A question: timed sets & training for power

I'm in the midst of re-thinking my training program for 2 reasons:

1 - I've been on this program since November, and it's probably about time to mix things up a bit.

2 - I have an outside shot at being a contestant on American Gladiators (!), and if that happens, I want to be as physically prepared as possible.

I've already determined that I'm going to switch to lifting on Monday, Thursday and Saturday with conditioning work on Tuesday and Friday. What I'm thinking about now is keeping Monday and Thursday as high intensity, low volume strength days but switching Saturday to be a lower intensity, higher volume, power-based workout.

I think that timed sets might be appropriate for this power workout. I'd select a weight and amount of time for each exercise, then see how many reps I could get done with the weight in the alloted time. For example, instead of doing 5 sets of 5 reps, I'd do 4 sets of max reps in 30 seconds. I'd make progress by trying to beat my total reps from last time. Since Power = Work/Time, I'd be increasing my power output by keeping the time the same and increasing the number of reps performed from workout to workout.

So my question is this: has anybody out there had experience with timed sets? If you have advice on the best way to use them or other ideas on training for power as opposed to strength, I'd love to hear about it!

Training 2-9-08

I did sets of 10 on Squat and Press today, partially to switch things up and partially because I just wasn't really "feeling it" today.

Squat
4 x 10 x 205
4 x 205

Press
4 x 10 x 95
9 x 95

Power Clean
5 x 3 x 160

Chinups
3 x 5 x 52.5

Dips
2 x 5 x 92.5
4 x 92.5

Comments: Lack of sleep, eating like crap and stress have been screwing with my recovery lately. I went in planning to do 5x5 on Squat, but only got 2 of my first work set, so I switched to sets of 10 with less weight. They were tough! Press was supposed to be 5x10 anyway, since I'm now rotating between sets of 10, 5 and 3 as part of the Timed Total Tonnage approach. Power Cleans felt good -- I'm getting the whole jump thing down by concentrating on stomping my feet back down after the jump. Chinups were easy. Dips felt lopsided -- I need to finish the Egoscue Method and get to work fixing my posture.

American Gladiators, Part Deux

So when we last left our hero (me!), he was going to try out to be a contestant on American Gladiators. Well, here's what happened:

On Saturday I arrived at the tryout location at 8:00 a.m., as instructed. I was the 172nd person in line. I got in the building to try out at 2:30 p.m., did 19 pullups on the pullup test (max pullups in 30 seconds), then did the 30 seconds of up-downs (burpees without the jump), an agility ladder drill and 10 shuttle runs.

While I was still out of breath from all that shuttling, they ushered me into the interview. I sat down across from a casting director who asked me questions about myself and why I wanted to be on the show. Afterwards, I realized that the main point of all those silly shuttle runs was to get me out of breath right before the interview, so they could see how I'd handle answering questions when tired and out of breath.

Anyway, the interview went well and they said they'd call me back. And they did! The very next day, I got a call asking me to go in for a second interview on Tuesday.

So this morning I went to the second interview. I sat in front of a camera and answered questions based on the application I'd filled out earlier. It went pretty well, and now they want me to make a 10 minute video of my life: me at work, me working out, me chilling at home with my psychopathic cat, etc.

So that's the story thus far. I'll be feverishly working to get my home video put together before Friday of this week, so wish me luck!

Training 2-4-08

Squat
5 x 5 x 260

Press
4 x 145
4 x 3 x 145

Power Clean
4 x 3 x 160
2 x 160

Bent Over Row
5 x 5 x 175

Comments: Squat form a bit shady sometimes. Press was extremely frustrating. Had 2 attempts at last rep of Power Cleans, but missed both. Bent Over Row was the highlight of the workout!

I'll now be officially switching into "training for American Gladiators" mode, which means lifting Monday, Thursday and Saturday with general conditioning and "skill" work on Tuesday and Friday. I put quotes around "skill" work because it'll mainly be figuring out ways to practice for the silly stuff they do on the show. Should be entertaining!

American Gladiators

Last Tuesday, two of my roommates and I were sitting around watching TV and shooting the breeze. Long story short, they suggested that I should try out to be a contestant on American Gladiators, we did some research, and we found out that there's a tryout nearby on Saturday. That's tomorrow!

So today I cut my workout volume pretty substantially so that I could get in the gym and move heavy stuff around without wearing myself out before tomorrow's big tryout!

From what I understand, there'll be a max rep pullups in 30 seconds test, an agility drill course, and a 40 yard dash. I have trained specifically for none of these events, but the most important aspect of the "casting call" is probably the on-screen interview with the producers.

In any event, I'm excited and I'll let you know how it goes when I get back to computer-land, probably on Sunday. In the meantime, wish me luck!

Training 2-1-08

Squat
3 x 3 x 255

Press
3 x 3 x 145

Power Clean
3 x 2 x 155

Pullups
5 x 50

Dips
5 x 90

Comments: I went in thinking that cutting the volume meant this would be a breeze. The first set of Squats convinced me otherwise. Power Cleans felt a lot better than last time. Tried to be as explosive as possible on the Pullups and Dips, as a last-minute bit of preparation for tomorrow.