Strength Training 5-6 Times/Wk

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

i have alot of time on my hands for the next 3-4 months. i’ll be able to train 5-6 times a week. i got a membership to a public gym which gives me unlimited access.

anyone know of any programs or have had success training like this? i don’t mind if volume is low, just wanna get my strength up.

pretty weak right now, some stats

bw: 77kg
height: 178cm
age:21

bench: 77.5kg x 3
squat: 105kgx3
deadlift: 105kgx4
pullups: 8-10
1 arm row:40kg x 8

right now i train about 5x a week, but i’m not progressing much/fast enough as i feel that there’s too much volume+intensity. push/pull/legsrestpush/pull+legsrest*

GOAL:
-to be a better basketball player
-to be strong as a strong athlete > a weak athlete

i’m currently doing skill training right after gymming so it comes to around 1.5hours 5x a week. i try to make about 200-250 shots, (hence why i don’t do OHP anymore as there’s already so much overhead movement for me)
am also playing ball as conditioning, usually on leg/rest days.

thinking of a routine with very low volume but high intensity i.e:

monday: bench press(work up to 3-5rep max)
bench press: 3x8-12 (60% of max)

tuesday: deadlift(work up to 3-5rep max)
rows (3x8-12)

wednesday: incline bench press(work up to 3-5rep max)
incline bench press: 3x8-12(60% of max)

thursday: squats(work up to 3-5rep max)
weighted pull ups

friday: bench press(work up to 3-5rep max)
bench press: 3x8-12 (60% of max)

saturday: hang cleans(work up to 3rep max)
rows (3x8-12)
sunday: REST

probably will finish the workout in less than 30mins.
will also do 2-3 reps of pullups between each set during bench days to increase pulling reps too. will stop once i begin reaching failure.

Nutrition+recovery:
i get at least 7hours of sleep everynight. Mostly more. i do wake up at times to pee though.
i eat at least 1g/lb of bw everyday. Mostly more. to me, strength > asthetics as long as relative strength is improving as well. took some advice from jim wendler, just train to be awesome. do not care about bulking and cutting etc.

so opinions? yes/no/facepalm? anything is welcome.

**i did ask a question on training 5-6 times a week before, but it was on increasing VOLUME. this time it’s the other way round.

2

You should run 531 IMO do full body 3 days a week and maybe have an extra day for accessory work like shoulders bis/Tri. Other two days just play basketball. The best workout for basketball is to just play.

3

Unless you’re an elite athlete, that kind of volume is going to really mess you up. Judging that your program looks like a linear progression model, I’m going to assume that isn’t the case.

You can make this work, but I’d go with casper’s safer method for now and do some serious research into programming and exercise science.

4

[quote]animus wrote:
Unless you’re an elite athlete, that kind of volume is going to really mess you up. Judging that your program looks like a linear progression model, I’m going to assume that isn’t the case.

You can make this work, but I’d go with casper’s safer method for now and do some serious research into programming and exercise science.[/quote]

An elite athlete? If anything, an elite athlete is more likely to hurt themselves training six times/week.

Even then - he’s not asking about volume, he wants increased frequency.

5

the Bulgarian method

6

Hahaha, so much benching

Whatever you decide to do, do NOT have 3 dedicated bench workouts a week

Also, as someone who wants to get ‘stronger’, but whose main goal is be better at basketball by extension, I would say there is way to much maxing out done. I would say don’t do max effort work every day of the week. However, I am not sure on optimal training for basketball players.

7

maxing 5-6 times a week on compound movements is not a good idea.

8

You’re welcome…

9

I train 6 times a week. I haven’t been lifting too long, but I’ve been lifting long enough that I’ve slowly worked up to that much frequency, and my program is specific to me. But essentially I do 5/3/1 4 days a week (mon tues thurs fri), then do an arms day wednesday and a “strongman” day saturday. The 4 main workouts are the most important, and I make sure not to do anything the other two days to mess up my important workouts - for the most part, Wednesday and saturday are completely unstructured, i just go in and do whatever I feel like - normally arms day is some bench variation coupled with preacher curls (for elbow rehab) and saturday is just whatever heavy lift I feel like doing - heavy squat lockouts, front squat, weighted carries, and any strongman style movement i can do with what I’ve got.

Don’t know if this will be great for basketball, but personally i love 5/3/1 and agree with the first comment that you should do that if you’re a relative beginner to the strength world. And the arm day / heavy strongman day have been working great for me, so maybe give that a try.

10

[quote]critietaeta wrote:
maxing 5-6 times a week on compound movements is not a good idea. [/quote]

i think every olympic lifter would disagree with you

11

[quote]jacob-1310 wrote:

i think every olympic lifter would disagree with you[/quote]

Even most Oly programs have percentage-based periodization schemes and undulating waves of intense, moderate, and light.

12

[quote]animus wrote:

[quote]jacob-1310 wrote:

i think every olympic lifter would disagree with you[/quote]

Even most Oly programs have percentage-based periodization schemes and undulating waves of intense, moderate, and light.[/quote]

However the bulgarian method doesnt and Ivan Abadjiev, along with his predecessors has proven its effectiveness.

PS Dont wanna start a shit storm, just putting the idea forward.

