Why not?

[timtimtimmah19]

So I figured I'd go ahead and start one of these. I'm looking to maybe get up to 180 lb (I'm currently 172 and need to make weight in the Fall at 172 for football) and to move max to 250 300 350 on bench, squat, and deadlift, respectively by the fall. I'm mainly concerned with trying for more leg strength as I went a year or two when I first started training (ages 15 to 16 about?) without much heavy leg work and feel I probably need to play catch up. Any critique and/or advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm currently using an upper body/lower body split on Monday/Tuesday Thursday/Friday with speed training interspersed through the week and core work. Speed training consists mainly of sprints and plyometric work, depending on what they have me doing.

Monday: Upper Body Split 1
-Bench Press: 5x5 @ 200
-Wide Grip Pullup 3x10
-Dumbbell Flies 3x8 @ 40
-Standing Barbell Rows 3x8 @ 150

Stopped working out at this point because energy was lagging and I figured it'd be better to finish up later than work out sleepy.

-Standing Barbell Military Press: 3x8 @ 110
-Side Raises 3x9 @ 15
-Weighted Dips 3x8 @ +30
-Tricep Pulldowns 3x8 @ 60

I don't remember food exactly but I think it looked like this:

Meal 1: Yogurt, home-made granola, fruit, orange juice, egg, slice of cheese, whole wheat english muffin, multivitamin

Meal 2: Whole wheat double protein bread (1), peanut butter, cheese and crackers

Meal 3: Protein Shake, something carb oriented, I forget what

Meal 4: Peanuts and Cashews

Meal 5: Protein Shake, lean beef, Whole wheat double protein bread (2), slice of cheese, dash of ketchup

Meal 6: Orzo salad with tomatoes, goat cheese, chicken, and greens

Tomorrow will be a lower body lift/speed training day.

[swanso5]

- is a program set up by your coaches?
- a better schedule is mon, wed, fri, sat
- ditch flies, side raises, pushdowns
- add friut to meal 2
- if meal is not after training then make solid protein fruit and veg if it is then keeop the as is
- add protein to meal 4 and veg
- if meal 5 isn't after training then make it protein, veg, salad

[timtimtimmah19]

The program the coaches set up for freshmen was actually painfully basic and I felt like I'm better off sticking to this until I stop seeing results, since this program has been working really well for me so far. I'll probably switch to the recommended program once this stops. The third meal and fifth meal were after workouts, but yeah, I do need to add more vegs overall.

[swanso5]

post the rest of our workout

[timtimtimmah19]

So today was lower split day.

Power Clean: 175x5 180x5 185x5
Squat: 5x5 @ 245
Romanian Deadlift: 165x8 175x8 185x8 (I just started these last week so I'm still feeling them out)
Lunge: 3x8 @ 45
Calf Raise: 3x8 @ 265
Barbell Curl: 3x5 @ 95
Wrist Curl: 3x8 @ 35

Speed Training was probably around 10 sprints for 10 seconds each on an incline, some ladder work, some hurdle work, and T and box sprints, totaling an hour.

Meal 1: Yogurt, Granola, Egg, Slice of cheese, fruit, orange juice, multivitamin

Meal 2: Orzo Salad with Chicken and greens

Meal 3: Beef and fruit

Lift

Meal 4: Protein Shake and sesame chicken lean cuisine

Speed Training

Meal 5: Protein Shake, cheese, crackers, cucumber

Meal 6: Two Wawa Turkey Subs on whole wheat bread with lettuce and peppers

Swanso: The rest of workout looks like this:

Wednesday: Long Recovery Cardio and Core work
Thursday: Upper Body Split 2 and speed training
-Chin Ups 5x5
-Incline Bench 3x8
-Rows 3x8
-Decline Bench 3x8
-Upright Row 3x8
-Back Raises 3x8
-Close Grip Bench Press 3x8
-Skull Crushers 3x8
Friday: Lower Bodly Split 2
-Hang Clean 3x5
-Deadlift 5x5
-Front Squat 3x8
-Leg Curl 3x8
-Split Squat 3x8
-Calf Raise
-Concentraion Curl
-Hammer Curl
Saturday: Core work and speed training

Then I'm off to the beach for senior week with class to celebrate graduation. I'm going to try and run and do some bodyweight exercises each morning but I'm not expecting to feel up to it every day.

[swanso5]

- curls??? and on lower body day??? and wrist curls??? weird...
- drop calf raises too
- decrease power cleans reps to 3...o lifts are all about speed so if speed is compromised then decrease wt
- speed work should be done before strength training
- an hr of that and an hr of wts is probably a tad too much which makes your strength work efficiency all that more important
- add fruit to meal 2
- add veg and salad to meal 3
- if doing 2 sessions a day you need at least 6hrs btw them
- crachers is a terrible post workout option
- long recovery cardio? to recover from what? your in the off season aren't you?
- drop upright rows, skull crushers
- use a different o lift variation on 2nd lower day...maybe push jerks for the same as hand=g cleans as suggested above
- drop leg curls, calf raises, concentration curls???

don;t wreck a half decent program by adding shit things, i'm not sure if you have but it looks like you have

[timtimtimmah19]

Allright, I'll drop the bicep work from the leg day, I know it was weird but I wanted to get it in somewhere. I'll drop calf raises too, but if you could explain why I should drop them I'd be appreciative. I don't have much of a choice with the speed training how long it takes, I'm with a trainer for it so it's their call. I can cut down on the lift on those days thought I guess. The crackers actually came probably an hour to an hour and a half later, i just lumped it in there because it was only half an hour after i finished eating the other meal. As far as the cardio goes, from experience and from what I've heard, long moderately intense cardio work can help aid recovery and reduce soreness, which is what I'm after. Will do on dropping LC, CR, . What exactly are push jerks? The only other thing I could use some explanation on is why I should get rid of upright rows. I understand getting rid of the rest (single joint movements), but I really feel like I get a good shoulder/upper back workout from upright rows. I'm just curious for why on that.

