Please help a weak sissy boy put together a powerlifting program

Matt Thornton

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IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ALL THE STUFF BELOW, SKIP DOWN TO WHERE I SAY "HERE ARE MY GOALS."

Alright, so I've decided, I'm a weak sissy boy. I've lifted weights before, but I don't really know if I'm a hard gainer or an easy gainer. I've decided to move away from the traditional 8-12 reps per set and get into some powerlifting.

I want to focus on my bench, squat, clean, and deadlift, and also I'm looking into sledgehammer swinging and grip training. Eventually I want to shift to a program that involves more athletic and explosive lifts, with some sandbags included, but for now I think I just need to pack on muscle and strength.

I'm 5'11" and in the middle of wrestling season when I really can't lift weights. The three days that we don't have long, arduous practices, it's either a rest day, a tournament, or a meet. So for now, I'm focusing on slowly losing body fat, working my way down to 6% body fat.

As soon as wrestling ends, I'm lifting though. I made another thread about it, but if you haven't read, I'll be training in MMA about 5 days a week, with a 6th day to focus entirely on strength and conditioning.

I'll only have two days to lift: Wednesday and either Saturday or Sunday. I know I can't expect as much gains from this as a 3 day a week program, but my main focus is MMA.

Here are my goals:

~160 pounds @ 6% body fat (this will require me to put on about 15 pounds of muscle)

Bench 1.5x body weight 6x at 80% of 1RM and 4 times at 90% of 1RM
Squat 2.5x body weight 6x at 80% of 1RM and 4 times at 90% of 1RM

I need goals comparable to that for my clean and deadlift. What's a good amount to shoot for?

If you don't feel like doing the math, I *roughly* want a 190 pound bench for 6 reps and roughly a 215 pound bench press at 4 reps.

For my squat, I want a 320 pound squat at 6 reps and a 360 pound squat at 4 reps.

Here's my problem. I know I should do these lifts to get stronger. But I know nothing about the way I should go after it, as far as reps and % of my 1RM go. What's the best way to do this?

So, if you guys could help me put together a 2 day a week program to go after this goal, I'd greatly appreciate it.
 
Also check out Urban's web site. You'll have to search for it, I don't have the link on this computer.

Lastly, you say MMA is your main focus so don't get too caught up in trying to predict how many reps your going to do at a specific weight and 1 rep max. Just shoot for a bench of 240 (160*1.5), the other lifts will be there.

Keep it simple. Get a routine, keep a log and then achieve your goals. In the beginning you'll be spending time just trying to figure how much you can lift.
 
What do you do now?

You might consider olympic lifts. I know we generally recommend in here you reach the goals you've already set before including those, but every wrestler I've seen clips of training (Randy, Trigg, Hughes, Lindland, Tito Ortiz, Nate Quarry) I've seen them doing olympic lifts. Whether this is because they are more appealing to the camera I don't know, but I see a lot of band work incorporated into skill training, then a lot of olympic lifts and crossfit-type exercises.
 
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