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 knowledgeable readers. Then our training experts will explain why we chose the workout, how 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 fan Brandon Brockhouse. 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.
THIS WEEK'S OFFICIAL BAD-ASS WORKOUT
Monday – Chest & Back
Incline Bench Press – 3 x 10,8,6 Decline Smith Machine Press – 3 x 10,8,6 Single Arm DB Press – 3 x 10,8,6 Flye Machine – 3 x 10,8,6 V-Bar Pulldown – 3 x 10,8,6 Cable Low Row – 3 x 10,8,6 Bent-Over Two DB Row – 3 x 10,8,6 15-Minute Treadmill
Tuesday – Biceps, Triceps, Forearms
21 – EZ Bar – 7 Bottom, 7 Top, 7 All The Way DB Spider Curl – 3 x 10,8,6 Seated DB Incline Curl (Legs Propped) – 3 x 10,8,6 Cable High Pull – 3 x 10,8,6 Close Grip Bench Press – 3 x 10,8,6 Tricep Rope Pulldown – 3 x 10,8,6 Overhead Rope Extension (From The Bottom) – 3 x 10,8,6 Barbell Wrist Curl – 3 x 10,8,6 30-Minute Treadmill
Wednesday – Legs & Shoulders
Barbell Squat – 3 x 10,8,6 Leg Press – 3 x 10,8,6 Lying Leg Curl – 3 x 10,8,6 Hip Abductor – 3 x 10, 8, 6 Barbell Shoulder Shrug – 3 x 10,8,6 Front Incline DB Raise – 3 x 10,8,6 Shoulder Press Machine – 3 x 10,8,6 15-Minute Elliptical
Thursday – Chest & Back
Bench Press – 3 x 10,8,6 Incline Machine Press – 3 x 10,8,6 Decline DB Press – 3 x 10,8,6 Underhand Pulldown – 3 x 10, 8, 6 DB Incline Row – 3 x 10,8,6 Iso Row Machine – 3 x 10,8,6 30-Minute Treadmill
Friday – Biceps, Triceps, Forearms
Close Grip Barbell Curl – 3 x 10,8,6 Reverse Grip EZ Bar Curl – 3 x 10,8,6 DB Preacher Curl – 3 x 10, 8, 6 DB Incline Row – 3 x 10,8,6 Cross Body Hammer Curl – 3 x 10,8,6 Incline DB Triceps Extension – 3 x 10,8,6 Decline Skull Crushers – 3 x 10,8,6 DB Wrist Curl – 3 x 10,8,6 15-Minute Treadmill
Saturday – Legs & Shoulders
Hack Squat – 3 x 10,8,6 Leg Extension – 3 x 10,8,6 Barbell Lunge – 3 x 10, 8, 6 Smith Machine Calf Raises – 2 x 15 Hip Adductor – 3 x 10,8,6 Arnold DB Press – 3 x 10,8,6 Reverse DB Flyes – 3 x 10,8,6 Cable Upright Row- 3 x 10,8,6 30-Minute Treadmill
Brandon Brockhouse sent me this workout in a beautifully laid out Excel spreadsheet. Which means he’s not only smart enough to use a computer, but also smart enough to carefully plan and log his workouts. He’s got a pretty classic three-day body part split going here with a chest/back day, arms day and legs/shoulders day. And classic splits, like classic cars and classic rock, are bad-ass.
You’ve got some major compound lifts such as bench presses and back squats starting off your programs, which I like. Plus you have moves such as DB Arnold Presses and Cross Body Hammer Curls, which, quite frankly, are not exactly big ‘bang for your buck’ movements, but are fun to do while checking out how jacked you look in the mirror and are critical for looking bad-ass when a hot girl in really tight yoga pants walks by. Critical.
HOW TO MAKE IT BADDER:
Your legs have been carrying you around ever since you learned to walk. The least you could do to repay them is give them their own training day. Move the shoulder work to the arms day and blast those legs with a bit more volume. And while you do start off some of your days with compound movements, I think there is room for more. How do you fit those in? Glad you asked.
You can start the arms day with a Chin-Up and replace the Hack Squat with a Front Squat on the second leg day. You’ll get more out of those exercises. You can also eliminate a couple of the namby-pamby movements that aren’t buying you much—such as Hip Abductor, Wrist Curls and Machine Shoulder Press—and replace them with certified bad-ass moves like Military Presses and Deadlifts. See, problem solved. Don’t say I never gave you anything.
WHO SHOULD DO IT:
If you’ve got killer computer skills, understand the value of logging weights, are looking to build mass by utilizing a ton of volume, and want to impress hot girls in tight yoga pants, you can certainly do worse than following this program. If you really like compound movements, prefer total body training and don’t know the difference between a keyboard and a snowboard, you may want to take a basic computer class and start looking for a workout elsewhere.
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.
