BASE - 3 Day Gym Workout
3 day workouts will be focus more on the upper body. Why? Because chances are that will more likely get you into the gym rather than legs. We’re human and naturally gravitate towards activities we enjoy.
Phase ONE: Day 1 - Upper
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Focus on maximising the chest contraction with each rep. Tempo should be a controlled pace - not too fast, not too slow - a leisurely walking pace. To increase the time under tension, do not rest once the bar hits the chest but maintain the contraction in your chest and push bar into the sky. Try and flex the chest muscles at the top.
Last set is as many reps as possible. After this, strip a majority of the weight off (or just use the bar itself) and then another AMRAP set to exhaust the chest.
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Use overhand grip. To find the optimal starting position, I sometimes deadlift the bar all the way up and then descend halfway - my spine is neutral, core braced and grip is tight.
At this position, I imagine someone pulling the back of my elbows up to start the movement. When the barbell reaches your chest, you should feel your whole upper back engaged - I hold this position for a second and then control the barbell back down.
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I prefer this over the barbell for this specific workout as the number of compound movements executed up to this point is borderline excessive (remember this is your only workout for the week!) so smith machine takes the neurological stress out somewhat so you can focus solely on the shoulders.
Find the right hand placement to maximise shoulder contraction.
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Set incline to around 30 degrees. As you lower the weight make sure you feel the stretch across the upper part of your chest. Hold this stretch at the bottom before contracting and squeezing the pectorals at the top.
Super set with a seated DB lateral raise. Key here is to maintain time under tension ensuring arms don’t full reach the bottom of the movement (this keeps the delts engaged at all times).
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Set the cable to the highest point with the rope attachment. When performing the face pull, imagine pointing your thumbs behind you - this engages the rear delts more.
Super set with straight arm pull downs. With elbows locked and arms at shoulder length throughout the movement you want to maintain the same tempo (slow and controlled) as your rise and fall.
Phase ONE: Day 2 - Lower
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Start light and progress as you get comfortable with the movement.
Don’t overthink this as we all squat naturally. It’s only our sedentary lifestyle that decreases flexibility in our joints.
If you can’t squat past parallel then don’t. Work up to it my increasing ankle and hip flexibility.
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With the barbell sitting across your rear delts, engage your core to stabilise the weight and lunge with one foot back whilst dropping your hips down. You should feel a nice stretch along your glutes. Hold this for a moment at the bottom before stepping back up.
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Similar to the squat, don’t overthink this.
Just ensure your feet are roughly shoulder width apart, barbell starts over your midfoot, grip and stand up. If the barbell remains in contact with your body throughout, you’re doing well.
Practice makes perfect.
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Both machines work the calf just as effectively.
The key is to ensure your calves are fully stretched and contracted at the top and bottom of the movement.
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Lay down on your back, keep your knees locked and use your core to lift your legs towards the ceiling. When the base of your feet are facing the ceiling imagine pushing through the roof to contract the upper part of your abdominals.
With Angels & Devils, ensure your hands and feet never touch the ground as your arms go through the ‘snow angel’ movement.
Phase ONE: Day 3 - Upper
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Set up the bench angle to its most obtuse. This will allow you to target the upper portion of the chest that is often underdeveloped.
Experiment with your elbow position and find one where you really feel the upper chest stretching. It is usually where the elbows are flared out more but it’s a delicate balance as the wider it is, the more strain you have on your shoulders. That is why we should choose a moderate weight.
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Move the bench angle down one notch and grab a moderate weight. The aim here is to stretch the chest as much as possible when the DBs are at the lowest point. Feel that stretch for a second before moving the DBs back together at the top. A slow motion arc back down.
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Head towards the lat pull down machine and start with close grip. Movement is like the chin up - at the top feel that stretch down your lats, grip tight and pull your elbows down into your torso. Never use momentum to pull the weight down. Rely purely on muscle contraction.
After 12 sets, move straight into the wide grip position. The thinking is the same ie concentrate on moving your elbows into your torso. At the bottom you should feel your lats heating up - hold this position and then control the weight back to the top.
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Do this standing. As this giant set will involve 3 separate weights - be slightly greedy and have them all close to you on the floor.
If the Arnold Press causes slight niggles in the shoulders, try starting the movement with the DBs closer together (vs against your shoulders).
DB Lateral Raises - these are quite tricky to get right as engaging those side delts can be quite elusive. Play around with angles and see where these are engaged the most. Once you find your spot, try and maintain that connection throughout the rep.
DB Shrugs - lets rounds off those shoulders. Grab 2 heavier dumbells and shrug the weight up towards the ceiling.
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Move onto the cable machine and place the rope attachment onto the pulley. Set the height to the lowest point and start with the bicep curls. The starting position is a hammer curl but you will externally rotate your wrist (so palms face the ceiling) to as the weight moves up. You should be able to feel a flex in your bicep at the top.
Once the curls are finished, move the cable to the highest point for the tricep pulldowns. Stand close to the pulley as the movement should be a reverse hammer movement (as this more closely aligns with the biomechanics of the tricep.
