Core Training for Runners

This next post was a recent inquiry from one of my followers: Hi! I'm currently working hard toward some running goals. I hear a strong core will help with endurance and lead to faster times and also help prevent joint injury (makes sense.) Since I conveniently despise them, I haven't done core exercises in YEARS, and most of the research I've done hasn't turned up any good workouts that are specifically beneficial to runners. Any core exercises I should focus on that will help me in my running endeavors? How many times a week should I do them, and how should their timing relate to my speed work days? Thanks!

Years ago you would have never heard of runners doing core workouts let alone any sort of weight training. These days many athletes are starting to realize the importance of focusing on your core. A strong core is important to everyone including runners! The core is the vital link between your upper and lower body and thus should not be ignored.

Your core helps you through many motions of running, here’s how…

Uphill – The glutes and lower abs support the pelvis, which connects to the leg muscles needed to get uphill. If the core is strong, the legs will have a stable plane to push from, for a more powerful ascent. When you swing your leg forward, the hip-flexor muscles, such as the rectus femoris, pull on the pelvis. As you push off the ground, the glutes and hamstrings are engaged.

Downhill - When you're flying down a slope, you need strong gluteal muscles to help absorb the impact and counter the momentum of the forward motion. As fun as it may be to zoom down, without the core strength to control your movement, your quads and knee joints bear the extra pounding of your body weight, which can lead to fatigue, pain, and even injury.

Speed - As you extend your stride or quicken the rate of your leg and foot turnover when you're trying to pick up your pace, the lower abs-including the transversus and rectus abdominis-and lower back are called into action. The stronger and more stable these muscles are, the more force and speed you can generate as you push off the ground.

Lateral Movement - Whenever you have to suddenly move to the side-to turn the corner on a track, dodge a pothole, or navigate undulating terrain-the obliques provide stability and help keep you upright. If your core is weak, then you may end up leaning into the movement, which can put excess weight and strain on the joints in your legs and feet.

Endurance - As you're nearing the end of a race, a solid core helps you maintain proper form and run efficiently, even through fatigue. With strong lower abs and lower-back muscles, such as the erector spinae, it's easier to stay upright. If your core is weak, you may end up shuffling, slouching, and putting too much stress on your hips, knees, and shins. (Information courtesy of Runnersworld.com article entitled “Fast Abs” by Alyssa Shaffer)

Keeping all of this in mind I have developed the following workout: The workout will consist of three ab workouts per week. You will perform the exercises in a circuit, one exercise after another for the prescribed amount of reps or time. After you reach the end of the circuit you will rest for 60 seconds and repeat the circuit again. For the first two weeks you will complete two circuits, for weeks 3-4 you will perform three circuits, and for weeks 5-6 you will perform four circuits. If any of the exercises become to easy feel free to add some sort of resistance to them. Full explanations of the exercises are detailed at the bottom.

WEEKS 1-2

Glute Ham Bridge - 12 reps each side

Superman - 10 reps

Russian Twist - 15 reps each side

Plank w/ leg lift - 8 reps each side

Leg Lifts - 15 reps

Fire Hydrant - 15 reps each side

Plank - hold 30-60 seconds

Fire Hydrant - 15 reps each side

Russian Twist - 15 reps each side

WEEKS 3-4

Side Plank - hold 30-45 seconds each side

Superman - 8 reps

Leg Lifts - 12 reps

Stiff Leg deadlift - 12 reps

Plank w/ Leg Lift - 12 reps each

Fire Hydrant - 12 reps each

Leg Lifts - 12 reps

Glute Ham Bridge - 8 reps each

Russian Twist - 12 reps each

WEEKS 5-6

Side Plank w/ Marching - 6 reps each side

Hand to feet pass w/ Swiss Ball - 8 reps

Window Wipers - 6 reps each side

Hand to feet swiss ball pass - 8 reps

Window Wipers - 6 reps each side

Romanian Unitlateral deadlift - 6 reps each side

Backwards Plank w/ rear leg lift - 6 reps each side

Plank w/ diagonal reach - 6 reps each side

Romanian unilateral deadlift - 6 reps each side

Glute Ham Bridge – You will lay down on your back with your knees bent and flat on the ground. You will raise your butt off the ground balancing on your shoulder blades and heels. You will then raise one leg up so it is straight, and hold for a 4 count. Then alternate with the other leg. Superman – Lye flat on your stomach. Raise your arms and shoulders off the ground simultaneously with your feet and knees if possible. Hold for a two count and lower them back down.

