A blog dedicated to weight lifting, power lifting, strong man training, and strength training in general. Nothing burns calories and builds muscle like getting off your ass and picking up some heavy shit.
People are always complaining about squatting/deadlifting because they "don't want to hurt their back" or pretend to already have some sort of back problems. The truth is, you're being a little bitch. Harsh, but its probably true. Squats and deadlifts are 2 of the best exercises, if not the best, for you to do (and if I had to choose 2 excercises to do for the rest of my life, it'd be these two). There literally is no reason not to do these.
I'll start with deadlifts since everyone seems to hate these. The thing that hurts me the most is people saying that "deadlifts are great if you don't want to walk when you're 30".
Now that I made you look weaker than this 75 year old grandma, we can throw away that preconceived notion that deadlifts are bad for your back. In fact, with proper form, they strengthen your lower back and teach you the proper way to pick shit up for the rest of your life, helping you prevent back strain and all that jazz. You get great forearm work (so you can stop doing forearm curls like a 14 year old pretty boy) and also hit your hamstrings hard, which is great if you're an athlete and do any type of running (which is most athletes). It even gives you monster traps, so you look like a badass and can scare little punks. I mean EXRX has a list of all the muscle groups it hits, so I don't really want to go into detail, but I mean damn, passing up this lift is like giving up the opportunity to build a solid foundation.
Squats aren't bad on your back either, so don't even go there.
61 year old squatting 105kg/231Lbs. Squats hit your quads better than the leg press ever will. Hell, when I was maxing out at 2 plates/225lbs, I was leg pressing over 800lbs. Squats, when done properly, hit your quads, back, hamstrings, quads, abs, spine, and quads. Did I say quads? They're even going to give your arms a little bit of work when you go up in weight and start having to stabilize the iron on your back from killing someone in the room. They burn more calories than cardio too. Squats are the end-all exercise, except if you preform them first, they fire up every muscle in your body and get your core running so you can put muscle on faster. Squats are the king of exercises because they're easy and efficient. Also, for the ladies, they help you build a nicer butt, and contrary to belief, squatting heavy won't make you look like one of those female bodybuilders. They've been abusing steroids their entire lives to look like that.
Simply put, if you aren't squatting and deadlifting, you aren't strong. You might have huge arms and a great chest, but I could lay your ass out any day of the week. You can bench 400lbs with your big, strong, chest, but I can pick that shit up over my head and hit it into the floor with the power of a thousand suns. Your call - only the strong survive.
Now that there's an attractive girl in the picture, we can get going. A question I get asked a lot (outside of "how much do you eat?" and "can we have sex?") is what 'exercise program' or 'routine' I use. I almost always point the person towards StrongLifts 5x5, not only because its simple but because its proven. It keeps people adding weight on the bar, and while I disagree with the diet, it's probably the best foundation for a beginner or even a seasoned weight lifter looking to train more seriously for strength. I'm not going to go seriously into the routine itself, but its fairly simple: Compound lifts, 2 different days, AxBxAxxBxAxBxx (Letters being a workout day, x's being recovery days), and you add 5 pounds to the bar every workout every day.
This is where it gets tricky. Is someone with a 345lb bench, 435lb squat, and 415lb deadlift (not saying this is me but) going to actually put 5lbs on the bar every workout? As good as it sounds, probably not. You'll probably stall waaaaay before this, and that's ok. No plan is going to get you to a 2k+ total without a few bumps and adjustments in places like diets and assistance work, but 5x5's will definitely get you on your way.
Now, the question burning in your mind, what is 3x5? It's this revolutionary workout that was hand forged by Olympic trainers in Russia to put their athletes ahead of the world, responsible for building over 45lb's of pure muscle EVERY 2 MONTHS. As nice as it sounds, it really isn't. 3x5's are the same exact routine and idea behind 5x5's, except instead of doing 5 sets, you do 3. The difference? Less reps means you can put on more weight. You'll still be getting stronger, you'll just break through the plateau. After you stall with 3x5's, its time to move on to Texas Method or another more advanced program, which by the time you stall out, you should already know everything about.
Even with 5x5's and 3x5's the most important thing to remember is form, diet, and rest. I don't care if your benching 500lbs for 20 reps if they aren't full reps, and your body won't treat you kindly if you aren't eating enough to repair that torn tissue or sleeping enough for it to actually be repaired. Remember, at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight every day, and eat more carbs on workout days and more fat on rest days. It isn't foolproof or concrete, but it's the best way to start.
