The usage of straps allows you to lift slightly heavier weights on your deadlift compared to raw grip, hence forcing your body to recruit more muscle fibers from the back/hamstring and less from the forearms.

In short, I feel it's best to switch it up.

But it really depends on yourself, if you feel your forearms could use a little beefing and your grip is sub-par (your grip will affect the strength of other exercises as well, particularly those involving dumbbells), then by all means, forgo the straps.

If you feel like placing more emphasis on your back and hamstrings, go for straps.

I think that's perfectly normal if you're stepping in the gym for the first time. Just be patient, you'll eventually not tire out and will actually want to do more workouts!

You could incorporate different variations of deadlifts, different variations of squats, lunges, leg presses, leg extensions, etc. etc...

Also, just an advice, try not to go more than 5 reps on your squats but go heavier on the weights (while maintaining proper form and DEPTH, very important) to build up your basic strength, assuming you've just started gym not too long ago.

1. The following should be a valid reason to include deadlifts in your lower body days,



Above quote was written by Layne Norton, a very well known and trusted source of knowledge in the bodybuilding industry. However, while he recommends that beginners do not do squats and deadlifts on the same day as you will feel a little weak on your deadlift after squats, I personally do squats and deadlifts on the same day and have no issues with it (although it took some time for my body to adjust to the routine).

2. Regardless of your body type, I would suggest incorporating both high and low reps into your routines. Go for max 5 reps on compounds exercises and about 8-12 or even 6-10 reps on isolation exercises. This allows you to train up your strength and also hypertrophy at the same time.

3. As for the skinny-fat belly issue going on, you could go on a cutting phase till you lose that belly fat then go on a mini-bulk (where you aim to put on muscles with as little fat gain as possible). Another alternative is to culk (cut and bulk at the same time), but that is waaay harder.

How long you go on your cutting phase will generally depend on how you look like right now and how you want to look like at the end of the phase, so this will generally depend on your current body composition.

4. I wouldn't recommend going to failure ALL the time for ALL exercises. In fact, I hardly go to failure except maybe on compound exercises. Occasionally, I'd recommend people to take their compound lifts to failure, and that is only on the last few reps of the last set. Failure here meaning slight support needed on the last 2-3 reps, not a tag team exercise where both parties are lifting hard (trust me I've seen a barbell bench press turn into a 2 man sport with the spotter doing bicep curls )

This post has been edited by durianhead: Apr 17 2013, 10:40 PM

Your workout split will very well depend on how many days you go gym in a week.

You could then do a culk lol. It's a little tedious to explain but basically, it's increasing your protein intake and decreasing your carb intake.

I meant going for 5 reps for 5 sets. How you want to scale your weight is totally up to you. Just to give a few suggestions:

1. Maintain the same weight for all 5 sets at 5 reps (make sure you warm up with 1 or 2 relatively light sets, and this doesn't count towards the 5 sets)

2. Start A LITTLE lower than your MAX 5 reps and work your way up to your max 5 reps on the 3rd set, then back down a little on the 4th and depending on how you feel, you can either maintain the weight for the 5th set or drop it a little more if you're feeling a little under on that day.

3. Start lower than your 5 reps max and work your way up to the 5 reps max on the 5th set.

Go to failure occasionally by increasing the weight (say every 3 weeks?) and see how your progress goes from there.

Yes, squats and deadlifts are very taxing. But your body will get used to it if you perform it routinely and correctly. I would recommend doing squats first then deadlifts. Make sure your form is correct and don't increase your weight until you've perfected the form.

You're welcome

Try to go ATG on your first warm up set, then slightly below parallel on your subsequent warm up sets and parallel on your 5 reps max sets. Good luck! Your lower back is going to be sore!

Haha. It's a term now I guess . I think you should place more importance on hitting your protein requirements first before worrying about carbs and fats. However, the choice is in your hands.

Take longer rests for compounds movements to regain your strength and shorter rests for isolation movements. I can't really give you a set time for resting as everyone's recovery rate is different. Experiment with different rest times to find out which one suits you best.

You're most welcome


Lol, if I were you, I'd train through it as long as it doesn't hurt when I'm training. But everyone's body is different. Go to the gym and try some light tricep exercises and see whether it hurts.

Can't imagine the car's side mirror after it hit your arm though

Oh man, I don't even know how you can still do squats after deadlifts. Haha.

Yeah, first time I did it, it took some time getting used to. However, this really builds up your lower back and your core at the same time. Finish it off with a combination of lunges / leg presses / leg extensions / sitting and/or standing leg curls and your legs should be pretty worn out. Especially after lunges.

Get a belt if you're planning on going heavy.

Once in awhile, you have to shock the body so that it does not adapt to the training. Changing too often will be counterproductive. Changing not often enough will be sub-optimal. Mixing and matching every once in awhile allows your body to vary it's capabilities and build different target muscles.

Actually I'm no senior member in LYN. I hardly post anything in here but I've been working out for more than 5 years.