WORKOUTS
Muscle-Building 12-Week Workout: Week 7
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DAY 3: TWO BODY PARTS PER DAY, INCREASED WEIGHT - PUSH/PULL EXERCISES FOR CHEST AND BICEPS
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Week 1 Workouts
Week 2 Workouts
Week 3 Workouts
Week 4 Workouts
Week 5 Workouts
Week 6 Workouts
Week 7 Workouts
Week 8 Workouts
Week 9 Workouts
Week 10 Workouts
Week 11 Workouts
Week 12 Workouts
New! View Other Members Who Are Tracking Their Workout Progress
Muscle-Building Workout Participants Forum
Workout Program Overview
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are Supersets?
Week 1 Workouts
Week 2 Workouts
Week 3 Workouts
Week 4 Workouts
Week 5 Workouts
Week 6 Workouts
Week 7 Workouts
Week 8 Workouts
Week 9 Workouts
Week 10 Workouts
Week 11 Workouts
Week 12 Workouts
| WEEK 7, DAY 3 EXERCISE VIDEO DEMOS |
| WARMUP | |||||||||||
| Superset | Exercise | Muscles | Weight (Goal) | Set 1 Reps (Goal) | Set 1 Reps (Actual) | Set 2 Reps (Goal) | Set 2 Reps (Actual) | Set 3 Reps (Goal) | Set 3 Reps (Actual) | Set 4 Reps (Goal) | Set 4 Reps (Actual) |
| Begin Superset | |||||||||||
| S | Cable Side Rotators | Shoulders (rotator cuffs) | Light | 20 each arm | 20 each arm | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||
| S | Lopsided Single-Dumbbell Push-ups | Chest | N/A | 12 each arm | 12 each arm | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||
| WORKOUT | |||||||||||
| Begin Superset | |||||||||||
| S | Dumbell Chest Presses | Chest | N/A | 12 | 12 | 10 | 8 | ||||
| S | Stability Ball Push-ups | Chest, Core | N/A | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | ||||
| Incline Barbell Presses | Chest (upper) | Rep Max | 15 | 12 | 10 | N/A | N/A | ||||
| Begin Superset | |||||||||||
| S | Standing Cable Chest Presses | Chest, Core | N/A | 15 | 12 | 10 | N/A | N/A | |||
| S | Two Medicine Ball Push-Ups | Chest, Core | N/A | 15 | 15 | 15 | N/A | N/A | |||
| Begin Superset | |||||||||||
| S | Gravitron Dips (Chest Focused) | Chest | Rep Max | 15 | 15 | 15 | N/A | N/A | |||
| S | Preacher Curls | Biceps | Rep Max | 15 | 12 | 10 | N/A | N/A | |||
| S | Single-Leg Plate Curls | Biceps | Rep Max | 15 | 15 | 15 | N/A | N/A | |||
| Standing Barbell Curls | Biceps | Rep Max | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | |||||
| Begin Superset | |||||||||||
| S | Single-Leg Cable Curls | Biceps, Core | Rep Max | 15 | 12 | 10 | N/A | ||||
| S | Rope Hammer Curls | Biceps | Rep Max | 15 | 12 | 10 | N/A | N/A | |||
| Begin Superset | |||||||||||
| S | Flat-Leg Medicine Ball Situps | Abdominals, Core | 10 lb. Ball | 20 | 20 | 20 | N/A | N/A | |||
| S | Hand to Foot Stability Ball Pass | Abdominals, Core | N/A | 20 | 20 | 20 | N/A | N/A | |||
| CARDIO TRAINING | |||||||||||
| Exercise | Time | Overview | |||||||||
| Treadmill | 30 Minutes | Do 30 minutes of jogging on the treadmill machine. Get your heart rate up to a moderate level. | |||||||||
| EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS IN BRIEF | |
| Exercise | Overview |
| Cable Side Rotators | Stand erect next to a cable system machine with the cable set at stomach level and your body facing perpendicular to the machine. Attach a single-handed grip to the end of the cable. Roll a towel in the armpit of the arm farthest away from the cable system machine, and then grasp the single-handed grip in the hand of that arm. Hold your elbow at a right angle to your body with your arm flat across your stomach. Next, with your elbow held at a right angle and your arm flat against your stomach, slowly move your hand from your stomach towards the outside of your body. Use your upper arm as the pivot point and be sure to keep your forearm at a right angle to your body. Keep your wrist flat throughout the movement. Move your forearm as far out as you can go without compromising your form. Reverse the motion, and slowly bring the your hand back across stomach. After you have completed a set, switch sides and repeat with your other arm. |
| Lopsided Single Dumbbell Push-ups | Place a single dumbbell on the floor so that it stands upright. Take up a plank position, with one hand on the upright dumbbell and the other hand on the floor. Your hands should point forward. Your feet should be together and your back flat. Next, perform lopsided push-ups by lowering your chest to the floor. Because your arms are bent at different angles, your chest should descend at a slight angle to the floor. From the bottom of the motion, press back up to your starting position. Throughout the motion, maintain your center so that you don't land on the floor with your stomach or end the exercise with your buttocks in the air. Do a full set with one hand on the dumbbell, and then switch the dumbbell to the other hand and perform the exercise on the opposite side. For an additional balance and stability challenge, use a small medicine ball instead of the dumbbell. |