Russian Twist – Sit down on the ground upright with your knees bent and feet on the ground. Place a weighted object in your hands (such as a medicine ball) and twist your torso to one side as far as you can go so that the object is no longer being held over your thighs. Then twist back around to the other side.

Plank w/ leg lift – Get in plank position balancing yourself on your forearms and toes. Lift one leg up as far as you can while keeping it completely straight. Hold for a two count and lower it back down, alternate the other leg. Leg Lifts – Lye flat on your back, with your hands at your sides. Raise both your legs about six inches off the ground and hold for a four count. Lower your legs back down.

Fire Hydrant – Get on your hands and knees. Lift one leg up to the side keeping it bent as a dog would when urinating on a fire hydrant. Hold for a count and alternate the other leg.

Deadlift – While standing in front of a barbell that is on the ground, make sure you’re feet are pointed naturally and slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Reach down with both hands to grab the bar ensuring that you are looking up at the time with your chest facing outward. Lift the bar as close to your body as you can comfortably do and make sure you are engaging your abs as you lift. Your shoulders should be tight and your chest should be the first thing that moves upward. Be sure your chest is facing outward and you’re looking forward the entire time. Carefully lower the bar back down the same way you lifted it.

Side Plank w/ Marching – Get in side-plank position balancing on your side with only your feet and one forearm touching the ground. While in side-plank position move one leg in a “high step” or “marching” motion while balancing on the other foot. Alternate feet.

Hand to feet pass w/ Swiss Ball – Lie flat on your back with a swiss ball between your feet. Raise the swiss ball up while simultaneously raising your arms up to grab it. Grab the swiss ball with your hands and lower your feet and the ball simultaneously. Raise your feet and ball back up and grasp the ball again between your feet and lower the ball and your hands once again. This is one rep.

Window Wipers – Lie on the ground flat on your back. Extend both legs toward the ceiling making sure your legs are straight. Stretch both arms outward for stability and let your hips rotate your legs directly to one side until they almost touch the ground. Return your legs straight up with the same motion and turn them to the other side and straight up again. This is one rep.

Backwards Plank w/ leg lift – Lie flat on your back. Balance yourself on your forearms and heels. While holding this position lift one leg up about 6 inches and hold for a four count, then drop down. Alternate to the next leg.

Plank w/ diagonal reach – Get into the plank position with your toes and your forearms balancing you. Keep your entire body straight with your abs engaged for stability. Reach with one hand outwards in front of you for a two count, and return it to its position. Now alternate with the other arm.

Romanian unilateral deadlift – Stand straight up holding two weights in your hands. Lift one foot slightly off the ground as you bend from the waist towards the ground as far as your body will let you. Make sure your foot remains underneath you just slightly hovering from the position it was in when it was on the ground. Return back up, still keeping your one foot slightly off the ground as you bend back up from the waist. Be sure to be looking straight ahead during this entire movement. Alternate with the other leg.

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Women: Stage 3

STAGE 1 CLICK HERE

STAGE 2 CLICK HERE

If you are looking the Men’s Workout

click here for stage 3.

Congratulations! You have made it to the 3rd and final stage of The Maniac’s Spring Break Workout! For this stage we will be focusing on toning and tightening that newly sculpted bathing suit body. The exercises will require a lot of stability and will integrate the use of a swiss ball or exercise ball.

INSTRUCTIONS: All exercises will be performed in a superset fashion. You will perform one exercise and immediately perform the next exercise, then rest for 60 seconds. You will then repeat the superset the prescribed amount of sets. Each superset has been paired accordingly. I have set up interval cardio on two of the three days you will be weight training. The interval cardio does not necessarily have to be performed on the days prescribed.

