Your Best Body Workout – 2011 – Week 8 – Day 3

Welcome to Week 8 – Workout 3.

It’s the 3rd time through on this workout. By now, you should be used to all of the weird stuff in this workout and should be seeing an improvement in performance – strength, reps, rest periods, etc…

Same instructions as last week

With this new program, we are going to make some changes….

• Change the rep scheme
• Introduce some Neural Activation training techniques
• Suggest some alternate exercises
• Reduce the number of supersets
• Increase the amount of time per superset

As I said last week, I want to see an even better improvement in performance – shorter rest periods, more reps per 5 min, etc..

Get to work.

PHASE 1

Warm-Up

5 Minutes of the following 4 Mobility Exercises:

1.  Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

2. Rolling Like A Ball

4.  Lateral Lunges

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5 Minutes of the following Muscle Warm-Up Exercises

I am going to list a bunch of exercises. You choose which ones you want to do….remembering that the goal is to warm up the muscles and make them pliable and ready to handle the following workout

• 1 Arm Swing Snatch – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up
• Bodyweight Squat
• Step-Ups
• Burpees
• Push – Ups
• BW Rows
• Jumping Chins
• Shuffle Lunges

PHASE 2

The HIRT Workout

HIRT Superset #1

• 2 exercises per superset
• 10 minutes per superset
• NO REST between sets
• Choose a weight that would allow you to perform 20 reps (20RM)
• Perform 10 reps per set (unless stated otherwise)
• Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

• Prior to each “work” set, I want you to either:

1. Do a 2-5 reps of a light weight, explosive exercise which works the same muscles as the work set (ex. jumping up & down before doing squats), OR
2. Do a very strong isometric (non moving) version of the work set exercise for 2-3 seconds before performing the work set.(ex. pushing against a wall before a bench press)

This will get your nervous system all charged up and help you perform better on the work set.

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Bench Step Ups

• 10 reps per set @ 20RM weight
• Hold dumbbell in outside arm – ie left leg on bench, right arm holds DB

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of BW Jumping Squats – goal is to explode up quickly & leave the ground

Alternative work exercise – Walking Lunges

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Lateral Bench Hops

• 20 reps per set
• BW

No neural activation warm-up exercise

Alternative work exercise – None

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HIRT Superset #2

DB Push Press

• 10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 3 reps of very light weight Push Presses or Vertical Med Ball Tosses

Alternative work exercise – none

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Narrow Grip Pulldowns

• 10 reps per set @ 20RM weight
• Alternate grips between sets – palms in / palms out

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of light resistance Band Pulldowns or Jumping Chins- goal is to explode up quickly & leave the ground

Alternative work exercise – Narrow Grip / Under Grip Chins.

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HIRT Superset #3

Deadlift – Full or Partial DL/Rack Pull (knee height)

• 10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 2 or 3 Broad Jumps or 6 explosive Swing Snatches – goal is to explode up quickly & leave the ground

Alternative work exercise – Romanian Deadlift

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BW Jump Squat

• 5 -10 reps per set @ bodyweight only

No neural activation warm-up exercise

Alternative work exercise – none

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HIRT Superset #4

Cable/Band Woodchop – horizontal

• 10 reps per set @ 20RM weight
• Remember that this exercise is all about the HIP PIVOT – not twisting your lower back
• Rope Handle

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 6 reps of Lateral (side to side) Jumps – goal is to explode quickly from side to side

Alternative work exercise – Russian Twists

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Face Pull

• 10 reps per set @ 20RM weight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of light cable or band Face Pulls

Alternative work exercise – Standing Cable or Band Row

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HIRT Superset #5 - optional

Repeat one of the first 4 Supersets – your choice

HIRT Superset #6 - optional

Repeat one of the first 4 Supersets – your choice

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PHASE 3

10 minutes of DIY

• If you really want to lose weight, spend 10 minutes doing some HIITsprints on an exercise bike. I would recommend 10 sprints with a 10 sec ON : 50 sec OFF ratio
• If you want to buff up those biceps, hit the curls for 10 minutes
• If your hip flexors are really tight, put in 10 minutes stretching them along with your quads and lower lumbars.
• And if your goal is power & strength, spend 10 minutes doing static holds or partial lifts

PHASE 4

Stretching – minimum 10 minutes

Focus on the muscles you just worked, plus the ones that are tight on just about everyone….hip flexors, calves, hamstrings, chest, neck & traps

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Alright, that’s it for the work week

Sat & Sun are up to you.

It all depends on your goals

• If your main goal is strength & power, you will perform Neural Recharge workouts –Here is a sample workout
• If you want to improve your cardio, do cardio
• If you want to improve your flexibility, do a yoga class or stretch
• If you want to have fun while exercising, take a class, play a sport, etc…
• But, NO SERIOUS LIFTING on your off days. You’ll screw up your recovery.

You can also rest on those off days. These 3 workouts are pretty intense and will do a lot on their own.

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