So in the past year I've definitely slacked on my fitness I'm planning to get back to the gym and regain the 15 pounds or so of muscle I lost. Thus far what I have planned is alternating workouts of: Workout A: Squats - 5x5 Bench press - 5x5 Deadlifts - 1x5 Workout B: Squats Bent over rows - 5x5 Reverse crunches - 3x11 (+1 each workout) I've never been good at incorporating stretching into my workouts except for dynamic at the beginning. Should I dedicate one day to passive stretching or leave it alone entirely for now and focus on the weights? EDIT: also forgot to mention that I'll have a four wing chun class on each of those days.
Can I make one suggestion? How about adding military presses somewhere and pushups to workout A as a finisher?
Sure! The military press I'm ashamed to say I forgot about this time around! Pushups I thought I might leave out since my shoulders and associated area tend to get very taxed from the hour of pak sao I usually go through at wing chun but maybe if I limit them instead of 3 sets to failure this time around.
Your body will thank you later if you take the time to do some stretching after a hard workout. Not only does it reduce muscle soreness but there's been quite a few studies suggesting that stretching after a strength training session will also improve strength gains as well.
Your program looks like a standard power lifting set-up which is great if that is what you are interested in. Are you following something like strong lifts and where are you starting (since the suggestion on there is to start from an empty bar in general). Just interested as I just started something similar for the first time in my life not that long ago). Thanks. LFD
Basically following a mix of strong lifts and 5x5. They're essentially the same thing anyway. I had good results with 5x5 in the past. Going to start at empty bar for everything except deadlifts. I lost a lot of muscle over the past year. Yay fast metabolism. And basically I'm interested in getting my basic raw strength back after a year of bad diet, bad sleep, and sometimes too much or too little exercise.
I am going to start a 5x5 program soon. DAY 1 – PULL Deadlifts or Power Cleans Barbell Rows, Dumbbell Rows, or Wide Grip Chins Barbell Curls, Close Grip Underhand Chins, or Hammer Curls DAY 2 – PUSH Incline or Flat Barbell or Dumbbell Bench Press Barbell or Dumbbell Shoulder Presses Tricep Dips or Close Grip Bench Press DAY 3 – LEGS Front or Back Squats Barbell or Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts Calf Raises (3x12) - only if a seriously lagging bodypart Weighted Crunches or Weighted Hanging Leg Raises (3x12)
