Tag: exercise

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3 Day Split – “Complex” Workout

complextraining

I created this program in June 2014.  I used myself several times personally and with people I’ve trained.  It can be rather taxing on your body.  You really need to make sure your nutrition is on point, especially your peri-workout nutrition.  I take in the 65-75% of my daily carbs around the time I train.  Starting 45 minute pre-workout, intra-workout, and final carbs within 30 minutes of completing this workout.

I have trained several people with this routine and nutrition protocol.  The ones who stuck with it gained appreciable muscle mass while staying lean or even losing fat.  I lean up rather well using this routine without having to add any additional cardio work.  I PROMISE YOU, the results are rather dramatic.

Complexes are not a new style of training, nor something I came up with. This is just my spin on using complexes, as they are not complexes in the traditional sense.  This is going to be a 3 day split based on Push/Pull/Leg.  It’s mainly comprised of complexes – a series of exercises performed one after the other with 10-30 seconds taken in between each exercise in order to set up the next exercise.

I refer to one completed round of the complex as a “wave.”  I use pretty straight forward compound movements for the most part.  You will take about 45-90 seconds rest between each “wave”.  If you need more time take it, this is not set in stone.  I have added Youtube clips of exercises in case you do not know what they are.  If you need any other info just ask.  We will do this for the first 4 weeks and see how you are progressing and then make changes from there as needed.

VERY IMPORTANT: FOR ALL EXERCISES make sure you pick weights that are challenging so that you do not easily hit the rep schemes and then move to the next exercise as that will not lead to the best possible conditioning

Day 1 Push

Chest Complex – Start out with 3-4 waves of this and work your way up to 5-6 waves as you can.  Do not try to progress to fast and risk injury or discouragement

  1. Heavy DB press – pick a weight that is taxing that you can do for a rep range of 4-7 reps before failing (don’t go completely to failure here)
  2. Banded DB Press ( or Incline DB Flyes if you don’t have resistance bands)– pick a weight that is taxing that you can do for a rep range of 8-10 reps before failing (don’t go completely to failure here)
  3. Plyo Push ups – you want to be able to get anywhere from 3-10 reps on these before getting to failure. I want you to really focus on exploding off the bench with no pause  at the bottom when your chest is about to touch the bench.  This will allow you to learn how to better use your stretch reflex.  This should be performed with fast and explosive movement   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF6Fd-vdB-8
  4. Speed DB press – I want you to perform regular flat DB press but in a fast and explosive manner.   Use a weight that is about 50% of your 1 rep max. Do as many reps as you can in a 15-20 second time period.  Really focus on accelerating the weight as fast as you can

Shoulder Complex – Do 3 waves of this

3 sets 8-12 reps per movement (I use 25-30 lb. dumbbell’s for this complex for reference)                         Do these seated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ3T5V_Etnc

  1. DB Front delt raise
  2. Side DB lateral raises
  3. DB Shrug, clean, press

Triceps Monster Set – 3 to 6 waves of this, start with 3 –

  1. Triceps V bar pushdown – 12-15 reps
  2. Triceps kickbacks – 8-10 reps
  3. 1 arm overhead DB extension – 6-8 reps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znaQrmMYEYw

Day 2 Push

Back Complex  – 4 to 6 waves of this, start with 4 .  If you want more volume later we can add some pull-down work

  1. Rack pulls – (start bar at knee height and really use your hips to drive the weight up ) 3-7 reps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCG8NfBcnys
  2. Deadlifts from the Floor – 3-5 reps
  3. bent over rows – 5-7 reps
  4. Hang cleans – 4-7 reps
  5. Jump deadlifts – 8-10 reps. This video shows you how these works but you really only need to bring the bar down to your knee. Start light with these like 20% of your max deadlift http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_imsU6O4CAA
  6. Speed inverted rows – do as many of these as possible and as fast as possible during a 15-20 second timeframe http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t97EjUsCFNw

 

Biceps Monster set –3 to 6 waves of this, start with 2

  1. Supinating DB Curls – 8-10 reps
  2. Incline DB curl – 8-10 reps
  3. Hammer curls – 5-8 reps

Day 3 Legs

  1. Leg curls – 2-3 of 15 just to warm legs up

Leg Complex- 4-6 waves of this, start with 3- 4

  1. Squats – 4-6 reps
  2. DB Jump Squats – 8-10 reps. Use 10-20% of your max squat so maybe start with a 10-15 lb. DB in each hand to get movement down.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cynl9l0eB4  This example in the video is ok but don’t pause at the bottom like she does, just land, squat and fire right back up into the jump.
  3. DB Step Ups– 4-6 reps. Really do these once again in an explosive manner on the (concentric) stepping up movement.  Try to press yourself up onto the stand as quickly as possible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfMlQDGydnk
  4. Body weight lunges – 8-10 reps on each leg. Do these lunges very deep and long to active the glutes, hamstrings and VMO (Tear drop muscle around knee).  Do these in a very slow controlled manner, focusing on feeling the movement.

