Powerful Combos

After 25 years in the gym, sometimes I get asked by young guys in the gym how to set-up their training. They are looking for a fixed routine they can follow to letter and they are usually not happy with the reply I give them: eventually, you have to come up with your own one, reflecting your goals, age, current level of fitness and what not.

Confused as they get, I tell them it is better to have a "template" with a set of fixed "rules" which leaves lots of room for individual needs.

The rules would be:

1/ About 80% of your weekely training should be big compound lifts. Have you ever seen in a gym a 75-year old lifter lifting? Look close and you will see most of them do squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, maybe with limited ROM, if needed. Rarely will they do leg extensions, skull crushers, etc. Why? Because with compound lifts the load is distributed accross several joints while with isolation exercises the load gets on one joint. Therefore, a 70-year young guy is likely to do close-grip benches for his triceps than a skull crusher. When you are 75, you don't care being jacked and tan, you want to move properly and be healthy and keep as much strength as possible.

2/ Do compound movements several times a week. Really, squatting twice a week will not kill you. Choose a "powerful combo" of two basic movements and round it up with crap.

3/ Round up your training with what you enjoy and what works your current weaknesses. A weakness is not necessarily only a muscle group, it can be a particular range of motion on a basic lift, conditioning, too much bodyweight, mobility issues etc.

4/ Reflect your age and injury history. It is a no brainer that a 70-year old grandfather will not tolerate in the gym the same as 23-year old testosterone blazing young stud.

That's it.


Ok, powerful combos now:

SQUAT
SUMO DEADLIFT

You just hit your quads, hams, hips, core, mid-back, upper back. One of the best combos because one feeds the other. Round it up with some shoulder presses and rows and you have a full body session.

20-year old stud with awesome recovery and loads of testosterone:

squat: 6 sets of 5 (60-75% of 1RM)
sumo deadlift: 6 sets of 5 (60-75% of 1RM)
seated DB press: 5 sets of 8 heavy
T-bar rows: 4 sets of 6 heavy as fuck
hammer curl: 4 sets of 15
abs: 6 sets of 30

Go balls to the wall because you are young and you will recover in no time.


45-year old father of 2 with full-time long hours job and some injuries under his belt:

squat: 5 sets of 5 heavy
sumo deadlift: 3 sets of 5 medium heavy
seated DB press: 3 sets of 8
T-bar rows: 3 sets of 8
rope: 3 sets of 300 jumps (gotta take care of the heart, Dad, right? you've got family to feed ...)
mobility circuit 5 mins

Go heavy, but not crazy heavy, take your time between sets; go fast on the rope.


58-year young lifter with a full-time job, kids, grandkids possibly, lots of past injuries and tissue wear:

squat: 4 sets of 5 medium to heavy
sumo: 2 sets of 8 light-medium
low cable rows: 3 sets of 20 with light weight and full contraction
rope: 5 sets of 100 jumps
mobility circuit 10-20 mins

You can still go heavy but not on everything; work on your conditioning still and greatly on mobility and lost movement patterns. Listen to your body when it talks back, you should be pretty good at it because you are 58 years old ...

See? Same "rules" but applied differently based on goals, physical history and age.


Other powerful combos?

DEADLIFT
BENCH PRESS

I always liked this one because my upper back is super pumped before I go benching creating a nice pad on the bench. Again with 5 sets of 5 heavy deads and 4 sets of 8 on benches with a hypertrophy set at the end, almost all muscle groups got hit. You might round it up with some direct leg work, arms, abs, whatever.

FRONT SQUAT
OVERHEAD PRESS

Fantastic combo. Your legs, core, upper back and shoulders done with just two lifts. 4 sets of 5 on fronts heavy as fuck followed with volume on pressing, like 6 sets of 8 followed by two sets of 20 reps as burn-out sets. Round up with tons of back work and abs work and you're fine.

BENCH PRESS
OVERHEAD PRESS

Again, one feeds the other. Go moderate volume on bench (like 5 sets of 5) followed with lighter weight and high volume on pressing: 6 sets of 10 plus 2 sets of 20. Your pressing muscles should be done at this point. Finish with tons of back work and some moderate leg-press.

DEFICIT DEADLIFTS
FRONT SQUAT

High volume, high intesity pulls followed by low-rep heavy as fuck front squats. I guarantee not a single muscle will be missed. 7 sets of 3 with 80% of 1RM (2" deficit) followed by 4 sets of 4 heavy front squats. Go home, you'll have nothing left after the front squats. If you feel like doing cable curls after that you went too light on the front squats.

From time to time, do the DEADLIFT EXTRAVAGANZA, three deadlift styles in one training. It will be nasty but it works fantastic. Just don't overdo it:

sumo: 5 sets of 5 (70% of 1RM)
conventional 4" block pulls: 3 sets of 3 heavy
Romanian DL: 2 sets of 20

or if your meet style is conventional:

conventional: 5 sets of 3 (80% of 1RM)
sumo 4" block pulls: 3 sets of 2 don't be afraid to pull some heavy shit here for overload
Romanian DL: 4 sets of 6 medium-heavy



cheers