[mam3]

I'm very tempted to add mine which I would call "the lazy lifter: build a nice body with 4x30 minutes per week" (a very efficient, leangains-based routine).

That said i'm very sad by the abscence of likes. What dopamine rush can i hope to get by contributing to your database :( ?

Or at least comments.

[zigzaggy]

I started with a trainer one year ago next week, doing 2 days per week with him and one day of "plyometric" drop-set/super-sets (which seems to be a fancy way of saying workout almost to failure).

Total time investment? 30 minutes, 3 times per week.

My entire physique has changed, including greatly increased muscle mass, energy levels, and stamina to do whatever physical activity. I've also dropped 30 pounds and have completely eliminated back problems.

[ratherlongname]

Any update on the routine? Also please share a link to your blog :)

[zigzaggy]

Ha! Glad to see the interest... In fact, I just resigned and am firing my blog back up. Sounds like my first post will be this!

The short answer is that each movement is a whole body movement, using kettle bells, slam balls, or barbells.

Almost every workout is a "super set" which means I either go back and forth between the 2 several times, or go down a line doing 3-4 movements.

I almost never rest more than 2 minutes between sets (big timer on the wall). Sometimes after a very hard set I might rest 3 but that's rare.

I can see this will be too much for a comment so I'm going to write this up. Thanks for the interest!

[michaelmcdonald]

I, likewise, would be VERY interested to know more. Time is a precious commodity and anything to maximize the gains for the time spent would be appreciated!

[float4]

Virtually everyone will tell you to just do Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5. Both are fine, both require 3 workouts a week of ~45 minutes each.

If you're willing to monitor your diet a bit and stick to the program, then you'll truly see amazing gains in a year.

[seventhtiger]

I can attest to Stronglifts 5x5, which takes only 45 minutes 3x a week, and can keep you going for 6 months with amazing results. Pure strength weight lifting has the biggest impact on health out of any fitness activity I've ever tried.

One thing to note as with all lifting especially squats, depending on age, DOMS may be severe. The program starts as light as possible but even that may be too much. If starting from a very sedentary lifestyle it's probably best to start with a couple of weeks of cardio and light movement before lifting.

[sitesuniverse]

Sounds like there's some interest in this routine... If only there was a database you could submit it to..... ;)

[haskellandchill]

What's the routine :)

[sitesuniverse]

Please do add it. I would really appreciate some more content! Yeah a like/ranking/comment system is something I'm thinking about. Any suggestions?

[Dedime]

This may be a little pie-in-the-sky, but I've found myself disliking the "upvote" or "like" mentality. Instead, maybe a "I use(d) this!" functionality, as well as talk sections for each routine?

[sitesuniverse]

I like this idea!

[swyx]

if i've learned one thing from this thread:

don't like the idea, use the idea!

[thecrimsonchin]

This is really cool. When there a good bit more workouts having likes/upvotes would help users not get overwhelmed by choices and they can sort by most liked.

[boplicity]

Factor in how long someone has been doing a routine, in terms of the value of their "like"

[Hitton]

Lazy lifter? That sounds exactly like a thing for me. I'm willing to trade upvotes here on HN for that method :)

[ar_lan]

I would also look into 5/3/1! It's a very easy to follow program, and doesn't take much time at all. Slow and steady gains.

Granted, if you're a beginner, there are much quicker programs (since noob gains are a very real thing), but 5/3/1 is a very simple program to follow, can be repeated for an extremely long time, and isn't very intense stress on the body. I increased my lifts pretty drastically over 2 years, but it felt incredibly slow/gradual - until I looked back over my increases from 2 years prior.

[IggleSniggle]

I just tried looking up 5/3/1 and although I believe you when you say it’s “easy to follow” I’m not sure if it’s beginner friendly or not. I don’t know most of this DSL. I still don’t even know what the numbers 5 3 and 1 are for sure in reference to, although my guess is reps (ie repetitions). And apparently it’s supposed to have a corresponding percentage of Max Single Rep, but what is it?

What is a core lift? Parallel squat? Standing shoulder press? Do I need equipment for this stuff? If I do require gear what do I need to get, how do I choose, what’s minimal? What is a safe way to find my “max lift”?