Day 1 – Full Body Workout / Cardio
Day 2 – Cardio
Day 3 – Full Body Workout / Cardio
Day 4 – Cardio
Day 5 – Full Body Workout
Day 6 – Cardio
Day 7 – Rest

WEEKS 7-9
DAY 1
A1: 2 sets 15-18 reps Dumbbell Squat w/ Swiss Ball
A2: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg Single Leg Stiff Leg Deadlift
B1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Dumbbell Bench Press on Swiss Ball
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Dumbbell Kickbacks
C1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Step Up to Dumbbell Curl
D1: 2 sets 8-10 reps each side Full Contact Twist
D2: 2 sets 60-90 seconds Plank
Cardio: 20-25 Minutes of Interval cardio

DAY 2
Cardio: 45 – 60 minutes High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 3
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg Single Leg Squat on Smith Machine
A2: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg Single Leg Curl on Swiss Ball
B1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Seated Dumbbell Curl on Swiss Ball
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Lat Pulldowns
C1: 2 sets 10-12 reps each leg Side Lunge to Shoulder Press
D1: 2 sets 8-10 reps each side High to Low Cable Woodchoppers
D2: 2 sets 15-18 reps Back Extensions
Cardio: 20-25 Minutes of Interval cardio

DAY 4
Cardio: 45 – 60 minutes High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 5
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg Dumbbell Rear Lunge
A2: 2 sets 15-18 reps Barbell Squat
B1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Pushups
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Dumbbell Rows on Swiss Ball
C1: 2 sets 8-10 reps each leg Step Up to Dumbbell Curl
D1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Deadlifts
D2: 2 sets 10-12 reps each side Side Cable Twist

DAY 6
Cardio: 45 – 60 minutes High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 7
REST

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Men: Stage 3

FOR STAGE 1 CLICK HERE

FOR STAGE 2 CLICK HERE

If you are looking the Women’s Workout

click here for stage 3.

Congratulations! You have made it to the 3rd and final stage of The Maniac’s Spring Break Workout! The workout has been designed to really give you that big “pump” to bring out your muscle in your newly sculpted swim suit body. You will find a lot of the same movements in this routine as you would in a precontest type bodybuilding routine, insuring to bring out the best in your muscles.

INSTRUCTIONS: All exercises will be performed in a superset fashion. You will perform one exercise and immediately perform the next exercise, then rest for 60 seconds. You will then repeat the superset the prescribed amount of sets. Each superset has been paired accordingly. You will also notice I have put drop sets into the routine. To do a drop set you will select a heavier weight you will be able to perform the exercise with for around 7 reps. You will use this weight until failure, immediately select a lower weight, use this till failure, then select a lower and final weight to use till failure. For the abdominal exercises you will perform all of them in a row, rest one minute, then repeat the circuit two more times.

Day 1 – Chest/Back
Day 2 – Abs/Cardio
Day 3 – Bis/Tris
Day 4 – Abs/Cardio
Day 5 – Legs/Shoulders
Day 6 – Abs/Cardio

Weeks 7-9
DAY 1
A1: 4 sets 10-12 reps Incline Dumbbell Fly
A2: 4 sets 2 drops to failure Incline Dumbbell Bench (Drop Set)
B1: 4 sets 12-15 reps Row Machine
B2: 4 sets 2 drops to failure Lat Pulldown Machine (Drop Set)
C1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Cable Crossovers
C2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Pushups
D1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Seated Pulley Row
D2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Pullups

DAY 2
A1: 3 sets 12-15 reps V-Up
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps each side Lateral Bridge
A3: 3 sets 10-12 reps each side Low to High Cable Woodchopper
A4: 3 sets 12-15 reps Swiss Ball Crunch
25-30 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 3
A1: 4 sets 10-12 reps Curl Bar Curl
A2: 4 sets 12-15 reps Incline Dumbbell Curl
B1: 4 sets 10-12 reps Curl Bar Skull Crusher
B2: 4 sets 12-15 reps Tricep Kickbacks
C1: 3 sets 10-12 reps Close Grip Dumbbell Bench Press (neutral grip)
C2: 3 sets 10-12 reps Standing Dumbbell Curls
C3: 3 sets 12-15 reps Cable Tricep Pushdown
C4: 3 sets 12-15 reps Concentration Curls
E1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Single Leg Calf Raise
E2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Calf Press

DAY 4
A1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Barbell Rollouts
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps each side High to Low Medicine Ball Woodchoppers
A3: 3 sets 12-15 reps each side Twisting Swiss Ball Crunch w/ Knee Raise
25-30 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 5
A1: 4 sets 12-15 reps Incline Bench Dumbbell Shrugs (face on bench)
A2: 4 sets 12-15 reps Seated Arnold Press
B1: 3 sets 2 drops to failure Seated Side Lateral Raises (drop set)
C1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Front Squat
C2: 3 sets 10-12 reps Leg Extension (7 count negatives)
D1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Walking Lunges
D2: 3 sets 10-12 reps Lying Leg Curls (7 count negatives)

