Upper Body Strength & Power Routine

This is a very simple and effective routine you can use to really pack some
muscle onto your upper body and increase your strength at the same time. It’s
simple because simple works.

A lot of the exercises will be similar to the ones in the Spartan Health
Regime manual. Again, because they work. But this is a slightly different
variation that I’ve teaching and it’s working great.

I actually trained with a friend of mine on this routine and we have both done
very well. This is a big guy (118kgs/260lbs) who has always stuck with crappy
bodybuilding exercises in the past. So if this routine is able to keep him
happy without letting him do bloody dumbbell flys or concentration curls, you
know it must be pretty result producing!

You train only twice each week. Something like Mon & Thu, or Mon and Fri etc.
You want to have at least 2 days rest between sessions.

Session One Session Two

Barbell Press: Dips:
2 warm-up sets 5 reps 2 warm-up sets 5 reps
3 sets of 3-5 reps 3 sets of 3-5 reps (with weight)

Chin-ups: Chin-up Grip Pulldowns:

2 warm-up sets 5 reps 2 warm-up sets 5 reps
3 sets of 3-5 reps(with weight) 3 sets of 3-5 reps

Dumbbell Bench Press: Barbell Press:

2 warm-up sets 5 reps 2 warm-up sets 5 reps
3 sets of 3-5 reps 3 sets of 3-5 reps

Barbell Curls: Dumbbell Curls:

2 warm-up sets of 5 reps 2 warm-up sets of 5 reps
3 sets of 3-5 reps 3 sets of 3-5 reps

That’s the basic routine. It may not look it on paper but it really works the
upper body hard. Of course this assumes you are a Spartan and train hard in
the first place, of course.

You can work your legs and lower back on a separate day or after you finish
the above routines. You may even want to rest your leg training for a while
and run instead, it’s up to you.
This workout will hit your whole upperbody but if you look closely you’ll
notice the Barbell Overhead Press is the only exercise worked twice in one
week. There’s a reason for this. I want you to really concentrate on building
up your Pressing strength. Building a thick and powerful shoulder girdle is
very important.

Do the exercises in the same manner I describe in the Spartan program. That
is, two warm-up sets, then 3 working sets trained hard. In the working sets
you use a weight you can get at least 3 reps with for all 3 sets. Once you get
all 3 sets with 5 reps, you add some weight. Reps are done explosively and in
good form – don’t get too sloppy just for the sake of ego.

Warm-Ups:
Do a general warm-up before you start. Some light jogging, rowing or
stationary biking. Then do some light exercises for your arms, shoulders,
chest and back. Include some lower back in that warm-up because you don’t want
to be injuring your lower back. After this you can start training. Don’t skimp
on the standard “2 warm-up sets of 5 reps”. Even if you feel you don’t need
them. They don’t just help prevent injury. They are for getting your body into
the right ‘grove’ for the coming hard sets and are very important.

General Notes:
• I like to use an Olympic Bar when I train but it doesn’t really matter.
• Do the Overhead Barbell Press standing on your feet, no sitting down.
Standing puts more stress on the back and builds more functional strength.
• The Pulldowns are done on a Pulldown/Lat Machine in the gym. But you want
to use the same grip you would if you were doing chins. A good supplemental
exercise for back and chin-up strength.
• You can do Barbell Bench Press instead of Dumbbell Bench Press if you want.
I like dumbbells because they build more functional strength, it’s harder
to stabilize them, and you can train them on your own. This is a good
supplemental exercise for dips.
• Dumbbell Curls are done standing and in an ‘alternate’ fashion. So you curl
the right one up and down. Then the left one up and down. That is 1 rep.
• On the Second Session you may not be as strong in the Press because you
have already trained Dips hard. That’s OK. This is like a bonus Pressing
session. I try and maintain whatever weight I used in Session One’s workout
but if you have to go a little lighter that’s fine.

This workout gives a good variety so you don’t get bored. Plus every exercise
builds strength that helps the other exercises. It works like a cycle so that
you will find yourself getting stronger constantly.

We have been training like this for 1 solid year. It’s not something that will
only produce results for a short time. Next issue I’ll tell you a very, very
simple variation on this to start adding even more strength. But you should
really work this one for a few weeks/months first.

Health&Strength
Bova