GordyR's Beginners Guide to Bodybuilding

hello

A trainer in the gym gave me the following routine as oppose to my 4 day split (chest/tri, back/bi, legs, shoulders). I know some people say trainers talk rubbish, but this guy is pretty big?!

Day 1

Squat 4 x 6
Flat Bench 4 x 6
Decline bench 4 x 6
Incline bench 4 x 6
Close bench 3 x 8
Push down 3 x 12

Day 2

Deadlift 4 x 6
BOR 4 x 6
V Grip pulldowns 4 x 8
Wide Grip 4 x 8
Seated Row 4 x 8
Shrugs 4 x 8

Day 3
Squat 4 x 12
Leg Press 4 x 8
Military Press 4 x 6
DB SH Press 4 x 8
DB Lat Raise 3 x 12
Cable FR Raise 3 x 12

It just seems a lot of reps and stuff saying i am a relative beginner and quite small?! What do you guys think? Oh and i could put the legs on a different day if i could go 4 times....
 
Ultra_Extreme said:
dont discourage him, 4x12 is MAN squatting! I LIKE!
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Surely that depends what you are lifting though? 4x12 at or around your maximum lifts is going to be a major major struggle whereas if you are pyramiding up to that then it isn't quite so bad e.g 50%, 70%, 85% and 90% say for the 4x12. Just bearing in mind that going to failure every single time is very draining and possibly counter-productive.

richard104, Killa_Ken might point you in the direction of his suggested routine for beginners which is a 4 day routine as outlined here. I don't know if that would suit you better but it is worth a look certainly.
 
semi-pro waster said:
Surely that depends what you are lifting though? 4x12 at or around your maximum lifts is going to be a major major struggle whereas if you are pyramiding up to that then it isn't quite so bad e.g 50%, 70%, 85% and 90% say for the 4x12. Just bearing in mind that going to failure every single time is very draining and possibly counter-productive.
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obviously, but does that mean that its no different to 3x5 near maximum? The point of 12x4 is the high VOLUME not the INTENSITY. It is not the same to do 12 reps at 80% max as 4 reps at 80% max (max for rep count not 1rm) 4x12 will always leave you hobbling, thats MAN squatting!

(Truth is its a major psychological commitment to do 4x12 squats cos no matter what weight your using it will suck HARD!)
 
You know more than me, I'm just offering my amateurs opinion that to begin with you are better going with a target that isn't too far out of reach and consistently achieving it before progressing than something that would be ideal but more difficult and might lead to failure.

Maybe that's why I don't take training as seriously as some other people do or maybe that is down to the rest of my life. :)
 
there is no right or wrong m8, but 4x12 squatting will sort the men from the boys though make no mistake. What iim saying directly to you is that there is no reason, no matter how weak you are, that you CANT do 4x12 squats (im assuming everyone relevent could do 4x12 squats without a bar?) so its just a question of weight. 4x12 is achievable by anyone but it will suck whatever your capacity.

I will do 90kg for 4x12 and want to vomit, another guy will do 40k and feel as bad another will do 200k and feel just as bad. However i will do 110kg for 4 and feel strained but ok. Those others might do 70 and 300 respectivley.

My point is all weight training is relative and whether you do 4/8/12/15 reps if you using the correct weight the effect should be the same or similar whatever your strength. Plus the squat and the deadlift especially suck after 6 reps, more than say bench press, due to their compound nature and the sheer workload the legs can handle. So in essence to do 4x12 is always man squatting no matter what the weight or ability level. Its a great frame of mind to have to plan and train without fearing exercises. I know when i write a high volume program for myself i always hesitate to prescribe as many squats as other exercises just because i know i can do it but i know it will make me wanna cry!
 
It could be a bit better tbh. legs are all about quads. personally i would like to see some ham work done and some calf.

BOR - go a bit lighter and up the reps imo.

cable FR raises - cable front raises? if so, why? you have more than enough front delt work already (especially with so many pressing moves on a chest day).
no rear delt work.

As you are just starting out, it might be an idea to start doing some cable adductions and abductions, trust me, you will love me for this recommendation, well actually hopefully you wont, hopefully you wont need to find out why this is a good idea hehe.


Semi-pro : the 4x12 is just as hard as a 1rm in terms of intensity. thats what doing different types of reps is all about. be it 1rm, 3x10, 10x3, 5x5 or whatever, the key isnt the weight its the intensity. of course, with the lower rep ranges you lose out in terms of time under tension.
 
Thanks for all your inputs, i think squatting that much will do me good and will get my metabolism going well (which it needs) as long as i adjust the weight accordingly..

I suppose day 3 is a bit silly

Squat 4 x 12
Leg Press 4 x 8
Military Press 4 x 6
DB SH Press 4 x 8
DB Lat Raise 3 x 12
Cable FR Raise 3 x 12

Better like this?

Squat 4 x 12
SLDL 4 x 8
Military Press 4 x 6
DB SH Press 4 x 8
DB Lat Raise 3 x 12
Cable adductions and abductions 3 x 12?

Will have to mix some calves in somewhere too. I have to go to work so can't say much more. Thanks again. Rich
 
Morba said:
Semi-pro : the 4x12 is just as hard as a 1rm in terms of intensity. thats what doing different types of reps is all about. be it 1rm, 3x10, 10x3, 5x5 or whatever, the key isnt the weight its the intensity. of course, with the lower rep ranges you lose out in terms of time under tension.
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I see now thanks, and apologies to Ultra, I was being especially dense last night so for some reason that just wasn't sinking in. :)
 
Alright, so I should just do 3x8 of the maximum weight I can manage, until I can do more and then increase the weight? I was just checking because I read about some sort of bodyweight:weights ratio that you're supposed to follow...
 
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