Daniel B. from Rome, NY, asked us to review his chest and shoulder workout. See his plan below, and our revision on the next page.
Daniel’s Workout
M&F Rating: C-
Bench Press: 3 sets x 5, 4, 3 reps Dumbbell Bench Press: 4 sets x 10, 8, 6, 4 (forced reps to failure) reps Cable Crossover: 3 sets x 12 reps Machine Shoulder Press: 4 sets x 10, 8, 6, 4 (forced reps to failure) reps Lateral Raise: 3 sets x 12 reps Bent-Over Lateral Raise: 3 sets x 12 reps
Check out the new and improved workout we came up with for Daniel.
Daniel’s New Workout
Our Advice: Warm up to heavy weights and lose the forced reps
It’s obvious that you like to lift heavy, and that’s good for muscle growth. But it’s not good to jump right into heavy lifting first thing in the workout. If strength is a priority, you need to be fresh to lift the heaviest possible loads, but you should try beginning your workout with a lighter exercise you can use just to get a pump. Swap the order of your dumbbell bench and bench press, so that by the time you get to the big barbell lift, you’ll already be sweating, somewhat pumped, and ready to load on the plates. If you use a conservative weight, you wont be too tired to bench heavy.
Dumbbell Bench Press: 4 sets x 10 reps Bench Press: 3 sets x 5,4,3 reps Cable Crossover: 3 sets x 12 reps (Perform a dropset on the last set, reducing the weight by 10–20% and pumping out reps until just short of failure) Machine Shoulder Press: 3 sets x 10,8,6 reps Lateral Raise: 3 sets x 12 reps (Perform a dropset on the last set as described under cable crossover) Bent-Over Lateral Raise: 3 sets x 12 reps
Let Us Revamp Your Routine
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