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The Best Deadlift Program for Beginners

What is the best deadlift program for a beginner in fitness? You know the impressive benefits of deadlifts to get lean, gain muscle, and want to transform your body. 

Or you want a deadlift program to compete in powerlifting.

The aim of this post is to provide a 12 week program for you to accomplish either goal. No matter what your age.

Deadlifting for Weight Loss and Fitness

Did you ever think of deadlifts as a tool for weight loss and fitness? There is a good chance that you have not.

Walk into any gym, and you will see many more treadmills than deadlift platforms. Go to the weight training area, and you still will not see many deadlift workout stations. You will find various isolation machines to work individual muscles. As well as benches for dumbbells, bench presses and incline bench presses.

In fact, you will rarely see a deadlift workout area (unless you’re in a powerlifting gym.) You will find power racks for squats and Romanian deadlifts. Barbells and kettlebells, but you will not find a specific workout station to do deadlifts. When you want to deadlift, you have to improvise where you can do your deadlift program.

Inside a power rack, with the safety rods removed. Outside the power rack, but you run the risk of getting in the way of people walking by. Find some other patch of gym turf where you can set up for deadlifts.

The point is that when people go to a gym to workout, they are usually not thinking deadlifts. Especially people who are overweight. Those who fight the battle of the bulge gravitate to walking or sitting exercises. The treadmill or the leg extension. The sitting bench press machine or the leg curl machine. When do you see an overweight man or woman doing a deadlift workout?

The Power of a Simple Deadlift Program

A simple deadlift program can help and accelerate your quest to get fit or fitter. If you are overweight now, stop thinking about machine workouts and start thinking about free weights. The weight room is intimidating, granted. But, you can really make great fat loss progress if you stick with a deadlift program.

The deadlift is not a very complicated move. But, it is not easy either. You have to stand up, bend down, keep great form and lift the weight off the ground to a standing position. You can read more about how to deadlift with proper form here and here.

The main point of this post is to make you aware that a deadlift program is an excellent tool to lose weight and get fit. And, I will spell out a simple deadlift program that you can start (with your doctor’s permission) and grow with. You need to eat right, deadlift and rest. If you do these three things, your body is going to change.

You only need to deadlift once a week. Some people advocate deadlifting every other day or twice a week. But, I think that once a week is sufficient to see results. Especially if you also do a squat and bench press workout one other day of the week. If you do squat, do your deadlift workout about 3 days after your squat workout. They both work your legs hard and you need to rest in order to increase your muscle mass.

Why the Deadlift?

The simplest answer is that the deadlift works more muscles than just about any other weight training exercise. Other than the squat, the deadlift reigns king over all other weight training. Why go to the gym and sit in a chair to lift weights? You are just isolating specific muscle groups. You will gain much more by targeting all the muscles of your body at the same time. The deadlift is the full body weapon to accomplish that goal.

Many great athletes have just focused on the deadlift to improve their skills. Even in sports that on the surface, have little to do with deadlifting. Take running for example:

Allyson Felix Deadlift Programming Results

Barry Ross, US Track and Strength Coach, created one of the most famous strength programs for Allyson Felix back in 2002. He chose the deadlift as the centerpiece of her strength training workout. Because the deadlift works a greater percentage of the muscles and involves multiple joints.

“Why waste time and energy on squats or leg press machines?” Ross wondered aloud in his 2004 article ‘The Holy Grail of Speed Training”.

In ten months, Allyson’s deadlift went from 125 pounds to 300 pounds. As a result, her 200-meter sprint time improved and she ran the fastest 200 meters in the world (without resorting to drugs) for all women.

The deadlift helped Allyson Felix win gold at the 2012 Olympics in the 200 meters. As a result of becoming a phenomenal Olympic champion, Allyson Felix’s net worth is now over 8.5 million dollars. If world class athletes can benefit from deadlifts, so can you. You just have to start.

12 Week Deadlift Program to Crush Obesity

• Deadlift once per week.

• Leave a rest period of 3 – 5 days between squats and deadlifts.

• For example, if you deadlift on Monday, do your squats on Friday, or vice versa.

• If you are a beginner, start slow, with light weights or even no weights.

• Focus on form, never sacrifice form.

• Learn how to deadlift with great form, read the above articles referenced before.

• Estimate your 1 Rep Max also known as 1RM.

