Frankie NY's Mass Building Program

I disagree Sly mate. If you do that then you will be training to failure regular. This will be a recipe for injury with the heavy weights used with 5x5.

frankie and everyone else who knows something about it, what do u think of weighted push ups,with elevation pads to give the fullest ROM and with weight ? i ask this because i BB at home and for the time being,i lack dumbbells , for push day!

thks in advance.

2nd week in, I've noticed using this routine my form has improved, I think that's because there's less reps.

Strength is definitely up and my chest is looking more muscular already!

My back routine is amazing now, I used to almost faint every time I worked out and a couple of times I've actually been sick and fell flat out, I'm probably going to raise the weights and go through the same thing again because I'm crazy like that, but the new routine with my back routine makes me feel like I could do it twice over.

Obviously I'll do it gradually so I don't burn me out.

Thanks for this Frankie, I know it's not your discovery and you can't claim the routine as your own but it definitely proves something from the past isn't useless.

Respect.

Frankie, in another thread you wrote :

quote:

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If you plateau on one or two exercises during a 12 week cycle, that's normal. If you plateau on more than a couple of your exercises, that's a true plateau.

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My question is : what should be done if a single exercise plateaus for say 3 weeks, yet the others continue to increase? e.g. My bench has plateaued but my dumbell bench and military are still increasing steadily.

Thanks

quote:

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Originally posted by Vetzak

My question is : what should be done if a single exercise plateaus for say 3 weeks, yet the others continue to increase? e.g. My bench has plateaued but my dumbell bench and military are still increasing steadily.

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Are you doing both dumbbell FLAT bench and barbell FLAT bench? Or is one of them incline?

I am doing flat barbell bench then incline dumbells.

Vetzak:

One last question - do you always have a spotter or bench in a power rack?

Frankie,
Am currently following your regime and it really is an eye opener. Enjoying it [if that's the right thing to say!] and Know I will make some great gains on this.
I have one question....I do flat and incline bench using dumbells for both.
Is this ok? The reason is because my gym only has a Smiths press barbell incline and I don't like using these as they seem to restrict your natural movement. And because I go to the gym on my own [no spotter], I tend not to do barbell flat bench.
Thanks in advance.

Frankie.
I am in the same situation as Vetzak,I don't have a spotter and I don't use a powerack.
I think it maybe a confidence thing, don't want to get trapped under the bar.

quote:

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Originally posted by Frankie NY

Vetzak:

One last question - do you always have a spotter or bench in a power rack?

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I bench in a power rack so I have no fear about missing a rep. I also feel that bench press is my favourite exercise and I try my hardest on it, but for the past 3 weeks it has become stuck.

Thanks

Vetzak:

The best thing you can do to break through a plateau in the bench press is to switch to bottom position flat bench presses for a while.

Position the power rack pins so that the bar just barely touches your chest (or as close as possible). Push from the bottom, lock out, and lower the weight back down the pins. Set the bar down completely, but don't let go of the bar. Repeat. Do 5x5, and then move on to inclines and military presses.

Stay with the bottom position benches for 3 weeks and then switch back to regular benches to see where you are.

quote:

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Originally posted by rsharper

Frankie.
I am in the same situation as Vetzak,I don't have a spotter and I don't use a powerack.
I think it maybe a confidence thing, don't want to get trapped under the bar.

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Do flat dumbbell or weighted dips instead?

Thanks Frankie. I am already familiar with bottom position benching so I'll give it a go for 3 weeks and see how I get on, cheers.

Hey Frankie, how would you split this routine for two workouts performed on saturday and sunday? Because I don't have enough time to train on week days. Maybe a split like PUSH-PULL or UPPERBODY-LOWERBODY?

S1MON:

If you can only workout on weekends, then you need to space the workouts as far apart as possible. If you can, workout Friday night and Sunday night. You could try:

WORKOUT ONE: Bench Press, Military Press, Dips, Abs

WORKOUT TWO: Deadlift, Squats, Barbell Rows or Chins, Grip Work

Hi Frankie

Been doing your routine for a few months now and have put on 3kg of weight in that time which im very pleased with :)

I have ran into a problem though, i can no longer safely lift the barbell from the floor to over my head and on to the back of my traps to perform squats.

I workout at home on my own but have no squat/power rack and no spotter to assist. How detrimental to my gains would it be not to do squats? or what could i do instead?

My current routine is

Pull

deadlift
underhand chins
bent over row

Push

Weighted Pushups
Milatary Press

Legs/abs

Squats
SLDL
weighted crunches

all mainly 4x6

I built my own squat rack with wood and nails. It is really solid and easy to do. Otherwise, you can build a squat rack, it is very cheap. Squat are a essential exercise and it cannot be replaced by anything else.

hmmm, maybe are get my hammer out then :D

quote:

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Originally posted by BYF1

I workout at home on my own but have no squat/power rack and no spotter to assist. How detrimental to my gains would it be not to do squats? or what could i do instead?

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Squats are the most important exercise one can do. Not doing them will hold back your deadlift, overall body growth, etc.

Buy a used power rack for cheap if you can. If not, your next best option is to buy a trap bar and do trap bar deadlifts. This type of deadlift relies much more on the legs but still works the back.

thanks frankie!