A very basic look at program design and using simple logic to create programs.  Part 2 soon.

Primarily for females who are experienced.  Don’t do more than 2 days in a row.

Day 1

A. Squat

Wk1-2:6,6,5,5

Wk3-4:5,5,3,3, 10

B. Overhead Lunge (walking if possible)

3×8 per leg

C1. Seated Cable Row

Wk1-2: 3×12-15

Wk3-4: 3×8-10

C2. Incline DB Press

Wk1-2: 3×10-12

Wk3-4: 3×8

D1. Pulldown

Wk1-2: 3×10-12

Wk3-4: 3×8

D2. Hyper Ext

Wk1-2: 3×12

Wk3-4: 3×8 (hold weight if needed)

D3.  Any AB

3 sets

One other ab exercise

 Day 2

Standing Press

Wk1-2: 4×8

Wk3-4:6,6,5,5

B1. CG Bench Press

Wk1-2: 8,8,6,6

Wk3-4: 6,6,5,5

 B2.  Barbell Curl

Wk1-2:4×8

Wk3-4:4×8

 B2.  Rear Dealt Machine

Wk1-2: 4×12

Wk3-4: 4×10

C1. Lying DB Ext

Wk1-2: 3×10

Wk3-4: 3×8

C2. Cable Curl 

Wk1-2: 3×12

Wk3-4: 3×8

D.  Standing Row Elbows Out

3×12

Choose 1:

70 burpee

15 min cardio

8 min jump rope

Day 3

Deadlift

Wk1-2: 4×5

Wk3-4: 5,3,3,3

B1 Frt. Squat

Wk1-2:5,3,3,3

Wk3-4: 2,2,1,1 (doesn’t have to be max weight.  Just heavy and challenging)

B2. Box Jump (small box on and off)

3×6

D1. LEG Ext

3×12

D2. Overhead Side Bend (can use very small plates)

3x8 Per side

Leg Press

Wk1-2:15,12,10

Wk3-4: 10,8,6

1 ab

3-4 sets

Day 4

10 min decent pace cardio

B1.  3 way shoulder

4×10

B2.  Single arm DB Preacher Curl on incline

4×8

B3.  Single Leg Ext

4×12

C1.  K Bell swing

10,20,30

C3.  Rev. Grip Pulldown

3×10-15

Barbell Complex (do 1 rep of each exercise then next movement)

4×5

Hang Clean

Front Squat

Jerk

Back Squat

Goodmorning

More important than your exercise or diet program is your self discipline. It doesn’t matter if you workout hard for a week, or stick to your diet for 3 out of 5 days. What matters is what how you act in the long run. How many “little cheats” did you let yourself get away with this week? How many workouts did you skip in the last month? Or the last year? The little things add up. Don’t make excuses for your own lack of discipline. It isn’t about just making yourself go to the gym or something you enjoy on some level. It is making yourself do the things you don’t want to do. The best rehab patients are the ones who tirelessly perform the repetitive boring physical therapy they have been prescribed. Day after day for hours on end. This might also mean you can’t workout for weeks or even months. You watch your body go away and you feel soft but you stick with it. That is discipline.

There are somethings you do just for the sake of building discipline. For example if you are a pasta lover you might cut out all pasta for a year. Not just because it is making losing fat difficult but to see if you can do it no matter what the situation, not matter how hungry you are. As an adult, no one is making you do anything. Do you lay in bed for a half hour or do you get up when you wake up? Do you let yourself mindlessly surf the internet for an hour then complain you don’t have time for things? I bet if you really look at yourself you just don’t have much self discipline. It will spill over into all aspects of your life for the better. We are experts at lying to ourselves and making excuses. (“I need to look at internet videos to unwind.” “I need to lay in bed because mornings are tough for me.”) Shut up. They are tough for everyone. You are just lazy and self permissive. Be tough on yourself and you will be a tougher person.

One time I asked Dr. James Andrews who is one of the most renown surgeons in the world the following question…

What is the most common injury you see that is preventable for the most part?

We discussed a few different things but his first answer was torn pectoral muscles from bench press.  There are many factors that surround this but one of the most obvious I see is not performing the exercises correctly.  Here is a quick and dirty run down.

If your elbows are flared out the entire time then you are using more pec but you are also putting your shoulders in danger.  Think about it.  Would you throw a punch like that?  Would you push someone like that?  Of course not.  It is an unnatural movement that puts the shoulder in an unstable situation.  You should be tight on the bench and the elbows allowed to come in perhaps rotate out at the top.  This means the bar will hit below the pecs for most people.

Tightness is key.  Tightness protects.  Joints should be stable when lifting.  Bench press isn’t a “pec isolation exercises”.  It is a push with the entire upper body.  Most of the stress being on the tris, pecs, and shoulders.  Pecs are only part of the picture.  There is an old powerlifting saying that if you want a bigger bench then gain weight and work your tri’s.  No one mentions pecs.

Of course if you are benching hard, work your upper back just as hard.  Keep the balance.

Common questions and answers.

Q: But benching that way doesn’t work my pecs as good.

A:  Find another exercises for your pecs if you want to feel them more.

Q: I am not as strong benching like that.

A: Because you have benched wrong for a long time and have weak tris and delts compared to your chest.  Start over, get strong, stay healthy.

Q: My chest feels funny when I do that like something is wrong.

A: You are probably a female with implants placed under the muscle.  Consult with your doctor about exercises you can and can’t do.  Also make sure you break up the scar tissue from your surgery.

Q:  My shoulders hurt when I bench.

A:  Rotator cuff exercises with correct form before every workout.  Make sure you have good shoulder range of motion.  You may have bicep tendonitis because you bench and curl too much.

Q: Can you lay out the steps on how to set up and bench correctly?

A: Not now.  I am bored.

For seminar info contact:

info@hardnockssouth.com