Personal Workouts & Superset Research
Had a great weekend in Vegas…and even did some decent workouts at the Bellagio gym (dbs up to 100 pounds helped, smith machine instead of squat rack didn’t help).
While I was there, a trainer “recognized” me because he saw my name on the gym sign-in page. So we had a chat about the industry and bootcamps and hardcore workouts. It was good.
This weekend I’m off to play with guns and fast cars in the desert of Arizona. More about that next week…
Now let’s help you lose fat…
Click here to listen to the call…
Now let’s get into the TT Workout and tips…
Monday – Oct 25th
Transformation Tip of the Week:
“It is often darkest just before the dawn.”
So if you are struggling, do not give up hope. Never give up looking for the answer. Think. Work. Fight. But never give up. You are just around the corner from breaking through. And remember:
“The difference between what you were yesterday and what you will be tomorrow is what you do today.”
Stephen Pierce
For this week’s workouts, I’m going to show you what I’m doing in my workouts.
Workout A
1) Clean (3×5)
2) Trap Bar DL (3RM) or High Rep Deadlift (2×20)
3A) KROC Row (3xMax)
3B) BW or Front Loaded Bulgarian Split Squat – 3×20
4A) Side Plank (3×60)
4B) Stability Ball Leg Curl (3×20)
4C) Hang Knee Raise (3xMax)
No interval training. Takes about 55 minutes with extended warm-up.
Tuesday
Get 30 minutes of fun activity – now grab a Green Tea and do this week’s research review.
Reference:
J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Sep 15. The Effect of an Upper-Body Agonist-Antagonist Resistance Training Protocol on Volume Load and Efficiency.
Australian and Canadian researchers from the University of Sydney and University of Newfoundland studied supersets against traditional straight set training.
16 trained men performed 2 testing protocols:
a) Traditional Sets (3 sets of bench pull followed by 3 sets of bench press)
b) Supersets (3 sets of bench pull and 3 sets of bench press performed in an alternating manner).
Not surprisingly, both groups suffered from fatigue and did less volume between sets 1-2 and between sets 2-3.
But most importantly, the superset group did more volume than the traditional sets. This is helpful for both muscle building and fat loss.
Researchers concluded: Paired set (superset) training would appear to be an efficient method of exercise. Practitioners wishing to maximize work completed per unit of time may be well advised to consider PS training.
Wednesday
Workout Tip Wednesday
For TT users who want to do a bit more “Meathead Bodysculpting”, you can do extra shoulders and arms after your main workout. I know a lot of TT readers who have a little extra time for more workouts want to add in a bit more arm or shoulder training, and that’s fine. But do it on the same day as your TT Training, and don’t try to fit it in on an off day.
And this is what I’ve done in my next personal workout…
Workout B
After an extensive warm-up, I move to another “warm-up style” superset:
1A) Prone Stick Up exercise. This is a regular stick-up done with your chest on a bench.
1B) 1-Arm PU on Box (3×5)
2A) Incline DB Press (3×6-10)
2B) Seated Row (3×12)
2C) Rear Delt Raise (3×12)
3A) BW Triceps with Rings (3×15)
3B) DB Biceps Curl (3×10)
Optional Super-Meathead superset
4A) Triceps Pressdowns (3×20)
4B) EZ Bar Reverse Curls (3×12)
Thursday
Do 30 minutes of fun activity…and now let’s take a look at our first Facebook Question of the Week:
Q: Will this work?
Answer:
First, let me just say that this is a generic question, but I hear all the time, “Will program A-B-C work for me? Will diet XYZ work?”
And the truth is, I don’t know.
The only thing you can do is to try it for 2 weeks then re-evaluate. Treat your diet and workouts like a science experiment, always testing and tracking.
Friday
Facebook Friday question of the week:
Q: hey craig..would a small 10 minute kb circuit or bw circuit be too much for an off day activity?
Answer:
It depends on what you do in that circuit. Here’s a different perspective – what is that 10 minute circuit going to do FOR you vs. what could it do AGAINST you? Could you “tweak” something (i.e. an old injury) while doing the circuit that sets you back from real workouts? I’ll leave the final decision to your good judgement.
Workout C
1A) Jump
1B) Squat (One week I’ll do sets of 3-5 and the next week I’ll do sets of 15-20)
***As I forgot to mention on the call, I alternate between one week of heavy deadlifts with the next week being heavy squats.
So in Week 1, I did heavy deadlifts on Monday and high-rep squats on Friday. Vice-versa the next week. This limits the lower-body high-intensity lifting to one major exercise each week. I find I have better recovery and just as good, if not better, results compared to doing a heavy squat and heavy deadlift in the same week.
2A) Glute-Ham Raise
2B) BB Lunge
And that’s it. Fifty minutes total, including a 15-20 minute warm-up.
Social Support Saturday!
Do 30 minutes of fun activity…and then take a look at this research study:
Reference:
Effects of Diet and Physical Activity Interventions on Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Severely Obese Adults: A Randomized Trial
American researchers from the University of Pittsburgh studied 130 severely obese adults.
Group 1 did 12 months of diet and exercise.
Group 2 did 12 months of diet, but only did the final 6 months of exercise.
101 (78%) completed the 12-month follow-up assessments – that’s a pretty good compliance rate.
The results were NOT surprising if you believe that DIET is MORE important than EXERCISE. After 6 months:
Group 1 lost 10.9 kg (24 pounds).
Group 2 lost 8.2 kg (18 pounds).
So diet ALONE is 75% of weight loss. Just like the old saying!
Weight loss at 12 months – after Group 2 added exercise – was similar between groups (with both down about 11kg).
Conclusion:
Diet is more important than exercise for fat loss.
So if you are a beginner, don’t go overboard on workouts…just focus on diet and slowly build up your training.
Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
30 minutes activity and plan, shop, & prepare. And one more research study to review:
Reference:
Nutrition 26 1044-1049, 2010. Fructose and metabolic diseases: New findings, new questions
Swiss researchers examined the impact of dietary fructose (HFCS – high fructose corn syrup) on obesity and disease.
Surprisingly, they didn’t find many studies to support the belief that HFCS is anymore evil than regular sugar.
Health problems arise when people overeat, and it doesn’t matter if they overeat regular sugar or HFCS.
The main problem is too many calories and too much sugar – of any kind.
So eat whole, natural foods, keep active, and keep your bodyweight low. That’s the secret to good health.
And if you have a soda once per month that contains HFCS, it’s gonna be okay.
Conclusion:
The researchers focused their recommendations on limiting the daily intake of ALL sugar calories.
Next week!
• TT Workout – MH Fitness Challenges
• Research Review – Comparisons of Center vs Telephone Weight Loss
• Nutrition: Summary of Caffeine Research