Interchanging mass workout and power workout

[future_strongguy]

I have been doing some bulking up for the past three or so months. I've been following the Anthony Ellis workout program. Basically the program looked like this:

Workout 1 (heavy sets, progressive overload for first 4 sets, then the 5th set is a burnout set with the first weight):

Day 1)
Flat bench press 5 sets
     Incline dumbell flyes 1 superset
Shoulder press 5 sets
     Side raises 1 superset
Shrugs 5 sets
Dips 5 sets
     Tricep Pushdowns 1 superset
Crunches 4 sets

Day 2)
Squats 5 sets
    Leg extensions 1 superset
Stiff-legged deadlifts 5 sets
    Hamstring curls 1 superset
Calve raises 1 stripset
Reverse crunches 4 sets

Day 3)
Wide grip pull-ups 4 sets
one arm rows 5 sets
     latbar pulldown 1 superset
standing dumbell curls 4 sets
     ez bar reverse curls 3 supersets on the last three sets of dumbell curls (this one hurts like a *****, feels like my arms are going to explode.  I love it :p)
crunches 4 sets

Workout 2 (10x10):
Day 1)
Incline cumbell press 10 sets of 10
barbell rows (reverse grip) 10 x 10
pullovers 3 sets, 10-15 reps
latbar pulldowns 3 sets, 10-15 reps
decline board twisting situps 4 sets

Day 2)
deadlifts 10 x 10
calf raises 10x10
reverse crunches 4 sets

day 3)
bar dips 10 x 10
reverse curls with ez bar 10 x 10
lateral raises 3 sets, 10 reps
tricep pulldowns 3 sets, 10-15 reps
decline board twisting sit ups 4 sets

I've been doing workout 1 for three weeks, then workout 2 for two weeks to avoid plateau. But, because I play a sport, I want to start training for power as well as size.

Would it be wise to do Workout 1 for one week, then a workout designed for power the next week?

 

[Quagmire911]

I'd say there are better routines you can follow that will give you strength and size (where the correct nutritional plan is in place).

I'd follow this:

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=125444

And eat like this:

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=134782

And voila=Strength + Size

AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHEN WARBOSS TOLD YOU IN OCTOBER :

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=132194

WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH:trouble:

 

[future_strongguy]

Yes, I understand that. I may try a different workout routine, but so far this one has been working. I've been eating right, and have gained about 20 pounds in the last couple of months.

But, I want to start training for power now, as well as size. Correct me if I'm wrong, but strength does not build power; power builds strength. Strength builds muscle. Is this correct?

I'm thinking about doing size for one week, and then power the next week (or maybe two weeks size, then two weeks power). I'm just wondering if anyone can recommend anything better.

 

[Quagmire911]

This is the last I will say on the matter.

Look into what I have posted above.

If you double your squat, deadlift, and bench you will not be short on power. Lift explosively.

Another routine you could look into is Stronglifts 5x5, he incorporates power cleans I think and they are very good for power.

AND I WILL SAY THIS ONCE. YOU BUILD STRENGTH AND POWER, SIZE IS MERELY A BY-PRODUCT THAT COMES THROUGH DIET. YOU DON'T NEED TO TRAIN DIFFERENTLY TO BUILD BOTH. YOU NEED TO STICK TO A STRENGTH/POWER ROUTINE AND EAT LIKE I POSTED ABOVE AND YOU WILL BE WELL ON YOUR WAY.

Quagmire

 

[wolf116]

But, I want to start training for power now, as well as size. Correct me if I'm wrong, but strength does not build power; power builds strength. Strength builds muscle. Is this correct?

NO!

You tell him Quagmire!

 

[future_strongguy]

I'm currently doing this:

Workout A:
3x5 Squats
3x5 Bench press
1x5 Deadlift
2xF dips

Workout B:
3x5 Squat
3x5 Standing military
3x5 Pendlay
2xF Chin ups

But I have a question about Chinups: Do the hands need to be facing you? I looked everywhere in the gym but I couldn't find any bars parallel to the ground for chinups. I found virtually every single different kinds of bars with different angles, and finally settled for a set that I hold with both my hands facing each other. Will this be as effective, or should I do a different exercise?

