Critique This Strength/Explosive Training Routine

[Vermonta]

This is something I put together after reading up on strength and explosive training. It's geared towards making me stronger and more explosive at the same time. What do you guys think of power cleans being 2x5? I was thinking and have read that it's best to do fewer power cleans since they are made for improving explosive strength, but are a must have when training for football. My reasoning for Day Two was for it to be a bit easier on my CNS with higher reps as to reduce the risk of burning out. I think I did a good job picking and choosing exercises. Also I chose to do 3x5 for deadlifts on the reason alone that they are a very demanding exercise that I think I personally get more out of them with few reps. Any questions feel free to ask.

Day One - Strength Day
Squats (Legs, Back) 4x5
Deadlifts (Back, Legs) 3x5
Flat Bench Press (Pecs, Triceps, Shoulders) 4x5
Hanging Leg Raises (Abs) 3x15 supersetted with Alternating Heal Touches (Abs) 3x30
Lying L Raises (Rotator Cuff) 10lbsxmax

Day Two - Hypertrophy and "Light" Day
Good Mornings (Hamstrings, Lower Back) 3x8
Bent Over Rows (Back, Lats, Biceps) 3x8
Dips (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders) 3xMax
Bench Cliffs (Abs) 3x10
Russian Twists (Abs) 3x15

Day Three - Explosive Day
Power Cleans (All) 2x5
Squats (Legs, Back) 4x5
Explosive Pushups (Pecs, Tris, Shoulders) 8x3-4
Overhead Press (Shoulders, Triceps) 4x5
Throw Downs (Abs) 3x10

Strength Lifts
Light, warm up cardio.
The tempo should be a 3-1-1 on all lift (exception is deadlifts which will be 1-1-1).
5 minutes of stretching before and after lifting.

Hypertrophy and "Light" Day
Light, warm up cardio.
The tempo should be the same as Day One- Strength Lifts, 3-1-1.
Stretch for 5 minutes before and after.

Explosive Lifts
Light, warm up cardio.
The tempo should be a 3-0-EXPLODE (Exception with explosive pushups which is 1 second down, explode up off the ground, smooth negative (about 1 second), repeat)
Weights will be lighter than Day One- Strength Lifts due to the need to train for explosive strength.
5 minutes of stretching before and after.

Thanks in advance,
Vermonta
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[suncloud]

how many days off between the end of day 3 and starting day 1 again? one, two, three, four? the reason i ask is because going from explosive strength day 3 squats back to day 1 of squats for strength seems ludicrous without at least 2 days of rest, probably 4 if you're doing them right. i'm completely lost here. even 4 days off, i wouldn't (personally) think it was wise to do squats for strength (which beats me down for 3 days, then two days later trying explosive strength. the ONLY time i've tried doing squats two or three days a week is when one or two of those days were lighter faster reps, with tons of supersets (a GH releasing workout), then one day of heavy (testosterone releasing workout). though, i must admit i am not familiar with explosive training, so i could be wrong here.

 

[Vermonta]

how many days off between the end of day 3 and starting day 1 again? one, two, three, four? the reason i ask is because going from explosive strength day 3 squats back to day 1 of squats for strength seems ludicrous without at least 2 days of rest, probably 4 if you're doing them right. i'm completely lost here. even 4 days off, i wouldn't (personally) think it was wise to do squats for strength (which beats me down for 3 days, then two days later trying explosive strength. the ONLY time i've tried doing squats two or three days a week is when one or two of those days were lighter faster reps, with tons of supersets (a GH releasing workout), then one day of heavy (testosterone releasing workout).

I have two days of complete rest between days three and one. I recover probably above normal too (large boned helps) and I eat very well/clean but a lot. There are two rest days from squats (only worked hams with Good Mornings) and on the third day is when I hit them hard again. I don't feel like this is over training, I have done similar things in the past and lots of programs such as Rippetoe's SS has you doing squats twice or more a week. Thanks for your input.

Vermonta

 

[Vermonta]

bump

 

[Botch]

To your first comment - 2x5 for power cleans? That is a VERY small amount of work. I think you are mixed up when you say that you read it is best to do fewer possible cleans...by that people mean your sets can be lower in reps such as sets of 3...or even 1 rep. I do cleans twice per week and on the first day of the week I end up doing 1 set of 5, 4-5 sets of 3 for power cleans and then I move onto hang cleans and do 1 set of 5 and 3 sets of 3 reps. I also do 3x5 DB Cleans as well on this day. And I also do cleans twice a week. This just gives you a general idea of how much more you could focus on the explosive portion if you would like.

I would add something for the upper chest in there. Maybe add incline bench press to your strength day as well as possibly a military press. The hypertrophy day is lacking, IMHO. You have about half the exercises as core exercises there. I would personally add some kind of isolation exercise for the shoulders like side and rear lateral raises, something for the biceps - bb curls would do fine, and I would also add something else for the lower back along with the good mornings. I think Hyperextensions would be a good choice. If you are not a "hardgainer" then I would probably add some kind of isolation for the triceps as well (pushdowns for instance). One thing I see that you don't include is something for back width. You could add pull ups to your Hypertrophy day for that.I think your explosive day looks okay...I personally would add some sort of snatches (bb or db) and instead of doing military press do a push-press instead. I personally lose strength fast if I don't bench twice per week. You could add bench press on this day and make it dynamic effort, so that you are still focusing on being as explosive as possible under lighter weight. This is something I do during my second bench day of the week. Clean and jerks would also be a fine addition.

You could be doing much more for your explosive strength than you are doing with this routine. I would strongly urge you to consider doing some form of snatches as well as squat cleans (and front squats as well for that matter). These exercises will make you stronger, faster, and they will make you grow.