Reg Park's Routine for Size & Strength

[BassJunkie]

I'm going to be doing another of Reg Park's routines once i hit myBW on stronglifts.

Workout A

Back Squats 5x5
Chin-Ups or Pull-Ups 5x5
Dips or Bench Press 5x5
Wrist Work 2x10
Calves 2x15-20

Workout B

Front Squats 5x5
Rows 5x5
Standing Press 5x5
Deadlifts 3x5 (2 warm-up sets and 1 "stabilizer set")
Wrist Work 2x10
Calves 2x15-20

Week 1: A, B, A
Week 2: B, A, B
Week 3: A, B, etc

His 5x5 is a little different to stronglift's, instead of doing say, two warm-up sets and then 5x5, you do two warm-up sets (5 reps each) and then 3x5, doing 60% of your working weight for the first warm-up set, and then 80% of your working weight for the second warm-up.

I tried doing this way of doing 5x5 (or 3x5 you might call it) on my last stronglifts routine and found that my body jsut seemed more accustomed to it, don't know what it was, I still got knackered as usual but something just felt right if you know what i mean, maybe its something to do with my genetics or whatnot.

[5M1L3Y]

What is wrist-work meant to be?

All these numbers & words are confusing me, 5RM, 1RM, Kcal, 80%, 60%...

[BassJunkie]

Well you can do wrist curls, but i find the best thing for your wrists/forarms is to tie a rope round a dumbbell or something in the middle, then tie a plate at the other end long enough to that the plate is at your knees when you hold your arms out straight infront of you, then wind hold the dumbbell either side of the rope and wind the dumbbell either towards you or away from you winding the rope up around the dumbbell untill the plate reaches the DB, then go back down and then the other way, it really kills!

Here is a video http://www.ehow.com/video_2351859_do-fo ... -rope.html it really really hurts!

[wolfking09]

What is wrist-work meant to be?

All these numbers & words are confusing me, 5RM, 1RM, Kcal, 80%, 60%...

wrist work=forearm work,its an old fashioned name for it I suppose.

5RM= 5 rep max,as in a weight you could press 5 times until failure.You might be able to barbell curl 50lbs 10 times,but if you tried 75lbs and only got 5 reps,that would be your 5RM.
1RM=see above. This would be a weight you could press once but not get the second rep.Your maximum strength in a lift in other words.

kcal=1 kilocalorie,a source of energy.

80%,60% etc=refers to a certain percentage of your max weight for a working set.
If you could bench press 250lbs as your 1RM,working at 80% of this would mean you were using 200lbs for your bench.
250lbs/100=2.5
2.5 is 1% of 250lbs
2.5x80=200.
200lbs is 80% of your 1RM of 250lbs.

[5M1L3Y]

What is wrist-work meant to be?

All these numbers & words are confusing me, 5RM, 1RM, Kcal, 80%, 60%...

wrist work=forearm work,its an old fashioned name for it I suppose.

5RM= 5 rep max,as in a weight you could press 5 times until failure.You might be able to barbell curl 50lbs 10 times,but if you tried 75lbs and only got 5 reps,that would be your 5RM.
1RM=see above. This would be a weight you could press once but not get the second rep.Your maximum strength in a lift in other words.

kcal=1 kilocalorie,a source of energy.

80%,60% etc=refers to a certain percentage of your max weight for a working set.
If you could bench press 250lbs as your 1RM,working at 80% of this would mean you were using 200lbs for your bench.
250lbs/100=2.5
2.5 is 1% of 250lbs
2.5x80=200.
200lbs is 80% of your 1RM of 250lbs.

I think I was over exaggerating a bit when I asked...

What I should've asked was how do you figure out your 1RM...

[Mehdi]

I tried doing this way of doing 5x5 (or 3x5 you might call it) on my last stronglifts routine and found that my body jsut seemed more accustomed to it, don't know what it was, I still got knackered as usual but something just felt right if you know what i mean, maybe its something to do with my genetics or whatnot.

Let's say your normal work weight on squats is an easy 100kg for 5x5. Now you switched to the method you explained, 1 heavy set of 5. Would look like this: 5x60, 5x80, 5x90, 5x100, 5x110kg.

5x5x100kg = 2500kg lifted
5x60 + 5x80kg + 5x90kg + 5x100kg + 5x110kg = less kg lifted

Although max weight is higher, volume is lower. Higher intensity, lower volume.

Not that high volume is the best way, it's just a different "pain".

[BassJunkie]

I tried doing this way of doing 5x5 (or 3x5 you might call it) on my last stronglifts routine and found that my body jsut seemed more accustomed to it, don't know what it was, I still got knackered as usual but something just felt right if you know what i mean, maybe its something to do with my genetics or whatnot.

