Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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After a three week break from lifting and ordering Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe (which won't arrive until August 14), I've made up my own routine that I will start tomorrow. Are there any experienced lifters out there who can provide some feedback please?

Workout A:

5x5 each of back squats, chin ups and dips (increasing load to reach 5RM in the last set)

Workout B:

5x5 each of deadlifts, push ups and overhead presses (increasing load, reps for push ups, to reach 5RM in the last set)

I prefer to work on push ups rather than bench at the moment because I'm a weak little girl who can barely do five. I would warm up and cool down with 5 minutes increasing/decreasing speed each on an elliptical. I would do A and B alternately, resting enough between each until I feel fully recovered (most likely be doing some yoga or dance in between). I'm 17, 172cm, 62kg. I eat 100% Paleo. Thanks in advance, and if anyone has reviews or thoughts on SS, that would be greatly appreciated as well.

flag	asked Jul 8 at 10:33 Fern 449●1●8

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Starting strength is great for proper form etc etc. Google Stronglifts PDF and download it, thats what you really need. Follow that up with reading the F***ckarounditis posting over on Leangains. Between those 3 resources you will be good to go for quite a while. – Bill1102inf Jul 8 at 11:44

Program looks good, just make sure you are doing correct form, as some of the exercises listed can cause injury if not executed properly. – RaiseFitness Jul 10 at 13:10

Klaud · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-08 17:14:56Z UTC

Your program looks good. The most important thing is consistency(and form, but that is a given).

As many strength coaches would say:

"Just Lift"

On a side note, no program is the holy grail. Just keep lifting with proper form until you can't increase the weight any more. Then start worrying about advanced programming.

K

PrimalAeon · Answer 2 · 2012-07-08 11:01:13Z UTC

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Check out startingstrength.wikia.com It has all the basics for the program.

answered Jul 8 at 11:01

PrimalAeon
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If you want to do starting strength, do starting strength. The programming is available from multiple sources on the internet. Complete text is invaluable for the descriptions and explanation behind every lift and more. August 14th? Did you order it from Siberia? – Mark Jul 23 at 1:33

Scriv · Answer 3 · 2012-07-08 11:19:42Z UTC

If you're doing this in a gym environment i'd look at doing the following program;

Workout A: Squat, Bench (Or Pressups until you're comfortable doing bench with just the bar), Bent Over Row.

Workout B: Squat, Overhead Press, Pullups (Or Lat Pull Down), Deadlift.

Doing 5x5 will work more muscular strength then muscular endurance so some people prefer to do 2x10 to achieve hypertrophy.

I'd do the workouts alternately and 3x per week with progressive loading (add 2.5kg to each lift everytime you hit the gym unless you stall then repeat the same weight again).

Take a look at Stronglift 5x5 by Mehdi which this program is pretty much based off. Only alteration is the Pullup/Lat pulldown as you're then working in every plane of movement.

Don't worry about doing 5x5 of deadlifts - just do warmup sets and 1x5 work set, if you feel comfortable and have good form you can also increase deadlift weight by 5kg each workout instead of 2.5kg as this lift develops pretty quickly and you will probably lift more then you expect.

Either way good luck with the program, and enjoy the SS book, its a good read.

Alec · Answer 4 · 2012-07-08 14:03:10Z UTC

Congratulations on buying Starting Strength!

I recommend spending some time on the starting strength wiki - it is a valuable adjunct to the book. I would hesitate implementing squatting and deadlifting without either proper instruction or having studied the book or Rip's videos in detail (searching Rippetoe on youtube is a good idea) and having had your form critiqued (the Rippetoe forums are a very good for this).

If you feel confident with squats and deads then I would implement the novice program as outlined in the ss wiki, replacing power cleans with pull-ups if you are not confident with them.

Good Luck!

cprio12 · Answer 5 · 2012-07-08 15:34:15Z UTC

Honestly the only thing I would change would be in your workout B add some sort of pulling exercises (barbell/dumbell rows, cable rows or any sort of row of that sort.) It's a pretty good program that will get you comfortably with basis and comfortable with free weights. The set and rep scheme is good and proven. And I would stick with both the squats and deadlifts-- both and great exercises that work the body in very different ways. When done properly they are VERy different. And I'd keep working the vertical push pull as well as horizontal because it will help with shoulder stability and help you lifting longer.

Justin · Answer 6 · 2012-07-23 02:31:11Z UTC

I'm on stronglifts 5x5. Its definitely worth it and you start with the bar on almost every exercise. IN 6 weeks weeks i've added almost 90lbs to my squat, 50lbs to my bench and countless amounts of weight to every exercise I do. Shoulder press, killing me cause of my bum shoulder.

Sam Knox · Answer 7 · 2012-07-08 14:46:10Z UTC

It's pretty well established that there's little or no benefit to more than three sets per lift:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2956949/?tool=pubmed

Also, little or no difference in strength gains between low or high reps. Pick a number that feels comfortable to you, or alternate numbers at random.

http://versita.metapress.com/content/h86m566718338834/fulltext.pdf

In my opinion, you don't need to do both squats and deadlifts. They are essentially the same movements, although for most people the deadlift is a shorter range of motion. I don't see the need to add vertical pushing/pulling movements, either. They're redundant to horizontal pushing/pulling movements, unless you're training for something that specifically requires them. Also, no real benefit to alternating exercises.

So, I guess my input is that your program seems unnecessarily complicated. One to three sets of squats or deadlifts, bench press or pushups, and upright rows or something similar, and you're good to go.

Hack my lifting plan?

7 Answers