Splattered Angst

Spending time in the sports and fitness section of Barnes and Noble can be a really good idea. While there is plenty to find here when it comes to ideas for changes to one’s workout, there is nothing like having a book in hand that sparks some ideas to change things around. And change things around, I do every single week. I never do the same workout twice in a month. NEVER. Below is the workout for the coming week … The "Gladiator" movements [my title] I got out of book called "101 Workouts" by Muscle and Fitness. I recommend it. Get it at Amazon though. I paid way too much for it at Barnes and Noble. These "Gladiator" moves are compound and all use dumb bells. The only couple that may need explaining are the "Dumb Bell Push Up - Row" and the "Dumb Bell Pull Over Press." For the Push Up Row, you basically are in a push up position with your hands on dumb bells you are going to use instead of the floor. You lower yourself down like a push up and when you get to the top, you pull a dumb bell up from the floor to your side like a row. Should be brutal and cool all at the same time! The other, "Dumb Bell Pull Over Press" is basically like a French Press using Dumb Bells with the twist of doing a bench press with the Dumb Bells after they have gotten to the top. I would have put pictures from the book up with the workout here, but apparently the file is too large, so if you are interested, shoot me an e-mail and I will forward them to you.

I have also picked up a book by Mike Mentzer and John Little on HIT … struggled with the thought of buying it but after I sat down with it and started to glean through it, I got excited realizing I was doing some things right and some other things I needed to rethink. One light switch that flipped was making sure that there is days off in the workout. I am trying to reform from my "Pump Junkie" ways. I have over trained in the past and it is a habit I am now going to kick. I added one more day off a week in this workout that I put together for the WO Partner and I and based on how this coming week goes, we might add another. Putting Chest and Back together as a "Push-Pull" day was a scream week before last and we are now going to make it regular for a spell - with regular variations. This past week was really good. We basically did the workout that we started with 5 weeks ago to check on how our strength has progressed and Dave and I were both pretty blown away. In some cases, he and I were literally moving weight that was half of what we started with. Impressive.

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Monday
Gladiator Workout:  2 Sets - 15 Reps [all]
DB Squat + Ovrhead Press
[DB Start/Return to Shoulders]
DB Pushup + Row
[Push up Position with DB, then Row]
DB Dead Lift + Upright Row
[DB Outside knees, then upright row]
DB Pull Over + Press
[On bench: 2 DBs, Pull Over, then Bench Press]
DB V Set up
[Single DB raising simultaneously with legs]
Standing Clean-up
Tuesday
Abs/Core Strengthening
Minimum 6 sets per movement
[I do one, you do the other]
Hanging crunch vs Planks
100 Flat crunches vs  Russian Twist
Oblique Plank vs Ab Roller
Calves: Leg Press 3 x 15
Extra Cardio …

Wednesday
Legs: Hit 2 Sets - 15 Reps [all]
Leg Extensions [2 Warm up sets]
Squat [2 warm Up sets]
Super Set: Leg Press [Pyramid  up - 4 sets] vs. Hack Squat
Weighted Stationary Lunges [4 sets – 6 reps each leg]
Calves: Seated Calves 3 x 15
Thursday
Day Off … contemplate hugeness.
Friday
Push-Pull HIT [i.e. set of Pull Ups, set of Dips … back and forth]
2 Sets - 15 Reps [all]
Pull ups or Chin Ups vs.
Dips: Weighted
Regular Dead Lift vs.
Bench Press
DB or Olympic Bar Rows vs.
Incline DB Press
Standing Calve Raise 3 x15
Saturday – Sunday Off
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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.