General training update
I’m leaving Bulgarian Training Simplified (my modified version) behind now for a while. Just… bored with it or something.
Ideally, I would have liked to go back to,
but it doesn’t mesh too well with the gym I’m currently at. It is very sectioned, so, you can do compound lifts with barbells in one room, and then machines are far away (as are all the dumbbells). This really limits the options for Pairing A. For instance, doing a front squat followed by a lying leg curl is great but it’s not a viable option in that gym.
Another program that I’ve been eyeing is The Vital Whole Human - T NATION and I like the layout, in particular I’m very fond of the minimalism which plays well with the limitation I just described. I normally enjoy supersets plenty, but I’ll have to play the hand as it was dealt instead.
One gripe that I have with it is that I’d prefer to run 5 sessions a week, as I enjoy the routine of getting to the gym to lift. And if I don’t do something often enough, I have an easy time slipping out of the routine.
If I ran that program it would be,
Sunday: Squat
Monday: Bench
Tuesday: Climbing
Wednesday: Deadlift
Thursday: Climbing
Friday: Overhead press
Saturday: Off
The other is that I’m not really interested in being in a surplus at the moment, right now I just want to eat for good health and have that be that. But then again, no-one is stopping me from not being in a surplus while running it. It just seems ill-advised.
Another alternative would be to run something of my own design, that is lift-specific (squat, bench, hinge, overhead, pull). Now, obviously I’m not an expert programmer like CT but it might be fun!
Sunday: Hip-hinge
Monday: Overhead
Tuesday: Pull + climbing (high carb day FTW)
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Squat + climbing (high carb day FTW)
Friday: BP
Saturday: Off
But I haven’t sketched anything up yet…
If I did do that, I should probably revisit the take-aways I made earlier with regards to neurotyping Nordic Blood: Climbing And Lifting / Lifting And Climbing - #522 by Voxel more thoroughly, but it is very easy to run up against the issue I described earlier with the designer of the gym ascribing some sort of anthropomorphic quality to gym equipment and deciding that dumbbells belong far away from barbells, and barbells belong far away from machines. Except barbells for benches, they go everywhere, but the flooring would hate it if you did say an RDL anywhere near a leg press. Kettlebells apparently belong with barbells though.
Tomorrow, I’m doing something lower body oriented. What option I end up running will depend on how much time I have on my hands and how my throat is feeling.
I’ll either re-use one of my old favourites Look Like a Bodybuilder, Perform Like an Athlete (The Vital Whole Human - T NATION),
- Snatch-Grip High Pull
- Muscle Snatch
- Snatch-Grip Deadlift
and just ramp to a 3RM in each lift. This is probably the best option if my throat is still feeling scratchy.
Or, try out the squat workout from The Complete Power Look. The worst option for my throat probably.
Or, maybe,
A. Vertical Jumps (in-place or Box Jumps). 3 sets. Reps by feel, as long as I don't lose the explosive quality.
B. Power Clean. 3 sets. Reps by feel, as long as I don't lose the explosive quality.
C. Front Squat (just started these in BTS, and they need work) 5x5 ? Or ramp to 5RM.
D1. Walking Lunges
D2. Single-leg RDL with kettlebells
E. Aaaaaaabs
If my throat feels at all scratchy I’ll omit A and replace D1 with Bulgarian Split Squat.
Will try to have a plan figured out before Sunday.