The fall rowing season starts Monday, and I have practice until 6 every day after school, and in the morning on Saturdays (at the same time the gym is open). I will be unable to lift every day of the week except Sunday, and possibly Friday after practice, because I have a ton of homework.
Right now I am doing WS4SB, and I have been making good progress on it. My goal is strength. What routine can I do to not lose strength and possibly gain it during the rowing season if I only work out Sunday and Friday after practice? thanks
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Thread: Working out 1-2 days a week?
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09-20-2008, 04:17 PM #1
Working out 1-2 days a week?
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09-20-2008, 04:57 PM #2
You're very limited by only lifting two times a week. If it was up to me I would either take an extended break from rowing or lifting instead of trying to do both but then again that's just me. But if I were to lift twice a week, I would go heavy upper then heavy lower. Keep it basic and do big compount movements and heavy auxillaries. Also plenty of rest and plenty of food.
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09-20-2008, 07:48 PM #17
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09-20-2008, 08:20 PM #18
You can workout 2 days a week. There are a few strongmen who do actually train to death 2 times a week when they have tight schedules.
I would divide each workout into one primary lower body movement, one primary upper body movement and then follow up with accessory work.
Since you are working out only twice a week, I would suggest a template like:
Workout A
1.) Deadlift Variant
2.) Bench Press Variant
3.) Posterior Chain Exercise
4.) Bench Press Assistant Exercise
5.) Ab Exercise
Workout B
1.) Squat Variant
2.) Overhead Press Variant
3.) Posterior Chain / Lunge Variant
4.) Overhead Press Variant
5.) Ab Work
Deadlift Variant - Deadlifts, Deadlifts from deficit, Snatch Grip Deadlifts, Rack Deadlifts, Speed Deadlifts.
Bench Press Variant - Flat/Incline/Decline Bench Press, Close Grip Flat/Incline/Decline Bench Press, Floor Press, Board Press, Speed Press, Pin Press
Posterior Chain Exercise - Glute Ham Raises, unilateral box Squats, Pull Throughs, Good Mornings, etc
Bench Press Assistant Exercise - Dumbbell Presses at various inclinations, close grip press at various angles, Back exercises like rows, pull-ups, dips, push-ups, etc..
Ab Work - Wood chops, Lat pull down sit-ups, front planks, side planks, bar roll outs, dragon flies, reverse crunches.
Squat Variant - Squats, Box Squats, Front Squats, Front Box Squats, Anderson Front Squats.
Overhead Press Variant - Push Press, Strict Military Press, Pin Press
Lunge Variant - Front Lunges, Reverse Lunges, Bulgarian Squats, Reverse Lunges with front foot elevated, Reverse Lunges using front squat grip, dumbbell lunges, barbell lunges
Overhead Press Assistant Exercises - Pull-ups, Rows, Chin-ups, Seated Dumbbell Press, Bilateral Dumbbell Presses, Unilateral Presses, Standing Presses, Seated Presses.
You can wave the volume over 4 weeks for example:
Exercise: Week 1 (High) | Week 2 (Medium) | Week 3 (Very High) | Week 4 (Low)
Deficit Deadlifts: 4x3, 2x7 | 4x2, 1x7 | 5x3, 2x7 | 2x2, 1x7
Changing the volume every week will allow you to go balls to the wall every single time you hit the gym. The catch is that you have to maintain good form otherwise you're gonna develop some bad habits which will be hard to break.
You can rotate exercises on a 4 week basis. There are plenty to choose from.
You can do Speed work in the same workout. I would suggest you play around with first doing speed work and then volume work and vice versa. Just try and keep a rough plan. If you like to have plans, have them - but be prepared to improvise when necessary.
This is just off the top of my head. I hope you reach your goals.
Good luck
ps: I prefer to train 4x a week but there is no such rule as you have to lift x times a week. It just depends on your goals and how you want to do things. So be open minded and experiment. You can have 2 formal workouts per week and perhaps every once in a while you will get the chance to hit the gym a third time. Use that extra day to experiment with other exercises like arm work, grip work, etc.
Also, make sure you focus on hip mobility, hamstring flexibility and lower back stability. A lot of people overlook this and it gets them in trouble. So make sure you do a thorough warm-up with mobility drills, etc. Dan John and Joe Defranco and Eric Cressey have some good vids on youtube. Have a look at them.
Good luck once againLast edited by Andalite; 09-20-2008 at 08:25 PM.
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