Maintaining Fitness - Proposed routine

[JimS]

Hi folks, seeing as you all gave me such good advice and support on my last thread, thought I would have another go.

Looking for advice on how much and what sort of rowing is needed to maintain fitness levels?

From experience with weights.
- One session per week will hold/go backwards slowly.
- Twice will improve very slowly.
- Three plus needed for significant improvements.

Any ideas on cardio generally and rowing specifically?

I'm planning a weekly routine that looks something like the below. Focus is on building strength and explosiveness. Maybe a little size, But maintaining my fitness levels as much as possible.

Monday. Squats. Overhead press. Power cleans. Hard circuit.

Tuesday. 4 x 1500 m

Wednesday. Squats. Pushup progressions. Power cleans. Core workout.

Thursday. 45 min steady state

Friday. Squats. Overhead press. Power cleans. Hard circuit.


Circuit a mix of full body stuff. Intent is to be completely gassed in about 15 minutes.

This gives me 3 hard cardio workouts per week ( two circuits plus 1500m intervals) one long slow workout, And three strength sessions. Spaced across the week pretty evenly.

Thoughts?

P.S. workout choices driven by what I have at home.

[Gammmmo]

sat/sun?

[max_ratcliffe]

Hi folks, seeing as you all gave me such good advice and support on my last thread, thought I would have another go.

Looking for advice on how much and what sort of rowing is needed to maintain fitness levels?

From experience with weights.
- One session per week will hold/go backwards slowly.
- Twice will improve very slowly.
- Three plus needed for significant improvements.

Any ideas on cardio generally and rowing specifically?

I'm planning a weekly routine that looks something like the below. Focus is on building strength and explosiveness. Maybe a little size, But maintaining my fitness levels as much as possible.

Monday. Squats. Overhead press. Power cleans. Hard circuit.

Tuesday. 4 x 1500 m

Wednesday. Squats. Pushup progressions. Power cleans. Core workout.

Thursday. 45 min steady state

Friday. Squats. Overhead press. Power cleans. Hard circuit.


Circuit a mix of full body stuff. Intent is to be completely gassed in about 15 minutes.

This gives me 3 hard cardio workouts per week ( two circuits plus 1500m intervals) one long slow workout, And three strength sessions. Spaced across the week pretty evenly.

Thoughts?

P.S. workout choices driven by what I have at home.

Rats - where did my carefully-crafted response just go?!? Argghh. Will try again.

It looks tidy enough, but a bit anterior chain-dominated. You've got 3 squat sessions and 3 pushing sessions, but no deadlifts and no pulling (other than the rowing).

If you haven't been keeping your strength up with all the cardio you've been doing lately, the power cleans may be a bit risky until you've built the strength back up. I'd swap them out for deadlifts (done once per week) and then put the power stuff back in as you get closer to the season. Assume you are also doing the "prehab" and injury prevention stuff like external rotations and neck work?

As you get closer to your season, you will need to put some running in, to replace the rowing intervals, I think. Not saying you have to pound the pavements (probably not a great idea at your size) but some rugby-specific running work and not just straight-line stuff.

The steady-state row can probably stay year-round.

My 2c. Be interested to see other replies.

[JimS]

Thanks both

To address a few questions. After years of trying different routines, and work out stuff with varying consistancy. I've landed on a routine that i can stick to for the rest of my life I reckon .

I work out at home, every day before work. I can't stick weekends, and as soon as start trying to go to the gym it sucks too much time.

I go in hard for about an hour, hour 15 max and I'm done.

Saturday's and Sundays are a back up for the occasion so day I miss a workout. Normally due to work travel or a later night social event.

I also live in a condo. So deadlifts are a no no.

I have an Olympic bar, some heavy rubber mats, and 100kg of weight.

There's certainly things I could do better with more time, more days, or a full gym, but what's that saying? The best routine is the one you stick with?

[JimS]

Hi folks, seeing as you all gave me such good advice and support on my last thread, thought I would have another go.

Looking for advice on how much and what sort of rowing is needed to maintain fitness levels?

From experience with weights.
- One session per week will hold/go backwards slowly.
- Twice will improve very slowly.
- Three plus needed for significant improvements.

Any ideas on cardio generally and rowing specifically?

I'm planning a weekly routine that looks something like the below. Focus is on building strength and explosiveness. Maybe a little size, But maintaining my fitness levels as much as possible.

Monday. Squats. Overhead press. Power cleans. Hard circuit.

Tuesday. 4 x 1500 m

Wednesday. Squats. Pushup progressions. Power cleans. Core workout.

Thursday. 45 min steady state

Friday. Squats. Overhead press. Power cleans. Hard circuit.


Circuit a mix of full body stuff. Intent is to be completely gassed in about 15 minutes.

This gives me 3 hard cardio workouts per week ( two circuits plus 1500m intervals) one long slow workout, And three strength sessions. Spaced across the week pretty evenly.

Thoughts?

P.S. workout choices driven by what I have at home.

Rats - where did my carefully-crafted response just go?!? Argghh. Will try again.

It looks tidy enough, but a bit anterior chain-dominated. You've got 3 squat sessions and 3 pushing sessions, but no deadlifts and no pulling (other than the rowing).

If you haven't been keeping your strength up with all the cardio you've been doing lately, the power cleans may be a bit risky until you've built the strength back up. I'd swap them out for deadlifts (done once per week) and then put the power stuff back in as you get closer to the season. Assume you are also doing the "prehab" and injury prevention stuff like external rotations and neck work?

