Training overview - not sure if I am "missing" anything

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi - first of all big fan of BBM and have been for many years - thank you very much for the podcast episodes in particular!

Onto the topic, I have built my own weekly training routine up based around my work schedule (I WFH) and my other life stuff, and it has resulted in the below. I am neurodivergent and working in a strict & set routine makes it so much easier for me to adhere to long term. My main question is if there is anything glaringly missing or “wrong” with this routine?

It is based on just what I enjoy doing and find motivating, my core goal is definitely health / lifespan.
I will take any hypertrophy & strength gains if they occur, but they are not very important to me to be honest.

The strength training doesn’t have planned reps or sets, I vary it around based on what i feel like doing that day!
Generally it ranges between 3-10 reps and I stay below RPE 9.0 nearly all of the time.

Monday:

  1. Deadlift ~40 mins, 5-6 working sets
  2. Spin bike ~75 mins, zone 2/3 Tuesday:
  3. Shoulder press ~ 35 mins, 6-7 working sets
  4. Spin bike ~75 mins, zone 2/3

Wednesday:

  1. Pre boxing run ~40 mins, zone 3/4
  2. Boxing bag/pad work 30 mins, zone 4 (never hard sparring/competing, occasionally light sparring)
  3. Post boxing bodyweight workout, zone 4/5 Thursday:
  4. Bench press, ~40 mins, 7-8 working sets
  5. Spin bike, ~75 mins, zone 2/3 Friday:
  6. Shoulder press, ~ 35 mins, 6-7 working sets
  7. Run, ~30 mins, zone 2/3
  8. Spin bike, ~75 mins, zone 2/3 Saturday:
  9. Rest day, just walking (~8000 steps) Sunday:
  10. Bench press, ~40 mins, 7-8 working sets
  11. Run, ~30 mins, zone 2/3

Bio stuff:
27
white
male
170cm
180lbs (slowly losing weight, need to keep doing this)
waist circumference ~37 inches
RHR ~57
BP 124/71 mm Hg
Total Cholesterol 4.91 mmol/L​
Triglycerides 1.6 mmol/L
HDL Cholesterol 1.4 mmol/L​
HbA1c 35 mmol/mol​

1RMs:
Deadlift 100kg
Bench press 80kg
Shoulder press 50kg
Squat - idk, I stopped squatting because I never enjoyed it

2

Hey Leio,

Thanks for the kind words re: podcast. We appreciate it. Regarding the programming, it checks most of the boxes from a health standpoint. However, I think you’re likely to be disappointed with your return on training. For health/lifespan, you should be chasing down some strength and hypertrophy goals.

There are ways to make something like this work, but I would not program someone like this if they were open to additional options, particularly when it comes to doing some sort of squat pattern, increasing variation in movement overall, more lower body work in general, and having a set, rep, and proximity to failure that’s relatively consistent. I do think having some pre-programmed flexibility can be baked in. Movements can be selected as you please.

I would start from something like:

Split: Upper/Lower
Frequency: 4x/wk RT, 5x/wk AT
Volume: 4-6 sets/wk hinge, 8-10 sets/wk squat pattern, 8-10 sets/wk press, 4-6 sets/wk pull, 240 min/wk
Rep/Set/RPE: main= 4-8 reps @ RPE 6-7, supplemental 6-12 reps @ RPE 7-8

Day 1 Upper
Press main (horizontal)
Pull assistance (vertical)
Conditioning

Day 2
Squat main
Hinge assistance
Conditioning

Day 3
off/conditioning

Day 4
Press main (vertical)
Pull main (horizontal)
Conditioning

Day 5
Hinge main
Squat assistance
Conditioning

Day 6
Conditioning or off

Day 7
Conditioning or off

This looks a lot like the General Strength and Conditioning II Template.

2 Likes
3

Thank you so much, I will give this a proper read soon and see if I can adjust based on your recommendations!