13

casper: i ran 531 last year, got my bench from about 60kgx5- my current 77.5kg. however, my lifts are stagnating so i thought to change it up. btw, in my experience, PLAYING only doesn’t improve your game much. you’ve got to TRAIN the skills, and then put them into practice while playing to get the best results.

animus: i think its pretty low volume to what i’m doing right now actually…but the intensity is high. that’s what i’m worried about.

sam: so any opinions?

powertower + crit: why is it bad maxing out everyday? bad for the CNS? honest question. how about if you use % like 531, is it still bad to do so?

powertower: i thought if you wanted to get better at a lift, you do it more? oh, and strength has helped me tremendously for basketball! better to get rebounds and box out even though i can’t jump high. post game has also improved. (: i think strength is very very important for most if not all contact sports! and most agree in the speed and explosiveness community agree that 1.5-2x bw squat and deadlift should be reached for pylos and sprinting to be most effective. (: so till i reach that…

rampantbadger: seems to be that the creator wants the guys to be burned out from the training? which is not at all for me with my bball training. i am curious though, i thought it is usually volume/intensity and not both? as it will “wear you out” ? thanks though! (:

14

monday: bench press(work up to 3-5rep max)
bench press: 3x8-12 (60% of max)

tuesday: deadlift(work up to 3-5rep max)
rows (3x8-12)

wednesday: bench press(work up to 70-80% max 3 work sets 8-12reps)
shoulder complex(front,lateral raise 3 sets)

thursday: squats(work up to 3-5rep max)
hamstring curl/rdl (3x8-12)

friday: incline bench press(work up to 3-5rep max)
incline bench press: 3x8-12(60% of max)

saturday: BACK DAY
probably 3-4 exercises, no max out exercises.

sunday: REST

most think that there’s too much maxing out done. so what if there’s less of that, but frequency still remains the same?

this has turned to a critique my routine thread. sorry about that. i am usually a high volume kinda person, so
not too sure about high frequency,high intensity, low volume.

15

*reading modoks thread on training frequency now to get a better idea on things. modok is a freak though and i’m not. (:

16

damn, where is that daraz person to make an annoying comment about mixing a bunch of PL programs together.

Waiting**

17

Im training a basketball player right now, here is basically the program I have for him and one that I have used myself. I played JUCO ball fwiw, not bragging, just giving you credentials.

First and foremost do skill training beforehand not after, that should be your number one priority, everything else is secondary.
I know this program might look a lot like Ben Bruno’s, but I promise you ive been using it for years, and it works.
Before moving on to weights start with either box jumps, broad jumps or any plyometric movement.

Monday
Heavy lower body 3-6 reps x 3 sets
Medium pull 6-10 reps x 3 sets
Light push 10-15 reps x 3 sets
Prehab- facepulls or band pullaparts 100 total reps

Tuesday
Long slow steady run- many of the new trainers dont believe this to en vogue, but basketball is not just about the sprints. Start with a 5k and try to either add distance or improve your time.

Wednesday-
Heavy push 3-6 reps x 3 sets
Medium lower 6-10 x 3 sets
Light pull 10-15 x 3 sets
Prehab- Facepulls or band pullaparts 100 total reps

Thursday-
400 Meter sprints, start with six total, continue to beat your times each week

Friday-
Heavy pull 3-6 reps x 3 sets
Medium push 6-10 x 3 sets
Light lower 10-15 x 3 sets
Prehab Facepulls or band pullaparts 100 total reps

Sat-
Heavy conditioning- Car pushes,hill sprints,prowler etc.

Sunday-
off

Thats it, really simple and basic, always strive to break records in the given rep ranges, and break the conditioning records.

18

One Lift A Day got me my 2xbw DL (+30kg in 2 months), FWIW. High Performances Mass by Thibaudeau looks solid, but I’d go with 5/3/1 (4 days of lifting, 2 of conditioning).

Stagnating lifts are often caused by technical issues: have your form checked.

Also…eating more will not make you weaker :wink:

19

[quote]LTKO wrote:
powertower + crit: why is it bad maxing out everyday? bad for the CNS? honest question. how about if you use % like 531, is it still bad to do so?

powertower: i thought if you wanted to get better at a lift, you do it more? oh, and strength has helped me tremendously for basketball! better to get rebounds and box out even though i can’t jump high. post game has also improved. (: i think strength is very very important for most if not all contact sports! and most agree in the speed and explosiveness community agree that 1.5-2x bw squat and deadlift should be reached for pylos and sprinting to be most effective. (: so till i reach that…

[/quote]

CNS yes, but mainly because you are maxing out 5 times a week ON TOP of the various conditioning work/basketball you will be doing all week. Its definitely a lot of work. My main concern is the three maxing bench days. As you are a basketball player, I feel that the benching should not take such a significant priority, and the entire week should be tailored to an approach to more supplement your sport. (I was thinking working on your vertical leap/GPP/general upper body strength, which you mentioned is subpar)

Alas, I am not a basketball player and this is more so my opinion on what you should do, now I will attempt to offer a more strength training position:

You are not going to make optimal strength gains when the majority of your workouts encompass chest/tri training, especially since you are a newer lifter. Not only could you be spending these days doing a more complete program, but working your chest that often will not give it ample time to repair.

Although I have never personally used 5/3/1 (I started and still use something similar though) I urge you to listen to the other people in this thread and base your strength program around something more all encompassing and pre-prepared. Remember that your goal is to get stronger overall, not just increase your bench (Although it is satisfying haha)

20

OKAY, i’ll listen to the advice here. i’m currently doing 5x a week training though. gonna continue running it for at least 1 or 2 more cycles before i go back to WFSB or 531, as i don’t wanna switch a routine only after 2 cycles, maybe itll bring more results as my body adapts. (:

spock: HAI THERE. chicks who do squats and deadlifts are always cool. (:

malaka: thanks for the advice. but skills training before gym isn’t gonna be very conducive to lifting heavy?? :confused:

power: looking at, yea, thats alot of max benching eh. thanks!