Tuesday 25th December
Happy Christmas, you crazy bastards
Hypertrophy week 1 day 1
Tissue activation/ injury prevention:
3 sets of:
10-30s McGill Sit up holds
Max Side Plank e/s
5 x Abwheel rollout or walk outs (get into a downward dog position and walk your hands away from your feet as far as possible, then back in)
50m waiter's carry
All lifts are at RPE 7ish, leave 3 reps in the tank
Primary: Front Squat 3 x 8-12 (that means 3 sets of 8-12 reps)
Assistance: Paused squat 3 position paused bench 3 x 8-12
Primary: Bench 3 x 8-12
Assistance 3 x 8-12
Accessories:
Incline DB Press 3 sets to failure
Chest & back:
Chin ups 3 sets to failure
BOR with Pause 3 sets of 8 reps
New athletes:
If you haven’t trained before, make sure you are coached on the movements so you don’t get hurt.
If you are new to training or are returning to training reduce the volume to a single set of 8-12 reps, don’t do the Assistance exercises and only do a single set of the Accessories. Do all the sets at around 20-30% of your expected starting point, practice the movement. The idea is you gently build volume and weight for a couple of weeks before you hit anything challenging or you will experience the joys of crippling Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), which is fairly awful, serves no purpose and is likely to make you move badly and give up training.
DoI know that every man reading this will completely ignore this advice and just go for it? Yes, of course, hopefully some of you are better at taking instruction than I would have been.
Why this workout?
1. Increased strength
2. Increased muscle mass
3. Increased muscular endurance
4. Keeping the bone mineral density you laid down in your formative years makes you less likely to snap when you fall. People who don’t train strength or loaded carries tend to lose 2% of their bone mineral density every year past their early 40s.
5. Increased muscle mass will make you look better, like what you see in the mirror and therefore feel better, a benefit that should not be overlooked or ignored.
Increased strength and improved grip are associated with a decrease in all cause mortality (less likely to die from all causes), yay!
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out via Upsplash