The following details my primary chest and shoulder workout from this past Sunday at Eastside Gym in Redmond. I was training alone. The workout was programmed by my coach, John Meadows.
Hammer Incline Press
Set 1 x 8 reps with 1 plate/side
Set 2 x 8 reps with 2 plates/side
Set 3 x 8 reps with 2 plates + 25’s/side
Set 4 x 8 reps with 3 plates/side
Set 5 x 8 reps with 3 plates + 25’s/side
Set 6 x 7 reps with 4 plates/side
*Work your way up in weight until you can’t get 8 reps. Lower the weight in a controlled fashion and drive to ¾ lock-out. I counted this as 3 working sets.
Incline Barbell Press
Set 1 x 5 reps with 135lbs (feeder set)
Set 2 x 5 reps with 185lbs (feeder set)
Set 3 x 5 reps with 225lbs (feeder set)
Set 4 x 5 reps with 245lbs
Set 5 x 10 reps (nearly failure) with 265lbs
Set 6 x 14 reps (nearly failure) with 205lbs
*Work up doing sets of 5 explosively. Once you hit a pretty tough weight go for as many reps as possible. I got 10 with 265lbs, but couldn’t really go to complete failure without a training partner. For your final set cut the weight and go to failure for more reps if possible.
Bench Press
Set 1 x 5 reps with 225lbs
Set 2 x 5 reps with 245lbs
Set 3 x 5 reps with 265lbs
Set 4 x 5 reps with 275lbs
Set 5 x 5 reps with 285lbs
*The key here is to lower the bar slowly and let it sit on your chest for a split second and then drive it up to ¾ lock-out. Aim for explosiveness.
Cable Flyes
Set 1 x 28 reps (failure) with 50lbs
*Do 1 set to complete failure. Shoot for 20+ reps.
Dumbbell Side Lateral Swings & Hammer Shoulder Press Superset
Dumbbell Side Lateral Swing x 30 reps with 40lb dumbbells
Immediately followed by…
Hammer Strength Shoulder Press x 6 reps with 2 plates/side
*Swing the dumbbells out as far as possible with your elbows locked on the laterals and focus on continuous tension. Immediately follow it with explosive reps on the Hammer Shoulder Press. Perform the superset for a total of 4 rounds.
Machine Rear Delts
Do one warm-up set before performing the following:
Set 1 x 25 reps with 120lbs
Set 2 x 20 reps with 120lbs
Set 3 x 15 reps with 120lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 120lbs
Set 5 x 5 reps with 120lbs
*The key here is to only rest 10 seconds between sets. Stick with the same weight, but drop the reps by 5 each set. The cumulative fatigue will light up your rear delts by the end.
That concluded this primary chest and shoulder workout.
Train hard!
Mark
Just out of curiosity, I noticed your split swtiched from a Chest/Shoulders, Back, Arms, Legs split to a Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Back/Biceps, Legs split. Any specific reason for this? I've been playing around with the idea of changing my own split up to incorporate more frequent sessions (moderate volume, moderate intensity volume). Just curious as I'm always a big fan of your log/blog. Thanks for all the info you put on here!
I was just following John Meadows' program lay-out. Truth is I complained to him about not having a dedicated arm training day. I told myself I would give it a few weeks and if I didn't like it I would go back to training arms on their own specific day. Well, two weeks in and I loved not having a specific arm day. Why? By the time I'm done with the pressing movements my triceps are completely warm and I can go hard and intense immediately without needing to warm up creaky joints. Same with biceps after back. It's a more efficient use of time in the gym and I see equal if not better results.
All the best!
Mark