Weight Training 1

Training Plan 1

Whatever you goals – muscle gain or weight loss a good weight training routine should form the backbone of your workouts.  Weight training increases metabolism so your body burns fat even when you are not working out.

A typical split would be like this:

• Day 1: Legs/Abs
• Day 2: Chest
• Day 3: Back/Abs
• Day 4: Rest
• Day 5: Shoulder/Abs
• Day 6: Arms
• Day 7: Rest

Note: The reasons for prescribing those muscle groups in that order are as follow: For most trainees, training the lower body is probably the most taxing for their bodies. Therefore it is crucial to train it first in the beginning of each week to ensure that the workout is done while the body is still fresh. 

Instead of training five days in a row, it is also beneficial to rest in between training days to allow the Central Nervous System to get proper recovery. This is especially important for new trainees because their bodies are not primed to be able to work at a high intensity five days in a row yet. 

Lastly, it's more optimal to space shoulder and arm days as far as possible from chest day to allow the joints and triceps to recover properly.

For each day, trainees should use 4-5 exercises with two main exercises and 2-3 accessory exercises.

An example would be like this (for each of these the numbers at the end are “the number of sets”x”the number of reps” – so for full squats you would need five sets of 3 reps then pause then 2 reps then pause then 1 rep):

Day 1: Legs:

• Full Squat 5x3,2,1
• Leg Press 3-4x8-10
• Hamstring Curl 3-4x8-10
• Knee Extension 3x12-15
• Calf Raises 3x12-15

Day 2: Chest:

• Incline Bench Press 5x3,2,1
• DB (dumbbell) Bench Press 3-4x8-10
• DB Flyes 3-4x8-10
• Pec Dec 3x12-15
• Chest Pullover 3x12-15

Day 3: Back:

• Weighted Wide Grip Pull-up 5x3,2,1*
• Barbell Row 3-4x8-10
• Straight Arm Pulldown 3-4x8-10
• Shrugs 3x12-15
• Seated Pulldown 3x12-15

Day 4: Rest:

Day 5: Shoulder:

• Push Press 5x3,2,1
• Upright Row 3-4x8-10
• Incline Side Raises 3-4x8-10
• Front Raise 3x12-15
• Bentover Cable Side Raise 3x12-15

Day 6: Arms:

• Preacher Curl 5x3,2,1*
• Decline Tricep Extension 3-4x8-10
• Hammer Curl 3-4x8-10
• Parallel Dips 3x12-15
• Calf Raises 3x12-15

 *Bicep exercise has been chosen instead of tricep as the main lift because the triceps were used during chest days, therefore having it as a main lift isn't as important as the bicep. However, this is completely optional. If a trainee will like he/she is lacking on tricep, then feel free to substitute it with a tricep exercise.

Day 7: Rest:

-> Abdominal Workout:

While there are many ways to target the abs, a mixture of heavy and light lifts yield the best result. Doing nothing but a high volume of crunches and side bends to lose fat around the abdominal region is a common mistake that many trainees make. Diet and proper nutrition are the key to a solid 6-pack.

• Weighted Crunches 5x5
• Leg Raise 3x10-12
• Cable Crunch 3x10-12
• Planks 3x until failure

In the next blog post we will explore nutrition and how it can be used to increase muscle mass, reduce fat and generally improve your health and Well Being.