| Dumbell Chest Presses | Lie on your back on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Both your head and your hips should be on the bench, with your feet flat and light on the floor. Extend both arms straight toward the ceiling with palms facing your feet. Your hands should be shoulder-width apart. Bend both elbows as you lower the weights down toward the floor. Keep your chest high; try to isolate your pectorals rather than using your shoulder muscles. The dumbbells should remain in a vertical line above your elbows throughout this movement. Continue to pull your elbows down until they are level with your back. Hold briefly and reverse direction, pressing the dumbbells back toward the ceiling as you straighten your elbows. As you return to the starting position, keep the flexion in your chest without allowing your shoulders to pop up; do not let the weights touch at the top of your motion. |
| Stability Ball Push-ups | Place both hands on a stability ball and position the rest of your body like a plank. Your abdominals should be held in so that your stomach does not dip, and your back should be flat so that your buttocks do not come up. Keep your feet hip-width apart for stability, and, if needed, put the ball against a wall for support. Perform a push-up, lowering your chest until it almost touches the ball. Your elbows should come out to the side as you drop down, and your shoulder blades should come together. From the bottom of the push-up, reverse direction and press yourself back up to the starting position. For a more difficult version of this exercise, perform the push-ups with your hands on the ball and your feet shoulder-width apart on top of a flat bench. This will crank up the intensity of the 'hands-on' push-up 10 fold. For an even more advanced version, place your feet on a stability ball as well and perform the push-ups. |
| Incline Barbell Presses | Set an incline bench at a 45-degree angle and sit with your back to the raised end of the bench. Take a barbell in both hands, with hands shoulder-width apart and your palms facing toward your feet. Keeping your shoulder blades together and your chest lifted (so that you feel as though our shoulders are behind your chest), press the barbell straight up toward the ceiling, until your arms are almost fully extended. Make sure you have flexion in your chest before you begin to move the bar. Next, keep the flexion in your chest as you begin bending your elbows and pulling the barbell down toward your chest. The bar should not touch your chest at the bottom of your lift—instead, judge how far to go by your elbows, which should go only as far as level with your back, and no farther. Keep your shoulder blades together and your shoulders back as you press straight up, back to the starting position. It is very important that you not pop your shoulders toward the ceiling as your arms come up—keep your shoulders back and down. |
| Standing Cable Chest Presses | Set both arms on a dual cable machine at chest height or above and stand with your back to the machine. Take one cable handle in each hand with your elbows bent behind you and your palms facing downward. Your hands will be just in front of you at chest level, with your elbows pulled straight back behind you. Stagger your feet, such that one is in front of the other with both knees slightly bent. Next, quickly press both hands forward, straightening your elbows until your fists meet in front of you. As you punch, stabilize through your legs and engage your center so that all of the push comes from your chest and shoulders, not your legs or hips. When you arms are fully extended, bend your elbows and pull them back to return to the starting position. For a more advanced version of this exercise, do the chest presses with your feet together instead of staggered—this will add an additional stability challenge for your core. |
| Two Medicine Ball Push-ups | Take up a plank, or push-up, position on the floor—arms extended with hands directly below your shoulders, and legs, hips, back, shoulders, and head all in a straight line. Take your feet wide for stability. Place each hand (carefully, and one at a time) on a medicine ball, such that your plank position is now on top of the balls rather than the floor. You must stabilize this position through your core, supporting yourself through your center without letting your hips drop toward the floor or pike toward the ceiling. Do a push-up, lowering your chest toward the floor as you balance over the balls. At the bottom of your push-up, your chest should be slightly below the level of your hands, so that this push-up will be deeper than an ordinary push-up. As you lower through your chest, stabilize through your core to prevent your body from drooping and to prevent your arms from pushing the balls away. Next, press back up to the starting position, again being careful to use your abs and core to prevent the balls from spinning out to the sides. Repeat for a full set of push-ups. If at any point in the set you want to add difficulty, you may bring your feet closer together, making it harder to stabilize. |
