I realize this sounds like the title of an article in a  men’s health magazine…forgive me.  Unlike those useless, recycled junk articles, this workout has been tested among various individuals countless times.  The results are pretty amazing and should work for just about anyone.  Like all workouts, try this out for 4-6 weeks, then switch it up to keep your muscles guessing.

To begin, lets review a few terms that will help in understanding this workout.

• Superset – Performing two exercises back-to-back with no rest in between
• Drop Set – Removing ~20% of the weight immediately following a set, then doing another set with no rest. Repeat once more.
• Muscular Failure – Training to the point that your muscles can not do another repetition while keeping proper form.

Superset:

• Wide-grip barbell curls: 3 x 10
• Skullcrushers: 3 x 10

Superset:

• Hammer Curls: 3 drop sets to failure
• Weighted Dips: 3 drop sets to failure

Superset:

• Cable Curls: 1 x 25
• Overhead Tricep Extension: 1 x 25

Superset:

• Incline Dumbell Curl: 3 x 10
• Close-Grip Barbell Bench: 3 x 10

Rack Pulls are essentially a modified deadlift.  Instead of starting with the bar on the floor, begin at knee level.  The benefits of Rack Pulls are tremendous.  They will strength your hamstrings, glutes, mid-section, forearms, and upper-back.  This is a great exercise to add muscle to your upper-back especially. 

Key points about Rack Pulls:

• Try Rack Pulls if you are having trouble keeping a flat back while doing deadlifts. 
• You may be able to use heavier weights on Rack Pulls than on deadlifts, depending on height of the bar to start
• To correctly perform a Rack Pull, use no momentum with very little knee extension. 

Form:

• Feet shoulder-width apart
• Shins perpendicular to the floor
• Use about a 20” grip
• Keep straight arms through the lift.  Tighten your triceps
• Chest up
• Shoulder-blades above the bar
• Straight neck

If it is your goal to live the “muscle lifestyle” you know you are going to have to workout regularly for the remainder of your life.  Stop working out, and the muscle goes away.  It’s a tough pill to swallow for some, but it’s best to just accept it as a part of life.  If you are going to be spending the next 40, 50, 60+ years working out, you are going to want to incorporate new training methods into your regimen.  If you don’t not only will your progress stop, but you will become burnt out and de-motivated.

Almost all of us are willing to try any weight lifting routine that is outside the box.  As long as we are in the gym pumping iron, we feel that we are benefitting ourselves.  While this may be true to a degree, take a look at the following workouts with an open mind.

Matt Furey, a martial arts world champion, and first American to ever win a gold medal competing in China wrote a book called Combat Conditioning: Functional Exercises for Fitness & Combat Sports.  One of the toughest men in the world conditioned his body almost exclusively through body weight exercises. 

Give the following exercises a try over a few week period.  See how they work for you, and consider ordering Matt’s book.

Hindu Pushups

This is a tough exercise to complete with proper form.  It is great at increasing strength, as well as flexibility in the back and lower body.  Start by keeping your butt in the area as you are on all fours.  Try to make a triangle with your body; keep your back bent at the hips.  Face your head towards your toes.  Begin by taking a deep inhale, then slowly bringing your body down in a circular arc motion, before bending back up to look at the ceiling.  Push back on your heels and repeat.

Aim for 30 reps to start.  Many of you may find this hard, others will find it easy.  Find your comfort level and start from there.  Pay less attention to your form at the beginning, as that will improve when your stabilizer muscles get better trained.  In four weeks, aim to do 100 straight.  Concentrate on your breathing always.

Handstand Pushups

This is effectively a squat for your upper-body…and we all know how great squats can be.  This is a very hard exercise, but you will reap great rewards if you learn how to master it.  It’s hard to start, but once you begin seeing improvements to your arms and shoulders, you will be addicted to these. 

