Your body can reflect what’s going on in the inside. Every improvement, no matter how minor, will have a story behind it.
There are many ways to train your body but you have to know what you’d like your final outcome to be. If you want to build massive muscles then a heavy cardiovascular routine will not help you. Likewise if you want to increase your athletic performance, a routine solely comprised of strength training will only take you so far.
Some trainers might disagree with some of the information that follows. These are some of the concepts taught in many chain gyms and have brought great results to hundreds of clients.
The Benefits of Strength Training
Since this book is entitled Body Sculpting for the Creative and Spiritually Minded the primary focus will be on strength training over intensive cardio. The exercises listed in this chapter are intended to strengthen, tone, build or trim your muscular structure. Most people either want to become fit for their every day quality of life or they wish to make cosmetic changes for self-esteem purposes. In either case, a strong strength training regimen is superiorly beneficial.
The benefits of strength training shouldn’t go unsung. Maintaining muscle will increase your metabolism. Most people, in their desire to “lose weight”, will diet incessantly and run all day on a treadmill like a hamster on a wheel. They don’t know that maintaining muscle is so much easier and effective in keeping a body fat percentage in check. Intelligent strength training will also benefit your ease of movement and functionality. Day to day activities become easier and can be performed with less effort.
If you’re training with a high cardio regimen, strength training will supplement these efforts by adding variety to your workouts.
Unless you’re eating 9,000 calories a day like a professional athlete, spending three hours on a spin cycle or a treadmill will not support total body fitness. First of all, when the body is in anaerobic respiration and the heart is beating higher, the metabolism will not burn fatty acids! If working too hard, the body will first burn carbohydrates then once those are depleted will start extracting glucose from your muscles! Talk about a double whammy! That’s why it’s more intelligent to first do strength training for 30-45 minutes first then practice fat burning, or "aerobic", cardio secondly if your main objective is to lose weight, tone up, and "look good". Usually aerobic cardio used for fat burning is somewhere between a light jog or a brisk walk for most people.
Plus, it’s easier to fit in the Interactive Emotional Exercises between sets of strength training than it is to do them on a treadmill. Breaks are encouraged and you will use them in this course!
For Beginners
If you’re starting out after a long a period of physical inactivity then set a slower pace. Enjoy your workout. If you’re not enjoying yourself then you’ll more than likely won’t be around for the long haul.
Start building primary muscle groups to strengthen your body and allow the workouts to gradually feel like they’re getting easier. Primary muscle groups include chest (pectorals), upper back (“traps”), legs (“glutes” and “quads”) and your abdominal muscles (the core region which includes “abs”).
Break your workouts down into four to eight exercises then take a day off.
Here's an example of a workout dedicated to "Primary Muscle Groups".
A. Beginner Workout 1 of 3: Emphasis on Primary Groups
1. Bench Press or Pushups
2. Chest Press on Machine or with Dumbbells
3. Standing Squat or Leg Press Machine
4. Lunge
5. Seated Low Row (Machine or Dumbbell)
6. Reverse Fly (with Cable or Dumbbell)
7. Crunch and/or Leg Raises
8. Low Back Extensions or Dead Lifts
It might be necessary to focus on this routine and no other for the first two weeks as strengthening the primary muscle groups will lay the foundation for everything else to come. In fact, some trainers might suggest you do this and nothing else for the first three months of your training! Use your best judgment and trust yourself enough to know whether or not you’re sufficiently building on the basics. Then after the basics are mastered you can focus on secondary groups and compound movements which will be covered in a moment.
When you return to your workouts after taking sufficient breaks (and when you feel ready) start focusing on your “secondary” muscle groups. These muscles are further away from your core. I recommend working from the “inside out”, that is start with larger groups like the lats and shoulders, quads and hamstrings, then work your way out to smaller groups like biceps, triceps, and calves. These exercises will supplement your primary muscle group work, strengthen the external muscles being focused on, and help you continue to maintain muscular development while burning calories.
B. Beginner Workout 2 of 3: Emphasis on Secondary Groups
1. Lat Pull Down
2. Overhead Shoulder Press
3. Leg Extension
4. Leg Curl
5. Bicep Curl
6. Triceps Extension
7. Calf Raises
8. Oblique Twists
Finally the third workout should continue to develop primary groups and your core. In this workout you’ll focus on “Compound Movements” emphasizing more than one muscle group at a time. The benefit of this is strengthening your core, isolating the primaries, and accomplishing more in less time.
C. Workout 3 of 3: Emphasis on Compound Movements
1. Bench/Chest Press with Knee Raise (Chest and Abs)
2. Squat with Dumbbell and Cable Row (Legs and Traps)
3. Overhead Shoulder Press and Fly with Dumbbells (Shoulders/Chest)
4. Lunge with Bicep Curl (Quads, Glutes, Biceps)
5. Plank, hold for thirty seconds to a minute (Core)
6. Knee Raise or "Accordion"Crunches (Core)
Repeat workouts as you feel comfortable. If six to eight exercises are too much then just do at least four of the listed exercises emphasizing different muscle groups. I recommend starting with two to three sets of ten to twelve repetitions.*
(* - Some trainers will even recommend that for muscle development it's not necessary to do more than one set! As of this writing, I've been testing this theory out and there is a lot of truth in this line of thinking. Work smarter, not harder!)
