Current Events > Gimme a good aesthetics-only lifting program

(+) Yeah! (+)

I only care about looks, don't care about strength at all.
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Just run and do bodyweight stuff then, if youre looking for tone over mass
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Bananana posted...

Just run and do bodyweight stuff then, if youre looking for tone over mass

Tone =/= aesthetical.

Can we get a real reply and not joke poster replies? thanks.
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Idk, aesthetics can be different for everyone. I personally feel I look better with big muscles, so I lift heavy with low reps. Muscles grow in different shapes on every body, so some people genuinely loook better wth smaller, toned musclese.

Jason Momoa, for example, looks Better aesthetically no matter how much muscle he packs on. Chris Hemsworth is pretty ripped, but would probably start to look goofy if he packed on too much more muscle. So its different for everyone.

Yea but getting from beginner-intermediate stage to Momoa or Hemsworth is a long way still, I'll cross that bridge when it comes.

For now, the point is that if I do a strength only program, I feel like I'm neglecting things specific parts of my back, posterior delts, arms, forearms, calves, and even quads. I've separately worked out for extended periods of time twice in my life, first time I was doing high volume legs with squats, hack squats, extensions/hamstrings, lunges, leg press, etc, and my glutes and quads were looking great. They'd be popping out of my regular-fit jeans. And my shirts would hug my shoulders pretty nicely. A few years later I went back to doing pretty much squats and deadlifts only for my legs and I was stronger than ever but nothing showed. Felt good but still. At this point in time I care about looks only. If I want to switch it up in the future, I might do that.

Another good point is that bro-lifting for aesthetics is more fun. Thus its more likely to have me dedicated and consistent. Whereas I'm more likely to skip a strength workout.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooLeMxUI4JU" data-time="
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Day 1: Chest/Shoulders
Day 2: Back/Biceps
Day 3: Rest

Day 4: Chest/Shoulders
Day 5: Legs/Abs
Day 6: Rest

Rinse and repeat
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DanHarenChamp posted...

Bananana posted...

Just run and do bodyweight stuff then, if youre looking for tone over mass

Tone =/= aesthetical.

Can we get a real reply and not joke poster replies? thanks.

It wouldnt be a lifting thread without shitty parroted advice lol.

Aesthetics are based on your muscle insertions, being a low bf% and having enough lean mass.

Cant really give you anything specific without knowing your stats or what you look like. So taking a shot in the dark here...

Eat a slight surplus (750cals), do cardio (resulting in a ~250cal surplus) a few times a week and lift with emphasis on chest, shoulders (this includes rear delts) and arms.

Again cant give you anything more than basic blanket advice without enough info.
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Monday-bench press
Tuesday-curls
Wednesday-curls
Thursday-curls
Friday-get wasted
Saturday-still wasted
Sunday-recovery
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Squall28 posted...

Monday-bench press
Tuesday-curls
Wednesday-curls
Thursday-curls
Friday-get wasted
Saturday-still wasted
Sunday-recovery

I laughed but in all seriousness thatll have you looking like a stupid curl monkey with hunched forward shoulders.
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TC look up PHAT or PHUL, both powerlifting+bodybuilding programs. PHAT is five days, PHUL is four, PHAT is tough if you're not juicing, shitload of volume.

You don't have to focus on strength and train to maximize your lifts but if you don't get stronger you're shortchanging the amount of growth you can attain. Don't separate those goals by TOO much. But you're on the right track as far as looking to include more isolation work.

I can't recommend Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 enough.
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Hmmm. Youre right, bro-lifting is more fun. Its easy to make friends in the gym when you isolate different body parts each day, because you can find a dude who is doing the same body parts as you and see if he wants to work with you.

Right now, I happen to be doing a strength only routine, where I just do very basic full body workouts consisting almost entirely of compound exercises. I feel like I look pretty good, but I add a little bicep, calf, and ab work to my routine, which the program Im doing discourages. But whatever, Im not trying to be a competitive power lifter, and Im strong enough to do any activity I need/want to do, so Im not bothered if my progress is stalled a little.

If youre looking for a good bro-lifting routine (as you say) that will pack some muscle on you, yet still keep you shredded, the one I used to do went something like this.

Monday: chest
Bench press
Either incline or decline bench press
Dumbell press
Flies (either cable or dumbell)
Then I think I would rep out 4 sets of push-ups

Tuesday: legs
Squats
Leg press
Leg extensions
Stiff-leg deadlifts
Leg press machine to work my calfs

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: Shoulders/triceps
Standing shoulder press (dont use your legs to help you) or sitting military press
Shoulder dumbell raises
Dips
Skull crushers
Triceps pulley machine

Friday: back/biceps
Deadlift
Pull-ups
Lawnmower pulls or standing barbell rows
Idk seated pulley rows or something
Some variation of curls.

Saturday and Sunday: rest

You can use one of those rest days to hit abs really hard if you want. I would usually just go for 40 straight minutes from one ab exercise to the next without resting between sets.

You can substitute any exercise I listed above with other things, just try to make sure you do your heaviest exercises that work the biggest and most muscle groups first, then work your way down to the lighter isolation exercises. For most exercises I put in about enough weight to do a set of 12, 8, then 6, ramping up the weight each set. Except for like maybe deadlifts and squats. I keep them low rep, rarely exceeding 5.

When scheduling which muscle groups you will work on which day, the key is to try to put at least 2 full days between a particular muscle group and its antagonist or accessory groups. Hence why I wait until Thursday to do shoulders and triceps after working chest on Monday.

There's no such thing as a "strength only" routine. If your program only has compounds it's meant to elicit hypertrophy and strength. Beginners respond very well to that kind of a structure, but as you progress you'll want to add more isolation work in.

http://mythicalstrength.blogspot.com/2013/01/powerlifting-vs-bodybuilding.html
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Pow Pow Punishment posted...

There's no such thing as a "strength only" routine

Ok then, Im doing a program which optimizes strength gains by prioritizing strength gains above all else.

Also being shredded has almost nothing to do with how you lift and everything to do with your body-fat percentage.
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