Two day full body strength training routine

gjsmommy · November 2012

Bump...Thanks!

stroutman81 · November 2012

Thanks so much for the great information!

If you're still ok taking questions, wondering about your thoughts on this... For me to stay on track motivationally, and in terms of scheduling and habit, I like daily, 30-40 min home workouts (Mon-Fri) best. (This helps me with non-exercise, psychological stuff too.)

I prefer whole-body sequences, and basically 'metabolic' work. I've got body composition goals, though, much like the poster you suggested should try progressive loading. (Am at goal weight, prob 22-26% bf, wanting to get leaner).

Is there a way to square my preference for daily full-body workouts and my goals, in terms of loading/reps? Eg,

Mon - Heavy day, 2-3 x 4-8 reps)
Tues - Bodyweight only (burpees etc)
Wed - Light day: 2-3 x 15-20 reps
Thurs - BW only
Fri - Medium" 2-3 x 12-15

Thanks again for your posts!

Here's the thing... your calisthenic sessions would be considered conditioning/cardio in my world. So in theory, you'd only be strength training 3 days int he model you suggested. And the fact that you could make 5 days of strength work work, that should tell you that your model should be fine.

Just know that this is about fitting things to you. So try it. Be as objective as possible. And make tweaks where you feel needed. More volume, less volume, frequency, or whatever.

If you want a more specific answer, let me know... but I didn't get the feeling that you did.

fit4life76 · November 2012

Wow....I just posted about this earlier! I was looking for recommendations for a 2 day full body heavy lifting routine. This is great info, thank you very much..exactly what I was looking for. I have a question, though, and it's probably really stupid but what do you mean when you say "primary, secondary, heavy, and light"?

anemoneprose · November 2012

Thanks so much for the great information!

If you're still ok taking questions, wondering about your thoughts on this... For me to stay on track motivationally, and in terms of scheduling and habit, I like daily, 30-40 min home workouts (Mon-Fri) best. (This helps me with non-exercise, psychological stuff too.)

I prefer whole-body sequences, and basically 'metabolic' work. I've got body composition goals, though, much like the poster you suggested should try progressive loading. (Am at goal weight, prob 22-26% bf, wanting to get leaner).

Is there a way to square my preference for daily full-body workouts and my goals, in terms of loading/reps? Eg,

Mon - Heavy day, 2-3 x 4-8 reps)
Tues - Bodyweight only (burpees etc)
Wed - Light day: 2-3 x 15-20 reps
Thurs - BW only
Fri - Medium" 2-3 x 12-15

Thanks again for your posts!

Here's the thing... your calisthenic sessions would be considered conditioning/cardio in my world. So in theory, you'd only be strength training 3 days int he model you suggested. And the fact that you could make 5 days of strength work work, that should tell you that your model should be fine.

Just know that this is about fitting things to you. So try it. Be as objective as possible. And make tweaks where you feel needed. More volume, less volume, frequency, or whatever.

If you want a more specific answer, let me know... but I didn't get the feeling that you did.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

You're right - I really should learn to be more intuitive about what works and doesn't. I think I kind of have to!

As a previously sedentary person, I've found it hard to know the difference between good challenge and stupid challenge. I've been bad about interpreting body signals in the past. Off the shelf programs haven't always worked (C25K was too much for me), and I haven't had luck with the PTs I could afford.

My experience so far has involved a lot of stops and starts due to various injuries (mid-thirties, crappy biomechanics). So I'm always a beginner - and I start to get somewhere, push beyond my capacity because of optimism/impatience/needing the cardio mood boost, and backslide again, and wind up spinning my wheels, as far as making progress towards my goal.

Right now, my recovery's ok because I've been really careful and have been spacing things out, but I miss the daily cardio mood boost and am impatient. Days off would probably help my body more, but they mess with my motivation and consistency.

I'll try to make more careful observations about my responses to things, and tweak. That will help! Sorry to go on so much! Thanks again.

