Thoughts.

Before I can start arranging all the pieces of the plan, it helps to have an idea of what I want my training week to look like. (I find organizing with a weekly cycle to be the most convenient for me, but you may find a shorter 2 to 4-day cycle makes more sense, especially for beginners when less variety is needed).

I’ve been training on a 4 day/week, 2 upper/2 lower split for my training, and for my initial phase this structure makes sense. In later phases, as my focus shifts away from the weights in the gym (and away from upper-body work) to more sport-specific work, intervals, sprinting, etc, I’ll be cutting back on my gym days to reflect that.

Doing What, When? – Aligning Priorities and Time

What you decide upon will depend on your availability and resources, but keep in mind that the time you spend really is a reflection of your priorities – rather than letting the time dictate your priorities, think about planning around the priorities from the start and basing your schedule on that.

I should add that while the upper/lower split is there for lifting, I’ll be incorporating lower-body plyo/agility work on upper body days – only 2 days of lower body work isn’t enough for my needs (and would be too much to pile on all together at once), and given my priorities this organization makes sense.

Generally I’ve been following a program of M W F Sa lifts, with M/F and W/Sa being lower and upper days, respectively – the actual days may shift, but the order and spacing tends to stay the same. This is important to account for, as lifts that follow a day off (MWF) are likely to have me in a different performance mindset – likewise lifts later in the “week” generally need to be less demanding to accommodate fatigue from earlier workouts that may be carrying over. In practical terms, this means that I’ll be focusing the heavy lifting on the early-week lifts, and working the rest around that.

Filling in the Framework of the Day

Weekly structure is one component – the organization of a given workout takes it down another level of detail. Again, your structure here should reflect your priorities, though there are some caveats that should inform them:

• Plyo work is most efficacious when done fresh
• Heavier low-rep sets tend to handle more weight when done before higher-rep sets
• You need to warm up before you do anything too intense (this one should be common sense, but bears repeating)

There are exceptions to each situation – again, depends on your priorities, but you’d best have a good reason for violating the above.

For me, my typical workout “structure” is as follows:

1. Foam Roll/Mobility (Warm-Up)
2. Explosive Work (if any)
3. Main Lifts
4. Assistance Work (if any)
5. Conditioning (if any)

Sometimes I’ll combine steps; my main lift might be snatches, which are explosive, or I might incorporate some jump rope or other plyo-type work into the warm-up, or my assistance work might be a conditioning circuit of several exercises. Sometimes steps are omitted for time or other reasons, and on some days some components will receive more focus than others (again, time spent reflects my changing priorities), but this is my approach to training.

Moving On

From here I’ll start to elucidate each of the above components in terms of actual exercises and what I’m actually planning to do…in the meantime, I’d love to hear your comments on your training priorities and how you structure your week/day!

Related posts:

1. Pre-Season Training – Agility, Plyometrics, Movement Training
2. Structuring Your Own Training Program, Part 2
3. Planning My Training – Gathering Tools
4. Melissa Witmer: Priorities For Her Speed Block
5. Pre-Season Training – The Lifts