Exercises You May Want to Eliminate

It's the one with the movable arms that articulate 180 degrees and individual handles. It is a version of a cable crossover.
They make selectorized, other pieces as well.

-Billy

 

PRS: That is a great strategy, really.

Only thing I do differently is not dedicating a day to legs.

I find I can throw in 2 or 3 sets of legs within your Day 1/2 workouts and a Core/Torso/Abs ex btwn most sets.

For instance today:

- Chest (4 sets DB press) abs in btwn each set (ball crunch, x-over crunch on ball, feet anchored crunch on ball , tube crunch on ball)
- DB Deadlift (3 sets) super-setted w/Tricep Pushdowns (3 versions)
- Cable (Free Motion, standing) and Machine Flys (1 set of each) SS'd w/side crunches on ball
- DB Overhead Press (standing, 1 set tog, 1 alt) SS'd w/walking Lunge

That's 22 Sets plus 2 jump rope sessions of 2m each. Out of there in an hour.

-Billy

 

It depends on how many days that week you plan on working out.

If it's 2 then Push-Legs-Torso & Pull-Legs-Torso

If it's 3 or 4 then something like PRS rec'd or 2 Push and 2 Pull

Of it's 1 then total body

-Billy

 

Free Motion I was talking about:
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Great!

It would be worth your time to hire a trainer to show you a bunch of exercises with correct form and options just on that machine alone.

-Billy

 

I have a relatively new client who you would say is in great shape and works out 6 days a week. He leaned up and lost 8# in just two weeks by just eliminating grains, particularly wheat and corn.

Systemic Inflammation...Internal Bloating

-Billy

 

It's more about synergized movement pattern(s) for me.

If you are pushing, say opening a door, you are using anterior delt, tricep, pec. Pulling a door: back-biceps. So, sort of training the body in real-life scenario.

Also, if your goal includes hypertrophy, the focus of the workout is usually on breaking muscle groups down.

A DB Press for example involves all 3 musc. groups: chest, ant. delt, & triceps.
A Fly takes out the triceps
An overhead press takes out the Pecs
A tricep pushdown, just tri's.
etc...

In fact, we know that when a muscle fiber gets trained to exhaustion/failure, it actually incurs micro tears in the fibril structure itself to which amino acids come in to build & fill. (very simplified Physiology!)

So, my thought process is if you are focussing on breaking down and maximally contracting say, the Triceps, then to put emphasis into the opposite muscle group: Biceps, is sort of like stretching, taking away emphasis/max contraction from the previous group. Me, I like to drive mental focus to one side of the joint in a given workout. Although there is no such thing as complete muscle isolation but emphasis only, and depending on the way the resistance falls or the way you load you can add or subtract certain muscles from the movement, and realizing the opposite group could actually working as a stabilizer and is contracting eccentrically/negative, all are involved to a certain degree. Thus the Progression & Variation thought process is empirical.

That said, there is nothing wrong with a lighter resistance, total body, circuit-training style of workout once in a while to mix it up.

-Billy

 

Nobody's shoulder can...stay away from the bench press. Db's are far more effective.

Soreness is not a good thing nor the sign of a good workout. And, excessive repetitions under load, no matter how much it is, can predispose you to any of the Itis's: Tendinitis, Bursitis, etc... and cartilage or ligament problems.

Triceps & Abs are 2 muscle groups
Legs and Shoulders are 2 muscle groups
Chest/Ant Deltoids & Abs are 2 muscle groups
Back & Hamstrings are 2 muscle groups

Just my two cents, but don't always put yourself in the opposing muscle group game. Focusing on one joint movement, or one side of the joint, say elbow extension (Triceps), has always been more effective for me.

-Billy

 

It's not that Billy knows some secret to avoid DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) it's that there are choices and considerations to weigh before and after a workout and in designing the next to avoid getting to that place.

BUT, I am saying is that DOMS is NOT a sign of a good workout. Just because you aren't sore the day after a workout does not mean it wasn't effective. So many people have a misconception of this and why so many end up over-training and getting injured. The 'More is Better' ~ 'No Pain - No Gain' mentality is just BS. We like to say No Brain No Gain!

If you are sore after a workout, there are a few things to consider for the next time you put a workout together:

- Too many sets for the same muscle group?
- Did you choose too many Reps or Load?
- What was your rest interval?
- Did you choose an exercise that your current joint range of motion (and respective muscle & connective tissue) couldn't handle?
- Was the range excessive?
- Was the Tempo/Speed controlled (or part of your goal) and Inertia/Momentum have to be negotiated/dissipated?
- Is it really muscle soreness or is it connective tissue that's sore? (tendon, ligament, bursa, fascia, cartilage)
- Is it lactic acid build-up or some other chemical by-product of muscle contraction?
- Are/Were you dehydrated?
- What kind of fuel was in the system prior to, during, and after the workout?
- How did you re-cooperate. (Rest & Nutrition are just as important as the workout itself)
- Are you taking some funky supplement the guy at GNC with the huge biceps rec'd?
- Was an exercise performed that you haven't done in a while (or ever) and you over-did it? (I always think of how sore I am after jumping on a trampoline or rock climbing, or yard work. So, not bad, just under-prepared and over-done)
- Did you progress appropriately to do the exercise(s) that (you think) got you sore? (Go right into the 90# db's the first day back)
- Did you have too many days off in between training that muscle group?
- Did you just do the same exercise the same way too many times? ...Ignoring the principle of Variation? (Even a single joint mvt like biceps (elbow flexion) can be performed a ton of different ways to stimulate the different muscles that comprise the area and move the joint.
- Was the muscle that's sore used as a mover or stabilizer?
- Was there compensation involved in the movement? Did ya cheat?!!

Anyway, it is rare that I or any of my clients are ever sore. I construct workouts with a goal that day, that week, that month, and perhaps 4-6 weeks out in mind with all of those considerations (and more) in mind. Getting bigger Pecs is not about flopping down on the bench and hoisting weight up and down.

Progression, Variation, Risk, and Benefit are always the pinnacle of my thought process.

-Billy