Raw Mass with Calisthenics- Second Edition

A long time ago I wrote a post in which I spoke about how you can get big and strong using just your bodyweight. I still stand by that statement but my approach has entirely changed. In this post I am going to flesh out some of the fundamental considerations while trying to get big using bodyweight exercises only.

I am assuming here that the reader is familiar with basic bodyweight exercises and their progressions. If you are not, just see the posts marked bodyweight exercises first.

Basic Concepts

1. Progressive Overload must be maintained. Over time you have to increase the resistance of the exercise you are performing. In bodyweight work this is done by doing one of 4 things-
a. Changing the leverage
b. Putting more weight on one limb
c. Increasing the range of motion
d. Tightening up the form

Just go through the archives of this blog to find progressions for everything.

2. You must incorporate all the basic movements. Don't just do pull ups and dips. You have legs, use them. In addition the added leg size will increase the resistance for your upper body, enabling you to build a larger upper body in the long run.
The basic movements are-
1. Pushups of all sorts
2. Pull Ups of all sorts
3. Squats
4. Leg raises and sit up variations
5. Bridges and hip extensions
6. Inversions
7. Loaded carries of all sorts

3. You have to train in a variety of repetition ranges to get truly big. You have to utilize movements that let you to do very few repetitions to build raw strength. However, the majority of your training must be done in the 6-20/set range. A few higher repetition sets here and there will build the tendons as well. Using maximum effort isometric exercises like front levers, flags and L sits will develop absolute strength as well.

4. For the majority of your bodyweight work think like a sculptor. Build the beauty of the body by targeting your weakest areas. Have an idea of exactly how you want to look. Then use tons of volume to target those areas. Use variations that throw more work on the under developed parts. Don't underestimate single joint movements like sissy squats, ham glute curls, bodyweight tricep extensions and front lever pulls. They are still fairly compound  and will transfer well to other bodyweight work.

5. To build the muscles of the torso use bilateral exercises. To build the muscles of the limbs use unilateral exercises.

6. Do some crazy explosive work to help develop your maximum strength. Jumps, clapping push ups and pull ups must be performed. You have to do some throwing as well. All this will help keep your strength ahead of your training intensity, giving you space to grow.

I want explain this concept a little more here. Basically the biggest thing that stops people from continually getting big from bodyweight work is the fact that they get good at doing repetition work, because of which they are either training too close to their maximums all the time, or too far away from it. To counter this, increasing your maximum strength will ensure you have a good margin within which you can train productively.

Biggest Mistakes People make

The really important thing to remember while designing a training program for getting big with bodyweight work is to cover all your bases. This is the biggest reason people fail to get big with calisthenics. They will forget to train the lower body, or do heavy loaded carries or isometric holds or jumps and sprints and then wonder why they cant get bigger. Because the body is a unit, and you have to stress the whole body to get the stimulus for growth. You can only get so far just trying to pump up your arms with chin ups.

The second reason people fail to make progress is that they have not learned how to juice exercises for all their worth. They will do push ups in sloppy form and do a set of 30 and think its time to move to diamond push ups. In reality you have to squeeze every little size increase you can get from an exercise before going to harder variations. Learn to contract the glutes and abs to make the push up super tight. Hold your breath during the repetition and use power breathing to make it stricter. Screw you hands into the ground and maximally tense your triceps and shoulders while doing the pushup. Really enjoy the pause at the bottom and squeeze the chest to come up. You really have to learn how to make a movement literally perfect. Only then move to something more advanced.

The other mistakes are training too often, training too hard too early, moving to harder variations too soon, not keeping a training journal, not moving to harder variations ever and wanting to destroy the body every training session. But this is not really specific to bodyweight training. People in gyms everywhere make the same mistakes. Don't make them.

Also not eating enough. You have to eat to grow, specially around workouts. This is as true of bodyweight work as it is of powerlifting or bodybuilding. But be mindful of fat gain, as unlike powerlifting or bodybuilding, it will immediately hamper your progress with bodyweight work. Stay below 15% bodyfat and eat a lot of proteins and carbs around workouts. If you feel you are getting fat, just cut the calories for a few days or add conditioning work.  Keep it simple and don't get so fat in the first place that you need to do something dramatic or complicated. If you are over 15% bodyfat, deal with that first and gaining mass later. You will never go beyond rudimentary bodyweight movements being fat.

Program Checklist

1. Any productive mass gaining routine utilizes limited exercises and decent volume and intensity. Aim and program for a balanced physique.

2. Have decent mix of extremely difficult, quality repetition work, ultra high repetition work, heavy isometric and explosive training.

3. Stress the whole body with loaded carries and reap the anabolic benefits.

4. Build the torso muscles first and then the extremities.

5. Build your weaknesses.

6. Use intelligent repetition, set and frequency schemes. Don't exercise for no real reason and avoid junk exercises and sets.

7. Eat well but in moderation.

Sample Routines 

Any of these routines can be used with just minimal modification. You will have to see what exercises suit you and what does not, but don't mess around with the basic scheme.

Raw Beginner

Do this workout on three non consecutive days a week after a general warm up.

