Basic lifting split

Monday: ME bench

Tuesday: DE squat

Wednesday: make up day or a day to do pulling, core work, or extra work

Thursday: DE bench

Friday: ME squat

We do our “core” or main lifts—the bench, squat, deadlift, and clean—and then add 3–4
assistance movements. We also train the abs, obliques, and low back every lifting day. Sets and
reps are as prescribed. Unfortunately, running doesn’t receive as much attention as I’d like due to
space issues. However, we do emphasize running in our summer program.

Early off-season (end of season through the beginning of December), 3–6 weeks

We employ mostly repeated effort lifting. Our goals are to dial in perfect technique with our
squat and deadlift. Time is spent on core strength, specifically the low back for safety and
because you can’t squat big numbers without a very strong back. We spend some time here
teaching the hang clean, which is used throughout the training year. We tweak the bench
technique focusing on arched back, lower ribcage descent, and the push away. We try for a three
day split with a little of everything mixed in each day.

We also teach a variety of posterior chain movements because these will provide the foundation
of what we do the rest of the year. Our athletes make friends with the glute/ham bench very early
in their training lives.

Off-season (early December–June)

We now introduce max effort and dynamic effort methods. We switch to a four day split—an
upper body ME day, a lower body ME day, an upper body DE day, and a lower body DE day. We
use various tools including bands and chains and employ various movements including the bench
press—specifically the straight bench, the floor press, and 2- and 3-board presses. Squat
variations include low, medium, high boxes, front squat, and safety bar squat. We do good
mornings but not with max effort unless we have an advanced lifter. We do a max effort deadlift
once every several weeks. It tends to shred their bodies and central nervous systems for a few
days afterward. We use a hip bar, sumo stance, or squat/lunge machine for deadlift reps once a
week, and we deload on vacation and short school weeks. These also serve as max weeks when
the boys can attempt new maxes. We get new maxes on max effort days, but we only count them
if it was part of the workout. These weeks show up every four weeks or so.

We change training modes every 2–3 weeks and use bands, chains, weight releasers, boards, and
inclines, all manipulated to avoid adaptation.
Lifts used

Bench: bench press, 2-board bench, 3-board bench, floor press

(We’ll use straight weight, bands, chains, and weight releasers for variety.)

Squat: parallel squat, low box, high box, front squat

(Again, we’ll use straight weight, bands, and chains. We also use suspended squats on dynamic
days.)

Deadlift: straight bar, hip bar, squat lunge machine, suspended deadlifts for speed

Sample week during the winter

(We do abs, obliques, and low back daily.)

Monday:

ME bench, 5s to 3s to 1s

Dumbbell bench variation, 4 X 12

Pull-ups, five sets, may do assisted pull-ups with bands

Triceps, 4 X 12

Shoulder auxiliary, four sets

Tuesday:

ME squat, work up to heavy singles

Posterior chain movement, one of the following—band pull-thrus, stiff leg deadlifts with
dumbbells or a barbell, or reverse hypers

Single leg movement—single leg squats, single leg S-ball squats, variety of split squats

Glute ham raises, 3–4 sets, body weight or with bands or plate resistance

Wednesday:

off or make up missed work

Thursday:
Hang clean

DE bench, 8–12 sets of 3–4

DB bench variation, 4 X 12

Pulling, 4 X 12

Pull-ups, assisted pull-ups, some type of rowing motion

Shoulders, 4 X 12

Push press, Bradford press, shoulder box, two or three way shoulder raises

Triceps, 4 X 12

Friday:

DE squat, on various boxes—low, medium, high

Jump training, two movements—squat jumps, split jumps, box jumps (body weight or very light
resistance), 10–20% body weight or just body weight

Single leg movement—single leg squats, split squats, lunges, stable and unstable

Glute ham raises, 3 X 10-15

Summer workouts

For summer workouts, we do two-week waves and change up the bench and squat variations
every two weeks (straight weight, bands, chains, 2-board, 3-board benches, low, parallel, high
box squats). We have about a six-week block from the end of school until double sessions start
again.

