T R AI NI NG

WWW. MENS HE ALT HSA . CO. Z A 144 NOV EMBER 2007

HYPERTROPHY STRENGTH & CORE: HIGH VOLUME PROGRESSIVE LOADING
FOUR-DAY SPLIT ROUTINE Monday Split 1 Tuesday Split 2 Wednesday Rest Thursday Split 1 Friday Split 2 Saturday & Sunday Rest
high-quality training sessions being imple-
mented. You need to conserve energy for
your matches, and use the foundation
of muscle work that you built during the
off-season to avoid injury.
N
OW THAT YOU HAVE YOUR ROUTINE,
and the exercises, you just need to
do the homework. McIntyre recom-
mends no more than 45 to 50 minutes a day
any longer than an hour and cortisol can
start to work catabolically in your system,
denying you good muscle gains. You need
eight hours of decent sleep and to eat proper
food (check out our website www.mens-
healthsa.co.za for a balanced eating plan).
McIntyre also recommends changing the
way you do your exercises every few weeks.
You obviously need to be consistent in the
application of the basic training principles,
but you can emphasise different aspects
of an exercise by doing it at different speeds
SPLIT 1: CHEST, BICEPS AND BACK
Rest between supersets: two consecutive exercises, then one to two minutes rest, repeat for prescribed sets.
Warm-up 5 to 10 mins Cycle/Row/X-Trainer
Sets Reps Load
1. Bench press (BB)
2. Standing curls (BB)
5 each and
supersets
12, 10, 8, 6
and 12
70-85%
of max
3. Incline press (DB)
4. Alternate hammer curls (DB)
3 each and
supersets
12, 10, 8 70-85%
of max
5. Dead lift (BB)
6. Reverse grip lat pull-down
3 each and
supersets
12, 10, 8 70-85%
of max
7. One-arm rows (DB)
8. Cable crosses
4 each and
supersets
12, 10, 10, 8 70-85%
of max
9. Pull-ups 3 Max/set Body weight
Cool down Stretch
BB - Barbell DB - Dumbbell
SPLIT 2: LEGS, SHOULDERS, TRICEPS AND ABS
Rest between supersets: two consecutive exercises, then one to two minutes rest, repeat for prescribed sets.
Warm-up 5 to 10 mins Cycle/Row/X-Trainer
Sets Reps Load
10. Squat (BB)
11. Seated press (DB)
5 each and
supersets
12, 10, 8,
6, 12
70-85%
of max
12. Lunges (DB)
13. Lateral raises (DB)
4 each and
supersets
12, 10, 10, 8 70-85%
of max
14. Dips
15. Ab crunches
3 each and
supersets
12, 10, 8 70-85%
of max
16. Tricep push-downs
17. DB step-ups
4 each and
supersets
10 70-85%
of max
18. Bridge and abs combo
(Hold bridge for 30 secs, roll over and com-
plete 20 ankle touches, feet on the ground)
3 30 secs
and 20
Cool down Stretch
Plateau-buster
To stop hitting limits on weights or having dips
in your energy, McIntyre recommends the use
of a super-compensation training cycle. How
this works is that you use a three-week load,
one-week unload cycle meaning you train
for three weeks with the goal of bettering tar-
get weights by the end of the third week. The
next week you drop your training days by half,
letting your muscles recuperate. In the fth
week, start the cycle again, but with new goals,
and a revitalised body.
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