Thread: P-funk's training program

oh also, each workout will finish with stretching and/or foam roller work.

Cardio will be done 2-3x's per week either on an off day or I will do it as, weights AM and cardio PM. With the cardio I will start with mobility work as a warm up and then finish with more stretching.

Originally Posted by P-funk

It seems like there have been a lot of threads lately asking how to come up with a program.

Really?

i notice you increase volume and decrease RI each workout, what is the point of that aside from adding variety?

Looks like a solid plan. Hope it works well for you

Originally Posted by fUnc17

i notice you increase volume and decrease RI each workout, what is the point of that aside from adding variety?

actually, the highest amount of volume is on the 10 rep day ('hypertrophy), 10x4= 40 total reps, 3x8=24 total reps, 3x15=30 total reps..so that isn't entirely so.

But, in response to the rest intervals.....as th weight gets lighter, say 15 reps, I am working more aerobically so I want to keep it that way. If I sit there and rest for 2min then I am going to recover to much for those 15 reps. Where asm if I give myself 30-45sec, I am really going to be working to get those 15 reps and my work capacity will adapt to that effort. Same with the lower rep work....if I don't rest long enough I am not going to be very effective in getting the reps I want because I need greater recovery (neurologically) in order to lift at high intensities.....if I don't get that recovery then the adaptation that I am seeking (strength), is not going to be achieved.

Wait until the cardio and speed work is announced, at least the part that will be done for 2 weeks. You will hate my guts.

I hate running.

It seems like there have been a lot of threads lately asking how to come up with a program. I figured I would post the workout that I am going to start next week after I unload this week.

Do you mean a deloading program? Or, is what you posted your routine for next week?

Should everyone deload every so often? How do you determine when you need to deload given the various factors that come to play depending on each individual's program?

Also, when you deload, what is the frequency, volume, intensity, RI's, et cetera supposed to look like? I know i asked a lot of questions, but i have never done a deloading phase before. I think i need to start doing it since i shoot for 3-8 reps most of the time on major compound exercises.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

Wait until the cardio and speed work is announced, at least the part that will be done for 2 weeks. You will hate my guts.

Most of us already do.

Originally Posted by P-funk

actually, the highest amount of volume is on the 10 rep day ('hypertrophy), 10x4= 40 total reps, 3x8=24 total reps, 2 x15= 30 total reps..so that isn't entirely so.

when you jerks off the rack, does it return the favor?

Originally Posted by shiznit2169

Do you mean a deloading program? Or, is what you posted your routine for next week?

Should everyone deload every so often? How do you determine when you need to deload given the various factors that come to play depending on each individual's program?

Also, when you deload, what is the frequency, volume, intensity, RI's, et cetera supposed to look like? I know i asked a lot of questions, but i have never done a deloading phase before. I think i need to start doing it since i shoot for 3-8 reps most of the time on major compound exercises.

this is my program. Not an unloading week.

I usually unload every 4-5 weeks. Train hard for 3 weeks, ramp up weight, then unload in week 4 then start over in week 5.....DO that for 2-3 cycles and then I take a week or so off and then start back again.

When I do an unloading week I usually will cut the volume down (about half) and drop the intensity 20% off of my top end weights and not train anywhere close to failure.


If I train with heavy weight (high intensities) for 2 or more training cycles, I follow it up with a training cycle of high reps (less intensity) to give my body a break. I might do this for 2 training cycles (8 weeks) and then go back into a more intense program.

Looks pretty good. Ive been trying to find a way to incorporate supersets into a routine for a while.

Any alternative exercises to the ones you have listed? Mainly for the power exercises (im not sure quite what a power exercise is :P).

Or any suggestions on the superset exercises? Or as long as you SS upper/lower and hit all the muscle groups across the 3 days, are any exercises okay?

put a link to this thread pls in any of your stickies or in your training journal

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Looks pretty good. Ive been trying to find a way to incorporate supersets into a routine for a while.

Any alternative exercises to the ones you have listed? Mainly for the power exercises (im not sure quite what a power exercise is :P).

Or any suggestions on the superset exercises? Or as long as you SS upper/lower and hit all the muscle groups across the 3 days, are any exercises okay?

what exercises would you like alternatives for? I would think that alternatives would be pretty self explainitory.

The power exercises are just the first exercise in the workout (in this case the olympic lifts). You don't have to do them, it is optional. If you have no interest in athletic training or power training then you might want to scrap the quick lifts at the begning of the workout and add a third superset at the end of the workout using some small muscle groups.....something like shrugs/calf raises, or biceps curl/leg curl, etc...

