Lifting Question: Novice Programs

BiggestDickInTheRoom · 2015-07-11T21:29:06+00:00

Here's the thing: You are brand spanking new to lifting. 1.5 months is literally nothing. You can basically consider yourself as never having lifted before. Not only that, but you are only 16 years old. You aren't done growing yet. None of this is bad, mind you, it's just the facts to keep in mind. You should not be viewing lifting as something you will do until you attain some goal and then you are done because you beat the game. You are starting a habit now that you will do until you die, just like brushing your teeth. With that kind of mind set, you can relax a bit. You don't stress about whether you are maximizing your toothbrushing gainz do you? Nope, it's just something you do. Now, you can see that, if you had posted "I've been brushing my teeth for the last 1.5 months and never missed a day... I'm worried there might be a better way! What should I do?!?" then it would be a pretty silly question because in the big picture, just the fact that you ARE brushing your teeth means you are winning. BIG TIME. That is the context with which SL and SS come from. They are great, simple programs to get you in there and learning. Are there better ways? Yes. But you don't need them. You don't even know how to brush your teeth yet, so the fancy techniques aren't going to help you much.

So, with the big picture in mind, that you will be doing this for the next 90 years, then yes, SL/SS is a GREAT program for you. It's getting you in the habit of going to the gym and lifting, it's working all your major muscle groups, and it's teaching you how to do the primary, fundamental lifts, which honestly you will continue to get better at doing for the next year or two because right now you suck at them. Even if you think you don't and your form is great, trust me, you still suck at them and a year from now you will look back on how you used to squat with amusement.

Now, as for your concern as to whether you are on the right program or not. A little secret is that it doesn't really matter. All the programs are hypertrophy programs. They might focus more on different skills, and some of those skills may carry over to different sports, like bodybuilding or power lifting or weightlifting, but all of them are going to build muscle pretty much everywhere. The biggest reason you hear "Listen newbie, get a reputable program and don't deviate! You don't know what you are doing!" is because we don't want you just doing 30 different kinds of biceps curls and end up with joint problems because you are all out of balance with huge arm muscles and no back to compensate. We also want you thinking long term... create a plan, stick with it for 6 months, look at your progress, set new goals, adjust your plan, and go another year. The fact that you are getting impatient at the 1.5 month mark means you haven't learned this lesson yet. Keep showing up and be patient. Muscle takes a long time to grow and you have all the time in the world. SL has a measurement on when you should stop doing SL (basically when you can't linearly progress anymore) and it's a good one.

Now finally, If you are worried about upper body hypertrophy, one common criticism that SL gets is that there is almost no upper back and biceps work. I tend to agree with that and think adding pull-ups to the program is something that should be done. Pull ups will work your back and arms very effectively and is an easy thing to add. If you can't do 3x5 bodyweight pullups from a dead hang, then look up pull-up progressions and work up to it (negatives, reverse pushups, hangs, assisted, lat pull downs, etc..) You can add other assistance lifts if you want, just don't compromise the core program. If you are going to skip anything, skip these new assistance lifts you added, but DON'T skip your squats or other core program exercises. And always take things slow, work up to the heavier weights slowly, use perfect form, and respect the weight. Building up to quick can give you tennis elbow or rotator cuff problems very easily, and then you are down for a couple months with no way to effectively work out at all and you don't want that to happen. Always keep in mind that you have forever to get this stuff down, this is not a race, and you should focus on the journey and you will do great.

Great work so far and good luck on your journey! Hope this helps!

awayofthought · 2015-07-11T21:26:51+00:00

I did SL for 4 months and now ive been on PHUL for 4 months. PHUL is way more fun and I feel like im overall more strong and have been putting up more numbers than SL.

Title	Lifting Question: Novice Programs
Author	TRPAlternative
Upvotes	1
Comments	6
Date	July 11, 2015 8:47 PM UTC (11 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/3cy42v/lifting_question_novice_programs/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/lifting-question-novice-programs.151035 https://theredarchive.com/post/151035

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