• Are you wondering how much you should be able to deadlift? John of Physicalliving.com reports that “Strength training and weightlifting experts, Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore, estimate that an average 198 pound male can lift 155 pounds even without training (i.e. untrained beginner lifter). After a couple of years of proper training, that same lifter should be able to deadlift 335 pounds (i.e. intermediate lifter)

• For example, if you can lift a 45 pound olympic bar with proper deadlift form.

• And that feels heavy to you, then that is your 1RM. 

• If you can lift 100 pounds on a barbell, one time, then that is your 1RM. 

• Don’t go crazy trying to figure it out, just make an estimation based on what feels heavy to you.

• Always warm up before your deadlift workout.

• Walk, run, do elliptical, jump rope or jumping jacks for at least five minutes and stretch out your legs.

• Focus on excellent nutrition.

• Eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, lean protein

• Eat real food and avoid processed, restaurant and take out food

• Learn how to cook for yourself

• To learn more about better nutrition, read this, this and this.

To learn why and how to deadlift, check out the following related posts here and here.

Don’t Make These Deadlift Mistakes

Week 1 of Your Deadlift Programming

• Every deadlift workout will follow the same pattern.

• We will use an estimated 1RM of 200 pounds to illustrate a sample deadlift program.

• First deadlift warmup set: 12 reps using 100 pounds or 50% of your 1 Rep Max.

• Rest 3 to 5 minutes. 

• Second warm up set: 8 deadlifts using 120 pounds or 60% of your 1RM.

• Rest 3 to 5 Minutes.

• Third warm up set: 5 deadlifts using 150 pounds or 75% of your 1RM.

• These are your deadlift work sets.

• Rest 5 minutes

• 2 sets of a rep range of 4 to 8 reps with 160 pounds or 80% of your 1RM.

Weeks 10 – 12 of Your Deadlift Program

• When you can comfortably handle 8 reps at 80 percent of your 1 rep max, now you can increase the deadlift weight.

• Gradually increase the weight, using 5 or 10 pounds additional weight.

• Start your work sets at a new weight using a rep scheme of 4 reps and build up to 8 reps. Then you can increase your deadlift weight again.

Take a Break

It is not a bad idea to schedule a break of 1 week after every 12 weeks of deadlifting. You can do accessory work like stiff leg deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts or good mornings, and then begin a new 12 week deadlift program cycle.

You have to go on vacation or do something else a few times a year, right?

If you are an advanced deadlifter, check out this deadlift program from Josh Bryant. or Paul Carter.

Conclusion

You do not have to become the strongest guy or woman in the gym to benefit from deadlifts. In fact, you do not need to use heavy weights, insane volume or heavy deadlifts to get leaner and stronger than you think possible.

This 12 week deadlift program will help you lose weight and get fit.

The deadlift is one of the most powerful tools I used to lose 75 pounds and 18 inches off my waist in 6 months. Yes, I was as shocked as you will be.

Food is your friend, not your enemy. Just eat the right foods and you will see results. Deadlifts are one of the most powerful exercises in your arsenal. Feeling and getting fit, getting as healthy as possible is the real goal, not just losing weight.

Please share your experience with this or your own deadlift program. And or make some suggestions for improvement, thank you.

Introduction

Why add the stiff leg deadlift and romanian deadlift to your training? Why do you need to include both in your deadlift training? Isn’t the conventional deadlift enough?

The stiff leg deadlift (aka straight leg deadlift) is a vital accessory exercise. Here is why – many exercises are quadricep dominant. Particularly squats and deadlifts. The stiff leg deadlift on the other hand is hamstring, glutes and back dominant.

If you just started weightlifting or powerlifting, there is a good chance you do not do stiff legged deadlifts. Here is the problem with that – when you neglect essential muscle groups, you miss the opportunity to get even stronger.

A strength building program of only squats and deadlifts will leave your posterior chain lagging behind your ‘mirror’ muscles. The powerful muscle groups that are on the rear of your body are your posterior chain. The back of your legs, calves, hamstrings, glutes, and your lower and upper back.

You Have More Strength Than the Mirror Shows

The mirror muscles are those you see in the mirror. They typically gets extensive training. Curls, shoulder presses, and squats are all mirror muscle exercises. Do not leave out the non-mirror muscles, the back half of your body from training.

The stiff leg deadlift will isolate the focus to your posterior chain, as opposed to the conventional deadlift. Therefore, the stiff leg deadlift and the conventional deadlift are great choices for total body development.