DAY 6
A1: 3 sets 12-15 reps each side Side Cable Twist
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps Overhead Squats
B1: 3 sets 10-12 reps Swiss Ball Crunch
B2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Knee Ins
25-30 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 7
REST

The Maniac's 12 Week Transformation

After 12 weeks of sweat, hard work, and strict dieting I, The Maniac, have completed my 12 week body transformation. I feel completely great afterwards and the pictures below don’t lie, I look great too. After not working out regularly for a solid 7 months it was a real struggle to get back into a routine. Let me tell you the whole thing wasn’t easy every few weeks I would hit a wall in progression and every time I would have to tighten up my diet and routine. So how did I do it?

THE DIET
So the first six weeks weren't so bad. Basically I started off eating how I normally was eating, since I eat pretty well already, and changed my diet slowly. The first thing I needed to do was eat more. I was eating 2 or 3 meal a day, which quickly turned into the necessary 5 to 6 meals a day. The next thing to do was portion control. I had to stop eating such large meals; I really have a bad habit in doing this. Once I got my portions under control, I needed to find out how many carbohydrates, protein, and fat I needed to consume throughout the day. I decided to consume about 40 grams of carbohydrates, 40 grams of protein, and about 9 grams of fat per meal. Which come out to be between 2000 to 2400 calories per day divided among 5 to 6 meals.

The last six weeks were the hardest. This is where I went into serious diet mode. I tweaked my diet by eating very healthy I went from cereal for breakfast to eggs and oatmeal. I started eating as much chicken breast I could as a source of lean protein. I ate lots of fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts, and seeds. I made sure I got plenty of protein at night in the form of either eggs or cottage cheese. The last three weeks my diet was tightened up as much as possible. I reduced my calories to about 1500 to 1800 calories a day. This might have been not enough calories so I would increase my caloric intake temporarily about every four days for about two days. I would also very the intake of my macronutrients throughout the day. I would have more carbohydrates for breakfast, eat normally throughout the day, and then my last two meals would have little to no carbohydrates and almost all of my daily fat needs. Protein intake would be moderate at breakfast, sometimes be a little low in the afternoon, then high on my last two meals of the day.

THE WORKOUT
The workout that I completed I did not design myself, but I sure was able to customize it for myself. The workout I used was from the very popular series of books The Body Sculpting Bible For Men, authored by James Villepigue and Hugo Rivera. I changed my workout every two weeks and used exercises I specifically wanted to use for myself according to my needs and goals. For example I used almost all dumbbells for my chest and did lots and lots of squats. I trained abs and calves separately on their own, because my calves are lagging and I wanted my abs to pop. My cardio workouts started off slow with 2 to 3 sessions per week for the first 6 weeks then 3 to 4 times per week for weeks 7-8 and at least 5 sessions per week for weeks 9-12.

THE RESULTS
I started off weighing 161 lbs. and had 11% body fat. After 12 weeks I was able to lose 3 lbs. putting me at 158lbs and bringing my body fat percentage to 5%. This indicates that I was able to lose about 9.5 lbs. of fat and gain 6.5 lbs. of muscle! This my friends is truly impressive considering I took NO STEROIDS, NO SUPPLEMENTS, and NO PROTEIN POWDERS! That’s right folks during the entire 12 weeks I didn’t even ingest one multivitamin. I did it all with plain old food, water, and knowledge. The whole experience has made me a big believer in keeping an appropriate and proper diet, just look at the results below.

Before	After

Before	After

Before	After

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Women: Stage 2

At last you have made it to Stage 2 of “The Maniac’s Spring Break Workout for Women”. If you haven’t looked over

STAGE 1 CLICK HERE.

STAGE 3 CLICK HERE.

If you are looking for

STAGE 2 OF THE MEN'S WORKOUT CLICK HERE.

During Stage 2 will be increasing reps as well as increasing the cardio. The movements will require a little more stability and the ab workouts will increase in intensity. All facets of Stage 2 of been designed to burn fat and build muscle. Wait what? Build muscle?! Not to worry this routine will not make you bulky there are too many missing factors to the routine to make you bulk up. It will simply build a little muscle that will aid in the fat burning process, trust me! Now let’s get started!

