Training — How to Lift

// 01 the training week

Training schedule

Badminton stays on its 3 evenings. Strength fills two gaps: one home session on Tuesday evening, one on Thursday evening, plus a bigger barbell session at the society gym on Sunday morning. Saturday is a full rest day.

Day	Session	When	Focus
Sun	Strength A	morning · 08:30	barbell lower + overhead (society gym)
Mon	Badminton	eve · 19:00	conditioning, agility, legs
Tue	Strength B	eve · 19:15	upper push + arms + core (home)
Wed	Badminton	eve · 19:00	conditioning
Thu	Strength C	eve · 19:15	upper pull + arms + core (home)
Fri	Badminton	eve · 19:00	conditioning
Sat	Rest	—	recovery

Why these times?

Physiology barely cares: Time of day has only a marginal effect on muscle and strength gains — consistency and recovery spacing dominate. Slots are chosen to fit your life, not chase a 2% edge.
Tue → evening, at home: Tuesday evening is badminton-free. You train fed (stronger lifts), your 09:15 morning study block stays intact, and dinner right after becomes the post-workout protein meal.
Thu → evening, at home: Thursday evening is badminton-free. A strength session after work, post-workout dinner follows naturally.
Sat → rest: Full recovery on the weekend. No training. Body catches up between badminton and strength.
Sunday → morning, gym: Your one barbell-access day — squat, deadlift/RDL, barbell row, overhead press live here. A pre-gym mini shake (1 scoop whey + 1 banana) at 08:00 means you’re not lifting fasted.
Upper-bias on home days: Arms/limbs are the priority — badminton already hammers legs 3×/week. Legs get badminton + Sunday barbell; Tue/Thu concentrate on arms, shoulders, chest, back, core. Curls on both home days.
Recovery: Saturday is full rest. If run-down, make one badminton day casual rather than skipping a lift. Sleep (8 hours) is the real recovery.

// 02 the three sessions

What to do each session

Antagonist supersets (the two moves back-to-back, rest ~75 s, repeat). Click any exercise name to see its form diagram and cues.

Session A · Sunday · society gym — barbell lower + overhead

~50–60 min · straight sets, rest ~2 min on the big lifts · this is hypertrophy, not a max-out

Back squat 3–4×6–10 → quads, glutes, core
Romanian deadlift 3×8–10 → hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors
Barbell bent-over row 3×8–10 → lats, mid-back, rear delts, biceps
Barbell overhead press 3×6–10 → front + side delts, triceps, upper chest
Bulgarian split squat (DB) 2–3×10–12 / leg → quads, glutes
Calf raise 3×15–20 + Hanging leg raise 3×12 → calves + lower abs, hip flexors

How to execute

how to execute

straight sets

1. Squat ×6–10

rest 2 min ×3–4 sets

2. RDL ×8–10

rest 2 min ×3 sets

3. Bent-over row ×8–10

rest 2 min ×3 sets

4. OHP ×6–10

rest 2 min ×3 sets

5. Split squat ×10–12/leg

rest 90 s ×2–3 sets

finish · superset

→ Calf raise ×15–20

→ Leg raise ×12

rest 75 s

↻ repeat ×3 rounds

Session B · Tuesday · home — upper push + arms + core

~40 min · push the last 1–2 reps of every set

SS1

DB floor press / Bench press 3×8–12 + Band pull-apart 3×20 → chest, front delts, triceps + rear delts, upper back

SS2

Pike pushup / DB shoulder press 3×8–12 + DB lateral raise 3×15–20 → front + side delts + side delts

SS3 · arms

Overhead triceps extension 3×15–20 + DB biceps curl 3×15–20 → triceps + biceps

core

Hanging knee raise 3×10–15 + Ab roller rollout 3×8–12 → lower abs, hip flexors + rectus abdominis, obliques

How to execute

how to execute

SS1

→ DB press ×8–12

→ Band pull-apart ×20

rest 75 s

↻ repeat ×3 rounds

SS2

→ Pike pushup ×8–12

→ Lateral raise ×15–20

rest 75 s

↻ repeat ×3 rounds

SS3 arms

→ Triceps ext ×15–20

→ Biceps curl ×15–20

rest 75 s

↻ repeat ×3 rounds

core

→ Knee raise ×10–15

→ Ab rollout ×8–12

rest 75 s

↻ repeat ×3 rounds

Session C · Thursday · home — upper pull + arms + core

~40 min

SS1

Pull-ups 3×AMRAP (band-assisted or negatives if needed) + Diamond pushup 3×near-fail → lats, upper back, biceps + chest, triceps

SS2

One-arm DB row 3×12–15 / side + Band pull-apart 3×20 → lats, mid-back, rear delts, biceps + rear delts, upper back

SS3 · arms

Hammer curl 3×15–20 + DB biceps curl (supinated) 3×12–15 → brachialis, forearms + biceps

grip + core

Farmer carry 3×~40 s + Hanging leg raise 3×10–15 → grip, forearms, traps, core + lower abs, hip flexors

