Fire Away, Soldiers!

[quote]bkerne wrote:
Chad,

Thanks for being here tonight. What do you think of this split? I am starting with Heavy cleans, possibly light snatch or form assistance work, and Bench and assistance exercises on Mondays

Heavy squats and assistance leg exercises with horizontal back work on Tuesday

Wed OFF

Thurs heavy snatch work with light clean work and assistance work and speed bench

Friday unilateral or speed leg work, with single leg squats or speed squats, assistance exercises and vertical back work…

When I say heavy, I don’t mean always working in 85%+ range, just challenging workouts,
for example: my Tuesday workout yesterday was
-6x60%,6x70%,4x75%,4x80% 375lbs last set. I supersetted that with Box Jumps 4x5.

-Front Squats 4x5 50 55 60 65%, supersetted with knee tuck jumps 4x5

-Glute ham raises 4x8

-Towel Leg curls 4x6

-Bent over reverse grip rows 4x8

-DB curls 4x8

I am training for athleticism and the workouts last around 1.5-1.75hrs. Also, do you think I would be overtraining to incorporate some jump rope work or car pushing into the week somewhere? If not, where could I put it to be most beneficial and do you have any suggestions on how to go about it or other GPP work?

Another question, with doing snatches and cleans all the time, is it necessary to do grip work? I don’t use wrist wraps, just chalk. Thanks, BKERNE[/quote]

I suggest that you perform your back work on the days you perform snatches and cleans. The program you described might be a little too taxing on the upper back since you’re basically challenging it with every workout. Additionally, your workouts should last ~60 minutes. 1.5-1.75 hours is very demanding and can cause cortisol to excessively elevate. Perform GPP work on one weekend day, but don’t push the intensity too high. No need for direct grip work on your program.

[quote]ConorM wrote:
Chad Waterbury wrote:
andrewjones wrote:
You used to play basketball i heard. What exercises do you think are most often neglected in basketball players? What kind set/rep schemes would you use most often, 10x3 or something else? What kind of energy work do you recommend?
Thanx for your time
andrewjones

Basketball players possess grossly insufficient levels of maximal strength. When I train BB players, I spend ~80% of the time with <5 reps and >85% of 1RM. There’s absolutely no need for higher rep protocols since their endurance training is more than sufficient. Exercises such as: Cleans, Snatches, Squats, Deadlifts, Glute-Ham Raises, Reverse Hypers and Back Extensions are ideal. In other words, BB players with strong posterior chains dominate.

Hmm this kinda is relelvant to me. I didn’t include that the sport I play would have similar requirements as Basketball, good anaerobic base, quickness, agility, speed, vert, ball handling etc.

What programmes on T-Nation would be most similar to the sort of workouts you would prescribe to the B’ball athletes you train? What sort of rough templates do you use?[/quote]

Strength-Focused Mesocycle.

[quote]jka_72 wrote:
Chad,

What are your general thoughts/experiences with Ellington Darden’s High Intensity Training (full body workouts, one set per exercise, 2x weekly)?

Thanks![/quote]

It’s fine for those who have extremely limited schedules. For those who have the luxury to train more, I suggest other variations.

[quote]nopal_juventus wrote:
Another question that’s been nagging. Do you have any reccomendations as to learn the power clean? I remember seeing a Coach Davis article when I did a search that had some exercises for teaching the power clean, but I’ve always been wary, since I don’t want to learn it with bad form and injure myself. I don’t have anyone here that can teach me really, so should I just wait until I meet someone that can?[/quote]

The power clean isn’t an overly technical lift. I suggest you analyze the pics and do it. But a good olympic coach is your best bet.

CW, which one of your routines would you reccomend for someone who has been training long enough to have good form/work capactity but is in serious need of a better base of strength(higher bench, press, squat, dl #'s)

[quote]Veck23 wrote:
Chad,

Your programs are phenomenal, and I have had great success with them, thanks for making them accessible…my question pertains to post-workout nutrition: you have advised the “two hour window” of eating after a strenuous workout, does this window extend beyond two hours?? Are EFA’s a good idea during the “two hour window”?

Thanks
[/quote]

I’ve been shifting my workout nutrition to greater levels during the session. In other words, I’m experimenting with a full serving of Surge at the beginning/middle portion of the session with another full serving immediately after with 5/g micronized creatine. Generally, limit your liquid post-workout nutrition to <2 hours post-workout. Avoid fats during this time to maximize fast absorption.

[quote]poper wrote:
Hey Chad,

I’m going for an olympic lifting program 3x per week in my offseason (I’m a track and Field Polevaulter). On these days Ill have 1 olympic lift variation. I was wondering about how to work squats in. Squats are a weak point, and I can almost clean as much as squat. I was wondering how many days per week I should squat and which variations I should use (Front, Back, Overhead) Also, what set/rep combo should I be using on the days I squat?

Thanks.
-poper[/quote]

A 10x3 and 5x5 combo works very well. Perform squats first in your workout with 10x3. The next session (4 days later) perform a different variation with 5x5.

[quote]sam747 wrote:
Chad, been doing BBB w/ V-Diet for the las t four weeks, don’t know if it was designed for this but had good results (no strength loss). Which one of your programs could I progress to while still keeping cals pretty low?

