Frankie NY's Mass Building Program

sorry one other thing : someone fairly new to bb (1yr) would have to stick to a mass program for a few years b4 trying to cut then otherwise it wouldn't b worth it ? or if they didnt want to get bigger just toned would they go for a completely diff routine ?

Frankie, did you not see my questions or are you just not responding because they're stupid? Just curious...

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Originally posted by HerecomesthePainF5

Frankie, did you not see my questions or are you just not responding because they're stupid?

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I have responded to all questions posted to the best of my knowledge with two exceptions:

1. Where people have answered their own questions. "Should I start this routine with lower weights than my current one-rep maximum on each exercise?"

2. Questions like "What are barbell rows?". That can easily be found in the exercise description section.

If I've missed any, please let me know.

quote:

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Originally posted by majorinsano

sorry one other thing : someone fairly new to bb (1yr) would have to stick to a mass program for a few years b4 trying to cut then otherwise it wouldn't b worth it ? or if they didnt want to get bigger just toned would they go for a completely diff routine ?

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The only time you need to "cut" is if you are entering a bodybuilding competition. Otherwise, there's no point in cutting. You just lose size and strength for no purpose.

If you want to be toned, then increase your cardio and reduce your calories. But if you do this, you will not gain as much muscle. There's always a tradeoff.

Frankie,
thanks for the advice!
Lars

Franky to carry on from Majorinsano's comment. I too am wanted to get rid of some excess fat. However am planning to take up your routine with an already tight diet, and a fair amount of cardio. I know, of course when restricting cardio i will not gain as much as possible on this programme. But is this a waste of time doing your routine, or just carry on, and it will still be good for cutting the fat.

Windows:

It depends on how much "excess fat" you want to lose. If you need to drop say 10 pounds, I don't see a problem with an intense, heavy workout like the one I recommended. If you eat a slightly stricter diet and incorporate cardio into your weekly routine, then you can gradually lose the weight. The slightly stricter diet won't reduce your strength gains, but it will reduce your size gains.

If you need to lose more than that, then I would adopt a less demanding weight program until you lose the weight. There are two reasons why:

1. In general, the heavier the weights you lift, the more your appetite is stimulated, especially for carbs. Sometimes this can make it hard to lose weight.

2. When doing a heavy, intense program like 5x5, your recovery systems are pretty taxed. Light to moderate cardio 2 or maybe 3 times per week won't interfere with your recovery, but more frequent or more intense cardio will impede your recovery. And you will either make suboptimal gains or overtrain in a matter of only a few weeks. To really looe weight you need frequent, intense cardio.

frankie, wat wud u class as light to moderate cardio cos i thought that u should do HIIT on a mass routine to save reducing strength gains and also m8 cud u tell me wat sort of diet i should be on 2 maximise ur routine
thanx in advance

Majorinsano:

20 minutes of cardio done 2 or 3 times per week, whether done with HIIT or endurance cardio, isn't enough cardio to reduce your muscle gains to any measurable degree. Don't sweat it.

Franke, I've started your routing and I'm starting each main compund movement at about 80-85% of my current max weight that I lift for up to 10 reps. The plan is that by week 4 or 5 I'll be lifting my current max for 5 X 5 and by the end of 12 weeks I'll be lifting well in excess of that.(thats's my understanding of the way to do this routine from what I've read. Please correct me if I'm wrong). Problem is that I've got weak wrists! At my current max bench I usually have sore wrists after it! I don't know how my wrists will handle the much heavier weights. My question is, Will the deadlifts strengthen my wrists enough or should I add another exercise such as wrist curls to do that? What do you think? I've skinny wrists but my upper arms are fine! If I'm to add a wrist exercise when should I do it?

well i have more to lose than that franky. But i will be doing cardio about five times a week. So you think this will interfere. I am happy with my muscle mass. However i am looking to get rid of the fat and add a little more muscle. So you think you prgramme will help.

Cardio will be a mixture of HIIT and endurance. What do you think?

Windows:

In that case, I've answered your question in another thread. Read:

http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=60895

If you have a lot of weight to lose, I'd do more endurance type cardio. But a mixture of HIIT and endurance is fine.

The most important part of your program will be your diet. Low carb is the way to go for most men.

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Originally posted by Lars

Problem is that I've got weak wrists! At my current max bench I usually have sore wrists after it! I don't know how my wrists will handle the much heavier weights. My question is, Will the deadlifts strengthen my wrists enough or should I add another exercise such as wrist curls to do that? What do you think? I've skinny wrists but my upper arms are fine! If I'm to add a wrist exercise when should I do it?

