Rippetoes?

I need a second opinion from the English. Over on BBing forum everyone suggests Rippetoes or simular 5x5 routine for beginners to add strength so you have some weight to work with when you come off 5x5.
Are they advised for begiiners or should i stick with my routine? Ive been BBing for 3 and a half months and my main lifts are:
 
bench press 50kg 3x10
Bent over rows 43kg 3x8
Deadlift 100kg 4x8
SHoulder press with 16kg DBs 3x12
 
Also in 3 and a half months ive barely noticed any difference in how i look. My arms look exactly the same as i started and so does my chest.
What should i do because my strength is increasing but i cant see a difference.
 
 

bump

Yeah Starting Strength is good for noobs. Give it a go for a good 6 months at least. You will get good gains from the compounds esp squats and deads. Eat well.

IMO all beginners are better off reading around and researching different types of routines to get an understanding of why people do certain things, rather than just going 'everybody says SS is a great routine so I'll just do it' without understanding why Rippertoe put those exercises in that order or whatever. For example one of my mates just started training a while ago and he was using some routine he found in Flex or some other magazine that had him training Calves on a different day to the rest of his Legs; I asked him what his reasoning was for doing this and he said he didn't have a clue, he was just doing what the routine told him.

I'm not saying those routines aren't effective (although personally I'm not a fan of 5x5) but I'm just saying it's more constructive and better for your overall understanding of weight training to do a bit of research and make your own routine based on the few conventional standards (Push/Pull, Full Body, etc.)

So after that long winded diatribe, lol, I would say that if you're getting good gains from your current routine then you shouldn't change it just because some people say all beginners should start off with SS or some other 5x5. If you're just looking to add mass and strength, you really can't go wrong with 3x8 or 3x10, just like you're doing, so keep it up mate.

PS. Nice Deadlifting, that's really good for someone who's been training for as little as you

CitizenKane


IMO all beginners are better off reading around and researching different types of routines to get an understanding of why people do certain things, rather than just going 'everybody says SS is a great routine so I'll just do it' without understanding why Rippertoe put those exercises in that order or whatever. For example one of my mates just started training a while ago and he was using some routine he found in Flex or some other magazine that had him training Calves on a different day to the rest of his Legs; I asked him what his reasoning was for doing this and he said he didn't have a clue, he was just doing what the routine told him.

I'm not saying those routines aren't effective (although personally I'm not a fan of 5x5) but I'm just saying it's more constructive and better for your overall understanding of weight training to do a bit of research and make your own routine based on the few conventional standards (Push/Pull, Full Body, etc.)

So after that long winded diatribe, lol, I would say that if you're getting good gains from your current routine then you shouldn't change it just because some people say all beginners should start off with SS or some other 5x5. If you're just looking to add mass and strength, you really can't go wrong with 3x8 or 3x10, just like you're doing, so keep it up mate.

PS. Nice Deadlifting, that's really good for someone who's been training for as little as you

Your logic is wrong CitizenKane. You should actually read SS yourself and understand where it came from all that is laid out. Mark Rippetoe is a qualified coach who has his own gym and in his gym he started out everyone on this program.

Its not a question of picking a routine (or even worse), making your own routine - how many noobs come here with their routine that has them doing tons of bicep curls? The simple reality is that noobs bodies are not adapted to doing the bodybuilder splits that you see people picking off the internet or flex magazine.

If you are going into boxing or karate, you follow the advice from the top coaches in boxing or karate. You don't go and dictate the principles of those disciplines. Read what Mark Rippetoe has to say on the smart-asses who say that squatting is bad for your knees.

SS is a great way to master the basics and in 6 months to a year most noobs can squat 1.5 times their bodyweight and bench their own bodyweight.

Well the thing is my strength is increasing nicely but visually i find it hard to see much of a difference. Even though im gaining 1lb a week.

loudmouth

Its not a question of picking a routine (or even worse), making your own routine - how many noobs come here with their routine that has them doing tons of bicep curls?

Yeah that's a good point but that's why I said noobs should read around a bit first and they'd then realise that a routine based around nothing but bicep curls isn't a good thing!

I've read a bit about Rippertoe and his training, etc and SS is a great routine, but I do think when you get people on the US sites (BB.com, wannabebig, ironmag, etc) essentially copying and pasting 'JUST DO SS' to every single person who asks about routines, it means people don't think about the routine they're doing and this is imo a bad thing in the long run.

Yea i gotta agree with loudmouth here citizen kane, it sounds like you havent read the ripptoe routine or know of his training philosphies.  This routine trains you correct form and focuses on the main lifts, and in the long run will save a lot of time that usually gets wasted following over complicated routines.  What better foundation for a new lifter??

Hmmm well as im gaining in strength on the main compounds then i dont really see the point in me changing. Im starting to plateau on bench press now though so i thought about changing the reps to 5x5 instead of 3x10 or so, so im taking some of the good stuff from the rippetoe program to break through a plteau. Still not visually seeing much of a change though

What's your routine like at the moment by the way?

