So those of you who were at
the box today may have realized that your 1RM just might be more nowadays bc of the 3RM we did today! That’s great and I know that some of you want to LIFT EVEN MORE!
Want to add 20-30# to your back squat? Well, do we have a deal for you…
Chris Wilson has written up a 6-week squat cycle which, IF INTERESTED, you can do during our Strength segments for the daily WOD. The cycle includes Max Out so you can see your gains.
We know that this isn’t for everyone…so it’s there if you want it otherwise you will stick with the regular strength for the day.
Below are the rep schemes and schedule which will start on Monday…
Chris has also included valuable info about what to expect and the fact that this WILL BE CHALLENGING!
He will be working up some spreadsheets so you can enter your data/progress. Otherwise you can cut and paste the following info and go from there.
Again, this cycle can be completed on MWF for the 3 days a week or a more aggressive cycle of 4 days MWFS during the strength time. IF you can’t get all of the sets done within the 15-18min strength time, you will need to finish after class so the class can flow.
Thanks Chris for providing this for our members! If you plan on doing this, please let me know so we know what your goals are! Good Luck!!
Via Chris Wilson…If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask him!
Option 1: (M,W,F)
Wk 1
D1) 6X2 @80% D2) 6X3 @80% D3) 6X2 @80%
Wk 2
D1) 6X4 @80% D2) 6X2 @80% D3) 6X5 @80%
Wk 3
D1) 6X2 @80% D2) 6X6 @80% D3) 6X2 @80%
Wk 4
D1) 5X5 @85% D2) 6X2 @80% D3) 4X4 @90%
Wk 5
D1) 6×2 @80% D2) 3X3 @95% D3) 6X2 @80%
Wk 6
D1) 2X2 @100% D2) 6X2 @80% D3) MAX OUT
Option 2: (M, W, F, S; etc, etc)
Wk 1
D1) 6X6 @70% D2) 7X5 @75% D3) 8X4 @80% D4) 10X3 @85%
Wk 2
D1) 6X6 @70% + 5-10lbs
D2) 7X5 @75% + 5-10lbs
D3) 8X4 @80% + 5-10lbs
D4) 10×3 @ 85% + 5-10lbs
Wk 3
D1) 6X6 @70% + 10-20lbs
D2) 7X5 @75% +10-20lbs
D3) 8X4 @80% + 10-20lbs
D4) 10×3 @ 85% + 10-20lbs
*the goal here is to add 5-10lbs each week to your previous weight.
Here’s the down and dirty with strength cycles. They can be brutal. They test to see if you can go into that dark place and push out of it. They are extremely rewarding too. If you want to put on 20-30lbs on your 1RM these are the ways to do it.
When working through one of these cycles there’s some information you need to keep in mind.
1) Rest and Recovery: You will be breaking down large amounts of muscle, and to fully repair the muscle you will need need proper recovery. This starts with post workout stretching (5-10mins), adequate hydration, and sleep. The optimal amount of sleep we should get each night is 7-8 hours/night. This allows natural processes within our body to take place (decrease cortisol levels, release of HGH, REM cycle). If you are increasing your training load (or volume) you will need to add in another hour of sleep. So if you are doing a strength cycle or working out for at least 2 hours or more you will need approximately 8-9 hours of sleep/night. Keep this in mind especially if you need to be up at the ass crack of dawn (D&E class)! Also of note, these days are not meant to be completed over consecutive days. If you do so you will wear your body down, not recover, probably injure yourself, and potentially over train. IF YOU FEEL YOU HAVE COMPLETELY LOST YOUR APPETITE, CONSTANTLY NAUSEOUS, AND CAN’T SLEEP AT NIGHT YOU MAY BE OVER-TRAINING. Listen to your body. You will need true rest days!
2) Diet/Food Intake: Eat, eat, eat, and eat some more. If there are 2 factors that limit athletes gainzZz and performance its rest/recovery and diet. I can almost guarantee that 3/4 of us are not taking in enough calories for how we are training, and that includes myself as well. With the increase in load and volume, the breaking down of muscle tissue, and the normal METCON your body will be starving for calories. It will be crucial to provide it with enough calories to develop the gainzZz you’re trying to achieve. If you do not then you will start tapping into your muscle to provide the needed energy. Without getting too much into the physiology of what’s happening you rob your muscles of energy in order to keep your body functioning. So if you break down your muscles tissue to build muscle, but you’re also robbing your muscles of needed energy can you see where there might be a dilemma? Long story short, you will feel like crap, plateau, stop loosing weight, and even loose strength gains.
Make sure you aren’t putting empty calories into your body. Supplementing with protein will be beneficial for the extra calories (I’ll go more into this later), you’ll be want to eat more often, and carbohydrates are not your enemy when gaining muscle mass.
3) Supplementation/Anti-inflammatories: As I mentioned, you are going to need more calories and more protein to build up the muscle that you’ve been tearing down. Supplementing with a protein shake will aide in this process. It used to be said that there was a “Golden Window” of 1 hour, post workout, for optimal protein uptake by muscles. Science had pretty much proven that this is not true, but you do want to get your protein in as soon as possible after a workout. You’re looking at wanting to intake 1.0 – 1.5g/pound of body weight throughout your day. I would suggest a post workout protein shake, lunch protein shake, and one before you go to sleep. These are just my suggestions though. Fish oil is another good supplement to ensure you’re taking. Not only does it show to help decrease cardiovascular disease, but it will help keep down and fight inflammation. Another way to keep down inflammation is Ibuprofen. With the high volume, and high weights, your muscles and joints will be sore. These will help keep you feeling some what human when you’re in the middle of the cycle. I will also go out and suggest getting creatine if you are going to partake in the strength cycle. With continual use, creatine has been shown to increase the muscular endurance (1-2 extra reps) when performing at or near maximal loads. If you look at these cycles you will see that’s where we will be performing. Use it post workout and approximately 5 grams. You can increase the amount if you want (I’ve used up to 15g spread out through a day). Obviously you don’t want to use extreme amounts and eat it dry by the spoonful. If you have any questions you can ask me. Creatine = gainzZz
TL;DR: Listen to your body, fuel your body by getting adequate calories, let your body recover by getting enough sleep, know that you are going to be sore while doing this, and push yourself to see the gainzZz that you will achieve.
