How's this for a strength training plan?

Don't do all those heavy compound lifts during the same session. Spread them out. Monday do deads, Wed do squats, Fri do front squats or some variant.

I would start out light to get your muscles and body used to working out first. Maybe 1 - 2 weeks of light weights. Also do lots of push ups, weight-less squats, lunges, etc...

When I work out, I usually focused on one muscle group per session. Like one day, I would do back & biceps. The next shoulders & chest, Next day Legs, etc...

There are some muscles that can recover quickly, but in general give a muscle group 1 day off.

When I was in H.S., I had no problem doing a total body workout every day with heavy weights. I kept it up for 2 years (Junior and Senior year). I never burned out. Actually, I had a ton of energy back then. However, it takes a lot of commitment to do this type of routine.

John Kreese wrote:

Don't do all those heavy compound lifts during the same session. Spread them out. Monday do deads, Wed do squats, Fri do front squats or some variant.

What would be the logic behind this? Is it because as I fatigue I'm at greater risk for injury, or that as I fatigue I'll be weaker and the lifts will be less effective?

I do kind of like the idea of starting every session with a heavy leg movement. Maybe from there something intermediate for the core and something lighter for the upper body?

You might try reading a weightlifting book. Try one of Tudor Bompa's books. They've been pretty informative for me.

DangerZone wrote:

I would start out light to get your muscles and body used to working out first. Maybe 1 - 2 weeks of light weights. Also do lots of push ups, weight-less squats, lunges, etc...

When I work out, I usually focused on one muscle group per session. Like one day, I would do back & biceps. The next shoulders & chest, Next day Legs, etc...

There are some muscles that can recover quickly, but in general give a muscle group 1 day off.

When I was in H.S., I had no problem doing a total body workout every day with heavy weights. I kept it up for 2 years (Junior and Senior year). I never burned out. Actually, I had a ton of energy back then. However, it takes a lot of commitment to do this type of routine.

Thanks for the input. I will definitely go light for a few weeks before trying anything heavy.

I've done bodypart splits in the past like you're suggesting, but I would end up doing one leg day and several upper body days. If I'm lifting for functional running strength, that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me.

Don't get me wrong, I know you need to do some upper body stuff. And I hate posters who ask for advice and then ignore everything that doesn't match their already-formed opinion...maybe an explanation of why I should split up the body parts would be helpful. Thanks.

In terms of pure anaerobic strength, the strength coach for the Houston Texans has a good webpage:

http://www.houstontexans.com/fanzone/fitness.asp

Good information and a lot of myth busting. The strength coach believes that you can do all the pure strength training you need in two to three 30 min sessions a week. He has his players do a max of 2x10 reps. If you can do more, you aren't working on strength anymore and need to up the weight. You are working endurance. Good workouts set up to cover all the muscle groups. Good info on form, too.

Strength training is good for running, but no one really knows what is optimal. The link above shows you how to do a strength routine that will maximize your overall strength in as little time as possible.

made it up myself wrote:

[quote]John Kreese wrote:

Don't do all those heavy compound lifts during the same session. Spread them out. Monday do deads, Wed do squats, Fri do front squats or some variant.

What would be the logic behind this? Is it because as I fatigue I'm at greater risk for injury, or that as I fatigue I'll be weaker and the lifts will be less effective?

quote]

Yes on both counts. Your CNS can only handle so much fatigue (especially when you just start out.) Doing heavy squats and heavy deads in the same session will be very counterproductive. Leave that for the advanced guys who know what they're doing.

And when you do these they shouldn't always be low rep/heavy weight. As someone said above start with light weights and then as the weeks progress up the weight and lower the reps. Then start back over with the high reps but this time start with a slightly higher weight and cycle back down again to low rep/higher weight. See where this is going?

Exercises look pretty good, no real reason to go with heavy weight. Instead of the heavy weight day I would do some more dynamic and explosive stuff... Get rid of any muscle imbalances (hamstrings?), strengthen all supporting muscles around the hip, knee,ankle.. and shoulder too though not important for running.

So like high box hops ( over the box), medium box jump ups, lateral hops, dot drills, single leg bounds, squat jumps with full leg ext, light cleans, pushups with claps, and vested pullups are all good... med ball wall tosses ( lateral and forward), split leg squat jumps, jump rope ( weighted), thera band hip ab/ad duct

Personally, I found going heavy to very helpful for injury prevention. It strengthens the connective tissue and increases bone density more than lighter weights will. Do you think those olympic lifters could survive 400 pound cleans on day one? nope, but over time you can adapt to withstand heavy loads. It will also increase your explosiveness, especially if combined with olympic lifting and/or classic box jumps etc...

Just be sure to take enough rest between sets, like 4 min. or so. Do not lift to failure, it is counterproductive for building strength and will increase the soreness you feel. The training of the CNS is what will yield the greatest increases in strength, but you have to lift heavy to really work it. The bones and joints will adapt to handle these heavy loads, and thus you become more robust.

I can't stress the importance of taking a good rest between sets when lifting heavy. You shouldn't have to drop reps or weight as the workout progresses.

I would drop the back extensions if you are doing deadlifts.

I myself do a lot of olympic lifts, but they are somewhat difficult to learn to perform properly (the football coach usually doesn't know either).