Bodybuilding Forums

I've been going to the gym for a while but certainly consider myself a beginner as I never followed a strict, structured program such as Mark's. I remember reading Mark said he works out at home. For those who go to a gym with all the machines imaginable as well as free weights, have you altered the exercises in Mark's plan at all?

Let all the guys throw their weight around the machines, while you stick to the real iron!!! Good old barbell & dumbbell work its best and proven. Leg press machine is good if you have back trouble but is not better then barbell squats also standing calve raise machines are great to blast you calfs.I do like using the cable crunch for abs but weighted decline crunches is just as good one big mistake with cable and decline crunches is the movement people let their hips do most of the work by crunching to quickly and passing the point when you feel the actual muscle crunch avoid this and you be ok. Marks routines are great and there is no reason to change much, I dont do chest flys I just pick another chest exercise like weighted dips, if you try to keep to the routine for the 10 weeks you will make gains that's for sure. Good luck with training.

The weight-stack machines are fairly useless for the purposes you are looking for, free weights are the best way to go. There are some useful bits of kit knocking around most gyms though and these are:

T-bar rower: if you can't make the base-weight for barbell rows then this is the next best thing, but is no replacement for barbell rows. The only problem with the real thing is that to rack up the barbell you immediately need to be able to pull 40kg (i.e. 2 x 10kg plates as a minimum, plus the bar). So if you can't do 40kg with good form you could start using this machine (though it has less range of motion), but as soon as you can do barbell rows switch to them.

Hyperextension bench: I absolutely LOVE hyperextensions, they really blast your spinal erectors. I do 3 sets as a warm-up on my back day.

Smith machine: it's a machine at the end of the day even though you load on 'real' plates, so no replacement for barbell or dumbell bench presses but if you don't have someone to spot for you they are a good alternative. I've had excellent results from smith bench presses in the past.

The leg press is my friend at the moment. I got a spine injury almost a year ago and so couldn't do squats. These got my legs working without putting too much weight on my back so were fantastic. But don't be fooled by the amount of weight you can press: it's artificially high. At the moment for example I can press nearly double what I can squat. But now I'm getting back into the squats because quite simply, they rule: 3 sets of squats, 4 sets leg press, 2-3 sets calf raise (I use the sitting calf raise machine for this- personally speaking I don't know of a free-weight based exercise specifically for calves that allows me to push decent weights so this is my best option)

Then you have the various pulleys: tricep pulldowns, cable rows, lat pull downs - all decent exercises, but deadlifts, pull-ups and barbell rows (for back) and skull crushers (triceps) are IMHO better exercises - it's a personal choice in many cases though.

The machines to completely avoid are:
- Bench press machines (in any of it's forms: sitting, lying, incline, etc)
- Dip machine (IMO the biggest waste of time of them all)
- Assisted pull-ups (ask someone to hold your legs whilst you do the real thing instead)
- Pec deck (puts your shoulders and back at weird angles, plus I have NEVER been able to shift decent weight with them vs. dumbell flyes)
- Preacher curl machine (it seems to work my shoulders, not my biceps!)
- There was a weird crunch-machine in my old gym which always seemed to have a queue for it, which was great because it left the decline sit up bench free

Leave the machines,go to the squat rack!!!

It's the first thing I do when I go to the gym. To spot the rack so no one can take it from me hehe

Anyway richard has covered my 100%.

Thanks for the insight! I can do the the bent-over barbell rows with decent weight on the bar so I will stick with that. I am a little uneasy about doing squats and holding the barbell on my back like that; don't have a good upper back to begin with, bad posture from working too much on the computer, so I will stick to the leg press.
Not sure what the hyperextension bench even is?
I know what the smith machine is, but understand that it doesn't involve all the stabilizer muscles you need to keep the weight balanced. I was able to do 12 reps with the barbell and two of the big plates (so I think that is a decent start for someone who has always done chest machines?)

If they are 45's, then yes it is a decent start to free weight bench press...

mrmike wrote:I know what the smith machine is, but understand that it doesn't involve all the stabilizer muscles you need to keep the weight balanced.

The best exercise to do on a smith machine is to stand next to the smith machine, run 300 yards away from it, and run 300 yards back. Or you can use it to do towel hangs. That's the exercise where you fold your towel in half and then drape it over the bar. The Highland athletes I know also like to add in one more exercise using the smith machine. The smith machine press. I don't think I could do that one for reps.

And I just have to add this for some comic relief. It truly is a thing of beauty. http://drsquat.com/content/gospel-squat ... mptuouscom

mrmike wrote:Thanks for the insight! I can do the the bent-over barbell rows with decent weight on the bar so I will stick with that. I am a little uneasy about doing squats and holding the barbell on my back like that; don't have a good upper back to begin with, bad posture from working too much on the computer, so I will stick to the leg press.
Not sure what the hyperextension bench even is?
I know what the smith machine is, but understand that it doesn't involve all the stabilizer muscles you need to keep the weight balanced. I was able to do 12 reps with the barbell and two of the big plates (so I think that is a decent start for someone who has always done chest machines?)

For squats, start with the empty bar and gradually work up, adding 5kg a week. It's mostly the legs doing the work, don't worry about your upper back for now. Everyone starts the same way; you will soon be working with bigger weights (+15kg extra per month assuming you are able to keep on adding 5kg). Plus you'll get to perfect the technique as you go - check out Mark Rippetoe's videos on YouTube if you want a good squat technique, highly recommended.

Do a YouTube search for hyperextensions and you'll see which one it is. Start without any additional weight, the motion must be under complete control.

And sounds like you're off to a good start on the bench press so keep doing it - definitely keep a log of your results though so you know you're progressing. You will develop much better with log.

I watched a bunch of videos on youtube for the straight leg deadlift and squats too. Then I went in the bathroom to watch myself mimic the movement. The Rippetoe videos were very helpful in showing me how to do the movement; got that one down I think. With the SLDL, what happens if you're not flexible enough?? I notice when I try to bend at the waist, my back curves/humps instead of staying straight. If I try to force my back to stay straight, it hurts my hamstrings which I'm guessing means I'm not flexible enough to do the exercise?

And why is a SLDL for you hamstrings but a regular deadlift is for your back? When I look at the demo of a regular deadlift, it looks like the legs are used a lot more? (talking about the link from the PDF file)
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Ere ... dlift.html

Also, is it acceptable to switch days 1 and 5? I would rather do legs on day 5 because that's Friday and the gym is less crowded on Friday night, easier access to that area where you do the squats and deadlifts.

Mark's Original:
Day 1 Legs (Including Calves)
Day 2 Chest & Triceps
Day 3 Shoulders & Traps
Day 4 Biceps & Forearms
Day 5 Back & Abs

My Modified:
Day 1 Back & Abs
Day 2 Chest & Triceps
Day 3 Shoulders & Traps
Day 4 Biceps & Forearms
Day 5 Legs (Including Calves)

Only other question: In the PDF it shows:
(1) Barbell Row
(2) Barbell Row
(3) Barbell Row
(4) Deadlift
(5) Deadlift
(6) Deadlift

This means 3 sets of Barbell Row and 3 sets of Deadlift, correct?

Good work doing the research on form it makes a MASSIVE difference to results. Keep watching those squat videos, the technique is deceptively easy to get wrong or to introduce a new mistake once the weight gets stacked on the barbell, for example are your knees coming over your toes, are your knees stable, are you moving from the hips first and not the knees? Easy done when the bar gets heavy I can tell you because I catch myself doing those things occasionally despite best efforts at concentration! Good luck with that though- well worth the investment in research.

I don't do SLDLs (yet), don;'t know on that score. And yes, that's 3 sets barbell rows followed by 3 sets of deadlifts.

In terms of mixing the order of the workouts (and indeed sets, for that matter) I'd say be cautious. They have been designed like that for a reason, taking into account primary and secondary muscle groups and making sure you've got enough rest and recovery in between. Also if you're following MArk's carb-restricted diet then I'd be careful doing a major muscle group like legs without having a whole load of fresh carbs in your system. I will admit now I'm not a low carber, so might be shot down for my ignorance (!) but personally the leg and back work I do is without doubt the most physically challenging work I can imagine, and I wouldn't want to be doing it without the right energy. But there will be plenty of people out there who manage it just fine, so you can always experiment and see how you feel. But do watch out for overtraining, it will screw you up if you ignore it.