Thoughts on this workout schedule

http://chadwaterbury.com/full-body-training-part-1/

TLDR version: 3 days a week, focussing on big compound movements with sets and rep variety changing up on each day.

Curious what the gym guys in this forum would add to this program.

I haven't read any of Chad Waterbury's stuff in a few years, but from what I did long ago, he knew his stuff (both an egg-head and a meat-head).

The workout looks good to me.

I'm a big fan of compound movements and variety. Other than to address an imbalance or weakness in an area of your body, I generally don't care for muscle isolation exercises. If you look at natural movements of humans (and other living things) whether its endurance or strength, compound body movements are what generate speed and power for athletic movement. In fact virtually all athletic movement involves the generation of power about the body's core (eg through swinging/twisting) anchored through vertebral column and hips.

Compound movements also can reduce muscle strain and repetitive injury by distributing the load across different muscles. If done correctly, they also should help you pack more effort into a shorter workout. They can also add an element of muscular and cardiovascular endurance by recruiting a wide variety of muscles over many reps. Another side-benefit is they help develop neuro-muscular coordination, balance, core stability and body awareness.

Is your goal to be strong, fast, powerful, resilient and mechanically fluid, or do you just want to look good?

Just my 2 cents.

I am intrigued, and curious about the reverse lunge in the program.
Personally I'd like to try it for six weeks and share my thoughts then, but there are some other things I'd like to try first. And I have had a vasectomy last thursday, so no sports until after Chrismas.

Back on topic….I still consider myself a beginner to the iron game, and I do not think that I can post an honest opinion, but quoting one of my favorite writers, Dan John, I'd suggest that this program might be a banger, because it Looks quite simple, which is not easy.

The last time I trained I did some varying rep and set scheme on three training days, and it was great - volume along with intensity, but without destroying myself.

Why not simply try it and share your experiences with us?

Too simple. Some variation to compound exercises are needed. e.g. Bench.. do decline, flat and incline.

Is your goal to be strong, fast, powerful, resilient and mechanically fluid, or do you just want to look good?

A little from column a, a little from column b. :)
I just generally feel that the benefits of lifting weights for riding and for life are worthwhile. Have lifted on and off for years, and I like a simple schedule that fits into an hour.

Why not simply try it and share your experiences with us?

I'm on my second 6 week cycle. Really enjoying it so far, and definitely finding my strength is increasing on it. I like the 6 week rotation of sets/reps. Depending on the day, I will throw a couple of sets of either pushups or barbell shoulder presses at the end and a bit of core to finish a day off.

my first impression is that i like it for the avg joe. my second impression is that it will provide you with limited long term results depending on what your goals are. the reason for this imo is that there is too much variability in a program like this. so while variability is important and something i promote, there needs to be a certain level of consistency with exercise selection and set/rep schemes in order to really advance.

for the beginner or someone who is returning from a long layoff a program like this is a great way to get rolling again. for a raw beginner, two or three 6wk cycles would be good. for someone with significant previous training experience i would recommend only one of theses 6wk cycles.

whether something like this will work for you though is really dependent on all the other things you have going on in your life. for someone who is a multi-sport athlete, maybe has kids and/or a number of other obligations and has limited time available for strength training workouts then this type of routine may give you the best results for the resources (time for training plus time for recovery) you have available.

in this scenario i would tweak it a bit though to allow for even better strength gains and more athletic performance by including barbell complexes and periodizing it for max strength.