Embrace the Burn - (The Workout)

I figured I might as well put up a workout that maximizes this concept of lactic acid and Part 3 of the series. Be prepared for some grueling giant sets. These workouts are a surefire way to get your muscles burning. The program is designed to be run over the course of one month. Progressive overload (Part 10 of the series) is already going to be incorporated into this routine for you. The split for this workout is as follows:

Body part split for the embrace the burn workout:

Day 1 – Chest and biceps
Day 2 – Back and triceps
Day 3 – Quads and calves
Day 4 – Off
Day 5 – Shoulders and pull-ups/pushups
Day 6 – Hamstrings and traps
Day 7 – Off

The tempo you should use for all the sets is a 4010 tempo. Just to review, what that tempo means is a 4 second eccentric, no pause at the bottom, push up the concentric as fast as you can and no rest at the top (the bar should always be moving, there is no resting).

Here is how you are going to be using progressive overload in this routine. This will be used for every day of the split. For the first week you will do 2 giant sets of each, for the second week do 3 giant sets of each, for the third week do 4 giant sets and for the fourth week drop back down to 2 giant sets of each but increase the weight by at least 5%.

Day 1 – Chest and biceps

Performed as giant set (no rest between exercises) - Rest 3 minutes between giant sets
Barbell bench press – 6 reps
Incline bench press – 6 reps
Incline DB flys – 12 reps
Seated DB clean and press – 20 reps

Giant set - Rest 3 minutes between giant sets
Incline DB curl – 6 reps
Barbell curl – 6 reps
Barbell preacher curls – 12 reps
DB hammer curls – 20 reps

Day 2 – Back and triceps

Giant set Rest 3 minutes between giant sets
Wide grip lat pull downs – 6 reps
45 degree lat pull downs – 6 reps
Bent over rows – 12 reps
DB rows – 20 reps

Giant set Rest 3 minutes between giant sets
Barbell close grip bench -6 reps
Skullcrushers – 6 reps
Incline bench skullcrushers – 12
DB kickbacks -20 reps

Day 3 – Quads and calves

Giant set Rest 3 minutes between giant sets
Barbell squat (shoulder width) – 6 reps
Barbell squat (wide stance) – 6 reps
Leg press – 12 reps
Lunges – 20/leg

Giant set Rest 3 minutes between giant sets
Standing calf raise (wide stance) – 6 reps
Standing calf raise (shoulder width) – 6 reps
Seated calf raise (toes pointed in) – 20 reps
Seated calf raise (toes pointed out) – 20 reps

Day 4 – Off

Do some cardio or ab work if you can’t stand being out of the gym like me.

Day 5 – Shoulders and pull-ups/pushups

Giant set Rest 3 minutes between giant sets
DB front raises – 6 reps
Arnold presses – 6 reps
Lateral raises – 12 reps
Barbell clean and push press – 20 reps

Pull-ups/Pushups
Now you get to have some fun challenging yourself with pushups and pull ups. What you want to do is complete 50 pull-ups and 100 pushups and time yourself so you know how long it took you to complete all of those. Your goal for the following weeks is to beat that time. Here is how I do this. I start out with pull-ups and when I can’t do anymore I go directly to the pushups and crank those out until I can’t do anymore. Then right back to the pull-ups and so on until I reach 50 for pull-ups and 100 for pushups and then note my total time.

Day 6 – Hamstrings and traps

Giant set Rest 3 minutes between giant sets
Seated (or lying) leg curls with toes pointed together – 6 reps
Seated (or lying) leg curls with toes pointed out – 6 reps
Step ups onto a bench (alternate legs and get 15 reps/leg)
DB Deadlift – 20 reps

Giant set Rest 3 minutes between giant sets
Prone incline DB shrugs – 10 reps
DB shrugs (hand at sides) - 10 reps
DB shrugs (hands in front) - 10 reps
DB upright rows – 10 reps

Day 7 – Off

Once again do some cardio and ab work if you have to be in the gym

Final words of wisdom

The workouts are going to be tough and your body is going to be screaming for you to stop, but that is no excuse to use sloppy form or shorten the tempo to finish the set. Remember you are only shortchanging yourself if you do that. Select the appropriate weight so you can do the reps I specified. Always initiate with the working muscle, momentum should not be in your vocabulary unless you don’t want to grow. If you made great progress in a month’s time with this workout, keep going for another month. All you need to do is use the heavier weight that you finished the last week with as your new starting weight. Now you run through the whole program again increasing the number of giant sets each week. Have fun!

Grow Big

Makwa