Training Program: Opinions?

Training Bodybuilding
1

This is kind of scattered mainly cause it’s off the top of my head but what do you guys think about the following??

Warmup: 5-10min Jumping rope/Shadow boxing/leg raises

Weight Room: (Detailed below)

Cooldown: Situps, Neck Work, 5-10min rest

Bagwork: 10-15min… Form, Power, Speed (efficient movment)… Not working on energy systems at this time.

Lifting:

Session 1-

Rack Pull/Pullups (EDT)
Dumbbell Bench Press (5x5)
Bent Over Rows (5x5)

Session 2-
Snatch/OH Squats (EDT)
Power Shrugs (5x5)
Incline Cable Flyes (5x8@70-75%)

Session 3-
OL Squats/Push Press
OR
Bottom Up PL Squats/Rack Press
Dips (5x5)
Cheat Curls (5x5)

** 1 complete rest day between lifting sessions. I usually do some sort of

** I’ve yet to decide what to do in Session 3, it really depends which takes the most time to set up. I think slightly below parallel in my PL Squat is perfect for where I would slide the bench to do Rack presses. If it isn’t then I’ll do OL squats and push presses.

** I may just do OLSquats/Push Press because I need an overhead pressing movement in there.

** 5x5 is done John Powell Style.

** Workout should take around 30minutes and possibly less.

** Up to an hour if you include the warmup, cool down, and bagwork at the end. Bagwork shouldn’t be too draining because I’m not doing anything specifically for conditioning.

** If I decide I want to cut some fat, I’ll do some tabata or HITT type work on the off days.

** Middle day of the week is lighter, sort of a deloading day. I can’t snatch/OHS a whole lot, I can shrug a lot (but thats pretty isolated), and cable flyes are a joke. So that day is almost like sleep walking. My CNS shouldn’t be too fried.

**Abdominal and Lower back work I will focus on in another phase. I usually cycle Westside and 3x/week training. I focus on my abs,lower back, hypertrophy, prehabbing and weak points when I’m Westsiding. I feel more overall athletic on a 3 day really heavy lifting cycle and it allows me to concentrate on other sport aspects (MMA for example) without feeling too burned out.

Comments? Anything I should look into?

2

Hey Xen,

I know you are a MMA man, so would you mind explaining how you put MMA training in between this programme? e.g. When, how long and how hard you do your bag work, pad work, stand-up sparring, open mat etc?

You know, hard martial art sessions, regardless of what style you do, can be demanding. (I don’t think you need me to tell you that) It would be better if we see your MMA and weight training as one package of training.

Geek boy

3

bump…i’ll detail that later for u man.

4

Xen:

Ok, Rack Pulls or Deadlifts EDT style would probably kill me. If you think you can pull it off, more power to you. One possibility, however, is that your grip gets fried and fails you, even though your back could take much more.

Combining Snatch and OH Squats seems a bit weird since a Full Snatch alredy includes an OH Squat (no shit :slight_smile: Now, I’ve only done Power Snatch from Hang (and poorly :frowning: so maybe I don’t really know. Another problem that I see is potential technical issues as fatigue sets in later in the PR zone.

I’ve done density work with Front Squats/Push Press combination, 15x2 @5-6RM /0:30. It was very demading but very cool as well… I do that kind of work in an accumulation phase; after 2-3 weeks I have to switch to intensity phase, or I overtrain :frowning:

I hope you don’t mind me saying, but I would set up the workout exactly backwards: 1-2 heavy compound exericses done separately (5x5 or 8x3) and then 2-3 assistance exercises (density work, ladders etc.). I think it would be better for increasing relative strength.

5

Xen,

It looks quite similar to CT’s new Renaissance Training article. I would do it more along the lines of what he recommended as far as exercises and set/reps for the weight training. Use the rope work for the agility portion, and then do the sled drags, sandbag lifts, tire flipping or farmer’s walks for the GPP stuff.

