I need your help/opinion on a 4 day split to meet specific goals

[z1ggy]

TLDR - I haven't hit the gym in 2 years because of covid and I had a child. I now consider myself a newb, even though from age 23-27 I didn't miss a work out (I'm now 34) unless I was sick. I want to build strength, some power, and increase my mobility. Not looking for a "bro split" where I crank out 25 sets of chest a week. I will be dieting to lose body fat, but I consider that more a byproduct of my diet than my lifting routine. Suggest your split below. More details but this is the short version in case you have ADD or just think I suck.


Little more meat about what I am doing (just got back into the gym last week) and what my exact goals are for the next say, 18 months.

Goals: To build a decent amount of strength and power, while focusing on increasing my dynamic mobility. I play a lot of golf and hockey now, so getting "bulky" is not what I am after. Yes lifting 4x heavy every single week will gain me muscle which is OK, but I'm not looking for high volume bro split stuff.

Me: 34yo, 208lb with a towel on, ~21%fat, 5'10

Current plan for my split, which is where I need the inputs the most. I know there's 3480324832804 splits out there on youtube and reddit but I'm not sure if any have the added mobility element added in or not.

Monday - Cleans/Power cleans, 3 sets of 3-5 reps; RDL or stiff leg DL, 3 sets of 3-5 reps; pull ups, 3 sets of 4-6 reps; sled/prowler pushes, 3 sets of 30 seconds max effort in both directions; 3 sets 10 of whatever abs I want

Tues - Dumbbell bench press, 3 sets of 3-5 reps; Push Press/Split press, 3 sets of 3-5 reps; Battle ropes 3 sets of max effort 30 seconds; *various dynamic mobility movements from KneesoverToesGuy; **various soft tissue releases on the foam roller; 3 sets of whatever abs I want

Wed - Rest

Rest of week - Thurs is a repeat of Monday. Try to add 5lb to each lift or add 1 more rep... The typical progressive overload protocol. If the weather is nice Friday, I golf. If it rains, I repeat Tuesday. If I golf, then on Sat I will repeat Tuesday. After each session, I end with 15mins sauna at 70*C then take a hot shower. Rest on Sunday or golf again. At some point my hockey season will start... I'm looking for a new team.

*KOTG has tons of free vids out there about increasing strength thru the whole ROM using some light weights and movement. I won't post all the movements but it's full body stuff, and I''m focusing mostly on ankles/calves, hips, quads and hammies and ab/adductors.
**Gonna foam roll the shit out of my legs, lats and back

Right now my biggest question mark is doing shoulders the day after heavy cleans. Obviously my traps are going to get blasted, but I figure once my body adjusts, as long as I am not doing more than 3 working sets, I should be OK to work the traps indirectly again the next day. One thing you notice... well I guess two things that are "missing" are heavy squats and heavy DL. 2 reasons - 1) My hips are still insanely tight from basically being a lazy/sick POS since 2020. I have terrible ROM and my squat form is bad. I will occasionally add in some heavy leg press, but my gym does not have a proper squat rack, and I do not have a partner. 2) no heavy sumo or regular deadlifts. No real reason other than I don't want to bust a nut and pass out trying to pull a PR and I just don't enjoy that lift. I feel I can get enough benefit from RDL and cleans.

Bravo if you read all this, let me know in your comment so I can give you a big ol internet high five. Appreciate it.

 

[deadlyapp]

There's a lot to dissect here and not really sure where to start.

My first gut feel is your volume is too low. Only 9-15 reps repetitively is not enough, although doing four sets of 25 reps is also not conducive to what you're going for.

You're also overloading your push vs pull. I've found best to mix your pushing and pulling, so you'd do bench and back pulling same day; cleans and leg press/squats same day. I would not double up on your clean work and instead add more legs. You only say heavy squats, but what about lunges? Split squats? Goblet squats? There's so much more and you're focusing only on your hamstrings and nothing else.

I would map out an overall 8-12 week cycle with deloads and Peaks otherwise you'll get lost. I personally could not stick to such a rigorous split with the same movements, I need to mix my movements, rep schemes, time domains, etc on a regular basis, if not weekly. Follow a specific plan like wendler for the major lifts.

