BUILD - 1 Day Gym Workout

Warm up with just the bar before diving in. The warm needs to be methodical as it will prep your body to move a heavier weight. Think about how your feet are connected to the ground as you descend. Does it wobble? Are you balanced if someone told you to pause wherever you are in the movement? Connected feet (ie tripod feet where the two points underneath your toes and another at your heel are always in contact with the ground).

First set is 8 reps and the weight should be slightly lighter than the remaining sets. Point of this is to prime the body and mitigate risks of injury (which heavier weightlifting increases).

Last 3 sets should feel heavy but within limits. First week would be finding the right weight. If you’re fairly new to weightlifting, start light and keep adding weight after a few reps to get an idea. Remember to brace (in through nose and feel diaphragm expand), hold this position on the descent and only breath out once you’ve nearly completed your ascent.

Similar to the first set of the squat session, the first set is slightly lighter than the last three sets. You’ll be appropriately warmed up now so the first set should still be a challenging weight.

When moving heavy weights, be diligent and methodical with your set up routine. Feet placement, tight grip and no slack on the bar. Create maximum tension in your body before each lift.

Remember this is called a deadlift so each rep you should lift a dead weight - no bouncing the weight up and using momentum.

You get the idea now. First set slightly lighter although not too light. Set the bench on a slight incline (one notch up from flat) - I tend to do this with heavier weights as its easier on my shoulders when I’m tweaking the angles to find the best contraction. Don’t fret if your gym bench doesn’t have an incline function as a flat bench still works.

To get the dumbbells safely onto your chest to begin, start by resting each dumbbell on your thighs. As you begin to lie down on the bench, lift your left leg and then right one shortly after to assist the weights onto your chest.

Plant your feet, glutes and shoulder blades firm against the bench. Brace and then push the dumbbells into the ceiling. Slight internal rotation at the top to maximise the contraction. Hold for a second and control the weight down. Repeat.

The body will be fairly fatigued at this point with the 3 prior compound movements so be diligent with bracing before movement.

If there is failure towards the last 2-3 reps then finish the set with pause reps (drop weights, rest 10 seconds and continue the set). Don’t close your eyes and grit the reps through as this will likely lead to poor form and then injury.

The last compound set for the week. Like all movements, we need a tight core throughout the movement. No excessive arching of the back.

Hand placement should be a tad wider than shoulder width but experiment to see which placement yields the most contraction as we all move differently.

Utilise pause reps during a set to complete the required reps. Don’t force the reps out as the body will naturally arch excessively to lift the weight. When you feel this happening, rack the bar, rest for 10 seconds do one rep (or two) and rest again for another 10 seconds if necessary until all reps are complete.

These are included as part of the gym workouts as they are a good finishing exercise after all the compound movements.

If the gym doesn’t have a stretch area or even space on the floor to do these (unlikely) you can substitute with rope crunches and face pulls on the cable machine