Warrior Workout

[White.Lightning]

Hey all. I've been out of the gym for quite some time now. I want to get back into it, but with a different approach this time around. I've been in and out of gyms for approx. 15 years now. All that time I was focused on resistance training and training more for the aesthetics- bodybuilding. Yes, I was getting stronger and modifying my physique, but I felt like I was still weak in areas.

I'm sure it's the same across the world, but when I would go into the gym most men would be doing the typicals- bench press, bicep curls, shrugs. Leg days seem to be non-existent. They would also be doing so with poor form and they seemed to be more focused on "putting the weight up" for their fellow gym-mates. All the while, they were in poor shape.

Seeing this, I want to take a different approach this time around. I want to get some input on various things I can do to make myself more "well rounded" in terms of strength, and incorporate "real world" strength into the mix. Yes, I want to lose the spare tire around my waist, but having a six pack abs has far less appeal to me anymore.

I will incorporate the following into the weekly routines:
Stretching!
Running/jogging
Mountain biking (well riding around the hill ridden neighborhood)
Situps
Pullups
Squat
Leg Press
Bench press (flat/incline)
Butterflys (pec deck)
Barbell curls
Preacher curls
Tricep work
Shoulder work- press, raises (front/side/rear)
And last but not least- a well rounded diet.

So what I am asking is what exercises do you fellow members do to give a different twist to getting into "warrior" shape?

[WillBrink]

So what I am asking is what exercises do you fellow members do to give a different twist to getting into "warrior" shape?

A full program that covers all the essential components of fitness, and those who have taken the time to follow it as written, will get great results:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=28226

It's more of a generalist program than sports/job specific per se, but efficient and effective that can be tweaked for specific goals vs the more generalized such a program covers.

[White.Lightning]

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into those links tonight.

[WillBrink]

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into those links tonight.

Such a program takes a bit of thought and planning on your end, but the rewards are there if you do. It's a "concurrent" program which attempts to combine different forms of exercise, which has it's pro/cons, but can give excellent results in overall fitness.

[j.frith]

Personally, I think you are going about this the right way. The exercise selection you have is pretty good. Although I can see the value to leg pressing, I don't really find a benefit from it for me. For lower body lifts I tend to stick with the squat, deadlift, good morning, and lunge variations.

As far as exercise selection for me, I tend to stick with lifting 4x a week focusing on either overhead press, squat, bench, and deadlift as main lifts and then picking assistance lifts that drive those lifts. Basically I just use 5/3/1 for my strength training. Easy cardio on lifting days and 2 days of hill sprints or sled pulls on wed. and sat. If that makes sense. Usually it all depends on what I want to emphasize for that training cycle.

How were you thinking of setting up your training program?

[White.Lightning]

Such a program takes a bit of thought and planning on your end, but the rewards are there if you do. It's a "concurrent" program which attempts to combine different forms of exercise, which has it's pro/cons, but can give excellent results in overall fitness.

Roger that. Thanks again.

[White.Lightning]

Personally, I think you are going about this the right way. The exercise selection you have is pretty good. Although I can see the value to leg pressing, I don't really find a benefit from it for me. For lower body lifts I tend to stick with the squat, deadlift, good morning, and lunge variations.

As far as exercise selection for me, I tend to stick with lifting 4x a week focusing on either overhead press, squat, bench, and deadlift as main lifts and then picking assistance lifts that drive those lifts. Basically I just use 5/3/1 for my strength training. Easy cardio on lifting days and 2 days of hill sprints or sled pulls on wed. and sat. If that makes sense. Usually it all depends on what I want to emphasize for that training cycle.

How were you thinking of setting up your training program?

Ahhhh, knew I forgot something- deadlifts. I've never been fond of lunges. Yes, they are a great exercise, I just never liked them.

In terms of setting up the "program".....I found I've obtained best results with a 2 day on, 2 day off program for resistance. For instance:
Legs
Chest/tri
Cardio/Core work
Off
Back/bicep
Shoulders
Off
.......
Repeat

Something along those lines. So I am hitting 2 days of resistance, 1 day of cardio/core, off, 2 days of resistance, then off again. This way, by back/bi day, I can hit back hard.

In terms of set/rep ranges I like to stay in the 3-4 sets of 8 reps to failure for each exercise. Saying that, the volume can become high, so I typically reduce the quantity of exercises to 2-3 per body part. For legs I would do squat, press, ham curls- 3-4 sets, 8 reps each.

Thoughts?

[White.Lightning]

Another thing to note. One reason I started to think about this was, the last time I was at the gym I tried doing pullups. I could barely do 5 of them! Did I consider myself strong? Yes, in individual lifts. But apparently not in the strength that might matter someday.

I also tried doing situps. I probably haven't done them since high school. Needless to say, it hurt to bend over for a few days. My abdominal's were very sore.

These are reasons to incorporate them into weekly routines!

/rant

[j.frith]

I know how you feel about lunges. If they didn't work for me I would ditch them .

The schedule that you wrote out is not something that I would personally do, but that's just because of what my goals are right now, no offense. I'm sure you'll make great progress as long as you stay consistent.

However, I wouldn't recommend taking your big lifts to failure, like squats or benching for example. Mess around with the isolation lifts to failure every once in a while, but lifting to failure every week could burn you out quickly. I try to keep at least one rep in the tank on all my big lifts.I will break this rule when I go for a new 1RM, but that's only 2 or 3 times a year.

[j.frith]

Also, if your interested, you could look into trying either "5/3/1" or "The Juggernaut Method".

5/3/1 by Jim Wendler: link - http://store.jimwendler.com/ProductD...de=5312edebook

Good sound program. I've been using it since January. Brought my squat up to 505 from 450.

The Juggernaut Method E-book by Chad Wesley Smith: link -http://www.jtsstrength.com/the-store/

I've had this book for a few months now, but I haven't used the template yet. Geared more towards athletic development, where 5/3/1 is more about raw strength.

I don't think you could go wrong with either. Lots of reviews of both books if you have the time to google them.

*Disclaimer*- I am not affiliated with either author. I only suggest what I found to work. (just thought I would add that .)