This is my plan for my next four-week phase:

Agility Work
Jump rope (2-3 sets)

Day 1 (7,5,3,5,5)
Back Squat
Barbell Bench
Barbell Row

Day 2 (2x5, 3x3)
Power Cleans
Barbell Hack Squat
Push Press

Day 3 (5,5,4,4,3,2)
Deadlift
V-grip Chins
Close-grip bench

GPP:
Sled drags
Sandbag lift/carry
Farmer?s walks

ESW:
Cardio (20-30 mins) or,
Sprints 3x30, 1-2x60

6

[quote]slotan wrote:
Xen:

Session 1-
Rack Pull/Pullups (EDT)
Dumbbell Bench Press (5x5)
Bent Over Rows (5x5)

Ok, Rack Pulls or Deadlifts EDT style would probably kill me. If you think you can pull it off, more power to you. One possibility, however, is that your grip gets fried and fails you, even though your back could take much more.
[/quote]

I’d second what Slotan wrote about grip possibly giving out first. Also, I don’t know how intense the Bent Rowing would be after 15 minutes of rack work and pull-ups.

Other than that, I’d drop the leg raises from the warm-up (unless they’re there for some particular reason)

Another EDT block to consider may be Power Cleans/Jerks. Tons of fun. Sounds like a solid plan, though.

7

Nate, this plan looks awesome, I think I will go with somethnig similar for my next training cycle. Have a great time.

8

[quote]xomegaxprimex wrote:
Nate, this plan looks awesome, I think I will go with somethnig similar for my next training cycle. Have a great time.[/quote]

It’s going to be fun!

I have two friends who joined me 8 weeks ago, and I let them know that our training is going to be more “fun” for the next phase.

They will be enjoying the sled drags, sandbag lifts/carries and some farmer’s walks. :wink:

9

I’ve actually been comtemplating this type of training for months now, but Christian Thib really confirmed what I thought would work. and luckily I’ve experimented with the other training methods I wanted to so now its time to try this…

To answer some questions

Pullups don’t affect my grip at all…so I’m not worried about that.

On the rack pulls I’m going to be using straps whenever I get tired.

Reasoning behind the leg raises is that I like to warm up my core before I do sort of work. Also between that and the situps if you’ve trained any grappling you know that you actually DO need localized muscle endurance in your abs.

I’m not training MMA as hard as usual, I have some other commitments for the moment hopefully they’ll be out the way before the end of august. So I take it kind of easy on the bagwork in my MMA training sessions and just work on projecting power and stuff after lifting weights.

My mma sessions are soley sparring and drilling. No conditioning work at the moment.

So perhaps:

Day 1:
MMA: Drills, Rolling (groundwork)[4 hours or so b4 lifting time]
Lifting
Bagwork

Day 2:
shadowboxing, light work (GPP)
MMA: Sparring

And it alternates like that.

When I’m nearing competition time, I scrap the weight room except for lower body work 1-2x a week.

Rest of my training outside of Sparring/Drilling revolves around bodyweight conditioning, and strong man implements.

I’ll do tabata type work for rounds of 3-5min. (depending how long the rules imply the rounds of that particular bout are for)

I use aerobic work to relax/regroup… swimming and running on the elipitical trainer while watching tv are my favorites. Swimming is just peaceful and if what I’m watching is entertaining, 30-90min can pass by and aerobic work is no longer boring and rather soothing.

Tireflips, sledgehammer, and stone carries (i have big boulders in my backyard) are for specific conditioning work.

Kind of funny but what I really like for GPP is mowing the lawn. Lawn at my house is on a hill, so I turn off the self propel on the lawn mower, put some weight plates in my backpack, put on my ankle/wrist weights and go for it.

Looks pretty funny but damn if it isn’t a great method.

I don’t have anything to drag with yet but I intend to buy a sled from elitefts and some blast straps i have an idea regarding using those together…

**drag the sled facing away from you in like a “superman” type stride… alternating punches as you walk.

Plus I really think that suspended pushups will help me a lot.

10

Hey Xen,

If you do your bag work after your weights, your power and technique may suffer. I’d consider putting them in before, or not at all close to the weight workout.

Fight well,
Rolo.

11

I do my bagwork at home…drink my protien shake on the way home.

I’m usually pretty fresh by then (15-20min drive).

So I’m not too run down.

But yes my power is sacrificed a bit but not my technique.