Let's say your normal work weight on squats is an easy 100kg for 5x5. Now you switched to the method you explained, 1 heavy set of 5. Would look like this: 5x60, 5x80, 5x90, 5x100, 5x110kg.

5x5x100kg = 2500kg lifted
5x60 + 5x80kg + 5x90kg + 5x100kg + 5x110kg = less kg lifted

Although max weight is higher, volume is lower. Higher intensity, lower volume.

Not that high volume is the best way, it's just a different "pain".

For the reg park version you are doing three heavy sets, not one.

say your working weight is 100kg:
5x60kg + 5x80kg + 5x100kg + 5x100kg + 5x100kg

Still not as much weight lifted, but those last three sets (your working weights) are supposed to be all PR's rather than just the last set.

[s0nix]

Mehdi, i have a few questions for you please.

I would typically do 1 or 2 sets off each of the above exercises when I was into this program hot and heavy.

- So, You never did all the sets of all the exercices during this training and you gained a lot ?

Is this program can be for me if....

1. I plan to do it for only 2 months
2. I don't really want to change my nutrition.... i eat my 3 meals a day, normally pasta for lunch and chicken/steak for dinner.
3. I've always trained 4-5 days a week with like one muscle per day (3-4 exercices). So i like to isolate my muscle for keep them in shape.

Thanks for you response.

[Rugger]

Mehdi, i have a few questions for you please.

I would typically do 1 or 2 sets off each of the above exercises when I was into this program hot and heavy.

- So, You never did all the sets of all the exercices during this training and you gained a lot ?

Is this program can be for me if....

1. I plan to do it for only 2 months
2. I don't really want to change my nutrition.... i eat my 3 meals a day, normally pasta for lunch and chicken/steak for dinner.
3. I've always trained 4-5 days a week with like one muscle per day (3-4 exercices). So i like to isolate my muscle for keep them in shape.

Thanks for you response.

1. No.
2. That's fine, just make sure you eat a lot.
3. Wrong.

[s0nix]

Rugger,

1. How long should I do this kind of training (at least) ?
3. What do you mean by "Wrong" ? What i did before was wrong .... or switching from my old kind of training to this new one is wrong ?

[holvoetn]

Rugger,

1. How long should I do this kind of training (at least) ?
3. What do you mean by "Wrong" ? What i did before was wrong .... or switching from my old kind of training to this new one is wrong ?

I am not Rugger but the way i see it:
1. 3 to 6 months at least, I think. Why only 2 months ?
3. You need a full rest day in between sessions. Your nerval system also needs rest. You are only giving it 2 days a week. Besides, isolation of muscles ? What's wrong with using compound exercises and working even MORE muscles ?

[Dada]

Bassjunkie, good luck with the program. I assume you will keep track of your progress in a log? If so, it will be great to see how you progress.

I'm guessing you have seen the following link already but just in case anyone else hadn't it's a great read. I definitely plan on taking on some of these in the future sometime myself as well.

http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/getting-star ... grams.html

[s0nix]

I am not Rugger but the way i see it:
1. 3 to 6 months at least, I think. Why only 2 months ?
3. You need a full rest day in between sessions. Your nerval system also needs rest. You are only giving it 2 days a week. Besides, isolation of muscles ? What's wrong with using compound exercises and working even MORE muscles ?

1. In fact, it's just because i don't really know how a "STRENGTH TRAINING" will affect my body. Before summer, i add some cardio and supersets normally.
2. I understand that and your right. It's just a habit to train like that.

[BassJunkie]

Bassjunkie, good luck with the program. I assume you will keep track of your progress in a log? If so, it will be great to see how you progress.

I'm guessing you have seen the following link already but just in case anyone else hadn't it's a great read. I definitely plan on taking on some of these in the future sometime myself as well.

http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/getting-star ... grams.html

Well i am currently trying to decide whether to do his three phase routine or a classic split routine. If i do reg parks routine i will keep a log on this site. So long as Mehdi doesn't mind me keeping a log of a routine other than stronglifts on here.

[Dada]

Bassjunkie, good luck with the program. I assume you will keep track of your progress in a log? If so, it will be great to see how you progress.

I'm guessing you have seen the following link already but just in case anyone else hadn't it's a great read. I definitely plan on taking on some of these in the future sometime myself as well.

http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/getting-star ... grams.html

So long as Mehdi doesn't mind me keeping a log of a routine other than stronglifts on here.

Lot of people do and I'm sure he doesn't mind. Especially a routine like that which is in a similar vein as SL.