Hi,
I have lifting using the Stronglifts 5 by 5 for about a year. I am basically benching body weight, squat 1.5 and deadlift 1.75 times bodyweight. To be honest I’m not entirely clear/specific about goals, I ve been going back to boxing lately and enjoy those types of conditioning workouts and using kettle bells, sprint workouts. Anyhow if I do boxing/martial arts mon and Fri, and lift weights Thurs and Sat will it be enough to retain strength on the major lifts. Has anyone used a 2 day split along with cardio/conditioning program?
Thanks
No expert here, but 2 days week is most definitely enough to maintain strength, if not build it. If I were you I would spread out the sessions a bit, for instance wednesdays and saturdays. This way you could lift heavy and still allow for ample recovery. Also depends on your cardio and conditioning program. If you’re doing both they may have detrimental effects on each other, but to what extent (if any) is determined on how well you balance your volume of each and how well you recover (eat, sleep, etc.)
Dan John is an amazing strength coach and author on here and has written about twice a week training and how well it has worked for him. Like I said I’m no expert, but he is, so looking into his writing may help tremendously.
Hey Sody,
Strength training twice a week and conditioning twice per week can work very well, but this all depends on your main goals. If you’re wanting to increase strength dramatically then your cardio and conditioning may be detrimental to your gains. On the other hand if you are wanting to be agile and have a good strength to weight ratio this could work well for you.
What is your main goal? Do you want to be competing in MMA/Boxing, or do you want to add size? Trying to do both can be very difficult.
[quote]Sody78 wrote:
To be honest I’m not entirely clear/specific about goals, I ve been going back to boxing lately and enjoy those types of conditioning workouts and using kettle bells, sprint workouts.[/quote]
Quite a few guys in the Combat forum seem to prefer lifting twice a week, usually with a 5/3/1 routine. If it’s well-designed, it’ll be fine. There have been a handful of articles that lay out good twice-a-week plans.
Thanks guys,
I was lifting 3/4 days a week heavy using EDT training and a few programs off bodybuilding.com [Kris Gethins] I def got stronger,bigger and bench,dead and squat went up. Have always done a bit of combat type stuff but after a year of just lifting I felt a bit bulky. Prob trying to hit that perfect outcome most guys want of being lean and muscular and athletic.
I think Ill do Wendler 531 twice a week and work in 2 conditioning/boxing workouts around it. Did a few Crossfit workouts [Murph] and it wiped me out, and this was after a month or two of kettle bell HIIT workouts. You can’t cover all bases it seems!!!
Thanks guys
Conor