Help & opinions needed on going to a 2 day a week program

dapunks

Good morning,

In the spring I was doing SL pretty consistently but that has tapered off over the summer. With the return of September swimming will be starting up again. I stopped swimming last January and miss it. The problem is time. I would like to swim twice a week and continue my strength training.

I would be swimming Monday & Wednesday. On Friday I usually do an hour long kettlebell class which I will continue .
Here is where I need help and advice. I am trying to develop a strenght training program to do twice a week. I really like keeping things simple and don’t want to spend more then an hour and a half at the gym.

This is what I am thinking:
Deadlifts, currently working set is 3x5.
Bench press, currently working set is 5x5
Squats, currently working set is 3x8
Then alternate between OHP and row.
I usaully do some minor accessory and core work which I will continue.

The schedule would be:
Monday – swim
Tuesady – strength
Wednesday – swim
Thursday – rest or yoga
Friday - yoga and Kettlebells
Saturday – strength
Sunday – yoga

I am looking for opinions or thoughts about the strength training. I am not in a huge hurry to gain strength the purpose of strength training is just the all around benefits.

Thank you.

mymodernbabylon

My question is whether you would be doing the same sort of work on the kettlebell day and strength day, thus not giving your muscles enough time to recover.

dapunks

When I discussed this with my PT at the time he did not think it was an issue. Although the kettlebell class involves usinh weights it is not static we do a lot of swinging and body movements. In the past when I would do a kettlebell class and the strength training the next day it did not seem to affect the lifting at all.

Llamapants86

I would (if it works for you, I know sometimes great ideas are crushed by schedules a lot of the time) move strength to Sunday and yoga to Saturday, just so there is a day between kettlebells and strength.

hananah89

So you are planning to do all those lifts on your strength days? I'd cut back to 1 or 2 major lifts each lifting day with you being so active otherwise.
As for the shcedule: For me, I've switched gears lately to focus on running 3-4x a week and cut lifting down to 2x a week. I do the A day of SL Tuesday and B on Thursday. It seems to workout alright with muscles not being tired. I know some people say you can do both lifting and harder cardio like running or swimming, but there's a point you may want to choose whats best. It sounds like swimming is your focus right now, so I would make sure you aren't doing more than a couple major lifts a day so you have most energy for swimming. And also eat enough for being that active

dapunks

So you are planning to do all those lifts on your strength days? I'd cut back to 1 or 2 major lifts each lifting day with you being so active otherwise.
As for the shcedule: For me, I've switched gears lately to focus on running 3-4x a week and cut lifting down to 2x a week. I do the A day of SL Tuesday and B on Thursday. It seems to workout alright with muscles not being tired. I know some people say you can do both lifting and harder cardio like running or swimming, but there's a point you may want to choose whats best. It sounds like swimming is your focus right now, so I would make sure you aren't doing more than a couple major lifts a day so you have most energy for swimming. And also eat enough for being that active

Thank you. It is good to know that just doiung SL twice a week is working. I am thinking about doing the lifts 2x a week. So, Tuesday and Saturday. I have been toying with just doing A one day and B the next.