It’s Friday folks! The weekend starts today. Well… for most it should, if not then enjoy the time until it comes. By now, I hope most of you have enjoyed the posts and topics I have covered so far on stayfitbug.com. That will not stop! But today it is time to introduce workout routines, those of which I have personally experienced. This is to be known as:

BUGS WEEKLY WORKOUT ROUTINES

Every week I will post a workout schedule, some cardio based, some weights based or a variation of both, and the results that you can aim to achieve from doing them. By outlaying the results you can expect to achieve, it will be easy to identify if the post will be related to you or not. They will be based on what I’ve learned from being an athlete and from since being into fitness, and how effective I found them to be.

Today’s workout routine: Beginner weight training (building for muscle mass)

Ideal for: Beginners and those with busy schedules

I find that it is always best to try and start your workout week on a Monday. This allows you to fully utilize the weekdays and keep your weekends for rest days. Remember this (Balance)

Make sure you perform 1 – 2 sets of Warm-up exercises. Stretch before every first set.

Bugs Workout  Week # 1

KEY

Flat bench press

Incline bench press

Dumbbell Flys

Shoulder press

Lateral raises

Abdominal crunches

Wrist curls

Chin ups

Lat pulldowns

bent over rows

Dead lifts

Bench dips

Squats

Leg curls

Calf raises

Standing barbell curl

Seated barbell curl

Wrist curls

MONDAY

Chest

Flat Bench Press

3 sets

Reps
1.10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Incline Bench Press

3 sets

Reps
1.10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Dumbbell Flys

3 sets

Reps

1.10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Shoulders

Barbell Shoulder Press (Try sitting first)

3 sets

Reps
1.10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Lateral Raises

3 sets

Reps
1. 10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Abdominals

Abdominal Crunches

5 sets to failure

Forearms

Wrist Curls

3 sets

Reps
1. 10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

WEDNESDAY

Back

Chin-ups

3 sets

Lat Pull downs

3 sets

Reps

1.10
2.6
3.4
(To failure)

Bent-over Rows

3 sets

1.10
2. 6
3.4
(To failure)

Dead lifts

3 sets

Reps
1.10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Triceps

Bench Dips
3 sets to failure

Triceps Pull downs

3 sets

Reps
1.10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Abdominals

Abdominal Crunches
5 sets to failure

FRIDAY

Legs

Squats

3 sets

Reps
1. 10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Leg Curls

3 sets

Reps
1.10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Calf Raises

3 sets

Reps
1. 10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Biceps

Standing Barbell Curls

3 sets

Reps
1. 10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Seated Dumbbell Curls

3 sets

Reps
1. 10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Forearms

Wrist Curls

3 sets

Reps
1.10
2. 6
3. 4
(To failure)

Abdominals

Abdominal Crunches
5 sets to failure

The exercises outlined for each day are to work those specific muscle groups, so you can alternate the exercises to suit how you feel, to avoid overtraining specific muscles but more importantly to keep your workout fun.

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This is the muscle group I am most passionate about building. I don’t think there are as many chicken-limbed (arms) guys as there are chicken-legged guys, but I do know they exist in numbers.

The forearms and wrists are some of the hardest muscle groups to build muscle on. When I first started working out, it took me months before I started to see any real muscle gain results in my forearms. Unless the rest of your body is well developed or you show your body off often, wearing t-shirts without having strong forearms will lead people to believe that you are part of the (I really do have muscles…can’t you tell) club.

Your grip strength is extremely important and useful in so many ways.  The stronger your grip, the more weight and heavier weight you can lift and the longer you can keep the position. In a good portion of the more heavy pulling exercises, grip strength is the number one limiting factor. Believe it or not, the most effective forearm grip exercises are not the typical wrist curls you will see most guys in the gym do. You do get a real burn from these exercises and you can gain results from doing so. But the real problem with these exercises is that they don’t encourage practical body motions that we perform in our day-to-day lives. (Similar to some machines in the gym)

Below are some alternative techniques you can use to build HULK LIKE looking forearms, while performing movements that will allow your body to respond and  say ‘that movement makes sense… I’ll go with that’.

Bucket Of Sand

Get a bucket, spade and sand, which you can find at a home improvement store.  Fill the bucket with the sand. Then, you want to put your hand down far into the sand where you still have hand movement. Start moving your hand all over and tightening and loosening your fingers, essentially playing with the sand.

A few minutes of this and your will feel all the muscles in your forearm and the small muscles in your hand start to tighten and you will feel the burn.  Alternate hands a few times, doing this about 3 minutes or more per hand.

Tennis Ball

This method is often used by physical therapists and their patients for regaining grip strength after any type of hand, arm or shoulder surgery.  Common sense will tell you that if you are not trying to “regain” strength, you would be adding to the already existing strength you have. This is convenient as well because you can do it while watching TV. (Better than those hand grip things)

Barbell (A fave)

A former body builder I once knew taught me this. Try it… you will feel the burn!

Take your barbell with a moderate weight and set it on the stand just above knee level.  Stand beside the bar and reach down gripping the centre of the bar with one hand and lift the bar then let it go down below the stand and hold this position for as long as you can.  Your resistance is gravity and balancing the bar with one hand.

Weight Walk

Grab a pair of the heaviest dumbbells you can handle in each hand and walk with them until you cannot hold the dumbbells anymore.  You don’t have to limit yourself to dumbbells, you can use any other heavy object (try younger kids… they’ll enjoy the ride) that you can grip with both hands at the same time, say a couple of bags of dog food or something heavier in each hand.  You can also use the EZ curl bars and load them up to the capacity that you can handle.

Thick Bar

This is a common one. You will see most guys in the gym use this to get the grip strength they are looking for.  Using a thicker bar puts a very different kind of stress on the grip and forearms, giving you vast improvement.  There are many types of commercial grips that you can buy to add to your dumbbells even, but to make them thicker, you can wrap them with tape to gain the thickest size for your preference.

Reverse Curls

These are actual reverse barbell curls. This is the exercise that will put your forearms into fatigue mode real quick. Your grip will literally be the only thing keeping the bar from falling to the floor. (I have the power!)

Wrist Straps

I am only including this because this is a huge no-no when you are trying to develop your natural grip strength. As you know, the wrist straps serve as an assistant and this will hinder any progress you might be shooting for. It is okay to use them for the heavier lifts, but if you become dependent on them, you will not gain the grip strength and forearm development that you need.

Hanging

Just hang? Yes… just hang. Sounds easy, but don’t be fooled by this one. You can really only accomplish this as long as you have a chin-up bar (Stick one at the top of the door).  Grab the bar with your hands evenly apart and just hang there until you can no longer hang. What I mean is not just letting go when your hands get fatigued.  I am talking about hanging there until your fingertips are the only things holding you up and you literally fall off the bar because your hands have locked up with lactic acid. This will also accomplish a great upper body stretch.

All of the above exercises are pretty simple to perform. More importantly they encourage natural motion and will definitely catch a ladies attention when she grabs your arm

Related posts:

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