INSTRUCTIONS: All exercises will be performed in a superset fashion. You will perform one exercise and immediately perform the next exercise, then rest for 60 seconds. You will then repeat the superset the prescribed amount of sets. Each superset has been paired accordingly. On Day 3 for the ab workout you will perform a triset. In this case you will be performing three exercises in a row before resting for 60 seconds. Again if you are not sure on how to perform certain exercises please feel free to contact me by commenting below or e-mailing me at maniacs.gym@gmail.com. You can also use Bodybuilding.com and YouTube as great resources as well.

STAGE 2

Day 1 – Upper Body / Cardio
Day 2 – Lower Body / Abs
Day 3 – Abs / Cardio
Day 4 – Upper Body / Cardio
Day 5 – Lower Body / Abs
Day 6 – Rest
Day 7 – Rest

WEEKS 4-6

DAY 1
A1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Flat Dumbbell Bench Press w/ Feet on Bench
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Reverse Tricep Pushdown
B1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Dumbbell Rows
B2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Cable Curls w/ Rope
C1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Dumbbell Floor Press
C2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Chin Ups
40 Minutes of High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 2
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Squats
A2: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Swiss Ball Leg Curl
B1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each side - Side Plank w/ Leg Lift
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg - Dumbbell Side Lunge
C1: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Dumbbell Squat
C2: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift
D1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each side - Twisting Crunch on Swiss Ball
D2: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Leg raises

DAY 3
A1: 3 sets 7 reps (hold for 10 count) - Vacuum
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Pilot’s Chair Knee-Ins
A3: 3 sets 12-15 reps each side - Oblique Crunch on Swiss Ball
20-25 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 4
A1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Dips
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Seated Bent Over Tricep Kickbacks
B1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Close Grip Lat Pulldown
B2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Dumbell Hamer Curls
C1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Tate Press
C2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Drag Curl
40 Minutes of High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 5
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Deadlifts
A2: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Seated Leg Curl
B1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg - Step Ups
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg - Standing Glute Kickbacks
C1: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Wide Stance Squat
C2: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg - Reverse Lunge
D1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each side - Plank w/ Rotation
D2: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Superman

DAY 6
REST

DAY 7
REST

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Men: Stage 2

At last you have made it to Stage 2 of “The Maniac’s Spring Break Workout for Men”. If you haven’t looked over

STAGE 1 CLICK HERE.

STAGE 3 CLICK HERE.

If you were looking for

STAGE 2 OF THE WOMEN'S WORKOUT CLICK HERE.

INSTRUCTIONS: Alright gym rats stage will be consisting of complicated movements that will not only require you to move weight, but will require you to move your body. This will really get the out of your body in a hurry. I wanted to make this Stage very intense so I combined some traditional exercises together to form one exercise. You will see in Week 4 I have numbered some of the more complicated exercises. After Week 4 I have made a description on how to perform some of the exercises next to the exercise’s corresponding number.

Below you will find a simple outline of a typical week’s schedule. Notice I have not added in cardio. I am leaving the cardio to you. What I do want out of you as far as cardio goes is as follows. You need to cardio between 3 and 4 days a week. Each cardio session will consist of 20 to 25 minutes of interval training. You may do them after you lift, you may do them first thing in the morning and lift in the evening, or you may do them on your rest days. It doesn’t matter to me, whatever your schedule will allow for get it done.

You will also notice I have no ab workouts planned for Stage 2. This is because of the complexity of the exercises in Stage 2 you will be working your abs constantly. I tried to design this stage so you can get the most amount of work done in the least amount of time.

For Week 4 I have paired exercises together you will perform in modified supersets. You will perform one exercise rest for 60 seconds then perform the next exercise and rest for 60 seconds. For Week 5 you will be doing supersets. You will perform and exercise and immediately go into the next exercise and rest for 60 seconds. For Week 6 you will be doing giant sets and trisets. You will be doing three or four exercises in a row then rest for 60 seconds.

Again if you are not sure on how to perform certain exercises please feel free to contact me by commenting below or e-mailing me at maniacs.gym@gmail.com. You can also use Bodybuilding.com and YouTube as great resources as well.

