Frankie NY's Mass Building Program

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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?

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Simply clean the weight and do front squats instead.

TUFF

Excellent advice above...

this is not simple for me tuffnut, ive tried that before, but can't hang on to the bar for long enough to squat, my fore arms feel like they will explode in this position and its not at all comfortable for me.

IM building a squat rack this weekend, or if i have more time i may make a power cage and get the welder out!

Frankie, I've been following your routine for about 6 weeks and I'm very pleased with the gains I've been making. I've just checked back to the first page and I notice that the original routine has been changed!!! The pull day has been changed from {Deadlifts,BB Rows,BB Bicep curls} to {deadlifts, Wide grip chins, BB Rows}. How has this happened or am I looking at a different post?

Lars:

I swapped barbell curls for another back exercise for the reasons I explain in the text above the routines. There have been some comments about too much volume for biceps, which I think are valid, so I changed it.

Frankie, I've been making good gains with bicep curls and I've been happy with my progress. Do you think I should drop them and start doing chins instead or what??

Lars:

Not at all. You should never stop doing something if you are making gains.

hey frankieNY when you say wide grip chins do you mean under or over hand

Frankie,
I have been doing your routine now for ten weeks and have decided to take a week off. I have decided to do the same exercises for my next ten weeks as I have made good gains with these exercises.My question for you is when I start back do I start at the weights I did in week ten or should I drop back a few pounds to get the momentum going again?

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Originally posted by crazyhorse

hey frankieNY when you say wide grip chins do you mean under or over hand

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Wide grip overhand chins.

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Originally posted by rsharper

I have been doing your routine now for ten weeks and have decided to take a week off. I have decided to do the same exercises for my next ten weeks as I have made good gains with these exercises. My question for you is when I start back do I start at the weights I did in week ten or should I drop back a few pounds to get the momentum going again?

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That's a good question about momentum. When you start your next cycle, use the weights you used in week 10 plus any increases if you got 5 reps on your 5th set of any of your exercises.

Most of the time, when you come back from a one week layoff, you come back stronger, and it can be easy to add another 5 pounds to many exercises.

During your week off, try to sleep as much as you can and keep your diet the same as if you were lifting.

Cheers Frankie

Does anyone know where I could buy weight magnets in Ireland, the UK or Europe? The link below is for a supplier in the US who has exactly what I want but it's the only place I've been able to find them. I know this might not be the correct place for a post like this but which forum is?
http://www.performbetter.com/catalog/dept.asp_Q_dept_id_E_153_A_mscssid=Q4P0K2CRGKF28GLF5WTLTEFQKMPQ3GUC

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Originally posted by BYF1

this is not simple for me tuffnut, ive tried that before, but can't hang on to the bar for long enough to squat, my fore arms feel like they will explode in this position and its not at all comfortable for me.

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Check your form. The bar should rest on your delts. Your arms should just hold the bar in place, not take any of the weight.

Guy im gona do this routine just stuck with 1 day exercise selection back and bi day my back is quite thick but not as wide but im really s***t at pullup cant seem to increase reps no matter how hard i try so was thinking of doing=DEADLIFTS,B/B ROWS,CLOSE GRIP REVERSE PULLDOWNS OR WIDE GRIP PULLDOWNS any help or suggestion CHEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally posted by richyd

My back is quite thick but not as wide but im really s***t at pullup cant seem to increase reps no matter how hard i try

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No matter how thick your back is, you always need to deadlift. Keeping your posterior chain strong will help you with squats, overhead presses, and keep you free from injuries.

With regard to building a wide back, stick with barbell rows and chins. For chins, try moving to 5 sets of 3 reps. As soon as you get 3 reps on the 5th set, add weight. And then keep adding weight as with any other exercise. So your routine would look like:

Deadlifts 5x5
Chins 5x3
Barbell Rows 5x5

Sometimes bad form can also hold you back on chins.

- Are you keeping your elbows well back when you pull yourself up or do they come forward?
- Are you keeping your feet back when you chin or do you let your knees come forward to help lift yourself up on the last few reps?
- Are you keep the upper part of your chest in a straight vertical line with the bar or does your chest move behind the bar when you pull yourself up?

Frankie cheers im not sure about 1 or 3 but i definately the second 1 partly cause i find them so hard.I think ill give that 3 reps a go.could u look at my proposed routine basicly same as the 1 u posted few minor changes 1 major 1 is that i was thinking of doing 3x5 instead of 5x5 think ill be be able to concentrate more on three than five do u think im just being lazy???Heres the weight im currently lifting on the big 3 BENCH=286pds 3x6,FRONTSQUATS=242pds 3x6,DEADLIFTS=363pds 3x6.
MY ROUTININE PROPOSED
DAY 1 PULL
DEADLIFTS 3x5
CHINS 3x5
B/B ROWS 3x5
DAY 3 PUSH
FLAT BENCH 3x5
D/B PRESS 3x5
CLOSE BENCH 3x5
DAY 5 LEGS
FRONT SQUATS 3x5
STIFF DEADS 3x5
CALVE WORK???????
PLUS id like 2 do some wrist work as my wrist are starting to bend back when pressing any ideas on exercises and where plus may be some grip such as farmers walk?????Where 2???

CHINS

richyd:

So, do you think your chinning form is o.k.?

5x3 for chins should help you go up in a weight. In a way, it's just easier to progress when you only have to get 3 reps.

I would really try to do 5 work sets, unless you are pressed for time or mostly interested in strength. 3x5 is a good strength routine, but less so for muscular growth. If you are pressed for time or mostly interested in strength, use 3x5, but if you want maximum muscle growth, stick to 5 sets.

If you want to do some calf work on leg day, that's fine. 12 rep sets are usually what I recommend.

If your wrists are bending back, then you might need to strengthen your wrists. Farmer's walk will strengthen your supporting grip, not your wrist strength. Farmer's walk is good for guys that are having a hard time holding on to deadlifts. For wrist strengthening exercises, consider adding 3 sets of hammer curls to pull day and 3 sets of lever lifts on leg day.

For lever lifts you can use almost any garden tool or a sledgehammer. If you are not strong enough to hold them at the end, which most people aren't, just choke up a little.

Hey frankie i like this wrokout and i think im gonna try it its the first time ve doen a workout liek this i recently posted my current workout and every one said i was over training and to look at this one so im going to try it i still am confuused about a couple things though ..... i will be doing 5 x 5 so u keep the same weight on all five sets? not increaseing the weight untill the next week? when you had incline press/falt press and then dips did that slash mean to do both the presses or pick one of them and then do which ever you didnt do in the next 12 months?

Frankie cheers no i dont think my pullup form is good im seriously gona have 2 work on them.Frankie can u explain lever lifts in a bit more detail please.Plus how many sets do u recon i should do on calves?are standing calve raises ok?Thanks for your help!