The stiff leg deadlift will build a brutally strong back. This will help your deadlift, squat, and almost any other lift. This is according to someone who truly knows, strongman and powerlifter Alan Thrall of trainuntamed.com.

Here is a great video from Alan Thrall on the stiff leg deadlift:

Top 5 Stiff Leg Deadlift Benefits

Don’t just strengthen the front of your body. Work the back of your body as well with the stiff leg deadlift for total body strength and fitness.

1. Maximize the Size and Strength of your Back

In the conventional deadlift, you rely on your quads and leg drive for the initial push against the floor. The conventional deadlift starts like a vertical leg press, pushing against the floor to start lifting the weight. In the stiff leg deadlift, you use your glutes, hamstrings and back to lift the weight.

As a result, you target your entire back to lift the weight from the floor. With progressive resistance and great form, your back will increase in size and strength.

2. Complete Leg Development

The stiff leg deadlift will fully engage your glutes, hamstrings and calves. This builds their size and strength which complements the quadricep training you do with regular squats and deadlifts.

3. Strengthen your Entire Posterior Chain

Building your entire posterior chain will benefit you whether you are an athlete or not. You improve your mobility and performance for all activities through total body development. 

4. Lift More Weight on Your Squat and Deadlift

To build the greatest size and strength possible, you want to focus on your posterior chain as well. Why? Because only training the front of your body leaves a very import half, your rear. Strengthening the rear of your body will increase your total body strength and size.

As a result, you will be able to reach your squat and deadlift potential that much faster.

5. Stay Functional and  Mobile No Matter What Your Age

Keeping your bones and muscles as strong as possible is critical if you are over 50. No one wants to be using canes or walkers if they can help it. Constant sitting kills off your muscles. They atrophy the more that you sit without subjecting them to resistance. Your body thinks that you no longer need much muscle.

It is time to tell your entire body that you want to have stronger muscles and bones. Resistance training is one of the best ways to accomplish this. Deadlifting will keep you functional, mobile and young. That is not a pipe dream. See how deadlifting improved the mobility of this 80 year old grandmother.

Injury Prevention through Knee Stabilization

Jason Clemens, fat burning, muscle building and fitness expert adds one more critical stiff-legged deadlift benefit: 

“Studies show that the primary cause of most knee injuries is weak quadriceps followed closely by weak hamstrings. In my experience, with most athletes, it’s the hamstring component. The vast majority of hamstring injuries occur in the biceps femoris and the semitendinosus.

Research shows that the stiff leg deadlift will strengthen the hamstrings to offset the typical quad dominance of most athletes. The result is a greatly reduced risk of knee injuries.”

Stiff Leg Deadlift Muscles Worked

The stiff leg deadlift will target the following muscle groups of the posterior chain:

• Calves
  • Gastrocnemius
• Hamstrings
  • Biceps Femoris
  • Semitendinosus
  • Semimembrinosus
• Glutes
  • Gluteus Maximus
  • Gluteus Medius
• Lower Back
  • Spinal erectors (Erector Spinae)
• Upper back
• Posterior deltoids

How to Stiff Leg Deadlift

As with any deadlift variation, you want to perfect your stiff leg deadlift form. Some people think that your legs must be stiff, or straight. But you have to take your own body composition and structure into account.

The main point is that you do not want to use your leg drive to power your lift. You lift with your back (keep it neutral straight), hinging at the hips and keeping your hamstrings loaded. This is the key difference between a regular and stiff leg deadlift.

Because this is a back intensive lift, use light weight, perfect form and increase the weight of the lift gradually.

You minimize the engagement of your quadriceps and leg drive. And maximize the usage of your hamstrings and back to power the lift.

This is how the stiff leg deadlift makes your normal deadlift and all other lifts stronger. Your calves, hamstrings, glutes and back get stronger. As a result, your regular deadlift will get much stronger. Because you are adding back the power of your legs in the conventional deadlift.