DAY 1 – Upper Body
DAY 2 – Lower Body
DAY 3 – Rest
DAY 4 – Upper Body
DAY 5 – Lower Body
DAY 6 – Rest
DAY 7 – Rest


STAGE 2

--------WEEK 4--------

DAY 1
A1: 3x15 - Hindu Pushups
A2: 3x15 - Hanging Cleans
B1: 2x15 - Incline Dumbbell Hammer Curl to Bench Press 1:2 ratio(1)
B2: 2x15 - Pull-ups
C1: 3x15 - Full Contact Twists
C2: 3x15 - Two Hand dumbbell snatch to French Press(2)
D1: 2x15 - Plate Rows
D2: 2x15 - Dumbbell flys to Skull Crushers(3)

DAY 2
A1: 3x20 - Squats
A2: 3x20 - Cleans
B1: 2x12 - Overhead Squats
B2: 2x20 - Squat w/ Plate and Push out(4)
C1: 3x20 - Double Dumbbell Squat to Clean(5)
C2: 3x20 - Box Jumps

DAY 3
REST

DAY 4
A1: 3x15 - Incline Dumbbell Bench
A2: 3x15 - Body Rows
B1: 2x15 - Pushups w/ Rows(6)
B2: 2x15 - Dumbbell Snatch
C1: 3x15 - Towel Pull-ups
C2: 3x15 - Two Hand Dumbbell Shoulder Press (alternating sides)
D1: 2x15 - Dumbbell Curls to Shoulder Press
D2: 2x15 - Walk out and Pushup on Exercise Ball

DAY5
A1: 3x20 - Deadlifts
A2: 3x20 - Dumbbell Squats
B1: 2x10 (each leg) - Alternating Jumping Lunges
B2: 2x15 (each leg) - Stationary Backward Lunges
C1: 3x15 (each leg) - Step ups weighted
C2: 3xfailure - Farmers Walk

DAY 6
REST

DAY 7
REST

(1) On this exercise you will curl two dumbbells at once. At the top of your curl you will transition to a bench press and do two reps. Then you will lower the weight and repeat. This counts as one rep.
(2) You will start with the dumbbell on the floor and explode up with it over your head. You will then lower the dumbbell behind your head and press it back up. Then lower the dumbbell to the floor again and repeat. This counts as one rep.
(3) You will perform a fly with the dumbbells. At the top of the motion you will lower the weights into a skull crusher and raise them back up. You will then lower the weights for the eccentric portion of the fly. This counts as one rep.
(4) You will perform a body squat holding a plate against your chest. At the bottom of the squat you will push the plate away from your chest then back in to your chest. You will then perform the concentric portion of the squat. This counts as one rep.
(5) You will bend down in squat position and pick up two dumbbells holding them at your sides. When you stand up you will in one motion clean the dumbbells as if you were getting ready to press them. You will then lower the weight back down to your sides and squat back down. This counts as one rep.
(6) You will be doing pushups on dumbbells. You will lower your body then pushup. At the top of the pushup you will row one dumbbell and then the other staying in pushup position, then repeat. This counts as one rep.


--------WEEK 5--------

DAY 1
A1: 3x12 - Diamond Pushups
A2: 3x12 - Hanging Cleans
B1: 3x12 - Incline Dumbbell Hammer Curl to Bench Press 1:2 ratio
B2: 3x12 - Pull-ups
C1: 3x12 - Full Contact Twists
C2: 3x12 - Two Hand dumbbell snatch to French Press
D1: 3x12 - Plate Rows
D2: 3x12 - Dumbbell flys to Skull Crushers

DAY 2
A1: 3x16 - Squats
A2: 3x16 - Cleans
B1: 3x12 - Overhead Squats
B2: 3x16 - Squat w/ Plate and Push out
C1: 3x16 - Double Dumbbell Squat to Clean
C2: 3x20 - Box Jumps

DAY 3
REST

DAY 4
A1: 3x12 - Incline Dumbbell Bench
A2: 3x12 - Body Rows
B1: 3x12 - Pushups w/ Rows
B2: 3x12 - Dumbbell Snatch
C1: 3x12 - Towel Pull-ups
C2: 3x12 - Two Hand Dumbbell Shoulder Press (alternating sides)
D1: 3x12 - Dumbbell Curls to Shoulder Press
D2: 3x12 - Walk out and Pushup on Exercise Ball