As you get closer to your season, you will need to put some running in, to replace the rowing intervals, I think. Not saying you have to pound the pavements (probably not a great idea at your size) but some rugby-specific running work and not just straight-line stuff.

The steady-state row can probably stay year-round.

My 2c. Be interested to see other replies.

Power cleans count as a pull, no? I'll also be doing some dumbbell rows, kettlebell swings etc as part of the circuit.

Pre season training is a lot of running, bit will try and get a few jogs in before that starts. But that's not until march.

I guess the question is whether this will.maintain the cardio fitness or I'll go backwards. Only one way to find out I guess!

[hjs]

Overall, you are far from your potential yet, if you stay active including a few decent aerobic sessions you have nothing to worry about.

[Aimless1]

Looks like you put some serious thought into your plan.

The only suggestion I would make is to substitute an aerobic work out for one to the weight training days. Could be walking, biking, hiking, jogging, running, ski touring, roller blading, etc. It looks like a solid plan and you seem disciplined so no doubt you will achieve your goals. Be willing to change things up occasionally to keep it interesting and keep yourself motivated. Time, distance and intensity can all be varied.

Good luck!

[JimS]

Looks like you put some serious thought into your plan.

The only suggestion I would make is to substitute an aerobic work out for one to the weight training days. Could be walking, biking, hiking, jogging, running, ski touring, roller blading, etc. It looks like a solid plan and you seem disciplined so no doubt you will achieve your goals. Be willing to change things up occasionally to keep it interesting and keep yourself motivated. Time, distance and intensity can all be varied.

Good luck!

Thanks.

The three days of weights is deliberate. Building strength is the primary focus for the next 4 months. I'm just hoping to keep as much fitness as possible while I do it.

[max_ratcliffe]

<>
Power cleans count as a pull, no? I'll also be doing some dumbbell rows, kettlebell swings etc as part of the circuit.

Pre season training is a lot of running, bit will try and get a few jogs in before that starts. But that's not until march.

I guess the question is whether this will.maintain the cardio fitness or I'll go backwards. Only one way to find out I guess!

Er yes, good point. Power cleans are a fast explosive deadlift, I suppose. I've never done them because of the skill involved in executing them properly. Don't they annoy the neighbours though?

You're probably right about the running. Depending on how long your preseason is, it will probably give you all the running you need.

[dknickerbocker]

I like the addition of the circuit days, to get the whole body metabolically ready to just work and work and work.

Just a suggestion, go online and find cross-fit workouts of the day to mix those up and keep everything fresh and challenging. They're usually about 20 minutes, some of them involve equipment or difficult skill moves (like handstnad walking) but you can also find plenty that don't and can be safely done whenever, wherever, without supervision.

If building strength and mass is a goal, i am jealous of how much you're gonna get to eat

[JimS]

I like the addition of the circuit days, to get the whole body metabolically ready to just work and work and work.

Just a suggestion, go online and find cross-fit workouts of the day to mix those up and keep everything fresh and challenging. They're usually about 20 minutes, some of them involve equipment or difficult skill moves (like handstnad walking) but you can also find plenty that don't and can be safely done whenever, wherever, without supervision.

If building strength and mass is a goal, i am jealous of how much you're gonna get to eat

Thanks. I'll have a look!

I'm still fat enough that I can add muscle without eating more. Whenever I've lifted consistently in the past I've added muscle pretty quickly.

[JimS]

Week 2. Tuesday.

4 x 1500 with 5 minutes rest.

Last week this went well. With a 1:41.8 average vs a 1:42.0 target.

This week, not so much at all.

Pace per rep

1:41.9
1:41.9
1:43.6
1:44.9

Average 1:43.1

All went to hell half way through rep 3 and was a real grind to finish at all. Big backwards step compared to week 1.

Trying to put this in context before deciding that this routine wont work to retain fitness.

1. Without the rowing volume, i will have lost any supercompensation effects, so this may not say anything about my underlying fitness going backwards

2. I'm still fairly light on the weights, as i start tbis cycle, so wont be getting any volume training effects yet, or real increase to strength and power.

3. I've been on a bit of a diet. Trying to hit my target weight of 113kgs before christmas. That won't be helping.

Will aim for my new average of 143.1 next session and see how I go for a few more weeks.

If I keep going backwards I may need to tweak a few things. Possible try and get more rowing volume in.

[dknickerbocker]

Yeah i'm not shocked at all if you're cutting weight.

i also know that i'll often get a little "wobble" of sorts whenever i introduce a new/novel training stimulus, no matter what it is. E.g., generally my cycling suffers briefly when i reintroduce weights, suffers again when i add front squat back in, etc.

[max_ratcliffe]

I cut out sugar about three weeks ago. For the first week, my legs felt empty and I HD'd on a couple of workouts that weren't supposed to be taxing at all. Muscle glycogen stores depleted?

Still on the weight-loss gig but my body has got used to not being so sugar-addled and after that one shocking week, things are back to normal.

You may just be going through an adjustment period without actually losing any real fitness.

[Ombrax]

I cut out sugar about three weeks ago. For the first week, my legs felt empty and I HD'd on a couple of workouts that weren't supposed to be taxing at all. Muscle glycogen stores depleted?

I'm no nutrition expert, but I would think that carbs are carbs, and your body shouldn't have any trouble if all you've done is eliminate added sugars. Presumably you're not getting rid of all the other carbs in your diet, which should be more than enough to compensate for the missing sugar.