Thread: Full Body Program For A Friend

Originally Posted by Gazhole

So yes, a friend has asked me "get me in shape, Gaz." because im obviously qualified for that. I think not.

Following Cowpimp's full body article i came up with this for him. Bearing in mind he's a 98% newbie at this, since he occaisionally does cardio/and casual lifting, but never before has he tried a consistant program.

Im not quite sure, i think it looks "okay", but obviously a stamp of approval would be nice. Any suggestions, just fire away.


DAY 1

Back Squats
OH Press
Reverse Flys
Farmers Walks
Skullcrushers
Shrugs


DAY 2

SLDL
Bench Press
Chin Ups
Crunches
Calve Raise
BB Curl


Mon = 12-14 Reps @ 1:00 RI x 4 Sets
Wed = 8-10 Reps @ 1:30 RI x 4 Sets
Fri = 16-18 Reps @ 0:30 RI x 3 Sets


Week A = Day 1, Day 2, Day 1
Week B = Day 2, Day 1, Day 2


This does bare some resemblance to the program P-Funk came up with for me, and why not.

His goals are pretty much just general fitness, and some added mass. His goal to lose some fat i know is all diet, and ive told him to get that into shape with some success, but soon he'll be starting to work out (needs to buy equipment...).

I was thinking of replacing crunches with Good Mornings, and reverse flys with DB Bench row or something. Other than that...

Opinions?

Cheers all.

Does he not have access to a gym??

I just notice you have a grip of somewhat isolation work for a full body routine. I would try to do as many compound lifts as you can...centering your workout around them...making isolation and accessory work last/optional..

whats - Farmers Walks

never heard of it ?

Originally Posted by PWGriffin

Does he not have access to a gym??

I just notice you have a grip of somewhat isolation work for a full body routine. I would try to do as many compound lifts as you can...centering your workout around them...making isolation and accessory work last/optional..

The gyms around here have no/little freeweights equipment. True story. Theres like five of them aswell. Sigh!

As for the isolation, i hear what youre saying. I thought id put in a lil bit more than that. Its weird making up a program for somebody else, because i know what my body responds to, but obviously have no idea about his.

Cheers for the feedback!

Replace the reverse flyes with some type of compound pulling movement, like you said. You have him doing chins, bench, OH press, have him doing barbell rows or dumbell rows.

I would get some kind of row in there. I really like bent rows, but a lot of people have a hard time performing them properly. Seated cable rows are awesome if you have access to that equipment. Dumbbell rows of various kinds are also great.

You don't have to drop an exercise to stick these in, but if you were to drop one I would pick either crunches or calf raises. If you do that though, separate the rows and chinups so they are not performed on the same day.

Also, regarding the set/rep paramters, they look fine, but I would just stick to a number instead of a range.

Such as:
15 reps @ 30sec RI
12 reps @ 60sec RI
8 reps @ 90sec RI

Using a range will mean tempting him to goto failure all the time. This way he will either have to underestimate and stop a little short of failure, or reduce weights to keep to the same number of repetitions.

Pretty good though, really.

Kcoleman:

Yeah, i thought thatd be the best course of action. After all, im starting him off on a full body to get him well conditioned, so the other exercises can come in when he's a little more into it.


Cowpimp:

I think ill put the bent rows in there, ive always had pretty good results with those, as long as he can get the form right it should work out okay.

Ill post a second draft of the program after this one and see how it looks. Im interested to see how he handles a 30sec RI though. I found them really gruelling. He's just gonna love me.

Also, how do you "measure" farmers walks? By the time youre walking, or by steps or something else?

Cheers guys! Feedback is most appreciated.

And the result...


DAY 1

Back Squats
Bent Over Rows
OH Press
DB Bench Rows
Skullcrushers
Shrugs


DAY 2

SLDL
Bench Press
Chin Ups
Farmers Walks
Calve Raise
BB Curl


Mon = 12 Reps @ 1:00 RI x 4 Sets
Wed = 8 Reps @ 1:30 RI x 4 Sets
Fri = 16 Reps @ 0:30 RI x 3 Sets


Week A = Day 1, Day 2, Day 1
Week B = Day 2, Day 1, Day 2



Is it okay that there seems to be way more pulling than pushing? Maybe ill add another push movement to each...though that might me a little too much.