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First, you shouldn't be working near one rep maximums unless you've been on a low rep routine for at least a year. Most people feel some weakness in the wrists when benching close to a one rep max because wrists are usually the "weakest link in the chain" for most lifters. That doesn't necessarily mean that your wrists are weak. It could also be your form.

If you want to train your wrists, wrist curls are not the way to go. Wrist curls are more of a forearm exercise and not a very good one.

I could go on about how to improve your grip and wrist strength, but I think most of the points I would make have already been said and probably better than I could. Look at the posts by JohnnyFive. He seems to know what he's talking about, especially when it comes to grip stuff.

Hi Frankie, I think you misunderstood me.Up to last week I was doing the following bench
10 X 104lbs
10 X 114lbs
10 X 124lbs
10 X 134lbs
The max weight I've lifted is 134lbs and after the above 4 sets my wrists are sore.(by the way, I weigh 147lbs). I'll check with JohnnyFive and see what he reccomends. I've got skinny wrists so I just assumed that it was lack of muscle!
Thanks.

Frankie yuo said this:

For the weights I'd do a full body workout twice a week. Do 3 sets of 12-15 reps. You can do a search for full body workouts and get some good ideas. But again if on a particular day you have to chose between doing a weight workout or cardio, chose cardio.

Do three sets. This is it, for the whole workout. Thrre sets. Such as Squat deadlift and benchpress. Those three with 12-15 reps. If this is correct, i cant see this being very productive for my muscles. If i am wrong sorry. Please let me know.

Windows:

It's 3 sets per exercise not per workout.

Frankie, maybe you could answer this one for me. I'm doing your program now (for about two weeks) and I love it. I was severely overtraining before and can actually FEEL my chest and back growing. It's awesome. My question is this.. I have real big legs (pants are a bitch to buy the thighs are tight and waist and length too big..lol). I was wondering, I would really not train legs to grow anymore for the time being and focus on upper-body. Could I do only push and pull (deadlifts will hit legs some). Something like Sunday push, Tuesday pull, Friday push, Sunday pull, etc.....?? Or do I NEED to train legs too. I'm not opposed to leg training by any stretch. It's my favorite actually, which would probably explain why my legs are huge compared to the rest of me.. Thanks..

jgleas:

I have the exact same body type and have trained many people with your body type too.

Let me start off by saying that you have a tremendous advantage. Most bodybuilders absolutely kill themselves to get some leg growth and have to dedicate 50% of their training time and intensity to do so. If you already have good leg size, then you have saved yourself some time and effort. But you still need to train legs hard.

There are many problems with not training legs or just making a half as-ed effort. First, if you don't train legs, then you will sacrifice overall body growth. It is very true that squatting builds overall body size. In my football strength training years, sometimes athletes would have some kind of upper body injury that would prevent doing anything but squats. They still gained upper body mass and size though.

Second, if you don't train your legs, then your other exercises will be affected, especially your deadlift. But any exercise that requires trunk stabilization or lower back strength will also be affected, for example, overhead presses.

Your body will always maintain some type of natural proportion not matter how hard you train or what muscles you train. Guys that you see with huge upper bodies and chicken legs had proportionately bigger upper bodies before they ever touched a weight. Your legs will always be somewhat larger proportionately than your upper body even if you were to neglect them. Just because you squat hard and heavy doesn't mean your legs will grow fast just because you have big legs to start with.

I've trained my upper and lower body equally heavy for many years now, and my legs haven't gotten out of proportion. I don't think yours will either.

Thanks Frankie.. much appreciated. I'll keep ya posted on results.. Great routine btw... Perfect for sports too, I think..

Franke, just finished legs day of the first week on your routine. Been concentrating on technique, next week I'll start loading on weight. I have a question about stiff leg deadlifts. I've checked on the web and asked a few people and I've seen 2 different types of exercise both called stiff leg deadlift. One has a rigid leg and the other bends slightly at the knee. The rigid leg appears to hit hamstring mostly and the bent knee method(called a Romanian deadlift by a trainer at my gym) places more emphasis on the lower back. Because this is on leg day I assume it's meant to be done with rigid legs to hit the hamstrings? Which method is correct?
Also, is the barbell row best done with an overhand or underhand grip, or does it matter??
Thanks!