My Current Training- Feb 2014

A few of my friends were asking what kind of training system I am following currently. I thought it would be nice to have a written record.

First of all, the background of my current training is very very important. I am just coming off the smolov and have had one hell of a time with it. Not only was I doing the hardest routine I have ever done, but I was also setting up my own business, and training 4-5 groups of 5-6 athletes every day, and travelling in order to promote my business. In retrospect I did way too much, specially considering that the training for about 3 months prior to that was brutal as well. Not as bad as the smolov, but lets just say that 15 months ago, when I first started exercising with weights again, after my long stay at the hospital (18 weeks), I had lost weight to 165 pounds (75kgs), and the first time I hit a single in the squat after that was a pathetic 185pounds (84kgs) and in the deadlift an awful 242 pounds (110kgs).

This monday I hit my heavy workout, and squatted 345lbs for 3 X 5 reps with a pause at the bottom, ass to calves, no belt no wraps barefoot. I tested a conservative single in the power squat, which is my competition variation, 2 weeks back and got 468lbs with belt, knee wraps, squat briefs, converse shoes, and hitting only parallel. On monday I deadlifted 450lbs for 2 sets of 3 reps no belt no shoes no chalk no equipment whatsoever. I was shirtless in my shorts. I cleaned and pressed 225 for a single, which was really hard. I bench pressed 270lbs for a songle, no equipment. I weighed in at a 190lbs yesterday evening. While none of these numbers are out of this world, I cant help but feel a little smug that this is some dramatic improvement in just 15 months, specially considering that I spent 8 for these months training once a week, was making my career, setting up my business and was recovering from the most terrible injury I have ever faced, or honestly seen anyone else suffer either. I am very happy with my progress.

But in order to do all these things I have trained on and over the edge for a long time now, about 6 months I would say. 3 months ago I started the smolov and I have not looked back. I am actually now losing some of the weight I gained during the smolov. I am going to cut down to 180lbs or so in a couple of months, as I feel I have gotten a little fat on the smolov and you really cant control your eating while on it.

The product of all these things is that I really really want to just take some time off hard training and focus on the stuff I really enjoy- namely athletics. I love shot putting, sprinting, discus throwing, kettlebell work, calisthenic stuff, strongman training, loading and farmer's walks, basketball, rugby, wrestling, boxing, fancy ass jump rope, rock lifting, playing with the 25 stray dogs living under my staircase, reading Star Wars comics and cartoons, playing the guitar, discussing plotholes in Drangonball Z, Star Trek, Conan, lord of The Rings and Pacman, embarrassing my girlfriend by going to comicon as He-Man and doing other things to further the (probably true) notion that I am a nerd and geek.

And now there have been developments- I am now a competitor in the strongman contest INDIA'S STRONGEST MAN. The funny thing is that I a competing in the open category, meaning I will be competing against guys who weight 300lbs and stuff. Of course, I dont think I have a chance to win, atleast not this year, but the contest will be happening in just 2 weeks, so I want to keep my strength training pretty minimal and focus more on training for events.

A month after this contest will be the STRONGEST MAN IN INDIA contest which I am also competing in, India's first national kettlebell contest, and a month after that a deadlift only powerlifting meet. I am probably being a complete idiot by competing in all these events but there are business reasons as to why I cannot refuse to compete in any of these events, which I will not elaborate on here.

This all effects my overall strategy and exercise selection.
1. I need to do minimal strength training and devote maximum time to strongman event training.
2. I need to focus on only one powerlift- the deadlift, as both strongman events will not be featuring the squat.
3. I have no convincing reason to do barbell work for the upper body as I am never going to compete in a Bench press meet, as I am no longer a full meet powerlifter, and I am getting way too much upper body work in with calisthenics, kettlebell lifting and rock and log lifting. I also hate bench pressing. I am going to dump it for good.
4. I need to minimize spinal loading during strength training as there are too many loadd events in strongman and I have my spine to worry about.
5. I am already explosive and in great shape. I need to be more explosive and have even more conditioning, cause that is all I can realistically improve 2 weeks from contest.
6. I am tired of having everything planned out and then going exactly according to plan. With minimal strength training I am going to keep everything else open. This way I can do whatever I want when I want. My only condition is that I need to train atleast 5 strongman events in a week.

