The following details my chest, shoulder and triceps workout from this past Wednesday night at Kirkland Gold’s Gym.  This week’s been a whirlwind coming back from vacation and getting caught up at work.  Training in the gym and yoga practice at times are the two things keeping me sane.  Yet, I’m really pressed for time lately so I decided to explore some Vince Gironda training methods to limit my time in the gym on this workout.  Vince (1917 - 1997) was known for some rather unique training programs and exercise execution methods.  I don’t pretend to be an expert on Vince’s approach, but the consistent theme seems to include cramming as much work into the shortest period of time.  With that said, here is my workout…

 

Flat Dumbbell Press

 

I did a couple warm-up sets before launching into the following - FYI.

 

Set 1 x 8 reps with 60lbs

Set 2 x 8 reps with 60lbs

Set 3 x 8 reps with 60lbs

Set 4 x 8 reps with 60lbs

Set 5 x 8 reps with 60lbs

Set 6 x 8 reps with 60lbs

Set 7 x 8 reps with 60lbs

Set 8 x 8 reps with 60lbs

 

*The idea here is to select a weight in which you can get 8 sets of 8 reps with minimal rest breaks (ie less than 30 seconds).  Basically Christina and I alternated as quickly as possible here for all 8 sets and watching the clock revealed my rest breaks were about 20 seconds.  I did go too light here, but it was my first attempt at the 8x8.  Ideally you might fail on your rep 7 or 8 by your 7th or 8th set.  Do not go beyond failure.

 

Smith Incline Press

 

Set 1 x 6 reps with 185lbs

Set 2 x 6 reps with 185lbs

Set 3 x 6 reps with 185lbs

Set 4 x 6 reps with 185lbs

Set 5 x 6 reps with 185lbs

Set 6 x 6 reps with 185lbs

 

*Again, I only rested long enough for Christina to do her set.  I went too light here again, but you get the idea - 6x6 with the same weight, minimal rest breaks and hitting failure around the last rep of the last set is the goal.

 

Machine Flyes

 

Set 1 x 8 reps with 135lbs

Set 2 x 8 reps with 135lbs

Set 3 x 8 reps with 135lbs

Set 4 x 8 reps with 135lbs

Set 5 x 8 reps with 135lbs

Set 6 x 8 reps with 135lbs

Set 7 x 8 reps with 135lbs

Set 8 x 8 reps with 135lbs

 

*Using perfect form (I should have mentioned this earlier) and we went for 8x8 again.

 

Alternate: Machine Rear Delts & Cable Rear Delts

 

Machine Rear Delts x 8 reps with 110lbs

Immediately alternated with…

Cable Rear Delts x 8 reps with 20lbs

 

*I elected to alternate between these 2 exercise to nearly eliminate the rest break.  Christina did one exercise while I did the other and then we switched.  Go back-and-forth until you’ve done each exercise 4 times for 8 total sets.

 

Dumbbell Side Laterals

 

Set 1 x 8 reps with 25lbs

Set 2 x 8 reps with 25lbs

Set 3 x 8 reps with 25lbs

Set 4 x 8 reps with 25lbs

Set 5 x 8 reps with 25lbs

Set 6 x 8 reps with 25lbs

Set 7 x 8 reps with 25lbs

Set 8 x 8 reps with 25lbs

 

*I probably only took 10-15 second breaks between each set here.

 

Giant Set: Triceps Pushdown -> Dips Between Benches -> Overhead Triceps Extensions

 

Triceps Pushdowns x 8 reps with 120lbs

Immediately followed by…

Dips Between Benches x 8 reps with body weight only

Immediately followed by…

Overhead Triceps Extensions x 8 reps with 120lbs

 

*I used a V bar for the triceps pushdowns and the overhead extensions.  The overhead extensions were placed last in the giant set because I wanted to finish with an exercise that really stretched my fully pumped triceps.  I did this giant set 4 times with about 20 second rest breaks between each round.

 

That concluded this chest, shoulder and triceps workout.  It took me about 50 minutes to complete.

 

Train hard!

Mark