Introduction:
Welcome readers, whether you're a beginner looking for guidance or an experienced lifter looking for discourse and advanced knowledge, I'm starting these workout posts as a way to bring my experience and expertise in the gym to the people.
A little background on me: I was runner in my younger days, taking part in cross country and track all through high school where I learned most of my running knowledge. I still run a little now (29 years old) but those days are often far and few between mainly due to time constraints. This is something I plan to engage in again this year in a larger capacity.
I truly found my passion in the gym lifting weights. For the past ~9 years, I've spent countless hours in the gym perfecting my craft. In that time I also obtained a personal training, nutritionist, and strength & conditioning certification from ISSA (https://www.issaonline.com/).
What started as an activity to keep myself active transpired into a total lifestyle. I'm hoping these posts can help you wherever your fitness journey takes you. I'm hoping to provide you with valuable information on different workouts to try, nutritional guidance for your goals, as well as information on different supplements and how they can help you.
Today's Workout: Back and Biceps
Warm-up: I kept the warm up short today. Part of my daily warm-up includes my walk to the gym (1.4 miles). My only other warm up today was shoulder mobility with a dowel rod. I incorporate this daily whether with a dowel rod, cables or resistance bands.
Wide Grip Pull ups: 3 sets x reps till failure
Superset 1A: Single arm DB rows 3 sets x 6-8 reps. I feel out my weights for exercises instead of using 1 rep max percentages. As always, I recommend a weight you can control to focus on the proper motion of the exercise versus ego lifting. This is the heavier part of the superset to challenge yourself.
Superset 1B: Chest supported DB rows 3 sets x 10 reps. I went lighter here to focus on tempo and muscle contraction. I had a higher time under tension (TUT) and squeezed my lat muscles at the top of the movement. Back muscles are often undertrained because of the difficulty in building the mind muscle connection. Make sure you focus on feeling the exercise in your back.
Rear delt fly machine: 3 sets x 10-12 reps. Another exercise with the focus on tempo and controlled movements. Using lighter weight, going slow and steady with a focus on the contraction at the top of the movement. The rear delt is often undertrained compared to the front or lateral delts. Strengthening the rear delt is important for overall shoulder health.
Superset 2A: Rope cable face pulls 3 sets x 8-10 reps. I like to keep the cable level with my upper chest to make sure I'm targeting the rear delts and upper back muscles effectively.
Superset 2B: Rope cable straight arm lat pulldowns 3 sets x 10-12 reps. As with the other lighter weight/higher rep exercises, the focus here is on tempo and contraction of the lat muscles
Preacher curl machine: 2 sets x 6-8 reps, 3rd set is a triple drop set starting at 6-8 reps and going to failure when dropping the weight each time.
Superset 3A: Straight bar cable wrist curls 3 sets x 10-12 reps. I use an overhand grip and curl my palms toward my body focusing on keeping my arms locked and just moving the wrist. This will work your forearm flexors
Superset 3B: Straight bar overhand grip bicep curls 3 sets x 10-12 reps. These will work your biceps and forearm extensors. Focus on tempo with both of these exercises to feel the forearm burn
Alternating underhand DB curls: 3 sets x 8-10 reps. Use a weight where you can keep your body stable and not swing the weights. Feel the contraction in bicep during the exercise
Alternating hammer DB curls: 3 sets x 8-10 reps. Same as the under hand db curls, keep the movement under control and focus on bending at the elbow and controlling the weight through the movement.
Hopefully these workouts and tips help you no matter where you are in your fitness journey. I'll keep providing this kind of information as well as covering other topics so please subscribe if you're interested. Thank you for reading and stay lifted friends.