What advice would you give a rank novice?

[Maxrip13]

I would love to see a re write with barbells and road running added.

Isn't that what TB is....? lol

Love Ross. Find him and KB have a very similar style of communicating and preach the same virtues. I often sub in WCs, GPPs, and warrior workouts as HICs when I run Black.

You are definitely not wrong in the similarities

Still I would love to read another book from Ross on the topic.
Just add to the library I guess. I always wanted to see how he employed heavy barbells when he went through that stage of building his deadlift up. He definitely did it without a major effect on his conditioning.

[Adski]

I can only speak from my own experience but I ran that the 50 day program for quite a while while boxing actively and never had ill effects, this being said, 9 years later and life is slightly different and I find that strength work during blocks of time where 12 hr days become the norm takes a slight priority over conditioning due to the mental fatigue (again, individual experience may vary), and it is stated that the 50 day is a sample program, where changes may need to be made in real time.
x2 on the Deadlift program that ross used, would be very interested to see that. From what I recall he stated he still only deadlifted once a week, lifted often and running along with burpees were pretty much non existent during that time.

[Jason E]

Hey guys please don’t get me wrong. If you are looking for a hybrid approach TB is probably the way to go. I’m referring to strictly muscle weight gain for novice to intermediate lifters who are not competing in bodybuilding.

[Barkadion]

You might be interested in reading this log:

"Tactical Barbell+Rosstraining 50 Day Journal"

http://rosstraining.net/forum/viewtopic ... a7548b249e

[close_fox]

A younger family member asked me how he could start strength training. He's never trained in a serious way before, although he has played around in the gym so is at least familiar with the various exercises (if not a master of them). He's not going into a tactical profession, rather just looking to get strong.

My advice was he start out with Stronglifts or Starting Strength, which is what I did. I told him to milk the linear progression as long as he could.

Curious to know what you would have told him.

I'm late to this party, but I wanted to share some advice I recently gave a similarly situated young man.


Train smart early

Smart training in your 20s will have a compound effect later in life. It's like investing. Long term thinking always wins. If you put in work at 20 years old, you can get in great shape using almost any program. If you put in work the right way, you can sustain that progress for the rest of your life. How you get there matters.

Be smarter than your peers. Stay away from risky workouts (CrossFit without a qualified coach, for example). A healthy male in his early 20s is basically on steroids naturally. You can push too hard and get away with it for a while, maybe several years. Ultimately, that pace is not sustainable. You will pay for it sooner than you think.

Work an intelligently designed program. Make progress. Stretch, ice, recover. Do it again. Boring. Not featured in magazines. Simple works. Simple does not mean easy. You can't accessorize your way to real fitness. Too many people fill their time with complications because they want to avoid the simple things. Simple things tell the truth, and the truth can hurt your feelings. Cable crossovers lie. Pull-ups tell the truth.


Beware supplements

This industry is shady. The good stuff (meaning clean, reliably tested, etc.) is really expensive. So many kids are stuffing down gallons of the cheapest protein, preworkout powder, etc. they can find. I shudder to think what garbage they are consuming along with it. At best, they are wasting their money. Real food and vitamins go a long way. There are plenty of better ways to spend money than buying questionable supplements.


Finally: Stop wearing huge headphones in the gym. You look ridiculous. And get off my lawn.

[K.B.]

A younger family member asked me how he could start strength training. He's never trained in a serious way before, although he has played around in the gym so is at least familiar with the various exercises (if not a master of them). He's not going into a tactical profession, rather just looking to get strong.

My advice was he start out with Stronglifts or Starting Strength, which is what I did. I told him to milk the linear progression as long as he could.

Curious to know what you would have told him.

I'm late to this party, but I wanted to share some advice I recently gave a similarly situated young man.


Train smart early

Smart training in your 20s will have a compound effect later in life. It's like investing. Long term thinking always wins. If you put in work at 20 years old, you can get in great shape using almost any program. If you put in work the right way, you can sustain that progress for the rest of your life. How you get there matters.

Be smarter than your peers. Stay away from risky workouts (CrossFit without a qualified coach, for example). A healthy male in his early 20s is basically on steroids naturally. You can push too hard and get away with it for a while, maybe several years. Ultimately, that pace is not sustainable. You will pay for it sooner than you think.

Work an intelligently designed program. Make progress. Stretch, ice, recover. Do it again. Boring. Not featured in magazines. Simple works. Simple does not mean easy. You can't accessorize your way to real fitness. Too many people fill their time with complications because they want to avoid the simple things. Simple things tell the truth, and the truth can hurt your feelings. Cable crossovers lie. Pull-ups tell the truth.


Beware supplements

This industry is shady. The good stuff (meaning clean, reliably tested, etc.) is really expensive. So many kids are stuffing down gallons of the cheapest protein, preworkout powder, etc. they can find. I shudder to think what garbage they are consuming along with it. At best, they are wasting their money. Real food and vitamins go a long way. There are plenty of better ways to spend money than buying questionable supplements.


Finally: Stop wearing huge headphones in the gym. You look ridiculous. And get off my lawn.

Great post. The people that learn these lessons early are usually way ahead of the curve later in life.

[Adski]

A younger family member asked me how he could start strength training. He's never trained in a serious way before, although he has played around in the gym so is at least familiar with the various exercises (if not a master of them). He's not going into a tactical profession, rather just looking to get strong.

My advice was he start out with Stronglifts or Starting Strength, which is what I did. I told him to milk the linear progression as long as he could.

Curious to know what you would have told him.