I'm sure others will have their own input and opinions, and maybe I'll thing of some more tomorrow but these are my first looks.

 

[z1ggy]

There's a lot to dissect here and not really sure where to start.

My first gut feel is your volume is too low. Only 9-15 reps repetitively is not enough, although doing four sets of 25 reps is also not conducive to what you're going for.

You're also overloading your push vs pull. I've found best to mix your pushing and pulling, so you'd do bench and back pulling same day; cleans and leg press/squats same day. I would not double up on your clean work and instead add more legs. You only say heavy squats, but what about lunges? Split squats? Goblet squats? There's so much more and you're focusing only on your hamstrings and nothing else.

I would map out an overall 8-12 week cycle with deloads and Peaks otherwise you'll get lost. I personally could not stick to such a rigorous split with the same movements, I need to mix my movements, rep schemes, time domains, etc on a regular basis, if not weekly. Follow a specific plan like wendler for the major lifts.

I'm sure others will have their own input and opinions, and maybe I'll thing of some more tomorrow but these are my first looks.

I can/will add in lunges with the mobility stuff but the weight will be a lot lighter. Let me check out Wendler to see how I can modify my routine.

I don't get as bored as you, especially right now since I haven't done ANY lifting in literally 2 years. My clean tonight was at 115lb... that's like a joke. It will be fun/exciting just getting that back into the 185 range, before I need to start adding in tons of variety (that goes for pretty much all my lifts).

I think for an ideal strength/power scheme, I'd do M W Fr/Sat or just an every other day split, but I'm trying to also simply just... go to the gym more for extra calorie burning since I'm basically a fat chode right now. Also sauna. I'm listening to a lot of Dr. Andrew Huberman podcast lately and I feel like the effects of heat will be very beneficial for me right now.

 

[z1ggy]

Oh and by the way, I forgot to mention but I had "designed" this routine LOOSELY based on the conversation between Dr Andrew Huberman and Dr Andy Galpin (a leading expert in exercise science) on Huberman's podcast.

From Galpin's website: https://www.xptlife.com/going-back-to-basics-in-your-training

I recommend doing a total-body strength session two to three times per week. Focus mostly on compound exercises (multi-joint movements involving several body parts) like squats, deadlifts, lunges, kettlebell swings, overhead presses, pull-ups, and so on. Each session should be around 30 to 45 minutes long—enough to provide adequate stimuli without too much volume.

The key is not going to failure, contrary to what you might read in bro-science articles. You also should avoid extreme fatigue—that’s for your interval days. When focusing on strength, perform three to eight reps, with two or three sets of one to three exercises. As with your speed days, you should come away feeling that you could have done more volume.

 

[deadlyapp]

I can/will add in lunges with the mobility stuff but the weight will be a lot lighter. Let me check out Wendler to see how I can modify my routine.

I don't get as bored as you, especially right now since I haven't done ANY lifting in literally 2 years. My clean tonight was at 115lb... that's like a joke. It will be fun/exciting just getting that back into the 185 range, before I need to start adding in tons of variety (that goes for pretty much all my lifts).

I think for an ideal strength/power scheme, I'd do M W Fr/Sat or just an every other day split, but I'm trying to also simply just... go to the gym more for extra calorie burning since I'm basically a fat chode right now. Also sauna. I'm listening to a lot of Dr. Andrew Huberman podcast lately and I feel like the effects of heat will be very beneficial for me right now.

If you enjoy doing cleans, I'd also look at incorporating a bit of oly work in your clean day. This will give you some variety while also improving your strength and technique in the clean. This will probably be like halting cleans, hang cleans, panda pulls / high pulls, clean pulls, etc. You can also work jerks into that same day for overhead strength.

It sounds like you've generally ruled out lunges for strength building, but honestly, a couple of 50lb dumbbells and some walking lunges or reverse lunges can do awesome things - plus who doesn't like a built backside. My hips give me a lot of trouble (especially heavy barbell squats) and lunges very rarely give me any discomfort even heavier.

Like you said - just getting into the gym more regularly, even if only 2 days a week is going to do a ton for you.

Hot / cold therapy has a lot of benefits. I don't do it, but certainly doing a cold plunge (if the gym has a pool) directly into sauna has some research showing improvement in body fatigue.

