 8 reps part. If you can do more than 10 reps on your first set, you are wrong.
Eat clean, but eat a ton.
Fish Oil
Creatine.
Lots and Lots of water.
Good luck.

Hey finnegan, i saw your pic in Bas' thread. You are a MONSTER MAN! I bet you could crush my puny wrists into dust. I don't recall you explaining how you achieved such a big weightloss though. But it was really inspiring.

Thanks for the advice, i really appreciate all your guyses supports.

 

[Cap'n]

this FAQ routine isn't really fancy, but i bet it gets the job done in half the time.
.

Why get fancy when the basics still work the best?

Chase:

 

[mschatz]

Im glad you guys are being nice to RJ. He makes good posts in the lands outside of SnP

 

[Cap'n]

Im glad you guys are being nice to RJ. He makes good posts in the lands outside of SnP

He asked intelligent questions. That's all it takes.

Oh, and Chase is in a lethargic mood.