Now, the program you're
about to read is a revolutionary approach to training
your weakest lifts...the key is to ACTUALLY TRAIN
THEM...
What I've done to combat
this is do a program where for 4 weeks, I limit myself
only to the exercises that I'm terrible on...not using
ones that are painful on the joints or anything like
that...but just the ones that I have poor leverage,
I can't use much weight on, I don't really enjoy but
I know I should do, etc...that kind of thing.
And lo and behold, after
this 4 weeks of training, I've improved my weak points
and have seen improvements in my "regular"
exercises.
So for the next 4 weeks,
you're going to select ONLY from a list of exercises
that you're not strong with and that have been weak
points for you. Your list might be different than my
list but I'm going to give you a rundown of what I use.
Now this is a pretty simple
program that I've listed below...divided into push-pull
days. We're not doing any crazy techniques or schedules,
because honestly, your body is going to be challenged
enough just because you're doing exercises that it hasn't
adapted to because you rarely do them!
A key with this is to
check your ego at the door. The first step is admitting
you stink at these exercises and that you know you're
going to have to cut back on the weight and build yourself
back up.
The results will be a
much stronger overall physique and the joy of going
back to the fun stuff after 4 weeks. Heck, you may even
start to LIKE some of these exercises once you start
not stinking at them so bad!
Some Exercises to Choose
From:
Thighs - front squats
Back - wide-grip pull-ups or wide-grip barbell rows
Chest - incline barbell or dumbell bench press
Shoulders - standing barbell presses or dumbell presses
Hamstrings - snatch grip stiff-legged deadlifts (same
exercise but with a WIDE grip)
Biceps - incline dumbell curls or reverse grip barbell
curls
Triceps - overhead dumbell or barbell extensions
Calves - pick your poison! choose your worst one
As I mentioned above,
the exercises themselves will vary according to what
you, personally, suck at. You might actually be strong
on front squats and weak on regular squats...in that
case, work on regular squats.
So take those exercises
you rarely or never do (but you know oyou should) and
do ONLY them religiously for a month.
Here's a simple sample
program - the number to the side is the number of sets
to do. Take 90 seconds rest between sets.
| Day 1
|
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
Day 4 |
Day 5 |
Day 6/7 |
Chest - 4
Shoulders - 3
Triceps - 3
Thighs - 4 |
Back - 4
Hamstrings - 3
Biceps - 3
Calves - 3 |
Rest |
Chest
- 4
Shoulders - 3
Triceps - 3
Thighs - 4 |
Back
- 4
Hamstrings - 3
Biceps - 3
Calves - 3 |
Rest |
You can plug this type of "stink training"
into pretty much any program, though, so don't worry
if this exact program layout isn't for you.
The core concept of forcing
yourself to train your weakest links is really what
I'm after here.
And I have to say, after
doing this type of training a few times, I actually
look forward to it. I go in knowing I'm going to stink
at the exercises but I also go in knowing that because
I hardly ever do those exercise, I'm going to gain strength
in them pretty quickly. It's almost like being a beginner
again...almost :)
The key thing to realize
(and to get over) is that you're going to look weak
when you start training exclusively with the exercises
you stink at. But it builds character...and a much stronger
physique!
--------
Now I've got something
very cool...in my most recent update to my Metabolic
Surge program, I've included a "Stink Training"
version of the program.
This
style of training can be incredibly effective for fat
loss...
Because, if you think
about it, when you're inefficient at an exercise, you
burn a LOT more calories doing it...your nervous system
is firing more strongly, every set and rep seems harder...it
could even be one of the reason beginners get such great
results when they first start training!
By incoporating "stink
training" into your fat loss training, you have
the potential really increase the return you get on
the time you put in on your training. An hour of training
exercises that you have to basically fight with is going
to be a lot harder than an hour of stuff you're good
at.
