Scheduling question

[Patty]

Right now I am doing a 5x5 3 day lifting routine that goes: Deadlift Day - Tues, Bench Day - Thurs, Squat Day - Sat. I was wondering if it would be best to do my Barbell Complex (2 days a week) on Mon and Fri or Thur and Sat. In other words should I do it on my lifting days or my off days?
Thanks for the help.

[paolo27th]

On your off days.
Btw, is that all you do for cardio?

[Patty]

I run 1km Monday to Thursday morning and do a Dynamic Stretching Routine (not really cardio but still important) after the run. As I stated above I do a 5x5 for strength and now I'm starting a BB Complex on monday and friday. I'll also be taking a MT class soon twice a week which involves a warm-up and stretching then sparring. Also this is the Complex I'll be doing:



Deadlift – 6 reps
Romanian Deadlift – 6 reps
Bent Over Row – 6 reps
Power Clean – 6 reps
Front Squat – 6 reps
Push Press – 6 reps
Back Squat – 6 reps
Good Morning – 6 reps

Week one: 4 circuits 90s rest
Week two: 4 circuits 75s rest
Week three: 4 circuits 60s rest
Week four: 4 circuits 45s rest
Week five: 5 circuits 90s rest
Week six: 5 circuits 75s rest, etc.

[paolo27th]

A 1km run? As in like a 6 minutes run? That`s hardly a workout.

But I like the idea of a big dynamic stretching session tho. Wish I had time to do the same.

But do you mind explaining why you want to do complexes so much? What goals are you trying to achieve with them?

Also, what`s your main goal? Getting fit for muay thai or just for fitness` sake?

[Patty]

Originally Posted by paolo27th

A 1km run? As in like a 6 minutes run? That`s hardly a workout.

But I like the idea of a big dynamic stretching session tho. Wish I had time to do the same.

But do you mind explaining why you want to do complexes so much? What goals are you trying to achieve with them?

Also, what`s your main goal? Getting fit for muay thai or just for fitness` sake?

Well I was looking at other cardio workouts and complexes just seemed to be the best idea. I don't really know how to set up a good LSD workout...Would it be better to set up a LSD routine? And my goals are to hopefully start fighting in a few years.

[paolo27th]

How old are you?

[Patty]

17. about 145lbs and around 5'11

[paolo27th]

Ok, here`s my opinion...

I think 17 is a great place to start. You are still young so you have some time to develop good technique.

My suggestion is to start with the MT. See how you like it and increase MT training as you feel more confortable with it. 2 times a week is a good start but if and when you decide to become a fighter you`ll ideally want to train every day.

But don`t go crazy with the conditioning right away. You are in no hurry to fight so work on developing a solid technical base for now. That`ll pay huge dividends later on. Also, you`ll most likely do some form of conditioning in your class so you`ll eventually get fitter just by doing MT.

If you still want to do some conditioning outside class it`s cool. The 5x5 is a good program but you may find it is too demanding on top of MT training. Remember that conditioning is a supplement to your sport. It`s conditioning that has to fit around your sports specific training and not the other way round.

Also, BB complexes are something I`d suggest you use sparingly. If you really hate running do circuit training instead. Get yourself a hr monitor so you are able to control the intensity exactly. Don`t go all out. Pace yourself and develop a good aerobic base first of all.

So, to summarise, my suggestion is to start with your twice weekly MT + 1 conditioning a week and add more training as you feel confortable. But focus on MT for at least the first year or 2 - imho you won`t need more than 2 maybe 3 general conditioning sessions weekly for that time.

One last thing, you are pretty good for a mt fighter height/weight wise. I`d try not to mess with that if I were you.

[Ifight4Beer]

Paolo is pointing you in the right direction, however I felt I should add that Complexes are hard on the body and if I am doing alot of strengh training I rarly use complexes, They have a place in my workout but it in pushing my conditioning over the top, I would sugest more of a runing bases workout for cardio. if a good mixture of running isn't your thing, think about running things like a pyrimid run with push ups, pull ups, and sit ups.
pick a set distance, like 30 yards, run down do a push up, run back and do 2 push ups and so on up to 10. sprints like this are a quick way to increase your conditioning, and you don't have to do them every day to see an improvement.

[Patty]

Ok thanks guy! I will make sure to keep all of this in mind when designing a cardio plan.