The following details my primary chest, shoulder and triceps workout from this past Monday night at Kirkland Gold’s Gym. The workout was designed by my coach, John Meadows, and I trained alongside my bride – Christina. Here is the workout…
Incline Dumbbell Press
I used a very slight incline – FYI.
Set 1 x 12 reps with 65lbs (warm-up)
Set 2 x 10 reps with 80lbs (warm-up)
Set 3 x 8 reps with 95lbs (warm-up)
Set 4 x 8 reps with 110lbs
Set 5 x 8 reps with 120lbs
Set 6 x 7 reps with 130lbs
*Similar approach as last week, but on a slight incline bench vs flat bench. Press to ¾ lock-out before coming right back down. Work up in weight until you fail to hit 8 reps.
Reverse Banded Incline Bench Press
The incline benches were all in use so I ended up doing these in a rack and opted to do reverse banded incline bench. I used a pair of these bands: https://www.elitefts.com/shop/bars-weights/bands/pro-monster-mini-restistance-band.html.
Set 1 x 6 reps with 225lbs (feeder set)
Set 2 x 6 reps with 275lbs
Set 3 x 6 reps with 295lbs
Set 4 x 6 reps with 305lbs
*Bring the bar to just above your chin and drive up to ¾ lock-out. The bands help facilitate explosiveness.
Christina filmed my second to last set here:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIBRMVoaSJU]
Incline Dumbbell Flyes w/Eccentric Resistance
Set 1 x 8 reps with 50lbs -> drop to 40lbs x 8 reps (eccentric overload)
Set 2 x 8 reps with 50lbs -> drop to 40lbs x 8 reps (eccentric overload)
Set 3 x 8 reps with 50lbs -> drop to 40lbs x 6 reps (eccentric overload)
*The key here is to do flyes for 8 reps with perfect form on an incline bench, drop the weight and then do 6-8 more reps with your training partner adding manual extra resistance on the top half of the movement. Don’t have them push beyond the top ½ or you’ll risk injury.
Here is a video from an old workout:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxndeOzMero]
Ladder Pushups
Set 1 x failure -> raise bar x failure -> raise bar x failure
Set 2 x failure -> raise bar x failure -> raise bar x failure
Set 3 x failure -> raise bar x failure -> raise bar x failure
*These were humbling after all the other chest work. The idea is to basically do a pushup from a bar in a low position in a rack and go to failure, then move the bar up one level go again to failure, and then raise the bar again for a final set to failure. All the racks were in use so I did this with a Smith Machine. Perform slow, controlled reps and touch your chest to the bar on each rep before pressing to full extension. Nasty pump!
Here was my final set:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K72PDn15ttQ]
Superset: Machine Rear Laterals & Face Pulls
Machine Rear Laterals x 15 reps with 130lbs
Immediately followed by…
Face Pulls w/Rope from High Pulley x 10 reps with 140lbs
*Go slow throughout the rear delt machine rep range while completely flexing your rear delts to maximize tension. Immediately follow it with face pulls with a rope from a high pulley and hold the contraction in the flexed position for a 1 second count on each rep. Do the superset for 3 rounds. The face pull was not part of John’s program – FYI.
Superset: Ultra Wide Overhead Presses & Dumbbell Side Laterals
Overhead Presses x 10 reps with 70lbs
Immediately followed by…
Dumbbell Side Laterals x 10 reps with 25lbs
*I grabbed a fixed weight barbell with my hands as wide as they would go and did standing presses bringing the bar down to chin level in the front. These will burn like crazy by the 4th set. Immediately set the barbell down and grab a pair of dumbbells for 10 reps of side laterals to extend the pain! Perform the superset for 4 rounds.
Superset: Triceps Pushdowns & Dips Between Benches
Triceps Pushdowns (straight bar) x 8 reps with 160lbs
Immediately followed by…
Dips Between Benches x failure with bodyweight
*Flex and hold the contraction for a split second on the pushdowns and do the same at the top on the dips. My triceps were smoked from the ladder pushups so I did this superset for 4 rounds and called it a day.
That concluded this primary chest, shoulder and triceps workout.
Train hard!
Mark