On on Monday I start my summer job at Toyota’s assembly line. I have a fast metabolism, and the constant work/shift work does not help me gain or maintain my weight. My goals right now are to increase my 3 lifts (especially my squat) and gain some weight (not too much fat.)
Currently my stats are…
5’9, 155lbs
Bench = 265lbs
Deadlift = 365lbs
Squat = probably a little over 225lbs
I’m thinking of working out Monday, Wednesday, Friday… rather than 4 days a week. Try not to burn too much calories. Plus the added load of assembly work/shift works puts added stress on the body.
How would you guys suggest I go about it? I’m thinking heavy squats monday and friday… and some lighter squats on wednesday. On the monday or friday I could sub in deadlifts if I’m burning out on the squats. But I feel that with such a shitty squat, I should be able to handle the bar on my back 3x a week.
I should add that I’m looking to spend only 45-60 minutes in the gym for these couple of months. Also, it’s probably not important, but I’m sure my weight and strenght has declined a bit over the past week because I got my wisdom teeth out and couldn’t eat right or train.
I would do a heavy squat day on monday, heavy upper on wednesday and assistance for both upper and lower on friday, with the first lift on that day being something like a front squat or just a different heavy squat than you do on the first day.
There are so many ways to set up a good program for 3 days. You first need to figure out how many times per week you wanna squat/bench/deadlift. Nobody can do this for you cause it depends on how well you can recover…you just need to experiment with this and change up things as you find that something is or isn’t working for you.
My suggestion is to start with 2 squats, 2 benches and 1 deadlift each week. So something like this could work very well:
Or you could start with one heavy day for each lift on separate days like this (many great powerlifters have been using this):
Monday: Squat
Wednesday: Bench
Friday: Deadlift
And then add accessory work for these days (for example light/medium squat for wednesday or/and friday).
As for the sets/reps/weight it also depends on what you can tolerate. Two months could well be spent on just working on building your base strength with 4-8 reps. Or you could do something like the famous russian squat routine (6x2x80%, 6x3x80%, 6x2x80%, 6x4x80%, etc.) Or 5x5 and/or 3x3 etc.
The options are pretty much endless. Depends on whether you want to peak during the two months or start more slowly (I think the last option is better if you don’t do much heavy lifting during the summer.)
Make sure to keep some easy snacks at hand like a Metabolic Drive bar and an apple.
If the work is grinding you down a bit don’t be afraid to drop down to twice a week training for couple of weeks. Or have one brutally heavy day and the other two are medium/ light