Edit: You've already offered more than I could ask in your amazing post on programming:

http://body-improvements.com/2012/08/22/qa-how-can-i-go-about-building-some-muscle/

Great stuff - generous of you to share it!

stroutman81 · November 2012

Wow....I just posted about this earlier! I was looking for recommendations for a 2 day full body heavy lifting routine. This is great info, thank you very much..exactly what I was looking for. I have a question, though, and it's probably really stupid but what do you mean when you say "primary, secondary, heavy, and light"?

I'm really just talking about where you're putting the majority of your focus on the given day. The focus stuff is done heavily (think 4-8 reps) and the secondary/accessory stuff is done with lighter loads (think 8-12+). That's all.

stroutman81 · November 2012

Thanks so much for the great information!

If you're still ok taking questions, wondering about your thoughts on this... For me to stay on track motivationally, and in terms of scheduling and habit, I like daily, 30-40 min home workouts (Mon-Fri) best. (This helps me with non-exercise, psychological stuff too.)

I prefer whole-body sequences, and basically 'metabolic' work. I've got body composition goals, though, much like the poster you suggested should try progressive loading. (Am at goal weight, prob 22-26% bf, wanting to get leaner).

Is there a way to square my preference for daily full-body workouts and my goals, in terms of loading/reps? Eg,

Mon - Heavy day, 2-3 x 4-8 reps)
Tues - Bodyweight only (burpees etc)
Wed - Light day: 2-3 x 15-20 reps
Thurs - BW only
Fri - Medium" 2-3 x 12-15

Thanks again for your posts!

Here's the thing... your calisthenic sessions would be considered conditioning/cardio in my world. So in theory, you'd only be strength training 3 days int he model you suggested. And the fact that you could make 5 days of strength work work, that should tell you that your model should be fine.

Just know that this is about fitting things to you. So try it. Be as objective as possible. And make tweaks where you feel needed. More volume, less volume, frequency, or whatever.

If you want a more specific answer, let me know... but I didn't get the feeling that you did.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply!

You're right - I really should learn to be more intuitive about what works and doesn't. I think I kind of have to!

As a previously sedentary person, I've found it hard to know the difference between good challenge and stupid challenge. I've been bad about interpreting body signals in the past. Off the shelf programs haven't always worked (C25K was too much for me), and I haven't had luck with the PTs I could afford.

My experience so far has involved a lot of stops and starts due to various injuries (mid-thirties, crappy biomechanics). So I'm always a beginner - and I start to get somewhere, push beyond my capacity because of optimism/impatience/needing the cardio mood boost, and backslide again, and wind up spinning my wheels, as far as making progress towards my goal.

Right now, my recovery's ok because I've been really careful and have been spacing things out, but I miss the daily cardio mood boost and am impatient. Days off would probably help my body more, but they mess with my motivation and consistency.

I'll try to make more careful observations about my responses to things, and tweak. That will help! Sorry to go on so much! Thanks again.

Edit: You've already offered more than I could ask in your amazing post on programming:

http://body-improvements.com/2012/08/22/qa-how-can-i-go-about-building-some-muscle/

Great stuff - generous of you to share it!

I'm glad that article helped you.

To be honest, I don't care too much about daily cardio, as long as it's kept in check. For many neurotic folks, that means very hard conditioning work each and every day. While dieting nonetheless.

That doesn't fly where I come from.

But I have clients who are like you... they need to be doing 'something' every day. For some, depending on their status, that might mean high frequency strength training. For others, it means sticking with 2-4 strength sessions per week and a couple of structured cardio sessions. On top of that... to help 'fill the void' they'll do active stuff that's fun but doesn't impede recovery. Hiking, bike riding, neighborhood walks, or whatever.

It doesn't always have to be about balls to the wall effort and structure.

And listening to your body (correctly) is an art that requires a lot of experience. Everyone's all about 'listening to their bodies,' but very few of them actually speak its language.

mmapags · November 2012

And listening to your body (correctly) is an art that requires a lot of experience. Everyone's all about 'listening to their bodies,' but very few of them actually speak its language.

