Workout 8/20/2012

Chest, Back, and Abs

Today's workout is a chest, back, and abs workout. You can find it under Phase 4 of MusclePharm's Get Swole program.

The workout consists of some supersets and one "rotating triset." A superset is just two workouts performed back-to-back without rest. After you complete both workouts, you rest and repeat the superset. A triset is simply three exercises performed without rest.

I actually mixed up the order this week for two reasons. First, I didn't want to wait in line for the bench before getting started and Monday's at my gym have terrible lines for the bench around 5:30. And second, I wanted to put a little more focus on my front delts by spending more energy on incline bench. Use it when you got it! Otherwise I pretty much stuck to the program.

Superset 1: 

Incline Bench Press: 5x12, 3-count up and down, 85lbs
Chin-ups: 5x12, 120lbs assistance

Superset 2: 

Flat Bench Press: 5x12, 3-count up and down, 95lbs
Wide-Grip Pull-ups: 5x15, 150lbs assistance

Triset 3: 

Flat Bench Dumbbell Flies: 4x15, 30s first set, 25s final three sets
Dips: 4x12, 160lbs first set, 180lbs final three sets
(rotation of one of the three exercises below)
     Decline Hammer Strength Press: 2x15, 90lbs
     Cable Crossovers: 1x20, 50lbs each cable
     Dumbbell Pullovers: 1x15, 45lbs

Abs

Front-Plank Variation: 3x1min (Start in front plank position, move right arm out to side at 45-degree angle, then left arm, then right leg, then left leg. Pause as long as possible, then "walk in" in the same order.)
Decline Bench Situps: 3x12 with 25lb plate (lifted up towards ceiling)

Takeaways

All in all, it felt pretty good. I have enjoyed lowering the weight on presses and focusing on control. It always gives me a wicked burn without stressing out my shoulders too much. I felt much more in control of the weight this week in spite of increasing weight on almost every lift.

The ab work wasn't a part of the program, but I got bored doing ab wheel rollouts and weighted crunches, so I decided to mix it up a bit. The plank variation was EPIC. Not only was it much harder on my ab muscles, but it was easier on my shoulders and minimized the mental fatigue that I feel always accompany planks. Something about freezing in plank position for a long time is tedious and mentally I have a difficult time sustaining effort for 2+ minutes. Simply adding motion (and difficulty) made planks INFINITELY more enjoyable. I think I'll  continue playing with variations of the plank.

Just one more chest and back day in this phase before I move on to HIT (high-intensity training). I'm going to really focus on the working muscles on Thursday when I get back in the gym for Chest & Back, try to squeeze out quality reps and get the most out of this last bit of Hypertrophy volume training.

Tonight's workout is arms, by far the easiest of this phases workouts. I'll have that workout posted tomorrow.