What is your Workout Routine?

[The0Self]

3 hours ago, Michal__ said:

I am not that familiar with Conjugate but Bulgarian lite is basically:

choose an exercise that is does not put too much strain on the lower back (eg. RDL instead of DL) -> do a few warmup sets, one all out set (does not matter if its 1 RM or 10 RM) -> increase weight or reps the next day -> do that until you plateau, which typically takes 1 - 2 weeks -> either do a slightly different variation of the exercise you have done before (like RDLs with bands+weight after normal RDLs) or a different exercise altogether -> repeat.

No, you wont overtrain if you are in not calorie deficit and listen to your body. And yes, you can do it year round without risking injury.

I have done it for a year straight with zero side effects.  And more gains on all my pulls, pushes and leg work that on any other program ever in my life. Size gains were pretty impressive too.

But deciding what exercise you are going to do next definitely requires a lot of planning compared to more conventional programs.

The key to making it work is

a) dont be in a deficit

b) listen to your body

c) switch up slight variations

d) dont forget to target all muscles year round.

Changing the exercise every time you get stuck. Typically 1 - 2 weeks for me. 

During that year I experienced close to zero plateaus despite already being past intermediate.

Okay by Bulgarian Lite I thought you meant something else. I am familiar with the Bulgarian method, which I've always known to mean ramping to a training max at >90%1rm every day with no days off... I assumed Bulgarian Lite meant basically the same but specifically on 1-2 upper lifts, and then doing the same with 1-2 lower lifts the next day, and then repeating, with up to 1 day off per week... instead of using only Olympic lifts like Bulgarian was designed for. I was under the impression that Bulgarian only refers to maxing -- that's all I've ever heard it referred to as.

Edited March 17, 2023 by The0Self

[Wolfgang Winterkaise]

+ Mon-Fri, Resistance-Bands adjusting between 50-140 lbs, 6 upper body exercises 30 reps each 
+ Full body calisthenics workout (hits every muscle): push ups, pull ups, plank, side plank, single leg bridge, squats, lunges & burpees
+ daily walking
+ lean balanced diet, mostly organic vegetables

My goal is Bruce Lee's strong and functional physique 

 

[Michal__]

17 hours ago, Wolfgang Winterkaise said:

+ Mon-Fri, Resistance-Bands adjusting between 50-140 lbs, 6 upper body exercises 30 reps each 
+ Full body calisthenics workout (hits every muscle): push ups, pull ups, plank, side plank, single leg bridge, squats, lunges & burpees
+ daily walking
+ lean balanced diet, mostly organic vegetables

My goal is Bruce Lee's strong and functional physique 

 

That will definitely work as long as you are adding resistance/rep/more difficult timing/more difficult variations.

[The0Self]

19 hours ago, Wolfgang Winterkaise said:

Full body calisthenics workout (hits every muscle): push ups, pull ups, plank, side plank, single leg bridge, squats, lunges & burpees

Muscular balance is not a simple thing to achieve. The minimum 6 movements you need for complete development: a horizontal or incline press, a horizontal pull, a squat, a hinge, something for the external rotators (preferably facepulls, and optional dumbbell rotations), and some knee flexion (a leg curl; for the head of the hamstrings left out by the hinge, which can only be activated via knee flexion).

Horizontal pulls work everything that vertical pulls do (but with slightly less intense lat involvement), PLUS other muscles that vertical pulls leave out -- and as it happens, these muscles left out by vertical pulling are particularly problematic to have as weaknesses, so always include horizontal pulling.

What you have looks great, but there are some issues. You have resistance bands, right? You are certainly going to want to add facepulls... if you're not already doing them. You also MAY lack a horizontal pull (you didn't list your 6 upper body movements) -- pull ups are a vertical pull, which is great, but for shoulder spacing health you do need a horizontal pull (such as rows). Technically you are lacking in hip hinge, though the burpees can sort of count as one -- get creative to find some means of doing a more effective hip hinge movement: while the Good Morning w/ Safety Squat Bar is very likely the absolute best option for this slot, if you lack the equipment, you may have to improvise; Alternate Toe Touch is a good option for a hinge exercise that doesn't require a ton of weight... but good mornings of some type are best. And for the knee flexion, you're going to want to find a way to rig the bands up for hamstring curls.

Direct abdominal training isn't absolutely necessary, but it is optimal to do. You have plenty of it. The best exercise for this is probably hanging leg raises though -- if you add that, in addition to your standard & side plank, your abs will be covered. And second best is probably standing band crunch.

19 hours ago, Wolfgang Winterkaise said:

Mon-Fri, Resistance-Bands adjusting between 50-140 lbs, 6 upper body exercises 30 reps each 

If that includes facepulls and a horizontal pull, then you're golden for the upper body.

20-35 rep sets are perfect for resistance bands, so nice job on that.

For free weights though (and weighted pull ups; etc; most exercises), 5-30 rep sets is actually the optimal range.

     That includes push ups with bands. 20-35 reps/set is only optimal for exercises wherein the resistance is entirely mediated by the bands -- push ups are primarily a body weight exercise, so even if you make them harder with bands, the optimal rep range will be 5-30, not 20-35... though that's speaking very broadly, as band push ups in particular tend to lend themselves best to 10-20 reps per set.

Also note: maximum adaptation rate always requires at least 10 (but not to exceed 20) weekly sets per muscle, not to exceed 10 sets in any 48-72 hour period for any one muscle.

Apart from that? Perfect.

 

And if you're a male and some portion of your goals involves being more attractive, the best bang for your buck by far is neck training, especially targeting the sternocleidomastoid, as this will contribute to that goal more rapidly and efficiently than anything else, besides maybe decreasing bodyfat toward 12% IF you're significantly above that.

Edited March 29, 2023 by The0Self

[Jannes]

I am doing full body 2x a week to keep my muscles. It works great. I will experiment with 1x a week training to see if I can still keep my muscles this way.

A typical workout looks something like this:

Cardio worth 100 Kcal

a lot of lower body stretching

- 3 sets of deep squats

- 2 sets of seated leg curls

- 2 sets of chest press

- 3 superset of lateral raises and bicep curls

- 2 sets of overhead triceps extensions

- 2 sets of face pulls

- 3 sets single leg calf raises

- 3 - 5 sets of pull ups randomly sprinkled in there between sets

1- 10 sets of hanging

10-15min sweating in the sauna 

Edited March 29, 2023 by Jannes

[Wolfgang Winterkaise]

@Michal__ @The0Self Thank you both for your feedback! I wasn't expecting such a high quality counsel. Know that it will be put to use. Thank you.

[The0Self]

7 hours ago, Wolfgang Winterkaise said:

@Michal__ @The0Self Thank you both for your feedback! I wasn't expecting such a high quality counsel. Know that it will be put to use. Thank you.

You’re welcome.