Which order do you train to increase all of your athletic capabilities?

[hustler101]

I want to increase my athletic performance which sequence should I train in to increase all the following aspects of training?
(Powerlifting, Bodybuilding/size, Recovery time, Callisthenics, Cardio, High intensity interval training )?

I've been working out for over 10 years now, and I want to make significant gains in the next few months, however I'm not quite sure how to divide my workouts or organize them in their most appropriate order..

I was told having More Cardio allows you to stay in the gym longer and increases recovery time
But high reps are also not ideal for power.

I'm thinking of starting out with cardio and High intensity training for 1 month.. followed by powerlifting and calisthetics for 1 month, followed up with regular body building for 1 month.

If you guys have a better idea then spare some advice

[cousinmuscles]

There's research on this as to the order of the elements (endurance, hypertrophy, strength, speed etc.)
Residual Training Effect

What you do is train them all together though, but of course put the most focus on what you want to achieve. Increasing your capacity, to be able to recover quicker between sets etc. is a secondary goal so you'll do less of that. You don't have to split it all in different weeks, you can do it all in one week. Westside for example has strength and speed in the same week as well as hypertrophy on the same day as both the others.
Westside Barbell Program: Sample Powerlifting Template

If you want to learn more in depth about this read zatsiorsky
Edit: oops seems like the link is no longer available. "Science and practice of strength training by zatsiorsky" comprehensive book.

It seems you're wanting to attain too many things at once though. Just split your training so you bench, squats, deads on separate days as main exercises. Then add auxiliary exercises to grow the muscles more.

HIIT and recovery time is the same for me. On your off days do some short HIIT work 1-2 times a week.

If you want to add more e.g. long distance running and calisthenics you're adding a shitload of work. Either you will gain very little in each element or burn yourself out and wear out your joints. If you split it up so you train one of each every 3 months you'll be starting at 0 each time.

[BrockBadger]

I want to increase my athletic performance which sequence should I train in to increase all the following aspects of training?
(Powerlifting, Bodybuilding/size, Recovery time, Callisthenics, Cardio, High intensity interval training )?

I've been working out for over 10 years now, and I want to make significant gains in the next few months, however I'm not quite sure how to divide my workouts or organize them in their most appropriate order..

I was told having More Cardio allows you to stay in the gym longer and increases recovery time
But high reps are also not ideal for power.

I'm thinking of starting out with cardio and High intensity training for 1 month.. followed by powerlifting and calisthetics for 1 month, followed up with regular body building for 1 month.

If you guys have a better idea then spare some advice

rnsplg gave some great advice follow him... Ideally you'll want to hit the powerlifting exercises in the gym first before anything else. You won't be able to lift max weight if you do a whole bunch of reps first. Even if you do hypertrophy training it will weigh you down on the big lifts... You can rotate them fine but if you have a day where you focus on strength then do the powerlifting first.

[hustler101]

Thats a good piece of advice rnsplg

A famous bodybuilder on youtube often time starts with powerlifting and then finishes up with a regular body building workout.

I'm going to try a program right now

30min - 1 hour of cardio in the morning before breakfast for optimal fat burning

Powerlifting + bodybuilding 4x per week

calisthenics 2x per week

Still not quite sure where HIIT would fit in there with this kinda schedule.... Althought I did notice a very quick improvement in my wrestling, agility, and overall explosiveness which surprised my MMA coach, after I started doing agility and explosive drills, those similarly done by football players and other athletes.


I'm thinking about trying steroids, if it can keep me at the gym for 6 hours

[cousinmuscles]

Thats a good piece of advice rnsplg

A famous bodybuilder on youtube often time starts with powerlifting and then finishes up with a regular body building workout.

I'm going to try a program right now

30min - 1 hour of cardio in the morning before breakfast for optimal fat burning

Powerlifting + bodybuilding 4x per week

calisthenics 2x per week

Still not quite sure where HIIT would fit in there with this kinda schedule.... Althought I did notice a very quick improvement in my wrestling, agility, and overall explosiveness which surprised my MMA coach, after I started doing agility and explosive drills, those similarly done by football players and other athletes.


I'm thinking about trying steroids, if it can keep me at the gym for 6 hours

Agreed with Brock and that's what I've done for eternity. Squats deads bench shoulder press etc first then working muscles specifically.

Steroids will definitely not keep you in the gym. You'll just wear out your joints and become a fragile old man quickly :P You sound like me in my 20s. I did 4 gym sessions, 3 grappling + 2 kickboxing OR 3 kickboxing + 2 grappling, and HIIT once or twice on weekends. Mon-fri martial arts, mon-tues-thurs-fri double up with weights. Made no gains at all and wore out my knees so that when I was 23-24 I couldn't even go out for a run. Steroids won't make your joints heal to let you do this. Though if you are like me you'll try for yourself to find the truth

BTW don't you find conditioning work during MMA etc enough for calisthenics?

[hustler101]

I'm also doing this incremental cardio workout program

Every time I step on my tredmill, I increase the running time by 5 minutes... I'm at 35min right now.. I'm looking to see how far I can push myself, gotta solve some cardio issues...

Today's 35 min was the most I ever ran on a tredmill... however I find the recovery was very fast compared to HIIT which are killers on the body...

Once I'm able to get my cardio up to 90 minute runs then I think my workout durability and muscle recovery time in the gym will also increase...

[hustler101]

rnsplg I found MMA training was more like high intensity workout... they are the most gruelling workouts of them all.. I was loosing size when doing MMA and didn't have the energy to do much weights when doing MMA either..

When I started doing Calisthenics I noticed strength increases during grappling sessions, and then I added agility and explosive drills, which further evolved my fight game to new heights...

How did you blow your knees by the way? Simply by over training?

I had knee problems too when I was 22.. now they have healed, but these shoulder problems have been bothering me for over 5 years now, for which I'm still looking for answers.

[cousinmuscles]

Didn't destroy them but must have lost lots of cartilage which seems to have come back, I assume. I trained too much simply and got burning sensations just getting up from a chair. Then a guy tried to do a judo throw but failed a couple of times, while I was exhausted, then he tried again really hard and I happened to be stuck towards a wall sort of, my legs were kept in one place while my body rotated sideways a bit and we heard a loud snap. Doctor said it must have gone out of the socket and back in (no idea what this means really). Xrays etc showed nothing. Had a very hard time walking and standing up for almost a year and then could slowly work my way up.

In my experience cardio, 30+ minutes cardio doesn't help recovery between sets. It helps staying energized throughout a long training session. Recovery between sets can be enhanced with tabata intervals, e.g. on a rowing machine. Spurts of say 20 seconds with 10 seconds slow. The spurt must be 100% effort. You will have to start with perhaps 20s spurt 40s slow and slowly change the ratio. This will help with very short term recovery!