General Gym and Health Questions, lifestyle

[sirjecht]

Just wanted to get some opinions about what people think about my current gym layout.

I have recently changed my gym rotation. For the last 5 years I have been doing a standard 10-12 rep range for almost all exercises. I was getting very bored with this as even changing exercises I wasn't feeling as much progression as I wanted. I have decided to change my rotation to now be more of a strength base. This is mostly going to consist of 5 sets per exercise going from my normal weight for 10 reps then slowly upping the range atm I have done 20-30lbs increase per set trying to max out on my last set for about 4-5 reps.

Now since I have never tried this before can anyone give some input on whether this is the correct setup for strength and size? I'm currently 210lbs, 6'3 about 12.3% BF (calipers). I want to get my lifts up a lot as I have only gone up by about 50lbs in my major lifts, bench, deads, squats in over a year. I have made some great progress in size and aesthetics but now I want to go for the power and strength. Any guidance would be appreciated.

For a different point I have been having a lot of cramps, mainly in my calfs lately. I could only think to start supplementing potassium and magnesium thinking I may be lacking a little in my daily intake. Is there anything I should take to try and alleviate these cramps? Granted I have only been getting them in the last month since swapping to this new workout plan so maybe my body is just getting used to the strains.

TL;DR How to gain strength and stop cramps.

Cheers guys

I am currently not taking anything other than S4.

 

[Gymjunkie38]

Forget rep numbers get a partner train past failure get a weight that you fail around 8 reps and have a spotter assist and go 4 too 5 reps beyond failure . drop sets too progress and grow you need too overload the muscle . 90 percent of people just don't train hard enough . muscle growth is an adaptive response too being placed under stress it can handle if you never push past your limits its has no reason too adapt

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[sirjecht]

Forget rep numbers get a partner train past failure get a weight that you fail around 8 reps and have a spotter assist and go 4 too 5 reps beyond failure . drop sets too progress and grow you need too overload the muscle . 90 percent of people just don't train hard enough . muscle growth is an adaptive response too being placed under stress it can handle if you never push past your limits its has no reason too adapt

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I don't have a partner. I don't get to train at a time when people are in the gym anymore. That's kind of out of the equation unfortunately

 

[Gymjunkie38]

Drop sets

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[Gymjunkie38]

Very short rest periods supersets there is a way around anything if your serious about your goals

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[Gymjunkie38]

Bottom line if you don't overload the muscle it will not grow

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[EZ_E]

Forget rep numbers get a partner train past failure get a weight that you fail around 8 reps and have a spotter assist and go 4 too 5 reps beyond failure . drop sets too progress and grow you need too overload the muscle . 90 percent of people just don't train hard enough . muscle growth is an adaptive response too being placed under stress it can handle if you never push past your limits its has no reason too adapt

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X 1,000

Find a partner. Best move you can make.

 

[Sweetjones]

If you can't get a partner then best option is to use assisted machines like smith etc. something you can go to future failure on and when you can't go anymore latch the safety and get out from under it. Tends to be what I have to do a lot on max outs. I also go to 5x5s slow controlled movements with heavy weights and it usually helps push me past a plateau


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[olderbro]

You're right to identify that you need a change. The posts already made should give you plenty of food for thought, another thing I'd suggest is DUP - daily undulating periodization where you change the rep range each time you train. There's strong science behind it and it's working really well for me.

Someone said recently that the routine that will give you the best results is the routine that excites you the most and I totally agree.

 

[44YOGearHead]

You're right to identify that you need a change. The posts already made should give you plenty of food for thought, another thing I'd suggest is DUP - daily undulating periodization where you change the rep range each time you train. There's strong science behind it and it's working really well for me.

Someone said recently that the routine that will give you the best results is the routine that excites you the most and I totally agree.

I actually use this by modifying the weight used and doing the weirdest of shit. Right now I'm training arms 4 sets two days out of the week with the weirdest of variations and have a dedicated arm day as well. Nothing extreme, but I'm just trying to get the most out of my injured arm. Result thus far is that they stay full looking all the time. You have to vary reps and weight used constantly to avert homeostasis. Variety in training doesn't mean you have to start from scratch as us long in the tooth guys know. Tried and true is golden, just mix up the proven method. Keeping things simple by varying reps/weight/exercise sequence... all components of successful training.

Adding some test wouldn't hurt either lol.

 

[rookie71]

Lots of good info already covered. Have you read up on Westside barbell program, the Wendler 5/3/1, and German volume training? I did Wendler's program last year for 11 out of the 12 months and good strength and muscle gains once I hit the right diet. I have also been doing some of the stuff posted on youtube by Athlean X. I like using some of his stuff for finishers and also for muscle confusion since it has a lot of time based lifting routines such as 6 minutes straight with 6 different exercises for a muscle group for 1 min each. His talk on eccentric focus and time under tension are also good.

Good luck.

 

[RickRock]

The main thing I want to stress is that you should be implementing progressive overload....meaning you should always be increasing your workload on your muscles. This is done by increasing either reps or weight. You should stay in the hypertrophy range, and when you start to get towards 11-12 reps increase the weight a little....rinse and repeat. You should always be trying to best your previous numbers and be fighting like hell to make that happen. If you do the same thing every week you'll look the same every week. That's just the nature of the beast. You need to make your body grow and not just chase a pump