How to execute

how to execute

SS1

→ Pull-ups ×AMRAP

→ Diamond pushup ×fail

rest 75 s

↻ repeat ×3 rounds

SS2

→ DB row ×12–15/side

→ Band pull-apart ×20

rest 75 s

↻ repeat ×3 rounds

SS3 arms

→ Hammer curl ×15–20

→ Biceps curl ×12–15

rest 75 s

↻ repeat ×3 rounds

grip + core

→ Farmer carry ×40 s

→ Leg raise ×10–15

rest 75 s

↻ repeat ×3 rounds

loading — read this, it reinterprets every weight below You have Cult 24 kg adjustable dumbbells (2.5–24 kg per hand, 15 weight increments). This covers all home exercises with room to grow for 18–24 months. Pick a load where the last 1–2 reps of every set are genuinely hard — dial-adjust between exercises in seconds.

// 03 the exercise library

Exercise library

Use the exercise popup from session cards above for quick reference. Expand below to browse all form diagrams.

Show all 24 exercises with form diagrams

Run them antagonist supersets (do the paired moves back-to-back, rest ~75 s, repeat) to fit ~40 min. Alternate sessions: week 1 = A·B·C each week (Sun·Tue·Thu). Tempo notation 3-1-1-0 = 3 s eccentric, 1 s bottom pause, 1 s concentric, 0 s top pause.

trusted form references The links above open YouTube search so you always get current top results. Channels worth trusting for technique: Jeff Nippard (science-based hypertrophy), Hybrid Calisthenics (bodyweight progressions), Athlean-X (form detail). Watch once, then stop watching and start logging.

// 04 progression

How you actually progress

Your old routine plateaued because nothing forced it to get harder. With the Cult dumbbells (2.5–24 kg) you have every lever, including load. Run double progression — climb the cheaper rungs first so each load jump lands only once you've earned it:

1 · add reps — hit the top of the range on all sets (e.g. 20/20/20)
2 · slow the negative — push the lowering to 3–4 s before adding anything
3 · harder variation — incline→flat→archer pushup; knee→straight-leg raise; assisted→full pull-up; rollout partial→full→from toes
4 · add the band — extra tension on pushups, rows, presses
5 · add a set — 3 → 4 working sets
6 · add load — dial the Cult dumbbells up to the next increment. This becomes your main driver for legs, back, and presses — use it

double progression, in one line Pick a rep range. Add reps every session until you hit the top of the range on every set. Then make it harder (rung 2–6) and drop back to the bottom of the range. Repeat forever. The log is the program — without it you're guessing.

// 05 session log

Session log

Since you version everything, the natural home for this is a file in your repo — commit it like code ([train] log session B · wk3). Copy this template, fill weight×reps per set, and the trend tells you when to advance. One glance at last week's numbers is your progression decision. One-sided lifts (split squat, one-arm row) log left/right — the gap between the two is the thing to close.

# training-log.md  ·  beats guessing, every time

## Week 3  ·  Session B  ·  Tue 30-Jun
bulgarian split squat   bw      | 12/11,12/10,10/9   # left/right · → add 3kg
pushup (flat)           bw      | 14,12,10
single-leg RDL          3kg     | 12/12,12/11,12/11  # → 3s negative next
pike pushup             bw      | 10,9,8
lateral raise           3kg     | 18,16,15
biceps curl             3kg     | 18,15,13   # last set to failure + 3 halves
hanging knee raise      bw      | 13,11,10
notes: shoulders strong today. sleep 7.5h. felt good.

## Week 3  ·  Session C  ·  Thu 02-Jul
reverse lunge           3kg     | 15/15,15/14,14/13
pull-up                 bw      | 6,5,4      # band-assisted set 3
one-arm row             3kg     | 15/15,15/14,15/13  # → add band row
band pull-apart         band    | 20,20,20
hammer curl             3kg     | 18,16,15
overhead tri ext        3kg     | 20,18,16   # → switch to diamond pushups
ab roller rollout       bw      | 10,8,8
farmer carry            3kg     | 45s,40s,40s
notes: grip gave out on carries. forearms cooking.

// 06 read this before you start

Caveats

1 · You have real load — use it. Cult 24 kg adjustable dumbbells (2.5–24 kg per hand, 15 increments) cover a long runway for every lift. Legs and back hit the ceiling first — pair with weighted unilateral moves (Bulgarian split squats at 16–20 kg each hand are brutal). Sunday gym handles anything beyond 24 kg.

2 · Protect sleep and study. Recovery happens at night — don't trade the 8 hours for a late study push. Putting strength on Tue/Thu evenings keeps your morning study block intact every weekday; the only training that owns a morning is the Sunday gym trip.

3 · Creatine is the one supplement worth starting. 3–5 g/day monohydrate — the most evidence-backed, safe, cheap supplement for muscle gain. Any time of day, just be consistent.