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Stay on the cable machine. The face pull should be set at a height that is slightly above your head. As you pull the rope towards your forehead the top part of your fist should be facing the wall behind you. Doing these are important for a variety of reasons - posture correction from sitting down all day which is exacerbated by too much upper body work.
The straight arm pull down evens all this out. Tempo should be the same on the way up and down - slow and controlled.
Phase TWO: Day 1 - Upper
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Same structure as Phase One but with heavier loading now that your body is used to the movement.
First 2 sets same weight. Increase weight for each set thereafter .e.g. 10 reps at 70kg and then 8 reps at 72.5kg.
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Same as bench press with the progressive overloading scheme. First 2 sets we have the same weight and then increase for the last two set.
If you can’t finish the 8 reps in the last set in one go, drop the bar and catch your breath before finishing the reps.
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It’s very important to brace your core with the shoulder press as there is a tendency to overarch your back as the reps get harder.
The smith machine is preferable for heavier weights as it reduces the chance of injury through the fixed bar path.
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Attach the straight bar attachment to the low pulley and the rope attachment to the high pulley - this is your station for the superset.
Starting with the curl, make sure your hands do not hinge at the wrists during the movement and that the slack is taken out of the cable before you move the weight. This ensures that you aren’t using momentum and your biceps are fully engaged.
Jump straight to the tricep pull downs. Start with your hands together (rather than shoulder width apart which is quite common). The reason is that the biomechanics of your triceps are more suited to an angled pull down rather than a parallel one.
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Staying on the same cables use the rope attachment for both face pulls and straight arm rope pull downs.
The Face Pulls should work the rear delts (muscles between shoulder blades) - these are great exercises to correct the hunched postures of most office workers.
Phase TWO: Day 2 - Lower
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Slightly less reps compared to Phase One but load the bar slightly heavier. Phase Two is all about increasing load - progressive overload is the name of the game.
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Same reps but more of a warm session for the deadlifts.
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Same rep scheme compared to Phase One but with a slightly heavier load.
For deadlifts, don’t rush the movement in the Base stage. There will be a time when acceleration is important but we want to ingrain good habits now so we can focus on fine tuning later.
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Go as heavy as you can whilst maintaining full motion in your ankles. Tip top as high as you can with the weight and then control it down as far as possible to give the calf a good stretch.
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Lying on your back, straighten your legs and lift them up and raise the soles of your feet into the ceiling. This should create a nice contraction around your call, hold for half a second before slowly lowering your legs back down.
Angels and Devils are as per home workout.
Phase TWO: Day 3 - Upper
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Progressive overload for each set. Last 2 reps maintain the same weight.
Brace and do not arch your back to get the weight up. If you find yourself doing this use a lighter weight. There is a method to get the DBs up safely - rest each DB on your respective knee. Drive one knee up to get the DB into a shoulder press position and repeat for the other side. Once it looks like you are about to shoulder press, slowly lower your torso onto the bench.
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Move the bench angle down one notch and grab a moderate weight. The aim here is to stretch the chest as much as possible when the DBs are at the lowest point. Feel that stretch for a second before moving the DBs back together at the top. A slow motion arc back down.
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Stay on the bench with the same incline and grab 2 sets of DBs (one slightly heavier than the other).
Support your chest on the the top part of the bench and as your arms dangle, grab a DB in each hand. This is your starting position. Start the movement by bringing your elbows up towards the ceiling. You should feel a nice contraction around your lats and mid back. Like other movements, hold at the top before releasing.
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If the Smith Machine is taken, use the squat rack. Grab some heavy DBs in preparation for the super set.
Again same rules apply. Braced core and no overarching (some back arch is inevitable but apply some common sense and listen to your body - never ego lift). Reps always need to be in control. There should be a slight acceleration up and then slow the tempo as you lower the bar (almost like you are trying to cradle the weight back down onto your shoulders).
With the DB shrugs - hold the 2 DBs in each hand and imagine trying to touch your ears with the top of your shoulder - this is the shrugging motion. It is an up and down motion so if you find your shrugging forward then the weight is too heavy. Drop it down.
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Move onto the cable machine and place the rope attachment onto the pulley. Set the height to the lowest point and start with the bicep curls. The starting position is a hammer curl but you will externally rotate your wrist (so palms face the ceiling) to as the weight moves up. You should be able to feel a flex in your bicep at the top.
Once the curls are finished, move the cable to the highest point for the tricep pulldowns. Stand close to the pulley as the movement should be a reverse hammer movement (as this more closely aligns with the biomechanics of the tricep.
-
Stay on the cable machine. The face pull should be set at a height that is slightly above your head. As you pull the rope towards your forehead the top part of your fist should be facing the wall behind you. Doing these are important for a variety of reasons - posture correction from sitting down all day which is exacerbated by too much upper body work.
The straight arm pull down evens all this out. Tempo should be the same on the way up and down - slow and controlled.