Limited time strength workout...?

Afternoon all,

in the last 2 months iv seen my gym time decimated by rugby and boxing training.
I previously just played rugby or just boxed but now (due to my inability to turn down a few quid for either) am doing both.
Currently my training looks something like this
Mon: Gym – Weighted Press ups, Dips, Deadlifts, Lat Pull Downs, Shrugs,
Tues: 2hours rugby training
Weds: Gym – Squats, Military press, Cleans, Barbell curls,
Thurs: Boxing (pads/bags/technique/fitness)
Fri: Rest or as weds and rest on weds
Sat: Rugby Match
Sunday: Sparring
(weights are all 4x6 sets with increased weight)

I box 4-5 times a year on the unlicensed scene and fight at heavyweight whilst playing rugby (at prop) in the london2 league. So fortunately I don’t have to worry about weight (im 6,1 and fighting weight is around 235 -240)

The problem I have at the moment is I am losing strength, I anticipated losing some strength due to the aerobic work im doing in rugby and boxing but I have lost considerable strength. (all 2 reps) Deadlift has gone from 210kg to 175kg, Squat from 192.5 to 165 and Military Press from 110 to 85.

My diet is good I eat around 3000 calories a day and the right things and while my weight doesn’t fluctuate much (always between 235-245) my strength has suffered In the past 3 months…

Any thoughts on how to keep / improve my strength whilst still training for boxing/rugby……………… interested to hear
cheers

I know where your coming from, was doing boxing about 18 months ago & although my fitness/cardio went thru the roof my weight, bodyfat & strength went down. I'm now doing kick boxing & really need to strengthen my upper body but again to much cardio & conditioning zaps my strength.I think it is quite difficult to serve 2 masters so to speak. I'm no expert but maybe if you changed your weight routine to strictly just big compound lifts it might help. This is something I am & have been thinking about for a while. Out of interest has your performance at rugby or boxing suffered because of it? If not dont worry to much about it but I understand your probably keen on the weight of the weightlifting element. Good luck.

My rugby performance hasnt suffered (to be fair, i know enough "tricks" at loosehead to be able to prop well there even if i was 14stone and didnt go to the gym)
As for boxing - i havent fought in a while so i will find out in 4 weeks (fighting on 25/09) but iv never really relied on strength in the ring (more of a counter puncher than a Hatton esque brawler)
I don really do anything other than big compound lifts at the moment (except for Bench) which i dont do as is irrelevant to me and does nothing but giv me shoulder pain

It was more your monday workout deadlifts aside, I was thinking maybe drop the other exercises, barbell curls & make a new workout with maybe some powercleans & bentover row in there. Can you do dumbell press instead if you have problems with bench press? Your training week itself looks pretty intense so that could be a reason for the drop in strength, your probably still going flat out on every aspect of your training & you have probably upped it since training for both. How do you do your weighted press ups? Do you think it is possable to increase upper body strength just with bodyweight exercises?

Something along the lines of Starting Strength or Strong lifts would suit you...

...but you'd have to tweak it a little if you're looking at 2 days a week.

I'd recommend

Mon - Squats, Bench Press, Pendlay Row (All 5x5)

Fri - Squats, Overhead barbell press, (both 5x5) and Deadlifts (1x5)

Then repeat the following week adding 2.5kg to each exercise except deadlift where you will add 5kg. Repeat for 12 weeks....which means you're going to need to start with a light weight..possibly even the empty bar depending on how advanced a lifter you are.

Ideally you'd be looking at 3 sessions a week but 2 is better than nothing. You will soon get your strength back, all the leg work will pay off with Rugby and you'll notice an improvement in your punch power too.

thanks for the replies.

As for doing Dumbell press instead of bench press. I dont relaly feel the need for that kind of exercise. I do weighted press ups (with 10 20 30 40kg on my back) and i dont think that a bench press type exercise would benifit either sport or strength (maybe ego though ;-)

Throwing leather.
Thanks for the suggestions, i dont think i could do 2 sets of squats a week and definatley wouldnt benifit from doing squats and deads same day as it would destroy my lower back.

I think your right with the intensity though, next 2 weeks i will be sparring around 10-12 rounds a week which although is only about half hour of work it is very draining, and rugby on saturdays doesnt really help.

I may look to drop the full (2hour) tuesday boxing and just add another wieghts session followed by some light pad/bag work and see how that goes

Actually you can do 2 sets of squats in the same week because you're not training to failure. If squats and deadlifts on the same day destroy your lower back you need to check your form. You shouldn't get pain like that ...certainly not from squats.

If you want strength you train for strength, unfortunately boxing and strength training are on opposite ends of the spectrum so you're going to have to compromise somewhere. I've done both and boxing is too aerobic to be consistent with progressive strength training. Good luck with it whatever way you go.

I think that you shoud be really happy with the way things are going, yes you've gone down the weights quite alot but someone whose doing as much aerobic work as you are that is still squatting 165 kg should be pretty happy, looks to me as though you have a good balance with regards to backing up your sports with some good solid Gym work, I can't comment on what excercises you should be doing because you're way above my league in the sporting department and you're going to be best one to know what you can cut out however if you really want to get the weights up again I would say that you could do with another rest day in your week by maybe combining the sparring day with some weights or maybe you could look to spread your two weekly sessions of weights out to 1 and half sessions ie over two weeks do three weight sessions and have an extra rest day on one of those weeks also you could do with eating a few more calories I think ie maybe eat a couple of protein bars a day and add another 700 calories per day, I currently squat/deadlift over 500lbs and weigh approx 230lbs and Squat on a Monday have a rest day, bench on a Wedsnesday have a rest day and DeadLift on a Friday followed by two rest days, I'd kill to have the energy levels and aerobic fitness you've obviously worked hard to achieve so more power to you......I really need to do a bit of cardio.