Stiff Leg Deadlift Form and Checklist

• Some say to place your feet in a shoulder width or narrower stance
• My preference is a hip width stance, see how both feel for your body type
• The barbell should be over your shoelaces, the middle of your foot
• Hinge your hips back and bend down with a neutral back, not rounded
• Make sure the height of the barbell allows you to reach without rounding your back
• With your legs straighter than normal
• Allow your upper body to reach your feet by bending
• Until your upper body is parallel to the floor
• Your hips and shoulders should now be at the same level
• Grab the barbell slightly wider than hip width with an overhand grip
• You will feel the tension on your hamstrings
• Keep your body tight
• And keep your back neutral and flat, as if it is solid plank of wood
• Lift the weight using the power of your back

Watch this video from Scott Herman Fitness on how to barbell stiff-leg deadlift:

Related Posts:

How to Deadlift Like a Boss In 5 Simple Steps

39 Best Deadlift Tips for Beginners

Stiff Leg Deadlift vs Romanian Deadlift (RDLs)

The stiff leg deadlift and the Romanian deadlift are very similar. In fact they appear to be the same lift. There are a couple of key difference which you can use to your advantage. 

The most important concept to understand is that these three deadlift variations have different purposes:

The Romanian deadlift teaches you how to:

• Hip hinge
• Load your hamstrings
• Hip drive – push through with your hips

Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian deadlift is an excellent tool to learn how to deadlift. This is because the Romanian deadlift begins at the top, while you are standing and holding the barbell.

In contrast, both the stiff leg deadlift and that conventional deadlift start from the floor. They both have a deeper range of motion than the Romanian deadlift.

The Romanian deadlift is a safer way of learning the the deadlift. Because you begin the Romanian deadlift in a standing position. Then you lower to your knees or shins. As far as your hamstring flexibility allows. You can tell as long as you can keep your back straight. Last you reverse the movement and lift back to a standing position.

The Romanian deadlift also helps you get stronger in the second half of the deadlift. This is when the barbell reaches the knees, and you push through with your hips to stand tall.

Conventional Deadlift

The conventional deadlift is often called the king of all exercise because of its incredible fitness benefits.

Whether you are young or over 50. Or you play yourself in life or are an actor, work in an office or are an athlete. If you are a, runner , powerlifter or even if you have scoliosis. You still want to deadlift. At least once a week.

Related Posts: 

Top Benefits of Deadlifts to Unleash Your Health & Fitness

27 Sensational Ways How Deadlifts Change Your Body

7 Great Romanian Deadlift Benefits for Your Health & Fitness

Stiff Leg Deadlift 

Once you know how to deadlift, you can add the stiff leg deadlift to your programming as an accessory exercise. The stiff leg deadlift will enhance your strength with all of the benefits cited above. In summary:

The Romanian deadlift teaches you how to deadlift. While the conventional deadlift is your bread and butter for health and strength.

The stiff leg deadlift augments your body strength and size by isolating the posterior chain.

Watch this important video on the value of the Romanian deadlift: Stop Deadlifting Until You Learn How to do the Romanian Deadlift (RDL)

Conclusion

Whether you are an athlete, or a business person. Or a retiree looking to get leaner and stronger. The stiff leg deadlift is an important deadlift variation to add to your training. Read the entire post now to find out why.

Please share your opinion and/or knowledge – what are your comments/tips regarding the stiff leg deadlift?

Jumping Jacks Gets You Lean for Free

How many calories are burned doing jumping jacks? You are busy and have little time to exercise. But, there is one simple high impact and high intensity full body workout you can do anywhere – jumping jacks. They are a great way to lose weight, shred body fat, increase your endurance, circulation and mobility.

You will enjoy many other health benefits by adding jumping jacks to your list of things to do. Even if you do not know the number of calories burned doing jumping jacks. 

Here is a sample workout for a 196 pound person to make 178 calories burned doing jumping jacks in just 6 minutes a day:

• one minute of jumping jacks
• rest a minute or more if you need
• and repeat 5 more times.

But, to find the number of calories burned, use the following 3 steps:

1. Determine the METs (Metabolic Equivalent of a Task)

The first step to know how many calories you burn doing jumping jacks is to find the METs.

The Metabolic Equivalent of a Task (METs) will tell you how many calories you burn per hour of activity per one kilogram of body weight.

According to the Compendium of Physical Activities¹⁾²⁾https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/Activity-Categories/conditioning-exercise, the MET for calisthenic conditioning exercises like push ups, sit ups, pull ups, and jumping jacks with vigorous effort is as high as 8.0. In contrast, powerlifting exercises like squats, bench press and the deadlift are only 6.0 METs with vigorous effort.

Note this MET number of 8.0 for jumping jacks with vigorous effort. For most people, doing any jumping jacks will require significant effort, especially if you are not in top condition. But, do not be discouraged. Start small and gradually you will build up your endurance and conditioning.

