In my last post on the topic of
powerlifting, strength training and programming I mentioned I had completed the
last part of my strength macrocycle (with less than stellar results, but it is
what it is, and better not to fool oneself about it), and was transitioning
into shot putting mode again. In this one I’ll outline my current routine and
the rationales behind the selection of moves, sets and reps. To put things in
perspective, I’ll share with you all the two main concerns I wanted to address
with my new routine: a) be able to exert force with greater velocity (to impart
greater momentum to the shot) and b) recover a bit mentally by doing shorter,
less strenuous sessions in the gym. The second point requires some elaboration,
as I have always championed pushing oneself and it may be interpreted as just
not applying much effort and pussying out of a demanding program. As my yearly
program just placed two powerlifting mesocycles contiguously (for a reason, I
wanted to keep pushing for gainzzzz after ending last year with all time PRs in
the three powerlifts), I have been for almost six months trying to improve
(either the max load moved or the number of reps with a given load) every
single friggin’ time I grabbed a bar. The last two months were pretty lousy, as
they coincided with a very busy period in my daytime job (what I get paid for
doing) and whilst I tried to finish once and for all my dissertation (which
anybody that has attempted will tell you requires a freakin’ amount of
dedication all by itself). Unsurprisingly I dreaded more and more each time I
had to get my sorry ass to the gym, and once there I struggled to keep focus
and psych myself up for the toughest lifts of each day, which closer to the end
I started missing (although I tend to keep my missed lifts rate pretty low, it
slowly creeped up). Using a concept borrowed from Dan John I have used before,
I had spent too much time in Bus Bench Mode, and it was time to relax a bit and
get back to Park Bench Mode.
Not just because neither work nor
study were giving me any respite, but because at some point going either to max
intensity or to max volume every single day starts being counterproductive, and
you stop progressing. I know from one of the forums I used to frequent more
that some guys boast about training to a max every session, for years on end,
without ever taking a deload. All I can say is “good for them”. I tended to be
more impressed about their dedication when I first knew of their system (which,
by the way, tend to be quiet unsystematic… I’ve come to believe that “instinctual
training” and going all too frequently to a max is normally the cover and the
excuse for very limited programming abilities, and a very incomplete
understanding of how the body adapts to the demands we impose on it), as
nowadays I realize most of them are still lifting what they were lifting two or
three years ago, give or (more frequently) take 5 kg…
So it was time for me to loose the
fear of submaximal training and spend some time having fun in the gym, focusing
on “density” (how many quality reps I could get in a certain amount of time),
staying in the 70-80% of my daily max (which should be no more than 90% of my
true 1RM, the proverbial weight you can lift any day of the week without
needing to conjure a psychotic rage and go berserk), on regaining some
cardiovascular capacity and some mobility and flexibility which all were
somewhat compromised by my previous mores.