As far as suggestions on the supersets go, what did you have in mind? You can pretty much superset anything. They aren't traditional supersets anyway, where you are going directly to the next exercise, so you can pair up anything really. You could even do things like a strength exercise, rest and then a power exericse...like....squats, rest, jump squat or squats, rest, power clean or, using the upper/lower theme, squats, rest, med. ball chest pass, or bench press, rest, power clean.

But, ofcourse you don't have to do upper/lower. I just did it that way because (a) it evens out the workout when you are balancing it over the three days and (b) it creates a lot of metabollic activity since you are moving blood between upper and lower halves on each repetition.

the main thing over the three days is that you hit all your planes of motion in the upper body (vertical and horizontal) and you hit bilateral and unilateral movements in the lower body. At least, that was the main goal I was going for in the program. It can certainly work for any type of split you set up. Post what you had in mind.

Originally Posted by assassin

put a link to this thread pls in any of your stickies or in your training journal

I don't think it is 'sticky' worthy.

Originally Posted by P-funk

what exercises would you like alternatives for? I would think that alternatives would be pretty self explainitory.

Basically just some alternatives to the olympic lifts, power exercises seem pretty interesting, are there some good ones that arent olympic-style?

The power exercises are just the first exercise in the workout (in this case the olympic lifts). You don't have to do them, it is optional. If you have no interest in athletic training or power training then you might want to scrap the quick lifts at the begning of the workout and add a third superset at the end of the workout using some small muscle groups.....something like shrugs/calf raises, or biceps curl/leg curl, etc...

Right, that makes sense now. I suppose that could be a way to mix it up every now and again if i decide to have a go at the power exercises aswell.

As far as suggestions on the supersets go, what did you have in mind? You can pretty much superset anything. They aren't traditional supersets anyway, where you are going directly to the next exercise, so you can pair up anything really. You could even do things like a strength exercise, rest and then a power exericse...like....squats, rest, jump squat or squats, rest, power clean or, using the upper/lower theme, squats, rest, med. ball chest pass, or bench press, rest, power clean.

That seems better than my idea anyway :P. I was thinking of incorporating more standard supersets with a push/pull thing. Like superset a push and a pull together, then come up with something for legs because thatd kinda leave them out.

But, ofcourse you don't have to do upper/lower. I just did it that way because (a) it evens out the workout when you are balancing it over the three days and (b) it creates a lot of metabollic activity since you are moving blood between upper and lower halves on each repetition.

Yeah, that seems to be a good idea. Atm im doing push/pull/legs, so im training upper body more than lower. Itd be good to get some sort of balance between the two. Im always scared of under-training my lower, and over-training my upper if you know what i mean.

the main thing over the three days is that you hit all your planes of motion in the upper body (vertical and horizontal) and you hit bilateral and unilateral movements in the lower body. At least, that was the main goal I was going for in the program. It can certainly work for any type of split you
set up. Post what you had in mind.

I will. Ill read all this back through again and have a go at coming up with something using my favourite exercises. Itd be good to have something planned out for when i want to change my program again in a few months.

Also, are the rest intervals for the rest between supersets, between each exercise in the superset, or both?

Since theyre supersets, if you were doing say...8 reps. Would you use your 8RM, or something else? I know you should go a little lower if youre doing 3 sets of 8 at a constant intensity, like at your 10RM to compensate for the amount of sets. How does that work in this situation?

Cheers, P-Funk

Answers are in the quotes...

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Answers are in the quotes...

1) if you want to do something that is explosive and not olympic lifts then go with plyometrics. You can alternate between upper and lower plyos each workout....maybe, jump squats one day, med. ball chest pass the next and then box jumps or tuck jumps.....there are tons of plyos you can incorportate....standing long jumps, quick feet drills....there is tons of stuff.

2) The rest intervals are between the exericses. So, lets say we have squats and chin ups for 10 reps and 60sec rest. I would squat for 10 reps, rest 60sec, 10 chin ups, rest 60 sec, squats for 10 reps, etc....and do that until I complete all four sets. Then go and get ready for my next exercise.

3) If I am doing 8 rep sets I probably wont use my 8RM. I would use my 9 or 10 RM and try and get 8 reps for all three sets. If I suceed then I up the weight 5-10lbs on the next week. If thbe weight is light on my first set then I will up the weight 5-10lbs, depeding on how it feels, for the next set. Idealy I am looking to keep the same weight on all three sets but whenever I can put more weight on the bar and KNOW that I can get the reps without failing then I am going to do it. That is what it is all about! If I fail, lets say I get 8 reps on the first set, I get over confident and increase 10lbs and then I can only get 6 reps (knowing that 7 and 8 would be ugly) I just rack the weight and leave it at 6 reps, and then try and get 6 reps in the 3rd set also. Then next week I will try and take that weight and do it or 8 reps. Ideally I don't want to fail until the 3rd week. Sometimes it happens, but the idea is to build up 'work' over the 3 week period and get my CNS used to working with more and more weight each week (and then unloading in the 4th week). So, it would be something like:

week1- base week......go a little lighter and feel it out. I may end up increasing weight on all three sets just to feel out the intensity and see what I can do. Then I have a better idea as to where I want to start on week 2. The weight I do my first set with is usually around 10-15lbs less then my rep max for the given weight. So, for example, if I bench press 225 for 8 rep currently, I am going to start week 1 at 210lbs and see how it feels. I may keep that for 2 sets and then give 215 or 220 a shot for the 8 reps.

