Anyone train without a set routine?

[First Blood]

Fail to plan, plan to fail. Cliche I know but it's the truth. Everything should be a progression. Going in and randomly doing something is like believing in "muscle confusion".

But that is not exactly what I'm talking about. I agree there needs to be some kind of plan.

[dfresh]

i love reading shit like this, reminds me how much i over think things when it comes to my training/diet/etc. i used to always log shit, then i stopped for a while and now im back to logging my workouts again lol! im not a power lifter, id like to get stronger, but the whole idea that you have to get stronger, constantly add weight to the bar is as gh15 would say "bologna" haha. go in hit it hard and get out, if you're not getting bigger in the mirrior/on the scale eat more and train harder! ok that is all

[Hulkotron]

I go three days on one day off with lifting.

[che]

Is the frequency just because you are at maintenance stage Che or did you used to train the same bodypart more frequently?

I've  always trained the same , the only muscle groups  I trained twice a week  were my calves and my biceps trying to catch up  thighs and triceps

[el numero uno]

Guys, serious question. My younger brother started going to the gym with me. Do you think HE needs a routine? I make him train a little more volume than me and more basic movements/free weights. But I haven't followed a routine in at least 2 years so I don't know if he should do the same.  I think he should follow a routine at least the first year, (changing exercises/order every 6-8 weeks). But I want to hear opinions, thanks.

[First Blood]

i love reading shit like this, reminds me how much i over think things when it comes to my training/diet/etc. i used to always log shit, then i stopped for a while and now im back to logging my workouts again lol! im not a power lifter, id like to get stronger, but the whole idea that you have to get stronger, constantly add weight to the bar is as gh15 would say "bologna" haha. go in hit it hard and get out, if you're not getting bigger in the mirrior/on the scale eat more and train harder! ok that is all

Exactly, I get stressed out by super strict programming and logging everything. I prefer go much more by how I feel day to day. Sometimes I feel strong and I will go heavy and try to push the poundages other days I feel like crap and just do a short pump workout and some days I simply skip the workout and do it the next day instead. Somedays it's lower volume, sometimes it's higher volume depending on what I feel like doing and how much time I have etc etc. Smaller muscle groups float around and are attached to different big muscle group workouts and so on.

But I always keep track of my top weights in a few exercises such as squats, pulldowns, smith machine bench press (my main chest exercise these days) etc.

[che]

Guys, serious question. My younger brother started going to the gym with me. Do you think HE needs a routine? I make him train a little more volume than me and more basic movements/free weights. But I haven't followed a routine in at least 2 years so I don't know if he should do the same.  I think he should follow a routine at least the first year, (changing exercises/order every 6-8 weeks). But I want to hear opinions, thanks.

Full body 3 times a week  at least  6 month .

[el numero uno]

Full body 3 times a week  at least  6 month .

Thanks, he has been going with me just for 1 week. He trained like this:

Monday: chest - back
Tuesday: shoulders
Thursday: legs
Friday: arms

[dfresh]

Exactly, I get stressed out by super strict programming and logging everything. I prefer go much more by how I feel day to day. Sometimes I feel strong and I will go heavy and try to push the poundages other days I feel like crap and just do a short pump workout and some days I simply skip the workout and do it the next day instead. Somedays it's lower volume, sometimes it's higher volume depending on what I feel like doing and how much time I have etc etc. Smaller muscle groups float around and are attached to different big muscle group workouts and so on.

But I always keep track of my top weights in a few exercises such as squats, pulldowns, smith machine bench press (my main chest exercise these days) etc.

yea man everything you read/hear when you first start out, eat this, drink that, do this exercise not that, track this, count that. we've all been caught up in it, hell i still am. im only 23 with 7 years under my belt but still lol. i am currently tracking calories thanks to my fitnesspal app.
  as i know this is what has held me back in progress the past 6 months or more is not keeping track accurately enough.
 makes counting calories actually fun and easy. i do think this is the area you have to be somewhat strict in is your diet. however i do believe it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you hit your calories for the day and get your body weight in protein. i love this thread, and forum for that matter already ha ha

[Jaime]

I've  always trained the same , the only muscle groups  I trained twice a week  were my calves and my biceps trying to catch up  thighs and triceps

Ok brother. I tried split routines and less frequency but i always go back to full body, 2-3 times a week.

[che]

Ok brother. I tried split routines and less frequency but i always go back to full body, 2-3 times a week.

Whatever works best for you.

[che]

however i do believe it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you hit your calories for the day and get your body weight in protein.

Wrong  (if you are natural)

[First Blood]

Lift hard and take a multi, bro.

