I know this is a controversial topic but this needs to be said. No disrespect to actual powerlifters - you guys are pimp as hell. This is for the beginners who were told to do Starting Strength + GOMAD.
Stop powerlifting
Be honest with yourself. Picking up weights is often part of a general trend of self-improvement. Your mind doesn't like the idea that you're improving yourself - it implies your current self isn't up to par. This is why you rationalize going to the gym in other ways than wanting to better your looks. "I don't care about having big muscles, I just like lifting weights". "Fuck these bros doing brosplits, I just want to squat heavy". "I think I might go to a PL event". If you had to pick between increasing your squat by 100kg and gaining 12lbs of muscle, what would you pick?
Don't listen to the broscience. The myth that training your entire body releases hormones which stimulate growth everywhere has been debunked. Squatting heavy won't make your biceps grow.
Look at the weekly volume in SS. Legs: 70. Shoulders: 22. Chest: 22. Upper back: 22. Does this seem aligned with your goals?
Instead
Equal pushing (bench + press), pulling (pull-up + row), and legs volume. Aim for ~60-120 (lyle mcd's rec) per week for each. Upper / lower 4 days a week, full / body, push pull legs, it doesn't really matter, do what's most convenient for your schedule, just don't push, pull, or legs two days in a row.
Consider adding isos for bis, shoulders, and chest (curls, face pulls + lat raises, flies), because push exercises are tricep dominant, and pull exercises are back dominant.
Consider leg exercises that are more aligned with general balanced strength and physique than powerlifting (front squat + RDL emphasize anterior and posterior chain respectively, ie they will get you abs and glutes, whereas the powerlifts are all posterior chain heavy). Do you have anterior pelvic tilt from the strong lower back and weak abs you get doing low-bar squat-mornings three times a week? Switching to front squats will fix this.
Keep the good parts of beginner PL programs: heavy strength work and consistent progression with a fixed scheme rather than playing it by ear.
Don't make all your work sets of 5 or you will burn out and spend ages having to rest. Do some heavy strength work first, and follow it up with higher rep sets for volume. Base the weights for all your sets off percentages of your 1RM, and have a progression scheme for your 1RM (weekly, biweekly, every workout, whatever floats your boat / matches your experience level).
Cutting
Cutting forces you to actually pay attention to what you eat rather than just eating a shitton under the excuse that you're 'bulking'. If you start by successfully getting lean, you will have reached a point where fitness is part of your lifestyle and you have the discipline to stick to it.
Cutting to low body fat makes your face and body look better. Gaining muscle mass when you're not lean doesn't make you look much better until you cut later on.
Low body fat makes it easier to gain mass, and it makes your gains more apparent, which is important for motivation.
After a cut you are ready to slow bulk. Your body shape won't change drastically, you will always be pretty low bf% with an added pound every month or two. This is useful if you like having clothes that fit.
Hope this helps. I wish someone had told me this when I started.
EDIT: stop with the 'SS' or 'shitty program where you won't make any gains' dichotomy.
Mon press 3x5 @ 85% bench 3x8 @ 70% front squat 3x5 @ 85% sldl 3x8 @ 70% face pull 2x10 lat raise 2x10 Wed sldl 3x5 @ 85% front squat 3x8 @ 70% row 3x5 @ 85% pull-up 3x8 @ 70% curls 4x8 Thur bench 3x5 @ 85% press 3x8 @ 70% pull-up 3x5 @ 85% row 3x8 @ 70% chest fly 4x10 curls 4x8
Each day two movements out of three (push, pull, and legs), balanced volume, still heavy strength work, same amount of compounds to learn as SS + curls, flies, lat raises, and face pulls, similar length workouts as 3x8 sets don't require much rest, increase 1RMs weekly and deload when you stall. That wasn't too hard was it?
Maybe I wasn't very clear, I'm not advocating:
cutting when you're already low body fat
not doing heavy compounds
starting with a 5-day split
everyone just wants beach muscles
I'm saying, if you're a beginner:
seriously consider what your goals are, and if you want to look good:
have low body fat before you start bulking
do a full-body program like SS but without the focus on powerlifts (lots of lower body, no upper back)
submitted by sortbytopffs to Fitness
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