Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-26-2014, 01:36 AM
I received a request for an example of the Heavy/Light/Medium full body rotation.
First, all the usual caveats apply...you should know when to substitute a lift, adjust intensity, adjust reps, add/subtract sets. I'm also not going to include the warm-up, core, and cardio...those are separate. I often use a set or two for warmup with a compound lift, but this is not included in my recommended number of sets (meaning, if I say 4 sets of bench, this doesn't include your obligatory set of 135 to get warmed up). But, for a general outline here is one example:
Standard "#Sets x #Reps" applies. So, 4x8 means 4 sets of 8 reps. It is critical to know that you should be trying to dial this rep range in. For example, if 8 reps is recommended, it is exactly that, a recommendation or starting point...you may have to dial this up or down according to where you are at.
* denotes a "Heavy" compound lift
Monday (Heavy):
- Chest - Flat Bench*: 4 sets
- Back - DB Row: 3 sets
- Legs - Squats*: 4 sets
- Shoulders - DB flies: 3 sets
- Biceps - DB Curls: 3 sets
- Triceps - Pressdowns: 3 sets
Light (Wednesday):
- Chest - cable crossover: 3 sets
- Legs - lunges: 3 sets
- Back - Deadlift*: 4 sets
- Back - Lat pulls: 3 sets
- Shoulders - Lateral raise: 3 sets
- Biceps - DB hammer curl: 2 sets
- Triceps - extensions: 2 sets
Medium (Friday):
- Chest - DB Incline: 3 sets (maybe 4)
- Legs - Leg Press (or more squats): 3 sets (maybe 4)
- Back - T-bar Rows: 4 sets
- Shoulders - Straight Bar Shoulder Press*: 3 sets
- Biceps: Straight bar curl: 2 sets (maybe 3)
- Triceps: DB Skullcrushers: 2 sets (maybe 3)
Key things to remember:
- Substitute exercises at will, this is how you can increase variety and feeling of randomness while remaining on progression
- Dial up / down your set and rep scheme
- Don't beat yourself up if you end up on a 5 day business trip, hit your calisthenics and cardio and realize that a big reason you are going this route is that it prevents you from constantly having to restart your "normal" split program on day 1 every time you have to hit the road.
- Anyone under 28 will likely call bull on this program, but remember, you are getting all the same lifts as you would on a "traditional split", but in a setup more suited to disruption and for those of us that need a little more recovery time
- Make sure to have some good cardio routine for your "off days". Not a bad idea to have a good calisthenic type of conditioning in your back pocket (I cringe at the idea of saying "metcon" as I don't want to awaken the crossfit evangelists). But something like: 100 jump rope skips, 15 kettle bell swings (say, 53lb), 15 pushups, 10 burpees...repeated for 4 rounds can be a great supplement to the treadmill if you get stuck in a hotel. You can easily pick up the above "Heavy/Light/Medium" routine when you get back because it is FULL BODY.
First, all the usual caveats apply...you should know when to substitute a lift, adjust intensity, adjust reps, add/subtract sets. I'm also not going to include the warm-up, core, and cardio...those are separate. I often use a set or two for warmup with a compound lift, but this is not included in my recommended number of sets (meaning, if I say 4 sets of bench, this doesn't include your obligatory set of 135 to get warmed up). But, for a general outline here is one example:
Standard "#Sets x #Reps" applies. So, 4x8 means 4 sets of 8 reps. It is critical to know that you should be trying to dial this rep range in. For example, if 8 reps is recommended, it is exactly that, a recommendation or starting point...you may have to dial this up or down according to where you are at.
* denotes a "Heavy" compound lift
Monday (Heavy):
- Chest - Flat Bench*: 4 sets
- Back - DB Row: 3 sets
- Legs - Squats*: 4 sets
- Shoulders - DB flies: 3 sets
- Biceps - DB Curls: 3 sets
- Triceps - Pressdowns: 3 sets
Light (Wednesday):
- Chest - cable crossover: 3 sets
- Legs - lunges: 3 sets
- Back - Deadlift*: 4 sets
- Back - Lat pulls: 3 sets
- Shoulders - Lateral raise: 3 sets
- Biceps - DB hammer curl: 2 sets
- Triceps - extensions: 2 sets
Medium (Friday):
- Chest - DB Incline: 3 sets (maybe 4)
- Legs - Leg Press (or more squats): 3 sets (maybe 4)
- Back - T-bar Rows: 4 sets
- Shoulders - Straight Bar Shoulder Press*: 3 sets
- Biceps: Straight bar curl: 2 sets (maybe 3)
- Triceps: DB Skullcrushers: 2 sets (maybe 3)
Key things to remember:
- Substitute exercises at will, this is how you can increase variety and feeling of randomness while remaining on progression
- Dial up / down your set and rep scheme
- Don't beat yourself up if you end up on a 5 day business trip, hit your calisthenics and cardio and realize that a big reason you are going this route is that it prevents you from constantly having to restart your "normal" split program on day 1 every time you have to hit the road.
- Anyone under 28 will likely call bull on this program, but remember, you are getting all the same lifts as you would on a "traditional split", but in a setup more suited to disruption and for those of us that need a little more recovery time
- Make sure to have some good cardio routine for your "off days". Not a bad idea to have a good calisthenic type of conditioning in your back pocket (I cringe at the idea of saying "metcon" as I don't want to awaken the crossfit evangelists). But something like: 100 jump rope skips, 15 kettle bell swings (say, 53lb), 15 pushups, 10 burpees...repeated for 4 rounds can be a great supplement to the treadmill if you get stuck in a hotel. You can easily pick up the above "Heavy/Light/Medium" routine when you get back because it is FULL BODY.