I love working out, and that's a fact. Anybody who knows me knows I'm addicted to the gym, and quite frankly, that's not a bad thing. Exercising releases endorphins, and has so many other physical and mental benefits!
I know a lot of people have trouble figuring out what to do at the gym, and while I'm positive this schedule won't work for everybody, this is just an outline of my typical week at the gym. My workouts vary from week to week. Right now, I'm enjoying incorporating heavy lifting with strength and cardio. Some weeks, I will LOVE kickboxing and not even touch a barbell. It all depends on what my body is feeling, and I believe that to be the most important part about the gym. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!
Monday:
Most guys consider this to be "International Chest Day." Since I believe this translates to: complete your heaviest and best workout on Monday, I do legs on Mondays. Starting off the week with something as intense as focusing on my quads, hamstrings, and gluten, sets the rest of the week up to be moderately easier. Not that your workouts should be easy, but you get the point! A typical leg workout looks something like this:
- 8x8 squats (increasing weight every 2 sets)
- 4x10 Romanian Deadlifts
- Superset (4x)
- 2 walking lunges or reverse (weighted)
- 15 squats jumps
- Superset (4x)
- 15, 12, 10, 8 goblet squats
- 20 hamstring curls (on yoga ball)
- 50 weighted single leg deadlifts (each leg)
For legs, I recommending starting with activation exercises in order to warm up your muscles, or else they will be struck with pain if you go straight into heavy lifting. PLEASE also stretch, and this goes for every workout. I will warn you that your hamstrings will be extremely sore after this specific workout, and the hamstring curls are BRUTAL.
Tuesday:
I love lifting heavy two days in a row, so Tuesday is back day. I also like incorporating a small ab workout during the back day because my back day is a little less intense in comparison to legs so I try to incorporate different muscle groups in one workout. My back muscles are the hardest to get sore from a personal perspective, so I like making this workout long and focusing on the mind to muscle connection to feel the burn of various back muscles. On a typical Tuesday, I like to complete a variation of the following:
- Lat pulldowns 3x10 reps
- Superset (4x)
- Straight arm pulldown x12
- Rear deltoid raises x8
- Supermans 3x12 reps
- Close grip pulldowns 4x10
- 3x12 face pulls
- 3x12 push up rows
- row machine 5x12
Like I said, I also like incorporating abs, which means I'll do something focused on a specific region of my abs.
I'll do 4x20 of:
- Ball transfers
- Single leg v ups
- Flutter kicks
Wednesday:
Today, I'll take a break from the heavy lifting and compound movements, and focus on my cardio and strength. Today, I'll complete a workout that gets my heart rate up, while blasting fat and testing my cardio endurance. These are the kind of workouts I started my fitness journey with, and they'll always hold a special place in my heart.
I'll do a workout for time, an AMRAP (As many rounds as possible), or an EMOM (Every minute on the minute).
An example of one for time:
7 Rounds for Time:
- 15 KB Swings (35 lb)
- 14 Snatches - 7 each arm (20 lb)
- 15 Box Jumps
Thursday:
OH MAN. Thursdays have easily become one of my favorite days to train because it's my shoulder and ab day. When I first started training, most of my shoulder strength had come from kickboxing, but I finally decided to have a designated day specifically for shoulders. At first, it seemed like a challenge to create a whole workout based on my shoulders, but I've become OBSESSED with seeing results in this region because it makes me feel strong.
My typical workout looks a bit like this,
- Triset: Repeat 3 times
- Single arm upright row (with a plate) | 8 reps
- Underhand barbell front raise | 10 reps
- Front to back shoulder press with barbell | 10 reps
- Superset: Repeat 4 times
- Cable upright row (with rope attachment) | 10 reps
- Front raise (with rope attachment) | 10 reps
- Lateral Raise Shoulder Complex: Repeat 3 times
- 5 left, 5 right | repeat 3x for a total of 15 reps
- 10 both arms
- Front Raise Shoulder Complex: Repeat 3 times
- 5 left, 5 right | repeat 3x for a total of 15 reps
- 10 both arms
Friday:
Legs are the one muscle group I train twice in one week because it's my desired muscle group to get those gains in! Since earlier in the week my hamstrings were the sorest, I like incorporating more quad and glute focused compound movements.
- WARMUP: 10 minutes on the stair master
- 4x8 Bulgarian split squats on bench w/ dumbbells
- 4x10 squats (increasing weight each set)
- Superset: (3x)
- curtsy lunge with barbell 8x each leg
- reverse lunge with barbell 8x each leg
- Hip thrusts (12,10,8,6) increasing weight
- 4x10 Romanian deadlifts
- BURNOUT(3x20)
- walking lunges
- lunge hops
- KB swings
- goblet squats
Saturday:
Another HIIT/Cardio day are for Saturdays! Saturdays are one of my most intense days because I also try to get a bicep and tricep workout in. I know by default, I am going to eat more on the weekends, and that's okay. I like using up that energy from all the carbs into something productive. Therefore, I just try to complete both workouts!
Arms:
- Superset 1 | 3 sets total
- 15 horizontal cable tricep extensions
- 15 lateral cable tricep extensions
- Superset 2 | 3 sets total
- 15 squatting isolated cable bicep curl (with rope)
- 15 single-arm cable bicep curl
- Superset 3 | 3 sets total
- 12 standing bicep curl with a plate
- 15 overhead tricep extension with a plate
- Optional: BURN OUT | 3 sets
- 10 tricep (military) push-ups
HIIT:
- 2 pop squats 1 jump squat burpee w 2 push-ups x20
- 3x20
- jump squats
- jump lunges
- burpees
Sundays:
Sundays are a great day because for once, I rest! Though I don't make it to the gym 6 times a week every week, when I do, I make sure Sundays are a dedicated day to rest. I'm a college student, so obviously walking and moving my body is still part of my daily routine, but I make sure that is the only physical activity my body performs throughout the day.
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