Chin Up Isometric holds- Hold the top position for as long as possible, After 2 mins do the same for the mid position.
Pushups-
2 sets of 20 wall pushups or high incline pushups as warm up
3 sets of 3-5 reps of a hard push up variation such as full push ups, diamond push ups, feet elevated pushups while the hands are on bricks to get a full range of motion, pushups while wearing a back pack with weight in it and push ups while wearing a backpack in front with weight in it, while the feet, hand and feet are elevated on stools or bricks so that the bag can drop low and a full repetition can be done.
2 sets of 6-30 repetitions of incline or kneeling push ups, depending upon training level. Start with a conservative number or reps (like 8) and add a rep each workout until you hit the end of the range. Then move to a harder variation and repeat.
Bodyweight Rows- 3 sets of 6-20 of high, low or very low rows.
Jack knife Pull Ups- 1 set of 6-15.
Assisted Squats or full Squats- 3 sets of 10-35
Reverse plank hold- 2 sets of 30-120s
Short Bridges- 1 set of 20-50 reps
Knee tucks, lying leg raises or hanging knee raises- 3 sets of 8-20
Jumps onto bench or box- 3 sets of 6
Throwing rock or shot for distance- 3 sets of 6 per arm
Sled Dragging, rock carrying, car pushing, rock dragging or walking lunges with a rock/log/pole held at the chest- 5 sets of 20-40m with 60s rest.

Follow this program until you can do 5 chin ups, 10 push ups, 3 sets of 30 full squats, 10 hanging knee raises and have mastered reverse planks. It should take about 8-12 weeks depending upon your starting point.

Basic Size Routine

In this routine we are trying to build the muscles of the torso. For this we will primarily use bilateral movements. A backpack and some kind of weight (like bricks) can be used to add weight to movements as well. A sled will be indispensable. Just buy an old car tire and fill it up with cement and tie a rope to it. If it becomes too light just tie another cement filled tire to the first. Alternatively you can push your car around. Just make sure someone is in the driver's seat. If nothing else is there find a big rock and lift and carry it.

You will train in the following pattern-
Workout A
Workout B
Off
repeat

When you are feeling beat up, just take an extra day off.

Workout A-

Dips with weight in back pack- 5 sets of 3-5 reps
or Push ups with back pack in the front and the feet and hands on stools, bricks or benches.

Chin Ups with weight in back pack- 5 sets of 2-3 reps

Dips- 30 reps in as few sets as possible
Chin ups- 30 reps in as few sets as possible
Push Ups- 50 reps in as few sets as possible
Bodyweight Rows- 50 reps in as few sets as possible

In any of these when you can complete all the required reps in 3 sets or less, simply add weight using the back pack. We want to get to the stage where you are using 10-15kgs in the bag for all your reps

Workout B

Box Jumps with back pack or weight held in hands- 3 sets of 6
Heavy sled dragging/ car pushing/ Hugging a rock and walking- 3 sets of 10m
Close Squats (with or without back pack)- 2 sets of 10-30
Standard Squats with back pack- 2 sets of 50
Squat jumps with weight in the hands- 3 sets of 6
Hopping with weight in the hands- 3 sets of 10m
Stool/ Head/ Full Bridges- 3 sets of 6-20
Hanging Leg/knee/frog raises- 3 sets of 6-20
Throwing 5-10kg rocks- 3 sets of 6 per arm
Sit ups- Total 100 reps in less than 3 sets

Follow this system for about 12 weeks until you can do 12-15 chin ups, 20-30 weighted pushups with 10kgs, 30 dips in 1 set and can do 30 close squats with 10kgs.

Primary Bulk Routine

This routine should be used for a long time (a year plus) and follows the traditional progressive approach to bodyweight exercises detailed in the earlier bodyweight posts on this blog.

You will have balanced training of the extremities and torso muscles.

You will follow the following workout pattern every week-

Workout A1
Workout B1
Off
Workout A2
Workout B2
Off
Off

Workout A1-
Weighted Dips- 5 sets of 3-5
Front Lever Holds- (tuck, flat, straddle, half or full)- 5 sets of 10-15 seconds
Chin Up Progression- 3 sets of 5-15 depending upon the variation
Handstand Push Up Progression- 3 sets of 5-20 depending upon variation
Dips- 2 sets of as many reps as possible. Use weight if you can do more than 30 after all the previous work.
Diamond Push Ups- 2 sets of as many reps as possible.

Workout B1-
Squat Jumps with weight- 3 sets of 6
Pistol Squats progression- 3 sets of 6-30 depending upon variation
Bridges Progression- Full or a unilateral variety- 3 sets of 6-20
Ham Glute Curls- Try for total 15 reps. Once you can do it in 2 sets, try for 25
Hanging Leg Raises Progression- 3 sets of 7-20
Roman Chair Sit Ups on parallel bars- 2 sets of as many reps as possible
Heavy Sled Dragging- 5 sets of 10-15m

Workout A2
Throwing Weights- 3 sets of 6 per arm
Weighted Pull ups- 5 sets of 3-5
Planche Holds- 5 sets of 10-15s
Push Up Progression- 3 sets of 6-20
Pull ups- total 50 reps
Bodyweight Rows- 3 sets of as many reps as possible.