I'm late to this party, but I wanted to share some advice I recently gave a similarly situated young man.


Train smart early

Smart training in your 20s will have a compound effect later in life. It's like investing. Long term thinking always wins. If you put in work at 20 years old, you can get in great shape using almost any program. If you put in work the right way, you can sustain that progress for the rest of your life. How you get there matters.

Be smarter than your peers. Stay away from risky workouts (CrossFit without a qualified coach, for example). A healthy male in his early 20s is basically on steroids naturally. You can push too hard and get away with it for a while, maybe several years. Ultimately, that pace is not sustainable. You will pay for it sooner than you think.

Work an intelligently designed program. Make progress. Stretch, ice, recover. Do it again. Boring. Not featured in magazines. Simple works. Simple does not mean easy. You can't accessorize your way to real fitness. Too many people fill their time with complications because they want to avoid the simple things. Simple things tell the truth, and the truth can hurt your feelings. Cable crossovers lie. Pull-ups tell the truth.


Beware supplements

This industry is shady. The good stuff (meaning clean, reliably tested, etc.) is really expensive. So many kids are stuffing down gallons of the cheapest protein, preworkout powder, etc. they can find. I shudder to think what garbage they are consuming along with it. At best, they are wasting their money. Real food and vitamins go a long way. There are plenty of better ways to spend money than buying questionable supplements.


Finally: Stop wearing huge headphones in the gym. You look ridiculous. And get off my lawn.

x2. Plus to reiterate, don’t over do it regardless of how good you think you will recover, I learnt this the hard way, which is one of the reasons I reccomend TB and II to most younger people I work with, (as it keeps you reigned in, progressing without overdoing it) depending on their needs/wants/work/life.

Depending on the person, Op/IA could work well depending on the persons temperament (if they wish go too hard all the time, maxing our all sets perhaps this may not be the best route). Operator standard could be an option, I get that stronglifts can work, however I’ve seen just as many successes as I have failures due to people overdoing it(then taking weeks off to recover)/mentally burning out there too (perhaps if they used a training max this could be avoided, I’d say user error more than program error in this instance).
After rereading, Zulu could work great with an accessory or two. A majority younger guys enjoy getting in some accessories, curls, rows etc, so perhaps a blend of strength/hypertrophy work could be in order.
I may be a bit biased here, but I feel that deadlifts are a must (personal opinion), even if it’s one set per week. (or some form of kettlebell finisher).

Lastly, x2, ditch the headphones.

[Ibrahimovic105]

A younger family member asked me how he could start strength training. He's never trained in a serious way before, although he has played around in the gym so is at least familiar with the various exercises (if not a master of them). He's not going into a tactical profession, rather just looking to get strong.

My advice was he start out with Stronglifts or Starting Strength, which is what I did. I told him to milk the linear progression as long as he could.

Curious to know what you would have told him.

I'm late to this party, but I wanted to share some advice I recently gave a similarly situated young man.


Train smart early

Smart training in your 20s will have a compound effect later in life. It's like investing. Long term thinking always wins. If you put in work at 20 years old, you can get in great shape using almost any program. If you put in work the right way, you can sustain that progress for the rest of your life. How you get there matters.

Be smarter than your peers. Stay away from risky workouts (CrossFit without a qualified coach, for example). A healthy male in his early 20s is basically on steroids naturally. You can push too hard and get away with it for a while, maybe several years. Ultimately, that pace is not sustainable. You will pay for it sooner than you think.

Work an intelligently designed program. Make progress. Stretch, ice, recover. Do it again. Boring. Not featured in magazines. Simple works. Simple does not mean easy. You can't accessorize your way to real fitness. Too many people fill their time with complications because they want to avoid the simple things. Simple things tell the truth, and the truth can hurt your feelings. Cable crossovers lie. Pull-ups tell the truth.


Beware supplements

This industry is shady. The good stuff (meaning clean, reliably tested, etc.) is really expensive. So many kids are stuffing down gallons of the cheapest protein, preworkout powder, etc. they can find. I shudder to think what garbage they are consuming along with it. At best, they are wasting their money. Real food and vitamins go a long way. There are plenty of better ways to spend money than buying questionable supplements.


Finally: Stop wearing huge headphones in the gym. You look ridiculous. And get off my lawn.

When did Clint Eastwood join this forum Thanks for the advice William Munny XD

[Ibrahimovic105]

I can't argue against Starting Strength. Only a fool would!

This summer, however, I started my own son on Greyskull LP. It's very close to SS, but there is a rep max aspect too. Think of a Wendler-Ripp bastard child. I like the rep max for newbie "skinny bastards" as a way of catalyzing some much needed hypertrophy. I wouldn't turn a teenager loose with a license to go for broke, but if you can watch the them closely and help them to know when to pull the plug, I think this is a good tool to use.

But did you make your son do Base building from TB( SE first) before putting him on Greyskull LP?

I have got hold of both Greyskull LP and SS book
and after reading your post I'm thinking of doing Greyskull lp but I'm confused if I should do Base building before the linear programs as many legends on this site have advised me for it .

Lastly which is better Greyskull or SS before I eventually move onto TB operator ?

[grouchyjarhead]

I've actually been experimenting using weekly linear progression with my barbell training (long layoff due to some back issues, which I mostly just did SE). I am currently running Fighter, and use the same working weights for each set twice a week. If I hit both sessions without much difficulty, I add 5-10 pounds (5 upper, 10 lower) for the next week and so on. Once I start stalling, I'll switch to the standard periodization of Fighter. Working well so far.