My Sensei (Karate instructor) used to do a circuit training workout with us once a month. This workout was for the hard-hitters: a group 10 – 15 guys (and a few girls). The Circuit Training workouts were the type of workouts I enjoyed and looked forward too. They were painful and I loved the feeling of my entire body covered in sweat. By the time your were done, you would have sweat pouring into your eyes. Many times, when it was cold outside, the windows would fog up due to all the heat being generated in the dojo.

Image by IndyWeek.com

Yup….those were the days.

Circuit training at the dojo was very simple. You stick to one station for about 3 minutes, then move onto the next station. In the middle of the workout, Sensei would make us drop and do about 20-30 push-ups. His words were, “You improve when you’re tired.”

Following the same principles of dojo circuit training, I have come up with the following workout:

• Station One: Perform any variation of push-ups for the time allotted
• Station Two: Alternated between bent-over rows, and push press, 95lbs
• Station Three: Jump Roping
• Station Four: Free Standing Heavy Bag Punching

You are to perform three rounds of this workout in the following manner:

• Round One: 1 minute at each station
• Round Two: 2 minutes at each station
• Round Three: 3 minutes at each station

Try it out and get back to me!

Monday September 1, 20083 rounds:

20 Pushups
KB Clean + Press, 10 reps
20 Jump Rope Crossovers
KB Front Squat, 10 reps

Parth – 16:49.68
Dom – 11:45/18
D-raj – 11:06.43

Tuesday Semptember 2, 2008

3 rounds:

20 Bodyweight Squats
Sprint
10 Bentover Rows, 95lbs

Completed as a group with D-raj: 3:56.55

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Push Jerk, 2×5 115lbs
Front Squat, 2×5 75lbs
Power Clean, 2×5 55lbs
Power Clean + Push Press 2×5 95lbs
Hang Power Clean + Push Press, 2×5 95lbs
Hang Power Snatch, 2×5 75lbs
Bent-Over Row, 2×15 105lbs
Deadlift, 2×5 195lbs

Thursday, September 4, 2008

21-15-9 reps of:

KB Clean
Hindu Pushups
KB Windmill
KB Row
KB Front Squats

Time – 25:39.60

Friday, Semptember 5, 2008

Push Jerk 2×5, 125lbs

Front Squat 2×5
Dom + D-Raj – 95lbs
Parth – 85lbs

Power Clean 2×5
All – 125lbs
Parth, on second set – 130lbs

Power Clean + Push Press, 2×5
Dom + D-Raj – 95lbs
Parth – 100 lbs
Dom on second set – 100 lbs
D-raj + Parth on second set – 105lbs

Hang Power Clean + Push Press, 2×5
All – 105lbs

Hang Power Snatch 2×5
Dom – 45lbs
D-Raj – 65lbs
Parth – 80lbs

Bent Over Row 2×5
All 115lbs

Deadlift
Dom + D-Raj 180lbs, first set
Parth 200lbs, First Set
All, 200lbs Secon Set

Notes:

Another great training week. I’m especially happy because I have finally figured out how to incorporate heavy training into my routine. At first I tried the CrossFit method where you randomly include a heavy strength day amongst each MetCon day. That really didn’t workout for me, so I tried bodybuilding where I perform a series of bodypart-related exercises in the morning. That never really took off. I also tried incorporating heavy training as part of a circuit, but I realized how dangerous that could be. Under the stress of MetCon, if you’re form fails, then you’re gone. I understand that the routine I used this week is far from a balanced one, It was extremely intense. I was sweating as much I did in my regular MetCon training, and I genuinely enjoyed it. Reminds me of my 5X5 days, although those workouts were never as intense as these were. I think it was just the combination of olympic lifts that I enjoyed doing.

Goal for next week:

Develop a balanced strength routine that can be performed 3 days a week. Use the same movements used in the two workouts this week, with similar rep/set/rest schemes.

Do you guys have any suggestions for a balanced routine?

About the Author

Parth Shah is a Strength and Fitness Consultant specializing in developing practical, sustainable fitness solutions for his clients. He is currently going through his own personal physical transformation. He created ShahTraining.com to share his thoughts, ideas, and philosophy, and hopes to develop it into a community of fitness enthusiasts and trainees who believe in make fitness a part of their daily life. (Feed – http://feeds.feedburner.com/shahtraining/UQuk)

Photo Credit: Michal Novotny

To gain maximal muscle, you need to stick to the basics. You only need one or two basic movements per bodypart. The less movements you can do to get the job done, the better.

Setting Up a Program

Choosing a Training Split

Choose a training schedule based upon your training schedule. A typical schedule involves training 3 days a week on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule. A training schedule should also take into account how quickly you recover from a workout. If you are following a full-body split, then it may take you to two to three days to recover from your workout. However, if you are training half your body one day, and the other half on the next day, you can work out more frequently.

Choosing the Exercises:

Choose 4 to 6 exercises to focus on, then split them according to your training split.

Core Exercises:

Deadlift

BackSquat

BenchPress

Bent-overRow

Pull-ups

MilitaryPress

Full-body Routine

For full-body routines, you do not need to perform all 6 exercises in one routine. Split the workouts up amongst 2 workouts in this way:

Workout A:

Deadlift

BenchPress

Pull-ups

Workout B:

BackSquat

Bent-overRows

MilitaryPress

Push/Pull

Push exercises are all exercises that involve you to push a weight away from your body:

BackSquat

BenchPress

MilitaryPress

Pull exercises are all exercises that involve you to pull a weight towards your body:

Deadlift

Bent-overRow

Pull-ups

Push/Pull/Legs

For this split, you would simply take the two lower body exercises out and give them there own day.

Sets/ Reps

To build muscle, keep your set/rep volume between 36-50total reps. For example, performing 6 sets of 6 repetitions is a total of 36repetitions for that particular exercise.

Start off with lifting 70-80% of your one repetitionmaximum. Gradually increase the weight as the weeks go by.

Rest 60 –120 second between each set.

Supplementation

I personally do not like to take supplements. Supplements are “supplements” to your diet and training. Only take supplements when and if you have your diet and training in order.

Related:

 

• Three Steps to High Frequency Training
• Hindu Squats and Pushups
• Stick to the Basics
• Why I’m not a Bodybuilder
• Crossfit and Bodybuilding