Previous Routines
Pendulum 5-3-1 Hybrid Utilized July 08 - Dec 08
My current routine is a 4-day, 5-3-1 Pendulum Hybrid MWHF split that runs a five week ’swing’ (1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1)
Weeks 1 and 5:
These are deload weeks. Do the same thing as Weeks 2 and 4, except with weights in the 40-60% range for ME movements (or skip them alltogether), and go lighter on accessory work.
Weeks 2 and 4:
These phases involve heavy, maximal effort lifting with some speed work. This phase is designed to maximize strength gains while developing a little strength-speed as well.
Monday - Chest/Triceps Emphasis
Bench ME (Week 2) - 3 Sets of 5, 75-85% of 1RM
Bench ME (Week 4) - 3 Sets of 3, 80-90% of 1RM
Bench DE (narrower grip) - 6 sets of 3, 45-55% of 1RM
CG Decline Bench (or heavy triceps press) - 5 sets of 5, 80-90%
Shoulders - 3 sets of 5-20
Chin-ups/Pull-up - 3 sets of 5 @ 80%
Wednesday - Hamstring/Glute/Hip Emphasis
Deadlift/Squat ME (hamstring/hip/glute dominant movement, Week 2) - 3 sets working up to 95%-100%
Deadlift/Squat ME (hamstring/hip/glute dominant movement, Week 4) - 3 Sets of 3, 70-90% of 1RM
Sumo/Conventional SLDL or RDL (or hip/glute dominant movement) - 5 sets of 5-8 @ 75-90%
Abs - 5 sets of 5-10
Thursday - Back/Biceps Emphasis
BB Rows (Week 2) - 3 Sets of 5, 75-85% of 1RM
BB Rows (Week 4) - 3 Sets of 3, 80-90% of 1RM
Rear Delts - 3 sets of 5-20
Upper Back - 3 sets of 5, 85-90%
Biceps - 6 sets of 5-10
Friday - Quads Emphasis
Deadlift/Squat ME (quad dominant movement, Week 2) - 3 Sets of 5, 65-85% of 1RM
Deadlift/Squat ME (quad dominant movement, Week 4) - 3 Sets of 3, 70-90% of 1RM
Squat DE (Olympic ATG Style) - 6 sets of 2, 45-55% of 1RM
Leg Press, Hack Squats, or Lunges (or quad dominant movement) - 5 sets of 5, 85-90%
Abs - 5 sets of 5-10
Week 3:
This phase is much lower in ‘high intensity’ volume compared to the other phase, and focuses on higher intensity for the ME movements, while placing more emphasis on explosiveness.
Monday - Chest/Triceps Emphasis
Bench ME - 3 sets working up to 95%-100%
Bench DE (narrower grip) - 6 sets of 3, 45-55% of 1RM
Ballistic Bench Press (in Smith) - 5 sets of 5, 15-20% of 1RM
Chin-ups/Pull-up - 3 sets of 5 @ 80%
Wednesday - Hamstring/Glute/Hip Emphasis
Deadlift/Squat DE (hamstring/hip/glute dominant movement) - 6 sets of 2, 45-55%
Sumo High Pulls, hang cleans, power cleans (or hip/glute dominant movement) - 6 sets of 3, 65-75%
Speed Sumo SLDL/RDL - 3 sets of 10, 45-55%
Thursday - Back/Biceps Emphasis
BB Rows - 3 sets working up to 95%-100%
Rear Delts - 3 sets of 5-20
Upper Back - 3 sets of 5, 85-90%
Biceps - 6 sets of 5-10
Friday - Quads Emphasis
Deadlift/Squat ME (quad dominant movement) - 3 sets working up to 95%-100%
Squat DE (Olympic ATG Style) - 6 sets of 2, 45-55% of 1RM
Jump Squats (or another explosive squat movement) - 5 sets of 5, 15-20% of 1RM
Abs - 5 sets of 5-10
ME Movements will be selected from a pool of the following movements:
Bench ME: incline, flat, or decline bench press
Deadlift/Squat ME (ham/glute/hip dominant): elevated sumos (weights on a platform), reverse band sumos, sumo deadlifts from the floor, wide-stance squat variants (boxes, bands, high, low, etc)
Deadlift/Squat ME (quad dominant): Olympic/ATG squat, conventional deadlift, zerchers off pins, narrow-stance box squats (varying heights)
BB Row ME: wide grip, narrow grip, pendlay, yates
Percentages are meant to give an approximate indicator of intensity level for the appropriate rep range. For example, 5 sets of 5 at 80-85% would mean 5 sets of 5 working with a weight that is 80-85% of your current 5RM on that movement (or an approximation of your 5RM).
Additional accessory work and iso work will be added by feel on occassion.
Hybrid WSB Routine Utilized Jan 08 - Jun 08
This routine is a 4-day, WSB-based MWHF split. Upper body and lower body are each hit twice/week, with back being worked every workout.
