Do the chest and back exercises first in your
workout—in other words, do the exercises
described here in Chapter Two. After that, it’s
up to you how to fit in exercises for other
muscle groups. Most important: Build
strength and muscle size with equal effort on
both sides of your body. Working the front
and neglecting the back is a recipe for injury.
Some suggestions :
BEGINNER Do a total-body workout two
or three times a week. After you finish your
chest and back exercises, try one set of eight
to 12 repetitions of the following exercises
(except where noted):
Squat (or leg press)
Leg curl
Seated alternating dumbbell press
Cable triceps extension
Dumbbell biceps curl
Crunch (15–20 repetitions)
INTERMEDIATE Divide your program into
two workouts, one for upper body, one for
lower. Alternate between the two, taking a
day off after each. So, you’d do the upperbody
workout on Monday and Friday of one
week and the lower-body workout on
Wednesday, then the following week you’d
do the lower-body workout on Monday and
Friday and the upper-body routine on
Wednesday.
Upper-body workout After doing the
chest and back program in this installment,
choose one exercise each for shoulders,
biceps, and triceps. Do two or three sets of
the shoulder exercise and one or two sets of
the arm exercises.
Lower-body workout Choose one “hipdominant”
exercise, meaning the main
emphasis of the exercise is on the hamstrings
and gluteals (examples include
stepups and any variety of deadlift). Then
choose one “knee-dominant” exercise,
meaning the emphasis is on the quadriceps
muscles of the front of the thigh (squats, leg
presses, and lunges qualify). Do two or three
warmup sets and two work sets. (A work set
means you’re using the most weight you can
for that number of repetitions. The warmup
sets should be percentages of that weight -
maybe 40, 60, and 80 percent. Do fewer
repetitions in each warmup set.) Add your
choice of abdominal and calf exercises.
ADVANCED Divide your workout into four
parts. Do each one once a week; don’t work
out more than 2 days in a row.
1. Chest and back
2. Knee-dominant exercises, plus abs and calves
3. Shoulders and arms
4. Hip-dominant exercises (also above),
plus abs and calves again
