TheSheepdog's yearly workout program and thoughts on lifting

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I like to put my workouts into phases, that way I can enjoy my workouts, try to break personal lifting records, and avoid having my muscles plateau and stagnate.
I normally keep my major movements at 2 warm-ups and 2 working sets. The second working set is the "balls to the walls" set. I go all out on the second for reps and weight. Every exercise thereafter only gets 2 sets, the second being the hardest. My theory is, why do a bunch of sets when you don't have to? If the muscle can get worked by the second set, then why in the hell are guys doing 5-7 sets of bench press, when the muscle already got its maximum load from doing 2-3 sets? I feel that anything that isn?t needed shouldn't be done. By doing more sets then you need you are welcoming injuries and another 20 minutes added to your time in the gym.

These workouts should take you no more then 1hr to complete. I have done some workouts in 30-45 minutes. In the powerlifting phase you want to rest more in between sets. You want to rest enough to be were you gain back most of your strength and you're ready to go heavy on the next set. On the muscle endurance phase, you want to hit it as fast as possible. Get the required enough rest per set to perform the next set with vigor. Also I tend to not count reps in the muscle endurance phase; I just do as many as I can. On the pressing movements I do have a number in my head and I just get the amount of weight that I think can get me to that number. Oh yea, I always either count backwards or by 5's. So if my goal is 30 reps, I'll start with 30 till I get to 0 or by 5?s?.its a mind thing and it does help.

Some days I'll go in and only work on two exercises, like dips and flyes or just do pull-ups and seated rows for a workout. My advice to anyone working out, always focus on what is hard for you.

I also believe in fascia stretching. For those of you that aren?t aware, the fascia is the encasing for the muscle. Kinda like if the balloon was the fascia and the air was the muscle, well the more you stretch the balloon the more air you can put in.

None of the exercises or rep ranges has to be done in this fashion. It's just an idea of how I do it. I never do the same workout twice and I always introduce a different exercise then the last time.

When it comes to rest, nutrition and recovery this is what I have learned and tried;

I take naps during the day, whether its 15 minutes or 30 minutes. On Saturday's I sleep for more then an hour in a dark room. This is the ultimate way to recover from a workout. Sleeping will raise levels of serotonin which is essential for recovery and well being. Sleep and rest is the prescribed medication that all doctors give when an injury has occurred, because the body has a natural mechanism that heals itself when asleep. Many bodybuilders get a large amount of sleep. Think about the people in prison, how are they able to get so big, working out everyday? They don't have the stresses of the world; they can sleep all day, and replenish their muscles with nutrition.

Nutrition is everything. I really do think that nutrition is like 80% of this whole bodybuilding equation.
For ex. If you do 200 reps of sit-ups, bench press, pull-ups, etc and then go and eat 10 big macs, do you get more ripped? NO
If you do 2-5 sets of 5-10 reps of an exercise, in a controlled manner, then eat a pretty grilled chicken salad, with a bake potato, and drink your water, will you get more ripped? YES
During all of these phases I keep the same diet? I eat what I want. When I eat if I crave for a burger, I eat it, but I might do fries with no salt and a Hi-c drink to go with it and then I would only eat this after a workout or before my nap. I also try to get a lot of vegetables in for the fiber, vitamins and the way they strengthen your immune system,which is also VERY important. I wont go into detail about the workings of nutrition (I do have a nutrition guide that talks about nutrition a little bit), but I will say this, if you are bulking, eat, if it's hard to gain weight and gain strength, eat. Eat clean and eat dirty. A diet that is too clean will not see results and a diet that is too dirty will kill you. I try to eat foods that will help with my recovery and prepare me for the next workout.





1st quarter (3 months)
Powerlifting, strength routine

During this time period I workout 3 days a week, maybe four. The days are space so I can get the maximum amount of rest before the next training session.

Day1-workout
Day2-rest
Day3-workout
Day4-rest
Day5-workout

The only exercises I do are squats, incline bench press, flat bench press, military press, cleans, deadlifts and e-z curl bar rows (barbell rows with e-z curl bar). These are the multi-joint movements. They will work more then one body part when doing them.

The rep scheme is
Warm up
Warm up
5-7 reps light weight
3-5 reps medium weight
5-7 reps heavy weight
10-20 reps

The days need to be space to not affect the recovering body part
i.e.
Day 1-squats (legs and back)
Day3-chest, cleans, military press
Day5 deadlifts and e-z curl row (legs and back?should be recovered and ready to go)

During this phase, rest and sleep is very essential. Nutrition is simple?eat big, get your weight up, get your strength up. Flush the muscles with as much nutrients as possible. Prior to the workouts I have a high caffeinated/vitamin drink (I currently drink Deton8, you get a box of 12 for $2.00, very high in vitamins