Nah, seriously I just pyramid up in weight and do around 8-10 reps, sometimes more and sometimes less depending on the bodypart and how it's development is. For lagging parts I'll do a bit of heavy lifting and throw in a few higher intensity sets to get the best of both worlds. I do lifts with some focus on the eccentric phase, static contractions, high reps, low reps... pretty much everything you'd expect from a "bodybuilder".

One thing I believe in quite a bit though is intuition. You can take someone through a workout or give them a cookie cutter routine, but you can't train someone to be intuitive. You HOPEFULLY develop intuition over time but if not, you're pretty much doomed. A lot of people in the gym who look good will have a very strong intuition and will seemingly do all the right things to get where they want. Others like myself had to take some time, but caught on pretty fast too.


I pretty much never discuss training for that matter - it's so up-in-the-air. You can discuss techniques and exercises, and to some degree a bit of a structured routine for certain goals but it's still so tough. Really have to be there in person and training together for it to make much sense. This shit's all drugs anyway so if something's lagging, basically just up the dose LOL

Yeah I think maybe your first year or two you could use a more planned approach but the more advanced you get the better it is to focus on maybe 1-2 muscle groups at a time and just maintain the rest and thus you may end up with unbalanced training routines (priority training etc) and going much more with intuition or feel.

[First Blood]

yea man everything you read/here when you first start out, eat this, drink that, do this exercise not that, track this, count that. we've all been caught up in it, hell i still am. im only 23 with 7 years under my belt but still lol. i am currently tracking calories thanks to my fitnesspal app.
  as i know this is what has held me back in progress the past 6 months or more is not keeping track accurately enough.
 makes counting calories actually fun and easy. i do think this is the area you have to be somewhat strict in is your diet. however i do believe it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you hit your calories for the day and get your body weight in protein. i love this thread, and forum for that matter already ha ha

I think if the goal is fat loss then it's important to keep track of calories. And in general I think it's good to do it for a while at least even if you aren't dieting just to get a rough idea of how much you are eating.

[illwill]

The major problem with this method would be just remembering all your weights!    Perhaps I shouldn't have sniffed all that glue as a 12 year old.  Not to mention the paint and gas also :/

[King Shizzo]

I usually masturbate before I do anything.  I find it clears both my head and my pipes  

[First Blood]

The major problem with this method would be just remembering all your weights!    Perhaps I shouldn't have sniffed all that glue as a 12 year old.  Not to mention the paint and gas also :/

Doesn't have to be hard to remember weights in a handful key exercises (that you basically always keep in the routine). You don't necessarily have to keep track of weights for smaller muscle groups and isolation exercises unless you are specifically trying to bring up that muscle group.

[illwill]

Doesn't have to be hard to remember weights in a handful key exercises (that you basically always keep in the routine). You don't necessarily have to keep track of weights for smaller muscle groups and isolation exercises unless you are specifically trying to bring up that muscle group.

you, my friend, obviously haven't messed with hallucinogens and dissociative type drugs lol

However, I see your point.

[dfresh]

Wrong  (if you are natural)

how so? not being a dick, but curious as im very firm in my belief after much research

[Jaime]

Some guys geeks can recite ten thousand decimals of pi. ffs getbig is meant to be home to the worlds greatest minds....Seriously you motherfookers can't remember the weights for a dozen exercises...

[slaveboy1980]

how so? not being a dick, but curious as im very firm in my belief after much research

Food quality/what you eat does matter for many reasons. Yes it's calories in vs out at the end of the day  but there are other considerations as internal health, satiety, taste, some people need more carbs in their diet than others (some do better with lower carb and higher fat and others do better with lower fat and higher carbs) etc.

I could write articles about the subject.

[che]

after much research

Haha ,Nevermind.

[Jaime]

Food quality/what you eat does matter for many reasons. Yes it's calories in vs out at the end of the day  but there are other considerations as internal health, satiety, taste, some people need more carbs in their diet than others (some do better with lower carb and higher fat and others do better with lower fat and higher carbs) etc.

I could write articles about the subject.

Yes, Yes...Articles and scientific literature.... ::)But can you argue for hours on end and ignore all forms of intelligent discourse like TA?

[slaveboy1980]

Yes, Yes...Articles and scientific literature.... ::)But can you argue for hours on end and ignore all forms of intelligent discourse like TA?

I simply avoid his shit. And I (hardly) argue or discuss training/nutrition on forums anymore. I'm tired of all that crap.

Calories in vs calories out is valid but that does not mean that food quality/type of foods don't matter, some idiots seem to have a hard time reconciling these things.

[Jaime]

I simply avoid his shit. And I (hardly) argue or discuss training/nutrition on forums anymore. I'm tired of all that crap.

Calories in vs calories out is valid but that does not mean that food quality/type of foods don't matter, some idiots seem to have a hard time reconciling these things.

Of course, it make a huge difference.

Pointless to even expand on the subject if somebody can't come to such a logical conclusion of their own device then...