Top 5 Best Lifts For Strength and Fitting In A Trip to The Gym

As stated in the first post, I am not a guru. I am however the strongest person a lot of people know, like at work or in my Biology class. Because of this I get asked more than a few questions about how to set up a routine. I have always believed this is the wrong question. Will it matter if you are doing the perfect amount of volume for the exact number of sets you need if you are just doing one arm reverse grip cable curls. The big question should be "what lifts should I do?"

This is my top 5 in order from good to best:

BENCH PRESS: I hate bench... I feel that it is completely over emphasized and everyone ignores the import things because of it. I will admit that it is a great way to hit your chest and triceps so go for it if you have time.

THE WRIST ROLLER: You may have never heard of this and it probably ins't at your gym but I believe it should be.  Basically it is just a rod with a hole drilled in the middle with a sting to tie a weight on with. I mad mine out of a 1 1/2 in dow rod and 550 cord (total cost $10). All you do is roll the string up and down then up the other way... it is that simple.  I credit this alone for my rapid increase in grip strength. It can either be done with light weight (long) for endurance or  heavy weight (short) to strenth (personal best  100lbs).

OVERHEAD PRESS (OHP): everyone can see massive delts and traps from a mile off. They can be awe inspiring or just plain scary. The OHP is the best way to build up the entire shoulder profile. It is also a good thrill to get a weight overhead, it makes you feel like pimp daddy awesome. The best part of this workout is that it can be put last without losing many reps because just adding a little leg push can get you past sticking points.

SQUAT: This is a great lift for the entire lower body and everyone knows it. It can be done anywhere from partially with a ton of weight or ass-to-grass (ATG) with about 75% of the partial weight. It is also one of the most confusing because there are about 20 combinations of bar height, foot width, foot angle, and what bends first. The major issue is that every believes there way is the best and most are sure that any other way will cause knee and hip injury... So start light and squat a lot and find what is comfortable for you. I like feet at 1.25 shoulder width and my lifting partner does shoulder width. The only absolute is that you MUST work on form before you go heavy.

DEADLIFT: This is my personal favorite lift. You can do more weight than any other lift and the form is pretty simple. Bend at the knees, grab the bar, stand up... That is it. It will get more complicated but at it's core it is simple. Just stand up. It also recruits more muscles than any lift other than the olympic lift (and even that is debatable). This is the first lift I ever broke 400 lbs with and it felt awesome. There is something about picking up a huge amount of weight that is kinda primal and really get you pumped.

I anyone decides to listen to this mindless rambling and do these core lifts then I would recommend something along the lines of what I do (for beginners). I am lucky to make it to the gym 3 times a week so I try to do them all. This takes me about 2 1/2 hours or just under 2 if I don't mess around. The order looks somethings like this:
Deadlift > Bench > Squat > OHP    or     Squat > Bench > Deadlift > OHP
(normally it is not a good idea to do both squat and DL heavy but I normally do, it's my version of fun)

This morning, however, I didn't have 2 hours. I had to fit my entire gym experience into 60 min. What did I do? Just cut it in half
Squat > OHP > random stuff to fill up my last 10 min.
Next time will most likely be  Deadllift > Bench > etc.

Hopefully in the next month or two I will cover all of these lifts and the variations and different forms. I won't tell you which is the best, you will have to find what feels right to you. Thank you for following and I will try to make this more flashy and attention grabbing as I learn.

Mission statement

Welcome to Papa Bear Strength.

I have decided to do this for the sake of accountability and to give me an excuse to research all of the things I find interesting. Hopefully I can even get my wife (Mama Bear) to get her fitness log on her so this can be a family endevour. Currently she is roughly 3 months pregnant (w/ Gummy Bear) but more on that later.

There are many blogs and websites solely devoted to weight training or yoga or running that involve ignoring your life except for that one facet. This is not an option for the normal everyday person who wants to be strong or fit. We can't work out twice a day 6 days a week. We have jobs, families, other interests, and maybe even a friend outside of the gym. Personally, I work full time (normally overtime), am a full time student, am married, and have a baby on the way.  THE POINT IS YOU CAN FIT THIS IN YOUR SCHEDULE. Also I will not tell you to buy this or that supplement and powder and $300 peice of equipment because I can't afford it. My idea of splurging in buying a coffee when I stop to put gas in the truck...

This being said I am not a guru. I am not competing in the world's strongest man nor do I have abs like Dan Green. To qoute Einstein "I am just passionately interested." I will not tell anyone they are a idiot or they should do x workout for y reps at z weight just what works for me. I plan to research everything from body mechanics to proper form to what is safe for a pregnant woman to do. The human body is an amazing thing capable of amazing things. It is a shame that so many people use the excuse that they just can't fit in the time.

The Bear Family:
Papa Bear (me):  only do strength training, can make it to the gym 2-3 days a week, work full time and go to school
Weight: 230 lbs  20% bodyfat  315 bench  365 squat (deep)  425 deadlift  155 snatch  245  clean and jerk
Mama Bear:  like pilates but has recently started light weight training, teaches music lessons and works at a DMV
Gummy Bear: kinda looks like an alien from Roswell right now
Grandpa Bear: does strength training, circuits, and runs 1/2 marathons
Grandma Bear: runs