With all this in mind, here is the strength training routine I have developed. Remember point 6- I have not programmed event training. this depends on how I feel. Overall this new system is designed to give me a lot of freedom. What I have given here is all the stuff I have to do.

Exercises-

Primary Strength-
1. Conventional Deadlift
2. High Bar, ass to calves, bottom paused back squat.
No belt or anything on both.

Power-
Barbell Split Snatch

Assistance-
1. Snatch grip deadlift from the blocks, such that the bar is 1 inch below the knee.
2. Pistol Squats- weighted, unweighted and assisted.
3. Bridges- Full, Wall walking, weighted short bridges
4. Pull Ups- Weighted, Unweighted, Assisted.
5. Handstand Pushups- Full ROM, Weighted, Headstand pushups.
6. Push Ups- Typewriter, diamond, lever.

Core-
1. L- Sits
2. Renegade Rows
3. Ab rollers

Training Cycle- 4 weeks
3 weeks training, 1 week rest/ competition.

Monday- Max Strength
Wednesday- Dynamic Strength
Friday- Repetition Strength

W1-
Monday-
Work Up to 1 hard set of 5 conventional deadlifts.
Work Up to 2 hard sets of 5 squats
Work Up to 1 hard set of 5 weighted Pull Ups
Ab rollers

Wednesday-
10 sets of 3 Snatches with a comfortable weight.
10 sets of 3 Clapping pushups.
1 hard set of bridges
1 hard set of handstand pushups, weighted with 10bs full ROM.
1 Hard set of lever push ups
Renegade Rows

Friday-
Ladder of 2's- 2,4, 6, 8, 10, 12, Max Set with 30 seconds between sets for the following exercises-
Snatch Grip Dead from 1 inch below knee with 68% of conventional deadlift max.
Pistol Squats
Handstand Pushups, 10, 12, and max set, headstand pushups.
Typewriter Pushups, final max set with diamond pushups
Pull Ups unweighted, Max Set assisted
L- Sits

W2-
Monday- work up to heavy set/s of 3
Wednesday- Stays same except calisthenics progress in reps
Friday- Instead of ladders, Pyramids to 12- 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2.
10, 12, 10 is with headstand push ups. Assisted pull ups and diamond pull ups are removed. All sets are done with typewriter push ups and normal pull ups.

W3-
Monday- Work up to a heavy single
Wednesday- Stays same excepet calisthenics progress in reps
Friday- 2 hard max effort sets of each exercise.

W4- cut everything down to 50%.

For the next cycle add 4kgs to the deadlift and squat numbers. Increase the snatch weight by 2 kgs. The calisthenic and assistane exercises can be made harder by using harder variations for more reps, or increasing reps or extending the pyramid.ladders or moving to a harder variation.

The system requires you to start with a Conservative max.

Finally once a week I do a joint recovery session, where I do 2 sets of 40-100 short bridges, incline pushups, easy bodyweight rows, assisted squats, hammer revolutions, band pull aparts and external rotations, e-z bar curls and leg curls.

That's the system!

To conclude this rather long post, I want to talk about the differance between barbell and calisthenic exercises. After you start hitting heavy weight in the squat and deadlift, sooner or later the effort shifts more to the torso. For example, when you are deadlifting 225 for a 5 R.M you will feel it in your hamstrings. But when you are lifting 400 for a 5 R.M you will feel it in your lats, your abs and your glutes. The opposite happens in calisthenics, as you get more advanced, more and more effort is shifted to the extremities. For example, when you can do 2 sets of 10 full pushups you will feel it in your chest. When you are doing lever pushups, you will feel it in your triceps. Because of this, I feel for balanced and full body power, both barbell exercises and calisthenics are essential. And my programming reflects that.

Good luck in your training!

Squat Specialization

I have written a lot on this blog about the value of slow and steady base building, yet I want to emphasize that brutal hard work works. After you have spent a year doing steady training and have ATLEAST a 100kg (225lb) full squat (dont lie on depth and form), you can give any one of the following specializations a shot. Any one of these will easily put on 20 kgs to your squat within the time period mentioned. You must back off correctly if you wish to retain the gains from any one of these programs. I have covered how to do that in the previous post.