FTW! Everytime I read "listen to your body" I cringe.

anemoneprose · November 2012

I'm glad that article helped you.

To be honest, I don't care too much about daily cardio, as long as it's kept in check. For many neurotic folks, that means very hard conditioning work each and every day. While dieting nonetheless.

That doesn't fly where I come from.

But I have clients who are like you... they need to be doing 'something' every day. For some, depending on their status, that might mean high frequency strength training. For others, it means sticking with 2-4 strength sessions per week and a couple of structured cardio sessions. On top of that... to help 'fill the void' they'll do active stuff that's fun but doesn't impede recovery. Hiking, bike riding, neighborhood walks, or whatever.

It doesn't always have to be about balls to the wall effort and structure.

And listening to your body (correctly) is an art that requires a lot of experience. Everyone's all about 'listening to their bodies,' but very few of them actually speak its language.

More good advice - thanks!

Yeah, body language, confusing! Scenario from three years ago:

Me: What is that twinge?
Body: skjfa;lskdj alsdkj.
Inner voice, imitating my jock brother/various forums: It's just you being a suck again, go hard or go home.
Me: Cool, I'll go for a run then.
Doctor: You have a stress fracture.

Beyond the reasons I mentioned, the 'daily' rule is helpful exactly because athleticism really *isn't* natural for me, and I'm a crap planner, and everything would go to hell otherwise. Shoutout to any of your ADHD clients! (I can't say enough about how much it helps with controlling those ADHD symptoms, anxiety, depression, etc... Maybe I can, will shut up!)

fit4life76 · November 2012

Wow....I just posted about this earlier! I was looking for recommendations for a 2 day full body heavy lifting routine. This is great info, thank you very much..exactly what I was looking for. I have a question, though, and it's probably really stupid but what do you mean when you say "primary, secondary, heavy, and light"?

I'm really just talking about where you're putting the majority of your focus on the given day. The focus stuff is done heavily (think 4-8 reps) and the secondary/accessory stuff is done with lighter loads (think 8-12+). That's all.

Thank you, after looking at the whole set-up of the routine for awhile, I thought that might be it but just wanted to be clear. Again, thank you so much...did my first session using your template this morning and it was great!

schuckj88 · January 2013

Thanks for providing this-just what I've been looking for.

stroutman81 · January 2013

You're welcome!

CallMeCupcakeDammit · May 2013

Bump

stroutman81 · July 2013

Thanks for bumping. If I were to adjust this a bit, I'd likely add in some form of auto regulation. Maybe simply leave the number of sets open ended. So on days you feel like poop, you can do less volume and on days you feel like superman/woman you can do more volume... essentially dialing your training dosage to your body's level of readiness on any given day.

Of course it also depends on the person. Some people need rigid guidelines. When they have an option to slack, they take it, and thus ultimately don't do enough work to fuel progress.

roxma · February 2014

bump

Dgross1 · February 2014

Thanks for sharing!

lbransford · February 2014

Bump

frannie078 · February 2014

This is great! Thanks!

DebRives · February 2014

Bumping

SideSteel · May 2014

Thanks for bumping. If I were to adjust this a bit, I'd likely add in some form of auto regulation. Maybe simply leave the number of sets open ended. So on days you feel like poop, you can do less volume and on days you feel like superman/woman you can do more volume... essentially dialing your training dosage to your body's level of readiness on any given day.

Of course it also depends on the person. Some people need rigid guidelines. When they have an option to slack, they take it, and thus ultimately don't do enough work to fuel progress.

Hey Steve!

Just curious if you would introduce autoregulation right out of the gates on someone or would you interject that at a later point?

FWIW I'm on an autoregulated program and I love it, although I do occasionally face the challenge of remaining objective about my performance levels and balancing out reality vs ego and I think I've made a few mistakes in both directions in that regard. Still love it though, and I've gotten better at it as I go.