Now that you know the METs, you have to calculate your weight in kilograms to find out the number of calories burned doing jumping jacks.

3. The METs Formula to Calculate Calories Burned Doing Jumping Jacks

The METs formula is:

Calories burned doing jumping jacks (or any other physical activity) = METs x weight in kg x time in hours. If you do an hour of jumping jacks (which is highly unlikely), express the time as 1.0, or .5 for 30 minutes, .25 for 15 minutes, and .10 for 6 minutes.

Let’s say that you decide to take a simple jumping jack challenge of 6 minutes a day. In one minute you can do about 50 – 60 jumping jacks. So you will do between 300 and 400 jumping jacks every day. Remember, you just need to set aside 6 minutes. You can do 2 minutes in the morning, noon and evening.

Or do one minute of jumping jacks, rest a minute or more and do another 5 minute sets of jumping jacks with a rest in between each set for a total of 15 minutes.

Using the example of an average American man who weighs 89kg, you can plug-in the numbers to the METs formula:

Jumping jacks calories burned = METS of 8.0 for calisthenics conditioning exercise of jumping jacks x 89 kg x .25 for a 15 minute workout)

8.0 x 89 x .25 = 178 calories burned doing a 15 minute jumping jacks workout.

So how many calories are burned doing jumping jacks for just one minute? Approximately 30 calories, not too shabby! Three minutes of jumping jacks will burn approximately 100 calories. Typically you need to walk a mile to burn 100 calories, which takes longer than 3 minutes of jumping jacks.

If you ran a mile in 15 minutes, the METs is 7.1, so if it is a rainy day or snowing, why not do 15 minutes of jumping jacks in your warm home instead of venturing out into the cold?

Calories Burned Doing Jumping Jacks – Conclusion

What is the most overlooked cardio exercise which can increase your heart rate, melt belly fat, and which needs no equipment? Not an expensive pair of running shoes, a track, a jump rope, an expensive treadmill, elliptical or gym.

To lose weight, improve your cardiovascular health and lower your blood pressure – all you need are Jumping Jacks. .As long as you have a floor, you can do jumping jacks.

Jumping jacks and real food will make you leaner and stronger.

Eating right and moving are two pillars of body transformation. In as little as 6 minutes a day, you can begin to change your body.

Franco Columbu Workout – Success Leaves Clues

Which Franco Columbu workout tips can you apply to your own training? Franco is an accomplished powerlifter and bodybuilder, holding numerous world records and titles, including Mr. Olympia in 1976 and 1981.

You might not be able to deadlift 750 pounds like Franco, but you can surely implement his sage fitness advice. How do you know that you can rely on Franco Columbu’s workout tips? Watch his development from teenage boxer to one of the strongest powerlifter of all time, besides winning the coveted Mr. Olympia twice as a bodybuilder. 

The Franco Columbu Workout Mindset

The foundation of Franco’s workout and training routine can be summarized in one paragraph.

“Train each body part twice a week, as hard and relentless as possible each time. Every second week, I’d dead-lift after my leg routine. My dead lift workout was 300 for five reps, 400 for five reps, 500 for five reps, 600 for two or three reps, 650 for one rep and 700 for one rep.”

The main clue here appears to contradict those who preach squat or deadlift every day. Clearly, Franco Columbu’s workout did not consist of hitting squats and deadlifts every single day.

Training each body part twice a week gives ample rest and recovery time of at least 48 hours. As Anthony Robbins said – “Success Leaves Clues.” 

Franco Columbu Training Routine

Leg Workout

According to Rick Madden of Muscle and Brawn, Franco did the following squat workout: 7 sets of barbell squats starting with 3 warm up sets of 20 reps, 15 and 10. His squat workout sets went from 8 repetitions to 6, 4 and then 2. Besides squats, Franco also included 4 sets of leg presses, leg extensions 6-7 sets, 3 sets of barbell lunges and 6 sets of deadlifts in the same leg workout.

This leg workout alone would take hours for a mere mortal to complete.

If you do 7 sets of squats and rest between sets for 3 to 5 minutes, your squat workout will take about an hour. You have to warm up and rest between sets. 

Chest Workout

A superset is when you do two exercises one after the other with no rest in between. In his chest workout, Franco did:

3 sets of bench presses using 15 repetitions, 10 reps and 4 reps. After each of these bench press sets, Franco did 20 reps of cable crossovers. This is a superset that you can immediately apply to your chest workout. 

