Sometimes, our fans can teach us a thing or two, which is why each week Muscle & Fitness will be selecting a Bad-Ass Workout of the Week, submitted by one of our highly knowledgeable readers. Then our training experts will explain why we chose the workout, how to make it even more bad-ass; and what training style it works for.
This week, Dan Trink, Director of Training at Peak Performance, assesses this routine from our Facebook friend Mario Jordan. Let us know what you think, and show off your own workout at badassworkout@muscleandfitness.com. If we think it's worthy, we'll post it on the Muscle & Fitness website.
Deadlifts? Check. Tire Flips? Check. Sledgehammer Hits? Check. Front squats, back squats, overhead press, pull-ups? Check. Check. Check. Check. You have all the great compound movements in this program. Plus, you have ass-kicking modified strongman stuff in there as well. I’m about to burst into “These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things” from Sound of Music (though that would NOT be bad-ass). I also like where your head is at on the conditioning side of things. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) certainly beats steady-state cardio. And you are using TRX for what, I believe, is its best purpose, total body circuits (well, that and it’s great for pulling a Prowler or sled). You understand how to organize your exercise selection so the most complex movements are early in the session (you’d be amazed how many people still don’t grasp that concept). Plus you are getting in tons of volume, which is critical if you are looking to put on mass.
How To Make It Badder
It’s a good thing you are a personal trainer because you essentially have to live in the gym to get this amount of work done. If your main priority is building muscle mass, you may want to cut down on the conditioning work a bit as that may be interfering with your ability to recover and put more effort into the resistance training sessions. And, as I mentioned, though volume is definitely critical for muscle growth, you may be sacrificing quality for quantity on a few of your days. I’m no math wizard but 58(!) sets during shoulder and arms day may be a bit of overkill. Other days seem to be suffering from that same issue as well. And, to get nit-picky for a second, if good mornings are logged as a back exercise, you are probably doing them incorrectly. Consider moving them over to leg day and focus on the hamstrings.
Who Should Do it?
If you have a cot set up in the locker room and have no home to call your own, this may be the perfect program for you as you’ll be spending your entire week at the gym. You have to have a lot of time and a ton of work capacity to get through something this massive. But if lots of volume, lots of conditioning and lots of sweet exercises are your bag, grab a sledgehammer and get to work.
Dan Trink, CSCS, is a strength coach, personal trainer, fitness writer and nutritional consultant. He is also the Director of Training at Peak Performance in NYC. You can find out more about Dan at www.trinkfitness.com or on Facebook at www.faceboook/trinkfitness.