Monday
Bench/Incline ME 5 sets of triples, doubles, or singles, alternating flat and incline every week
Triceps 3 sets of 10-15
Shoulder (low stress movement) 3 sets of 10-15
Upper Back/Lat Movement 3 sets of 10-12
Flyes 3 sets of 10-15
Wednesday
Squat/Dead ME alternating each week focusing on weak points using 90% of 1rm for that movement (box squats, elevated pulls, pulls against bands)
Hamstrings 3 sets of 5-7
Lower Back 3 sets of 3-7
Upper Back/Lat 3 sets of 5-7
Biceps 3 sets of 10-15
Thursday
Bench DE 6-8 sets of 3 using mini bands with 50-60% of 1rm - 30lbs (i.e: if your 1rm is 350, 50% day would be 145lb bar weight + minis)
Shoulder Presses 3-5 sets of 3-5
Triceps 3 sets of 5-7
Upper Back/Lat 3 sets of 10-12
Friday
Squat/Deadlift DE 6-8 sets of 2 against varying bands, alternating each week using a weak stance for squats or pulls (ie: low box squats against bands, or ultra wide sumos)
Hamstring 3 sets of 10-12
Lower Back (for blood flow and recovery, not intensity) 3 sets of 10-15
Upper Back 3 sets of 5
Quad 3 sets of 10-15
Biceps 3 sets of 5-7
I do abs usually twice a week when I feel like it.
For back work I make sure to divide volume evenly between wide and narrow grip work. For instance, since I did close grip pulldowns on Monday for high reps, I will do wide grip work on Wednesday for low reps, wide grip work for high reps on Thursday, then low rep narrow grip work on Friday. The next week I switch that so I end up doing wide grip work on Monday.
For hamstrings I typically do the same movement I did Wednesday, on Friday again - just with lighter weight.
Exercise Selection:
Hamstrings: GHRs, SLDLs, DB Swings, Pull-throughs
Triceps: Lockouts, pin presses, reverse smith cgb, various pushdowns
Quads: extensions, bulgarian squats, leg press, olympic squats, various narrow stance squats
Lower back: 45-degree hypers against bands, good mornings against bands (for low stress back work), barbell good mornings
Upper back: shrugs, pulldowns, pullups/chins, rows - wide and close grips for each
Shoulders: laterals, external rotations, db and bb presses (both standing and seated, various grips for bb presses)
Full Body Routine Utilized Oct 07 - Jan 08
This routine is a 3-day, MWF full body split. I was utilizing full body workouts utilizing as many standing and core-dependent movements as I could in order to increase total body strength, and train my body to perform movements better as a coordinated unit.
Every workout is selected from a two-workout subset for each day. Exercises are chosen from the variants list.
Monday:
A1 or A2, alternate every week
Wednesday:
B1 or B2, alternate every week
Friday:
C1 or C2, alternate every week
Workouts
A1
DE Squat (low box) 8-10 sets of 2 done at 50-60%
Flat Bench 5 straight sets of 3/2/1 (reps drop every workout to use more weight)
Row Variant 5 sets
Tricep Variant 5 sets
Abs
A2:
ME Squat (wide-stance, parallel box or free squat)
Incline Bench 5 sets of 3/2/1 (reps drop every workout to use more weight)
Pull Variant 5 sets
Tricep Variant 5 sets
B1:
ME Deadlift
Pull variant 5 sets
OH Press Variant 5 sets
B2:
DE Deadlift 8-10 sets of 2 done at 50-60%
Pull Variant 3 sets
Hips 3 sets
Hamstrings/Glutes/Lowerback 3 sets
OH Press variant 3 sets
Abs
C1:
DE ATG Squat (8-10 sets of 2 done at 50-60%)
ME Incline Bench 2-3 singles at 90% of 1rm
Pullup/Chinup Variant 3 sets
Tricep Variant 3 sets
Pressing Variant 3 sets
Abs
C2:
ME ATG Squat 2-3 singles at 90% of 1rm
ME Flat Bench 2-3 singles at 90% of 1rm
Pullup/Chinup Variant 3 sets
Tricep Variant 3 sets
Pressing Variant 3 sets
Exercise Selection
Pressing Variants: one arm db presses, floor presses
Standing OH Pressing Variants: front, btn, btn jerks
Pull Variants: shrugs, rdls, rack pulls, sldls, high pulls, pullthroughs, db snatches
Row Variants: wide, narrow, yates, pendlay, standing db
Pullup/Chinup Variants: wide, narrow, hammer
Tricep Variants: oh tri extensions, pushdowns, cgb
Hips: ad/abduction, cable knee raises
Hams/Glutes/Lowerback: gm’s, ghr’s
Abs: standing cable crunches, decline weighted situps, decline weighted twists
Full Body Routine Utilized June - Oct 07 This routine a 3-day, MWF full body split. I was utilizing full body workouts to rebuild my conditioning, muscular endurance, recovery, and strength since the layoff from my blood clot.
Monday: High/Very High Volume + Very High Intensity
Squats 5 sets of 3/2/1 (changes each week)
Bench 5 sets of 3/2/1 (changes each week)
Back Movement 5 sets of 5
Triceps Movement 5 sets of 5
Chest Movement 3 sets
Biceps Movement 3 sets
Core work
Wednesday: High Volume + Moderate/High Intensity
Sumo SLDLs singles/reps - alternate each week
Deadlift Assistance 3-5 sets
Shoulder Movement 5 sets of 5-12
Bicep Movement 5 sets of 6-12
Triceps Movement 3 sets
Chest Movement 3 sets
Core work
Friday: Moderate/High Volume + High/Very High Intensity
ATG Squats 3-5 singles at 90%+
Bench 3-5 singles at 90%+
Back Movement 3 sets
Triceps Movement 3 sets
Biceps Movement 3 sets
Chest Movement 3 sets
Core work
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