Find a free wall and position yourself about two feet from it.  Keep your rubber-soled shoes on for better traction.  Get on all fours and place one knee under your midsection.  Use this leg to support yourself.  Take your other leg and slowly extend it until your foot is pressed against the wall.  Transfer your weight to the foot against the wall and lift your other foot slowly against the wall into a similar position.  With your hands position on two chairs about 2 feet apart, slowly raise your body up and down until your head lightly touches the floor.  This is a hard move, and if you can’t get it at first, don’t be frustrated.  Just look at it as a great opportunity for growth.

Hindu Squat

This may not seem like much because I bet a lot of you are used to squatting with several hundreds of pounds in the the gym.  The Hindu Squat however, is like nothing you’ve ever seen.  Stand up straight with your arms at your side.  As you begin to squat, raise your heels off the floor.  Continue squatting until your butt touches your calves.  At this point, you want to explode up and bring your arms forward.  Once at maximum height, bring your arms back to your sides like you were rowing a boat.

Concentrate on your breathing as you do this.  Exhale on the way down, inhale on the explosion up.  This is the opposite breathing technique for most weight lifting, but works great for this particular bodyweight exercise.  It will help you maintain your focus, balance, and keep you tight.  Start by doing 100 straight, with a one-month goal of doing 500 in one set.  Focus on your form at the beginning and keeping a good pace.  Go as fast as possible while not sacrificing form.  500 in 15 minutes is really great and will mean you are well on your way to terrific shape.

For a lot of people, the idea more is better, holds true in every facet of their life, including the gym.  They’ll bang out 8 sets of bicep exercises, 4 times a week, and wonder why they are seeing no gains.  All their hard work is getting them no where, and they end up quitting.  This is the typical example of a person who overtrains.

Weight training works on the principle of progressive overload.  This means, when you return to the gym fully recovered, you should be able to lift slightly more weight than you were able to last time.  Overtraining never gives your body the time to recover, thus destroying progressive overload.

Look at it like this…Your body is a car your driving down the road.  You run into a tree and put a small dent in the body.  It still runs well enough, but has a dent.  The next day, you are driving down the same road and hit the same tree.  The small dent got larger, and the car is beginning to run less efficiently.  Repeat this process several times and the car is no longer functional.  This is exactly what happens when you train too much in the gym.

Symptoms of Overtraining

• Decreased muscle size and strength
• Longer recovery periods
• Elevated blood pressure
• Headaches
• Hand tremors
• Increased joint and muscle pain
• Tiredness
• Injury
• Illness

The physiological result of these symptoms is due to the massive release of cortisol into your system.  When you work out for an extended period, cortisol is released and breaks down protein into the constituent amino acids.  They are sent to the liver and converted to glucose for energy.  When you work out for too long, too many proteins are broken down.

Overtaining forces the body into a weakened state due to the fact all of our immune functions are built upon amino acids.  Their structural integrity is lost due to overtraining, leaving us susceptible to illness.  Even worse, our muscles and ligaments become much more fragile and open to tears and injury.

Overtraining is the number one enemy for any gym-goer.  Knowing the causes and symptoms should really help you avoid this motivation killer. 

How to Avoid Overtraining

• Keep high intensity training sessions to 1 hour or less.
• Take carbs 2 hours before and immediately after your training session
• Take protein 2 hours before and immediately after your training session
• Stress has been shown to increase cortisol in the blood; try to find ways to relax
• Do not train when a muscle is sore
• Limit the number of exercises to about 5 for smaller body parts, i.e. biceps, triceps, etc.  Make the exercises you do count.

Ladies, it’s time for a wake up call.  This goes out to all the women who avoid hitting the weights because of a misguided concern that lifting weights = going to look bulky.  First off, women are not genetically coded to develop big, bulky muscles.  It’s not in your DNA.  Understand that first and foremost.  Unless you are taking steroids or HGH, or use a bodybuilder’s workout and diet (think 4,000 calories a day) you have no reason to worry about getting a man body. 