[swanso5]

- calf raises are not very efficient at all and what your born with is generally what you'll end up with..not worth the time and effort in book
- the time of the speed training is fine but you need to structure your wts better
- it can aid in soreness but are you sore when you do it? bodyweight circuits are better (muscle stimulation, metabolism increase etc)
- push jerks are shoulder presses with a little knee bend...the top half of a clean jerk (search youtube)...try push presses first actually
- upright rows is a good choice if ou're after a future shoulder impingement
- you want an upper back /shoulder workout? do o lifts

[timtimtimmah19]

Thanks for clearing all that up. Would you suggest putting the push press in on an upper body day then? Or I guess what I could do is if I switch to the Monday/Wed Fri/Sat split like you suggested I could put it Wednesday and move Power Cleans to Friday if you'd suggest that instead. Had to google shoulder impingement but yikes, yeah I'll be done with upright rows then, if I'm quarterbacking it might be kinda useful to have functional shoulders...A lot of o lifts worry me due to the end position with the bar above head at a slight backwards angle to torso, I've had shoulder issues in the past (due to being an even bigger moron than I am now when I started lifting and pretty much totally neglecting back in favor of chest work like most of the world, which led to issues due to what I suspect was a major imbalance) and that position in particular is still something of a weak point for me. Do you think I should still maybe go for them though, just start light because I've always really wanted to do more lifts along those lines.

As far as the cardio today, I was really sore after yesterday and still a little from the day before. The bodyweight circuit sounds good though if you could maybe give me an example routine that I could do.

Today's work/meals:

Meal 1: Yogurt, granola, egg, slice of cheese, Orange Juice and fruit blended together

Meal 2: Cheese, crackers, cashews, cucumber

Meal 3: Turkey sub with lots of lettuce and peppers

Mild cardio, 35 or so minute jog

Meal 4: Protein shake, fruit

Meal 5: Pizza, but with homemade whole wheat bread base, homemade sauce from diced tomatoes. Sliced meatballs on top. Still pretty lousy health-wise I realize but it was pretty much this or nothing. Carrots

Core circuit from The Complete Book of Core Training by Brungardt.
3:00 bridge
2:00 per side side bridges (no rest)

Meal 6: Protein shake, carrots

Thank you for the input!

[swanso5]

- well if your a quarterback i wouldn't do much if any overhead work with you at all...plenty of scap stability work though...search shoulder savers by eric cressey
- bw circuit's are easy...lunges x 10, push up x 10, inverted rows x 10 x 10mins continuous and you're done
- give me some samples from the book

[timtimtimmah19]

So it's mad late and I honestly forget what I ate today so I'll just post workout.

Chinups 5x5 @ +35
Inclined Bench Press 3x8 @170
Cable Rows 3x8 @ 140
Decline Bench Press 3x8 @ 200
Close Grip Bench 3x8 @ 145
Hammer Curl 3x8 @ 40

I feel like I may have too many bench press variations in this workout, so I might move the dips to this day. I'm also worried about a lack of shoulder work if I take out raises, upright rows, and overhead work. I know that pretty much everything I do works shoulders but I'm wondering if I need targeting exercises or not.

[swanso5]

overhead throwing athletes don;t need much if any overhead work, it can lead to definate impingement from excessive volume...yes far too many bench variations, you only need 1 per session, 1 chest exercise per session too so you don't need to add dips and also dips aren't so great for overhead throwing athletes for the same reason

[timtimtimmah19]

Just got back from senior week, did a circuit that looked something like this most days:

Diamond Pushups
Paralell Grip Pullup
Pushups
Chin Ups
Wide Push Ups
Bridges
Side Bridges
V-Ups

I didn't run because I honestly woke up really late feeling pretty lousy most days, which I know was bad considering I ate absolutely horribly as well. Honestly, I figured I only get one week this summer like this one so if I took some time off from running it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I'm jumping right back into routine tomorrow because today I was still feeling sleepy and a bit lousy from the crappy food and drinks of the week.

[timtimtimmah19]

This is what today has looked like workout wise:

Chin Ups: 5x5 @ +35
Incline Bench: 3x8 @ 170
Cable Row: 3x8 @ 135
Decline Bench: 3x8 @ 200
Skull Crushers: 1x8 @ 35 Felt mild discomfort in elbows so stopped workout.
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So after the advice I've gotten I'm thinking I should maybe switch up programs or change routine a little bit. Anyone (especially you swanso) who has a suggestion of what I could/should switch to, I would really appreciate any advice on the subject. If you think I should stick with what I'm doing now, I'm game for that too. I just feel like I'm switching a lot around in routine right now and it might be better to just make a fresh start with a new routine since I'm just coming off a short layoff as well. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks!

[swanso5]

- you don't need 2 bench presses in the same session
- wouldn't even bother with french presses
- you need some stability in your training...variety is not as impotant as it's made out to be...powerlifters (the strongest people on earth) train 3 lifts and maybe 20 accesory lifts and that's it...not many really compared to a bb'er who'd do that many in a week easily
- goals?