- Do you want to get stronger?
Do you want to gain some muscle?
Do you want to smash through your sticking points?
Do you want to perform better in your training session sooner?
Do you want a bigger total?
If you answered no to those then stop reading now, and click on over to stayweakandsmall.com
However, if you want to Become More Awesome in 4 Weeks, take this to heart.
I’m about to give you an old “Secret” of the Masters.
Who am I kidding, there are no secrets. This is just some common sense.
Today we are going to go over adding in a different warm up strategy to get you bigger and stronger fast.
I love adding this to my athletes and client’s programs when they are ready.
WTF is it?
We are going to do some work for about 10 minutes before we train every session and watch the progress explode.
Adding in a set number of body weight exercises as a part of your warm up will do everything listed above and more.
I believe that body weight exercises are one of the best things we can do to improve strength, coordination, proprioception, speed and for adding size.
Body weight exercises are easy on the nervous system and after a while you can handle a fair amount of volume without it affecting your performance negatively.
As a matter of fact, it will improve your performance.
So, how do I Become More Awesome in 4 Weeks
If you add in a set number of exercises, either as a circuit or done one at a time, you will:
- Strengthen weaknesses
Improve strength
Correct strength imbalances
Gain size
My favorites are:
- Glute/Ham Raises or Back Raises
Pushups
Fat Guy Pullups or Inverted Rows for the PC crowd
I take a set number of each and assign it as a warmup series before a barbell is touched.
EG:
Week 1:
Done as a circuit
All for 25
GHR
Fat Guy Pullup
Pushup
Week 2:
Increase to 30
Week 3:
Increase to 35
Week 4:
Drop to 30
Week 5:
Increase to 35
Week 6:
Increase to 40
Week 7:
Increase to 45
Week 8:
Drop to 40
And so on.
Once you hit 50 total and it’s not too hard, you need to change exercises or change the variable.
This is done by jacking up the foot plate on the GHR, or elevating your feet on the pushups and so forth. You can also change exercises.
The circuit is performed as follows:
Perform as many GHR’s as you can, leaving one or two in the tank, proceed to the next exercise, and do the same and then go to the third exercise.
Continue until you have hit the total number of reps.
To illustrate further, if you hit 15 GHR’s, 15 FG Pullups, and 15 Pushups and the total number for the session was 25, you’ve got 10 to go on each.
Get the idea?
Do as many as you can of each exercise and move on the next until the total number is complete.
This is different than the Active Rest that I discussed in a previous installment.
This is as a warmup.
I recall years ago listening to Wendler talk about this idea at a Force Production seminar at TPS and I took it to heart.
Think about how much progress you can make if you add in this kind of low intensity volume!
The naysayers might be thinking that this will affect your main lifts negatively, but if you can’t smash out a few of these exercises before training
you’ve got more serious issues to look at, you’re weak.
Weakness is a crime.
Don’t be a criminal.
You WILL get stronger by doing this, and isn’t that the point?
You will also be lifting better in less sets when you get under the bar because you will have gotten a good blood flow going and the muscles will be ready to work sooner.
I do not suggest this for people who cannot do a GHR, or a Pushup.
For those who have a lot of difficulty with body weight exercises I like to have them do this one at a time with a lower number to start off.
Let’s say that you can barely get 3 GHR’s in a row without hitting failure….
Pick a lower number to start off, like 10 or 15. Add 5 each week and then decrease on the fourth week as the progression shows above.
As I said, if you can’t do this without it affecting your main lifts, you are weak. That is not meant to be an insult, just an observation of fact.
Adding in progression like this will make you strong(er) and that will carry over to your other lifts fast.
The three exercise I chose pretty much work the whole body.
You need to choose exercises that will address your issues, but these three address most people pretty well.
You can always substitute exercises as you go for variety and different stimulus.
Here is a list of substitutions for the main three:
- Pullups
Blast Strap / TRX Pushups
Lunges/Reverse Lunges
Pistol Squats
You can even throw in Reverse Hypers for a few weeks if you have access to one. It’s not a bodyweight exercise but it is pretty easy on the nervous system, so is it is a good fit.
I think three exercise is enough. We aren’t trying to accrue a ton of volume, just the right amount to stimulate the body to grow and adapt.
I love to use one of my athletes as an example.
She was a shot and discus thrower for Ireland and when I started training her, she had very little strength in the posterior chain, but was a great thrower.
To be better we needed to correct weaknesses. We needed to make her weakness her strength.
I added in Back Raises only for a few weeks pre-training.
She did a set amount each session before I even got in the weight room.
We then added in GHR’s starting off with 10.
She struggled with these for a bit, only getting in two or three at a time.
The volume was waved up and down as the weeks went.
Within a few months she was up to smashing out 25 reps on the GHR perfectly.
No “A” framing, no dipping off the pads, just perfect. She got up to 50 in a row soon after that.
Her lifts also all went up, but more importantly, her distance on the throws increased and so did her medal count.
Take this to heart.
If you want to add muscle, get stronger, and be more awesome, give this a shot (no pun).
Ask me a question-Be sure and Type to Murph in the header
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Vincere vel mori
