[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by eliosgator

Very organized and tough program. I am sure that you will gain more than 10-lbs of muscle.
Are you currently lifting the weights that you posted, or that's your target at the end of the bulking cycle? And how are you planning to increase your lifting weights?
Good luck with the new program Chico!!!

Elie....those are my target weights....hopefully I will achieve those weights in the next 10-12 months......Concerning to your question about increasing my lifts I basically use a progression method (5x5program). In the method that I am using you basically increase the weight by 5-10 lbs every other week....in other words you load one week and de-load in the next one. See example below:

Week 1: 100 lbs
Week 2: 110 lbs
Week 3: 100 lbs
Week 4: 110 lbs
Week 5: 120 lbs
Week 6: 110 lbs
Week 7: 120 lbs
Week 8: 130 lbs
Repeat

It is important to de-load so your muscles and tendons get used to the new weight......if you try to do it in linear fashion you will stagnate or injure your self.

[ZachNasty]

Hey Fmoncas, do you just use that 5*5 programs for your incline barbell press, then go own to the rest of your trainig a different way....Like upper chest is my weak point in my chest so is that something that I could use to increase muscle size and strength, and then go on to flat press and use say a rep range of 6-10 and then do 2 isolation exercises and use a rep range of 15-100....I just always felt that tricking your muscles and experminenting new things is the way to go....Thanks for your help man..I read alot of your great information and it insipres me that if you work hard and have a great mind for the sport, you can do whatever you like naaturally....thanks again

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by ZachNasty

Hey Fmoncas, do you just use that 5*5 programs for your incline barbell press, then go own to the rest of your trainig a different way....Like upper chest is my weak point in my chest so is that something that I could use to increase muscle size and strength, and then go on to flat press and use say a rep range of 6-10 and then do 2 isolation exercises and use a rep range of 15-100....I just always felt that tricking your muscles and experminenting new things is the way to go....Thanks for your help man..I read alot of your great information and it insipres me that if you work hard and have a great mind for the sport, you can do whatever you like naaturally....thanks again

Yes bro!! Exactly!! I basically pick-up 3 or 4 compound movements .... one for every major muscle group (chest, Legs, back and/or shoulders) those will be my main lifts and I will focus on increasing gradually my weights in those exercises. (Using the 5x5 program) then I pick up 2 or 3 auxiliary exercises for every muscle group. With the aux exercises I try also to increase the weight every time and change ...rep ranges, intensity, and the exercises it self so my body never get used to the same thing.

I hope this helps

Take care,

Francisco

[ZachNasty]

Ok I think i understand it...let me try to lay it out if you dont mind.

Say for chest i pick incline and use the 5*5 program
then next i do flat for 3-4 sets increaing weight and reps to shock the muscles. Then ill do maybe a fly for reps in 15-100 range to also make them muscles think...Is this sort of what your talking about.

Or could I maybe use something like this.

Incline Barbell Chest- 5*5 using that reload comcept.
Flat Barbell Chest- 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps
Chest Dumbell Sqeeze Press- 3-4 sets of 15-100
Then to finish maybe a crossover or flye with sets of 3-4 and reps of 15-100.

How does this sound. I will also incorporate the same concept for each other bodypart. I just got really interested in the way you explain things and this sounds like a great way to make your muscles think.

[ZachNasty]

Ok one last thing to that training idea...When i would train arms and calves, am I looking to stick with about 2-3 aux exercies or should I add 1 sets of something that is in the 6-10 rep range. Say todays is chest day and i am using that 5*5 program and im going to use 225 for 5 for the first set. Am I going to use that same weight for the next 4 times???Im sorry for making it sound all confusing. I am just trying to learn..Thanks bro

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by ZachNasty

Ok I think i understand it...let me try to lay it out if you dont mind.

Say for chest i pick incline and use the 5*5 program
then next i do flat for 3-4 sets increaing weight and reps to shock the muscles. Then ill do maybe a fly for reps in 15-100 range to also make them muscles think...Is this sort of what your talking about.

Or could I maybe use something like this.

Incline Barbell Chest- 5*5 using that reload comcept.
Flat Barbell Chest- 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps
Chest Dumbell Sqeeze Press- 3-4 sets of 15-100
Then to finish maybe a crossover or flye with sets of 3-4 and reps of 15-100.

How does this sound. I will also incorporate the same concept for each other bodypart. I just got really interested in the way you explain things and this sounds like a great way to make your muscles think.

Both options are ok as long as you keep progressing in the main exercise. Lets say you pick incline bench for your chest as your main exercise and complete the 5 sets of 5 reps...then you just need to pick up 3 more auxiliary exercises and...... with those exercises you can:

1.Use the same exercises every week but gradually increase or change (in every session) the Reps, Weight, Grip, Tempo, etc. in order to challenge your body or....

2.You can use different exercises every time...but always record your max weights for that day so you never repeat the same exercise with the same weight.

Finally the important part is to keep progressing in the main compound exercise........For me this main exercise is the core of the whole concept....it will make you gain strength and size however on the other side the body gets used to it pretty fast....and this is where the auxiliary exercises comes in to play....they will make sure to shock your muscles with new things every time!

Hope this helps bro

Take care

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by ZachNasty

Ok one last thing to that training idea...When i would train arms and calves, am I looking to stick with about 2-3 aux exercies or should I add 1 sets of something that is in the 6-10 rep range. Say todays is chest day and i am using that 5*5 program and im going to use 225 for 5 for the first set. Am I going to use that same weight for the next 4 times???Im sorry for making it sound all confusing. I am just trying to learn..Thanks bro

No problem bro!!

Concerning to the first question...you can train arms and calves with your chest, back or legs at the end of your workout (maybe 2 exe x 3 sets ).......i don’t usually use the 5x5 program with small muscles because I don’t think is necessary....i like to focus in increasing just my main lifts.....i believe that if you have a 300lbs bech and 300 lbs barbell row.....your arms will be pretty strong to handle that weight.....what I am trying to say is that your arms will get stronger and bigger as a result of the heavy benching and rowing. What I do after i finish my chest workout is I include 2-3 exercises for tris and I use regular progression just to finish my workout......However if your arms and calves are week points I would recommend an specialization program...and that’s a whole new story.

On the other hand I would not recommend to use the same weight in all 5 sets......because after a few months when you bench is up (lets say 275 lbs) will be very dangerous to jump up and start doing them from the beginning of your workout.....you need to warm up your muscles and tendons first.....so increase your weight gradually until you reach your target weight. Also you will feel easy the first few sets but its normal just focus on feeling and contract the muscles........what really matter is to be consistent workout after workout.

Also every other week you have to de-load....basically you don’t maintain or increase your weights....you just go back to your previous weight....this is to make sure your body have the time to adapt to the new loads.....if you try to add weight every single week you will be looking for problems!!

See below this example: Lets say you have a max incline bench of 275.

[ZachNasty]

Are all compound 5*5 lifts done with full range of motion and total muscle contraction....?

[ZachNasty]

Thanks for all the help

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by ZachNasty

Are all compound 5*5 lifts done with full range of motion and total muscle contraction....?

yes!!!

[fmoncas]

Originally Posted by ZachNasty

Thanks for all the help

No problem!!! Any time bro!! and good luck