The following details my primary chest, shoulder and triceps workout from this past Monday night at Kirkland Gold’s Gym. My training partner was my bride and the workout was programmed by John Meadows. Here is what we did…
Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Laterals
Set 1 x 20 reps with 20lbs (warm-up)
Set 2 x 15 reps with 35lbs
Set 3 x 15 reps with 35lbs
Set 4 x 15 reps with 35lbs
set 5 x 15 reps with 35lbs
*The key here is to use a full range of motion until your form is compromised. When your form gets sloppy switch to hang and swing technique vs using your traps and turning this into a semi-shrug movement. Take 30 second rest breaks between working sets and make them burn!
Banded Horizontal Hammer Press
I upped the band tension by using the following this week: https://www.elitefts.com/shop/accessories/bands-1/pro-monster-mini-restistance-band.html.
Set 1 x 8 reps with 1 plate/side + band (warm-up)
Set 2 x 8 reps with 2 plates/side + band (warm-up)
Set 3 x 8 reps with 3 plates/side + band
Set 4 x 8 reps with 3 plates & 10lbs/side + band
Set 5 x 6 reps with 3 plates & 20lbs/side + band
*The key here is to work up in weight to doing sets of 8 reps until you lose reps. I counted this as 3 working sets.
Here is video of my last set so you can see how I used the band:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRL3-rEeWRs]
Barbell Incline
Set 1 x 8 reps with 245lbs
Set 2 x 7 reps with 245lbs
Set 3 x 6 reps with 245lbs
*Do the same thing as last week, but try to use more weight. Last week we paused the reps for a 2 second count about 2 inches above your chin at the bottom on each rep. I used 225lbs last week and aimed for a 20lb increase today, but lost some reps.
Flat Dumbbell Press
Set 1 x 8 reps with 100lbs
Set 2 x 8 reps with 110lbs
Set 3 x 8 reps with 110lbs -> drop to 80lbs x 5 reps -> drop to 60lbs x 6 reps
*The key here is to get a good stretch at the bottom pausing for a split second before driving up to ¾ lock-out. Perform a triple drop on your final set.
Dip & Stretch Superset
Dips x 10-12 reps (failure)
Immediately followed by…
Stretch Push-ups x 6-8 reps (failure)
*Go from dips to stretch push-ups and push to failure on each exercise. Perform the superset for 2 rounds.
Here is a video:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmb9rL7G0jU]
Machine Side Laterals
I used a Life Fitness side lateral machine for this exercise - FYI.
Set 1 x 10 reps with 140lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 140lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 140lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 140lbs
*The key on these is to hold the contraction at the top for a 1 second count on every rep.
T-Nation Dead Squat Bar Standing Shoulder Presses
Set 1 x 20+3+2 reps (failure) with bar only (69lbs)
Set 2 x 18+2+2 reps (failure) with bar only
Set 3 x 12+2+1+1 reps (failure) with bar only
*The key here is to pump out the reps with a full range of motion to failure. Once I hit failure I paused for a couple seconds at the bottom and then pumped more reps. For example, my first set above I got 20 non-stop, paused, did 3 more, paused, and finished with 2 more reps.
Triceps Triset: Rope Pushdowns -> Pronate Kickbacks -> Bench Dips
Rope Pushdown x 12 reps with 130lbs
Immediately followed by…
Pronate Kickbacks x 6 reps with 15lb dumbbells
Immediately followed by…
Bench Dips x failure with bodyweight
*The key on the rope pushdowns is to extend with your hands together and then perform the eccentric with your hands apart. On the pronate kickbacks you bend 90 degrees at your waist, keep your elbows pinned to your sides, extend/kickback the dumbbells with your hands in a pronate (palms facing the ceiling) position and hold the contraction for a 2 second count. Perform the bench dips to failure working the lower ¾ of the movement. Do the triset for a total of 4 rounds.
That concluded this primary chest, shoulder and triceps workout.
Train hard!
Mark
Really appreciate the logs really good motivation and a lot of ideas. How do you implement the bands in your programing? And ive seen that you do quite a lot of reverse band exercises as well. Are those used to overload or just for a different stimulus?
Thank you for your answer.
I use bands in three different fashions - banded, reverse banded and via hanging band technique (HBT). Regular banded is most suited when you want to deload some of the weight out of the bottom/stretched position. Machine bench press or leg press for example. I consider this kind of an eccentric overload technique as you really have to fight the bands the entire rep range, but particularly on the negative. It helps facilitate a great contraction.
Reverse banded is used for explosiveness or to help relieve some of the stress to my lower back on something like Hack squats. Hacks are where I most often use reverse bands.
Lastly, HBT is where I will hang weight from a barbell to create instability with the bar. Scientifically this causes the body to recruit more muscle/motor units, but honestly I just love the feel because it forces you to stay much tighter throughout the rep range.
Hope this helps!
Mark