| Gravitron Dips (Chest Focused) | Set the weight setting, then step up on the platform of the Gravitron machine. Set the Gravitron dip handles in the wide setting. Grasp the handles in each hand and step off the platform onto the foot bar. Lean your upper body over significantly until you can feel your chest supporting a lot of your weight; for this exercise you want a lot of the burden on your chest muscles. Push up with your chest and straighten your arms with your triceps until you are as high as you can go while maintaining the leaned-over position. Your arms will not straighten fully, keeping your pectoral muscles engaged. Slowly lower your body down into the dip. Be sure to continue to lean forward as you descend. Lower yourself down until your body is parallel to your arms; do not go any lower or your shoulders will have to do the work. Focus on keeping the pectoral muscles engaged and working. Next, reverse the motion and push yourself up again until you are back at the starting position. Set the weight setting, then step up on the platform of the Gravitron machine. Set the Gravitron dip handles in the wide setting. Grasp the handles in each hand and step off the platform onto the foot bar. Lean your upper body over significantly until you can feel your chest supporting a lot of your weight; for this exercise you want a lot of the burden on your chest muscles. Push up with your chest and straighten your arms with your triceps until you are as high as you can go while maintaining the leaned-over position. Your arms will not straighten fully, keeping your pectoral muscles engaged (see Photos 1 and 2). |
| Preacher Curls | Set a preacher bench facing the pre-stacked or stackable bent bar. Sit at the bench with your armpits dug completely down onto its peak, and your upper arms pressed against its face. Hold the bar with an easy open-hand grip with your palms up and your hands about shoulder-width apart. Bend your elbows to bring your forearms to vertical, and to engage the tension on the bar. Next, slowly lower both forearms down toward the bench. As you lower your arms, keep the engagement in the biceps muscles and resist the downward pull of the bar. At the bottom of your motion, your elbow should not be completely straight—keep a very slight bend in the joint to keep the bicep muscle engaged. From the bottom position, slowly curl the bar back up to the starting position, keeping your upper arm against the bench throughout. Be careful not to go too far in either direction—at both the top and bottom of the curl there is the risk of going beyond the range of the biceps. To stay within the range of the muscle, don’t bring your hands so high that they touch your upper arm or shoulder. |
| Single-Leg Plate Curls | Stand upright with feet together and a weight plate held in both hands with arms extending down in front of you. Bend one knee to bring your heel up off the floor toward your buttocks. You are now standing on one foot—engage your hamstring to keep the back leg lifted and your core to maintain this position. Do a hammer curl, bending your elbows to bring the plate up to your chest. Keep your upper arms close to your sides—your elbows should not swing wide. As you lift, you will need to stabilize through your core to keep from tipping. Try not to drop your raised foot to the floor; focusing your eyes on a single spot on the wall in front of you will help enormously. Lift until the top of the plate lightly touches your chest. Slowly lower the plate back to the starting position, again keeping your elbows in as you straighten them, and again stabilizing against the downward motion through your center. Alternate legs on each set. |
| Standing Barbell Curls | Stand with a barbell held in front of you so that your palms are facing away from your body. Hold your elbows in front of your ribs. Your hands should be positioned on the bar directly in front of your shoulders so that your upper arms are touching your ribs. Curl the bar up toward your chest. Be careful to engage your core so that you do not swing your body. When you have brought the bar up so that you fully flex the bicep (while keeping your wrists straight), reverse the motion and bring the bar slowly back down to the starting position. |
| Incline Dumbbell Curls | Lie on your back on an incline bench set at at 45-degree angle. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms upward. Press your shoulder blades into the bench and keep your elbows slightly bent. Next, bend your elbows into a curl. Keep your upper arms at your sides and your wrists flat. Your shoulders should remain steady. From the top of your motion—when your hands are slightly past vertical (making sure your bicep stays flexed) even at top of movement—lower your hands back to the starting position. You should feel a good stretch through your bicep in this extended position. |