Three-day split

Monday: ME bench, chest and shoulders, sprint speed work

Wednesday: Clean and deadlift, DE bench, sprint speed work first

Friday: ME squat, good mornings, single leg, and glute hams

Tuesday/Thursday: tempo running for technique, make up days or pulling, core and extra work,
CNS recovery

Summer running
Monday/Wednesday:

Speed development—sprint work, accelerations on the track, 95–100% intensity, short sprints of
10, 20, and 30 meters with full recoveries

Tuesday/Thursday:

Tempo running—focus on good technique, distances vary by day from 50–200 meters

Friday:

Heavy sled dragging, forward, backward, pulls

(Fridays are not running days. Generally, they lift heavy and burn out the legs.)

Here are some of my observations from 30 years of training and coaching:

 I believe that coaches should be training and using the methodologies that they’re
imposing on their athletes. I don’t ask my athletes to do anything that I haven’t tried. As a
coach, you need to know what each exercise feels like and how the body will react to it
before unleashing something on your athletes.
 Find the money and space for a glute ham machine. Our athletes love it (when they aren’t
cursing its existence). The hip stability gained from this one exercise is awesome. In my
mind, the glute ham raise is the number two exercise behind the squat for developing the
high school athlete. We do reverse hypers, back extensions, and other core work on the
machine.
 Buy or find someone to build some dragging sleds. This is another piece of equipment
that my kids either have a love/hate relationship with. The challenge of loading up the
sled and dragging super heavy is hard for the boys to resist. It promotes triple extension
and leg drive without DOMS. This is also invaluable for the upper body-injured kids who
can’t squat or grip a bar. But they should be able to drag a sled.
 There’s so much information out there. Take some time each week to read and grab
something new. Introduce some new lift or variation every so often. You’ll get results and
keep the kids fresh. If you’re doing the same things that you’ve done for years without
variation, your kids will get bored. They might not say it, but they’re bored. There are
thousands of ways to get strong. Use a couple hundred of them…
 Several months back, I concluded a 6-part series for FCF on periodization of strength and
outlined a 4-phase sample routine. The routine was an example of a linear (sometimes called
Western) periodization model, where the phases are progressively structured, one building upon
the next. This method was the original version of periodization and although still widely practiced
and useful, there are several newer and in certain instances more effective periodization
schemes.

 A number of years ago, while trying to sell my services to a well-known fighter, I explained to him
how his training could be more effective if he were to periodize his training regimen. A lot of the
 chronic fatigue and injuries that had been plaguing him could be alleviated, not to mention the
newfound strength and explosive power to be gained.

 I describe a periodized training plan, in which the training period, from one competition to the
next, (or macrocycle) is broken into manageable phases: preparatory, competitive, and transition,
with the understanding that peak performance cannot be maintained throughout each stage.
Recovery sections are built into the program and the timing of peaking is carefully planned. By
having different phases with different goals and training protocol, specific attributes, such as
power and endurance, that if trained for simultaneously would be mutually exclusive, can be
achieved over a training period, while minimizing overtraining and the potential for injury. I went
on to sketch out a typical 12-week mesocycle:

 Phase-1: Anatomical Adaptation (training to train)
 Phase-2: Hypertrophy (bodybuilding methods)
 Phase-3: Maximal Strength (improve neuromuscular efficiency)
 Phase-4: Conversion Phase (convert non-specific gains into power/endurance, etc.)
 Phase-5: Transition (recovery/active rest)

 I went on to explain how a year’s training could be divided into 4 cycles of roughly 3 months each,
peaking for a major competition roughly every three months.

 After concluding my little presentation, anticipating the congratulations (and big fat check) that
were sure to follow, I was a little taken aback when he countered that such a method was
impractical for him since he would often take a fight on a moments notice, he needed to stay in
“peak” condition at all times.

 Not one to give up, I contended that by definition, peak condition was impossible to retain for
more than a couple of weeks at the longest, and then outlined the concept of non-linear
periodization, that in his case, since his competitions were irregularly timed, would probably be
more viable.

