The New Workout

On the way back from Vegas, I picked up an issue of Men's Health Magazine. My hero, "the most electrifying man in sports and entertainment", The Rock, was on the cover. The article dealt with his new diet and workout regimen which has cut his body fat from 14% to 7%. While I did examine his diet, I was more interested in the manner in which he worked out. Over the past couple of years, The Rock's body shape has changed from bulky muscle to lean muscle and those are the results that I ultimately desire.

Using The Rock's workout, I have created a modified version better suited for the time I can, and would like to devote to working out. So here is the gist: four days a week, three body parts a day, reduce the cardio.

-- Day 1 --
Body parts: Chest, biceps, back
Sets/Reps: 5 sets of 15-20 reps
Rest between sets: 30 seconds
Cardio: 5 minute warm-up, 12 minute intense workout, 5 minute cool-down

-- Day 2 --
Body parts: Shoulders, triceps, stomach
Sets/Reps: 5 sets of 15-20 reps
Rest between sets: 30 seconds
Cardio: 5 minute warm-up, 12 minute intense workout, 5 minute cool-down

-- Day 3 --
Body parts: Chest, biceps, back
Sets/Reps: 5 sets of 12-15 reps
Rest between sets: 45 seconds
Cardio: 5 minute warm-up, 12 minute intense workout, 5 minute cool-down

-- Day 4 --
Body parts: Shoulders, triceps, stomach
Sets/Reps: 5 sets of 12-15 reps
Rest between sets: 45 seconds
Cardio: 5 minute warm-up, 12 minute intense workout, 5 minute cool-down

While this workout is successful for many reasons, what truly makes it click is the 5 up, 5 down repetition pattern. What this means is take 5 seconds to lift the weight up and 5 seconds to bring the weight back down. Frequently, I have walked into a gym and seen these buff "tough guys" lifting (jerking) extremely heavy weights as fast as they can. This can cause muscle and ligament damage. The 5 up, 5 down pattern with an increase in repetitions and decrease in weight causes you to control the weights and the stress you are putting on your body. The slower lifting pace is much more challenging than you would expect and I would throw it up against any other theory as far as difficulty goes.

How is this different from my previous workouts? Isolation. Prior to reading this article, my idea of isolation was arms, midsection, lower body. This workout calls for more precise isolation, e.g. arms = biceps/triceps, lower body = quads/hamstrings/calves. This will allow me to focus on the specific body parts where I am looking for results and not tire out the entire muscle group before giving it the desired workout.

Why reduce the cardio? Because it does not tone the muscles like weight training does. Yes, cardio will help burn calories and make you lose weight, but that will make you skinny as a stick, not give you muscle definition. A balanced workout of weights and cardio is always best.

Will this work? Who the heck knows...this is my first week using this program!