Routine Question

[Off Road]

Originally Posted by Max

I don't have any sturdy chairs and the ones I do have aren't high enough to keep my knees from hitting the ground. And the nearest park or school is 5 miles away and it's 10 degrees outside.

The chairs do not have to be THAT sturdy, I've used folding chairs before with no issues. You use the backs of the chairs, not the seats; so banging your knees is not an issue unless you are around 7 feet tall.

I've rigged up all kinds of chin-up bars in my time. But I'm sure your school has chin-up bars, you do go to school don't you? Otherwise I've built some out of wood or ran a pipe over some chain and attached it to rafters. The only thing limiting you is your imagination and determination.

[BendtheBar]

I've used two folding chairs for dips. I place the seats towards me and put my feet on the floor in front of me. Works pretty good.

[MikeM]

Originally Posted by Max

Im considering the W/O below, but I dont want to squat heavy 3x a week and I dont have any small plates, so my progression will have to come in the form of more sets or reps. I was wondering if I can just add the power cleans to workout B, if not would it be ok to sub Incline DB OR Bench press for the squats?


Workout A
◦ 3×5 Squat
◦ 3×5 Bench Press
◦ 1×5 Deadlift
◦ *2×5-8 Dips

Workout B
◦ 3×5 Squat
◦ 3×5 Standing Military Press
◦ 3×5 Bent Rows or Power Cleans
◦ *3×8 Chin-ups

Leaving aside the dip and chinup engineering questions, You can certainly tweak any program to do the things you want to do. SS is three times a week, so I'm assuming you're going ABA, then BAB? But, you want to drop a squat session (subbing more pressing for squats is not really a good idea unless your goal is bench pressing as opposed to over all strength), or do you just want to drop a heavy squat session? and add more power cleans, twice a week or just every week as opposed to alternating with rows?

A lot of assumptions, but would this work for you?
A:
3x 5 Squat
3x 5 Bench Press
3x 5 Rows
1x5 Deadlift

B:
3x 5 Squat to 75-85%
3x 5 OHP
3x 5 Power cleans
3x 8 Lat pulldowns, or BB Pullovers, or even more BB Rows, if you have no lat machine or chinup bar

Also, you can add small weights by hanging jugs of water (gallon is 7 pounds) or various other things, hang chairs, or a concrete block (about 28 pounds btw), etc. to the ends of your barbell. Find a way though, because I don't think you're going to find jumps from 135 to 205, or from 205 to 275, etc. to be all that easy regardless of reps and whatnot.

That work for you? Anything can be tweaked, just hit the major compounds and do the things you like to do so that it's fun, but also find some balance so you're doing as much pushing as pulling. And squats are huge for overall strength, so might as well get stuck into them now as they will be coming down the pike anyway the further you go on your iron journey.

Hope that helps!

[Max]

Hey thanks Mike that looks good, my concern was wear and tear on the knees and whether or not to include rows or power cleans with bench, but you summed it up,thanks!

[MVP]

I guess I'll be the odd man out here and have to disagree with most of you guys (respectfully).

While Rippetoe does not push the chinups into a staple (just like rows) I think if you are pushing in the vertical plane you should also pull in the vertical plane.

Imbalances in the shoulder (overactive chest, weak upper back) like internal rotation of the humerus, protracted shoulders, etc. all occur when emphasis is put on the pushing muscles, shoulder protractors and internal rotators while neglecting the antagonists.

The early stages of training like the beginning of linear progressive resistance training this balanced training is crucial to later on being victim to these imbalances.

How are the scapula retractors effectively stimulated during the routine without horizontal and vertical pulling? How are the external rotators? How are the lats stimulated directly. I think whenever there is a push there should be a pull to balance it in the same plane of motion.

We all know that retracting the scapula, externally rotating the humerus, and keeping the elbows tucked during a bench press is a recipe for maintenance of healthy shoulders; this is a principle that should be pushed more in that routine.

If you protract, you retract - balanced.
If you upwardly rotate, you downwardly rotate - balanced.

While you will most likely never maintain perfect alignment in the joints as a weightlifter, you can go to any extremes to minimize the injuries and I don't think starting strength as a routine itself takes these precautions.

If you cannot find access to a pullup station, then pulldowns could be a temporary replacement. If there's availability to pulldowns, IronGym pullup bars are very cheap and convenient. If that's out of the question, then incorporate rows at a higher frequency, but I hate to disagree here, but I feel rows and pullups both need to be mandatory if benches and overhead presses are.

A lot of assumptions, but would this work for you?
A:
3x 5 Squat
3x 5 Bench Press
3x 5 Rows
1x5 Deadlift

B:
3x 5 Squat to 75-85%
3x 5 OHP
3x 5 Power cleans
3x 8 Lat pulldowns, or BB Pullovers, or even more BB Rows, if you have no lat machine or chinup bar

This version of the routine is much greater than the routine focusing only on pulling vertically from the ground, pushing infront and upward, and squatting. This is a lot better balanced IMO. I would go with this version.

[Max]

Thanks MVP, very informated and it makes a lot of sense!

[MVP]

In regards to performing dips, I have a suggestion. I used to use my counter top as a way of doing dips. If you go into your kitchen and you have a place where your kitchen counter is going to make an L shape, use the corner of this to do your dips.