Thanks[/quote]

Next Big 3, followed by Triple Total Training.

[quote]Billberg wrote:
Chad,

Yesterday you responded to my workout partner’s post about a possible OSCII program. Seeing as how that is not in the works what would your next suggestion be. We have currently switched into Thibs Mutation series but after finishing OSC this plan feels like we aren’t doing nearly as much and to be honest I miss the pain, exhaustion, and sheer rush that came with OSC. It was an incredible program and want to keep it going.

PS-Thanks to OSC and a strict diet I have been able to lose 30 lbs (217-187) in the past 12 weeks. (the first 5 weeks were a basic core lifting program)[/quote]

Repeat the OSC. Keep performing it for as long as you’re experiencing results.

[quote]Proteinpowda wrote:
Chad I just took a quick look at the singles club; it looks pretty good so thanks for the advice. But my problem is that I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to make it to the gym more than 2 or 3x per week and that program requires 4…is there anything better for maybe 2 workouts/week? [/quote]

Combine the parameters in workouts 1 and 2; combine the parameters in workouts 3 and 4. That way, you’ll only need to hit the gym 2x/week.

Chad,

Thanks for the response. In the past I have performed all clean/snatch and back work on the same day and Squat and Bench on the same day. Due to the physical demands of squatting, I am unable to perform as well in bench when it is my worst lift.

Would it negatively effect my squat if I did bench before it? If not, should I do all my bench, tricep, and some shoulder work before squat also? Or just bench before squat and come back to bench assistance work later?

Another thought I had was Bench, Squat, then alternate bench and squat assistance exercises or superset for less time in gym.

Also, if I moved my bench assistance work to my squat day and back work to o-lift days, I would be doing bench assistance work on a different day than squat?

I guess the solution is to just do O-lifts/back:Squat/bench:Off:O-lifts/Back, Squat/bench and suck it up? Sorry for rambling off all my ideas? Just trying to fit it all in in the best way possible.

[quote]michaelv wrote:
Hi Chad. As always, love all the info you dish out.

I’m currently about half way through QD. I’m loving it and hating it at the same time. You’re a mean MF sometimes. Of course, that’s why I chose it!

After I’m done with the QD back-off week, I’m not sure where to go. It will be just about summer time and I’ll be wanting to be done with bulking, and instead, working on looking good almost nekkid, outside, all summer long.

So I guess my goals will be to keep muscle mass, drop some fat, and after those parameters are met, continue to add muscle when and where possible. I’m not going to go on a big diet, I’m just going to stop eating massively and move to a more “maintenance” diet. I’ll be throwing Carbolin 19 in there as well.

What program(s) would you recommend I consider after QD?

I’m still smaller than I want to be, so I will be wanting to add a lot of mass once fall and winter kick back into gear, and wouldn’t mind adding a little mass slowly during the summer while dropping the body fat. So many goals…[/quote]

Outlaw Strength and Conditioning would be ideal.

[quote]Helix wrote:
CW, which one of your routines would you reccomend for someone who has been training long enough to have good form/work capactity but is in serious need of a better base of strength(higher bench, press, squat, dl #'s)[/quote]

Strength-Focused Mesocycle.

Thanks Chad, I thought I’d get an answer like that based on your articles. Thanks again

-poper

Thanks Chad, I’ve looked at OSC before, and it looked like a bitch. It sounds perfect!

That was what I was thinking of too… my summer gym doesnt allow power cleans though(stupid PT syndrome) so what could I do in their place?

[quote]Chad Waterbury wrote:
Proteinpowda wrote:
Chad I just took a quick look at the singles club; it looks pretty good so thanks for the advice. But my problem is that I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to make it to the gym more than 2 or 3x per week and that program requires 4…is there anything better for maybe 2 workouts/week?

Combine the parameters in workouts 1 and 2; combine the parameters in workouts 3 and 4. That way, you’ll only need to hit the gym 2x/week. [/quote]

Ok Chad! Great idea. Now figuring out my nutrition is the tricky part. Carbolin 19 seems liek it might be an excellent option though.

Chad,

I love to follow your programs and was wondering why I never see exercises like power cleans or snatches in most of your programs. Is there a place for these exercises. The old school stuff like cleans, snatches, windmill, bent press, iron cross, etc. I would like to see you implement these exercises into a program with your methods sometime in the future. But I’ll gladly take any advice you could give on the subject.

Thanks

Jeff

Chad,

I’ve tried your TBT and I love it. Lifting 3X per week works out perfectly for me, because I also love to ride a road bike 3X per week. I generally keep my rides to about an hour (18 miles or so). Is this amount of cardio going to make me ripped or am I going to lose too much muscle? I’m 5’10" 185 lbs. I’m a police officer working a steady night shift. (5 days on/5 days off). I don’t want to give up cycling because I find it really helps with the stress of the job. Any advice? Thanks in advance.

Over the last two years I have tried many of the programs that you folks and you personally have written. I have since become very fond of the power lifting type and Olympic lifts. I have also just finished your 10x3 program with some pretty good results.

Could you recommend a program that incorporates the Olympic lifts?

Thanks in advance coach!