Full-time worker routine

[belltower]

G’day

Was wondering if I could get a bit of help?

I’m not a rugby player, but my work collegues are and we all work full time in the Demolition/Scrap Metal industry. Each day contains consistent light to heavy lifting and with the programs that we are using now, we are struggling to complete the routines (i.e Defranco, Waterbury)

Instead of playing with the routines we were hoping that we could get a bit of help on designing the gym aspect of a weekly schedule?
Because of the lifting that goes on throughout the day we were wondering what kind of set/rep schemes you recommend, exercises and how many days do you think we should train?

Our main goals are focused on strength/mass. This is probably a bit different to what your used to, but we are really stuck!
Cheers

[belltower]

Just to add a few ideas that we came up with:

– Each day consists of about 3 to 4 exercises plus added core work etc

– We couldn’t decide on an upper/lower or push/pull/squat or full body

– Use the rep schemes that Ash has prescribed with other threads i.e. rep scheme for upper body mass/strength, lower body etc.

– Gym training 2-3 times a week.

[ashley]

Hi Belltower, this was often a problem in rugby before we went full time professional and could devote all our energies to specific training, and in amateur rugby the demands of a full time job does impact greatly on your ability to train, what I would start with, is to really see how much training you need to get results not how much your bodies can tolerate, also nutrition plays a massive role in this case even more so than a full time training program, so thermos flasks of easily digested protein and carb mixes is important to keep your calories up. Initially I would back to 2 or 3 sessions per week, and keep the weights high and the reps low, nothing over 6 reps for the immediate future, just stick to either the basic pull, push , squat plan or the triple treat options that I have posted, say, either;

Day 1(Tuesday): Overhead Squat/Front Squat/Back Squat Military Press/Incline Bench Press/Flat Bench Press
5/3/1 protocol

Day 2(Saturday): Dead Lift only 6 to 8 sets of 6 rep options style

OR

Mon: Weighted Chins (4 x 6), INcline Bench Press (6 x 4), Back Squat (4 x 6)

Wed: Font Squat (6 x 4), Bench Press (8 x 3), Bentover Row (8 x 3)

Fri: Deadlift (8 x 3), Military Press (4 x 6), Upright Row (6 x 4)

Hope this gives you an idea or two to work with let me know if we can tweak it a little more, cheers, ash

[ashley]

Sorry an additional option would be to rotate these 2 programs and train 3 days one week and then 2 days the following week in order to full recover and be able to lift the weight you need to in order to get the gains you want, you could also subsitute Bulgarian single leg squats instead of overhead squats, cheers, ash

[belltower]

Hi Ash

What can I say mate, your an absolute legend! Really love the look of this. 🙂

The protein/carb thermo mix is something that I definetly agree with, some of my mates have already started eating protein/carb bars but they always say how bad they taste haha. So not only will a drink taste better but in the long run it will certainly be more cost effective.

Just a couple of questions:

– Is it possible to run the two programs fortnightly as you mentioned and after the 3rd fortnight change the exercises and repeat another cycle to finally have a weeks rest on the 13th week?

-What rest intervals do you recommend between sets?

Again cheers for everything

Caleb..

[ashley]

Hi Caleb, that is great that it is a mix that you can work with, rest would be around 60 – 90 seconds between sets, yes indeed that would be a great way to vary it up and then have that 13th week as a complete download and get out of the gym completely or just do some body weight exercises, I would opt for the complete rest though, go well, ash

[belltower]

Hi Ash.

Thanks again 🙂 Thats very very kool. Ill be sure to post some progress reports. Couldn’t have done it without ya.

Cheers

Caleb

[ashley]

Cheers Caleb all the very best with it and it would be great if you keep me posted on your progress, cheers, ash

[belltower]

Hey Ash

Thought that I would give you a bit of feedback from the first two weeks : )

I did both the weekly workouts that you prescribed and so far I believe that they are going really well. Working under the 6 rep range is most definetly ideal and I really enjoyed the deadlift only day that I did this afternoon.

The 5/3/1 day is an absolute killer but I loved every minute of it. My work collegues have done their first week of the routine (due to mad monday aka. mad monday week) the week before and they are certainly enjoying the change of training that their used to.

And of course most importantly it has worked very nicely in conjunction with full-time work.

One question that my mates brought up that I forgot to ask is do you recommend a de-load week during the 12 week phase?

Again thanks alot

Caleb

[ashley]

Cheers Caleb glad to hear that you are progressing well and enjoying the training which is the first step always, I would just deload completely in week 13 and say goodbye to the gym for that week and take a good break and then get back in and see what you want to do next phase or re-visit this one again, go well, ash

[belltower]

Hey Ash

Im up to week 4 now and everything is going really well. Ive recently changed positions where I work so Im doing alot more office work at the moment and it appears that Im going to be there for some time. Because of this my times for recovery have drastically improved. Im interested in your thoughts/ideas on wether you think I should keep the routine the same or wether it could be changed etc

[ashley]

Hi there I would keep it steady she goes for a wee while yet since you are making good progress, give it at least another 6 weeks and then re-assess where you wnat to go and if your current situation is likely to stay the same for a while to come, all the very best, ash

[belltower]

Hey, no worries mate, sounds good to me. Ill let you know how things go. Cheers

[belltower]

Hey ash,

Just completed week 6 of the routine. Ive been making some good gains over these weeks. Firstly Ive been able to put on about 5 pounds and remained fairly lean, amazingly even though it doesn’ t relate to the program but ive grown in height another cm and im 22?? pretty weird. So now im sitting at about 6’5 and 103kg.

But most importantly my lifts have increased quite dramatically and ive been able to hit some PB’s almost every workout, which hasn’t happened for a long time. For example:

During the 5/3/1 protocol:
Military Press 12.5kg
Incline BB 10kg
Flat BB (although i did weighted dips one week) 5 kg

Split Squat 15kg
Front Squat 15kg
Squat 10kg

so at the moment im pretty stoked with the results im getting. A question i do have is that ive been pushing myself these past weeks and was wondering if i should lay off a little for the start of next week?

and do you think i should change some of the exercises by just doing the DB alternatives?

very interesting to see what you think of the progress as far!

[belltower]

This is what I did on Monday afternoon: (Just wanted to mix it up a little – Sorry)

A1: Front Squat
A2: Lunges
(1min rest between 3 x 6 )

Incline DB Bench – 5 x 4

Then..6 reps for
2 x Wide Grip PU
1 x Chin
1 x PU

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