Looking for new program

[moyy]

Hey guys, I've been running 5-3-1 for a year/14 cycles now, and was wanting to try something new. I ran 5-3-1 alongside 6 MMA sessions a week, and 1-2 LISS sessions, so I've built up my work capacity quite well. From now on I'll only be doing 3 MMA sessions, which means I can probably handle a program with higher volume/intensity/frequency than 5-3-1. I've considered a few different options, and was looking for some suggestions from you guys to help me out. My aims are still mostly performance-related, getting stronger/more powerful, but also with some side-goals of slowly gaining muscle (I'm currently ~83kg/9%BF and looking to get to around 88kg at the same BF). I can train anywhere from 2-4 days a week. Options I've considered, in no particular order:

1. TJM (From reading the logs it seems a few people have had not-so-good experiences with this, so not sure)
2. Madcow 5x5 (don't know much about this, a lot of people seem to like it, doesn't seem to leave much room for assistance exercises)
3. Texas Method
4. Some sort of westside variation? This would probably require some research (aka PM'ing Miaou) and would have some more variation. It also seems like DE work would have quite a good athletic carry-over to sports. Maybe just incorporating certain Westside principles into something else?
5. ARPE (don't really know much about this other than it's self-regulated and Jaunty likes it, looks interesting and probably one of the ones I'd be interested in trying the most). Any links to read up on this?
6. Linear periodization. Any links to read up on this and how to do it?

Any suggestions on other programs or which one to follow of these is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[LZD]

I'm on my phone - so no links right away - but in my opinion, anything auto-regulated (eg APRE) is a great option for someone spending lots of time on another sport.

Would you consider more rigorous conditioning over more strength work? Imo 2 days is enough for a fighter, 3 tops (when strength is a focus). 4 seems like overkill.

Edit: and you could do skill work on your own using the correct work/rest/intensity levels to get in more skill work too!

 

[DrBdan]

Here's a link describing APRE:

http://www.myosynthesis.com/workouts/apre-strength-size

I agree that it is a good option for someone spending a lot of time on another sport which is why I tried it last Fall. I liked it but think I need more time with it before I see good results.

 

[Tosa]

APRE is good, but it's not a routine by itself.

Honestly, I think this question is a bit too wide open to give a good answer, because at this point, it seems you're really just asking "What's a good intermediate routine", which is a good many different routines.

I'd start by thinking about what lifts you're prioritizing, and what is it that, for you, a routine has to have, or that you must avoid. For example, maybe it's important that the routine includes power cleans, or overhead work. Or maybe you're comfortable with just the powerlifts. And, maybe it's important that you squat and bench at least twice a week. Or maybe you want something that's has appropriate reps/sets/intensity so that you can really work at improving technique with "X". Also, what, if any, assistance exercises do you feel the need to do? For example, more than anything else, I know I need to include some sort of unilateral leg work, or my squats start to go sideways.

Then you can start ruling out certain routines as not suitable, and zeroing in on routines or methods that might be more suitable.

 

[moyy]

APRE is good, but it's not a routine by itself.

Honestly, I think this question is a bit too wide open to give a good answer, because at this point, it seems you're really just asking "What's a good intermediate routine", which is a good many different routines.

I'd start by thinking about what lifts you're prioritizing, and what is it that, for you, a routine has to have, or that you must avoid. For example, maybe it's important that the routine includes power cleans, or overhead work. Or maybe you're comfortable with just the powerlifts. And, maybe it's important that you squat and bench at least twice a week. Or maybe you want something that's has appropriate reps/sets/intensity so that you can really work at improving technique with "X". Also, what, if any, assistance exercises do you feel the need to do? For example, more than anything else, I know I need to include some sort of unilateral leg work, or my squats start to go sideways.

Then you can start ruling out certain routines as not suitable, and zeroing in on routines or methods that might be more suitable.

I'd like to do power-cleans and some sort of overhead work. I'd like to squat more than once a week, even if it's a variation like Front Squats. For assistance I really like GM's, rows and close-grip bench press.

Not sure what else to add.

For LZD, yeah I've been training 3x since I started, but if some routine really required 4 or 2 I'd be willing to try it.

 

[LZD]

Are you only attending 3 classes because your focus has shifted?

 

[Tosa]

Then TM or a Bill Starr routine could be an option. However, with 5/3/1 you would have been increasing your training max monthly, or there about. So it's possible that a program with weekly progressions may not work so well.

I don't know enough about TJM to say if it would, or wouldn't be a good fit. There's the cube method, which Legio is trying, but I don't know anything about that either.


As for linear periodization, this article describes a fairly simple approach. While it says it uses block periodization, it's also using linear periodization. The biggest con to this method is that for a chunk of the routine the weights you'd be handling are fairly light, although you can try offsetting that by working up to some moderately heavy weights before the lighter work sets.

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/how-i-train/


Or if you wanted to try APRE, maybe something like:

Day 1
Squat (APRE)
Bench (APRE)
Assistance

Day 2
Power Clean
Press (APRE)
Deadlifts (maybe)
Assistance

Day 3
Squat (-10% APRE weight, for 4-6 sets)
Narrow grip bench (-10% APRE weight, for 4-6 sets)
Assistance

Day 4
Power Clean
Press (-10% APRE weight, for 4-6 sets)
Assistance

Although that's just brainstorming. Or maybe something with that general arrangement of lifts, but programmed differently.