Workout B2
Box jumps with weight- 3 sets of 6
Weighted Pistol Squats- 5 sets of 3-5
Sissy Squats- Total 30 reps
Ham glute curls- Total 15-25
Bridges Progression- 3 sets of 7-20
Hanging Leg Raises- 2 sets or as many reps as possible
Roman Chair Sit ups with weight behind the head- 3 sets of 10
Hugging Rock and walkinging-  sets of 10-15m

When you feel you have had enough of this routine, you can start playing around with other advanced movements like sternum chin ups, maltese cross push ups, full ROM handstand push ups, weighted one arm bodyweight rows, pistol squat jumps, one leg wall squats, front lever pulls, back lever pull ups, dragon flag, human flags and planche push ups.

You can also slowly start dropping all the weighted bilateral work and move towards more unilateral movements. You can train both limbs together with upper body gymnastic holds and sled pushing.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to organize a bodyweight routine for size. I would like to close with the point that this is all for maximum bulk and mass, not bodyweight exercise for the sake of getting good at bodyweight work itself. For that you are better off following the progressions more closely.

Creating Training Programs Part IV

In this post I will cover adjusting training for females, older athletes and injured lifters. I will cover structural and functional adaptations. I will also talk about the basic principles of strength training athletes for other sports as a part of their GPP. Finally I will also talk about specific problems that are faced by the intermediate-advanced level lifter.

Adjusting Training For Females-

In its essence strength training for men and women is similar, in the sense you must use fundamental compound movements to get strong and progressively add weight over time. It should go without saying that all the usual principles we have discussed in the first post in this series applies for women as well. However there are 5 main things you must look at when training a female vis a vis a male:

1. Women have a greater proportion of slow twitch muscle fibers than men of comparable training standard. Due to this, women will be able to do more repetitions with weights in any percentage of their max. For example if a man can do 3 reps with 90% a woman of comparable training can probably do 5 or even 6 or 7 reps with her 90%.

This means that woman can also tolerate a higher total volume at any given percentage than men can. But on the flipside, women seem to hit their max rather suddenly as they may look fine and strong with say 100kgs but may be completely unable to hit 102kgs. So it is important to be Conservative in estimating maxes for women as well as the increments that have to be made to the lifts. It would be useful to invest in half and quarter kg plates so that smaller increments can be made.

Also it is important to have a decent amount of explosive movements in a female's training as it helps improve the activation of the fast twitch muscle fibers.

2. Women have a lesser number of muscle fibers then men in the same muscle groups. For example if a man has 40,000 muscle fibers in his bicep a woman of comparable training may have 20,000. This leads to an important understanding- it is harder for women to get stronger by neural adaptations, as the scope of increased recruitment is limited.

It does not mean that it does not happen, on the contrary it happens even at the most elite levels. But in order for this to happen a woman requires a greater amount of practice with the technique than a man would, as the adaptation is slower. Conversely it also means that extremely heavy loads will lead to quicker stagnation (over 95%). So a lot of heavy practice must be done, but you must generally stay away from 95% plus if you can help it. This is true for men too but the hole of CNS fatigue digs deeper and faster in women.

3. Due to hormonal reasons women in general have lesser muscle than men and have a harder time gaining muscle. This hormonal environment also puts them at greater risk for weakening of the joint structures and of the bones.

4. Women have poor leverages and lesser natural strength in the upper body than men. The difference in squatting and leg based movements in not as much. Back strength depends upon the individual.

5. Menstrual cycles have to be accounted for in training. A woman will be strongest during and immediately after ovulation. Her strength will drop during the PMS phase. Rather than forcing hard training at this stage, it is better to program a drop in intensity for a week or so every four weeks. This is a practice that is useful even for men, but with woman can be a lifesaver. A lot of general activity should be undertaken during this phase and you can just do your usual workouts with lesser weight and reps per set. This will slowly develop tolerance in the body to working during menstruation and over time the difference in strength will become minimal. Also do not forget to take advantage of the post ovulation strength spike, by programming your hardest training weeks around ovulation. Work with the flow of the body not against it.

The primary take away points are-
- Women can do a lot more volume at higher percentages then men can.
- Women need to make smaller increments in weights and generally be wary while moving up. Also avoid moving past 95% or so if you can help it. A good rule of thumb is to always use weights that can be tripled. Work from 3-6RM numbers in regular training.
- Women need to do a lot more volume and hypertrophy work as muscle size is the biggest weak link.
-. Women can and should perform more practice work with decently heavy weight to maximize strength.
- Women need more explosive training to maintain fast twitch mass.
- Women need to do a lot more upper body work then men.
- Women tend to respond better to lesser sets and more reps in their hypertrophy work and a generally greater variety of exercises then men, due to their physiology and tendency to burnout in any one movement if over done. In terms of assistance work think like a bodybuilder.
- The hardest weeks should be around ovulation and the easiest around menstruation.

As a side note of advice, while I am not sure of the greatness of the westside template for people at large, I know that it works incredibly well with female athletes, more than it has for my male athletes. The only other program that has given comparable returns to my female trainees has been the 5-3-1 system, which is also awesome. I make the women on 5-3-1 do 4-5 singles with their training max (Joker sets) after their PR sets every workout though. Please note that I never cross the training max.

Adjusting Training For Older Athletes-

The basic training is the same for younger and older lifters. A few things to keep in mind are-

1. Older lifter have a lowered testosterone and growth hormone production. Therefor they need a higher volume with decent weights to spike growth. Generally more lactic acid work will help and classic programs like the 20rep Squat should be used to stimulate the endocrine system. In general older trainees need to do more hypertrophy work.

