Frequency/Semi time crunch

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi!

I’m in a situation of being able to hit the gym 3 days a week, but my training time is limited to around 75-90 min. in and out. That makes doing 3 lifts/session pretty hard to manage. Im early intermediate and on The Bridge for example my sessions lasted around 2 hours.

I’ve been studying how guys program main lifts, supplemental and secondary supplemental lifts in an overal program/blocks and im trying to build something along those lines for myself and for my schedule.

However, I was thinking of focusing 2 lifts/session 3 days/week + gpp stuff 1-2x/week as I can take care of that at home.

I came up with couple options for basic template.

Option 1:
D1: Comp. Squat/Comp. Bench (Mon)
D2: Comp. DL/Comp. Press (Wed)
D3: Supp. Squat/Supp. Bench (Fri)
D4: Supp. DL/Supp. Press (Mon)

This would woul extend my “week” from 7 to 9 days. Is this too low frequency for steady strenght development?

Other option would be ditching D4 and leave out supplemental for DL and Press. (Sq/bp frequency woul be higher)

Im not a competitive lifter, just a general strenght trainee and I understand that this is by no means optional. My goal is basicly getting stronger on the 4 big lifts on the long run.

Current lifts:
Sq 200kg
Bp 130kg
Dl 240kg
P 90kg

Sorry for long post!

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2

I don’t really like the idea of spreading the stress out longer, as you need to increase total stress accumulation as an intermediate lifter…

I would put a time cap on each lift in the bridge and shorten the rest periods (and alter the weight) as needed. Spend 30 min on comp lifts, 20 min on primary supplemental lifts (the ones that come second), and 15 min on the supplemental lifts that come 3rd. You could do an AMRAP in 15 min for those latter movements using an 8-12 RM load.

1 Like
3

Thanks for replying Jordan! I’ll take your advice and get to work. Good luck for the meet man!