I've been doing the same routine for 6 wks, and am in need of a change, but can't seem to settle on anything that I'm excited to try out, so thought I'd make a thread that might generate some new ideas for me.
Over your entire training life, name the top 3 lifting program / routine / regime / protocols (whatever u want to call it) that you have ever used. Give a hyperlink to the program, when available, and short blurb describing what you liked about it. No rules other than those; it can be a muscle gain / fat loss / sport-specific regimen / doesn't matter.
I'll go first (and forgive me, all 3 of mine are from T-mag, b/c it's the lifting site I frequent most often)
1. Maximum Recruitment Training (Size/Strength)
This one took my completely by surprise -- I wasn't all that floored after I read the article -- but I think I'd say that it's the best workout I've ever used for both size and strength. I followed it for around 8 weeks this fall, and all my lifts increased noticeably. It's basically a 3x / wk routine, with each workout consisting of the basic compound and olympic movements, but the reps are rotated each week to keep things fresh. I think that for a very long time, I had fallen into the typical body-part split-type routines, and a total-body workout 3 or 4 times a week just shocked the hell out of my system, so much so that after 5 weeks of this, I had to take a week off b/c I was feeling overtrained. In fact, I think one of the most important lessons that I've learned is that it's
much harder to overtrain the human body than most people think. Much, much harder. The body can stand up to a hell of a lot, and some of the most successful programs that I've tried relied on much higher training volume than the typical 3-4 days / wk standard body split. Anyway, I digress -- this program was refreshingly short (only 45 - 55 minutes each lifting session), but you feel utterly drained afterward.
2. Meltdown Training (fat loss)
LOVED this program the first time I tried it. Used it when I was on a CKD, and saw great results, and I often went back to it whenever it was time to diet. I liked
Meltdown II as well, but
Meltdown III didn't do it for me so much. Now, though, I'm actually pretty sick of it (having used it maybe 5 times over the past few years), and I'm looking for a new fat loss program for the next 6 to 8 weeks.
3. Meh, I had meant to look up a 3rd favorite of mine, but I got a little lazy and this post is long enough to hopefully generate some responses.
Hon. Mention:
- German Volume training (any of the many permutations you can find with Google...I feel like I've somewhat 'outgrown' that protocol, though I'll still re-use it every couple years to change things up.)
- TC's sprint workout. Couldn't find the link, but this was in one of the VERY early T-mag editions; like late 90s. I actually don't know just how great a workout this is, but I can say that it generated by FAR the most soreness I've ever experienced from any workout (although someone who routinely does short-distance sprinting prob won't have as much soreness as I did...I rarely sprinted.) I've squatted til I've puked, called in sick from work b/c of workout soreness, and still I've never been as sore as from this 50-minute sprint workout. Don't think I walked right for 2 wks.