Mens Health - Total Body Workout | Page 3

part of a total-body
weight workout three times a week.
Rest: 1 minute between exercises
Progress: Increase weights each week.
How long: Follow this program for your first 4 to 8
BEGINNER
weeks of exercise, or for your first few weeks after
returning from a break. When you peak on this pro-
gram—when you can’t increase the weight from one
week to the next—you’re ready for the Advanced
Beginner workout.
Frequency: Do these exercises as part of a total-body
weight workout three times a week.
Technique: Increase weights on each set.
Rest: 2 minutes between sets
Progress: Use heavier weights each week.
Variety: After 3 or 4 weeks, switch to seated dumbbell
ADVANCED BEGINNER
presses and standing dumbbell shrugs, both of which are
shown in the Intermediate section. Continue with the
sets and repetitions recommended here.
How long:When your strength and muscle size stop
improving, or when you have the time and energy to do
more exercises, move to the next level.
Unless you’re hoisting major tonnage overhead, you probably don’t need to wear a weight belt. A study at
the Albany Medical Center in New York tested 50 men who did identical workouts: Half wore belts, half
didn’t. The groups had similar strength gains and injury tallies, but the beltless guys developed stronger
abs and lower backs. And nobody mistook them for baggage handlers.
KEY INFO
Total Body Workbook
MACHINE SHOULDER PRESS
Sets:
1Repetitions: 12–15
CABLE UPRIGHT ROW
Sets:
1Repetitions:12–15
SEATED BARBELL OVER HEAD PRESS
Sets:
3Repetitions: 12, 10, 8
CABLE UPRIGHT ROW
Sets:
3Repetitions:12, 10, 8

MEN’S HEALTH 14TOTAL BODY WORKBOOK|www.menshealth.com
Frequency:Divide your workout into two sets of exer-
cises—one for chest, shoulders, and arms; one for back,
legs, and abdominals—and perform each workout twice
a week. In this split routine, exercises that work your
trapezius, such as shrugs, are included in your shoulder
workout. There are two different shoulder workouts at
this level; you’ll do each once a week.
Technique: Start each exercise with the heaviest weight
you can use for eight to 10 repetitions. (If you do a chest
exercise at the start of your workout, your shoulders
should be sufficiently warmed up to use this technique
safely.) Drop the weight slightly for subsequent sets if
you need to.
Rest: 2 minutes between sets
Progress: Try to increase weights each week on the
INTERMEDIATE
presses and shrugs. On the lateral raises, which
involve much smaller muscles, it would be very difficult
to increase weights that often, especially since dumb-
bells usually increase only in 5-pound increments. So
for those exercises, try to increase weights every
2 or 3 weeks.
Variety: When you can’t increase the weights from one
week to the next on the presses and shrugs, switch to a
barbell. When progress stops, switch back. You always
want to be able to chart progress from one workout to
the next.
How long: Train like this for as long as you’re satisfied
with the results. But if you want to develop your shoul-
ders for improved sports performance, move up to the
Advanced program.
WORKOUT 1 WORKOUT 2
Joint Maneuvers
Check out the two variations on the lateral raise. In the first, you start with your palms
turned toward the outside of your thighs, and you finish with your palms facing the floor [A]. This isolates the middle part
of your deltoid muscle—a hard thing to do—but it can also cause impingement, a painful pinching inside the shoulder
joint. If this exercise irritates your shoulder joints, switch to the palms-out lateral raise [B]. You won’t work your middle
deltoids as effectively, but you will work your rotator cuffs, creating more stability in your shoulders. If both versions are
comfortable, you can shift back and forth every three or four workouts to work your shoulders in different ways.
or
orA
B
Total Body Workbook
SEATED DUMBBELL PRESS
Sets:
3Repetitions: 8–10
STANDING DUMBBELL SHRUG
Sets:
3Repetitions:8–10
LATERAL RAISE
Sets:
3Repetitions:8–10
BENT-OVER LATERAL RAISE
Sets:
3Repetitions:8–10

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To see why both are important, imagine that you’re in
a basketball game. You need muscle size to establish and
maintain your position against an opponent, but you also
need explosive strength and speed to beat him to a re-
bound or to block his shot.
Rest: 2 or 3 minutes between sets. You can also perform
supersets of the exercises, doing a set of each and then
resting before repeating them both.
Progress: Increase the weight you use on your final set
each week.
How long: Try these exercises for 3 to 6 weeks, or until
you can no longer increase the weight each week. Then
switch to other exercises in this program for a few weeks
before you try the Advanced exercises again.
Frequency: Do this workout twice a week, using the same
split routine as in the Intermediate program.
Technique: You’ll perform five sets of five repetitions on
the hanging high pulls and the barbell presses, using
more weight on each set. But you’ll do these exercises
with different techniques. You’ll do the high pulls explo-
sively—pulling upward as fast as you can while maintain-
ing perfect form, then lowering the weight without
pausing at the top position. This explosive movement
teaches your upper-body muscles to perform quickly and
powerfully in competition.
Conversely, you’ll do the barbell presses slowly, pausing
for a second in the top position. This keeps tension on the
muscles for a longer time, increasing their size.
ADVANCED
OPTIONAL EXERCISES
Cuffed