WoRkOuT HeLp: AdViCe On ThIs BrUcE InSpIrEd WoRkOuT PlEaSe?

[hazhardy]

Ok, here's the deal,,,
Since Christmas, i've been studying ''Expressing the human body'' by John Little (Basically all about Bruce's exercises), to get an idea for a workout this summer..

I have decided to do 3 programs...

1. Fitness
2. Flexibility
3. Strength

Now, i'm pretty set with fitness and flexibility... but i need y'alls help on the strength part....
Also, when looking through,, if you see some exercises and think WTF??, then it's because their irrelevance to martial arts is deliberate,,, i.e. this workout is mainly for martial arts strength, but also includes exercises for a greater vertical leap in basketball,aspects for strength in rugby and calf and ankle strength for double-bass drumming and endurance. Also, if possible, to be able to handstands from removing feet off of floor,(aka sebastien from jump london at southbank),,which i presume is abs and shoulder strength.......

Ok, so here's the list of exercises i have picked out,,,, now as you guys probably know, im down with doing this exercise over the summer holidays,,, (around 11 weeks),,,but im also down with the whole idea of increasing my strength, and not too much of my size...so if u spot something that you could advise for or against, then please go ahead, because i want to start this workout making sure it is right for me and will benefit me in alot of areas...

extra information.. i'm 15 years young,,(16 in middle of summer), and i'm 5'10'', with already quite muscular build from rugby,,,,whether any of that helps or not....lol.

I want to increase strength/build my shoulders and lat muscles most of all,, trying to achieve the ''triangle'' figure, of the broad shoulders and slight waist...and not a 'bulked out'' chest.

To be done every other day,,also, if you don't know what the exercise i have listed involves, im sure you can just ask or search on the net..

Neck : Wrestler's bridge
Shoulders : Shoulder press and Military press
Chest : Incline and Decline press
Biceps : Standing Barbell Curl
Triceps : French Press (toning triceps more than building them)
Arms overall : Dumbell Circle
Lats : Pullover and Bent Arm Pullover and Punching With Weights
Back : Deadlift
Quads : Squats ( again tone more than build, because my legs are already pretty beefed from rugby and weigh a tonne) and perhaps Jumping Squats.
Calfs : Calf/Heel Raise ( tone again) and Seated Calf Raise (this is the exercise i mentioned earlier for my double bass drumming)

And then two specialisation workouts for abs and forearms, to be done daily.

Abs : Sit ups (with twists also)
Leg Raises (done on a bench, holding on to uprights for barbell)
Waist Twists

Forearms : Wrist curlers with barbell or dumbell, over and under-hand grip
Rolling a suspended weight from a bar or stick
Fingertip push-ups

So that's the basic lot,,,if you think your descisions will be made easier with the knowledge of my intented fitness and flexibility programs, then i shall add those on here too....

Cheers for your help,

The HZA

[_William_]

You're a rugby player? Thats cool, me too. What position do you play? I'm a lock.

I would get rid of french press, you should be getting plenty of tricep work doing bench press with elbows tucked in as opposed to tucked out. Our maybe relegate the french press to assistance work.

I would incorporate either the power clean or the power snatch. There are a number of learning progressions for these available on the internet, however if you can find an olympic lifting coach for learning this lift then that would be best. Since incorporating these into my program I've gained a lot of explosive strength(and thicker traps too!).

Get rid of punching for weights. You risk damaging your shoulders and elbows, and it will screw up the way you punch in real life.

I'm not sure if decline press is necessary.

Relegate calf work to auxiliary work, it should not really be a big priority in training.

I'm not sure why you are doing pullovers for lat work, maybe you can explain why? IMO either bent over rows or pullups would be better.

No need to do both shoulder press and military press, although I'm not entirely sure what the difference is, since they appear to be the same lift AFAIK. I would do push presses instead.

I really think your program is waaaay too complicated, it looks more like a bodybuilding split than an athletic training program. IMO you should divide your lifting into two categories: the main lifts that are to prioritized, and auxilary/assistance work. Also every other day may be too much... depends on your rep scheme and volume really. For rugby I would emphasize squatting, power cleaning and push pressing. Also other upperbody work as well. I neglected it during training during last off-season and I found that there were times, especially during mauling, I could have used more upper body. But I had enough low body strength to drive the scrum effectively and to ruck hard.

[IronFist]

The shift key is your friend. Be nice to it.

[Ralphie]

When I started to lift a few years ago, I gained significantly from cleans. This lift seems to tie in specific movements in martial arts. Specificallly clinching/throwing/guard escapes(if you grapple). My rec would be to include that on the days you do lat work.

[SevenStar]

I'm pressed for time so can't go in detail right now, but

1. too many isolation exercises
2. not enough compound exercises
3. you won't need inclines AND declines
4. add pullups instead of pullovers


5. "tone" is a myth...