The MadMil Workout Plan for 2008
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On my quest to become a world-renowned supermodel, I decided to try this workout plan that I read about months ago. At first, it didn’t really interest me. Now, I wish I had started back then.
I’ve been doing it for about 4 weeks now and I definitely see results. It’s a huge difference from the one I posted last year.
Background.
It’s called High Intensity Training. I learned about it from a blog post where a guy gained a lot of muscle in a month. He spoke mostly of Arthur Jones and his Colorado Experiment which tested two guys doing one set of heavy weights until momentary failure. The experiment monitored how much muscle the people being tested gained, and how much overall strength they gained. Arthur Jones is inventor of the Nautilus workout machines and founded the Nautilus company.)
Here’s my workout plan.
I usually do upper body lifting every other day.
I start out with one set of about half the weight of my high intensity set weight in order to warm up. I do this because I sit at a computer and don’t use any muscles all day. I do 12 repetitions of the warmup set.
Then, I do as many as possible of the heaviest weight I can use. When you get to that last one that you can just baaaaarely squeeze out, I hold that one in it’s full contraction. Then I let it down slowwwwwly. I let it take about 10 seconds to finish that last slow release. That adds focus on the negative resistance that doesn’t usually get as much attention.
Also, each repetition should be done slowly while focusing on good form. Ideally, each one should take 5 seconds in the positive direction, then 5 seconds back to the starting point.
The exercises that I do are:
Bench press, dumbbell curls (either hammer or concentration), single arm dumbbell rows, lateral pull downs, lower back machine, and butterflies on the pec deck. I’m planning to include some type of forearm exercise as well (probably the palms up dumbbell wrist curl). That’s it.
It usually takes about 15 minutes. After I finished one day, I checked my heart rate on a treadmill. My pulse was at 140. That’s pretty good for lifting weights.
That’s what I do Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
What do I do on other days???
I do cardio on Tuesday and Thursday. I run on the treadmill for about 30 minutes overall. I do a 5 minute warmup, then 10-15 minutes running, 5 minute walk, then 10-15 minutes running again.
If you get shin splints (pain and tightness in your shins) like I occasionally do, don’t try to run through it. It’ll only make it worse for the next time. When it happens to me, I start walking for a while until the tightness goes away. Then I do about 2 or 3 more minutes of running until the tightness comes back. I usually walk the rest of my 30 minutes so I get some activity and keep the heart pumping.
When that’s done, I do high intensity leg presses. I do a warmup set then I do as many as I can with the highest weight that I can get moving. I’ve been worried about breaking or tearing something in my gonad region since I’m using such heavy weight around that part of the body. But I figure that’s why I have health insurance.
On some Saturdays, I do yoga in the afternoon. I did it last Tuesday since I gave up tutoring. If you want to know what muscles are weaker than others and what you should pay more attention to, try yoga just once. You’ll see how weak you really are when you have to stand on one foot with the other leg crossed in front of you and your hands reaching for the ceiling.
What not to do.
If you misjudge how much weight you can lift and set it for too low, you’ll end up being able to do more than 10 or so. Maybe even more than 15. But that’s no big deal. Just keep going until you can’t do anymore. Next time, use a higher weight.
DO NOT decide to do a second set with higher weights. That’s what I did when I first started this. But while reading the Colorado Experiment, I found that was a common mistake amongst us rookies. The most important part of this whole workout is to use high weight and do it until you can’t do anymore (momentary failure).
If you try this wonderful workout plan, let me know how it goes for you. If you have any questions about my experiences with it, email me or leave a comment.
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