Rippetoe's Starting Strength

Its been a couple years since you tried maintaining a healthy life style. Along the road some where a wrench was thrown between your wheels that halted progression. You managed to scramble upon a million diets and programs but failed continuously. Your not quiet ready to give it a shot again and wondering what crazy genius approach i am about to present. They say honesty will honestly go a long way so iam not going to preach to you unnecessary amounts of information. There are two main focuses needed in developing a body you want. The first is the weightlifting/cardio program [which later on most will realize is the easy part] and  the most important aspect of training is to maintain a diet.

I will discuss the foremost important aspect which is developing a routine that is right for you.

Starting Strength Approach.

Starting strength revolves around the idea of developing solid power before progressing to the muscular development of the body. It is developed by Mark Rippetoe who is a very knowledgeable person in terms of strength conditioning.  I recommend Starting strength to any one i know who is beginning his journey in weightlifting as it establishes a solid foundation. Nearly three years later i still revert back to some of the things i had learned while doing mark Rippetoes Starting strength program. I had developed most of my strength and foundation from the first year that i had followed his approach.

How a person would make transition from SS to a typical Bodybuilding routine is quite easy. During starting strength a person is able to lift heavier weights at shorter repetitions 4 -6 rep ranges while in a body building routine it is usually in the 8 - 12 rep ranges. The transition would include dropping the weight and pumping out more reps from the developed strength from your SS routine.

Pros: 
-Develops  Strength in order to later excel in muscular development. 
-Easy program to follow.
-Easy diet to maintain while on the program. Most SS diets include large amounts of calories to provide the body with sufficient nutrients to promote development.
- Hitting big numbers rapidly.


Cons:
- Appearance results are very minimal causing lack of motivation and interest in
- Is basically an investment into your future with minimal results during the process.


Is Starting Strength Right for you ?

• The Newbie. If you're a complete beginner (or recently started), then this program is right for you. It doesn’t matter if you're an aspiring bodybuilder or don't care about being strong. You still need a base of strength and technique to get huge.
• The Weakling. Do you consider yourself to be beyond the beginner weight training level, but just can't seem to gain much strength? If yes, then this program can definitely help jumpstart your strength gains and catch you up to where you should be, relative to how long you have been training.
• The Frustrated Bodybuilder. Are you disappointed with a lack of results from "bodybuilding" routines? If so, then this program can get you out of the slump and on your way to XXL t-shirts. The typical bodybuilding routines work for the guys who look like what you want to look like. They can only do so much for less advanced lifters.
• The Machinist. Have you been in the gym for a while, but never really focused on the major compound exercises? If you've been doing a lot of machine/nautilus exercises or isolation movements, then you're limiting your potential. Starting Strength will help you gain dense muscle and functional strength.
• The Comeback Kid. Are you a seasoned vet who's coming back from an extended break? Whatever your reasons for taking a layoff from pumping iron (injury, midlife crisis, baby mama issues, etc.), Starting Strength is a safe and effective workout routine for getting back to your previous glory.

The Schedule

In the Starting Strength routine, there are two workout schedules to follow, and I have listed them below. You will pretty much alternate workouts every other day. Take a look at the schedule below to get an understanding of what to do when:

• Monday: Workout A
• Wednesday: Workout B
• Friday: Workout A

The following week, your schedule will look like this:

• Monday: Workout B
• Wednesday: Workout A
• Friday: Workout B

As you can see, we are alternating workouts every other training day. Now, you don’t have to train only on Monday/Wednesday/Friday; you can, for example, train Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday instead. The key thing to remember here is that you should train 3 times a week non-consecutively as to let your body recover for a full day after your training day. After one week of training is over, you take two days off and then start the next week of training.

If you’re new to weight lifting, stick to this workout routine and don’t change anything. Training more often per week does not mean more results (in fact, you can hinder your progress if you over-train).

The Exercises / Lifts

Here’s a list of the exercises associated for every workout along with their appropriate Sets and Repetitions. These exercises are placed in order, so always follow them accordingly and never do one before the other just because you feel like it or else you will be ruining the whole point of this routine. The numbers next to the exercises are Sets X Reps. If you don’t know any of these exercises or how to execute them properly, look into getting a copy of the book for your own sake.

Workout A

• Squats: 3 x 5
• Bench Press: 3 x 5
• Deadlift: 1 x 5
• Dips (weighted): 2 x 5-8

Workout B

• Squats: 3 x 5
• Press: 3 x 5
• Power Clean: 3 x 5
• Chin-ups: 3 x 8

  More information can be found on http://startingstrength.com/

  As mentioned it is also well advised to purchase the book

  Which has allot of important information.

Starting strenght isnt right for you ?

        4 day bodybuilding split.

This is the split i generally follow my self and recommend for the more experience lifters or for those who want to get down to business.

The four day split is split amongst four days concentrating on alternating muscles. The logic behind a 4 day split is to be able to fully hit a certain muscle group and also have time to recover before working the same muscle again. When a muscle is constantly being put to use the body is unable to rebuild the muscle fibers and allow full growth. Splits that follow a full body routine usually hit the same muscle group over and over damaging the muscle tissue but not allowing them to repair, recover and grow. 

Pros: 

-Change in appearance is noticeable through out the routine.

-More variety in exercises compared to Starting Strength.

- Over all a more motivating and interesting routine.

Cons:

- Even though changes are apparent they are not drastic as if one was to have strength developed and switch over to a bodybuilding split.

-While developing muscle you are also developing strength and this process can take a long time to reach desired results.

- More complicating routine.

-Diet is more complicating as most body builders try to maintain a lean physique while clean bulking.

The routine

Monday: Chest

Bench press: 4 sets of 10

Dumbbell Press: 4 sets of 10

Dumbbell Flys: 4 sets of 10

Body dips: 4 sets of 10.

Tricep extensions: 4 sets of 10

Tuesday: Back

Wide grip Pull Ups: 4 sets of 10.

Lat pull down: 4 sets of 10

Bent over rows: 4 sets of 10

Deadlifts: 4 sets of 10

Preacher Curls: 4 sets of 10.

Wednesday: Off or Cardio.

Thursday: Shoulders.

Military presses: 4 sets of 10

Front raises: 4 sets of 10

Side raises: 4 sets of 10

Shrugs: 4 sets of 10.

Friday: Legs

Squats: 4 sets of 10

Leg press: 4 sets of 20

Lunges: 4 sets of 12.

Leg extensions: 4 sets of 12.

This is what a typical 4 day split would look like. Obviously you can substitute some exercises such as dumbbell flys for cable cross overs. While switching all these exercises around its a must to keep the 3 compound exercises in place. The 3 most important compound exercises are Bench press, Squat, Dead lift. Military presses do not receive significant credit as the big three but Military presses are very important in order to develop shoulders.

These are the two recommended beginning routines that i would recommend. Starting with these and in the years tweaking to your own preference would be the perfect choice ! If you have any questions feel free to message me and i will try my best to help you. Let me know what you think of this post !

                  To be continued...
                     "the Diet"