I have done several squat specializations myself and have applied many of my programs on several track and field athletes. They have not yet failed me- a 20 kg gain is always delivered. I personally have done specializations for relatively challenging variations of the squat- high bar narrow stance ass to calves, front squat, bottom position squats in the power rack etc. . Keep in mind that my main objective was never the squat for its own sake. All the specializations my students and I have undertaken have been done with the target of improving some athletic quality. Whatever variation you pick, you will make great gains, just make sure you can use atleast 100kgs for the variation you want to specialize in.

Routine 1

3 week specialization

This one is meant for guys who feel that they just lack leg strength overall and need to get into shape quick. This program will do a lot to increase your running speed (medium sprints) and your ability to put the shot.

Please do this routine in the off-season.

The recommended variations are:
The high bar, 1/2 inch heel elevated, hip width, ass to calves squat.
The overhead squat.
The belt/ pyramid squat.

Whichever variation you choose, you must keep your torso vertical on every single rep. I do not mean neutral spine, I mean body literally vertical. You must descend and ascend in a straight line. If while squatting you feel pressure on the lower back at all, it means you are leaning forward. If you do not have the mobility to do this, do the belt/ pyramid squat or dont do this specialization at all. You should actually be able to keep your lower back and abs relatively relaxed if you wanted to. If you cannot do this with atleast 100kgs (this is a lot tougher than it sounds) do not do this specialization.

The weight will always be on the heels. Clench your glutes at the bottom. Toes should be slightly out and the knees should be over the toes. This routine is designed for squatting rock bottom. If you have problems with this do any one of the other routines here.

On the bright side, every single person who has done this program has gained 20kgs on their squat and 2 inches on each thigh. More importantly, I have three guys who have increased their shot put distance by a full 4 feet after this program.

In all the squat variations, you will try to accelerate as much as possible. A slight jumping of the bar off your back is a good this here. We are looking for speed on every rep.

Also don't be an idiot and estimate your max on the basis of your ego. Whatever you estimate, its probably safe to reduce it by 5%. Estimate it too high and you will pay.

All right, here is the routine-

Each week has three workouts. I am assuming a Monday Wednesday Friday split.

Week 1
Mon-
Warm up how you see fit
Squat
4 Sets of 17 reps with 65-68% of maximum with 90s between sets.

2 Sets of Hanging leg raises/ ab wheel rollouts whichever you prefer for as many reps as you can.
You can follow this up with whatever upper body work you want. Keep the total number of work sets below 5 for the upper body work. No other lower body exercises. This goes for all days.

Wed-
Squat
10 reps with 70% of your max. 120s rest
8 reps with 75%. 120s rest
6 reps with 78%. 120s rest
4 reps with 83%. 120s rest
2 reps with 87%.. 120s rest

Fri-
Squat
6 sets of 3 reps with 87% of your max. 180s rest

Week 2
Mon-
Squat-
4 sets of 17 reps with 71-74% of max. 90s rest

Wed-
Squat-
10 reps with 75% of your max. 120s rest
8 reps with 77%. 120s rest
6 reps with 80%. 120s rest
4 reps with 85%. 120s rest
2 reps with 90%.. 120s rest

Fri-
Squat-
6 sets of 5 reps with 88% of max. 180s rest

Week 3
Mon-
Squat-
7 Sets of 4 reps with 93% of max. 180s rest

Wed-
Squat-
6 sets of 3 reps with 96% of  max. 180s rest

Fri-
Squat-
5 sets of 3 reps with 100% of max. 180s rest

Routine 2

6 week specialization

This routine is designed to increase acceleration from a dead stop. This is particularly good for improving your sprint start, your clean, your snatch. It is not so good for improving your jumping ability however. I am not sure why but I think it is because it is very hard to do this program with maximum acceleration at the top. This routine is suitable for guys in rugby, sprinters, Olympic lifters and martial artists.

This routine will not increase your size particularly, but will increase your squatting ability very rapidly.

The recommended squat variations are-

Front Squat with or without heel elevation. I prefer without.
Overhead squat without heel elevation.
Chambered bar back squats.
Trap bar deadlifts with the lifters standing on an elevation/ platform such that at the bottom the lifter shoul be in a full ass to calves squat.

This is another routine that requires Ass to calves performance. If you do not have to mobility to do this, go for routine 3 which is for parallel squatters.

All right, here is the routine-

There are 2 workouts per week. We will assume Monday and Thursday. Upper body work must be done separately, preferably on a different day. Ab work must be done after the squat workouts.

