14 Day Strength Training Program

8.14.08 in personal | 5 comments

Hello all,

I’ve spent much of the last few days formulating the next cycle of my physical training program, to begin upon my return to Duke University, August 25th. I’ve worked with two other programs this summer, and seen some results, so why am I changing things up:

  • Two truths of bodybuilding:
    1. Everything works.
    2. Nothing works for very long.

    The idea is that the body quickly adapts to any training regimen, and thus variation must be maintained for maximum growth.

  • I’d like to significantly reduce the amount of time I need to spend working out, given the return of responsibilities like classes and my new goals.

Reduce time in the gym? Won’t I sacrifice results? Tim Ferriss doesn’t think so. His life is practically the antithesis, and he’s got the results to prove it. My workout plan is loosely based off of:

From Geek to Freak
Colorado Experiment

You can see the plan in full detail (excel spreadsheet), or just read my overview:

The workout has a 14 day cycle (I plan to do three cycles, followed by assessment and an off week).

Day 1: Ab Flexion Circuit, Sprints
Day 2: Compound Lifting
Day 3: Shopping, Meal Preparation
Day 4: Tabata 1
Day 5: Ab Rotation Circuit, Isolation 1
Day 6: Compound Lifting
Day 7: Shopping, Meal Preparation
Day 8: Ab Flexion Circuit, Stair Climbs
Day 9: Compound Lifting
Day 10: Shopping, Meal Preparation
Day 11: Tabata 2
Day 12: Ab Rotation Circuit, Isolation 2
Day 13: Compound Lifting
Day 14: Shopping, Meal Preparation

Let’s see what’s contained here:

  • 4 days dedicated to buying and cooking food! Diet is so crucial to physical training success that I felt it necessary to explicitly schedule. My diet program is based off of Tim Ferriss’ variation on the slow-carb diet.
  • 4 days of compound lifting. This refers to multi-joint, multi-muscle group exercises (deadlift, squat, bench press, pullups, overhead press), which are performed one set to failure. Working more muscle groups will produce a greater hormonal response and the focus on intensity (slow cadence and one set to failure) decreases required time.
  • 4 days of abdominal circuits (important to so many people)
  • 2 days of sprinting/high intensity cardio
  • 2 days of isolation exercises for lagging body parts (I’m doing biceps and calves)
  • 2 days of Tabata training, a high intensity, short duration workout style

The best part is that none of these workouts (as detailed in the spreadsheet) should take more than 45 minutes, many take less than 30.

I’ll be reporting on the effectiveness of the program regularly (before and after each 14 day cycle) here in the personal blog, with photos, measurements, and lifting statistics. This is both to serve as motivation (knowing that people are keeping tabs on me), and to objectively determine the effectiveness of the program. I look forward to seeing the results!

If you have any suggestions, or experiences you’d like to share, please let me know in the comments!

-Barry

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This article was featured in The Twenty Second Edition of the Carnival of Improving Life.