What’s the best ways to combine W Lifting and M arts/Boxing training.
I used to lift 3 days a week. Using Stronglifts
Mon
Thurs
Sat
Tues/Thurs I would do Interval/K Bell
I have been drifting back to doing Krav Maga [Mon] and Bjj [Fri]
These classes are technical though also have conditioning in them. I can’t really commit to doing 3 gym sessions on top of this. Is 2 days a week enough to retain strength/grow?
Thanks
2 days a week is probably enough to retain strength, but not enough to grow.
I’m sure you can lift 3 days a week while doing your martial arts training.
[quote]Sody78 wrote:
Is 2 days a week enough to retain strength/grow?
[/quote]
Yes, absolutely. It is generally not what people who’s only goals are to become as muscular as possible or to lift bigger weights wind up using, but plenty of fighters and/or busy people do well on a twice a week schedule.
IF you work hard twice a week you shouldn’ get weaker in any real sense (Though you might want some kind of taper/peak to put up your best numbers on any given lift, which is pretty standard regardless of routine.).
“Growing” will require eating enough, of hopefully “good enough” choices to do so. This is absolutely possible. Plenty of people manage to get bigger/fatter only hitting the gym once or twice a year. The issue is making a strong enough, and specific enough, demand that you put on mostly muscle. IF you are working hard enough that 2 days is doable, but three would be pushing it I think you are in that neighborhood.
Is the reason you cannot commit to 3 sessions because of time/schedule (e.g. Your gym times conflict with classes.) or is it because you are just getting too beat up/tired. If the classes aren’t as conditioning heavy as your interval/kettlebell training than it seems you could just sub the BJJ and Krav Maga and do strength/weight work 3 X a week (Say Tue, Thurs, Sat/Sun).
On the other hand conditioning is very, very important for fighters, and even if “self defense” episodes tend to be quick the training goes better with a good amount of conditioning. So if your new plan is Martial Arts 2 X, Weights 2X, and conditioning 1-2X that might be better over all. You just have to pick something, run with it for a bit, and then modify it if you don’t like results.
Assuming you want a 2X week schedule:
A lot of folks like using Wendler’s 5/3/1 for 2 X weekly w/ combat sports training. This can be done so you hit all the lifts in one week or over 2 weeks (this version is favored by FighinIrish whose log you can read on this board and who could probably walk you through any questions/issues with implementing it). Also, Wendler has a coaching resource/forum here on the Biotest board, so that could help out a bunch.
Dan John has a 2 X a week mass/muscle building plan on this site as well:
This borrows heavily from Wendler’s work and also includes high rep squats and complexes so you might like it if you enjoyed kettlebell training.
There are other 2X a week programs out there. I think Alwyn Cosgrove and Charles Staley have written some, Chad Waterbury might have as well. I do know that Dan John and/or Wendler’s material are generally well thought of, and they deserve every bit of the praise.
There isn’t really going to be a set “best” workout. You are going to determine that based on your consistency, recovery abilities, diet, and effort. Getting those squared is easier if you don’t hate what you are doing, so pick something that looks interesting/fun and give it an honest run (weeks/months not days).
I hope that helps some.
Regards,
Robert A
[quote]magick wrote:
2 days a week is probably enough to retain strength, but not enough to grow.
[/quote]
Absolutely untrue. I’ve done it for a few years now and always made consistent progress using 5/3/1.
I do the two-day week version that draws the program out over two weeks instead of one. It’s not optimal for gaining size and strength but it’s enough, especially if you’re working hard and doing enough assistance work. I also box 2-3 days a week and run at least once.
The most important thing to remember is you’re probably going to have to be flexible. Your schedule won’t be set, and you’ve got to know when to hold and when to go. There’s going to be days where you have a particularly hard session in the ring and you decide that shooting for a one-rep max on deadlifts the next day is a bad idea, so you’re going to have to adjust.
Put it off for a day, do some light activity, and hit the weights the following day. You can see in my log that I shoot more for month-to-month progress rather than increasing weight or reps every workout.
Check my log. If you have any questions let me know.
Thanks guys for that,
Great feedback, think I’m caught in the classic cycle not knowing what my goals are: love the conditioning stuff, like to see my weight maxes go up and enjoy a bit of cardio/boxing. Jack of all trades and master of none! Thanks for the feedback, great advice!!
[quote]Sody78 wrote:
Thanks guys for that,
Great feedback, think I’m caught in the classic cycle not knowing what my goals are: love the conditioning stuff, like to see my weight maxes go up and enjoy a bit of cardio/boxing. Jack of all trades and master of none! Thanks for the feedback, great advice!![/quote]
I often have this problem. I’ve been chastised by several of our finest members for chasing too many balls at once hahah…
But it’s hard! Cause if you’re used to lifting, you like seeing your weights go up, but once you start running, you wanna run a mile or two in a time that’s not on pace with the fat broad down the street. But at the same time, you wanna be able to spar 10 rounds and hit with power!
Sometimes you just have to lay back though, and realize that, at least in my case, boxing is the most important and it’s my “true love,” so everything else I’m doing is to supplement that. It puts it in perspective a little and makes you see that as long as you’re hitting it hard, you’re not wasting time even if you don’t pull a PR or run a 7-minute mile on a given day.
[quote]Sody78 wrote:
Thanks guys for that,
Great feedback, think I’m caught in the classic cycle not knowing what my goals are: love the conditioning stuff, like to see my weight maxes go up and enjoy a bit of cardio/boxing. Jack of all trades and master of none! Thanks for the feedback, great advice!![/quote]
You said it yourself. My question to you is how do you expect to get any better at KM or BJJ if you only do it once a week? Why not choose one that you can do at least twice a week (preferably 3)?
IMO martial arts requires some dedication and time put in doing some of the same stuff over and over. To be really good at it you should be daydreaming or thinking about it during the day as well. If not then maybe it is not a true love. That level of thought and practice will make the difference in being mediocre or good to great at it.
My skill sets expand more when I spend time watching videos and thinking about positions or combos. Once I am in a class many things overlap and the picture gets clearer but only training once a week is really close to not training.