We are spending two more month utilizing our 10 day program template (see below), and we’ll be changing things up a bit this fall! This strength cycle builds on the previous two months, yet it also accounts for the time of year. With the summer in bloom, COVID restrictions being lifted and vacations planned for many, the goal is to enable you to jump in and out of this routine and still make some GAINZ! If you don’t have any trips planned, stick with the cycle and have some fun building some basic strength! Here are the lifts that you will see over the next 8 weeks with some notes for how to approach the strength work.
Upper body strength day #1
A1) Bench press 5×5
Main focus of the day.. Add weight as you see fit. It has been a while, be consevative at the start. Have someone spot you.
A2) Half kneeling KB Bottoms up press 5×8/side
Shoulder stability work. Try to move slowly, controlled with a pause at the up and down position.
A3) Banded triceps pull-down 5×20
Get a good pump, redundancy training for endurance.
Upper body strength day #2
A1) Narrow grip chin-ups 5×5-10
Try to maintain shoulder blades depression(head tall) as you lower and fully extend through the elbows.
A2) Ring row w/ 2 sec pause at top 5×5-10
Adding the pause at the top with maximal tension works towards getting strict chest to bar pull-ups.
A3) Two DB high pull 5×8-12
Mid trap conditioning. You should not shrug your shoulders.
Lower body strength day #1
Back squat.
After starting with a 3RM attempt, we will work on muscle endurance with big sets in July and transition into lower volume/higher weights in August.
Lower body strength day #2
Sumo deadlift
A little more quad dominant deadlift variation, the sumo deadlift is a nice way to continue working on a hip hinge pattern with a different stimulus compared to the conventional deadlift. It is still a posterior chain dominant lift. The sumo deadlift is a little more friendly for tall people and people with limited mobility.
Olympic lifting day #1
EMOM15 Clean deadlift and shrug + hang power clean + push jerk.
Practice the bar path and timing on the “lean deadlift and shrug” portion of the lift. Then stand tall, re-brace and execute a power clean trying to implement the timing and bar path from the fist part. The push jerk goal is to work on catching the bar with locked out arms.
Olympic lifting day #2
EMOM12 Snatch. Add weight every round or every other round.
The timing drills from the May-June cycle implemented. Work on full triple extension and catch the bar as low as possible, as fast as possible. Adding weight every other round allows for additional time to rest and work on making every second lift better than the previous lift at the same weight.