Week 1
Mon-
Warm up as you see fit
2 sets of 5 full squats with good form with 80% of max.
1 set of 5 bottom paused squats (go down to rock bottom and pause for 2 full seconds at the point at which your muscles are well tensed and your hamstring and calves are mashed against each other, and come up without rocking or bouncing in anyway) with 72% of max.
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 72%. (set the bar low enough such that you are a good 3 inches below parallel when you set up. Explode up from the bottom, and drop back down)
120s rest throughout

Thurs
2 sets of 3 squats with 86%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 78%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 78%
120s rest

Week 2
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 83%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 75%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 75%
120s rest

Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 89%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 81%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 81%
120s rest

Week 3-
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 86%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 78%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 78%
120s rest

Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 92%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 84%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 84%
120s rest

Week 4
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 89%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 81%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 81%
120s rest

Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 95%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 87%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 87%
120s rest

Week 5
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 92%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 84%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 84%
120s rest

Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 98%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 90%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 90%
120s rest

Week 6

Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 95%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 87%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 87%
120s rest

Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 100%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 93%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 93%
120s rest

Each workout is to be followed by 1 set of 20 45 degree hyperextensions or reverse hyperextensions or seated good mornings or good mornings (change the exercise each workout) with the heaviest weight you can handle for that rep range.

After that you will perform 1 set of 20 hack squats on the toes with a kettlebell or heel elevated high bar close squats (cyclist squats) or bar bell hack squats, or machine hack squats (change the exercise each workout) with the heaviest weight you can handle for that rep range. After that do your ab work.

Routine 3

3 week specialization

This is a rather radical routine that always breaks advanced-intermediate guys out of their rut.

This is meant to boost whatever variation of the squat you are using for whatever purpose. Unless otherwise stated, the version of the squat you will use is the version you are trying to improve. Any squat variation may be selected.

This system is loosely based on the smolov base mesocycle. The smolov works great but I wanted something which was less brutal but fairly effective. This routine will put 15-20 kgs on your max squat, as long as you back off correctly as discussed in the previous post. The second week is brutal and will kill you if you cannot already squat atleast 140kgs or 315lbs. Anything less than that, find a squat variation you can perform for routine 1 or 2 or use overhead squats for routine 1 (that will increase your squat pretty dramatically) or just spend some more time building a base.

Warm up as you see fit. All upper body and ab work must be minimal and must be done after squatting. No more than 3 total exercises per session. Rest days are complete rest.

The routine is-
Week 1
Day1- Workout
7 Sets of 5 with 83% of your max. 150 second rest
Day2- rest
Day3- Workout
With 68-72% of your max do the following series of reps. Rest 10 seconds for each rep performed.
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 8-15 (go for max)
Day4- rest
Day5- Workout
Power Snatch from the floor with 80% of your best snatch.
10 sets of 3 120s breaks
Day6- Workout
9 Sets of 3 with 89% of your max. 180s breaks
Day7- Rest

Week 2
Day1- Workout
7 Sets of 5 with 83% + 6kgs. 150 second rest
Day2- rest
Day3- Workout
With 68-72% of your max do the following series of reps. Rest 10 seconds for each rep performed.
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 6-15 (go for max)
Day4- rest
Day5- Workout
Power Snatch from the floor with 80% + 4kgs.
10 sets of 3 120s breaks
Day6- Workout
9 Sets of 3 with 89% + 6kgs . 180s breaks
Day7- Rest

Week 3
Day1- Workout
7 Sets of 5 with 83% + 10 kgs. 150 second rest
Day2- rest
Day3- Workout
2 sets of 15-20 reps with 68-72% of your max
Day4- rest
Day5- Workout
Power Snatch from the floor with 80% + 6kgs
10 sets of 3 120s breaks
Day6- Workout
9 Sets of 3 with 89% + 10kgs. 180s breaks
Day7- Rest

Routine 4

6 week specialization

This routine is meant for early intermediate guys. It for those who are squatting in the vicinity of 120kgs (275lbs) and want to get to three wheels or 140 kgs (315lbs) as soon as possible. All the guys who have done this program with me were high school athletes and as such it works really great for that category. 2 sprinters and 1 shot putter to be precise.

Any athlete who is at this stage, with about a year of training under their belt will benefit from this. Most athletes who are squatting 120kgs are relatively small and therefore the emphasis in this program is on hypertrophy. If you want to pack on inches to your thighs in record time, look no further.

