So because my schedule is looking pretty bad as of now, I think I'm only going to be able to lift twice a week. What I've been doing lately has been working so far, so I think I'll just stick with it. So my question is if you guys know of many lifters who progress a lot just working out twice a week.
Last I checked I was at:
Bench-
275- 4x4
Squat-
315- 3x4
Deadlift-
285 ( I'm working up again)- 3x5
Thursday, February 4, 2010
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Unfortunately it seems every good lifter I know has, at the least, a 3 day/week training schedule. I figure progress on 2 days/week would just come that much slower, but I'll let others chime in on that.
ReplyDeleteIt is possible. Depending on the other stress in your life, it may be preferable. At your stage, you'll still be able to make progress on a program like this:
ReplyDeleteDay 1: Squat, Bench, Deadlift
Day 2: Squat, Press, Power Clean
This is basically ripped from Starting Strength. All 3x5. I would shelve your Oly ambitions for now, since there's no way you'll get very far on 2 days per week, but you can still get in a little Oly work by doing the following:
Day 1: Squat, Bench, Deadlift
Day 2: Squat, Jerk, Power Clean
Deadlifts you may want to do 1x5 instead of 3x5 (I prefer 3x5, but then again I prefer deadlifts), and Jerks and Power Cleans should be done with lower reps and more sets (5x3 or 8x2).
And use **LIGHT** snatches and overhead squats for warmup. And, as always, be consistent. Why switch between 4x4 and 3x5? It's impossible measure progress that way. Stick with 3x5, and increase the weights slowly.
There are many examples of lifters (even pros) that made some good progress on 2-per-week. But the obvious question is: would they have made better progress with more workouts? There are many opinions / anecdotes / etc here, but here is what I think:
ReplyDelete1. As long as everything is planned and monitored, more workouts = more progress. Note that this equation is conditional.
2. For the beginner, 2-per-week can work (to some extent) for some period of time, but this is not real training mode.
I'm not sure I would replace presses with jerks. Jerks really don't work the arms at all, if you are doing them right. Maybe do clean & jerks instead of just cleans? But keep the presses.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm thinking that I'll try to keep it at 3 workouts per week, and whenever I need to take a day off due to work, etc, I will. Thanks for the tips, guys.
ReplyDelete