GPP/Conditioning

Training Powerlifting
1

So I’ve never really bothered with cardio or anything similar before but now I’m realising that I probably should and that it can even provide benefits to lifting. However, I don’t want to spend much money and have limited equipment to use for it.

Of course I can go running but aside from that I have a skipping rope, some bands and a floor lol. I was thinking some kind of circuit training could be good to raise GPP/conditioning.

So I was thinking something like 1 minute of skip rope then 20 push-ups then some mountain climbers, for example, then burpees etc.

Does this sound good or should I be doing anything obvious? I was also hoping to use my off-days for this but also do small workouts. So like to do some arm work for example because usually I neglect that when I train at the gym. Sound good?

2

There was a really good article a few weeks ago about cardio for weightlifters. Pretty much, it explained that most powerlifters (because we take our training to extremes) imagine a good cardio session to be something that has us feeling like we are going to puke - or two hours on a treadmill or something. But The author suggested that a BETTER option for cardio is to do short bursts of moderate intensity cardio for 10 - 20 rounds. So, for example, jump rope for 20 seconds, rest for 40 second - 20 rounds. Or sprint at 80% for 10 seconds, rest for 20, do that for 10 full minutes. The idea is that, in powerlifting, the longest an anerobic set will probably take you is 20 -30 seconds, so your training should be in that domain - but then by doing multiple rounds of this, and limiting your rest, you can increase your work capacity without putting TOO much time into gpp or hurting your strength gains at all.

That’s one idea, which would probably be good to start with if you don’t do any cardio work now.

Other ideas - Jim wendler strongly advocates hill sprints, which again train in that 10-20 second range. Do 10 or 20 of these on leg days, your work capacity goes up.

Also, I’ve had some success with just plain running - doing 2 or 3 400’s at about 90-95%. The time domain on these is a little longer (60-90 seconds), but Every time I do them, I have an awesome squat session next time I squat. So maybe play with 400’s 2.

AND, you definitely could have success with the sort of circut training you are suggesting, but personally, I would suggest you keep the workouts shorter, and maybe do rounds for time - something like 100 jump ropes, 20 pushups, 20 situps, 20 squats, as fast as you can, then rest a minute and hit it for 2 more rounds. Crossfit style metcon’s or WOD’s can help gpp a ton and up your work capacity for powerlifting, but make sure that you keep them short and sweet in order to maximize their carryover into your strength gains.

3

Yes I would do more WOD type stuff but a lot require equipment and I’d prefer training at home because the gym is fairly far for me and not the worth the travel to train for like 20 minutes.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

What do you think about also incorporating some small workouts in to it? So I’d do the pushups which helps pump blood in that region but also some actual training - like a lot of curls, reverse flyes etc. just to help those parts grow. Arms I neglect and upper back seems like everyone believes you should hammer it often as it doesn’t get overtrained.

4

Personally I do an arm day in between my more serious workouts, instead of a full “rest day”. It gives me motivation to go into the gym, warmup, stretch, get my body healing, but without doing anything that’s very hard to recover from. So yeah, I like that idea.

Upper back is too important to be just done as “extra” though. You should be hitting upper back heavy and with a lot of volume on your upper body days. but if you’re already doing that, throwing in some pullups on arm days or as part of your WOD probably won;t hurt. Just listen to your body - if you feel like you need to skip the gym, do so on these less important workouts. don’t get married to “arm day” at the expense of your important workouts.

Also, tons of WOD’s can be done with just your bodyweight. Not mainsite stuff, but if you take pretty much any 3-5 bodyweight movements and do a 10 minute AMRAP or do 5 rounds as fast as possible, you will be toasted. examples:

50 squats
40 situps
30 pushups
20 pullups
5 rounds as fast as possible

100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 situps 100 squats as fast as possible

5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats, as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.

OR you can just make your own. just use pushups, pullups, situps, squats, hanging leg raises, lunges, box or tuck jumps, planks, jump ropes, running, handstand pushups, broad jumps, etc etc. try and pick a round/rep/time scheme that is 10 minutes or less, and work your ass off. if you did that twice a week, your conditioning and work capacity would probably skyrocket, and as long as you keep the workouts pretty short it probably wouldn’t hurt your strength much.

5

I would slightly periodize your GPP training along with your lifting. Early one alot of non specific work in your lifting (dumbell stuff to bring up weaknesses, etc) and longer less intense cardio sessions to build your base.

I would do stuff like kb swings, jump rope, sled pushes/pulls, body weight stuff, sledge hammer etc for a constant pace 40-60 minutes 2-3 times a week. After a few months of that I would do shorter duration higher intensity stuff like heavy sled pulls, hill sprints etc in th e10-12 second range for 10-20 sets and do that for a month or so and repeat.