You will have to eat a lot during this program. No matter how much you eat, it will probably be too little.

Recommended variations-
Full ass to calves squat
Below Parallel back squat

Do not use ultra wide stance squats. While a full range of motion is not essential in this program, half or above parallel squats will not cut it. Have someone watch your form from the side- you may not be going as deep as you think. I will never forget the first time I squatted 3 wheels (140kgs) and I thought I went down and put it up like a boss, only to learn from my training partners that it was almost a full inch above parallel. When you are forced to go the distance you may find you need to reduce your numbers by 20-30 kgs.

All three of my guys who have done this routine had increased their thigh measurements by 3 full inches and increased their bodyweights by 5 kgs. And the gains kept coming in the following months. One of them put up 4 wheels (180kgs or 405lbs) just 6 months later, and gained another 6kgs. You have got to eat on this routine though.

Please do this routine in your off- season only as the volume of work is pretty crazy and you will experience unbelievable soreness.

All the workouts are preceded by 2 light sets of 5 of clean and presses and 5 heavy sets of 5 on Monday, 3 on Wednesday and 1 on Friday. You re clean the barbell on every rep. You increase the weights you use in the clean and press by 1 kg the next week. In 6 weeks you would have increased your clean and press by 6kgs, which is decent improvement.  Do one set of parallel bar dips after the workouts to maintain chest hypertrophy. Do 2 reps short of your maximum.

You will do a few sets of chin ups throughout the week. Don't go overboard on it, but try not to let your chin ups regress. Even if you just maintain your chin up performance, you would have become stronger at chin ups due to the bodyweight increase.

You will do 2 hard sets of hanging leg raises or ab rollouts or weighted incline crunches (weight behind the head) after the dips every workout. Change the exercise every workout and dont spare your abs. Give it your best for those 2 sets.

The routine is-
Week 1
Monday-
Warm up as you see fit and do your clean and presses
Squat-
Do cyclist squats (heels elevated and feet together, with a full range of motion)
4 sets of 20 reps with 60s break with 50% of your max normal squat. Pause at the bottom of every rep.
Expect an insane burn in the quads.
4 sets of 15 single leg RDLs with 25-30% of your deadlift max. Do not let go of the bar during sets and do not bounce the bar off the floor. Use  full range of motion and pause the bar on the ground at every rep. 60s break.
Do your dips and ab work

Wednesday- (should be done outdoors)
Warm up as you see fit and do your clean and presses
Leg work-
Walking lunges with 50% of your best ordinary squat.
Walk for distance- 100m If you are doing this indoors, just figure out how many trips up and down the gym you will have to make to cover 100m.
You need to cover the full 100m while not stopping more than 4 times. 2 times is ideal.
Keep your torso upright at all times. Do not let your knees come inwards or your front heel to come off the ground.
Take medium to long steps. Do not step one front in front of the other but a little to the outside. Your toe should point slightly outward. The back knee must touch the ground on every rep. The danger of breaking your knee against concrete will teach you control.
Go straight from one rep to the next. Do not stand on 2 feet for a second and go to the next rep.
Try to finish the full 10m in as little time as possible, without rushing individual reps.
When you are done, do 4 sets of 8-12 reps of arched back good mornings with the same weight. 120s rest.

Do your dips and ab work.

Friday-
Warm up as you see fit and do your clean and presses.
Squat-
Do 8 sets of 3 with 84% of your max in the conventional squat. Take 150-180s rest. Do every rep perfectly.
Do your dips and ab work.

Week 2-6 are exactly the same as week 1, except you will add 3 kgs to the weights you use for all exercises for all sets and reps for weeks 2, 3 and 4. On weeks 5 and 6 you will add only 2kgs more. Thus on week 6 monday you will be doing 4 sets of 20 cyclist squats with 50% of max + 13kgs.

You will add 3 kgs every week until week 4 for the friday workout as well. In week 5 and 6 you mat add only 2kgs or 3 kgs depending on how strong you feel. Thus the last workout will be 8 sets of 3 with 84% of max + 13-15kgs. In the last workout you may keep ramping up the weight every set and see how high you can go. Most guys do a triple with 84% of their old max + 20 kgs on the 6th or 7th set. Your actual max will go up even further.

I hope you find these programs useful. These systems have proven their effectiveness time and time again with various body types and age groups. If you give any one of them a shot, please tell me your results in the comments section.