Hi CT, for the past few months I’ve been following a version of your layer with great gains in strength and mass, though I’m still very much a beginner. I recently started training again at the national oly gym in chile, and i am going to be competing in my first competition in april. i train m-f 8-10PM. i’m still very much focusing on technique, though some days have more emphasis on increasing the weight. my lack of upper body strength, however, is still severely limiting my progress. is there some type of strength work i can do on weekends, or even super short (20 min) sessions in the mornings to rapidly increase strength? thanks!
other stats (don’t know if necessary): female, 23 yrs old, long-limbed, hard-gainer, though i managed to increase 5lb of muscle mass over the past few months (though i still have a LONG way to go :))
The strength movements for the upper body that you should be focusing on are:
push press
“Pendlay” barbell row (barbell rowing keeping the torso parallel to the floor)
high pull from hang
Dips (if you can’t do full dips yet use a combination of assisted dips, using an elastic band to help you out, and negative-only dips)
On one day do the pressing movements (push press/dips) at the end of your workouts and on the alternate day do the pulling movements (barbell row, high pull).
Push press, high pull & Pendlay row
Week 1: 3 x 3, 3 x 6
Week 2: 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3 (lower reps = heavier weight)
Week 3: 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1 (gradually increasing weight)
Week 4: 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1 (lower reps = heavier weight)
Dips: get a total of 50 reps in s many sets as needed. What counts as a rep:
a full rep (with weight, with assistance/band or body weight depending on your capacity)
a negative-only rep lowered in 4-6 seconds
I also suggest doing 100 daily push-ups spread throughout the day, increasing by 5 every week.
for week 1, am i lowering the weight one the sets of 3X6? if so, by how much?
for the following weeks, I understand that the lower reps should be heavier weights, but what is the difference between this and “gradually increasing the weight” in week 3?
sorry for my confusion. thanks again!
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
The strength movements for the upper body that you should be focusing on are:
push press
“Pendlay” barbell row (barbell rowing keeping the torso parallel to the floor)
high pull from hang
Dips (if you can’t do full dips yet use a combination of assisted dips, using an elastic band to help you out, and negative-only dips)
On one day do the pressing movements (push press/dips) at the end of your workouts and on the alternate day do the pulling movements (barbell row, high pull).
Push press, high pull & Pendlay row
Week 1: 3 x 3, 3 x 6
Week 2: 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3 (lower reps = heavier weight)
Week 3: 1 x 5, 1 x 4, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1 (gradually increasing weight)
Week 4: 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, 1 x 1 (lower reps = heavier weight)
Dips: get a total of 50 reps in s many sets as needed. What counts as a rep:
a full rep (with weight, with assistance/band or body weight depending on your capacity)
a negative-only rep lowered in 4-6 seconds
I also suggest doing 100 daily push-ups spread throughout the day, increasing by 5 every week.