Your Best Body Workout – 2011 – Week 11 – Day 2

By Health Habits on April 4, 2011@healthhabits

“The Athlete” by Howard Schartz and Beverly Ornstein

Welcome to Week 11 – Workout 2.

Same theory as Workout #1 with different exercises focusing on different muscles.

Note - I am posting this workout on Tuesday for those trainees who will be doing 6 workouts this week. If that’s not you, scroll to the bottom of the post for suggestions on what to do for Tuesday’s workout

And here are the rules again just in case you forgot.

The next 6 weeks of workouts are going to be different from any of the other Best Body workouts that you have completed thus far.

Instead of doing the same workouts for 4 weeks straight, we are going to be making changes to the workouts every two weeks.
6 weeks ÷ 2 weeks per workout = 3 different workouts
Instead of focusing on athletic body movements, we will be focusing on body parts and maximizing the density of effort applied to each muscle.
Supersets will consist of two exercises that target the same muscle. This shrinks the amount of rest time that the target muscle is allowed. Sorry.

But, other than that stuff, the philosophy is pretty much the same.

Do a lot of work in a short period of time with really short rest periods.
Freak of nature workouts.
And after these six weeks, we will go back to another bridge week and then onto to something new.

PHASE 1

Warm-Up

Feel free to mix things up during the warm-up.

The goal is to warm up your muscles and to get your joints lubricated. I like the following warm-up exercises, but as long as your muscles are getting pliable and your joints are feeling “loose”….feel free to do your own thing…as long as it gets the job done.

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

3. Shin Box

4. Lateral Lunges

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 HH Quasi Bodybuilder/Athlete/Freak of Nature Workout ver 1.0

Superset #1

2 exercises per superset
6 sets per exercise
8 reps per set
30 seconds rest between sets
Choose a weight that will challenge you to just get the 8th rep on the last set
If you make 8 reps on set #6, increase the weight a little bit the following week
Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

I recommend that before each set of Exercise #1, you 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)

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

Exercise #1

Scapular Depression Chins or Pulldowns

6 sets
8 reps per set
BW or cable pulldown station or bands

This is a chin / pulldown which doesn’t use your arms – same back movement – no biceps

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend Explosive Band Pulldowns or Jumping Chins

Exercise #2

J Pulldowns

6 sets
8 reps per set

A band can be substituted for the cable

.

Superset #2

2 exercises per superset
6 sets per exercise
8 reps per set
30 seconds rest between sets
Choose a weight that will challenge you to just get the 8th rep on the last set
If you make 8 reps on set #6, increase the weight a little bit the following week
Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

I recommend that before each set of Exercise #1, you 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)

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

Exercise #1

Skullcrushers

6 sets
8 reps per set
Dumbbells/Barbell or Bodyweight

For the neural activation warm-up exercise, I would recommend 5 reps of Explosive Close Grip Push-Ups

Exercise # 2

Cable Pushdowns

6 sets
8 reps per set
Dumbbells

Stretch bands can be substituted for the cable stack

.For the neural a

Superset #3

2 exercises per superset
6 sets per exercise
8 reps per set
30 seconds rest between sets
Choose a weight that will challenge you to just get the 8th rep on the last set
If you make 8 reps on set #6, increase the weight a little bit the following week
Perform the “work” part of each exercise as quickly and powerfully as possible

I recommend that before each set of Exercise #1, you 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)

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

Exercise #1

Stability Ball Plank

6 sets
30 seconds per set
Ball & BW

Exercise # 2

Stability Ball Crunch or Tuck/Pike

6 sets
MAX reps per set – with GOOD form
Stab Ball & BW
On crunches – crunch up towards the ceiling rather than curling like a jelly-roll
When your form isn’t perfect – move back to planks

PHASE 3

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

.

NOTE

All 3 workouts will be posted on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday.

If you’re interested in gaining some size, perform each of these workouts 2x per week
It all depends on your goals

Instead of repeating these workouts, you can perform them a single time only – Mon, Wed, Fri and perform some other exercise on Tues, Thurs, Sat.

For example:

you can perform Neural Recharge workouts on Tues/Thurs/Sat –Here is a sample workout

If you want to improve your cardio, do cardio

If you want to improve your flexibility, take some yoga classes or stretch

If you want to have fun while exercising, take a class, play a sport, etc…

Or, mix & match

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

.

All of the Best Body workouts are available here.

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Doug Robb is a personal trainer, a fitness blogger and author, a competitive athlete, and a student of nutrition and exercise science. Since 2008, Doug has expanded his impact by bringing his real-world experience online via his health & fitness blog, Health Habits. Read more posts by Doug at Hive Health Media.

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3 Comments

Brit

April 6, 2011 at 7:03 pm

Had to move the planks down to the floor. I just couldn’t hold it on the ball for 30 seconds.

Reply
Brit

April 5, 2011 at 9:34 pm

Do you have to do the scapular depression pulldowns on a bench like that, or is it okay to sit up?

I know we have 30 second breaks between sets, but is it supposed to be the same between supersets?

Reply
- healthhabits
  
  April 6, 2011 at 6:55 am
  
  Re the scap depressions – any bench/body position is fine – Sitting up on a pulldown machine is perfect
  
  Re rest periods – You will naturally take longer getting set up for the next superset. Finding equipment, gym space, etc.. If I could, I would have you stick to the 30 sec, but that’s unreasonable to expect. So, go get a drink of water, get your equipment & move on to superset #2 as quickly as possible
  
  Reply

Your Best Body Workout – 2011 – Week 11 – Day 2

PHASE 1

PHASE 2