Special emphasis should be given to diet and supplementation. Vit E, Fish Oil and Gokshura should be used liberally. It is also advisable to eat smaller meals by the same token as the metabolism is not as high, and smaller meals will spike growth hormone levels over time. However make sure that an adequate number of calories are being consumed and the diet has plenty of mineral content.

2. Bone and joint health must be maintained. Supramaximal lifts like heavy partials should be done to build the skeleton and ultra high repetition light movements like band tricep pressdowns and lat pulldowns must be done to build the tendons and keep the joints supple. I generally like to work 1 movement every day for 2 sets of 50 reps after the main workout as a way to both cool down and help the joints.

3. Build mobility, flexibility and tissue quality. Very simply ease of movement and pain management is the key. Make the effort to add a lot of stretching movements and take the effort to foam roll thoroughly every single day. If possible get a weekly full body massage and do other things to relax the muscles like steam baths and salt baths. Go swimming to open up the joints, walk outside and move on the ground to develop mobility. A lot of outdoor groundwork drills must be present. Taking up basic yoga like surya namaskar etc is not a bad idea. Take the joints through a full range of motion.

4. Simplify the heavy lifting but keep it intact and progressive. Gaining strength and staying strong is the most important thing for an older lifter. However adaptation is a little slower so you may want to use a sensible frequency. I have also found that basic old fashioned liner periodization over 8-10 week cycles and double progression training works best for older lifters.

5. Emphasize exercises that promote stability in the joints and prevent burnout. Try to make more and more of your assistance work based on dumbbells and bodyweight exercises.

6. Building a base of cardiovascular fitness is important. I suggest slow cardio once a week, intervals once a week and serious HIIT once a week, combined with daily walks outside.

7. Avoid impact work. Try to avoid hard landings and joint stress if you can help it. For example sled work can replace sprinting, box jumps can replace regular jumps, cycling can replace jogging etc.

8. Work extra hard on the hamstrings and mid section as the knees and back are the main problem areas as you get older.

9. Do not let the trainee get fat. Just do not. It is too difficult to lose fat when you are older and very simply the real solution is to not get fat in the first place. If your trainee is anything over 18% bodyfat, get him down to 15% as soon as you can. For women 23% is the number.

Injured Lifters

1. The first thing you must do is identify if you are hurt or just in pain. Every serious trainee will experience pain, even debilitating pain in their training. This is no reason to stop training. You have to figure out what you can do for that area with minimal pain, and do it. Figure out what the problem is and fix it. When in doubt go to a doctor and find out if you are actually injured.

2. Do not stop training the rest of the body. Figure out the compound movements you can do for the rest of the body and focus more there. Vigorous exercise will accelerate healing as long as it does not compound the injury. For example if you have injured your shoulder, you can do hyper extensions, hip belt squats, leg press, ham glute raises, 1 leg squats, decline sit ups, one arm push ups, one arm military presses, sled dragging with belt etc etc. Be imaginative.

In case of a limb injury do not discount unilateral work. It will make sure you get back quicker when the injury is healed. Think of this as an opportunity to specialize elsewhere. In case of torso injuries, like spinal injuries, cable work, isometrics and resistance bands will enable you to continue training most of the major muscle groups.

3. Focus on restoring mobility to the injured area. Go to a physio if you don't know how to. Generally pick a compound movement and see how much ROM you can handle. Then do ridiculously high rep work with light weights, gradually increasing the ROM every 20 reps or so.

For example in a shoulder injury let us say you cant get your arms over head. Do a one arm arnold press with 10 pounds and just get the weight till your forehead. Do this for 20 reps. Then slowly try to go one inch higher for 20 more reps. Maybe another inch and call it a day. Then next workout start with pressing the dumbbell one inch above your forehead. Do these kind of light drills for the injured area every 3-4 days. This of course assumes that surgical intervention is not required. If it is, just get it done and go to a physio for a while before doing any of this.

4. Build the supportive structures around the injured area. Do tons of short ROM single joint exercises to build all the muscles around the joint. Focus on balanced muscular development and do extra work for the smaller stabilizer muscles. This will also build the tendons. Do movements that do not restrict the joint path. Therefore dumbells and D handle cable work is awesome for this.

For example, if the shoulder is injured, do lateral raises, front raises, bicep curls, tennis backhand cable extensions, french presses, elbow out rows, elbow in rows, one arm lat pulldowns, quarter military presses with dumbells, external and internal rotation with cables etc

5. Once you are confident of getting back into your primary movements start light and progress slow. Build volume first then intensity. Try to use as many closed chain kinetic movements as possible for the first couple of months and maintain the supportive work for the stabilizer muscles and small stuff.

For example in the case of a shoulder injury, let us say you have started military pressing and bench pressing once a week each. You could do 3 sets of 5 with 50% of your old max in each, followed by pushups and rotator cuff work, rows and pull downs. Every workout increase the reps by 2 until you are doing 3 sets of 13 with 50%. Then add 5 pounds each workout and reduce reps whenever it gets too hard until you end up doing something like 3 reps with your old max. This first linear cycle will be long, longer than you are accustomed to, 20-24 weeks is how I plan it. After that you can resume your normal training.

