Nation,
While I probably could make this an article since it is a bit long, I decided I would put it in the forum instead for easier viewing and commenting and I think it might be informative for Hermanites of all ages. In numerous conversations I have had with Scott, he suggested I post what my workouts look like now that I have switched from muscle splits to full body workouts. The reason I made the switch are based on my goals and age. I am not looking to get any bigger or stronger than I am now. I think I am as big as I am going to get naturally and I still have issues buying close that fit right - especially here in Asia - and have to have suits and work shirts tailor made. I also am no spring chicken and I need to be mindful of the limitations of my body - a lesson I painfully learned when I tore my left bicep and my right calf as many of you already know. I also am using these workouts to increase my calorie burn to support my Intermittent Fasting eating regiment to cut body fat and preserve muscle. With this in mind, here is how I have structured my workouts:
Training Frequency = 4 days a week Mo/Tu/Th/Fr
Rest Days = Wed/Sat/Sun
Training Time = 1 hour
Training Type = Push/Pull
Training Style = High volume and intensity using super sets, drop sets, TUT using medium heavy weights
Muscle Groupings: (All muscles are hit twice a week as Mon/Thu are PUSH days and Tue/Fri are PULL days)
PUSH = Quads, Calves, Chest, Triceps, Abs
PULL = Shoulders, Back, Biceps, Hamstrings, Abs. I prefer training shoulders with back since Shoulders do both Push and Pull
Cardio= 15-20 minute brisk walk to the gym followed by 15-20 minute brisk walk with some sprints from the gym to home. 4 days total
WORKOUTS:
I vary the exercises I do predominately for the bigger muscle groups like chest, quads, and back so no two sessions are the same. I do supersets every workout. Sometimes I will start with a drop set and do the remaining sets as supersets. I do no more than 2 exercises per muscle group which constitutes one superset. I take no rest within a superset and I rest 2-3 minutes between supersets and between muscle groups. I do a couple light warm up exercises first to get blood into the muscles to be trained before I do the working sets. I keep the reps in the 8-10 range for each exercise in the superset (so one superset will have 16-20 reps total) for the more responsive muscles and 12-15 for the stubborn muscles like calves and abs. I do 3-4 supersets for each muscle group depending on my energy level. I increase the weights with each superset to add in some overload.
The one muscle group I have to train differently is my biceps. Since my bicep tear 9 months ago, I can't do the more traditional bicep exercises like straight bar curls, easy bar curls, etc because my body compensates for the shorter left bicep by recruiting my brachoradialis muscle. It also stresses my left wrist when I go heavy as the short head is higher up on my tendon now than before causing my inner left wrist to strain if I try to lift too heavy or do cheat curls. As such, I have stuck to spider curls either on the preacher curl bench or using an incline bench. I superset inner and outer grips when I curl and I find this really isolates the biceps and forces my left bicep to lift the weight on its own. I also do the inner grip curl more as a drag curl to really isolate the long bicep head. I can't go very heavy but it doesn't matter as they have been very effective :-)
CHEST: (I do one workout that is flat press based and one workout that is incline press based so each are hit once a week)
Flat DB press supersetted with plate press
Flat DB press supersetted with flyes
Flat DB press supersetted with push-ups
Incline DB press supersetted with push-ups
Incline DB press supersetted with plate press
Flat DB press supersetted with Incline DB press supersetted with Flyes
Flat BB press supersetted with push-ups
Flat BB press supersetted with Cable flyes
QUADS: I try to vary my foot postions from shoulder width to close together to hit different areas in the quads
BB squat supersetted with incline leg press
Front Squats supersetted with incline leg press
Smith Machine squats supersetted with overhead leg press (using the Smith Machine by lying on my back and pressing with my feet on the bar)
Incline leg press supersetted with overhead leg press in the Smith Machine
BACK:
Deadlifts supersetted with pull ups
Deadlifts supersetted with lying T-bar rows
Lying T-bar rows supersetted with standing T-bar close grip rows
Pull-ups supersetted with low cable rows
DB rows supersetted with DB shrugs
Pendalay rows supersetted with DB rows
Lat pull downs supersetted with low cable rows
Close grip pull downs supersetted with face pulls
TRICEPS:
Dips supersetted with skull crushers
DB behind the neck press supersetted with bench dips
Close grip bench press supersetted with close hand push-ups
Bench dips supersetted with close hand push-ups
Cable push downs supersetted with dips
Cable push downs supersetted with reverse grip pull downs
SHOULDERS:
BB behind the neck press supersetted with DB side laterals
Smith Machine military press supersetted with Smith Machine behind the neck press
DB shoulder press supersetted with DB side laterals
DB front raises supersetted with DB side laterals supersetted with DB reverse shoulder raises
Cable side laterals supersetted with reverse shoulder raises
Standing BB press supersetted with side laterals
DB Arnold press supersetted with DB reverse shoulder raises
HAMSTRINGS:
Seated leg curl supersetted with lying leg curl
Romanian deadlifts supersetted with seated leg curl
CALVES:
Seated calf raises supersetted with Smith Machine standing calf raises
Standing calf raise machine supersetted with seated calf press machine
BICEPS:
BB outer grip spider curls supersetted with BB inner grip spider curls
Spider curls supersetted with DB curls
ABS: I don't superset abs but I do weighted and non-weighted exercises
Cable ab crunches
Leg raises
Hanging leg raises
Crunches
There you have it. Needless to say my diet and nutrition is clean and consistent and I take more rest days if my body needs it as these are quite taxing workouts especially for the muscular, cardiovascular, and nervous systems. I use weight amounts based on my energy levels so some workouts will be medium heavy weights and some workouts will be lighter weights :-)
John