A healthy lifestyle is backed by muscular tone and strength.  The benefits of added muscle are numerous, but in order to get that muscle we need to also examine another bad habit a lot of women have.  They think if they just lift the 5 lb pink dumbbells, they will get the benefits of weight training without the bulky look.  To be perfectly frank, you are simply wasting your time.  Those tiny weights aren’t affecting much, and certainly aren’t heavy enough to spur new muscle growth. (I’d be willing to bet your purses weigh more than some of you are lifting at the gym).  You want to physiologically change your muscles when you work out, therefore you need heavier weights.  Your muscles need to be challenged in order to grow.  Go heavier on the weights and rest soundly knowing that the low levels of testosterone in your body will prevent you from adding the bulk.

We all have different bodies, but most women want that “pilates body” look.  Lean, toned, low body fat…you all know what we’re talking about.  Do you think the women with these toned bodies are just born that way?  Yes, I know what you are all thinking…there are a few lucky women like this out there that don’t work out and eat whatever they want.  Don’t let yourselves think THAT is the norm, it isn’t.  For 99.9% of the world, WEIGHT training is the best way to achieve that toned, healthy look.

Aside from the aesthetic benefit, there are two other  huge reasons why you need to start weight training today.

• Added muscle tissue increases metabolism and the number of calories burned at rest.  For the woman who weight trains, she will be burning more calories while sleeping, for instance, than her counterpart who is too afraid of bulking up to lift a weight.  Obviously, more calories burned = more weight lost = less body fat.  Lifting weights lowers body fat, period.
• Heavy lifting helps you avoid osteoporosis.  Lifting weights puts stress on muscle, ligaments, tendons, and bones, which in turn makes them stronger and less likely to break down. 

It’s time once and for all to get past the misguided and unproven fears about lifting weights.  Get in there and start a weight training program and become amazed at how your body transforms.  Get it though your head that lifting heavy weights will NOT make your legs, arms, back, etc. bigger and manly….only toned, shaped, and tight.  The only thing you have to lose by getting started today is body fat and fear.

Actually, there is no “BEST EVER” workout.  Don’t be fooled by sites and magazines that tout their workout as the best ever.  Finding an effective workout is about trial and error.  What works wonders for one person may not do much for another.  However, one great way to continue making gains and keeping your muscles confused is to switch up your routine completely every 4-6 weeks.  A great way to switch things up is to work pyramid sets in your routine.

Pyramid workouts are great because they lead to massive muscle growth and strength (Ladies…this doesn’t mean bulky!).  The goal is to slightly increase the weight for each set of a particular exercise you complete.  Beginners should aim for 3 sets per exercise, while the more advanced may want to include 4-5 sets per.  Keep in mind if you are completing 4-5 sets per exercise you need to reduce the number of exercises to avoid overtraining.

The larger, more compound movements are typically better in regards to using pyramid sets.  Smaller muscles, like the biceps, are generally weaker and you may not be able to perform enough reps with the increases in weight.  A good plan would be to use pyramid sets for compound exercises like bench press, deadlifts, and squats.  Use straight sets for the smaller, “assistance” muscles like the biceps and triceps.  Keep in mind these smaller muscles will already be working during the heavier compound movements, so reaching fatigue will be easily obtainable through straight sets.  This is not to say that you cannot or should not EVER use pyramid sets for these smaller muscles; just keep your focus on the compound movements moreso.

Pyramid Set Workout for Beginners (reps x weight)

• Barbell Bench Press
  • 10 x 115
  • 8 x 135
  • 6 x 155
• Close Grip Barbell Bench
  • 12 x 115
  • 10 135
  • 8 x 145
• Dumbbell Military Press
  • 12 x 25
  • 10 x 30
  • 8 x 35
• Leg Press
  • 12 x 150
  • 10 x 165
  • 8 x 180
• Lat Pull Down
  • 15 x 115
  • 12 x 125
  • 8 x 145
• Squats
  • 15 x 115
  • 12 x 135
  • 6 x 165
• Incline Dumbbell Press
  • 12 x 30
  • 8 x 40
  • 6 x 50

In a recent study, runners who performed the following ab routine (I’d assume any intense ab routine will do) cut 1 minute off their 5k times in six weeks.  Aim for 2 sets of 25 each.

1. Ball Crunch
2. Hip Raise
3. Back Extension on ball
4. Arm/Leg Reach
5. Russian Twist