6. Eat a lot, make sure you are getting plenty of minerals and build a base of cardiovascular fitness. A good cardiovascular system will greatly accelerate healing.

Functional And Structural Adaptation-

Strength training of any kind leads to adaptations in the body in order to make the body stronger. These adaptations are of two types- functional and structural.

Structural changes are changes in the actual structures of the body. This includes muscular hypertrophy (growth in muscle size), thickening of tendons and ligaments, increase in the bursa capacity in the joints, increase in the ATP capacity of the mitochondria, hypertrophy of the heart, vascularization, increase in lung capacity, vascular hypertrophy, increase in bone density, changes in body fat levels and changes in blood content.

Functional changes are adaptations that happen in the nervous system. This includes increase in muscle fiber recruitment, motor unit firing rate, inter-muscular coordination, intra-muscular coordination, development of sport skills, development of motor skills and relaxation in the inhibitory and protective mechanisms of the body.

Functional changes are the primary reason for increase in strength in the first couple of years of training. They are the primary results of dynamic effort, explosive and maximal effort training.

Structural changes are primarily the result of repetition effort training. They are also caused to a lesser degree by maximal effort training.

Training At the Intermediate Stage

An intermediate trainee is a person who has basically reached the point of minimal returns with traditional strength training. They can no longer add weight regularly or add repetitions. This is because the greater share of functional adaptations that can happen with the current body of the trainee have already happened.

This does not mean the more gains at the same muscle size and bodyweight cannot happen, but it will become increasingly harder and harder to get stronger with the same body structure. Thus an intermediate trainee needs to focus on simply causing structural adaptation. The priority list in my opinion is tendons, ligaments, joints, bones and muscles. But this really depends upon your weaknesses and previous training.

Normally it is said if strength is built, shape and size will follow. Well, now we have reached the stage where shape and size needs to be built, for more strength to come. The good news is, if you have trained right up until this point building shape and size will be much easier than it would have been if you started with it.

An intermediate trainee needs to sit down for the long haul and wait for the adaptation to come, not force it. The structure must be built first and only once the structure has been built will great amounts of functional adaptations happen to make you significantly stronger. A combination of repetition training and maximal training will build the body up for greater strength. The basic checklist for a intermediate trainee is-

1. Focus more on repetition effort training. Get in more volume for all your body parts and build the base of muscle and tendon strength.

2. Consistently perform Maximal effort work. Do not force PRs, wait for the repetition effort work to do its thing, and then the PRs will come rolling.

3. Use big basic compound movements to build size and strength. Just tailor them to focus more on working the muscle, rather than moving weight. For example start squatting deeper, start doing more RDLs, bench with a close grip and with a lesser arch, start pausing in the bottom of movements etc.
Understand why you are doing an exercise- to move weight or to build muscle? This way you will know exactly how to do it.

4. Eat to win. You are trying to gain muscle.

5. Work on your weaknesses. Don't be completely anti isolation movements. They can help force work onto a weak muscle group so that they work harder during main exercises.

6. Set and target a variety of rep records in a variety of exercises. Go for 5-10 RM and keep breaking them. Objectify your muscle building goals into repetition records. For example if you want big quads and you want to weigh 200 pounds eventually, a good eventual goal could be squatting 405 pounds for one set of 20 reps. Set balanced  goals, for example:
-Squat 405pounds for 20 reps
-Bench Press 250 pounds for 20 reps
-T Bar Rows 185 pounds for 20 reps
-Military Press 165 pounds for 20 reps
-Chin Ups with 25 pounds for 20 reps
-40 50m hill sprints in under 30mins
-45 degree decline sit ups with 45 pounds held behind the head for 20 reps

7. Make recovery a number one priority. Sleep, stretch, foam roll and optimize your frequency.

8. Learn to get more out of less.

9. Start light and progress slow. Take your time to build muscle and might. Think power building not muscle building.

Here is an example of a good training system for intermediate trainees that I frequently use-

Train 3 times a week. It is a 4 workout cycle. You will repeat the cycle 3 times in four weeks.

Workout A1
Work up to a Max triple in the back Squat (Keep breaking PRs)
Bench Press 5X5 (2 warm up sets and 3 work sets, add weight whenever you can do all three sets for 5 reps)
Chins and Dips- total 50 reps each. If you can do it in less than 4 sets each, add weight.
Push ups- 2-3 sets
Dumbbell Curls- 3 sets
Kroc Rows
Squats- 5 sets of 10 with 60-70%
Sit ups

Workout B1
Work up to Max Triple in the Military Press
Deadlift 5X5
Good Mornings- 3 sets of 6
Reverse hypers 2 sets
Dumbbell Side Bends- 2 sets
Hanging Leg Raises- 2 sets
Bridges- 2 sets
Military Press- 5 sets of 10 with 60-70%
Lat Pull Downs- 5 sets of 12

Workout A2
Work up to Max Triple in the bench Press
Squat 5X5
Leg Press- 3 sets of 15
Ab rollouts- 5 sets
ham glute curls- 3 sets
Dumbell/barbell bench Press- 5 Sets of 10
T Bar Rows- 5 sets of 12

Workout B2
Work up to Max Triple in the Deadlift
Military Press- 5X5
Dumbell Press- 3 sets
Lateral Raises- 3 sets
Tricep Extensions- 3 sets
Chin Ups- 5 sets
Lat Pull Downs- 2 sets
Good Mornings- 5 Sets of 10
Leg Raises- 3 sets

Strength Training Athletes as a Part of their General Physical Preparation (GPP)

The most important thing that you must remember while training athletes is that for them strength training is a part of their general preparation and therefore secondary to actual sports practice. Now in certain stages strength training may become more important but in general athletes cannot devote a very great part of their time and energy to strength training.

