Got a 300# “Fitness Gear” brand Olypmic barbell set from Dick’s Sporting Goods the other day, total cost $225.69. Pretty happy with it. Wanted to get a new barbell set for a long time now and realized I’m not getting any younger, etc. so now’s the best time to get started.
Did the first workout with it yesterday. Pretty light workout, mostly to get reacquainted with barbell work after a couple-few years of calisthenics. The workout consisted of a warmup set and 3 sets each of the following:
- Overhead Press
- Front Squat
- Bent Over Row
- Deadlift
- Pushups
- Farmer’s Carry
Normally one might suggest a different order to the lifts but there is a method to this madness: The OHP is first so I’m not too tired to lift the bar above my head, Front Squat second so I’m not too tired to clean the bar to the starting position, Rows next, again so I’m not too tired to get the bar to the starting position. Deadlifts come before Pushups because I want to have enough strength for them and my Pushup strength is already pretty developed compared to the other exercises so I try for failure here since the likelihood of serious injury from this exercise is minimal. The Farmer’s Carry is just to polish off the forearms and really make them burn.
I intend to continue this routine at a relatively light weight 3x/week for the next 4 weeks to improve form and build up connective tissue strength. At that point I suspect my connective tissue will be strong enough to switch to a different program to focus more on heavier weights. Also, at that point I plan on acquiring a rack and bench.