Get in line and take your best shot

Well, seeing as how i have spent the past year picking holes in all your training routines, it occured to me that I have not given you the chance to do likewise with my regime. What follows is a breakdown of what I do in my week, with a brief synopsis of why. See what you think, and feel free to quwstion, offer suggestions or criticise mercilessly

Monday.
Deadlift 5x5
Standing barbell press 5x5
weighted crunches 5x10
Tuesday.
3 mile steady state run
5-8x3 minute rounds on the heavy bag

Wednesday.
Morning: 5 circuits: plyo push up,chins,static lateral hold,plyo squat
Evening: Savate class+ sparring 2.5 hours

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 30 mins HIIT, including use of sandbags, tires, commercial water containers etc.
weighted crunches 5x10

Saturday.
Bodyweight circuits as per wednesday

Sunday.
Savate class 1.5 hours.

Synopsis.

i only do one pure strength session per week because i am merely trying to maintain a good base level of strength. Improving is no longer a priority for me. That is not to say that I couldnt get stronger, I have been stronger in the past, but I am more interested in balance and physical wellbeing these days. Deads and overhead press provide a good basic full body workout, lats and pecs get more direct work later in the week during the circuits.

most of my workouts are very brief, the only exception being tuesday. I have never been a fan of long workouts- intensity beats time hands down. My bodyweight circuits take me around 30mins only, but in that time I have completed 25 sets of exercise to failure. i know that MMF is not physiologicaly the best way to go about things, but i like working to complete exhaustion and feeling sick- its a hangover from my bodybuilding youth I also find that working in such a way turns the circuit into a form of HIIT, and functioning around the point of fatigue helps me personaly during sparring.

Well, there it is. Ladies and gentleman, sharpen your scalpels and begin the disection

I like it. I am thinking and have been toying with doing something similiar. Except I would do 2 days of strength training (Mon&Wed) and then Saturday Bodyweight stuff. Mond and Wed would consists of 20 HITT after the weights.

I actually really like it. Its got everything a great program should. Strenght, cardio, conditioning.

I particularly like the DIY circuit with the sand bag etc. I do a simular workout which I call "The Stairs of Hercules" :grin. I pretty much involves me running up a 4 story building with a 150lb sandbag on my shoulders. Great for conditiong, strength and even cardio.

Your strength workout is pretty solid. Has everything you need to maintain a good foundation of strength. Perhaps adding some weighted pullups and weighted dips might give you a complete body workout, but yours is pretty good as is.

Thats the kind of workout plan you can easily do for years and never get bored. Its great because you will reap the beneift forever.

Nice work!

Far be it from me to critque your program, but thanks for sharing.

Very nice program, I like it a lot. I don't see anything that really needs to be changed, but I'll make a few suggestions just because the only feedback you've gotten on it so far has been compliments

5x10 on weighted crunches seems excessive to me. I see no reason to train the abs any differently from the other muscle groups.

I really like the combination of deadlift and overhead press. I know that's not criticism, I just felt I had to mention it.

On Tuesday, I would think it would be best to do the heavy bag work before the run, since you'll be fresh and able to focus on intensity and technique. It depends on how tired the running makes you though, if you're using it for a warm up then ignore this one.

I kind of missed the Olympic lifts. I know it's not necessary to incorporate them into every single program, but I think it probably wouldn't hurt to use one or two during your Wednesday morning or Saturday circuits. The static lateral hold strikes me as odd. Maybe you could replace them with hang cleans or something.

That's about all I can say. It really is a good program, very hard to pick apart. Keep it up.

Fair comments Cownose. I have to agree about the ab work. I am considering replacing the second lot of crunches with uneven bar torso twists to give direct attention to my obliques.

Tuesdays run never gets me above 80% max HR so I usually keep it first, though I must admit that my reasoning is more psychological- i will try it the other way around and keep you posted just for the heck of it

You know I am a big fan of olympic lifts, As a method of plateau beating, I had already decided to keep options open to replace my strength basics with clean and press and/or clean and jerk. At this stage, the deads and overheads are still fresh and improving so no need at present.

The static lateral holds are a private obsession of mine, and come from having always had more depth than width to my physique, so have always done 'a little something' to emphasise medial deltoid development,combine that with having always been a fan of the static axe hold in WSM, and how it is usualy the achilles heel of most of the competitors, and it has become something of a pet project to get good at it.

Thanks for the feedback

Well, here we go, 3 months into 2006 and time for a change.
Started this routine last week, emphasis has gone back to strength work a little for the first time in over a year and I have a new toy- an industrial strength dip station!

Monday.
Superset Weighted press ups and hammer grip chin ups x4
Weighted crunches 5x15
Superset 50m weighted jumping sprint and static front raise hold x4

Tuesday.
Alternate 3min 50m Sprint drills with 3min rounds on heavy bag x5 (40 mins total)

Wednesday.
Superset weighted dips and underhand chin ups x4
Uneven weighted torso twists 4x20
Superset 50m weighted traveling lunge and static lateral hold

Thursday.
Rest and developmental stretching

Friday. (Gym Day)
Wide stance deep squat 4x5-6
flat Bench press 4x5-6
Deadlift 4x5-6
Overhead Press 3x5-6
EZ Bar curls 3x8-10

Sat/Sun rest and stretch.

My MA class attendance varies depending on my shift pattern, but i get at least 1.5 hours of Savate per week, sometimes as much as 3.5hours and 1 hour of JKD.
On MA intensive weeks I will be leaving out the tuesday Cardio session.

This has a lot of of HIT work, and I dont see me staying on it for more than 8-10 weeks.

Plus side is I am back on a power rack (dont even ask me how much weight I have dropped on the squat )), downside is I have sacrificed my crazy strongman style Intervals, but they will return in the future .

As always I am interested to hear any ideas or observations on it, its always easier to spot problems with others routines than your own.

Quote:

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EZ Bar curls 3x8-10

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An isolation excercise?! Who are you and what have you done with Cord?!?!?! J/K.

Only possible critique I have is that the Mon/Tues/Wed workouts are all very shoulder intensive. Not that it can't be done, but you may want to listen very closely if your shoulders start saying "too much".