any workout for strength, speed and size?

[helloimlam]

i was wondering if there is a workout routine that can help develop strength, speed and size. I bulked from 150lb - 180lb last year and i can already see my strength and size differences. But sadly, i am very slow and not as agile as i used to be. i practice muay thai and my strikes are VERY slow and sluggish compared to what it used to be when i was at 150lb.

is there any way i can stay at 180 - 185lb and regain my speed and agility?

i was considering crossfit.

[TheHeirApparent]

depends on your build. if its 30 pounds of fat....no

[helloimlam]

nope, most of it is muscle. i can lift a lot more afterall :S

[GodlyBuddha]

i was wondering if there is a workout routine that can help develop strength, speed and size. I bulked from 150lb - 180lb last year and i can already see my strength and size differences. But sadly, i am very slow and not as agile as i used to be. i practice muay thai and my strikes are VERY slow and sluggish compared to what it used to be when i was at 150lb.

is there any way i can stay at 180 - 185lb and regain my speed and agility?

i was considering crossfit.

Hello there, I'll share my routine with you, seeing as you do Muay Thai, this could potentially help you:

Chin-ups 3x15
Parallel Bar Dips 3x15
Pseudo Planche Pushups 3x15
One Legged Squats 3x15
Leg Raises 3x15

The reason I'm using 3 sets of 15 is because 3 is a nice number, and a good amount of sets to stimulate growth. The reps of 15 is beginning to lean over to endurance instead of strength, which means once you can do 3x15 of that certain exercise, it's time to change the exercise by adding weight to it or decreasing the leverage of the movement (Holding dumbbells while doing one legged squats, or doing pull-ups instead of chin-ups).

Also you probably noticed that they are all calisthenics. The reason is that they can be done almost anywhere (the park, at home if you have pull-up bars or push up handles, or even a tree in your backyard), also most martial artists swear by calisthenics.

This workout regime is decent because the chin-ups cover the vertical pulling, the dips cover downward pushing, the push ups cover horizontal pushing, the one legged squats cover legs and leg raises cover abdominals. The only things that are lacking is a horizontal pull and a vertical push, which can be fixed by adding Front Lever rows (a gymnastic move) and Handstand pushups.

If the exercise is too hard, start with an easier variation (pushups on knees), if an exercise is too easy, then move on to a harder variation (push ups to one arm pushups).

Many people think calisthenics are inferior to weight lifting, however I believe that you can achieve amazing results by using calisthenics only. I'm not implying that calisthenics are better than weightlifting though, because weightlifting definitely brings results efficiently, however both weightlifting and calisthenics have their pros and cons.

Anyways hope you like my routine, try it out and see if you get any results!

Edit:

I'll also post some progressions on bodyweight exercises in case you're interested:

Vertical Push: Pike Pushup, Handstand Pushup (the transition will take time though and practice being in a handstand)

Vertical Pull: Neutral Grip Chin-ups, Chin-ups, Pull-ups, One Arm Chin-up, One Arm pull-up

Horizontal Push: Knee Push-up, Regular-Push-up, Diamond-Push-up, Pseudo Planche Push-up, One Arm Push-up, Planche Push-up (You can skip one arm push-up if you choose to learn the Planche Push-up)

Horizontal Pull: Inverted Row, Front Lever (Again, the transition between the two takes a lot of time)

The four planes of motion are now covered, incorporating an exercise from each plane of motion will help build a more balanced musculature. Also do not forget Dips, even though they don't belong to an essential plane of motion, they are fantastic for building mass in the chest and triceps.

Also, keep rest between sets from 30-90 seconds.

There are obviously a lot more variations of exercises than the ones I've written above, I've just thought of them from the top of my head.

Train hard!

[helloimlam]

well, i thought calisthenics are quite limited in terms of strength and overall performance, considering you are only using your own bodyweight? and i don't think calisthenics help maintain and put on size either :S

[GodlyBuddha]

well, i thought calisthenics are quite limited in terms of strength and overall performance, considering you are only using your own bodyweight? and i don't think calisthenics help maintain and put on size either :S

Calisthenics are only limited if you chose to stick to one same exercise (push ups for example). Resistance is resistance, your muscles can't tell the difference between you using a dumbbell to you using your own body weight. It only recognizes the amount of resistance being put on it and adapt to that resistance, be it from adding more weight on a barbell, or decreasing the leverage on body weight exercises.

If you only do push-ups and sit-ups, you obviously won't get far because your body has no need to adapt any further. You must make the exercise harder by either adding weight (backpack push-ups) or decreasing the leverage (one-arm pushup or planche push-up)

If you're looking for barbell only routine, go for Rippetoe's Starting Strength. That's what caused me to go from 130 pounds to 170 pounds in about 6-8 months.

[helloimlam]

nice routine, though do you think you can send me a link of rippetoe's routine? thanks

[GodlyBuddha]

nice routine, though do you think you can send me a link of rippetoe's routine? thanks

It's right at the top of the Teen's Sections in the stickies