Do the leg and butt exercises described
here before working any other muscle
groups. You can do the rest of the lifts in
your workout in any order. Try to increase
the amount of weight you lift in each
exercise by 5 to 10 percent each week.
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
these leg and butt exercises, you can try
one set of eight to 12 repetitions (except
where noted) of the following exercises:
1. Lat pulldown
2. Dumbbell chest press
3. Cable or dumbbell row
4. Seated alternating dumbbell press
5. Cable triceps extension
6. Dumbbell biceps curl
7. Crunch (15 to 20 repetitions)
INTERMEDIATE Divide your program
into two workouts, one for upper body, one
for lower. Alternate between the two
workouts, taking a day off after each. For
example, do the lower-body workout
shown here on Monday and Friday and an
upper-body workout on Wednesday; the
following week, do the opposite.
Upper-body workout Choose one
exercise each for “horizontal pulling”
(seated or bent-over row), one for “horizontal
pushing” (dumbbell or barbell
bench press), one for “vertical pulling”
(pullup or lat pulldown), and one for “vertical pushing” (dumbbell or barbell
shoulder press). 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 of
the work-set weight. Do fewer repetitions
in each warmup set.) You can finish with
exercises for your biceps and triceps.
Lower-body workout Do the exercises
described here, followed by abdominal
exercises.
ADVANCED Divide your workout into
three parts. Do each part once a week,
with a day off between workouts.
1. Vertical pushing and pulling
2. Lower-body exercises, plus abdominals
and calves
3. Horizontal pushing and pulling