DAY 5
A1: 3x16 - Deadlifts
A2: 3x16 - Dumbbell Squats
B1: 3x8 (each leg) - Alternating Jumping Lunges
B2: 3x12 (each leg) - Stationary Backward Lunges
C1: 3x12 (each leg) - Step ups weighted
C2: 3xfailure - Farmers Walk

DAY 6
REST

DAY 7
REST


--------WEEK 6--------

DAY 1
GIANT SET
A1: 4x10 - Diamond Pushups
A2: 4x10 - Pull-ups
A3: 3x10 - Hanging Cleans
A4: 3x10 - Incline Dumbbell Hammer Curl to Bench Press 1:2 ratio
GIANT SET
B1: 4x10 - Full Contact Twists
B2: 4x10 - Dumbbell flys to Skull Crushers
B3: 3x10 - Two Hand dumbbell snatch to French Press
B4: 3x10 - Plate Rows

DAY 2
TRI-SET
A1: 4x12 - Squats
A2: 4x12 - Cleans
A3: 4x10 – Saxon Side Bends
TRI-SET
B1: 4x12 - Squat w/ Plate and Push out
B2: 4x12 - Double Dumbbell Squat to Clean
B3: 4x16 - Box Jumps

DAY 3
REST

DAY 4
GIANT SET
A1: 4x10 - Incline Dumbbell Bench
A2: 4x10 - Body Rows
A3: 3x10 - Pushups w/ Rows
A4: 3x10 - Dumbbell Snatch
GIANT SET
B1: 4x10 - Towel Pull-ups
B2: 4x10 - Two Hand Dumbbell Shoulder Press (alternating sides)
B3: 3x10 - Dumbbell Curls to Shoulder Press
B4: 3x10 - Walk out and Pushup on Exercise Ball

DAY 5
TRI-SET
A1: 4x12 - Deadlifts
A2: 4x12 - Dumbbell Squats
A3: 4x6 (each leg) - Alternating Jumping Lunges (aka paratroopers)
TRI-SET
B1: 4x8 (each leg) - Stationary Backward Lunges
B2: 4x8 (each leg) - Step ups weighted
B3: 4xfailure - Farmers Walk

DAY 6
REST

DAY 7
REST

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Women: Stage 1

WOMEN'S WORKOUT STAGE 2

WOMEN'S WORKOUT STAGE 3

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE MEN'S WORKOUT!

As I’m sure you’re very aware Spring Break is a couple months away. Some of you may be frantically thinking of ways to get into bathing suit shape, while others haven’t even gave it a second thought. Don’t worry my faithful readers; because today I will be blogging a 9 week workout program, I designed myself, to whip you into tip-top shape for that two piece bikini.

The workout I have designed will be divided into three stages. Stage 1 will be to strengthen your body. You will be doing heavy compound movements to strengthen your major muscle groups. With the amount of stimulation put on your muscles by doing these compound movements your body will be burning many calories and your metabolism will be sped up.

Stage 2 will be for cutting fat. You will be doing more complex movements that will require a little more muscle stability designed to melt the fat away. Cardio will be increased to as your body will be adapting to the routine from Stage 1 as well as abdominal workouts will increase in difficulty.

Stage 3 will be to tighten up and tone your sexy swim suit body. The exercises will require a lot of stability forcing you to use all those muscles you never thought you had putting the final touches on your newly sculpted body.
For more great info click

20 Tips for a Bikini-Ready Body

This is an article I found on Bodybuilding.com with great ideas that will have you looking your best.

INSTRUCTIONS: This workout has been designed to give you the three assets for the perfect swim suit body: great posture, a slim tight core, and perfectly sculpted butt. In order for to get the maximum benefits from this workout plan you need to be constantly focusing on your posture, core, and butt. What do I mean by this? When you do a back exercise, I want you to consciously think “posture”. This means that you put your chest out and squeeze your back holding the repetition for a split second, before lowering the weight again. When you are doing any exercise standing up, I want you to be thinking about your core. Your core is the one thing between the weight in your hands (or on your back), and your feet planted on the ground. Your core is what’s keeping you upright, so in order to get that tight slim waste, you need to consciously think “tighten my core” when doing standing exercises. You do this by trying to pull your belly button inwards towards your spine. Do this and I guarantee you WILL have a slimmer waste. When doing any leg exercise where you have to bend your knee (with the exception of stiff leg deadlifts), you will inevitably be engaging your glutes, so be sure you are consciously thinking “tighten my butt” with every rep. When I say tighten your glutes, I really want you to take a second at the top of every rep to really squeeze your cheeks together, in the words of my former wrestling coach you need to “pinch a coin”. If you can do this guys will be giving themselves whip lash as you walk right past them!