The purpose of strength training for athletes is three fold-

1. To increase their maximum strength to a level that strength is no longer the limiting factor in athletic performance. Both in my experience and in training literature when the athlete's maximum force production is 4 times that of the amount expected during athletic performance, strength is no longer the factor that limits performance.

For example an elite shot putter generates somewhere around 700-800 newtons of force while throwing, That means the athlete has to be capable of producing around 3200 newtons of force in the various movements related to the shot put in a maximum attempt for one repetition. This works out to roughly a 500 pound bench press and a 600 pound squat, which is pretty much the strength level of elite shot putters.

Now there may or may not be benefits to getting stronger than this depending upon the weight of the implement used, the carryover that the athlete experiences from strength training etc. This is why shot putters typically do very well while increasing their strength, since the implement is heavy and shot putters are generally bigger and taller. In contrast the discus throw does not respond nearly as well to strength training, as both the implement is lighter and the athletes smaller. But the basic point remains that you have to increase your strength such that  the required force is 25% or below of your max.

Now keep in mind these have to be in exercises that have a high carryover to the sport. And these may or may not be the classic barbell lifts, though more often than not they are. In any case it is better to start a beginner with a classic squat, bench, deadlift, front squat, military press, power clean and chin up program.  Then over time you can figure out what exercises are working and what are not.

Here are a list of exercises I find work very well for the sports I am involved in coaching people in-

- Sprinting- Squat, RDL, Reverse Hypers, Chin Ups, Heavy Wheel Barrow Walks, Sled Dragging, Pistol Squats, Barbell Lunges, Chin Ups, Push ups, Hanging Leg raises and Dumbell Overhead press.

- Kettlebell Lifters- Deadlift from 8 inches off the ground, Full Squat, barbell Military Press, Kroc Rows, Chin Ups, farmer's walks, one arm carrys, waiter walks, turkish get ups, ab rollouts.

- Jumpers- Back Squat, hip belt squat, front squat, good mornings, kettlebell swings, weighted jumps of various sorts with a kettlebell held in the hands, hopping drills with a weighted vest, jump squats with a weighted vest on, power cleans, hanging leg raises, decline sit ups, chin ups and dips.

- Throwers- Back Squat, Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, military Press, Chin Ups, Dumbell Rows, T Bar Rows, Front Squat, Side Bends, Turkish Get Ups, Ab Rollouts.

- Cricketers (batters and bowlers)- back Squat, Bench Press, Military Press, Deadlift, power clean, turkish get up, pallof press, chin ups, t bar rows, weighted jumps, wheel barrow walking.

- Football players (Soccer)- Front Squat, Deadlift, Power Clean, Pistol Squats, Ab Rollouts, hanging leg raises, Bench press, T bar rows, reverse and forward sled dragging.

Another thing you want to ensure is that the gains in strength are coming from primarily structural changes. This is very simply because functional gains in strength training may or may not transfer well to the sport, but generally structural changes caused using relevant movements carry over really Well. Ultimately as an athlete advances his gains will become more and more specific to the strength training exercise. Which is why you must focus on increasing both the maximal and repetition strength of athletes. I think 3-6RMs work well for athletes, plus a lot of repetition and dynamic effort work.

Secondly, perform movements in a fashion to maximize sport performance, not the weight used in the movement itself. Remember there are no points for the actual bench press you have if your actual strength for the shot put is lacking. Therefore arching your way to a bigger bench or using more leg drive is sub optimal for a shot putter.

Thirdly, you have to program differently for athletes. Ultimately if you have the time and the ability to train in season, (like with high school athletes) use undulating or linear models. Keep it basic and try to keep the frequency low. Remember athletes have a great workload and therefore recovery must be optimized. If you don't have more than 16 weeks I think conjugate training is the best way to go about things. It will cause sizable increases in strength and will maintain other qualities.

2. To prevent Injuries. All athletes endure a lot of stress and shock to the joints. As a result tendon and ligament injuries, muscle tears are all very common. This is another reason to build strong and thick ligaments and tendons as well as build quality muscle.

In addition to this it is important to maintain muscle balance in the athlete. Most athletes will have certain movements that they will repeat over and over again. Over time these will cause muscular imbalances and tightness in certain muscles. It is important to counteract this with mobility work and foam rolling as well as developing the antagonists and the smaller structures supporting the working joints.

3. To achieve the correct body type the athlete needs for his/her frame and sport by adding muscle where required.

For example a 6 foot tall discus thrower should probably weigh around 80-90kgs and have a hugely muscled torso. A 6 foot tall shot putter should weigh around 100-120kgs with a lot of shoulder and torso size, and huge legs. A 6 foot powerlifter should be around 120-130kgs and needs to be developed pretty much everywhere. Your training needs to reflect this.

Here is a sample routine I use with beginner sprinters, mostly 16-18 years old with 2-3 months of training experience-

3 workouts a week. I typically run this routine for 6-9 months depending upon how the sprinter responds. Don't switch the routine if the athlete is still responding.

