Critique my Workout Plan - the return.

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SteveJWatson
SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
Okay, so I will be looking to bulk in the coming months. I realise it will be hard as I am a farmer, so my life is basically steady-state cardio and I also play rugby, which requires some training and of course matches. I am walking my calories up - cut at 1900 (too low, got insanely hungry, went to 2300, last week 2400 (athough went over a bit), this week 2800. With the ammount of daily activity I get through, I am tempted to just stick em at 3000

Lifting-wise I am basically doing a plan based around 5 x 5, but with the limitations of my gym (who seem not to have bothered collecting my direct debit for over a year so I aint changing gyms). There is no cage, only a Smith, free barbell and dumbbells. I like to train legs on a sunday and gear my work/exercise around this (I know my legs will ache monday so I try and do paperwork, for example). My routines look like this:

Sunday: Legs
Smith hack squat 5 x 5
Bulgarian split squat (dumbbell) 4 x 8
Chins 3 x 10 (so my legs can recover - they are usually jelly about now)
Lunges (dumbbell) 4 x 8
Front Squat (barbell) 4 x 8-10 (I put this at the end because I realise that there will come a point when I can squat more than I can clean and is there is no cage, thats the only way of lifting the bar).
Leg curl (hams) 3 x 10 (mostly injury prevention purposes)

Monday: rest

Tuesday am: Chest/shoulders
Smith bench press 5 x 5
OHP (barbell) 5 x 5
Pull up (parallel grip) (8 reps) dip (8-10) reps superset x 4
Incline dumbell bench press 4 x 8
dumbell flys 4 x 8
I'f I'm not too shagged at this point I'll play around with curls, normally 4 x 8 EZ bar standing curls superset dumbell skull crushers or something.

Tuesday pm Rugby training (not as intense as a game...more tactical/set pieces than fitness)

Weds HIIT class (usually tabata or something...pressups, dips, planks, you know the score)

Thurs (or fri) depending on a) if I can be arsed to go to Rugby training on Thursday night b) if we have a match on Saturday

Back etc

Deadlifts (barbell) 5 x 5
Barbell rows 5 x 5
Pull up (5 -6reps) /dip (8-10) superset x 4
Dumbell bench rows 4 x 8
Seated Arnold Press 4 x 8
Lateral raises 3 x 10
Again, sometimes I can be bothered to curl here usually hammer curls/cable pulldown superset 4 x 8.

Thoughts?

I know I do too much cardio, and I'm just gonna have to eat past it, but otherwise the volume/intensity of lifting is ok?

Cheers in advance.

Replies

  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Tagging
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    What position do you play? Also when do you train for rugby and when would you be able to train in general? For rugby, what training do you do - is it match play based training or does it involve some lifting etc?
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    I used to play in the forwards, but since I cut down I have been being put on the wing/inside centre which is flattering. :laugh:


    Rugby training is all match play/set piece/skill type training, so is not always that intense.

    Training will stop in April - there will be some fitness based work in the summer..
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Bumping this up to the first page. Hopefully Sara and I will go through threads once she's back from winning her PL meet.
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    Cheers guys, much appreciated. :drinker:
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    1) Do you have access to a leg press with enough weight that you won't have to do 30 reps?
    2) Are you opposed to doing full body 3/week rather than splitting it up? We are asking this one specifically pertaining to your rugby training and whether or not it would interfere. Consider that you'd have more frequent leg training but less volume per session per body part.
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    1) Yes, there is a leg press machine at my gym - I think it goes up to a couple of hundred pounds.

    2) No, I have no objections whatsoever to doing full body three times a week.
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    Bump because I'm annoying.

    Also: I appear to be quite good at this eating milarkey. I was 176lbs this morning - will weigh again tomorrow to confirm and update my tracker.
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    God, I'm annoying. :bigsmile:
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    God, I'm annoying. :bigsmile:

    No, that's not annoying at all honestly. We certainly fail to reply to some threads and we would prefer people bump them when that happens.

    What is annoying is when someone bumps a thread within the same day, expecting a reply immediately.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    So normally we don't write up entire programs but since we ignored you for a full month we decided to crank this out. I tried to get this done promptly but Sara kept talking about herself so this took an extra 40 minutes.



    Day 1:
    Leg Press 3 x 8-12 (assuming the leg press is sufficient such that you can hit this rep range while leaving 3-4 reps in the tank per set)
    Bulgarian Split Squats 3 x 8-12
    Bench Press 3x5
    Chins ups 3x8
    Calf Raises 3 x 12-15


    Day 2:
    Deadlift/Sumo Deadlift 1x5 (heavy), 1x5 (back-off set -- reduce load by 10%)
    Front Squats 3 x 8? (depends on how heavy you can clean -- leave about 2-3 reps in the tank per set)
    DB OHP 3 x 8-12
    Incline DB row or chest supported row variant. 3 x 8-12
    Arm accessory 3 x 10-12



    Day 3:
    Barbell Hack Squats 3 x 8
    Pendlay Rows or Barbell rows 3 x 5-8
    Hip Thrusts/Glute Bridges 3 x 8
    Incline DB bench 3 x 8 - 12
    SLDL/RDL 3 x 12-15

    Exercises with a rep range -- try to increase reps each week by adding 1 rep. Once you get all 3 sets at the top end of the rep range, increase the load by the minimum possible amount and drop the reps down to the low end of the range.

    On 3x5 exercises, start with a light enough weight so that you can easily complete 3x5 leaving at least 3 reps in the tank. Add weight each week and repeat.

    For Pendlays these can get tricky for people because it's easy to cheat quite badly. Start at 3x5 and if you're comfortable adding 5lbs/week, go for it. At some point, some people have major form issues (you start to pop upright on the pull). Feel free to add reps up to 3x8 if you get to a point that you're not comfortable adding weight.

    For deadlifts increase the weight each week 5-10lbs if you complete the assigned reps.

    For chin-ups, once you can do 3x8, add weight via belt if possible. Otherwise increase reps or hug a DB between your legs.
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    Thankyou both! :drinker:

    How long should I continue with that programme? Will it still be good when I start to cut again/when Rugby season finishes?

    I look forward to beginning the new routine asap.

    Your time is much appreciated! :smile: