Anyone else do bodybuilding-type routines?

I'm not sure you would call it body building but the following is what I do 3x per week off season and early (2-3 months) tri season. I drop off to 2x per week for the later part of the tri season.

bench                  12x155   10x165   8x175   6x185
incline                  12x135   10x145   8x155   6x165
military press       12x80     10x85     8x90     6x95
row pull               12x95     10x100   8x105   6x110
curl                      12x55     10x60     8x65     6x70
dips (asstd)         12x8       10x7       8x6       6x5
chin-ups (asstd)  12x15      10x14    8x13     6x12
leg press              12x280   10x300  8x320   6x340
roman chair          16x         14x        12x       10x

The idea is that the first set is a warm up ... and every fourth week (recovery week) I drop the sets to 10x 8x 6x 4x

I get a decent amount of strength training from cycling and running so I kept my lifting similar to when I was playing rugby and haven't shifted to tri specific lifting.

P.S. I am well proportioned (6' - 215lbs) but my body does not look like a triathletes... I am much larger in the shoulders and have much bigger legs.

Edited by bullyboy 2010-07-19 10:30 AM

There are a ton of proven programs out there.  Ones that come to mind for those not overly experienced in bb'ing type workouts are Max-OT, Starting Strength, and 5 x 5.  I suggest googling those.

What do you mean by x8, x7, etc.

Edited by Sketch 2010-08-07 10:07 PM

Looks like they're assisted so maybe lbs?  Odd increments though.

Yes, the dips and chin-ups are assisted (Cybex VR3) and the second numbers correlate to the plate number.

I am not 100% sure of the actual weight associated with the plate numbers but there is a sign on the machine that has the weight to plate number chart. The numbers do not seem to be uniform but roughly 5lbs per number plus the weight of the machine (4lbs I think). I think that plate number 8 is listed as being 44lbs of resistance.

So when it says 12x8, I am doing 12 reps on plate 8 (or 215lbs - 44lbs = 171lbs of actual weight) for a set.

I still do about 1-2 times a week just to maintain the "beach muscles".

A few years back when I was getting ready for my wedding/honeymoon, I found really good results with Hypertrophy Specific Training (HST) and then I got lean with Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD).

http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_ketogenic_diet

Personally I do Stronglifts 5x5 in the off-season. Exercises are squats (every session!), bench press, standing OH press, deadlift, chins, pullups, pushups, rows and some core work. 5 sets of 5 reps, 2-3 times per week, starting light but adding weight for each workout. No idea if this is close to optimal for triathlon, but a great program for gaining strength. Not a BB routine either.

Cool.  5x5 got me to all my PRs in the big lifts.  Sometimes I miss moving heavy weight.  My opinion is almost anything can be used for bb'ing.  I happen to respond best to moderate to low reps at high weight for muscle growth.  I really liked Layne Norton's routine.  Basically it's set up like this:

M-  Power (5x5) upper body
T- Power Lower
W- Off
Th- Hyper Push
F- Hyper Leg
S- Hyper Pull
Su- Off

Best combo set up I've seen.