|
Ah, spring is in the air and thoughts of getting in shape
are prying their way back into your conscious mind. When you
step outside and feel the warm sun on your neck, you know
it won’t be long before you’ll be going shirtless
at the beach or by the pool, which can send the off-season
bodybuilder into extreme panic mode.
If you’re on the verge of spring fever but your physique
is still in winter hibernation, it’s time to get with
a proper program, crank up the training intensity and chisel
your muscle structures before summer rolls around. One of
the best places to put your plan into action is your very
own home gym.
If you train in a commercial facility, don’t go anywhere
just yet. You can use the following training advice and routine
no matter where you work out. It’s simple, straightforward
and only requires three days per week. If you’re reading
this around the middle of April, you’ve got about six
weeks to retool your body into something you can be proud
of, which is about 18 workouts, so make each one count. Here’s
the routine that will do it for you:
| Monday |
|
|
|
| Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
| Squats |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Leg extensions |
1 |
8 - 10 |
|
| Leg curls |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Bench presses |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Low-incline flyes |
1 |
8 - 10 |
|
| Incline dumbbell presses |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Undergrip chins |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| One-arm dumbbell rows |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| One-leg calf raises |
2 |
10 - 20 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Wednesday |
|
|
|
| Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
| Deadlifts |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Dumbbell presses |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Lateral raises |
2 |
8 - 10 |
|
| Kickbacks |
2 |
8 - 10 |
|
| Lying triceps extensions |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Concentration curls |
2 |
8 - 10 |
|
| Seated dumbbell curls |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Wrist curls or cable goosenecks |
1 |
8 - 10 |
|
| Reverse wrist curls |
1 |
8 - 10 |
|
| Crunches or Ab Bench crunch pulls |
2 |
8 - 10 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Friday |
|
|
|
| Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
| Front squats |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Leg extensions |
2 |
8 - 10 |
|
| Stiff-legged deadlifts |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Bench presses |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Low-incline flyes |
1 |
8 - 10 |
|
| Incline dumbbell presses |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| Undergrip chins |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| One-arm dumbbell rows |
2 |
6 - 8 |
|
| One-leg calf raises |
2 |
10 - 20 |
|
This is a variation of one of our 10-week mass building
routines. The minor adjustments are as follows:
• You hit delts directly only once a week. As with the
arms, you pound your delts indirectly during other exercises
on Monday and Wednesday, primarily chest and back work.
• You do lower reps on the compound movements and slightly
higher reps on the isolation exercises. This should help you
concentrate on moving heavy weights on the big power exercises
and focusing on feel during isolation moves. Make your single-joint
exercises really slow and deliberate, concentrating on the
mind/muscle link.
• You do squats on Monday and front squats on Friday.
This gives you some variation. If you truly hate front squats,
you can do regular squats on both days, but try doing them
flat-footed on one day and with your heels on a two-by-four
on the other.
After four or five weeks of intense effort on the above routine,
you have three choices: 1) shift into a mass building program;
2) move to a fat burning and muscle building routine, use
a five-day program that hits each muscle group directly once
per week and is designed to shift your metabolism into high
gear; or 3) make some exercise substitutions and continue
with the above three-days-per-week protocol. Any of these
choices will send you striding into summer on a wave of new
muscle growth.
Train hard, but don’t overtrain, and you’ll grow
larger and stronger. If you start now, you’ll get some
steady increases in size and strength before it’s time
to peel off your shirt at the beach.
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