week2- load up the weight that was my top end weight on week 1 and go for it. if it feels light increase. if i guessed right, then stay with that weight for all the sets and get the reps. Usually this is going to be about 5lbs under my rep max for the excise and possibly working up to that rep max depending on how the weight feels. So, going off the last example, I would start my first set at 215x8 reps, if felt good, I would bump it to 220 for the second and third set or keep it the same for all three sets or the first 2 sets and then bump it up t 220 for the last set. It is going to depend a lot on how I feel and how beat up I am from the superset. If my rep max is 225 though, 220 should feel pretty easy.

week3- overload....go balls out and try and set PRs. I start my first set at my week 2 top end weight. So, if I had worked up to 220x8 reps, I will start there, set 2 I either hit the 225 for 8 or I just up to 230 for 8 and set the PR and then jump up to 235 for the third set and set another PR. again, depends on how I feel.

week4- i unload usually unless I think I can eek out one more week of PRs before unloading, in which case I will do it.


so

week1- set a base
week2- set the intensity up
week3- overlaod and go for PRs
week4- unload


Hope that helps answer your question.

Right, excellent. That did answer my questions! Thankyou, sir.

I have a lot of research to do on this. It takes me ages to get a program just how i like it. I want everything to be perfectly arranged etc.

Thanks very much! I now have something to do!

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Right, excellent. That did answer my questions! Thankyou, sir.

I have a lot of research to do on this. It takes me ages to get a program just how i like it. I want everything to be perfectly arranged etc.

Thanks very much! I now have something to do!

Don't take to long! lol....

This stuff can be as complicated or as easy as you want to make it. The program I have up there is pretty friggin' basic and easy to draw up. If I were training for something specific like a competition it would be a little more in-depth and thought out. If it were something for an athlete preparing for a season, it would be a little more comprehensive. But, for the average trainee just looking for health benefits and strength gain, etc., there is no need to go overboard. Keep it simple.

I seemingly have something to work with. Pretty much stays with most of the ideas youre talking about with upper/lower supersetting, varying the rep range for each day, how to load and unload over the course of a few weeks.

Ive taken out the power lift at the start, and added two normal exercises (un-supersetted) to the end of each day. Though i could probably get away with adding one at the start, one at the end. Or both at the start. *Shrugs*.

Ive also kept with a kind of push/pull thing, as youll probably notice. The first day is pull, the second day is push, and the third day has both.

This is just a first draft though, so any suggestions (or dramatic changes that would make spontaneous combustion look planned out) are most welcome. Obviously.

Though i do have one question straight off, in that is it okay to use different numbers of reps for each exercise in a superset? For example the first one here is 4 squats + 6 chin ups, rather than 4 of each or 6 of each.

Anyway, here it is:


DAY 1 - (90s RI)

A1 - Squat x 4
A2 - Chin Up x 6

B1 - Deadlift x 4
B2 - Hack Squat x 6

C - BB Curl

D - Bent Over BB Row


DAY 2 (60s RI)

A1 - Good Mornings x 10
A2 - Dips x 8

B1 - DB Bench Press x 8
B2 - Step Ups x 10

C - Skullcrushers x 10

D - Flys x 8


DAY 3 (30s RI)

A1 - Heel Raise x 14
A2 - OH Press x 12

B1 - Shrugs x 14
B2 - Lunges x 12

C - Front Raise x 14

D - Upright Rows x 12


Its weird working with a completely different kind of program. It made me think anyway, which i suppose is good.

My main decision was whether to separate push/pull, or go the total opposite and put a push and a pull (as well as legs) on every single day.

The upsides of the former are less chance of overtraining, but the downsides are that push isnt getting the strength work, and pull isnt getting the hypertrophy work.

The upsides of the latter are that push and pull both get trained at strength + hypertrophy, but theres more chance of overtraining since youre doing them every day.

Thats the way my mind went with this anyway.

Cheers again Mr. P-Funk!

It doesn't look to bad. I will re-post each day individually and comment on them.

