The Ol' Standby

A couple times a year I find some workout plan online that looks good and I’ll try that out for a month or six weeks. Just to shake things up, y’know? Here’s one I like. And here’s one that even has a terrific diet plan included. But for the most part I stick to a workout routine I devised about 10 years ago that seems to work pretty well for me. Basically it’s a 6-day plan (on the seventh day you can, like the Lord, rest) that works a different body part each day. When I’m trying to either get bigger or more lean (which is, like, always), I’ll do eight of the exercises listed. Otherwise I choose six from each list and do four sets each of those. 

When I’m at a point that I’m OK with what shape I’m in I do a six-exercise/day workout plus 30 minutes cardio. It seems to be a good maintenance program for me. Until I start eating too much and have to start over with my lose weight diet. Sigh.

In general for my first set I like to use a weight that I know I can do a good, solid 10 reps with. And I always add weight if I’ve done 10 successful reps, even if it’s just 5 pounds. That said, form is always more important to me than weight, so those 10 good reps have to be really good reps.

I actually don’t work my abs that frequently. (OK, not at all.) I operate on the theory that you get abs from low body fat. I mean, everybody has abs--you wouldn’t be able to stand up from a chair without them. But you could have the best developed abs in the world and if you’ve got a lot of body fat you ain’t gonna see ‘em. I figure if I eat well and keep the body fat down and the abs will take care of themselves. (Of course, when they ask me to appear on the cover of “Mens Health” I might change my tune.) 

I think that’s about it, really. I’ve linked videos to any exercises that don’t lend themselves really well to a written description in case they’re unclear (and, oh! those models.) And I never spend more than 40 minutes working out. I get in there, do my thing and leave. Cardio adds time, of course, but the weights part of my workout is brisk and brief.

Day 1: Chest

1. Incline Bench Press
2. Flat Bench Press
3. Decline Bench Press
4. Wide Grip Flat Bench Press
5. Dumbbell Pullover (lie with your shoulders on a bench, raise the weight from behind your head to over your chest)
6. Incline dumbbell flies
7. Chest dips
8. Pec Machine
9. Pushups (16 reps per set)

Day 2: Biceps

1. Standing Preacher Bar curls
2. Pull-ups
3. Dumbbell curls
4. Concentration Curls
5. Hammer Curls
6. Cable Curls (pulleys set at shoulder height, elbows out straight)
7. Single Cable Curls (pulleys set at bottom setting)
8. Seated incline dumbbell curls (hands toward outside)
9. Overhand barbell curls

Day 3: Triceps

1. Close Grip Preacher Curl Skull Crushers (lie on bench, 10x skull crusher, then lower the bar almost to the floor over your head, then arc it up for 10x chest presses
2. V-Bar Cable Pushdowns
3. Rope Pushdowns (flare wrists at bottom of motion)
4. Tricep Bench Dips (16 reps. Between 2 benches)
5. Double Cable Tricep Curls (pulleys at shoulder height, grab opposite handles)
6. Single Cable Tricep Reverse Curls (overhand and underhand)
7. Overhead Dumbbell Extensions
8. Very Close Grip Barbell Bench Press

Day 4: Lats/Hamstrings

1. Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns
2. Seated Cable Rows
3. Narrow Grip Lat Pulldowns
4. Straight Leg Deadlifts
5. Seated and/or lying leg curls
6. Straight leg Deadlifts

Day 5: Shoulders

1. Seated Military Barbell Press
2. Standing Barbell Rows
3. Shrugs
4. Compound Dumbbell Shoulder Raises (raise dumbbell shoulder level at side, bring shoulder level to front and lower. Repeat from front to side.) 
5. Arnold Shoulder Presses
6. Rotator Cuff Curls
7. Bent-over rear delt flies
8. Seated Dumbbell Military Presses

Day 6: Legs

1. Smith Machine Squats
2. Seated Leg Extensions
3. Smith Machine Single-leg dips
4. Leg Press Machine
5. Seated Calf raises

And while I’ve got your attention, please buy my book!

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