The New Program

So it's been awhile since I've posted up much of anything. I was on DeFranco's Built Like A Badass program for awhile, and that was part of it. Another part is that afterward, I started to drift aimlessly. My best lifts went up to 345 squat, 225 bench, and 405 deadlift. At this point, I have absolutely no interest in getting stronger. I'll go for strength again, but right now, athleticism and strength maintenance are what I'm after... That means getting better at Parkour (or at least the components that make a good traceur), and getting my conditioning level back to something workable. I'll also be starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu shortly, and this new program will have to be modified to accomodate for that.

The program will be set up to include two full body strength days a week (on Mondays and Fridays) with the main lifts following Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 loading protocol. Steady-state cardio will be included 5-6 days a week to help drop weight (as I've returned to 160, even though it's a great deal more muscle these days than beforehand). Wednesdays will consist of power, speed, and agility drills formatted in a manner to first develop maximal power and speed, work agility, then condition like crazy. Once BJJ starts, I'll figure a way to factor that in. Accessory lifts on the strength days will actually be rotating so as to include bodyweight exercises, loaded, short plyometrics, isometric holds, etc. For instance, today looked like this:

Box Jump
6x3 42"

Squat
8x45lbs
8x85lbs at top (referring to added chain weight)
5x185lbs at top
5x225lbs at top
5x265lbs at top

Bulgarian Split-Squat Jumps
3x5, each leg

Pull-ups
1x12
2x6

Lat Pull-down
6 x "10" on the weight stack
8 x "8" on the weight stack
10 x "6" on the weight stack

Military Press
8x45lbs
8x95lbs
8x135lbs
2x6 135lbs

Plate Press / Handstand Hold Superset
3x8 / 3x30 secs

Lateral Raise / Handstand Hold Superset
2x8 15lbs / 2x15 secs
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Now, I know this sounds like a huge amount of volume, but what I'm realizing is that it's impossible to make decent progress without hitting the muscle groups multiple times.. Heavy first, then at lighter weights and higher reps. Something like Rippetoe's Starting Strength or Wendler's actual program... just wouldn't be very effective for me at this point in time. It's almost too simplistic. I can't work my shoulders with one lift and be done with it. That's pretty much asking for a rotator cuff tear at some point. So the shoulders get hit with a few different exercises.. But overall.. Monday is set up for a push with the legs, and the vertical movements for the upper body.. While Friday will consist of the pulls for the legs/lower back.. and the horizontal movements for the upper body.

Because of the high variability of this program, I'll be recording pretty much everything every time other than cardio days. So everyone gets to see me posting regularly again. My current goal is to just drop down to 145lbs, maintain my strength levels (for the most part), and hopefully increase my power, speed, etc. I'll probably rotate accessory exercises every two weeks.. though some exercises may stay longer (especially if they're fun), and some may only be there for one week.