 

[Quagmire911]

It's not a conventional chin up, but a variance.

You won't be able to do as many of those as regular chins but if your progress on them they will give you benefit. They will alter where the main emphasis of the exercise is placed on your muscles.

Quagmire

Ps.-Great choice of routine.

 

[future_strongguy]

Nice, this was me 11 months ago. I was 140 lbs at 5'11 and my diet was crap. I tried Anthony Ellis's work out, but everyone said that there are better work outs to do. So then I spent 6-7 months doing the work outs in the Vault up top.

(Side story: Apparently, power is not strength. Just because you are strong, doesn't mean you are powerful. Excessive development of maximal strength can actually hinder your explosive and speed strength. Explosive and speed strength are the most common types-of-strength presented in sports. I learned that from Ross Enamait's books 7 months after I started - all because I was blind following the stuff people wrote on an Internet forum.)

Got my diet in check and did SL 5x5. Even tried MR 3x5, and the Workout B at the top of this forum. None worked for me. Some strength gains and very little size gains, even though I was eating 4500-5000 calories a day. I was over training because the program was not for me. "You need to eat more." But I can't!

I was a blind man following the blind.

My squat went up to about 220 lbs. Was expecting more from 6 months of hard work and making myself depressed from eating. Oh well... "work harder" they say.

Now that I read Ross Enamait's books, I started some of his stuff. Thankfully, Ross doesn't advertise any program in his books - he wants you to make your own program, because he knows everyone is different. It doesn't matter how good Workout B is or how famous Mark Rippetoe is on the Internet, not every program will work for every single person.

Ross's stuff worked but I wasn't using it to gain weight, just get better at tennis. Oh, and it wasn't "Ross's stuff," it was "my stuff" with guidance from Ross's books. It was my own routine.

What does that leave... 4 months left in my story?

Ended up quitting tennis 4 months ago. Went back on Anthony Ellis's program. The only difference is that I would cut out all the machines, burn out sets, and super sets. Anthony gives you this option if you want, because he is aware that a single, universal program will not work for every single person.

Pook said it works, and I trust Pook. I also fixed my diet, and nothing else is working. So why not?

Bam. I went up to 190 is a few months. My squat hit 450 lbs, so no one needs to mention "functional strength." Cut some fat to get my 6 pack and I'm set. Yes, I still work out but not as much, I have other things to do. I just want to maintain what I have.

I wanted to get it over with; lose the skinnyness and live the rest of my life. Make the short sacrifice to live a life of pleasure. This is what Ellis's book is about.

And I'm not the only one. Loads of people have had the same results in the private forums.

People react to you differently. It's amazing. It may be hard to believe, but some people stop the program because of the results they are getting. They can't handle the change people see in them. People will talk about your past self in bad ways, but you still feel like your past self. This sounds like an advertisement, but my point is that RESULTS MATTER. Don't follow someone because they wrote a fancy book that people bought; ditch it if it doesn't work.

I speak from personal experience: If you don't lose your skinny look in 3-5 months, ditch it.

There will be some people questioning the validity of these claims. I don't care. Maybe I'll never even read the replies. It doesn't matter to me. I have more important things to worry about now than health and fitness - I have it covered.

It may sound like it, but I am not shooting down any of the members or work outs on this site. I am just trying to get the point across that NO SINGLE WORK OUT WILL WORK FOR EVERY ONE. When a struggling newbie is not seeing gains with the work out they are doing, he is told to "eat more" and "sleep more" and "work harder." But what if he can't eat more (he's full!), and he is already sleeping 8 hours a day, and he is already bleeding sweat month after month without seeing the results he wants.

No more blind following the blind. Find something that works and stick with it. Ross's books are very scientific; he cites everything and uses respectable sources. Yet the most important thing I've ever read from him is: "Science doesn't matter, results do."