锘? Weeks 3-4: Step It Up

Now its time to create a workout plan and use slightly heavier weights. You should begin to feel each workout ending with a bit of fatigue in the muscle Marc Staal Rangers Jersey , and soreness in the area trained for about 1-3 days afterwards. Thats your goal not pain, but soreness. Its a good sore, trust me.

Heres an ideal beginners workout. In fact, I can say with 100% certainty that this workout would do it for most intermediate trainers, as almost everyone is over trained rather than under trained. Again, you must have your thinking, goals and nutrition plan set.

Beginners Workout

Monday, or Day One: Chest and Back

Begin with a 10-minute warm-up on a cardio device just enough to get the blood flowing. Follow this by light stretching of the entire body.

Incline Dumbbell Presses, Palms In
This is performed with your palms facing your head rather than turned out. This technique will go a long way to preventing rotator cuff (shoulder) injuries Kevin Hayes Rangers Jersey , especially in older trainees. I use it exclusively.

Begin with the weights overhead, and lower slowly and controlled (again, please consult with a trainer for form and instructions, or look into a book called Keys To The Inner Universe by Bill Pearl.) Lower the weight in about 4 seconds, and push it back up in 2. Start with a set of 12 repetitions, with the 12th rep being a little challenging. This is your warm-up.

Do another set of 12 reps, but this time increase the weight a bit and make that last rep pretty hard. Do only ONE more set with more weight, and this time get 8 reps, with the 8th rep being very challenging Keith Yandle Rangers Jersey , but not requiring assistance. Write the poundage down, then simply increase it the following week, or increase the number of reps. If you hit 15 reps for the first work set and 10 for the second, increase the weight for sure.

Seated Cable Rows

Using a cable row, common in every gym, repeat the same set and rep structure as above. Again, you are only performing two hard sets of one exercise per body part. This is all you need! Keep your back straight, not bent, when doing cable rows. Picture something pulling your elbows backwards in your head as you contract and squeeze the back muscles. Really put your mind into it.

Conclude your workout with 30-40 minutes of cardio. Work your way up to this Joe Kocur Rangers Jersey , but eventually perform 40 minutes at 65-75% of your maximum heart rate, which is about 220 minus your age x .65 or .75. So, if youre 50, this would be 220-50 = 170 x .75 (if you use 75%) for a target heart rate of about 125-130 (no need to be super-specific here.) This will really crank the fat-burning!

Total Workout Time: Under 1 Hour

Wednesday, or Day Two: Legs And Abs

Begin with a 10-minute warm-up on a cardio device just enough to get the blood flowing. Follow this by light stretching of the entire body.

Leg Presses

While I recommend squats to anyone who will listen, for a beginner leg presses are usually the best bet. Leave squats for your third or fourth month. Using a leg press machine, you will do exactly the same as Monday rep and set-wise: a warm-up, followed by a hard set of 12 reps and a hard set of 8 reps. The key to the exercise again is to put your mind in your legs, not on lifting the weight. Feel the muscle contracting. Make sure your knees come down to your chest and that you do not lock out at the top of the movement. Keep constant tension on the legs this makes a huge difference. Remember Jeff Beukeboom Rangers Jersey , two hard work sets thats it.

Leg Curls

A leg curl machine can be found in any gym. Simply follow the same setrep pattern, and focus on keeping your hips flat on the bench.

Swiss Ball Crunches

You will do two sets of 10 reps on this or as many reps as you can do while not exceeding 10. If you can do more than 10 reps, youre not concentrating enough on your abs. Lying on a swiss ball (one of those big rubber balls you see in the gym) with your back curved over the ball, place your feet underneath a stable object. An old trick is to use a heavy dumbbell or roll the ball over to something that has a gap to put your feet under. This keeps you stable on the ball. Then, raise up using your abs to pull not your legs. Think of squeezing your chest into your legs like an accordion that helps me when doing this exercise. Come up to about a normal sitting position and blow all your air out. Squeeze the muscles, then return back down very controlled. I cannot emphasize enough how much Clark Bartrams Chisel Your Abs Success System could help you here, as ab work needs to be done precisely for results and for safety.

Conclude your workout with 30-40 minutes of cardio as on day 1.

Total Workout Time: Under 1 Hour

Friday, or Day Three: Shoulders And Arms

Begin with a 10-minute warm-up on a cardio device just enough to get the blood flowing. Follow this by light stretching of the entire body.

Machine Military Press

Find a military press machine. Again, these are common in the gym. Well do something a bit different here well be doing only one work set after a few warm-ups Jarret Stoll Rangers Jersey , but it will be composed of several sets in one. These are called drop sets. This is usually an advanced technique, but well be taking it a bit easy. You will not be training to the point of failure just shy of it. Start with a weight you can do 12 reps with fairly easily. Rest 10 seconds. Drop the weight down and get another set of 10-12. This will start to burn a bit, but thats okay. Rest another 10 seconds, and drop the weight one more time (usually a drop is about 10-20 pounds.) Just get as many reps as you can on the last set. Thats it youre done with shoulders in under 2 minutes.