Ruck & Maul
One of my players has been having troubles with upper body hypertrophy. The player is a B/C squad member on our playing roster; therefore, since he will not be getting any playing time in the immediate future, he wanted to specialize. I came up with this idea for him.
This program is a three-week matrix. It can be used by anyone who is wishing to specialize on his or her upper body for a short period of time. In turn, you could easily extend it into a six-week program by simply repeating the given structure.
Breakdown:
The player will perform this matrix on three non-consecutive days per week. In my athlete's case, he chose a Monday/Wednesday/Friday plan and will do a standard lower body strength program on Tuesday and Thursday (using my standard three-week loading cycle).
Week 1: 6/5/4/4 @ 75, 80, 85, 85+%
Week 2: 5/4/3/3 @ 80, 85, 90, 90+%
Week 3: 4/3/2/2 @ 85, 90, 95, 95+%
He will also perform a loaded core exercise (3 x 5 reps) on each of those training days.
Below is a sample of what he will be doing:
| Tuesday |
Movements |
Thursday |
| Power Clean |
Olympic |
Power Snatch |
| Front Squat |
Squat |
Back Squat |
| Bulgarian (Sprinter’s) Squat |
Single Leg |
Step Ups |
| Romanian Deadlift |
Hamstring/Glute/Lower Back |
Good Morning |
The Three-Way Upper Body Matrix looks like this. It consists of three blocks of push/super set/pull movements with three different set and rep schemes, and it is performed three days per week. Personally, I like to use more dumbbells, kettlebells, and cables when training specific hypertrophy protocols. This program is no exception. Over the three weeks, you will see a shift in the ordering of the exercises to ensure that each combination is exposed to a varying stimulus.
Week 1
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
| 4 x 12 | 4 x 6 | 4 x 8 |
| DB Bench s/s DB/KB One Arm Row | DB Incline s/s Cable 45-degree One Arm Row | DB Shoulder Press s/s DB/KB Upright Row |
| DB Incline s/s Cable 45-degree One Arm Row | DB Shoulder Press s/s DB/KB Upright Row | DB Bench s/s DB/KB One Arm Row |
| DB Shoulder Press s/s DB/KB Upright Row | DB Bench s/s DB/KB One Arm Row | DB Incline s/s Cable 45-degree One Arm Row |
Week 2
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
| 4 x 12 | 4 x 6 | 4 x 8 |
| DB Incline s/s Cable 45-degree One Arm Row | DB Shoulder Press s/s DB/KB Upright Row | DB Bench s/s DB/KB One Arm Row |
| DB Shoulder Press s/s DB/KB Upright Row | DB Bench s/s DB/KB One Arm Row | DB Incline s/s Cable 45-degree One Arm Row |
| DB Bench s/s DB/KB One Arm Row | DB Incline s/s Cable 45-degree One Arm Row | DB Shoulder Press s/s DB/KB Upright Row |
Week 3
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
| 4 x 12 | 4 x 6 | 4 x 8 |
| DB Shoulder Press s/s DB/KB Upright Row | DB Bench s/s DB/KB One Arm Row | DB Incline s/s Cable 45-degree One Arm Row |
| DB Bench s/s DB/KB One Arm Row | DB Incline s/s Cable 45-degree One Arm Row | DB Shoulder Press s/s DB/KB Upright Row |
| DB Incline s/s Cable 45-degree One Arm Row | DB Shoulder Press s/s DB/KB Upright Row | DB Bench s/s DB/KB One Arm Row |
I hope this matrix has provided you with a few different ideas to add to your training. You could even use it as a "change of pace" three-week block and, of course, you can certainly substitute exercises for those that I have outlined in the above example.
Let me know how it goes!