Caution: 40 approaching! Part 3, The Program, the importance of reps
Approaching 40 Pt. 3

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Check out "Approaching 40: Part 1" to learn about some of the adjustments you may need to make to your workout routine.

Let's face it – on the surface weight, training seems to be fairly easy to do. Just how much is there to know about lifting a barbell and performing a set? Whether it's doing a bench press or a leg press, once you get the basic form down, size and strength are just a short time away, right? Hardly! Acquiring gains from weight training without the proper knowledge is very difficult – nearly impossible. And to drive this point home, just look at the legions of people across the country who are desperate for an efficacious workout. Look around your own gym: how many individuals do you see working out day after day, month after month, year after year, who don't make progress? Look at yourself.

Our bodies are engineering marvels, and scientists have only scratched the surface in understanding how our bodies' intricate systems work. In many instances, scientists understand the result of an action – like administering a specific dose of a drug to a patient – but they don't understand how it works. Likewise with training, scientists know that specific stimuli result in specific physiological adaptations, they just don't understand how it's done. Moreover, the stimulus must be stressful enough to induce the most rapid gains possible – the greater the stress, the greater the rate of improvement. So, if you're not making gains, you're not giving your body a reason to adapt, i.e., building size and strength.

Training is the means we use to create the stimulus that forces our bodies to change – and repetition is the most integral part of training. What is a repetition? It is the motion that provides the stimulus to the target muscles needed to yield an adaptive response.

Most weight training programs neglect the importance of the rep, and instead stress types of exercises and numbers of sets. As long as you're using correct form while performing an exercise, the rep otherwise seems to be an incidental. Although I stressed rep performance more than most people (in previous articles and while coaching), I didn't see its true importance until just a few years ago.

Approaching 40 Pt. 3For most of my years of training and competing, I used the High Intensity Training (HIT), low-volume approach with great results for many clients and myself. Although I varied the tempo of my reps, I still took every working set to absolute momentary failure. When I finished a set, there was no way possible for me to finish another rep. I made phenomenal gains in size and strength while training in this fashion, but as I described in Part One of this series, walking that tightrope between training hard and injury caught up with me. Would I still train this way if I could do it all over? Absolutely. But as my competition days came to an end, I would use the following principles in this Approaching 40 Training Program to stay healthy while still making progress.

THE PROGRAM

The warm-up

Along with anything having to do with weight training, the warm-up is highly debated. Although everyone has individual needs, and responds in different ways, there are universal training principles that are necessary for safe, rapid gains. Warming up before training intensely is one of those principles.

There are many ways to effectively warm up, and each person needs to find out what works best for them. A warm-up should never hinder your workout. If you're breathing hard or sweating, you're going too hard. Running is not an effective warm-up for weight training.

Use a warm-up to:

  • Increase muscle temperature. A warmed muscle contracts more forcefully and relaxes more quickly.
  • Improve range of motion.
  • Dilate blood vessels. This increases the amount of nutrients and oxygen available to targeted muscles.
  • Prepare mentally. This is a good time to prepare for the intense workout ahead. Performing warm-up sets increases your focus, and using positive imagery will improve work set performance.

Approaching 40 Pt. 3The type of warm-up I recommend for weight training is dynamic in nature. Use the exercises in your program to warm up the target muscles. For example, if the dumbbell press is your first exercise for chest, you'll start with a fairly light weight and gradually build up to your work set.

The only time I use a general warm-up is during the winter. I will walk on the treadmill, or ride a recumbent bike for 5 to 10 minutes. As you get older, muscles tend to need a little more coaxing to get loose and primed for an intense workout during cold weather.

The workout

I usually give a few examples of workouts with a list of universal principles to follow. I have always felt it was much more advantageous for readers to tailor the workout to their needs and abilities. This program, I feel, is different. It is very important that you follow it precisely in order to reap the benefits. I am going to prescribe exactly what I want you to do. You just plug in the amount of weight.

Remember -- every rep of every set is important. When performing sub-maximal lifts, it does not mean sub-maximal effort. Each rep needs to be under control, but as explosive as possible regardless of the weight. You want maximum force with maximum load.

You will perform between 5 and 10 sets per exercise, depending on the muscle group and amount of weight you use. That is, you'll perform more sets when doing leg presses as opposed to barbell curls.

Every time you start a new body part during your first set, perform 8 reps using about 30 percent of the maximum weight you can usually perform 6 to 8 reps with. If your first exercise for chest is dumbbell presses, and you can perform a maximum of 6 reps with 100-pound dumbbells, your first set would be with 40-pound dumbbells.

In the second set, perform three explosive reps using 50 percent of the maximum weight you can usually perform 6 to 8 reps with. Every set afterward, perform 3 reps with a 10% increase in weight, until you are using a weight heavier than your maximum.

Approaching 40 Pt. 3Stop a set if any rep “feels” heavy and creeps to a finish. In other words, it's okay for a rep to feel heavy, but it should not have sticking points. This will be your heaviest set for the day. Slow, laborious reps will hinder your progress. The next time you train, you'll know to lower the weight slightly.

Every exercise after the initial one starts with 50 percent of the maximum weight you can usually perform 6 to 8 reps with. For every set afterward, perform 3 reps with a 10% jump in weight until you are using a weight heavier than your maximum.

Once you've performed your maximum weight for 3 reps using maximum force, you'll subtract 10 percent for your final set. So, if you ended with 110-pound dumbbells for 3 reps, your last set will be with 100-pound dumbbells. Perform 6 to 8 reps using maximum force without sticking points. As soon as the first rep starts to creep to a finish, stop the set. If you can perform more than 8 reps, stop the set at 8 and increase the weight in the next workout. If you can't get at least 6 reps, decrease the weight in the next workout.

DAY 1: LEGS

EXERCISE SET #1 SET #2 SET #3 - ? Last set
Leg extensions 30% of max 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
EXERCISE SET #1 SET #2 - ? Last set  
Single leg presses 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
Reverse dumbbell lunges 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
Lying leg curls 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
Stiff leg deadlifts 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 

DAY 2

EXERCISE SET #1 SET #2 SET #3 - ? Last set
Machine/dumbbell flys 30% of max 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
EXERCISE SET #1 SET #2 - ? Last set  
Inclined dumbbell presses 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
Machine press (any type) 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
Close grip barbell presses 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
Cable pushdowns 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 

DAY 3: BACK & SHOULDERS

EXERCISE SET #1 SET #2 SET #3 - ? Last set
Seated cable row 30% of max 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
EXERCISE SET #1 SET #2 - ? Last set  
Close grip pull-downs 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
Single arm standing pull-downs 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
EXERCISE SET #1 SET #2 - ? Last set  
Lateral dumbbell raises 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
Standing dumbbell presses 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 

Approaching 40 Pt. 3

DAY 4: BICEPS, TRAPS & CALVES

EXERCISE SET #1 SET #2 SET #3 - ? Last set
Seated dumbbell curls 30% of max 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
EXERCISE SET #1 SET #2 - ? Last set  
Inclined dumbbell curls 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
Barbell shrugs 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
EXERCISE SET #1 SET #2 - ? Last set  
Toe press (leg press, machine) 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 
Standing calf raise 50% of max 10% jumps -10%
6 - 8 reps
 

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