Question about long lifting session...

[deckingdutchman]

I just started weightlifting again about 2 months ago after about an 8 month lay off.

The last two months I've lifted 3 times a week, was doing a basic 5x5 type thing (squatting, benching, and rowing 2 days, ohp and deadlifting 1). I wanted to bump it up to 4 days a week doing a 5/3/1, however, I think this is a bad idea now that my work day as lengthened to about 12-14 hours. I'm working 4 days a week.

I'm gonna drop my lifting to 2 days a week, my first 2 days off (sun, mon), and on my third day off (tue) I'd do martial arts training stuff. Martial arts training is technique/endurance work, not so much strength work.

Here's what I was thinking to do on Sun/Mon:

Sunday
Squat 5/3/1
OHP 5/3/1
Chins 5x5-10
Shrugs 5x10
Romanian Deads 5x10

Monday
Deadlift 5/3/1
Bench 5/3/1
BOR 5x10
Skull Crushers 4x10
Cheat Curls 4x10

And then Tuesday would be martial arts stuff, and then work wed-sat.

My question is: My lifting sessions would be about 2 hours long here. Is this a problem, assuming my recovery capacity can handle it? I've heard that you should try to keep your lifting sessions short, but even a basic SS workout takes a good hour and a half. So if I can recover over the week, would this be alright or should I keep the assistance work more limited?

 

[oyaji poi]

you'll be fine. i lift twice a week usually, and often it takes about 2 hrs (thats from the time I sign in at the front desk to the time I sign out though).

 

[TheMadHatter]

if you are lifting to build muscle and increase strength i have heard you are supposed to life for no longer than an hour, you are also supposed to limit cardio, so i would say just to do what you are doing. it cannot hurt, it will keep you in shape

 

[chia]

I usually train for about 2 hours at a time. I think you should be fine once you get used to the volume. Although I find that I need to eat a lot pre-workout (and sometimes mid workout) to maintain energy levels.

 

[rckvl]

Lifting for 2 hours is fine, however, having the two days back to back isn't such a good idea.

 

[Tosa]

I agree that a 2 hour workout isn't a problem. But you could do the above workouts faster if you used alternate sets (if you don't already). If you're already using alternate sets and it still takes you 2 hours, maybe you should work on improving your work capacity.

 

[deckingdutchman]

Alright thanks guys.

rckvl, I was thinking that two days in a row might not be the best either, but I think it'd be better than lifting on a work day, meaning I have to cut down to about 5-6 hours of sleep that day.

Tosa, thanks for the suggestion. If the length becomes and issue I'll try alternating sets. I've never done that before though.

 

[Gierrod]

I usually train for about 2 hours at a time. I think you should be fine once you get used to the volume. Although I find that I need to eat a lot pre-workout (and sometimes mid workout) to maintain energy levels.

Sometime i get really tired during my workout out what do you eat mid workout?

Edit: Lol at your sig Tosa.

 

[DrBdan]

Another thing you could consider is not condensing the 4 days of the 5/3/1 into two days but rather doing the 4 days over two weeks. So one week you would do deadlift and press, the next week you would do squats and bench. Of course if you find that how you are doing it now works for you then don't change a thing.

 

[deckingdutchman]

Another thing you could consider is not condensing the 4 days of the 5/3/1 into two days but rather doing the 4 days over two weeks. So one week you would do deadlift and press, the next week you would do squats and bench. Of course if you find that how you are doing it now works for you then don't change a thing.

That's a good point, thank you.

If I end up not gaining anything like this I'll try your suggestion.

 

[oyaji poi]

That's a good point, thank you.

If I end up not gaining anything like this I'll try your suggestion.

In addition, you can sneak in two more workouts at home. I have about 60kg of sand split into 2 10kg bags, 4 5kg bags, and 8 2.5kg bags.

So Sun/Mon can be your 5-3-1 days. Then whatever other days in the week that you have 15-30min to spare you can do a quick workout with the sandbags, or even just bodyweight.

One easy way to keep track is to use Escalating Density Training (EDT). Basically, you have a set period of time in which you try to do as many reps as possible. Usually each set is 5-10 reps. I found it difficult to keep track of progress with bodyweight-based exercises as it is difficult to increase the load and the sets and reps tend to be higher than when using weights. So EDT turned out to be a good way to keep track of the variables - weight, sets, reps, time.

Others might argue with this approach, but I find it quite simple and effective.

An example of my workout from last week:

Weighted pushups - 20kg for 15 min. I ended up doing about 8-12 reps per set, and around 8 or 9 sets in total. The sandbags go into a backpack.

Divebomber pushups - 10 min in total. 15 reps per set, 6 sets in total.

And that was it. About 30 min start to finish.

For legs I might do zercher squats, front squats, lunges, or single-leg romanian deadlifts. You can even do much higher reps (30-50 reps) with just bodyweight or with 10-20kg or whatever.

You can also do upper and lower body in one day and alternate during one block of time, but with a slightly longer time period.

Example:

Weighted pushups 20kg x 10 reps
Squats - 20kg x 50 reps
(done for 20 min)

Pullups - 5 reps
Lunges - 30kg x 10 reps per leg
(for 20 min)

Google EDT for more info.

 

[ZappBrannigan]

i lift 1-3 times a week 2-3 hours each time... I feel great