FITT Factors
There are four factors you may change to diversify the challenge of your workout:
1. Frequency: You can work out any where from three to five times a week on your strength training. Make sure you take at least two days a week off and never train the same muscle groups two days in row.
2. Intensity - You can always "up" the weight or the repetitions. Increasing weight will increase your strength (and possibly build mass) while increasing repetitions will put the concentration on muscular endurance creating a “toning effect”.
3. Time - Choosing different times of the day will also help you diversify your workout. You might even increase the time spent at the gym by doing two routines instead of one. A sixty minute slower paced workout can also be more effective than a thirty minute intense one. (Though some trainers might disagree with this statement, I advise you to try new things and find what works for you.)
4. Type - Changing the type of exercise can vary from the tools you use (barbells, dumbbells, cables, rubber bands, kettle bells, stability balls, floor work, machines) to the technique you use (high reps, high weight, "pyramid up", "drop sets", “twenty-ones”, etc.) These techniques will be further covered in this chapter and also in the appendices.
Remember the anagram "FITT" so to remember that you can alternate the Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type of workouts. Once your initial routine begins to feel like a “routine” it might be time move on to “Intermediate Workouts”.
Intermediate Workouts
For the most part Intermediate Routines simply "zeroes in" and focuses more on specific muscle groups. These workouts will be broken up into “Pushing”, “Pulling”, “Legs”, and “Core”. If you’re on a three-day plan then do Push, Pull, and Legs with Core mixed in everyday.
A four day a week program might look like this:
A. Intermediate Workout 1 of 4: “Push” Day
1. Bench Press (Chest)
2. Chest Fly (Chest)
3. Shoulder Press
4. Lateral Raise (Shoulder)
5. Triceps Extension
6. Triceps Push Down
Again, you’re working from the inside groups and working your way out, except in the Intermediate Workout you're doing this in one session. Emphasize larger muscles groups first like the chest, then work your way out to shoulders and then finally to smaller muscles like the triceps.
B. Intermediate Workout 2 of 4: "Pull" Day
1. Seated Low Row (Traps)
2. Bent Over Barbell Row (Traps)
3. Reverse Fly (Rear Deltoids)
4. Lat Pull Down
5. Preacher Curl (Biceps)
6. Dumbbell Curl (Biceps)
C. Intermediate Workout 3 of 4: "Legs" Day
1. Squat (Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings)
2. Lunges (Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings)
3. Leg Press (Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings)
4. Leg Extension (Quads)
5. Prone Leg Curl (Hamstrings)
6. Calf Raises
D. Intermediate Workout 4 of 4: "Core" Day
1. Crunches
2. Leg Raises
3. Oblique Twists
4. Low Back Extensions
5. Dead Lifts
6. Side Bends
Advanced Workouts
Advanced workouts follow the same three to four day cycle but now you’re specifically applying a specific technique to your intended outcome.
If you wish to set a foundation, accomplishing both a strengthening and toning effect, then start with 2 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions like you would in a “Beginning“ or “Intermediate” routine. Work your way up to 3 then 4 sets when you feel you’re ready for it. If the weight is increased and you can barely squeeze out 8 reps then you’re on course for strengthening and building mass. If you fatigue closer to 15 reps then you’re leaning more on the side of toning and trimming. Use whatever weight you choose to safely fatigue at either 8 reps (strengthening) or 12 to 15 (toning).
Here are some techniques you might consider based on your goal.
Toning Options
*High Reps
High repetitions are simply 3-5 sets of 15-20 reps at a lighter weight
*Supersets
Supersets is the process of doing two or more exercises “back to back” with each other. As soon as you finish 12 reps of a Bench Press, for example, you immediately drop to the floor and do a set of 12 Push Ups. You can mix either a strength training exercise with another strength training exercise, like a Bench Press and Push Up, or combine strength training with cardio (example: Bench Press mixed in with 20 Jumping Jacks.) Use whatever superset will help you reach your goals.
We will give examples to some possible strength training supersets.
1. Bench Press with Push Ups (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps)
2. Seated Row with Reverse Dumbbell Flies (Traps and Rear Deltoids)
3. Squats with Lunges (Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings)
4. Crunches with Leg Raises (Abs)
5. Shoulder Press with Dumbbell Lateral Raises (Anterior and Side Deltoids)
6. Lat Pull Down with Chin Ups (Lats and Biceps)
7. Bicep Curl Barbell then curl with Dumbbell (Biceps)
8. Triceps Dumbbell Extension with Rope Push Down (Triceps)
Work for that burning sensation or until safely fatigued. Generally it’s a good practice to do up to four sets on primary groups, three sets for secondary groups.
