Here is my new strength training plan as of 6/14/2011. I've decided to condense my exercises to two days a week rather than three and replaced the third day with a 60-minute Dave Farmar yoga download video. There are two things I want to accomplish with this 9-week cycle.
1. Hit new maxes in the bench press and deadlift. After taking a few weeks off in May for vacation, I realized I needed to back down a bit from what I was doing before, and work back up. I'm using a program that has one "rep day" and one "heavy day" for each lift you want to work on. The first week starts with a percentage of your old max (I entered the heaviest weight I'd been lifting before the break) and works up until you are doing a few reps at that old max weight. At the end of the 9 weeks, you try for a new max.
2. Work on my back and shoulder strength. I'll be doing a lot of back and shoulder exercises each week to try to help what I call my "computer shoulder". This was another motivation for cutting back on weights by one day and adding in another day of yoga. My chest and shoulders are super tight, and I find it nearly impossible to hold my arms up and out in yoga- which is all the more reason I should do it!
Here's the plan, Stan. The bench press and deadlift have a rep scheme that I'm following to work toward new maxes. For all the other exercises I'm doing the classic three sets of 10.
Tuesday
- Bench press (for reps)
- Deadlift (for reps)
- Squat
- Assisted pull-ups
- Assisted dips
- Seated row
- Bent over fly
- Shoulder press
- Curls
- Abs
Friday
- Bench press (for weight)
- Deadlift (for weight)
- Front squat
- Inverted row
- Calf raises
- Lat pullover
- Lat raise with external rotation
- Chest fly
- Hip abductor
- Abs
Below are some previous strength training plans:
(3/21/2011)Most of the exercises are the same as my previous plan, but I decided to mix things up between pushing and pulling on my upper body days, and I moved "leg day" after my second quality running workout of the week. The rep scheme for my "important lifts" has changed a bit, too. The T and F workouts take about 40 minutes to complete and I do about 20 min easy on the treadmill to finish off. The R workout is tough and after it is over, I'm done. I've tried to include links to videos or descriptions of exercises that might not be familiar to everyone. E-mail me or leave a comment if you have questions.
T - Upper body workout 1
- Assisted pull-up: 8,6,4,2 reps working up to 10lbs offset (3/14), 3x5 reps at 25lbs offset
- Assisted dips: 8,6,4,2 reps working up to 10lbs offset (3/14), 3x5 reps at 35lbs offset
- Overhead press: 8,6,4,2 reps working up to 70lbs, 3x5 reps at 50lbs
- Superset: shrugs: 3x10 reps, inverted rows: 3x10 reps
- Superset: inclined bench: 3x10 reps, lat raises with external rotation: 3x10 reps
R - Lower body
- 5 sets of 5 deadlifts
- 5 sets of 5 squats (feet on 2.5lb plates)
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 reverse lunges off a platform, 3 sets of 10 hip hikes
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 side lunges, 3 sets of 10 1-leg deadlifts
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 leg presses, 3 sets of 10 calf raises
F - Upper body workout 2
- Bench press: 8,6,4,2 reps working up to 95lbs (3/14), 3x5 reps at 75lbs
- Barbell row: 8,6,4,2 reps working up to 85lbs (3/14), 3x5 reps at 65lbs
- Superset: Arnold press: 3x10 reps, curls: 3x10 reps
- Superset: upright rows: 3x10 reps, bench dips: 3x10 reps
- Superset: bent over fly: 3x10 reps, lat pullovers: 3x10 reps
Previous schedule (from 2/13/2011):
M-
- 5 sets of 5 barbell rows
- 5 sets of 5 assisted pull-ups
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 lat raises with external rotation, 3 sets of 10 lat pullovers
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 inverted rows, 3 sets of 10 upright rows
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 bent over fly, 3 sets of 10 dumbbell curls
W-
- 5 sets of 5 deadlifts
- 5 sets of 5 squats (feet on 2.5lb plates)
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 reverse lunges off a platform, 3 sets of 10 hip hikes
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 side lunges, 3 sets of 10 1-leg deadlifts
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 leg presses, 3 sets of 10 calf raises
F-
- 5 sets of 5 bench presses
- 5 sets of 5 barbell overhead presses
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 inclined bench press, 3 sets of 10 triceps pushdowns
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 shrugs, 3 sets of 10 bench dips
- Superset- 3 sets of 10 Arnold press, 3 sets of 10 high cable rows
Current max lifts:
Most of these are not true 1-rep maxes but just the most I've ever lifted in a training session.
- Deadlift - 135lbs (2/2011)
- Squat* - 55lbs (2/2011)
- Bench press - 100 lbs (12/2010) This was a very ugly 1 rep max.
- Barbell overhead press -
60lbs (2/2011),70lbs (3/2011) - Assisted pull up -
25lb offset (2/2011)10lbs (3/2011) - Barbell row - 85lbs (2/2011)
* I just started doing full squats (hips all the way to the ground) in January so I'm using relatively light weight- plus those are way hard.
Goals:
- Work up to the "advanced" level for all lifts except the power clean (and heck, maybe learn how to do a power clean) according to the Basic Strength Standards (123lb weight class)
- Do a pull-up (done!)
- Do a body weight dip
- Do a full squat without the 2.5lb plates under my heels
- Do 30 push-ups with good form- upper chest touching the ground with every rep.
