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Exercise Selection and Sequence
There are 4 phases of training that we are going to use. They are Activation, Maximum Force, Super Pump, and Loaded Stretch and they work in that order. Personally, I think activation is more useful for body parts you have a hard time 'feeling'. So, if you can't feel your lats it's good to do an isolation exercises with lighter weight higher reps to build the mind muscle connection before getting into a moderate rep range with heavier weights to generate maximum force.
Sample workouts
Shoulders / Triceps
1. Shoulder Press. Goal = train explosively. Do a few warm up sets and then get into your working sets. Do 3 sets with ascending weight. Example, 135x6, 145x6, 155x6. The last rep of the last set should be hard to the point you probably couldn’t do another.
2. Over-and-backs. Super Pump / Time under tension. Simply take a barbell in the front rack postion and lift it over your head from the front position to the back position. This is one rep. Do 8-12 reps working up in weight with each set. 3-4 sets.
3. Lateral delt raises. Goal = Super Pump. Do standard lateral raises here. Like always we are going to be working up in ascending weight. I like these in the 12-15 rep range. Make sure you’re keeping tension on the delts and not the traps which can happen if you go up too high or aren’t controlling the weight. Feel free to throw a drop set in here too.
4. Partial Dumb bell lateral raises. Goal = overload / Super Pump. Simply grab a dumb bell that’s maybe 20 pounds or so heavier than what you were doing your lateral raises with and do partial reps with it. You’re probably going to want to use straps for this. Do 3-4 sets in the ~20 rep range. As you get tired your range of motion will decrease just keep swinging but maintain control, don’t stick your neck out and tweak it.
5. Close Grip Bench Press, Machine Dip, JM Press, take your pick here. We want a lift that’s a bit heavier here and go for a moderate 6-8 rep range training the triceps explosively.
6. Close grip cable attachement tricep pushdown. We are going to target the lateral head here. Do reps in the 12-15 range and really keep tension on the triceps getting them full of blood.
7. Behind the head tricep extension. Now that the muscle is loaded with blood we are going to stretch it out. Take your pick here, could be a standing or bent rope extension on a cable machine, a behind the head extension machine, or seated dumbbell extensions. Lots of options here. Make sure you’re going nice and controlled and on the last rep of each set hold the stretch positon for ten seconds.
8. Rear delts. You can use a reverse pec deck or bent over dumb bell swings with a palms facing down grip (neutral grip is ok but not as effective). I want 3-4 sets of 20-25 reps here. If you are using a machine then hold the last rep in the contracted position for 10 seconds on the last rep of each set. These get tough, just keep swinging away. Range of Motion is less important here as the set continues.