Monday back/tris

deads
pull ups
bent over row
assisted dips
skullcrushers
overhead tri extension

Tues shoulders/traps

military press
front lat raises
bent over raises
upright row
shrugs

Thurs chest/bis

bench press
db incline bench press
db flyes
ez bar curls
ez bar preacher curls
hammer curls

fri legs

leg press
leg curls
stiff leg deadlift
leg extensions
seated calf raises

sometimes throw in some 21's on leg day and wrist curls to prevent tendonitis.
Most exercises i do 3x10, then 3x11 the next week until im able to do 3x12, then i increase the weight and go back to 3x10 and work up. Ive made quite good strength gains by doing this and it gives me a weight to beat every time.

Newbz18


Hmmm well as im gaining in strength on the main compounds then i dont really see the point in me changing. Im starting to plateau on bench press now though so i thought about changing the reps to 5x5 instead of 3x10 or so, so im taking some of the good stuff from the rippetoe program to break through a plteau. Still not visually seeing much of a change though

newbz if u are gonna do some of ripptoes routine, dont just do part of it, do it all, and dont **** with it.  Just do as it says.   The target audience for this routine knows way too little to be making adjustments, so leave it alone and get on with it. 

Maybe if my routine isnt very good.

I don't really like that routine tbh, it seems a bit messy. And if you're concerned that you're not making much size gains then I wouldn't bother switching to 5x5. If I was you I'd cut down the volume a bit (too many isolations) and just concentrate on going hard and heavy on the big compounds, and eat a lot. SS might be worth a shot as well mate, don't get me wrong it's definitely a very good routine.

Whats messy about it? Im only doing about 3 exercises per muscle group.

Well, a few things really, nothing major just I wouldn't personally be a fan of that routine. Firstly although training Back and Tris on the same day is pretty common, I really don't like the idea of doing Dips on the same day as all those other pulling exercises, Dips don't just work your Tris but they're a big pushing compound that works your chest and even your delts a bit too. So personally I'd only ever do Dips on a Push day. Also I wouldn't train Shoulders the day after Tris, because your Tris are used a lot in shoulder pressing and so hitting them on consecutive days means you mightn't be allowing them to recover enough. Also your traps are in your back, and you're training them directly on Tuesday, but your traps get hit hard on Monday as well from Deads and Rows, so you're effectively hitting your traps two days in a row. There's also a few exercises that I'm not a fan of personally, like overhead Tricep extensions and Upright rows.

I was doing normal tricep pulldowns but ive since changed my routine to overhead extensions to vary it a bit. Since doing so my triceps are sore the next day again. Though i was doing normal dips where you use a bench and dip below it and have changed that to assisted dips on that machine with a platform you kneel on.
I heard upright rows could damage your rotator cuff if thats what you mean, but i try to keep my form good and havnt experienced any pain from doing them,
Also my previous routine i was doing shoulders on chest day which wasnt a good idea so i tried to improve it by letting my shoulders have their own day with traps.
Dont you think it is kind of nit picking a bit as ive only been bulking about 3 and a half months so really i shouldnt need to be getting the split perfect so early on? Not that i think you dont know what you are on about if thats how im coming across i just didnt think it needed to be so perfect to gain some muscle.
My bf% is a bit higher than that ive seen over on bb.com where most teens there start out at like 9 or 10 stone with no fat on them at all. Maybe im struggling to see much of a difference because im not as skinny. I can see a difference in my back and traps somewhat but my front and arms look the same. Chest isnt very good even though i started lifting with 18kg dbs and then moved up to 26kgs and im now doing bb bench press as ive plateaued, of which im doing 50kg 3x10 and that was with quite a narrow grip (only done BB bench once last week so im still getting the form right on that).

Newbz18
I was doing normal tricep pulldowns but ive since changed my routine to overhead extensions to vary it a bit. Since doing so my triceps are sore the next day again. Though i was doing normal dips where you use a bench and dip below it and have changed that to assisted dips on that machine with a platform you kneel on.
I heard upright rows could damage your rotator cuff if thats what you mean, but i try to keep my form good and havnt experienced any pain from doing them,
Also my previous routine i was doing shoulders on chest day which wasnt a good idea so i tried to improve it by letting my shoulders have their own day with traps.
Dont you think it is kind of nit picking a bit as ive only been bulking about 3 and a half months so really i shouldnt need to be getting the split perfect so early on? Not that i think you dont know what you are on about if thats how im coming across i just didnt think it needed to be so perfect to gain some muscle.
My bf% is a bit higher than that ive seen over on bb.com where most teens there start out at like 9 or 10 stone with no fat on them at all. Maybe im struggling to see much of a difference because im not as skinny. I can see a difference in my back and traps somewhat but my front and arms look the same. Chest isnt very good even though i started lifting with 18kg dbs and then moved up to 26kgs and im now doing bb bench press as ive plateaued, of which im doing 50kg 3x10 and that was with quite a narrow grip (only done BB bench once last week so im still getting the form right on that).

Yeah I agree with you, just lift heavy on the main compounds and you will definitely gain mass

And be patient too, 3 months is not a long time, I don't know if I noticed any significant change in my body after 3 months training. Give it time the gains will come!

loudmouth & timmyjd - I found a quote that pretty much epitomises my view on choosing a routine, as I expressed in my previous posts:

"You are right to be wary. There is much bull****. Be wary of me too, because I may be wrong. Make up your own mind after you evaluate all the evidence and the logic"

Guess who said that? Mark Rippetoe!

Thanks for the replies