Now back to the first concern, I
also wanted this cycle to increase my “explosiveness”, which right now I think
is pretty lousy. A typical assessment of how efficient one athlete is when he
has to produce force quickly is to consider the ratio between his max deadlift
(a slow movement, very much dependent on brute strength regardless of how fast
it is displayed) and his max power clean (a ballistic move that requires the lifter to accelerate the bar as much as
possible in a very short space, without being as heavily dependent on
technique, coordination and flexibility as the full clean). Very explosive
athletes can power clean around 80% of what they deadlift. Average ones stand
somewhere between 60 and 80%... and yours truly, with a max deadlift of 220kg
(485 pounds) and a max power clean of 105 kg (231 pounds), can only declare
himself to be an abysmally explosive lifter which can move quickly a paltry 48%
of what he moves slowly. I can claim in my discharge that age is a factor, as
type II fibers (the “fast twitch” ones on which fast movement depends) are the
first to go after one passes the 35 years mark, which shows in the typical
ratios being calculated for much younger lifters. Be it as it may, being a slow
grinder does not mean I have to stay content with my current lot, and it is in
my hand to at least try to change it. There is a lot of discussion in the (pseudo)
scientific literature about how possible it is actually change muscle
composition, and grow the percentage of
Type II fibers, although there is no doubt about what kind of exercises recruit
more successfully those fibers (and thus, imposing greater demands on them, are
more conductive to their development): compound movements that force the whole
body to work in unison to maximally accelerate a resistance as heavy as
possible, which in turn impose strict limits in the number of reps that can be
safely executed. That means squats (because you always have to squat, there is
no exercise with a comparable systemic effect in turning you overall stronger),
cleans, snatches and push presses. I’ll add bench presses because they develop
the same muscles used in putting, and chin ups and pull ups to keep the back work
balanced with the pec and front delt work. I’ll also do farmer’s walks and
suitcase carries, both to maintain (or even improve) grip strength and to
reinforce the core, specially the obliques (extra important for a glider like
me, spinners can do with less rotational force in the core as they impart it
with the legs). Finally, I’ll be sprinting and jumping more and more (and, of
course, putting). Regarding progress,
the main measure is going to be how far the shot flies, and all the rest of the
training is going to be subordinated to that. I’ll be adding volume slowly,
staying mostly within intensities of 70-80%, and only towards the end of the
cycle, if I feel like it, I may go to a max in some barbell movement to check
how things feel.
A final note on exercise selection
(having to do with the frequency each move will be practiced). During this
long past powerlifting cycle, and looking towards the following weightlifting one, a
couple of weaknesses have to be addressed: my quads are weaker than my
hamstrings (product of low bar back squatting, plus deadlifting a house almost
weekly), and my overhead strength has become very meh. So squatting will be
more quad dominant (I’ll be alternating high bar back squat with front squats),
even if that means using less weight, and every single time I step on the gym I’ll
do some move that requires putting the bar over my head and keeping it there
for a few seconds.
With all that considered, this is
how my weekly schedule will look like (after the exercice I write number of sets x number of reps in each set):
|
Day 1
|
Day 2
|
Day 3
|
Day 4
|
Day 5
|
|
Low Bar
Back Squat:
5 x 8,
6, 4
Close
Grip Bench Press:
5 x 6,
5, 4
Power
Snatch:
6 x 3, 2
Snatch
Grip BTN Push Press:
5 x 4,
3, 2
SS with
chin ups:
6 x 5
|
OH
backward throw:
2 - 5
Standing
Put:
3 - 6
Gliding
put:
15 -20
Hill sprints
(20 yds):
5 – 10
Bounded
jumps:
5 – 8 x
3
|
Front
Squat:
5 x 7,
6, 5
Close
Grip Pin Bench Press:
5 x 4, 3, 2
Power
Clean:
6 x 3, 2
Push
Press:
5 x 3, 2
SS with
pull ups:
6 x 4
|
OH
backward throw:
2 - 5
Standing
Put:
3 - 6
Gliding
put:
15 -20
Hill sprints
(20 yds):
5 – 10
Bounded
jumps:
5 – 8 x
3
|
Jumping
squats:
5 – 8 x
3
Farmer’s
walk:
6 – 8 x
20 yds
Suitcase
carries:
3 – 4 x
20 yds (per hand)
|
I still have to decide how I’m going
to deal with the unavoidable misses due to work/ having an exceptionally good
day writing. In the past I just moved the day, and attempted the same planned
workout the day after (or two days after, sometimes even three), so the
scheduled weeks ended up dragging on and taking anywhere between 10 to 16 days
to complete. That didn’t work all that great, so in this case I may accept some
minimal juggling around (a maximum delay of one day, and after that if I can
not train I’ll move to the next planned session) and keep a number of sessions
labeled as “optional” (days 2 and 5 are the most evident candidates) to
sacrifice if the week has been too demanding, so I do not space the main
sessions too much.
As usual, I’ll adapt as I observe
how it is working, will keep everybody posted.
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