Workout #1

Workout #1 is essentially the deadlift workout. The entire workout is geared towards getting as much iron off of the ground as possible.

I start the workout by warming up. Remember the Pareto Principle? I want to warm up as efficiently as possible. I jump on the elliptical machine because I can move both my legs and arms at the same time. I linearly increase my intensity. I aim for a 5 to 10 minute warm up. I am done when I am sweating like a beast and moving as fast as I possibly can on the machine.

The first exercise is deadlifts. The first three sets are essentially warm up sets for the final set. Remember, the goal is to get as much weight off the ground as possible.

I use an over/under grip when deadlifting without wearing straps. I will probably chalk my hands in the future. My grip was slipping on that last set and I didn’t lock out the deadlift for as long as I would have liked to.

I deadlift barefoot with nothing but socks on my feet. You may want to deadlift with a flat-soled shoe such as Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars. I have the flattest feet known to man. Trust me; I have checked the feet of all 6 billion people that live on this planet. My foot strength has gotten much better since deadlifting barefoot. I can now run on the treadmill without any knee soreness or shin pain.

Start with an empty bar if you have never deadlifted before. Get used to the motion and build up confidence. To lift big weight you need to be strong between the ears. Also read this three part series (1, 2, 3) on deadlifting. There are a number of videos in those articles that show good form.

The second exercise is chinups. I only do one set. I stand a dumbbell upright and step up on it. I use it as a platform to get my grip correct. I then hook my feet around the dumbbell and do my set. Start with regular chinups if you are not capable of doing them weighted. I can not recommend the pulldown machine. You don’t have to balance yourself when using a machine. Hence, you lose a lot of the efficacy of chinups. Get someone to lift you by your feet or your waist if you are not capable of doing chinups by yourself. They should be supporting your weight but still forcing you to balance and stabilize yourself.

The third exercise is the Yates Row. It is half way between a regular barbell row and an upright row. Here is a video on how to do it correctly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNxZmvOdl5Q

To see the exercise’s namesake, Dorian Yates, doing the exercise forward to about the 2:30 mark of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBATxe3DTiQ

The last two exercises are barbell curls and hammer curls. They should be fairly self-explanatory. I do one set of each exercise and get the hell out of the gym.

There you go. Short, sweet, and to the point.