T Nation

Help with Home Routine

Powerful Women
#1

Hi everyone,

I apologize if this section is only supposed to include logs. I am posting this here because I thought that as a woman it would be a good place to post it. I am trying to balance weight lifting and karate. I cannot afford a gym membership so I only have access to DBs and a chin-up bar. I would really like some feedback on my routine.

I started lifting weights seriously in September.

My current stats:
Me - 5’5’’ 130 lbs.
Squat - 160 lbs. 3x4
Bench - 90 lbs. 2x3
Deadlift - 150 lbs. 1x3
Military Press - 65 lbs. 3x3

Goals:

  • develop a weight routine complimentary routine for karate
  • maintain/increase strength
  • increase chin up reps

So my current schedule is this:

Monday- Karate
Tuesday- Weights (only day with direct ab work because I do a lot of direct ab work in karate)
Wednesday- Foam Roll/Light Karate Practice
Thursday- Karate
Friday- Weights
Saturday- Karate
Sunday- Off/Foam Roll

I have been following this routine for a little over a month now.

Current Weightlifting Split:

Workout A:
DB Goblet Squats 3x5
Chin ups 5x as many as possible
DB Bench 3x5
One Arm DB Deadlift 1x5
Weighted Pushups 2x8-12

Workout B:
DB Goblet Squats 3x5
Chin ups 5x AMAP
DB Standing Press 3x5
Bodyweight Rows 2x8-12
Weighted Pushups 2x8-12

Week 1 ABA, Week 2 BAB, etc.

I would like to add a little bit of explosive work but I’m not sure how to do it. I have been doing 1-2 sets of 1-3 reps of incline explosive pushups about once a week or less. But I would like to figure out how to include something that is a little more structured.

How It’s Working So Far:
Chin-ups are definitely improving which makes me happy. I was able to hit up a gym and do some BB exercises (I went away for the weekend). My bench went up at that time (it’s my PR) while my squat, DL and military press decreased. However, I’m not sure how accurate that was because it happened during a time of very low sleep, improper nutrition and high stress.

I would really appreciate your feedback.

#2

Mens Health Power Training was the best book I have bought so far. Check it out!
I cant help you make your own routine tho…

#3

[quote]coyotegal wrote:
Mens Health Power Training was the best book I have bought so far. Check it out!
I cant help you make your own routine tho…[/quote]
I had a look online and most of their exercises seem to be BB exercises. Do they have more of a focus on BW and DB exercises in the book?

#4

Can you invest in a cheap BB?

You can do thrusters with DB.s, snatches, swings, I would imagine you could do jump squats…check out ross training ( I think its his site, but anyways there are lots of MMA sites that offer good info)
Maybe add in some plyo’s, shadow boxing…just keep the intensity high, move quicky with little rest

Also you can change your rep scheme if its getting easy…

God luck!

#5

[quote]coyotegal wrote:
Can you invest in a cheap BB?

You can do thrusters with DB.s, snatches, swings, I would imagine you could do jump squats…check out ross training ( I think its his site, but anyways there are lots of MMA sites that offer good info)
Maybe add in some plyo’s, shadow boxing…just keep the intensity high, move quicky with little rest

Also you can change your rep scheme if its getting easy…

God luck![/quote]

I’d LOVE to get a cheap BB but it isn’t going to happen.

I have been looking into exercises like those but I’m unsure about how to incorporate them. I was thinking about 1-2 sets of 1 explosive exercise per workout.

I love RossTraining. I’ve read one of his books but he tends to teach more about the philosophy of organizing a program (from my experience). So I haven’t found him exceptionally helpful for when it comes to actually getting stuff written down and sorted out.