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Base Strength: Program Design Blueprint?
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For your size and age your progress isn't bad. Could be better, but not bad. You will however find that as you get stronger it gets harder to gain strength just doing your own thing which is where programming comes in.
I suggest picking up a copy of Alex Bromley's Base Strength. It's $10, an easy read, and will cover the whys and hows of programming. You'll also see a lot of folks in this subreddit running programs from that book (e.g. Bullmastiff) with great success. It will give you some ideas on how to train better and continue to grow.
Yeah, pretty much. I spent about 1-2 years grinding it out in the 3-5 rep range, de-loading and running into plateaus again. It left me beat up.
I started watching Alexander Bromley on YouTube and picked up his base strength book. And started running one of the programs from the book. Specifically the Volume / Intensity program
Base Strength: Program Design Blueprint https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R5J58F8
The short of it is that I’m running in higher rep ranges with lighter weight for now but gradually increasing intensity over time ( typical periodization). The difference though, is that the phases run these 3 week repeating waves so every 4th week it’s like having a built in deload. Since running the program all of my issues have dissipated. (Shoulder and low back issues gone) and my calculated 1 RM for all lifts are skyrocketing.
In a few months I’ll be back in the 3-5 rep range but I won’t be there longer than necessary and I’ll have built a solid foundation ( base strength).
If you haven’t already I would recommend subscribing to Bromleys YouTube channel and checkout the base strength book. I’m having fun again and making gains. Strength and size.
The general feedback you’re likely to get around here is “That’s not a program, it’s just a list of exercises”. What you’re missing that would make it a ‘program’ is a progression scheme (i.e. when do you change the weights and/or reps and by how much).
As TC pointed out, it’s not a bad idea to go look at the fitness wiki, specifically the recommended routines. The programs there have been run by enough people with positive results that they are just ‘known to work’.
You should also maybe do some reading to understand training principles - Alex Bromley’s Base strength is an easy read on this topic and Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 books are considered classics.
Regarding your ‘list of exercises’ - it looks pretty good. You’re hitting all the major muscle groups and varying rep ranges and using both a BB and DBs is also a good idea. As long as you’re eating enough and working hard when you’re in the gym this routine will get you bigger and stronger. You might be able to get bigger and stronger slightly faster by running a ‘program’, but it won’t be a night and day difference.
It could be that you’ve hit the limits of a beginner linear progression program and it’s time to move on to something with better periodization. The fitness wiki can help you out with that. 5/3/1, Greg Nuckol’s programs and GZCL are all being used to great success here. If you’re looking to learn how to intelligently program then Alex Bromley’s Base strength is a great resource and quite a few folks around here are running his BullMastif program.
Alex Bromley’s Base Strength is a great book to read to get a deeper understanding of programming and quite a few people in this sub have made great gains running programs from it. It’s only $10 at the Kindle store as well.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Base-Strength-Program-Design-Blueprint-ebook/dp/B08R5J58F8 (pirate it on library genesis if you want it for free)
I suggest taking a look at the Stronger by science program bundle. They’ll get you working in different rep ranges, but the spreadsheet tracks (and adjusts) your training max so you can see progress. Lots of people here have had great success with them - I got a nice little boost to my press and bench running the RTF version, and I’ve managed to keep my press and bench stable while cutting 25lbs running the hypertrophy version.
Alex Bromley’s book Base strength is another great resource with programs that folks have used to make great bench gains.
Your progression tells you it’s time to hop off of Starting Strength and hop onto a more sophisticated program - like the ones in the fitness wiki. I’m partial to the SBS ones, but there are tons of people making progress with all the ones listed there. If you want to get to the ‘why’ behind this statement I recommend reading Alex Bromley’s Base Strength.
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- Greg Nuckols, The Art and Science of Lifting (anything Greg Nuckols puts out is worth reading imo)
- Alex Bromley's Base Strength and Peak Strength (powerlifting/strongman focus but really helpful for understanding strength training periodization and how to support lifters' development over a career)
- Jack Daniels' Running Formula (lots of great info on cardio training/physiology and tips on coaching)
- Greg Everett's Olympic Weightlifting (his youtube/insta are great too, catalystathletics)
- Visible Body iPad app for learning muscle origins, insertions, and functions (pricey but worth it)
A good personal training course will cover a lot of the basics, if you have a few hundred bucks to throw around. I got certified through ACE and the course was very good. I know that NSCA and NASM have well-regarded programs but can't vouch for them personally.
some ideas:
try sticking with morning workouts for a while, like a month or two. often you'll feel terrible at first but your body will adapt and it will get easier.
try bringing some kettlebells into work and working out at lunch. it's totally possible to build muscle and stay in shape using kettlebells, and you could supplement with barbells on the weekend if you want.
if you really can't make it work, there are two-day barbell programs you could try on the weekends. you likely won't make as much progress as you would on a 3+ day program, but you can still make progress. i think there's at least one two-day template in base strength, and maybe some 5/3/1 variants that would work twice a week.
ultimately it's just about finding ways to get to yes.
I've found that Alex Bromley does a very good job of explaining how to program and the programs he's created have led to pretty good results from the people here in WR who have followed them. He has two books on programming; Base Strength and Peak Strength. He also has some very good videos on YouTube as well as a Patreon thing.
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