The following details my chest, triceps, abdominal and calve workout from Sunday morning at Eastside Gym in Redmond where I trained alone. I rose a bit early for this one because my oldest daughter Madison and I hit the ski slopes for some spring skiing afterwards. It was an epic bluebird day on the mountain! Here’s my workout…
Hex Press
Set 1 x 8 reps with 55lbs (warm-up)
Set 2 x 8 reps with 65lbs (warm-up)
Set 3 x 8 reps with 75lbs (warm-up)
Set 4 x 8 reps with 85lbs
Set 5 x 8 reps with 85lbs
Set 6 x 8 reps with 85lbs
Set 7 x 8 reps with 85lbs
*After a few warm-up sets perform 4 sets of 8 reps. The key is to smash the dumbbells together with your hands in a neutral position. Lower the weight slowly, pause on your chest briefly and then drive up flexing your chest as hard as you can in the contracted position.
Here is a video from a previous workout:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBHvbxS_nRM]
Incline Hammer Press
Set 1 x 8 reps with 2 plates/side (warm-up)
Set 2 x 6 reps with 3 plates/side
Set 3 x 6 reps with 3 plates/side
Set 4 x 6 reps with 3 plates/side
Set 5 x 6 reps with 3 plates/side
*I did Hammer Strength Incline vs barbell incline due to some shoulder pain I’ve been working around. The key here today is to bring the weight down until your elbows are at 90 degrees and static hold the weight for a 2 second count before driving the weight back up. You won’t be able to lift as much weight, but this should create a lot of tension on the pecs.
Superset: Dips & Stretch Pushups
Dips x 8 reps with bodyweight
Immediately followed by…
Stretch Pushups x 8 reps with bodyweight
*Sink deep into the dips, pause, drive up and flex your pecs hard at the top. Even though I did not use it, it’s okay to use an assist machine if needed. Immediately move to pushups between benches for another 8 reps. Grind these out even if they are partial reps by the end and get a good stretch on every rep. Do this superset for 4 rounds.
Superset: Pushdowns & Rope Crunches
Triceps Pushdowns x 12 reps with 100lbs
Immediately followed by…
Abdominal Rope Crunches with 160lbs x 12 reps
*Use a deliberate eccentric on the pushdowns utilizing a straight bar and flex hard in the contracted position. This is light weight here, but you are going to do this superset for 8 rounds non-stop! Nothing special on the abdominal rope crunches, but I included this as a superset for a couple reasons. 1) John wanted only 45 second rest breaks between all 8 sets of pushdowns, and 2) The rope crunches do an excellent job of stretching your pumped triceps between sets of pushdowns.
Seated Calve Raises
Set 1 x 8 reps with 3 plates + 25lbs
Set 2 x 8 reps with 3 plates + 25lbs
Set 3 x 8 reps with 3 plates + 25lbs
Set 4 x 8 reps with 3 plates + 25lbs
*Increase weight from the previous week’s workout. I added a 25lb plate. The key here is to sit in the stretch position for a full 4 second count on each rep. Grind them out!
That concluded this chest, triceps, abs and calves workout.
Train hard!
Mark