Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 1 – Day 1

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As I mentioned in yesterday’s post - Best Body Transformation 2013 – this new series of workouts are designed…

• to be performed at home
• are the actual workouts I am using with my client

What I am attempting to do is create workouts that can be performed by a wide range of trainees – from beginners all the way to professional athletes. To do this, I am setting up a structure where…

• I am using exercises that aren’t very complicated
• weight/resistance is determined by the trainee’s level of ability
• intensity level is determined by the trainee’s level of ability

I have been beta-testing these workouts for months on a wide variety of people, and I am pretty darn satisfied with them. However, if you find any flaws, please please please shoot me a comment with your concerns.

As I also mentioned in yesterday’s workout, we are starting with bodyweight exercises only. For cardio/HIIT workout, my guinea-pig client already had an elliptical machine at home, and he will be using that for cardio. However, for the sake of these workouts, you don’t need to have a cardio machine…you two feet and the great outdoors will suffice.

Alrighty then…let’s get on with the workout.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

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

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch - 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to use a series of 5 minute supersets…alternating body-parts to maximize recovery.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1 

1. Face the Wall Squats
2. Prone Bridge OR Stir the Pots (if you have a stability ball)

• 5 Minutes - Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto a dumbbell/kettlebell between your legs

• Face the Wall Squats video
• Prone Bridge video  –  Stir the Pot video

Superset #2 

1. Bodyweight Rows
2. Single Leg Straight-Leg Deadlifts

• 5 Minutes - Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form - I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the rows, do them one arm at a time
• If you need to add resistance to the SLDLs, hold onto a DB/KB

• Bodyweight Rows video
• SLDL video

Superset #3 

1. Wide Grip Push-Ups
2. Lateral (side to side) Squats

• 5 Minutes - Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form - I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the Squats, hold onto a DB/KB
• Notice that the toes are facing forward on the squats – this is the form I want to see, but if your knees don’t like this, you’re going to need to pivot your foot as you lunge to the side – gotta look after those knees

• Wide Grip Push-Ups video
• Lateral Squats video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more endurance, I want you to start repeating these supersets. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

Personally, I did 3 rounds of this workout last week – for a total of 9 supersets. It took me 58 minutes to do the 45 minutes of exercises. At the end, I was pooped and really sweaty.

Our guinea-pig client did 5 supersets the first time he tried this workout. He would have done more, but his form was failing and I made him stop.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on the muscles that you just trained:

• Legs
• Pecs
• Back
• Core

Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

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