Putting the LABOR in Labor day!

Its Labor day most everyone is off so what better way to spend your day then dominating in the gym. Below is a push and pull workout that you will love. Make it happen!

A1)Incline dumbbell chest press-12 reps ( explosive reps )
SUPER SET
B1) Incline bench dumbbell one arm row-12 reps **
** stand behind the incline bench and rest your left arm on the top of the bench. Perform a row with your right arm, then switch arms.

Do this for 1 round then take 1 minute rest before moving to A2/B2

A2) Decline dumbbell chest press-8 reps ( each rep lower the weight for 4 seconds )
SUPER SET
B2) Straight bar seated row-8 reps ( each rep hold for 5 seconds )

Do this for 1 round then take 1 minute rest before moving to A3/B3

A3) Barbell 1/2 press-12 reps ( lower the bar to just above the chest and then press just 1/2 way up, lower back down to equal one rep )
SUPER SET
B3) T-bar row-12 reps

Do this for 1 round and then take 2-3 minutes rest before starting back at A1/B1

Repeat this whole sequence for 3 total rounds

Better hamstrings with this trick

Sure some people will argue that the leg curl isn't functional and is garbage but I don't really care. The leg curl in my opinion is still a solid exercise to use if your trying to build someones hamstrings. Having strong hamstrings is functional!

The next time you do leg curls pay attention to your feet. Your calves can help your hamstrings lift the weight when your feet are dorsiflexed ( your foot facing your body ) and if you plantarflex ( pointing the foot away from the body) your calves with be taken out of the equation. So what does this mean to you and your workout?

GOAL IS TO LIFT MORE WEIGHT ON THE LEG CURL THEN:
***Have your foot facing your body.


GOAL IS MORE HAMSTRING STIMULATION THEN:
***Point your feet away from your body.

GOAL IS TO BLAST THROUGH A PLATEAU THEN:
*** On the concentric part of the leg curl ( bringing the legs toward the body ) have your feet dorsiflexed and use a heavier load than normal. On the eccentric part of the lift ( which we are stronger on ) have your feet plantarflexed and go for a slow tempo.

Try this!

Do 100 reps of pullups in as few of sets as you can. You can take whatever rest you need between sets just don't exceed 2minutes. Then next time you workout your back try and get to 100 reps in fewer sets as you did the first time around. It doesn't matter what number you start with your how many you do in each set just get to 100 in the least amount of sets. If you are not strong enough to do legit pullups then you can use the assisted machine or just wait til your stronger!

Example

25 reps-set 1

15

15

10

10

10

10

5

Done

Get a butt! Top 5 glute exercises

1) Full squat-This is the king of butt exercises end of story. You must get into a full deep squat which is thighs parallel to the ground to give your glutes the most work.

2) Deadlifts-If the squat is king then deadlifts are right behind in terms of effectiveness for the glutes. The key is to make sure you push through your heels on every rep to activate the backside of the body. If your doing stiff leg deadlifts you can achieve more glute activation by adding some extra bend in your knees.

3) Bulgarian split squats-A variation of the squat that is great for the glutes. Checkout my old post for the proper technique. http://h4training.blogspot.com/2010/03/eom-bulgarian-split-squat.html

4) High step ups- Proper box height should have your knee resting at a 90 degree angle. I believe you can go with an even higher box every now and then to thrash your glutes even more. When doing the step up make sure to push through your heel of the foot that is on the step. All of the work should take place from the leg that is on the box.

5) Hip thrusts- This is a great exercise that trainer Brett Contreras has made popular. The key to this is to focus on squeezing the glutes throughout and not allow your back to do the work. Watch this video to get all the details. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCm-70-9_XE

Tip of the day

Try to start your workout with an exercise you would not normally do first. For instance, if you always do flat bench press followed by incline press, try doing incline first for the next couple of weeks. If you do squats first and deadlifts second, try doing the hamstring dominant deadlift first for the next couple of weeks. People tend to fall into a routine or habit of always doing certain exercises first in their workout. Eventually your body just gets used to this and your results slow. By messing up the order of the exercises you will shock your system into better results! You will also improve your strength on the new exercise you start with since you no longer will be fatigued by having to do it second. Go Dominate-

Drop sets

You can call them breakdowns or strip sets but most commonly they are called drop sets. Drop sets are one of the best techniques you can use to add intensity to your workout. Drop sets have been and will continue to be a favorite of bodybuilders. If you don't use drop sets you should add this technique to your training.

What are drop sets?

*Is a technique which you do an exercise to failure or close to failure, then you drop some weight and continue with the exercise for more reps.

What do drop sets do?

*By dropping the weight and continuing the set you will recruit more "reserve" muscle fibers. By recruiting more muscle fibers you will allow your muscles to grow!

Some drop set methods ( other than the traditional drop set )

A) ( 6-20 ) or "halving" method- This is when you choose the heaviest weight you can for an exercise for 6 reps. Perform the 6 reps, then without resting drop the weight by 50% and rep out 20 reps. This is great to do with dumbbell rows.

B) Tight drop sets-This is when you make small drops in weight. This would be like doing dumbbell bicep curls and you would do reps with the 50lb, then 45lb, then 40lb etc.

C) Wide drop sets-This is when you make a big drop in weight and generally you can do more reps. This method is best done with large muscle groups and exercises like the squat and leg press. You could have 6 plates on each side of the leg press and with each drop you take a 45lb plate off each side.

D) Power drop sets- This was made popular by Larry Scott who liked this method to not only build some size but also build your strength. Scott liked using this for his arms and shoulders. Start with your 6 rep max, then drop the weight between 10-15% and then do 6 reps with the new weight until you reach the desired number of drops

Some tips

• I wouldn't do more than 2-4 weight reductions ( drops ) during the routine- So if you start with 200lbs for bench, then you do 190, 180 and finish with 170. This would be 3 drops in weight.


• Stay within the 6-12 rep range since that is the best range for muscle hypertrophy. Sometimes you can go with the higher 15-20 rep range on your last drop.


• Don't do drop sets all the time- They are intense and you will overtrain and quickly burn out if you do. They say a ratio of 3:1 is best. Meaning do 3 regular sets and then 1 drop set.

Russian squat routine

The Russians have been a known player in the world of strength and conditioning for a long time and this legendary routine is a classic. The goal of this routine is to break you out of a rut and increase your 1RM by 5%. within 6 weeks of training. Remember if you have any back issues a back squat program is not for you.

There are many different versions of the Russian squat routine but below is the routine which Charles Staley posted and it lasts 6 weeks and has you training 3 non-consecutive days a week.

** The % is based off your 1RM. So if your 1RM is 100 and it calls for 80% then of course you would be using 80lbs of weight for the reps.

Week 1-80% ( 6x2 ) 80% ( 6x3 ) 80% ( 6x2 )

* So Monday would be 6x2, Wednesdays workout would be 6x3 and Fridays would be 6x2

Week 2- 80% ( 6x4 ) 80% ( 6x2) 80% ( 6x5)

Week 3- 80% ( 6x2) 80% ( 6x6) 80% ( 6x2)

Week4- 80% ( 5x5) 80% ( 6x2) 80% ( 4x4 )

Week 5-80% ( 6x2) 95% ( 3x3) 80% ( 6x2 )

Week 6- 100% ( 2x2 ) 80% ( 6x2) 102-105% ( new max!!!! )