I think you have enough pushing. Overhead press and Bench press are the main pressing movements so don't worry. I would consider adgusting your rep range a bit differently.

5-6 reps/ 4 working sets 90 seconds RI (heavy)
8-10 reps/ 4 working sets 45 seconds RI (medium)
12-15 reps/ 2 working sets 30 seconds RI (light)

I would do farmers with both (medium) and (heavy) weights. Done with medium weight he can focus on technique and endurence. With heavier weight he can work on building up his core strength.
Some people like to pace back and forth with their farmers, other people walk in circles. Both are fine. The main thing is to maintain good posture and form and not to drop the DB's on your foot.

The only problem with the reps going that low is that he's a beginner. Needs to develop good motor patterns etc.

Depending on his progress maybe in a few months ill try him on slightly heavier weights and lower rep ranges, but since he isnt really interested in strength at all, and only moderately interested in size, i dont see much point in using rep ranges that are too low.

If it were for me, then yeah id do those rep ranges, maybe even lower reps i should imagine .

Ill leave the pushing as it is. I suppose theres a lot of lower body pushing as well as those two critical upper push exercises.

How do you measure farmers walk? What constitutes a rep? Its a movement ive never done, but am considering for myself as well as my friend.

Just mark a starting point and an ending point. I find it's best to do them outside on a field. I set up two pylons 50 yards apart walk to one end then back without dropping the weights, that's one set. Start with 3 sets and increase to 4 sets, after that move the weight up. You can use buckets of sand to start with I have two old school handles that slip over a long bar, but DB work well too. Some days I wrap a small cloth around the handles to increase the grip width to make it harder.

Just add a press in day 2 and you are good

I would probably just do 3 sets on the 12 rep day, but that looks fine.

I think more pulling than pushing is desireable. I've never heard of any problems related to doing some extra work for your scapular stabilizer muscles, but plenty from the reverse.

Any reason you took out the direct rear delt work in favor of two row variations? Not that there is anything wrong with that necessarily, but I definitely like to see some isolated rear delt work in most programs I make.

Bakerboy:

Ah right, i see. It seems like the forearms will most definitely be burning by the end of all the sets. Cheers for clearing that up! Gotta work these into my program somewhere aswell.


Mike:

Ill add in some push ups or even dips possibly...push ups has always been one of my personal favourite exercises. I think ill put that on day 2, and put crunches on day 1 as an accessory movement.


CP:

Reverse flys you mean? I suppose i could put them back in where DB bench rows are. I personally prefer the flys to the rows. I guess since theres already a rowing movement in there i should do that. Well spotted!

Gotta try check every muscle off the list :P.

***

And now, the glory of draft 3:


DAY 1

Back Squats
Bent Over Rows
OH Press
Reverse Flys
Skullcrushers
Shrugs
Crunches

DAY 2

SLDL
Bench Press
Chin Ups
Push Ups
Farmers Walks
Calve Raise
BB Curl

Mon = 12 Reps @ 1:00 RI x 3 Sets
Wed = 8 Reps @ 1:30 RI x 4 Sets
Fri = 16 Reps @ 0:30 RI x 3 Sets

Week A = Day 1, Day 2, Day 1
Week B = Day 2, Day 1, Day 2


Looking good methinks. Cheers, gentlemen!

I would drop the pushups.

Why?

Not trying to be annoying, just genuinely want to know!

Why ditch the pushups? Because they are redundant. You are already doing a similar movement that works a lot of the same muscles (bench press). Unless you have a particular reason for doing them (sometimes I warm up or end with a set of max pushups) then you don't really need them.

Ah yes. Good point. I just like push ups!

Ill ditch them and see what happens.

Cheers dudes.

Yeah, what Baker said. It would serve as a great warmup before bench pressing though. I use variations of the pushup as a warmup for my shoulder stabilizers anyway.