Back from England and Plans for the New Year...
England was just how I remembered it as a kid: dreary, damp, and dark. Everything was gray and overcast while we were there and I couldn't beat the jet-lag. It was good to see my parents though. I gave my dad ETK and a 12kg KB and my mom Z-Health's R-Phase. They really took to both. My dad was impressed at how swings dropped his blood sugar (He's a type 2 diabetic). He even started reading ETK. So overall it was worth going to spend time with them. Training on the other hand was interesting. My goal was just to maintain a medium volume and medium intensity. I managed both. The only problem was my right knee is now a little "off," probably due to erratic sleep and a lot of sitting around. I had to really work thru R-Phase and get creative with the DJM over the last 2 days to get out of pain--chronic IT Band irritation.
I need to fill out my weight category so now it's that time to focus on gaining mass and building strength-endurance (yes, that is important for a weightlifter--it allows you to perform and recover from more and more higher intensity--percentage of 1RM--work) while still staying relatively lean. I have approximately 15lbs I need to put on. I also have a hellacious 1st Quarter of work, so balancing work, life, and lifting will be a challenge.
I decided to keep it simple and use a plan that has worked for me in the past: 1 squat, 1 push, and 1 pull, performed heavy, medium, and light three times a week, varying the daily intensities of each and placing a day of rest in between. These will be M/W/F training sessions and I will train the Snatch and Clean and Jerk on Saturdays. I will still have GPP/rehab days on T/Th focusing on supination and extension of the hands and wrists respectively--so probably some Pumps, Chins, and Reverse Lunges just to stretch out the legs and move the HR.
Here's how the program will play out:
Monday: Wednesday: Friday:
A. Back Squat A. Press A. RDL
B. Press B. RDL B. Back Squat
C. RDL C. Back Squat C. Press
Where A. is Heavy, B. is Medium, and C. is Light.
I will still keep to my 2 week cycles: Week 1: Low Volume; Week 2: High Volume
I will attempt this for 4 weeks, keeping the exercises the same (strength is a skill).
My A. exercises start at 70%; B. exercises at 65%; and C. exercises at 60%. Fatigue will be induced due to the volume of loading so it makes sense to adjust the percentages downward for subsequent exercises.
The reps for the first 2 weeks will be between 4-6 and the second 2 weeks will be between 3-5. Weeks 1 & 3 the total number of lifts per session (TNL) will be around 75 and for weeks 2 & 4 the TNL will be around 100 or so.
Today's Session:
A. Back Squat: 70%/4 x 6 sets
70/4, 100/4;
130kg/4 x 6 sets; 2 minutes of rest
B. Press: 65%/5 x 5 sets
65kg/5 x 5; 90 seconds of rest
C. RDL: 60%/6 x 4 sets
110kg/6 x 4; 60 secs. rest
This all felt easy which is how it was intended. It produced a mild sweat and a slightly elevated heart rate. Perfect for the first training session of week 1. By week 4, that squat will be at 85% for 10 sets of 3. That will be a challenge.
I hope this plan will work well. Tuesday and Thursdays will be the two days a week where I will be crushed at work, so that's why this training plan is designed the way it is. Also, I don't need to go to the platform to perform these sessions--very important.
We'll see how I feel tomorrow when 2007 starts...
England was just how I remembered it as a kid: dreary, damp, and dark. Everything was gray and overcast while we were there and I couldn't beat the jet-lag. It was good to see my parents though. I gave my dad ETK and a 12kg KB and my mom Z-Health's R-Phase. They really took to both. My dad was impressed at how swings dropped his blood sugar (He's a type 2 diabetic). He even started reading ETK. So overall it was worth going to spend time with them. Training on the other hand was interesting. My goal was just to maintain a medium volume and medium intensity. I managed both. The only problem was my right knee is now a little "off," probably due to erratic sleep and a lot of sitting around. I had to really work thru R-Phase and get creative with the DJM over the last 2 days to get out of pain--chronic IT Band irritation.
I need to fill out my weight category so now it's that time to focus on gaining mass and building strength-endurance (yes, that is important for a weightlifter--it allows you to perform and recover from more and more higher intensity--percentage of 1RM--work) while still staying relatively lean. I have approximately 15lbs I need to put on. I also have a hellacious 1st Quarter of work, so balancing work, life, and lifting will be a challenge.
I decided to keep it simple and use a plan that has worked for me in the past: 1 squat, 1 push, and 1 pull, performed heavy, medium, and light three times a week, varying the daily intensities of each and placing a day of rest in between. These will be M/W/F training sessions and I will train the Snatch and Clean and Jerk on Saturdays. I will still have GPP/rehab days on T/Th focusing on supination and extension of the hands and wrists respectively--so probably some Pumps, Chins, and Reverse Lunges just to stretch out the legs and move the HR.
Here's how the program will play out:
Monday: Wednesday: Friday:
A. Back Squat A. Press A. RDL
B. Press B. RDL B. Back Squat
C. RDL C. Back Squat C. Press
Where A. is Heavy, B. is Medium, and C. is Light.
I will still keep to my 2 week cycles: Week 1: Low Volume; Week 2: High Volume
I will attempt this for 4 weeks, keeping the exercises the same (strength is a skill).
My A. exercises start at 70%; B. exercises at 65%; and C. exercises at 60%. Fatigue will be induced due to the volume of loading so it makes sense to adjust the percentages downward for subsequent exercises.
The reps for the first 2 weeks will be between 4-6 and the second 2 weeks will be between 3-5. Weeks 1 & 3 the total number of lifts per session (TNL) will be around 75 and for weeks 2 & 4 the TNL will be around 100 or so.
Today's Session:
A. Back Squat: 70%/4 x 6 sets
70/4, 100/4;
130kg/4 x 6 sets; 2 minutes of rest
B. Press: 65%/5 x 5 sets
65kg/5 x 5; 90 seconds of rest
C. RDL: 60%/6 x 4 sets
110kg/6 x 4; 60 secs. rest
This all felt easy which is how it was intended. It produced a mild sweat and a slightly elevated heart rate. Perfect for the first training session of week 1. By week 4, that squat will be at 85% for 10 sets of 3. That will be a challenge.
I hope this plan will work well. Tuesday and Thursdays will be the two days a week where I will be crushed at work, so that's why this training plan is designed the way it is. Also, I don't need to go to the platform to perform these sessions--very important.
We'll see how I feel tomorrow when 2007 starts...
posted by Geoff Neupert at
3:53 PM
3 Comments:
Awesome Geoff. I love the simplicity of your new training regime. The "strength is a skill" mindset really changes the way one approaches his training.
My question is the following: Why do you follow the heavy day with a medium day and not a light day? My natural inclination would be to follow a heavy day by a light day. You have so much more experience than I do with this type of Program Design so really I'm just picking your brain to learn.
Happy new year and thanks for getting the "INTERVIEW" back to me. It rocked, big time!
Well, it didn't appear in the blog the way it did on the screen.
The BSQ, which I'm really trying to push, is actually H-L-M: Monday it's the A exercise, Wednesday it's the C exercise, and Friday it's the B exercise. The other exercises break down weekly this way: Press: M-H-L; RDL: L-M-H. So, as you can see, the loading changes per exercise.
Bompa recommends M-H-L, I believe in his book, "Periodization." My coach, Alfonso Duran recommends L-H-M. Both I believe work. I personally like the second variation and it has worked better for ME and some I trained in the past.
But, the reason I have the squat starting out heavy at the beginning of the week is that is when I'm usually emotionally the freshest. Also, I want it after my platform day.
Hope that makes sense.
Got it ! Thanks!
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