DAY 1 - (90s RI)

A1 - Squat x 4
A2 - Chin Up x 6

B1 - Deadlift x 4
B2 - Hack Squat x 6

C - BB Curl

D - Bent Over BB Row

It looks like this day is lower body with upper body pull. that is not bad at all. But, I would drop the hack squat and add the row to the superset with the deadlift. Probably not a bent over row because it just will place a lot of work on the lower back after the deadlifting. Maybe somethign like a cable row. Then, add a lower body exercise to super set with the curls. How about a pull like a leg curl and superset that with biceps curls. At the end of the workout place an upper back exercise like a reverse fly.

DAY 2 (60s RI)

A1 - Good Mornings x 10
A2 - Dips x 8

B1 - DB Bench Press x 8
B2 - Step Ups x 10

C - Skullcrushers x 10

D - Flys x 8

this day doesn't look to bad. You have legs and a press and legs and a press. So, this day looks like lower and upper push muscles. Fine. One thing you may want to do here is add a press exercise to superset with your skullcrushers. Maybe a calve raise with the skull crushers.

DAY 3 (30s RI)

A1 - Heel Raise x 14
A2 - OH Press x 12

B1 - Shrugs x 14
B2 - Lunges x 12

C - Front Raise x 14

D - Upright Rows x 12

This day has me baffled a little bit. I don't know where it is going and there is a lot of stuf all over the place in here. What I wold suggest it that you ditch this day and work with the other two days only. I would use them over a three day rotation with different rest intervals each day and that way you can really get in some good volume on those exercises. Plus, the exercises that we have on the other two days pretty much cover everything in this last day anyway (one you add the overhead or incline press on day one).

So, the way I would do it would assign rep ranges, sets and rest intervals to three days during the week. Lets say mon, wed, fri. So, it would look like this:

mon- 4x6, RI= 2min
wed- 3x15, RI= 60sec
fri- 4x10, RI= 90sec

From there, all we do is cycle the workouts over the training days, like this:

week1
mon- day1
wed- day2
fri- day1

week2
mon- day2
wed- day1
fri- day2

and repeat.

great p-funk really great ....good luck gazhole with this workout ....... i liked that stuff so much ...i think i'm gonna do something like this in the future.....

Cheers Assassin, once i get it right i'll be starting it in a few months when i change up my program from push/pull/legs. Itll be nice to actually have something ready for once!

***

Okay, ive taken your suggestions and this is what the routine looks like now. The numbers after each exercise are the different rep ranges ill be using:


DAY 2

A1 - Back Squat x 4/14/8
A2 - Chin Up x 6/16/10

B1 - Deadlift x 4/14/8
B2 - DB Bench Row x 6/16/10

C1 - BB Curl x 6/16/10
C2 - Leg Curl x 4/14/8

D - Reverse Flys x 6/16/10


DAY 2

A1 - Good Mornings x 6/16/10
A2 - Dips x 6/16/10

B1 - DB Bench Press x 4/14/8
B2 - Step Ups x 4/14/8

C1 - Skullcrushers x 6/16/10
C2 - Calve Raise x 6/16/10

D - DB Flys x 4/14/8


SPLIT

Tues - 4 x 4-6 @ 2:00 RI
Thurs - 3 x 14-16 @ 1:00 RI
Sat - 4 x 8-10 @ 1:30 RI

Week 1 - Day 1, Day 2, Day 1
Week 2 - Day 2, Day 1, Day 2



Much better. Im not sure what i was thinking with the third day either, i was trying to fit in as much as possible, but the only exercises that were left werent anything new i suppose.

Plus this way i get to work everything i wanted at every rep range over the two weeks. Excellence.

The only thing i was thinking of changing up there was putting OH Presses on DAY 2 instead of DB Flys, and putting them as the first exercise. Though that leaves less direct chest work.

Other than that, i like the look of this program. Good on ya P-Funk!

Anything else i could possibly change?

I take it you've done classes on anatomy/fitness etc? I'm starting some distance learning courses on this sort of thing soon, since there arent any colleges that really run them around here. Well, anatomy + physiology is first. The course pretty much covers everything, so i thought itd be a good introduction. *Shrugs*.

it looks good. if you want to overhed press, then dump the dips and place them in there. I like them better then dips anyway.

Originally Posted by P-funk

it looks good. if you want to overhed press, then dump the dips and place them in there. I like them better then dips anyway.

Right-o! Cheers again P-Funk!

*Prints off*

Have you started your version yet?

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Right-o! Cheers again P-Funk!

*Prints off*

Have you started your version yet?

today I start. had to take a week off of training to move.

Originally Posted by P-funk

today I start. had to take a week off of training to move.

Ah, cool. Let me know how it goes!