Note: If you're scared to even step foot in the gym, check out our Beginner's Guide to the Gym to feel confident from your first gym tour to
your first barbell squat!
I still remember when I was 13 and doing
my first barbell squat.
Not exact matches
The
first activity is actually a superset of a couple of exercises — breathing deep
squats, followed by a pullover with a
barbell or dumbbell.
When it comes to lifting, the
first thing you need to focus on is basic compound movements using
barbells like the bench and overhead press,
squats, and deadlifts, with dips and pull - ups being exceptions to this rule.
To start you can just do the
first activity — 20 rep
squats immediately followed by dummbell or
barbell pullovers.
We can safely assume that the
barbell hip thrust is not the
first thing that comes to your mind when you think about glute training — instead, you envision
barbell deadlifts,
squats, kickbacks and lunges, right?
Think Compound
first (e.g
Squats,
Barbell bench, Rows etc) then Isolation (Leg curls, Bicep curls)
The
first time I saw someone [front
squat](https://bretcontreras.com/how-to-front-
squat/), I thought they were trying to strangle themselves with a
barbell, while breaking both wrists.
Correspondingly, the five phases that can be described between these positions are as follows: (1) the
first pull happens between the ground and when the bar reaches knee level and is initiated by knee and hip extension; (2) the transition happens when the
barbell is between knee level and the power position and involves a shift in the position of the body relative to the
barbell, which involves a brief period of knee flexion and is therefore referred to as the double knee bend (Enoka, 1979; 1988); (3) the second pull is the most powerful phase of the lift and occurs while the
barbell is between the power position and the lifter is in triple extension; (4) turnover occurs as the lifter quickly drops down under the bar from the triple extension position to the catch position, in a deep front
squat; (5) recovery into the standing position occurs as the lifter stands from the catch position to upright.
However, the focus of the workouts was still multi-joint compound exercises
first (such as
squats, bench, lat pulls,
barbell rows, dumbbell rows, etc), but in higher rep, high volume fashion.
Very heavy weight low rep training for max strength — This type of training was the
first 30 minutes of each workout during the low carb phase and included mostly heavy deadlifts,
barbell squats, weighted pullups, and bench press.
It was fun at
first, doing all these new powerful movements, the likes of
barbell squats, deadlifts, bench presses and rows.
It is beneficial to
first master the plyometric
squat with no weight added to the
barbell and then move on to using a
barbell.
Just like with lifting weights, the more you
squat, bench press or deadlift, the better you become with the movement to a point where you don't need to think about it as much as you did when you
first picked up a
barbell.
Holding and balancing the
barbell on your shoulders is challenging and once you start doing Front
Squats the
first few times it leads to a lot of discomforts.
FIRST incline press using thick bar 1 x 8 - 10 incline dumbbell flye 1 x 15 - 20 incline press using thick bar 1 x 8 - 10 dumbbell bench press 1 x 8 - 10 flat bench dumbbell flye 1 x 15 - 20 dumbbell bench press 1 x 8 - 10 front pulldown or chin 1 x 8 - 10 stiff - arm pulldown 1 x 15 - 20 front pulldown or chin 1 x 8 - 10 one dumbbell pullover drop set of 3 x 8 close - grip bench press 1 x 8 - 10 pushdown with rope handle 1 x 15 - 20 close - grip bench press 1 x 8 - 10 seated overhead (one - arm) extension drop set 3 x 8 incline or hanging kneeups 1 x 8 - 10 ab - bench crunch 1 x 15 - 20 incline or hanging kneeups 1 x 8 - 10 SECOND [2] dumbbell upright row 1 x 8 - 10 standing forward - lean lateral raise 1 x 15 - 20 [2] dumbbell upright row 1 x 8 - 10 dumbbell (two - arm) press drop set 3 x 8 incline one - arm dumbbell lateral 1 x 8 bent - over dumbbell lateral drop set 3 x 8 dumbbell (two - arm) row on high bench 1 x 8 - 10 seated bent - arm bent - over dumbbell lateral 1 x 15 - 20 dumbbell (two - arm) row on high bench 1 x 8 - 10 one - arm dumbbell row 1 x 8 - 10
barbell shrug [wrist straps or hooks are fine] 1 x 15 - 20 standing dumbbell curl w arm - blaster 1 x 8 - 10 spider curl with E-Z curl bar 1 x 15 - 20 cable curl with straight bar 1 x 8 - 10 incline (two - arm) curl drop set 3 x 8 incline (two - arm) hammer curl drop set 3 x 8 rotator cuff with ShoulderHorn and dumbbells 1 x 8 - 10 hang from chinning bar'til failure THIRD front
squat 1 x 6 - 8 leg extension 1 x 15 - 20 front
squat 1 x 6 - 8 sissy
squat 1 x 8 - 10 supine leg curl 1 x 15 - 20 leg press on angled leg press 1 x 8 - 10 stiff - legged deadlift 1 x 8 - 10 immediately followed by back extension 1 x 30 - 50 (no weight) 5 minute rest leg press calf raise 1 x 20 leg press calf raise 1 x 15 standing calf raise 1 x 12 - 15 seated calf raise 1 x 12 - 15 D.A.R.D raise 1 x 8 - 10 4 - way neck work with towel — 1 15 - second rep for each of the 4 ways TIPS for using this program in your weight lifting routines: