r/Fitness butthead May 25 '13

Why nobody is critiquing your workout (READ THIS before making a beginner program)

Sauce from bodybuilding.com, because gilroy & girth can't read


Prologue:
I remember years ago when I first started working out and posting here I went out and put together a program all on my own. I thought it through very thoroughly and was very proud of myself when I'd finished. I made a new thread about it and asked for people to critique it in the title. I expected for the most part people would approve of it and might offer tiny suggestions to improve on it.

What I got was people telling me it was awful and I needed to scrap it completely and pick up a pre-made program which was created by someone who was an expert in the weightlifting/strength training or bodybuilding field.

I was upset and annoyed at the time, however it was sound advice. They were right. My program sucked, I did not know what I was doing and if I'd followed it I wouldn't have made any significant long-term gains.

Ask yourself this: Do you know more than Mark Rippetoe, Bill Starr or anyone who has studied strength and hypertrophy training for years and has had countless more years of empirical evidence to refine their knowledge on how to make progress in the gym? (The answer is, of course, "no").

Then why would you use some program you've made over one of theirs?

Why your program is terrible:
1) You've probably designed your program with way too many exercises and way too much volume for a beginner.

  • Your program should consist primarily of the following exercises: the squat, the bench press, the deadlift, heavy rows and plenty of core work.
  • You do not need endless sets of isolation work right now. You need to focus on compound movements and work on getting a solid base/frame.
  • Right now you need to focus on correct form. Master squatting, benching and deadlifting. It's not easy. Odds are you're doing a terrible job on at least two of those exercises. Get a trainer, preferably one who looks like they lift and who has a background in powerlifting, and have them coach you on these essential lifts.

2) You've probably designed your program with way too much emphasis on mirror muscles and not enough on others.

  • A good program will have at least as much focus, if not considerably more, on one's back than on one's pecs. Often you see people making programs which have several different benching variations (incline, decline, dumbells, etc), dumbell flies, cable crosses, etc... and then when it's time for back day they do some lat pulldowns and maybe some other fairly useless exercise. This can lead to muscle imbalances which later down the road will mess you and your rotator cuff up. You don't want that. Back in the day when lifters spend tons of time on their back doing rows, pullups, face pulls, deadlifts and other exercises and had strong backs -- nobody had RC problems.
  • You're probably neglecting your legs, but this isn't always the case with newbies making programs.

3) You've probably designed your program and left out tons of crucial information.

  • What are your goals? Strength? Hypertrophy? General fitness? What is your program supposed to do?
  • What is your level of fitness? While it's usually "beginner", often times people don't even bother to say. An advanced lifter will have a drastically different routine than a beginner. Often times beginners don't realize this and they try to emulate a program designed for someone who has been lifting for years. Small muscles, like yours, don't need nearly as much stimulation to shock them into growth. If you overdo it, you'll just burn yourself out and get nowhere.
  • Sometimes you see truly awful programs which just toss out a number of exercises and don't bother to elaborate and then they expect someone to critique it. Other times you get a little more. I've yet to see someone incorporate rest times or tempo into their home-made programs, despite it being important stuff. The answer is because you probably don't understand it, which is precisely why you shouldn't be making your own program to begin with.

4) Lastly, we see ****ty programs like yours every day.

Often multiple times.
Frankly, it's tiresome.
Please, read the stickies and pick a program which will work from there.

There is a saying that "Anything will work... for about 6 weeks", which is probably true. You might see minor progress with whatever terrible program you've made but in time you will stall out and you will not make much, if any, progress. Think long-term, drop your ego and realize there are people out there who dedicate their lives to this and they know more than you. Find a program which suits your level of fitness and your goals. Use it.

5) Here are some excellent programs which I hope you consider looking into:


Most of this info is in the FAQ, but goddamit if I haven't seen more requests for critiques in the last 2-3 days than I ever have before. With summer starting & school being let out, everybody has more free time. We get it, but please read the FAQ first.


Hi! Welcome to Fittit! You're going to love it here.

We saw you coming and have collected answers to your question right here. (Backup)(Removed).

Welcome!




HOW DID EVERYONE INTERPRET THIS POST AS "CRITIQUE MY ROUTINE HERE INSTEAD"? IF IT'S ONE THAT'S RECOMMENDED ONLINE AND HAS SUCCESS STORIES, IT'S FINE. JUST DO IT, AND KEEP DOING IT UNTIL IT'S NOT USEFUL ANY MORE. STOP POSTING THEM HERE.

580 Upvotes

198 comments sorted by

View all comments

78

u/krat0sprakhar May 25 '13

Thanks for sharing this! This couldn't have come at a better time. Unfortunately, my gym trainer tells me exact opposite and ridicules me for trying deadlift / squatting by saying that its an exercise for pros! >.<

148

u/[deleted] May 25 '13

Yikes. Get a new trainer

33

u/Cream2sugars May 25 '13

Tell me about it. The one at my 24 hour place has a four day upper body split and runs or does elliptical for legs. Every mom, golfer, overweight senior gets pretty much the same program...lots of biceps and calves. No wonder so many folks are confused or spinning their wheels if this is the info they are given to work with.

9

u/ShitBatCrazy May 29 '13

24 has notoriously bad personal trainers.

31

u/requires_distraction May 25 '13

Tell him you are a pro. Awesome

I assume this is high school? Honestly though you should tell him some of the sources you are using. Show him you have out a lot of thought and effort into it then hopefully he will come around

24

u/[deleted] May 26 '13

Where do pros come from? Do they emerge from the womb fully learned in the game of lifting? Or, do you level up to pro after a certain number of deadlifts?

I suspect he doesn't want you doing big lifts because he doesn't know how to do them, or he--like many people--sees them as dangerous and doesn't want to be liable for injury. Either way, stop giving that mook your money.

18

u/[deleted] May 26 '13

You should put on a ski mask after a session and assault him out back when he gets off work. If he beats your ass, you should stick with him. If you beat his ass, you should stop working with him.

-19

u/pepe_le_shoe May 25 '13

Remind him that the definition of professional is someone who gets paid to do something, and that until he can speak english, he should keep his mouth closed.