 

[z1ggy]

If you enjoy doing cleans, I'd also look at incorporating a bit of oly work in your clean day. This will give you some variety while also improving your strength and technique in the clean. This will probably be like halting cleans, hang cleans, panda pulls / high pulls, clean pulls, etc. You can also work jerks into that same day for overhead strength.

It sounds like you've generally ruled out lunges for strength building, but honestly, a couple of 50lb dumbbells and some walking lunges or reverse lunges can do awesome things - plus who doesn't like a built backside. My hips give me a lot of trouble (especially heavy barbell squats) and lunges very rarely give me any discomfort even heavier.

Like you said - just getting into the gym more regularly, even if only 2 days a week is going to do a ton for you.

Hot / cold therapy has a lot of benefits. I don't do it, but certainly doing a cold plunge (if the gym has a pool) directly into sauna has some research showing improvement in body fatigue.

Sadly the gym doesn't have a pool or else I'd be doing a bunch of swimming. For cold, every Monday and Friday morning I plan to fill up my soaker tub before I log in for work and sit in the coldest water possible for about 5 minutes, then stand up and let myself shiver for another 1-2 minutes. Won't go into why in any detail but it's for cold endurance and fat loss.

How do you feel about the weight sled pushing? To me, that's lots of fun, reminds me of high school football practice. I'm using it to work speed/power and knee health because I also go backwards. Should I be upping the weight or doing that 1x a week then lunges the other day?

 

[Torn Mind]

Astaxanthin based foods will likely help you out in terms of gains and recovery. Wild red salmon, shrimp, krill, etc. Or pills with it.

 

[deadlyapp]

Sadly the gym doesn't have a pool or else I'd be doing a bunch of swimming. For cold, every Monday and Friday morning I plan to fill up my soaker tub before I log in for work and sit in the coldest water possible for about 5 minutes, then stand up and let myself shiver for another 1-2 minutes. Won't go into why in any detail but it's for cold endurance and fat loss.

How do you feel about the weight sled pushing? To me, that's lots of fun, reminds me of high school football practice. I'm using it to work speed/power and knee health because I also go backwards. Should I be upping the weight or doing that 1x a week then lunges the other day?

Sled pushes are awesome for conditioning and strength. I'd think about even doing them twice a week with one session a heavy and slow and the other lightweight sprints. Finding the right distance was always the tricky part for me.

 

[z1ggy]

Sled pushes are awesome for conditioning and strength. I'd think about even doing them twice a week with one session a heavy and slow and the other lightweight sprints. Finding the right distance was always the tricky part for me.

I can tweak weight and distance as my variables. I think for heavy pushes, I'll treat it more like using distance as a rep. There's a point on the carpet I can use as my gauge, so I'll see how far I can push sled in total relative to that carpet mark. If there's enough gap between the two, I can treat that mark like a rep. For lighter pushes, I'll probably focus less on distance and more on time, with the goal to push and pull for longer and longer, and once I can hit say... 2 minutes? I'll add 10 or 25lb and then over again at 30s. Or, I can leave the 30s time limit and keep adding reps.

I also found a proper squat rack in another part of the gym, so I will still plan to heavy squat at some point, once I get my ROM in order.

 

[deadlyapp]

I can tweak weight and distance as my variables. I think for heavy pushes, I'll treat it more like using distance as a rep. There's a point on the carpet I can use as my gauge, so I'll see how far I can push sled in total relative to that carpet mark. If there's enough gap between the two, I can treat that mark like a rep. For lighter pushes, I'll probably focus less on distance and more on time, with the goal to push and pull for longer and longer, and once I can hit say... 2 minutes? I'll add 10 or 25lb and then over again at 30s. Or, I can leave the 30s time limit and keep adding reps.

I also found a proper squat rack in another part of the gym, so I will still plan to heavy squat at some point, once I get my ROM in order.

Good strategy. I used to do both as distance with an interval basis - eg 5 sets of 50ft with 2 min rest in between. For the heavy days it was as heavy as possible, eg if you weren't near max effort you added weight; and for the light days it was as fast as possible, and you would use something like 50% or possibly even less.