thinking of changing up my routine a little...

[dce2956]

I just read Zatsiorksy's "science and practice of strength training" and i'm thinking of taking some of his techniques for building strength vs. muscle (hypertrophy). I certianly don't want to lose out on hypertrophy all together though and focus on strength only (i'm no 280 lb. russian powerlifter). Below is my current lifting routine:

Monday -
Barbell Benchpress 5x10
Incline DB Press 3x8
JS Rows 5x5
Standing clean and military press - 5x8
lateral raises 3x10
skull crushers 3x8
barbell curls 2x8
DB curls 2x8

Tuesday -
Oly. Squat 5x5
Goodmornings 3x5
Pullthroughs 4x8
Ham. Curls and Leg Ext. 2x8
Weighted Situp 5x12

Thursday -
Barbell Benchpress 5x5
Barbell Half press 3x5
Incline Press 5x5
Dips 3x8
Pull-ups 5x8
Skull crushers 3x8
Barbell curl 2x8
DB curl 2x8

Friday -
Light Squats(75%-80%) 5x5
Deadlifts 3x5
Pullthroughs 4x8
Ham. Curl and Leg Ext. 2x8
Oblique curl 5x12

What i would like to achieve is to still increase muscle mass but increase my overall strength as well. I'm thinking of doing the above routine for 3 weeks, then 2 weeks on a very hard 1-3 RM, 6 sets per excersize routine, then doing 1 week as an unloading week. Any ideas anyone??

Also, a friend of mine thats a sprinter at my school told me i was missing out bigtime by not doing front squats. What's the difference between front and back squats and should i include them?

[Grizzly]

I don't know I'd say you're missing out big time by not doing front squats, but they aren't a half bad exercise. You're going to need more than a 1 week unload, though, I think.