Glutes

  1. Weighted Hip thrusters – 5 sets of 8-12 reps. Start out with little to no weight.  Eventually through the weeks/months, work your way up to using more than your body weight.  You start with your weight on your heels.  When you get to the top of the movement really squeeze the glutes and feel them doing the majority of the work.  Here are two videos of different ways to add weight, you could also use a DB.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUG0JfITlFI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ru8S6FETg Don’t go as fast as this quick, slower and more controlled

 After 4 weeks I do a deloading week.  I will drop the volume and weights about 30-40%, but stick with the same workout.  Some athletes do not need this type of deloading, but for me its a must.  My body starts to slow down progress and I tend to flare up old injuries if I don’t take a break.  This is me personally, it is important to understand and listen to your body as your progress with your training.

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Fuck My Funk – How I Came out of my Slump

Coming out of mental and emotion tailspin is never easy.  At times I allow myself to spiral out of control very quickly.  I get lost and am not sure how to turn things around.   The last 2-3 months I have gone through this pretty badly.   During this period I’ve been experimenting with actions and ideas that are turning my attitude, mindset and ultimately my life around.  Theses are the things that are working for me.

Motivational videos – I wake up and the first thing I do is watch a video on my phone.  I try to find something to watch the night before so I have it ready for when I wake up.  Sometimes I’m really feeling one video that’s working and Ill listen to it a couple mornings in a row.  Lately I will listen to these videos several times a day.  It gets me through the gym, work and whatever else I’m doing.

Exercise – Within an hour or waking up I head to the gym.  I like to get it out of the way first thing so I can spend the rest of my day focusing on other tasks.  Exercising gets the endorphins going in my body and helps me let off some steam.  Some times my friend will drag me with her to Hot Yoga.  Recently I started doing sprints with my dog after the gym.  We walk a block and then run a block.  Its cold as shit out in Philly and Im really out of shape from a cardio standpoint. But, it forces me out of my exercise comfort zone and all I can think about is just trying to breath and keep up with her.  She loves running so it allows me to connect with her more as well.

Write – For me its cathartic.  I get to take all the shit that’s eating me up inside and put it on paper and see it for what its really worth.  Writing has allowed me to take an outside perspective on my internal feelings.  I can better evaluate whats going on with me and weed out the real problems from the bullshit

Force myself to do things I’m fearful of – Doing things that take me out of my comfort zone helps me build confidence.  It enables me to face my fears and learn to trust in myself.  I become more cognizant of that fact my fears live only in my head.  The consequences for taking these little risks are never as bad as I imagined.  I learn that I am able to handle rejection and failure and keep moving forward towards my goals.

For example; Sunday I was at the gym and a really cute, fit girl came in and started working out near me.  I wanted to strike up a conversation with her, but my game is pretty weak.  I was afraid to speak to her, so I decided I was not going to leave until I did.  I had already finished up my workout.  I was forced to do exercises I don’t normally do until I built up the courage to go over, introduce myself and talk to her.  It took me about 25-30 minutes of doing ab exercises that I hate, to finally go up and start the conversation.  She was nice, nothing bad happened.  She didn’t run away screaming “stranger danger”.   Ultimately, she wasn’t really feeling me and I didn’t get her number, but the outcome didn’t matter as much to me.   I just needed to do it for me.  I needed to show myself that I have courage to do what I fear.

Ask myself the question “how does this serve you” – This is a concept I learned in rehab.  Whenever I have negative thoughts or want to take negative actions I ask myself that question.  The majority of the time, just saying these five words will instantly stop me from following down the negative path I am heading.  It takes the power away from the negative thoughts and allows me to refocus my energy and attention.

Pray –  I know this will make some people cringe.  I’m not religious.  I don’t practice nor am I here to proselytize a certain religion.  I’m not even really sure I know who my God is.  What I do feel is that something greater than myself is out there.  Every night before bed I get down on my knees and talk to God.  I give thanks for the days events and I ask for the strength to work on my character flaws and defects.

Sometimes I ask for a reprieve from whatever is bothering me at the time.  I feel there is a certain sense of humbleness and humility in asking God, the universe or whoever for help when I am struggling.  For me it helps right-size me.  I do believe in the saying “A prayer without action is powerless.”  If I don’t do the work things will never get better.

Laugh – The power of laughter is something I lost touch with until recently.  Statistics say that the average child laughs about 300 times a day.  While the average adult only laughs 5 times daily!  Somewhere along the way I lost my sense of of how important it is to laugh.  I need to fill my life with things that make me smile, laugh and feel good.  Laughter helps me deal with my problems and not take things to seriously.  Lately when I need a laugh I go to YouTube and look up Dave Chappelles old stand up.  No matter how many times I’ve watched it I’m laughing my ass of seconds.

Give back – Going out of my way to do for others is 100% foolproof way for me to get out of my own head.  Whether its having a conversation about whats going on in their life or helping them build towards a goal its always effective.  If I am truly engaged in what they are doing or saying I don’t have the capacity to worry about whats going on with me.  Its a nice break at times from myself.

I train a friend of mine at the gym three times a week.  She is a HUGE pain in the ass.  She whines and complains the whole damn time.  I often wonder why I put myself through the aggravation.  Then I realize there are so many reason why this is good for me.  It’s great practice for me to be creative with my problem solving skills.  It gives me insight into the perspective of people who may not be as driven as I am.  People who want results, but don’t really want to put in the work.  It forces me to look at aspects of my life where I fall into that category.  There are so many benefits that better my life from helping someone else better their’s.