Etc.

I would find it useful if these kinds of workouts were prefaced with their end-goal in mind: general wellness? To bulk specific areas? To maximize real strength? To have trim and endurance strength? To increase resting metabolic burn?

Personally, I want to lose body fat, decrease body aches/pains, and make my brain sharper with minimal investment of time. I know strength training is a key component of this goal. But that’s about it. When I look into strength training, it often seems the advice is focused on strength enthusiasts, which is not me.

Older newbie dripping my toe into the water, I’ll listen!

[krrrh]

5/3/1 is primarily a strength program, but it will definitely benefit general wellness and resting metabolic burn.

In terms of barbell-oriented strength programs, 5/3/1 is a good program to do after you've mastered the basics and started to plateau with something like Starting Strength [0] or Stronglifts 5x5 [1]. Those two programs take advantage of the linear gains that are possible for people in their first year of training, and 5/3/1 is a methodical approach to continuing to improve strength when simply adding 5lbs to the bar every workout stops working.

Starting Strength is a great book for understanding the principles and benefits of barbell lifting (and the videos from the old DVD are very good). The introductory essay is considered to be one of the best summations of strength training and its benefits. A lot of people believe that they aren't interested in strength training because they don't feel attracted to the extreme manifestations of the sport, but then discover that it delivers mental health and brain sharpening benefits in ways that they didn't expect.

All of the programs I mentioned are built around the core barbell lifts, which are squat, deadlift, shoulder press, bench press, cleans, and rows.

[0] https://startingstrength.com/about

[1] https://stronglifts.com/5x5/

[d883kd8]

I do 5/3/1 and it does have it's tradeoffs but I've seen gains while on it. Basically the goal is to make you stronger, it was developed by a powerlifter and is heavily influenced by traditional american football training. I've linked a PDF below[1] which explains the whole thing in language anyone can understand.

Core lifts: Bench press, Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Press. Some people choose a different set of lifts.

The 531 thing means week one you do 3 sets of 5 on the core lift, week two you do 3 sets of 3, week three you do a set of 5, a set of 3, and a set of 1. Week four is deload, you do lighter weight for three sets of five. In all cases (except deload) the last set is actually for "AMRAP" i.e. as many reps as possible.

Ultimately weightlifting is not a modern science, it is an ancient practice akin to meditation or running or martial arts. There is ongoing research to optimize it but nobody here is going to the league and for us the most important thing is to show up consistently and track progress. The most impactful thing I ever did for my lifting was to create a spreadsheet I could update from my phone and write down how much I lifted and how many reps every time I went to the gym. I do something like this:

             |Bench 
  ----------------------------- 
  1/22/2021  |135, 135, 145 
             |5, 5, 5

I'm proud to say I reached the end of my google sheet and had to start a new one. I am fortunate I was exposed to weightlifting early in life but after neglecting my training for most of my twenties (I'm 32 now), most of my current gains happened with 531. I hope you will start lifting! The benefits weight training has brought to my life can hardly be overstated.

Oh and stay away from planet fitness, that's not a gym[2]. Their business model is based on appealing to people who don't work out. You want to work out, go somewhere else.

[1]: http://www.anasci.org/ebooks/531%20by%20Jim%20Wendler.pdf [2]: https://www.facebook.com/planetfitness/videos/were-not-a-gym...

[tylerscott]

For recording your work, I've built a simple language and some libraries around it: https://traindown.com. I am hoping to add some additional I/O utilities like "export to csv". I'd love any feedback you may have on it. Totally OSS now and forever.

[_tik_]

I do 5/3/1 too. Switched from 5x5. It is simple to follow. It is not very tiring compare to 5x5. Give plenty of energy to do another routine

[ar_lan]

I primarily do CrossFit as it's really the only thing that keeps me consistently going to the gym - I'm a sucker for the community.

That said, while I'm able to generally sprint things quite well, my strength was always suffering as it's not a primary focus, so I do 5/3/1 alongside it and it works very well. I've definitely seen steady gains coming from it, and because of the low volume it's really sustainable.

[yeswecatan]

Go on...