Workout 1
Deadlift-
5 reps with 75%
4 reps with 80%
3 reps with 85%
2 reps with 90%
1 rep with 95%
I add 2 kgs to each set every week. This goes on until this can be done really. When the trainee is unable to complete any of the sets, we estimate the new max and start over the next week. A trainee typically adds 10-15 kgs every cycle.
Squat-
2 sets of 6 with 60%
3 sets of 6 with 75%
Again I add 2 kgs every week. When the trainee is unable to complete the sets with a certain weight, we stay at that weight until he or she can.
Reverse hypers- 3 sets of 15
Barbell Lunges- 3 sets of 8
Hanging Leg Raises- 3 sets
Ab rollouts 1 set
Chin Ups- Laadders
Push Ups- Ladders

Workout 2 (Done Outdoors) 
Heavy Wheelbarrow walk- 5 sets of 10m add weight whenever possible
Forward Sled Draggng- 3 sets of 50m
Reverse Sled Dragging- 3 sets of 50m
Sideways Dragging- 2 sets of 30m each side
Dragging Forward with rope held between and through the legs- 3 sets of 50m
Jumps Holding a kettlebell- 3 sets of 6
Squat Jumps with a Kettlebell- 3 sets of 6
backwards Throw with a kettlebell- 3 sets of 6
Broad Jump With Kettlebell- 3 sets of 6
Hopping on both feet with kettlebell- 3 sets of 10m
KB Swings- 3 sets of 12
Turkish Get ups- 3 sets of 6 per side

Workout 3
Squat-
5 reps with 75%
4 reps with 80%
3 reps with 85%
2 reps with 90%
1 rep with 95%
Deadlift
2 sets of 6 with 60%
3 sets of 6 with 75%
Again I add 2 kgs every week. When the trainee is unable to complete the sets with a certain weight, we stay at that weight until he or she can.
Weighted Hypers- 3sets
Pistol Squats- 3 sets
Hanging Leg Raises- 3 sets
Ab Rollouts- 1 set
Weighted Push ups- 3 sets of 10
Weighted Chin Ups- 3 sets of 10

Expectations of Strength

The last couple of days I have been doing the blog over, as I plan to start increasing the frequency of posts here. While doing so I ended up reading a few of my old posts. I came across my very first post that I put up right after the accident.

http://extendingmyspine.blogspot.in/2012/12/this-blog-has-been-created-to-record-my.html

In it I mention that I thought that before the injury, I was "pretty strong". And then I went on to note my numbers-

"I could squat 330lbs, deadlift 400lbs and bench 250lbs, all at a bodyweight of 160lbs."

Today looking back on this I realize just how far I have come. I don't think any numbers I will ever be at will be strong enough. I am today stronger than I ever dreamed of back then, and back then I would have been happy to match my old strength again. This is where I think the accident was a boon in disguise, because it taught me to open my eyes and understand just what the human system is capable of.

I now realize strength is not as simple as an X amount of weight you can lift or your 100m time. Strength is the ability to believe and know that there is something more than what you can currently do, in every thing. It is the desire for constant and never ending self improvement. Read more books, train more, meet more people, learn new things, there is no end to what can be done to improve ourselves. The real point here is not what can be achieved or what you imagine could be possible.

The real lesson I have learnt from all this is that you have to enjoy the process of improvement. You are not doing it for the end result, but rather to do every thing that you can to make yourself better and to gain wisdom about yourself and to cherish that understanding. If you keep worrying about the outcome, you may just never get there. But as every serious lifter and athlete knows, if you focus on the little goals and enjoy the journey, you may just land up somewhere you never thought possible.

If you are interested you can see what I can currently do in the stats page. And here is what I think would be "pretty strong" at this stage. These are all 3 year goals for me now. I am sure it will change if I ever get there-

Deadlift- 230kgs for 20 reps
Squat- 230kgs for 20 reps
Bench Press- 140kgs for 20 reps
Military Press- 140kgs for 1 rep
One arm Chin up- 5 reps per arm
Vertical Jump- 30 inches
100m- 10.6s
4min mile

A simple Strength program for a full time athlete

Recently one of my friends, who is a internationally ranked kettlebell lifter asked me for a strength training program to increase his deadlift and squat. He is a CMS and wants to excel at the long cycle. He felt that he needs to get stronger to increase his numbers, instead of just performing repetitions with various kettlebells. This program is very efficient on overall effort as he trains kettlebell lifting 3 times per week. Also most of the assistance work is targeted towards the smaller muscles of the torso and core and a lot of lat work, as I feel this is his primary weakness.

He also wants a decent bench as he wants to compete at some point in the coming year. We decided to train and compete using a shoulder and tricep dominant technique as the pec size could negatively effect his kettlebell lifting. The training for bench also has to be minimal as you can see.

The overall routine, especially the primary strength work is quite suitable for any intermediate to advanced athlete who needs to spend considerable time practicing his sport, but could do with getting stronger.

The variations of the lifts used and the assistance work given here are of course specific to his needs, and will have to be adapted according your strengths and weaknesses. Just avoid the tendency to keep adding sets for no reason as that fatigue can quickly spiral out of control along with sport practice.

The system is heavily based around 5-3-1 by Jim Wendler, though it is a complete bastardization of it as well.