 In the classical model, the buildup to higher intensities occurs over time, whereas in the non-
linear method, the volume and intensity varies greatly within the week. For example one might
train with moderate (8-10 RM) resistances on day-1 (hypertrophy), heavy (3-5 RM) resistances on
day-2 (maximal strength) and light (12-15 RM) resistances on day-3 (power endurance). As with
the linear model, after a 12-week period there would be a period of active rest. According to
studies, this method is as effective (at least short-term) as linear periodization and more effective
than non-periodized training.

 Another popular alternative to the linear method is alternating periodization, in which volume and
intensity undulates from mesocycle to mesocycle. Though one of the benefits of linear
periodization is that you can work towards your optimal loading in a progressive manner. A
downside is that at the beginning of a cycle you may be de-training the desired adaptations of the
cycle’s completion, and near the completion you may lose some of the adaptations gained at the
onset of the cycle.

 In a linear plan, intensity builds progressively: 1, 2, 3, 4. In alternating periodization, the volume
and intensity tends to rise and fall: 1, 3, 2, 4. A benefit of the alternating method is that you get
more frequent exposure to varying stimulus, and thus are less likely to become detrained in any
particular biomotor ability. The downside is that you need to be experienced in load selection, or
you may not work near optimal loading.

 Westside Barbell, the most successful powerlifting gym, and often on the cutting edge of training,
have devised their own version of periodization, which they have termed, conjugate
periodization. In their method, training is centered on three different pathways:

 1. Max Effort
 2. Repetition
 3. Dynamic Effort

 Though similar in appearance to the non-linear method, Westside has a different rational for their
approach. Rather than being suited to those who compete irregularly, they employ conjugated
periodization to overcome adaptation and plateaus. When training for maximal strength, the
central nervous system inhibition is reduced. Thus the maximum number of motor units are
activated with optimal discharge frequency. The drawback of using this method is that training
with weights above 90 percent RM for much longer than three weeks causes the nervous system
to fatigue and then strength diminishes.

 Westside Barbell was able to find a way around this three-week barrier by switching the exercises
used for the max effort method every one to three weeks. This keeps the body fresh so the
method can be used year round. In the linear model, one might attempt a single rep max (1 RM)
only once every 8-12 weeks, but in the conjugate method, a 1 RM may be attempted almost
weekly. Westside utilizes this method solely for improving 1RM in powerlifting competition-bench
press, squat and deadlift, but these principals can be adapted to suit the biomechanical needs of
the MMA fighter.

 However, in addition, to maximal strength and explosive power, the MMA athlete needs to
develop static strength, eccentric strength and various kinds of strength endurance (at various
joint angles), not to mention agility, balance, and technical/tactical skills. Another difficulty is that
in the Westside method, a typical program is a 4-day-per-week split, but in most cases (because
of other needs, and limited recovery ability) the MMA fighter can’t afford to devote 4 days per
week to strength training. The MMA athlete has a greater number of biomotor functions for which
to train than the powerlifter, but fewer days to devote to lifting weights.

 The solution is to use “conjugated” microcycles (of days/weeks) within a linear, or alternating
meso/macrocycle (months/year) framework. This sounds complicated, and is something that I
will cover in future articles. However I will say that “Max Effort”, or maximal strength is basis for
power, and even endurance, so it should be given priority, while the other biomotor abilities can
be rotated within the mesocycles.

 Which method should you use? Each has its advantages and disadvantages. In many ways
linear periodization is best suited to novices and under certain conditions, the benefits of the other
methods don’t outweigh the extra complexity and detailed planning required. Experiment with the
different methods and if it works for you, use it.

 So what happened with the fighter mentioned above? He felt that it was too late in his career to
be trying untested ideas and methods and declined my services. I made one last ditch effort
explaining that for him it was particularly important to change his approach. In our youth we can
often get away with inferior methods and overtraining, but for the mature athlete to have
continued success, training smart (rather than just hard) becomes increasingly important. I failed
to make my case and he continued on a losing streak he had been having and not long after
retired.

 I did, shortly thereafter, start working with a former training partner of his, who in a few short
months, made gains in strength and power that far exceeded his expectations.