Off-Season Program for Size and Athleticism
I wanted to create a program for myself that incorporated Olympic weightlifting exercises once or twice a week without sacrificing time on bodybuilding and powerlifting movements. What initially started as a simple training split, developed into a well-rounded program for general strength, hypertrophy and athleticism. This program is by no means beginner-friendly; it requires you to have at least some experience with compound exercises (bench press, squats, deadlift, dips, overhead press etc) and Olympic weightlifting movements (power snatches, power cleans). In this blog post, I will do an overview of the whole program and highlight the details and nuances of each training mesocycle.
Program Overview
Training-Split Layout
MONDAY (Full body): Olympic Lifts w/ Front squats, Abs
TUESDAY (Upper body): Chest, Back, Biceps
WEDNESDAY: ACTIVE REST
THURSDAY (Lower body): Lower body with quadricep/squat focus
FRIDAY (Upper body): Shoulders, Chest, triceps
SATURDAY (Lower body): Lower body with posterior chain focus, Back
SUNDAY: Rest
3 Mesocycles
Weeks 1-3 is considered a high-volume hypertrophy block
Week 4 is an active rest/deload
Weeks 5-9 is considered a strength block (with Week 9 being a back off on volume (not a full deload)
Weeks 10-12 is a power and conditioning block
Frequency
Unlike a typical bodybuilding bro-split, frequency is moderate - high to ensure muscle protein synthesis (MPS) is kept above baseline for each body part throughout the whole week
The moderate-high frequency done in this program is also good for motor learning/technique-acquisition and improvement, as well as neuromuscular efficiency (with the exception of the Olympic lifts, which I will address in the final section of this post)
Quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings are all being hit 2-3 times a week throughout the whole program
Chest and triceps are being hit at least twice a week
Back and pulling movements are being done at least twice a week
Shoulders (specifically the lateral head of the deltoid) are only being hit once a week, but it should be noted that the anterior (front) and posterior (back) delts are stimulated on other days via pulling and pushing exercises anwyays
Ab exercises are included in the program at least once a week
Placement of Rest Days
Rest days are placed strategically to mitigate muscle soreness (delayed onset muscle soreness - DOMs) and ensure adequate muscle recovery
Wednesday's rest day is to ensure the lifter is recovered before 3 back-to-back sessions (Thursday, Friday, Saturday).
Monday is definitely the most technique-intensive day out of the whole program, therefore adequate muscle recovery (reducing DOMs) must be made during Sunday's rest day in order to reduce injuries and increase skill acquisition.
Adequate rest in between 2 sessions that stimulate the same muscles (eg: Chest is being stimulated on Tuesday, then again on Friday. Wednesday and Thursday gives a chance for the chest to recover; right when MPS of the chest drops back to baseline on Thursday, Friday's session will increase it once again up until Sunday/Monday)
Lower volume works requires less time to recover from (Thursday's posterior chain work is pretty low volume, therefore the posterior chain can be worked again on Saturday without any decreases in performance)
Spacing muscle groups out evenly throughout the week is essentially taking advantage of the Stimulus-Recovery-Adaptation curves of each muscle (concept taken from NSCA, Dr. Yuri Verkhoshanksy and Dr. Mike Israetel).
Weeks 1-3
Training Variables (Volume, Intensity, Frequency)
Week 1 starts off easy; volume ramps up every week, adding a set to most exercises will keeping the weights the same
Volume peaks at Week 3 (Week 3 should be brutal, you should be sore)
Since Week 1 is fairly easy, Wednesday will be an active rest.
Weeks 2-3 will be much harder and more taxing, therefore Wednesday will be a full rest (no lifting/little to no physical activity, but do stretch and foam roll)
Exercise Selection
More unilateral work (1 legged RDLs, Bulg. Split Squats, 1 Arm Pulling etc) in order to eliminate muscle imbalances and improve balance/coordination
There is more isolation and arm exercises (Biceps, leg extensions, rear delts etc) compared to Weeks 5-9
Muscle snatches and muscle cleans are used for the first 3 weeks to build up the shoulder musculature and to practice technique (bar acceleration, triple extension) in preparation for power snatches and cleans.
Snatch grip deadlifts with slow eccentrics are used to practice lat activation and increase hamstring hypertrophy in preparation for the conventional deadlifts in Weeks 5-9 (strength phase)
Main Focus
Weeks 1-3 are important for dialing in technique and setting a good base for the strength and power phases of the 12-week program
The focus should be on work capacity, and volume. Do not worry TOO much on weight progression, stay within 8-8.5 RPE (What is RPE? This is covered in the FAQs at the end of this overview) for most compound movements. Feel free to go to failure and apply a supersets/dropsets to isolation/accessory exercises.
