Of course I can answer that question and apologies I missed it before. So I’ve done all kinds of training over the course of my training career and it’s all kind of come full circle for me. I’ve taken what I love about traditional S&C/bodybuilding/CrossFit and structure those elements into one program.
I have found that doing 80-90% dedicated strength work + 10-20% short intense conditioning to be the optimal way to train that offers you the biggest ROI on your training investment. I train 4x week for 50-60 minutes at a time and I keep everything on a clock and structured so I can maximize training economy and get the most out of every session. Strength work is the most important and best way to spend your time, but it’s also extremely important to maintain cardiovascular health/fitness as you age as well.
My Straight Up Strength Program is my most popular program by far and this is exactly how I train my self and everyone on the program. You can learn more about it Straight Up Strength if you like.
There’s a 7-day free trial so you can try it risk free. I’m not trying to sell you on anything, but you would see exactly what I"m talking about if you tried the workouts. Hope that helps.
I walk my dog a few miles every other day, rather than incorporating conditioning into my routine at the gym. Would it be more ideal to maybe increase my walking speed on the dog walks?
I understand that steady-state isn’t the best, but making it more difficult in terms of speed, or carrying some weight. Will it be a worthy substitute? Strength and muscle gains are most important to me which I don’t want to interfere with, but i gotta watch my health too. I may have asked a similar question here before but I’d like to get your thoughts on it.
Okay. Here’s my question. I’m 41, 195 6’ tall. I lift 5 days a week, run 4-5 days a week and eat clean. I’ve been on TRT for 6 months at a dose of 125mg/week Testosterone Cypionate and had bloodwork checked by Dr at VA hospital recently. Total Testosterone was 730 ng/ml, Free testosterone was 51 pg/ml and % Free Testosterone was .7. Doctor and I agree that total T is in line but free test is low. He wants to order TSH, SHGB, FSH, PSA labs and depending on outcome will prescribe me Testosterone. I haven’t told him that I have been taking yet. My question is should I A.) Stop taking my shot for a couple of weeks let my T levels crash and then do blood work or B.) keep taking my dose and let the chips fall where they lay? Or C.) Stop taking my shot and take some clomid for a few weeks and then see what’s up. My goal is to get my test from Dr. Vs the internet.
Bro listen…any form of exercise is better than no exercise…so I wouldn’t ever criticize any form of physical activity. It can certainly be more ideal to increase your walk speed when walking your dog. Maybe try 1 min fast/1min easy for the duration of the walk.
But I’ll be honest…you’re not going to interfere or ruin any strength or muscle gains by doing cardio! I’m currently training to PR my deadlift and my 2K row concurrently and I have always trained strength alongside my conditioning and I think it’s a huge mistake that many lifters don’t prioritize cardio more. It’s super important to take care your cardiovascular health/fitness. Your heart and lungs need to be trained too and are just as important as your strength gains. I would try and incorporate short intervals on an assault bike or rower on your non lifting days. Something as simple as 30 seconds work/30 seconds rest for 10-12 minutes can do wonders for both your health and your strength. In fact if you improve your work capacity, you will probably get even stronger cause you can then get more strength work done in your lifting sessions.
Man I’m sorry I am way out of my depth with this question. I’m 34 and have never taken any forms of exogenous testosterone and I’m a lifetime natural lifter so I cannot give you a real answer on this one. But what I would say, is that I would definitely be 100% honest and transparent with my doctor regarding your testosterone usage. I am sure if you get a blood test the doctor will discover you’re on test anyways. I would explain to your doctor your situation and what you want. At the end of the day it’s your health and your body, so you can do with it what you please. If you don’t like the doctors answer, you can always get a second opinion.
Cheers dude. I love the simple idea of 1min fast/1min easy. It’s much more convenient to pair these kinds of things with my dog walk rather than getting more days in the gym. Interesting to hear about the rowing too, in my mind I avoid the rower because I’m too obsessive thinking that rowing “row” volume will kill my actual heavy “row” volume.
Doing short intense conditioning at the end of your workouts or on non-lifting days will take NOTHING away from your strength gains and I agree you’re being slightly too obsessive thinking a rowing workout will kill your “row” gains. Get your heart rate up at least 2x/week
TRT question, sir.
Should guys on TRT train like naturals or differently?
(Since I’m assuming on TRT their training won’t make them produce their own testosterone so should that affect their style of training?)
Alright…I’ll start off with I’m not on TRT nor have I ever used PEDs but I still feel qualified enough to answer your question. And just FYI, when you start injecting endogenous testosterone or testosterone derivatives, your body stops producing it’s own endogenous testosterone (which is why enhanced lifters experience testicular atrophy when on a cycle)
My answer is yes and no. The actual training/programming should be the same for both natural and enhanced lifters because effective training is effective training…what can/should differ between natural and enhanced lifters will be the training volume, load and frequency. When you’re taking PEDs, you’re playing on a different level and can recover significantly faster and make gains far more easily…although genetics certainly play a role too.
Natural lifters will require more time to recover and also will progress a natural (much slower) rate. So that would be my answer.
Tanner!! Just stopping by to say hi… I don’t have any questions for you right now but I’ll be back to pick your brain in the near future. I’m looking forward to following this thread!!
Sorry for late reply…been feeling under the weather. I would use a similar approach for training the elderly as I would a youth. Focus on strengthening/maintaining the basic foundational movement patterns. With the elderly you just need to be extra cautious and the use of machines can be very helpful such as a seated leg press, chest press, chest supported row. Elderly people generally have no need to really jump/run/do anything high impact. Pushing/pulling sled are great and doing weighted carries. I also like the rowing machine and assault bike for elderly people too.
Hi Coach, as a fellow bad knees guy (31 with early arthrosis and several knee surgeries) what would be your advice to help me reach the 4 plates squat… I have a 5 plates dead (built for dead, long legs) but stuck at 160kgs high bar for years…
Coach @Tanner_Shuck
I know that the best training split is the one You can do but I’m wondering which one in Your opinion fits the best for busy people. For example I can and like train pretty often but sometimes I have just 30-40 minute for a workout.