For Stage 1 of this program, you will be performing two exercises back to back in a superset fashion. I have organized the supersets by letter. You will perform one exercise, rest 60 seconds, then perform the second exercise, and rest 60 seconds. You will do the amount of sets and reps prescribed. On ab days you will superset the exercises, except you will not be resting between the first and second exercise. You will only rest after the second exercise. You will then perform cardio once your ab workout is over.

For cardio you will either be doing low intensity high resistance cardio or interval training. What I mean by low intensity high resistance cardio is crank the resistance up, but you don’t have to move very fast. You may want to do this on machines that will work your glutes, such as stair steppers. This will be great for shaping your butt. For low intensity high resistance training I want you to work out at your target fat burning heart rate. To find this you will subtract your age from 220. You will take that number and multiply it by .75. This will be your target fat burning heart rate in beats per minute or BPM. Try to work out at this heart rate +/- 10 BPM. For interval training I want you to do a 3-5 minute warm up, then you sprint hard, let’s say for 30 seconds. You need to go all out, about 80% – 90%. Then you will slow down to about 50% for about 1 minute. Then you sprint again. You can sprint anywhere from 30 to 40 seconds and slow down for 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, or 2 minutes. You can vary it how you want. You will then cool down for 3-5 minutes. Do your warm up, intervals, and cool down within the time I have allotted for cardio.

It is extremely important that you take 5 to 7 minutes to warm up before performing any of these workouts. It is especially important to take the time to stretch and warm up your core before doing ab exercises. This is essential if you want to develop great abs! If you have any questions or concerns on how to perform any of these exercises feel free to comment below or e-mail me at maniacs.gym@gmail.com. You can also do a search on Bodybuilding.com or YouTube, as a great source for instructions on how to perform certain exercises. I will be posting Stage 2 and Stage 3 of my exercise program shortly.

WEEKS 1-3

DAY 1
A1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
(Flat Dumbbell Bench on Week 3)
A2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Pullup (wide grip)

B1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Barbell Bench Press
(Incline Barbell Bench Press on Week 3)
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Lat Pulldown (regular grip)

C1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Bench Dips
(switch to pushups on Weeks 2&3)
C2: 2 sets 12-15 reps High Pull Cable Rows (rope)
(Cable Rows Wide Grip Week 3)

D1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Incline Dumbbell Flys
D2: 2 sets 15-18 reps Single Arm Dumbbell Rows
(Double Arm Dumbbell Rows on Weeks 2&3)

DAY 2
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each side Standing Oblique Crunches
A2: 2 sets 30-90 seconds Plank
30 Minutes of High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 3
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Dumbbell Curls
A2: 2 sets 12 -15 reps Tricep Pushdowns (Bar on Week 1 Rope on Weeks 2&3)

B1: 2 sets 15-18 reps Two Hand Cable Curls
(Dumbbell Concentration Curls on Weeks 2&3)
B2: 2 sets 15-18 reps Single Arm Dumbbell French Press
(Lying Dumbbell Extension on Weeks 2&3)

C1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Incline Dumbbell Curls
C2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Cable Tricep Kickbacks
(Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks on Week 3)

D1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Single Leg Standing Calf Raise

DAY 4
A1: 2 sets 20 reps Swiss Ball Crunch
A2: 2 sets 8-10 reps Back Extensions
15-20 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 5
A1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Squats
(Close Stance Squat on Week 3)
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps each leg Front Lunges
(Backwards Lunges on Weeks 2&3)

B1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Leg Extensions
B2: 3 sets 10-12 reps each leg Side Lunges
(Side Lunge with Hop on Week 3)

C1: 3 sets 10-12 reps each leg Single Leg Press
(Split Squat on Weeks 2&3)
C2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Step Ups
(Single Leg Deadlift on Week 3)

D1: 2 sets 8-10 reps Front Raises
(Side Lateral Raises on Week 2)
(Bent Over Lateral Raises on Week 3)

DAY 6
A1: 2 sets 10-12 reps Hanging Knee Raises
A2: 2 sets 8-10 reps Superman
30 Minutes of High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio