Adam's
Squat Until You Drop
This workout was the result of approximately 8 years of disappointment which led me to discover a routine that finally worked for me. It worked for me, but, don't try this at home...unless of course you want to :)
My most productive and favorite routine is a much-altered version of the beginner's workout in Arnold's Encyclopedia. In the past I'd always felt far too exhausted on such long 'volume' routines and frequently changed the program after only a week or so. A friend of mine who had been rather successful in altering his physique challenged my lack of enthusiasm for that kind of routine by saying quite simply 'Stop trying too hard, going so fast and stop using so much weight!'
Rather reluctantly at first I decided to give it another try. With a few modifications I found a compromise, separated the routine as a 4-way split including ...
1.Legs
2.Chest
3.Back
4.Shoulders
... performed as full workouts for individual bodyparts. Looking back at my training diary, it seems I averaged 4 workouts per week, but there was no pattern to to the actual days I trained. I simply started on workout 1 and as soon as I felt like training again, I did workout 2 and so on.
The routine itself was as follows:
Legs
Squats - 5 sets of 15,10,8,6,10
Stiff legged deadlift - 4 sets of 10-12
Leg curls - 4 sets of 10-12
Standing calf raises - 4 sets of 12-15
Chest
Flat barbell bench press - 5 sets of 1 warm-up then 4 of 10-12
Incline barbell bench press - 4 sets of 10-12
Bent arm dumbbell pullovers - 3 sets of 15
Back
Close grip, palms facing together pull-ups - 5 sets 8-12
Bent over rows - 4 sets 10
Standard Deadlifts - 3 sets 10, 8, 6
Shoulders
Clean & Press - 4 sets of 10
Lateral raises - 4 sets of 6
Push-presses - 4 sets of 6
Upright rows - 4 sets of 12
I began the routine with almost ridiculously light weights, adding just a few of pounds when I could. It took my squat from 100-240, bench from 80-200 and deadlift from 150-360. I tried linking deep breathing with most of the 'big' movements and went to failure on 50% of all sets, the others I just stopped short.
That's it, literally. I didn't train abs directly as I always got a massive ab-ache from sit-ups. My cardio was 3-4 thirty minute sessions of stationary bike or (I'd rather not explain too much on this one) Swordfighting!? (Subsitute any mid-high intensity normal aerobics.)
As well as approx 3 litres of water daily, my diet was as follows (quantities varied over the year period). Timing also changed frequently but you get the picture...
07:30 Oatmeal & Juice
10:00 shake
12:00 Tuna, pasta and glass of milk
15:00 Meat, fish or cheese sandwiches, apple & non-fat yogurt
17:30 fruit and extra water
18:00 workout
19:30 shake
20:30 chicken, pasta and mixed salad
22:30 shake
The shakes contained the following (here's where I hear the oohs and aahs) 3/4 pint of whole milk, a teaspoon of lecithin, 2 raw eggs, 1 banana, 2 serving spoons of skimmed milk powder and approx 1/4 cup of whipping cream.
The only supplements I took during this period was a multi-vitamin and a 1000mg vitamin C after hard days.
As a result I went from about 130 to 170 in a year (I'm just under 5ft 8in). Yes I put about an inch on my waist (who knows what happened to my arteries) but the rest I could flex. The most interesting thing I recall was the fact that for the first 3 months I made no visible progress, but when the weights got heavy again I ballooned and grew from workout to workout.
I regularly had 8-10 hours sleep, and had 1 day a week when I ate whatever I wanted (add to that most Friday night meals too, I had a pizza weakness).
Lastly, looking back in my training diary, I trained my arms just twice that year (there were about 10 one-off workouts, on days I just wasn't feeling like my regular workout) and they grew 2 inches.
In conclusion
Squat till you drop, eat when you're down there and sleep when you're full.....oh yeah and stop training your arms :)
Adam