
Current state
28yo, 6'4"ish (193cm) & about 93KG (205 lbs). I'm pretty weak when it comes to lifting at the moment. 14 weeks ago I didn't know what a squat or deadlift is. The last three months I've been winging it through workouts (as you might remember from my last thread), but for the last 4 weeks I've been following a strict program (sticking to it, and making strength gains, still in a caloric deficit, for now).
I'm taking this week off lifting to deload, then next week will get a baseline for my main lifts to start a 531 program the following week.
Goals
Build strength. Hypertrophy. Improve my bf% by adding lean mass.
Method
531 - 4 days per week (will elaborate below)
Hill sprints - 2 days per week
approx 4000 calories per day with a 30/20/50 macro split (c/f/p). Wholefoods where possible.. ~4 shakes a day, ~5-6 whole food meals a day. The only supps I take are protein shakes, bcaa mix to sip on during training, creatine & a fast release carb powder for post training... plus a few different vitamins etc daily. Everything else is from dairy, white/red meat, tinned salmon, eggs, lots of veg(bok choy, broccoli, mushroom, eggplant etc etc), brown rice, sweet potato etc. I don't eat any bread, pasta, refined carbs etc
This is the 531 program I've come up with
DAY 1
Bench - 531
DB rows - 5x15
Tricep Pushdowns - 5x15
DAY 2
Squat - 531
GM - 5x15
Hyperextensions - 5x15 (don't have a GHR bench at my gym)
+ab work
DAY 3
Hill sprints - Approx 20-25 minutes of HIIT
DAY 4
Press - 531
Lat Pulldowns - 5x15
BB Curls - 5x15
DAY 5
DL - 531
Leg Press - 5x15
Leg Curls - 5x15
+ab work
DAY 6
Hill sprints - Approx 20-25 minutes of HIIT
DAY 7
Watch football
Some Notes
I know a lot of people shy away from calorie counting and macro splits, but I like to do it that way. I'm a chronic overeater, and I want to try add mass with clean dense calories, and I want to know whats going in, so if something isn't right, I can adjust accordingly.
I'm not sold on some of the assistance exercises I have chosen.. I can tell you what I am sold on.. Leg presses, hypers, lat pulls, db rows, and at least some form of curls (BB curls or DB hammers) once a week.
I can't foresee overtraining being an issue, I am doing more work now, on half the calories, and I feel great. My sleep and routine is highly regimented, asleep and awake at the same hours, training at same time of day etc..
Seeking opinions on lower body days whether the ab/ob work is too much to add in when I've already got two assistance exercises? Drop an assistance exercise for ab work? Also my ab/ob work would consist mainly of weighted sit ups, db side bends, hanging leg raises and planks.
Let the vitriol spew forth