Again, Week 3 should be very high volume. It should feel brutal and you should feel beat up.
Weeks 5-9
Training Variables (Volume, Intensity, Frequency)
Overall all weekly volume is decreased in the strength phase because the intensity is increased
Squat frequency goes up from 2x/week to 3x/week (Monday - Front Squat, Thursday - Back Squat, Saturday - Pause Back Squat)
Deadlift frequency stays at 1x/week, but stiff legged deadlifts are introduced in Thursday workouts
Focus on weight progressions through the weeks (eg: Week 8's 4x5 should be heavier than Week 5's 5x5 sets)
Volume drops on Week 9 in preparation for the power and conditioning phase in Weeks 10-12
Frequency of Power cleans increases from 1x/week to 2x/week (more practice!)
Exercise Selection
The focus shifts from dumbbell work into barbell work so you can handle more weight (Dumbbell RDL's into Barbell Stiff Legged Deadlifts, Incline Dumbbell Bench Press turns into Incline Barbell Bench Press)
A switch from muscle snatch and cleans to power snatch and power cleans
If you cannot get a hold of a glute-ham raise machine, do weighted lower back extensions
Conventional deadlifts replace snatch grip deadlifts (again, so you can handle more weight)
For triceps on Fridays, I recommend any of the following compound movements: 1) Close-grip bench press 2) JM Press 3) Dips 4) Lying Tricep Extensions (Rippetoe variation)
Main Focus
The main focus for Weeks 5-9 is to move heavy weight while still maintaining proper form (however, one should always seek technique improvement)
Stay within 8-9 RPE for compound exercises in Weeks 5-8. Stay within 7-8 RPE for Week 9.
Weeks 10-12
Training Variables (Volume, Intensity, Frequency)
Volume is very low to keep fatigue low. Low fatigue is the best environment to express and practice athletic characteristics such as power, speed and strength
Intensity should be high, you should be moving very heavy weight (>85% of your 1 rep max) for a few reps and sets
Frequency of the main lifts do not change
Conditioning exercises can be done by feel, the sets and reps written down are very rough, do what feels good. Stop when you notice a large decrease in your speed and effort
Exercise Selection
This power and conditioning block focuses on a lot on heavy lifting, mixed with explosive power movements
Introduction of medicine ball exercises are good for working on rotational power (transverse plane of motion)
Box jumps can include any variation of your liking, normal box jumps, rotation box jumps, depth jumps etc.
Snatchs and/or cleans can be substituted by power snatches and power cleans if your snatch and clean technique is not yet up to par
Main Focus
The main focus of Weeks 10-12 is lifting close to your one rep max (stay within 9-9.5 RPE), being explosive in your power movements (medicine ball slams, jumps, sprints) and anaerobic conditioning
Final Points
Because there is at least one day of Olympic weightlifting exercises in each week of the program, athletes do not have to worry much about losing their athletic ability while trying to build muscle
The periodization (sets x reps over the span of the 12 weeks) provided in the program is rough and very general. Feel free to change training variables to fit your priorities/goals.
The main focus of this program is the training split and phases.
Exercises can be substituted in but try to stick with the main themes of each day (training-split)
Again this program is not intended for beginner-lifters. Some experience with barbell and resistance training is recommended.
A high volume block transitioning to a higher frequency block is a concept I've taken from block periodization an a concept I've used from Greg Nuckol's newest hypertrophy article "Grow Like a New Lifter Again"
PROS
Lots of variation in exercise selection, useful for program adherence and training many different movement patterns
Higher frequency of compound lifts will be beneficial for muscle hypertrophy and strengthening of the nervous system
Speed of exercise execution varies, wide variety of exercise tempo (Eccentrics, pauses, explosive/power movements)
Rest days are strategically placed to improve performance and to fit the stimulus-recovery curves of each movement/muscles
CONS
This is a GENERAL program for size and athleticism and like all general programs, this program may not fit the needs of all sports.
Olympic lifting movements are not trained frequent enough in this program so do not expect large improvements in form. Lifters looking for a program to specifically improve their Olympic weightlifting should look elsewhere. Here are some to get you started: Catalyst Athletics - Breaking Muscle - Pendlay - Russian Approach (via All Things Gym) - Dan John
Although this program does include the powerlifts (big 3 compound exercises), it does not prepare you for a powerlifting competition. Lifters looking for a powerlifting-specific program should look elsewhere. Here are some to get you started: GC Strength & Conditioning Individualized 12-Week Program & Coaching - Candito Training HQ - Sheiko Powerlifting Programs (via Joe Skopec) - Connor Lutz Training Template - Juggernaut Method - 5/3/1 - Cube Method.
Be mindful of comments added to exercises (indicated by a red triangle in the top right of an excel block). They contain useful information about the particular exercise.