Now that boot camp is over and my family vacation has passed, it is time to get back to work with my kettlebells, weights and anything else I can find to build muscle and burn fat. My goals are shifting now to increase my size and strength without gaining fat. The ultimate goal is to compete in strength sports again such as powerlifting, strongman or heavy athletics. I will be doing two power workouts, one upper and one lower body, plus two hypertrophy workouts per week. Most workouts will begin with a quick body weight warm-up followed by some kettlebell cleans. The whole warm-up should take no more than 5 minutes, 10 if you need to foam roll and do some mobility work first.
Today's kettlebell daily workout is an upper hypertrophy training session done at the playground so I can use the assortment of bars and platform levels to add variety. The exercises I will use are pull-ups (in every variety I can think of), dips, blast strap pushing and pulling drills, kettlebell clean and jerks, and sprints to finish off. I know sprints won't directly make my upper body grow, they are a finisher and will sure as heck keep a guy lean and let that muscle shine through! Come to think of it, finishing with hand walking or bear crawling wouldn't be a bad idea either. If you don't think hand walking builds muscle, look at a male gymnasts arms!
There exercises will be done in a circuit fashion, but with a bit of rest between sets as this is not a pure fat burning session. How long will I rest? Well I don't time rests, I just go when I am ready. Generally speaking, for power workouts I rest at least a minute, for hypertrophy about a minute, and for fat loss workouts I keep the rest periods as short as possible. So the workout will look something like this after the warm-up:
The reps will be high because this is a hypertrophy workout and I spent most of my lifting career in the 1-6 rep range so this should spark some growth. I will do this circuit 3-4 times with probably about a 30 second rest between sets since I am moving to opposing drills. Once I feel that my upper body has been thoroughly worked, I will do some 40 meter sprints in the field next to the playground. The distance is simply a result of the size of the field, hill sprints are even better and safer for the hamstrings. The whole workout should take about 45 minutes, maybe less if the heat gets to me.
A training session such as this will force your body to become stronger but will also burn some fat build some muscle. Pull-ups, dips and blast straps force your whole body to contract in order to move so I feel they are a superior choice than machines. If you try this workout, don't be surprised if your abs, hamstrings or serratus tendons are sore even if you didn't finish with sprints! All the hanging will work the grip nicely too this should help build muscle from the fingers all the way to the lower back. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Today's kettlebell daily workout is an upper hypertrophy training session done at the playground so I can use the assortment of bars and platform levels to add variety. The exercises I will use are pull-ups (in every variety I can think of), dips, blast strap pushing and pulling drills, kettlebell clean and jerks, and sprints to finish off. I know sprints won't directly make my upper body grow, they are a finisher and will sure as heck keep a guy lean and let that muscle shine through! Come to think of it, finishing with hand walking or bear crawling wouldn't be a bad idea either. If you don't think hand walking builds muscle, look at a male gymnasts arms!
There exercises will be done in a circuit fashion, but with a bit of rest between sets as this is not a pure fat burning session. How long will I rest? Well I don't time rests, I just go when I am ready. Generally speaking, for power workouts I rest at least a minute, for hypertrophy about a minute, and for fat loss workouts I keep the rest periods as short as possible. So the workout will look something like this after the warm-up:
The reps will be high because this is a hypertrophy workout and I spent most of my lifting career in the 1-6 rep range so this should spark some growth. I will do this circuit 3-4 times with probably about a 30 second rest between sets since I am moving to opposing drills. Once I feel that my upper body has been thoroughly worked, I will do some 40 meter sprints in the field next to the playground. The distance is simply a result of the size of the field, hill sprints are even better and safer for the hamstrings. The whole workout should take about 45 minutes, maybe less if the heat gets to me.
A training session such as this will force your body to become stronger but will also burn some fat build some muscle. Pull-ups, dips and blast straps force your whole body to contract in order to move so I feel they are a superior choice than machines. If you try this workout, don't be surprised if your abs, hamstrings or serratus tendons are sore even if you didn't finish with sprints! All the hanging will work the grip nicely too this should help build muscle from the fingers all the way to the lower back. Give it a try and let me know what you think!