*Drop Sets (Pyramid Down)
Drop Sets also apply high reps to a muscle group. The technique is applied by doing four to five sets in a row without stopping. Immediately drop your weight and begin the next set. Once you fatigue, regardless of whether you hit the intended reps or not, immediately drop the weight. (Obviously this is easier when moving a pin on a machine instead of using four to five pairs of dumbbells or barbells.)
Here is an example of what a typical Drop Set might entail:
Set 1: 6-8 reps at a heavy weight (80% of your maximum lift)
Set 2: 8-10 reps at a moderately heavy weight (70%)
Set 3: 10-12 reps at a moderate weight (60%)
Set 4: 12-15 reps at a lighter weight (50%)
Optional Set 5: 15 reps at a light weight (40%)
Remember, take no breaks during a series of Drop Sets. Repeat this two to four times for each exercise for maximum results. In other words, do the drop set including all 4-5 sets, take a break, do another 4-5 “drops”, take a break, then do one or two more drops. If you do this 4 times you could potentially finish up to 240 reps! This is great for burning calories but, once again, there's debate about how effective this strategy actually is when developing muscle.
*“Twenty-Ones”
“Twenty-Ones” emphasize the specific muscles being used on each motion. During the technique you perform 7 reps of one motion, 7 reps of the reverse motion, then 7 reps of the full motion. These are called emphasizing the Concentric (targeted muscle group), Eccentric (targeting the supporting or reverse muscle group) and the Isometric (targeting the muscles which hold the movement in place.) It’s like working three muscle groups instead of one!
An example of a Twenty-One on a biceps curl would include the following:
Eccentric: 7 reps curling the weight halfway up.
Concentric: 7 reps from a full curl position and stopping half way down
Isometric: 7 reps of a full curl holding slightly in the curled, contracted "top" position
Do three to four sets of these and your muscles should burn like crazy!
Take 30-45 second breaks between sets during supersets, “twenty-ones”, or high reps and no breaks during drop sets. Again, these quick breaks are where you will perform the Interactive Emotional Exercises from this book.
Mass and Strength Building Options
The following techniques will help you to build mass and strength, potentially putting on weight in muscle. Be sure to take longer breaks between sets recommended at least 45 seconds to a minute. Some experts would even advise taking up to three minutes break between sets!
Author's Note: Some trainers also suggest that when developing muscle you need do no more than 1 set. Try it and see if this advice fits your workout routine.
*Low Reps/Heavy Weight
Simply choose a heavier weight and go to failure. Do this for three to four sets and take a 45 second to a minute break between sets. Ideally your reps should not exceed 6 to 8 for maximum mass building.
*Pyramid Up
A "Pyramid Up" technique lets your muscles “warm up” before lifting the "big" weights. I find that you can still maintain a degree of toned muscles while still focusing on strength during these routines. Again, take longer breaks between sets.
Set 1: 15 sets of lighter weight (40% of your max)
Set 2: 12-15 reps of heavier weight (50%)
Set 3: 10-12 reps of moderately heavy (60%)
Set 4: 6-8 reps of heavy weight (70%)
Set 5: 6 reps or less, go to failure during reps at close to your maximum capacity (80% or more)
*Negative Sets
During a Negative Set, you move slow on the eccentric portion of a repetition, hold the isometric, then go at the normal rate of speed on concentric.
Example:
Concentric: On a bicep curl, curl up in at a normal to moderate speed.
Isometric: Hold/squeeze at the top of the curl.
Eccentric: Very slowly and with control, return the curl to the first, extended arm position.
Those one minute breaks between sets are especially useful to do the Interactive Emotional Exercises in this text.
Emphasis On Cardiovascular on Athletic Training
Though not the emphasis of this book, you can always superset either a cardiovascular exercise between sets like jumping jacks, mountain climbers, wind sprints, etc. You may also drill specific movements that pertain to the sport with which you wish to excel. Compound movements are also recommended for athletic training as it will utilize more muscle groups and require more calories to fuel the movements. There is also the flexibility benefits involved with more dynamic, compound movements.
The Halfway Point
During the 30 day Quest, you’ll be asked to change your routines halfway through the program. This is to challenge you and also to create a sense of muscle confusion that is essential for experiencing consistent results.
How you do this is up to you. You might switch from a “Beginner” routine to an “Intermediate”, or from “Intermediate” to “Advanced” routine.
If you’re working a Beginner routine, some suggestions would be to add a set, or try a new technique, or adding cardio between sets. If you’re working at an Intermediate level, go from 3 or 4 sets of fifteen normal reps to a drop set or a “pyramid up” set. Maybe even try a superset focusing on similar muscle groups. If Advanced, add a superset to each one of your specialized exercises. So instead of doing six exercises, for instance, the superset will help you do twelve exercises in one session! How about Super-Drop Sets? Or Cardio Cross-Training Drop Sets? The possibilities are endless and limited only by your imagination. You can also see the Appendix for sets emphasizing balance and stability for further suggestions.
If all of this information seems overwhelming then just start small. You’ll gain a sense, or rather an intuition, of how to change your workouts based on what your body is telling you.
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