| Single-Leg Cable Curls | Stand facing a cable machine and attach a single handle to the cable on the lowest setting. Take the handle in your right hand, with your arm extended downward, your palm facing away from you, your elbow soft (not locked), and your upper arm close to your body. Try to keep your elbow slightly in front of the midline of your hip throughout the exercise. Now bend your left knee to bring your left foot off the floor; use your hamstring to hold that foot up and back). bend your elbow to curl your hand up toward your upper arm. Start the upward motion of the curl with a slight scooping motion to engage the muscle. Keep your elbow down as you do so, and do not let your upper arm swing; it should stay perfectly still throughout the exercise. Curl all the way up to full flexion. Do not pause at the top of your motion. Immediately begin lowering your arm back to the starting position to complete the curl. Do not pause at the bottom of the curl; instead, move immediately into your next rep. Because you do not pause at the top or the bottom of the exercise, you will also force your core to work harder to stabilize you against the motion of your arm. Repeat a full set of curls with your right arm, and then switch the cable to the left hand and switch holding the right foot raised for the second set. |
| Rope Hammer Curls | Stand facing a cable machine and attach a double-ended rope handle to the cable on the low setting. Take one handle in each hand, with your arms extended downward at shoulder-width apart, your palms facing each other and your thumbs up. Take a light grip; your pinkies should rest against the rope ends. Keep your elbow soft (never locked straight) and your upper arm close to your body. Try to keep your elbow slightly in front of the midline of your hip throughout the exercise to keep weight in the bicep muscle. Next, bend your elbow to curl your hand up toward your upper arm. Start the upward motion of the curl with a slight scooping motion through your pinkies to engage the muscle. Keep your elbow down as you do so, and do not let your upper arm swing; it should stay perfectly still throughout the exercise. Curl all the way up to full flexion. At the top of curl, briefly tweak your hands slightly out to the sides to engage the brachialis. Do not pause at the top of your motion; you should not rest at either the top or bottom of the curl. Immediately begin lowering your arm back to the starting position to complete the curl, resisting the weight of the plates all the way down. You can also try this exercise as a single-arm curl using a single-handled rope handle or tied off double-handled rope handle. |
| Flat-Leg Medicine Ball Sit-ups | Lie on your back on the floor with your legs extended and a medicine ball held in both hands above you. Extend your arms toward the ceiling so that your arms are perpendicular to the floor and the medicine ball is directly over your upper chest. Next, engage your abs by bringing your belly button toward your spine. Do not tip your pelvis upward. From that engaged position, begin lifting your shoulders off the floor in a sit-up, taking your arms forward as your upper body rises. Your legs should remain flat. Do not fling your upper body upward, nor grab through your lower back. Instead, think of peeling your shoulders off the floor from your center, and try to feel that the medicine ball is pulling you from above. Come as close as you can to sitting upright, with your arms extended forward and your legs still flat on the floor. From the top of the motion, reverse direction and lower back to the starting position. Control this downward movement using your abs—but make sure you use your lower abs, not just the area up by your rib cage. Be careful that the bottom part of the motion doesn’t happen more quickly than the top part; you want to lower yourself at a continuous pace. |
| Hand to Foot Stability Ball Pass | Lie on the floor on your back. Hold a stability ball between your feet with your legs extended out along the floor and place both arms over your head. Next, raise your legs up over your body as you raise your arms to meet your feet. At the top of your motion, where your hands meet your feet, transfer the ball to your hands. With the ball now in your hands, lower your legs as you lower your arms back to the floor behind your head. Continue to transfer the ball between hands and feet for 20 repetitions (totaling 10 with the feet and 10 with the hands). Breathe regularly throughout the movement; exhale as your legs and arms rise, inhale as you lower them. Your lower back should remain against the mat throughout the exercise. |
| EXERCISE IMAGES |
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Photo Credit: Nicolas Smith