Besides bench press and cable crossovers, Franco also did dumbbell flyes with another superset of cable crossovers, incline bench press, barbell pullovers, dips and more cable crossovers.

In total, Columbu’s workout included 9 sets of cable crossovers with 70 repetitions. Do not be discouraged because you have to remember that both Columbu and Schwarzenegger were young and using steroids (legal at that time, but not now) which help you workout out harder and longer.

But, don’t use steroids yourself cause they are illegal and cause a host of other minor physical and mental problems like:

• Heart disease
• Acne
• Suicidal thoughts, depression, agitation and irritable mood
• Hair loss
• Breast enlargement in men, also known as Gynecomastia. You are not weightlifting so you can grow bigger breasts, right?
• Shrinking of testicles

If you think the catastrophic consequences of steroids is a big fat lie, check out this article with a full list of 31 dead pro bodybuilders who died from steroid induced health complications at a young age. They paid the price for building inhuman muscle. They won many prestigious awards, but at a deadly price. Fit Apprentice is for building health and muscle for beginners. Remember, your health always comes first. 

Shoulder Workout

Franco Columbu’s reported shoulder workout included 4 sets of lateral raises, 6 sets of bent over reverse laterals, 4 sets of behind the neck presses (which is not typically suggested these days), 3 sets of alternating dumbbell front raises and 3 sets of cable lateral raises.

Back Workout

Franco’s back workout consisted of 6 sets of wide grip pull-ups, 4 sets of T-bar rows, 4 sets of cable rows and 3 sets of one arm dumbbell rows and a superset of neutral grip pull-ups, another monster workout for the ‘Sardinia Strongman’ who once blew up a hot water bottle in 55 seconds on live tv.

Franco’s Arm Workout Training Routine

Franco himself wrote a detailed article for strength-oldschool with his no longer secret sequence for massive arms.

He suggests 5 sets of Incline Dumbbell Curls supersetted with Lat Bar Triceps Pushdowns. Next do 5 sets of Semi-Cheat Curls supersetted with Lying Triceps Curls and last 5 sets of Scott Bench Curls supersetted with Close Bench Presses. If you want to follow this exact program, read Franco’s own words on how to get massive arms here.

Apply these 5 Keys of the Franco Columbu Workout to Your Own Routine

Conclusion

In those days when Franco was competing against Arnold Schwarzenegger and Frank Zane, they trained twice a day, with early morning and evening workouts. Columbu and Schwarzenegger were close friends and were brought to America by Joe Weider. He sponsored their bodybuilding training with a stipend of 65 dollars a week.

Most likely, you have a job, profession, career, or you are retired and are not a professional bodybuilder. You do not want to train 5 hours a day like Columbu and Schwarzenegger. And you do not have a Joe Weider in your life to sponsor your workouts. So, you have to do what works best for your age and fitness level today. 

You can still glean important tips from Franco’s workout and training routine.

1. Even though they were young, both Columbu and Schwarzenegger needed one complete rest day in between body part workouts. So, for example, during one week, do not do a squat or deadlift workout more than 3 times, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You need at least one day in between, Tuesday and Thursday to recover. On Tuesday and Thursday, assuming your training is on weekdays and not weekends, you can work upper body or assistance exercises.
2. Superset bench press with cable crossovers to build a champion chest. Success leaves clues. Why reinvent the wheel when you have a great workout strategy that you can immediately implement into your own routine. Of course, everyones skeleton, tendon attachments, body structure is different, but it is certainly worth a try for yourself and see how it goes.
3. Superset incline curls back to back with triceps press down to build bigger arms.
4. Allowing your muscles to rest helps them grow. And also gives your tendons and joints time to get accustomed to heavier weight training.
5. Less is More. Even Franco Columbu did not work a body part more than twice a week. According to this last note, perhaps it is enough to train squats and deadlifts only twice a week. In that case, you can do squats on Monday and Friday, deadlifts on Wednesday and Bench Press/Upper body on Tuesday and Thursday. 

Don’t be a big shot and attempt to go all out on squats, deadlifts or bench presses every day. Especially if you are an older powerlifter or bodybuilder. Eventually your tendons will say “No Mas” and you might end up with very painful tendonitis or tennis elbow or worse. Injuries will stop you dead in your tracks from training.

If you want to see bigger gains, implement these 5 Pearls of Wisdom from the Franco Columbu workout.