Here is what I wrote for him-

This is a simple template that will increase you max squat, deadlift and bench press in just a few months.

For this system you have to judge what is the absolute best weight you can do for each of these. Then take 90% of that and use it as your training maximum. All percentages are based on your training maximum. (for example if your best deadlift is 160kgs your training max will be 144kgs.)

You will train 2 times per week.

Day 1-
Rest 120s between sets
Primary Strength Work
Deadlifting- Deficit Deadlift (stand on a 20kg plate)
50%x5, 60%X5, 75%x1, 85%x1, 95%X1, 100%X 2 sets of 1
Squatting- Ordinary Full Squat
50%x5, 60%x5, 65%x5, 75%x5, 85%x Personal record- In this set you will try to do as many reps as possible. Every time you do 85% for maximum reps, you will try to break your previous record. (Each percentage will be repeated once in 4 weeks)
Reduce Rest to 90 seconds
Close Grip Bench Press with full arch- 5 sets of 7 with 70%
Assistance Work
Reduce Rest to 45seconds- Switch Between Exercises Whenever possible to save time
Dumbbell Military Press (Shoulders)- 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions
Pull Ups (Lats)- Try to total 30 reps in 5mins.
One Arm Lat Pull Downs on Cable Machine (Lats and scapula)- 2 sets of 12-15 per arm
Face pulls on cable machine (Rhombozoid)- 2 sets of 15
Pallof Press on Cable machine (Internal Obliques)- 2 sets of 12 per side
Dumbell Side Bends (External Obliques)- 2 sets of 10 per side
hanging Leg raises (hip flexors and abs)- 2 sets of 10-15
Ab wheel (Abs)- 2 sets of 8-12
Barbell Good Mornings (Hamstrings and lower back)- 3 sets of 6 (use heavy weight)
Cable External Rotations (Rotator cuff)- 2 sets of 20 per arm.

Day 2
Primary Strength Work
Squatting- Paused Squat (2-3 seconds in the bottom)
50%x5, 60%x5, 75% x1, 85%x1, 95%x1, 100% x2sets of 1
Deadlifting- Conventional Deadlift
50%x5, 60%x5, 65%x5, 75%x5, 85%x Personal record
Close Grip Bench Press- 5X6 with 75%
Assistance Work
Dips- 30 total reps in 5 mins. If you can do this easily add weight
Kroc Rows- 1 set to failure DB rows per arm with heavy weight. Try 10-25reps
V handle seated cable rows- 5 sets of 10
Weighted Sit ups- 3 sets of 6-10
Weighted Hypers- 3 sets of 8-12

In week 2 and 3 the format of the workouts will as such remain the same. All assistance work will remain the same. The primary strength work will progress as follows-

Week 2 Day 1
Deadlift- Snatch Grip off slight elevation (2-4 inches)
50%x5, 60%x5, 75%x1, 85%x1, 95%x1, 100%x 3 sets of 1
Squat- Full Squat-
50%x5, 60%x5, 70%x3, 80%x3, 90%x Personal record
Close Grip Bench Press with full arch- 5 sets of 5 with 80%

Week 2 Day 2
Squatting- Paused Squat (2-3 seconds in the bottom)
50%x5, 60%x5, 75% x1, 85%x1, 95%x1, 100% x3sets of 1
Deadlifting- Conventional Deadlift
50%x5, 60%x5, 70%x3, 80%x3, 90%x Personal record
Close Grip Bench Press- 5X4 with 85%

Week 3 Day 1
Deadlift- Sumo Deadlift
50%x5, 60%x5, 75%x1, 85%x1, 95%x1, 100%x 5 sets of 1
Squat- Full Squat-
50%x5, 60%x5, 75%x5, 85%x3, 95%x Personal record
Close Grip Bench Press with full arch- 5 sets of 3 with 90%

Week 3 Day 2
Squatting- Barefoot Squat (2-3 seconds in the bottom)
50%x5, 60%x5, 75% x1, 85%x1, 95%x1, 100% x5sets of 1
Deadlifting- Conventional Deadlift
50%x5, 60%x5, 75%x5, 85%x3, 95%x Personal record
Close Grip Bench Press- 5X2 with 95%

Week 4 is off strength training.

In the next week you will repeat the whole 3 week cycle from week 1, except you will increase your training maximum for the squat by 4kgs, the deadlift by 5kgs and the bench press by 3kgs.

When you can no longer perform 5 reps with 85% in the personal record set in week 1 in either the squat or deadlift, the next workout instead of performing single repetitions with your training max in the same lift, test your maximum. Take 90% of this new maximum as your new training max. Treat the deadlift and squat cycle as seperate, just because you are stalling on one does not mean you need to adjust both. Just retest your max in the stalled lift and resume the cycle from where you left off using the new training max.

Incase it becomes impossibly hard to perform the bench press workouts as described, you may test your maximum before the deadlift and squat and take 90% of that number as your new training max and resume the normal cycle after your deadlifts and squat in the same workout. When in doubt or you do not want to test any one lift, just reduce the training max by 3-5kgs and continue the cycle.

As such if you did not over estimate your maxes when you first started the program, you should not have any of these problems for atleast 9-10 months. If it is happening quicker then you did not take the correct training max when you started. In this case it is better to be safe than sorry.