Thread: Help with my new routine

Okay, this sounds interesting! Can you please list on a day to day basis what you are currently doing - ie

Monday: blah blah blah (movement, sets, reps)
Tuesday: blah blah blah
.
.
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And also list what your goals are?

my current workout:

Monday--Jump Rope and/or volleyball

Tuesday--5 sets 5 reps of the following: squats, deadlift, barbell row, bench press, overhead press. 3 sets until failure of Pullups, Chinups, and Dips. Jump Rope, several plyo exercises (ie unweighted squat jumps, max jumps, jumps on and off boxes, calf raises, broad jumps, ankle jumps, glute-ham raises, etc.), and if I feel like running I will half run/half sprint a mile in intervals. Throw some ab work in there--usually takes around 2 hours as the jumping/cardio are done with minimal rest in between.

Wednesday--Jump rope and/or volleyball

Thursday--workout listed for Tuesday

Friday--Jump rope and/or volleyball

Saturday--workout listed for Tuesday

Sunday--usually an off day, might play some sport.

When I say volleyball, I don't mean backyard ball with little cardio, I play real volleyball and it's a ton of quick movements and jumping, either 6 v 6 indoor or 2 v 2 on the sand/grass.

My goals--for one, I want to add as many inches as possible to my vertical. i also want to get leaner. I'm about 6'3" 195,. I'd want to get up to maybe 205 with muscle. Think basically like a basketball/pro beach volleyball player build. One that's pretty muscular, but can still move with a full range of muscle and speed. I've got a decent build now.

6'3" and 195 you're lean as hell right now, I'm sure!

What do you squat currently? I know squats are very tough with long levers - I just want to get a handle for where you are now.

Yeah but I guess I mean toned. My legs are well toned but I feel like my chest and abs could stand to lose some fat. I think that my abs are there, but I just need to tighten up a little bit.

I'm squatting about 115 with a free barbel, and about 135 with a smith machine, but it feels pretty light. On tuesdays/thursdays I use the weightroom at the school where I coach, but on saturdays I have to go to the Y and unfortunately they only have a smith machine, not a squat rack or power cage. I think I'm capable right now of about 150, but I was doing it incorrectly before (with my knees out in front of my toes) and it was hurting my knees. I've since corrected my form I've been doing less and working up, just since I figured my muscles would respond in a different way.

First up, Smith isn't a squat. Smith is a machine, and if you like your knees you'll avoid that thing.

Your knees WILL travel over your toes. There is no other way to go below parallel.

Are you squatting like this? http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/...ck%20Squat.mpg

I don't go that far below parallel.

I don't like the smith machine, I know that it's not a true squat since it stabilizes the bar for you and keeps it in a straight up and down motion. But I don't really know how I should squat if I don't have a rack or cage where I can rest the bar in order to get under it and get off of it.

To clarify: I used to do it so that my knees were out in front of my toes way too early in the squat. Now I do a motion more like I'm about to sit on a box and it keeps them behind my toes until they are forced to go in front of them.

Try cleaning the bar into position. You ought to be able to clean and press 115 lbs. Or even just clean it and do front squats - hell, even I can clean a plate a side.

The bigger deal than just missing out on working your stabilizers with Smith is the shear force it introduces. Because you can't move your torso - the bar is locked in a track - your femur pushes forward at the knee, and this shear is murder on the knee joint.

Makes sense. I used to use the smith machine for squats before i learned it was bad for you. With my bad form and that, I'm thinking that might have to do with some of my knee pain. I've got pretty some tendonitis that flares up from time to time due to how much volleyball i play, so I'm hoping doing these right now will help my knees feel better.

So what do you think about adding lifting on the days in between? I've never really used the cables outside of lat pull down and tricep rope pulldown, so I'm interested in doing something on that. Or would you recommend letting my muscles take it easy on those days and just stick to cardio?

Well, we've got to hammer out your goals first. At the moment, you want it ALL, baby, and you can't have it. Nu-UNHhh. Not goonna get leaner and more muscular and gain weight all at once, certainly not with light squats, plyos and and all that activity.

Wanna pick a goal to start with? Leaner, OR more muscular, OR higher jump. May be possible to work the "higher jump" in with "more muscular", then when you lean out, you should be able to fly! - talk to Pfunk about this one. He'll be able to direct you toward a plan.

Meanwhile, you could try some pre-rehab stuff with cables on the off-days, but nothing too intense: you want to recover properly between workouts so you get stronger.

How's your diet?

I want to add more muscle, but I'm not trying to look like a bodybuilder, I still want an athletic frame. I want to jump higher too, I'm at about 30in. and my goal is around 35.

I think my diet is pretty good. I've never actually sat down and calculated anything. I typically either have a whey shake for breakfast and/or eggs. I eat a lot of fruit/veg. throughout the day. I try to eat either a big salad or chicken/small steak for lunch depending on where I eat or if I have leftovers at home. For dinner, I eat what my girlfriend cooks, which is usually pretty healthy. She is asian so she makes a lot of sitrfry-type dishes with a lot of vegetables and meat. I eat a lot of homemade salsa and guac, I try to avoid processed foods, fried foods, and unhealthy desserts. I do allow myself to eat what I want every now and then, but for the most part keep it healthy. I'd say I'm around 2,000-2,500 cals a day, I'd like to move it up to about 3,000, but not with unhealthy high cal/high fat/high sugar foods.

so for the cables, you think something like lighter weight, high reps, 1 or 2 sets?