This is a routine put together by my friend
MariAnne Anderson, aka "Built" on the internetz,
Just one option out of many programs out there, but it's quick, easy to learn, and gets the job done.
From her blog-
http://builtblog.wikidbody.com/2007...e-body-workout/
Basic whole-body workout
If you just don’t know how to start, or you’re between plans and don’t know what to do next… use this whole-body plan three times a week and follow with a little steady-state cardio. You’ll find this workout efficient and effective - and it won’t bore you to tears!
And nary a kickback in sight.
THE WORKOUT
The following movement pairs are all balanced “push” and “pull”, and compound (more than one joint is involved) - so you don’t have to waste time doing “triceps” or “calves”, at least not for now.
“1″ and “2″ are pairs of antagonistic movements (push and pull) - I’ve arranged the workout this way so you can see the balance, and so you can easily vary your workouts without changing the basic structure (see below, under “Options“)
—>”A”: quadriceps and hamstrings
A1
Goblet squats (quads, glutes)
A2
Romanian dumbbell deadlifts (hams, glutes, lower back)
—>”B”: Vertical pull and push (lats and delts)
B1 Negative self-assisted chins (lats, bis, abs - vertical pull): stand at the squat rack or smith machine with the bar at eye level. Use any grip you like, so long as it’s shoulder width or narrower . Get to “up” any way you can, bend your knees and use the tops of your feet for an assist, slowly lower until you come to a dead-hang. Get back to “up” and repeat.
Alternative:
lat pull downs, same hand placement as above.
B2
Arnold presses (delts - ie shoulders, bit of triceps - vertical push)
—> “C”: Horizontal pull and push (back and chest)
C1
One arm dumbbell rows OR seated cable rows (back, biceps, horizontal pull)
C2
Low incline dumbbell press (chest, triceps, horizontal push)
—>”D”: those dreaded abs
D Bosu ball crunches: Sorta like
this, but no twist.
NOTES
The first pair of movements are quads (extensor) and hamstrings (flexor).
Next two are lats (vertical pull) and shoulders (vertical push).
After that are horizontal pull and push: back (horizontal pull) and chest (horizontal push).
Because all pushing movements also hit triceps, and all pulling movements also hit biceps, there’s no direct arm work in this setup. Calves and tibialis (your “shin-splint” muscle) get a hit with squats, deads, and cardio - so we’ll leave then alone for now, too.
Because we’re using free weights, the body has to work as a system rather than as a collection of individual bodyparts - there’s a lot of overlap between movements, and this overlap will take care of the odds and ends. You may find you like doing a little bit of concentration work for the odd “part”, but let’s leave that for your next plan.
There’s really no need to do a whole lot of dedicated “core” work with this routine either - yet another perk that comes with free-weight training. You can’t train off a gut - that part is diet - but a little bit of weighted ab work will give you something to show off once you diet off the fat! Train your abs in heavy, weighted sets, just like you’d train any other muscle.
Finally, a little post-workout cardio and you’re done. The whole workout should take you less than an hour.
METHOD
* This is a three-day-a-week plan. Ideally, rest at least one day between workouts.
* You may choose to integrate
carb-cycling into this plan, although it is not necessary. Of course, if you do, the workout days will be your high-carb/high calorie days. For some, this provides an added incentive to train.
* There is no good reason to get on a treadmill before you lift - cardio is not very good preparation for lifting - save that for after you lift. If you’d like to try something more effective, I suggest you use
this dynamic warmup-and-stretch protocol. It’s short and to the point, and there are little videos for most of the movements so you can see how to do them.
* Do your lifts in alphabetical order:
A1 and A2
B1 and B2
C1 and C2
D
(and then cardio!)
* Do three sets of 5-8 reps of each movement, with 1-2 minute rests between sets. THIS IS NOT IRON CARDIO!!!
* Start light, but try to increment the weight as possible. So - when you CAN do 3 sets of 8 goblet squats and you’re not crippled the next day, increase the weight and do three sets of 5. Work it back up to 3 sets of 8. Rinse, lather, repeat.
* Finish each workout with 20-minutes on any cardio machine you like, at moderate intensity. Fast walking on the treadmill is fine - I do about 3.7 MPH at a 5% grade. No need to jog - ever.
OPTIONS
* For each pair of movements, alternate between starting with movement 1 or movement 2.For example, for the first pair, you may choose to start with either squats OR Romanian deadlifts.
* Perform movements in either “straight sets” or as “antagonist pairs”. For example - Suppose you start with goblet squats and then do Romanian dumbbell deadlifts. You could do them like this:Set of 5 squats, rest a minute, set of 5 squats, rest a minute, set of five squats… then move on to the dumbbell Romanian deadlifts and do a set of 5 deads, rest a minute, set of 5 deads, rest a minute, set of five deads… then move on to the next two movements.
~OR~
* You could do a set of 5 squats, rest half a minute, set of 5 Romanian dumbbell deadlifts, rest half a minute, set of squats, rest half a minute… until you’ve done all your work sets… then move on to the next pair and do the same. It’s up to you. I like working in pairs sometimes, speeds up the workout a bit. But it’s just an option. Either or will do. You can alternate from workout to workout if you like.
ADDITIONAL EXERCISE SELECTIONS
For any of a number of reasons - boredom, injuries, lack of equipment - you may want or need to look for optional movements. Feel free to mix and match to suit your needs - just stick to the basic guidlines of “quads”, “hamstrings”, and pushing and pulling movements in horizontal and vertical planes.
Here and
here are a couple of websites you can use to look up these (and other) exercises.
Finally, if you’d like to consider some other cardio options (such as high intensity interval training or hill repeats), read
here and
here to see how you can build them into your plan.