Resistance Training For Lean Mass and Strength – Part 2: The Program

In my last blog,’Resistance Training For Lean Mass And Strength – Part 1′, I outlined my goals for a resistance training program, and hopefully, they are similar to yours: improved strength, lean mass and improved power for my chosen sport which is cycling. I am not looking to put on a lot of muscle because it is heavy to carry up hills! I want lean mass where I need it and an improved power to weight ratio i.e. the amount of power I can produce on the bike when compared to my weight.

The program I have chosen is a variation of a program that I used a couple of years ago. It is based on a program used by athletes such as American Footballers in the off-season with the aim of building lean mass quickly before the playing season comes around again. It concentrates on three basic compound movements that will train power and that will train your full body to such an extent that it should have a positive effect in training your metabolism. They are squats, standing military press (sometimes known as shoulder press) and power cleans.

Now, if you can’t get down to your local gym on a regular basis, these exercises could all be performed in a home gym.

The basis of the program is that you build up to a new maximum set at the end of each week. Now, that doesn’t mean to say that you should be lifting personal bests every week for the rest of your life, but you should be lifting personal bests at the end of the program. When your progress stalls, reset the program and start again to build up to new personal bests. In this way, you are constantly building the foundations of your strength without putting the massive strain on your body and central nervous system that constantly lifting your personal best can cause. In other words, this program works not by lifting as heavy as you can infrequently but by lifting frequently and systematically increasing the weight week on week. You start within your limits and then slowly increase.

The Program

Monday

Squats - One Of The Three Basic Compound Exercises At The Core Of This Program

Squats - One Of The Three Basic Compound Exercises At The Core Of This Program

Squat: 4 sets of 6 repetitions

Increasing the weight each set up to that last set which should be the same weight as the previous Friday’s heavy 4.

Standing Military Press: 4 sets of 6 repetitions

Increasing the weight each set up to that last set which should be the same weight as the previous Friday’s heavy 4.

Power Cleans: 4 sets of 6 repetitions

Increasing the weight each set up to that last set which should be the same weight as the previous Friday’s heavy 4.

Core exercises

Wednesday – Strength Endurance Day

Quad movement: choose from one legged press, jump squat, front squat, lunges, step ups or clean cardio

Hamstring movement: choose from straight leg dead lift, leg curls

Leg extensions

Calf raises

Pull ups: weighted, both wide grip and close grip

Dips: weighted

Repetition range for the leg exercises should be 15-20 for 3 sets. Repetitions for Pull ups and Dips should be 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Core exercises

Friday

Squats: 3 sets of 6 repetitions, 1 set of 4, 1 set of 8

The weights for the first 3 sets are the same as Monday’s first 3 sets. For the set of 4, set the weight approx. 2.5% above the Monday top set of 6. For the final set, reduce the weight for a warm down set of 8.

Standing Military Press: 3 sets of 6 repetitions, 1 set of 4, 1 set of 8

The weights for the first 3 sets are the same as Monday’s first 3 sets. For the set of 4, set the weight approx. 2.5% above the Monday top set of 6. For the final set, reduce the weight for a warm down set of 8.

Power Cleans: 3 sets of 6 repetitions, 1set of 4, 1 set of 8

The weights for the first 3 sets are the same as Monday’s first 3 sets. For the set of 4, set the weight approx. 2.5% above the Monday top set of 6. For the final set, reduce the weight for a warm down set of 8.

Core exercises

Further Explanation To Come!

I appreciate that that is quite a lot of information! I will go into more detail in future blogs about the reasoning behind my choice of exercises and the specifics of how to do them. Overall, the Monday and Friday workouts are all about the steady build up of strength. The Wednesday workout is there to add an element of strength endurance. Some would argue that there is no place for such a workout in a program like this and that you should stick to the core exercises in order to maximize strength and power gains, and there is some truth in that. However, I am not only training for strength and power, and I think it is healthy to include an endurance element in the training. Having said that, the weights on the Wednesday should be a sensible level of resistance and intensity so that it does not adversely effect Friday’s lifts.

As for the core exercises, I’ll talk about exercise selection and sets and repetitions in a subsequent blog.

That’s it for now. In my next blog ‘Resistance Training For Lean Mass and Strength – Part 3: Adaption’, I’ll start to talk about the individual exercises, why I have chosen them, how to do them, and what they will do for you. I’ll also talk about how to set the weight goals for your program