I am a intern at a strength and conditioning gym and as part of the internship I am required to workout with a group of the athletes so that when I coach other groups it is easier for me to cue them. The workouts are mon wed fri and are about 2 hours in length, total body workouts centered on increasing athletic performance. We do a lot of box jumps, heidens, form running and working on acceleration. The strength training portion usually only has unilateral work for the lower body and we usually do a pull and push variation every workout and they are structured in a giant set format. I find I can recover pretty decently from these as they are not too stressful. More emphasis on technique and smooth fast reps rather than going too heavy.
My question to you is that I would still like to gain strength in some of the classic barbell lifts. More specifically the back and front squat, deadlift, high pull, power clean, bench press and push/military press. How could I schedule two other training days to fit these lifts in?
I was thinking a split like this:
Tues:
Power Clean Ramp to smooth 3 RM
High Pull Ramp to 3 RM (starting at power clean 3 RM)
Front squat 3x5 @ ~80%
Back Squat 3x5 @ ~80%
Sat:
Military Press Ramp to 5 RM
Push Press 4x5 @ 80%
Bench Press 4x5 @ 80%
Deadlift 3x5 @ 80%
We do a pull up variation mon wed fri and a row variation once or twice a week as well so I get plenty of back work in then. How does this look to you coach? Thank you.
I am a athlete right now in a competitive setting, I find that you can do a lot more than you think you can. You just have to add a little at a time. Right now I can lift 4 times a week, do 3 conditioning sessions, and another 4 to 5 skill sessions and feel fine. Its all about getting work capacity to the point where you can recover from all the above
Definitely true. I am increasing my work capacity with the workouts at my internship. Im down in body fat and visibly leaner and I can find myself being able to last longer and train harder without hitting the wall. For me sleep is kind of an issue so I am able to handle 5 sessions a week with 2-3 of them being really hard. My only problem is finding out and figuring out how to structure those 2 strength days and how to progress on them.
i like your template on the off days, I would personally push volume for a couple weeks, maybe working to doing a 7x5 with the weight your doing a 3x5 right now, then cycle down the volume and maybe add an additional day, the best thing Ive done for sleep is setting a time for myself where i shut all electronics off completely and eventually it gets better.
Yeah Ive been reading more into about that. Seems like a good idea seeing as I could probably be studying for my classes or reading rather than being on my laptop or phone before bed. Are there any supplements you take or have taken that have helped with sleep ?