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The idea of designing this workout came to me when I was training a client who wanted a workout which 'made them look pumped before a night out.' Since then, I have completed this workout with many clients as well as doing it myself, and trust me - it works!
The smile I see on clients faces following this workout is incredible. They are able to see a pump like never before, in muscles they didn't even know they had! I think I have finally mastered the art of making someone look ripped, and more importantly, staying that way.
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They Are Able To See A Pump Like Never Before,
In Muscles They Didn't Even Know They Had!
The Aim Of This Workout
The aim of this workout is to achieve a maximal peak contraction with every exercise. I concentrated on a mixture of both compound and isolation exercises when creating this program. This ensures the muscles are constantly provided with new a stimulus to achieve a huge pump.
The structure of the workout has been created intentionally - doing the opposite to pre exhaust, to ensure the muscle is fatigued before being isolated. This increases the anabolic state of the muscle, working in rep ranges of either 8-10 or 12-15.
As the title suggests, with this workout you are literally targeting your Mirror Muscles - the ones which make people turn their head when you walk by. The upper body is targeted through your biceps, triceps, chest, lats and shoulders.
The aim with this, as mentioned before, is to turn the pre-exhaust workout completely upside down; do the compound exercises first, then the isolated second. The compound exercises allow the majority of fibers to be worked which increases the blood flow to the area. This is then followed by the isolation exercises which target the fast twitch fibers, so this needs to be done at a faster pace.
By doing this, it allows 60% of the muscle to be used more effectively than your average workout helping achieve that desired ripped appearance! The heat generated through this workout within the muscles also makes the commonly desired veins to pop out, to really giving off that bodybuilder look.
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The Aim Of This Workout Is To Achieve A
Maximal Peak Contraction With Every Exercise.
Pump Up Your Muscles
The aim is to produce a peak contraction at the top of each rep. This is also known as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and has been proven to keep the muscle in an anabolic state for longer periods of time; this is what allows that long lasting pump.
For example, when doing a bench press (compound), really squeeze your chest at the top of the rep to get the full effect. This allows the muscle to grow stronger, so by the end of it - trust me when I tell you - the mirror muscle pump you desire will leave you speechless.
My idea links to "backstage bodybuilding" where they use this method before competing to gain that overall physical edge over their opponent. Before every Mr. Olympia, if you were to go backstage, you would see Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman pumping out similar workouts for the same reason. The feeling of the muscle as if it wants to explode, and that instant change in muscle size is what body building is all about.
An ideal muscle pump following this workout will last between 2-3 hours where the muscles will be in a constant anabolic state. To aid this, you should take in constant hydration. Every 20 minutes for the duration of the pump your intake should be 100ml of water. This will maintain that pump through keeping the muscles and vessels hydrated.
This workout should last no more than 1 hour. The recovery phase between each compound exercise will be around 90 seconds, whereas between each isolation exercise you should look to rest for 60 seconds.
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The Mirror Muscle Pump You
Desire Will Leave You Speechless.
The Workout
| READING THIS WORKOUT LOG | |
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Warm-Up:
Dynamic stretching of all muscles to be worked. Notice how I have deliberately written dynamic and not static. Static stretching has been proven to weaken the muscle through lengthening the muscle fibers which could be detrimental to performance, especially during a heavy weight session such as this one.
Complete 15-20 reps of each exercise without weight. This will allow the body to familiarize itself with the movements you will be performing.
Dynamic Stretching:
Dynamic warm-up exercises involve moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement or both. Dynamic stretching consists of controlled leg and arm swings that gently and progressively move you within the limits of your range of motion.
Chest:
- Dumbbell Bench Press (Compound): 80% of 1RM for 10 reps
- Incline Dumbbell Flyes (Isolation): 65-70% of 1RM for 16 reps
- Bench Press (Compound): 85% of 1RM for 8 reps
- Incline Dumbbell Flyes (Isolation): 70% of 1RM for 14 reps
- Incline Dumbbell Press (Compound): 80% of 1RM for 10 reps
- Incline Dumbbell Flyes (Isolation): 80% of 1RM for 10 reps
Biceps:
- Chin-Ups (Compound): 10 reps
- Preacher Curls (Isolation): 65-70% of 1RM for 16 reps
- Chin-Ups (Compound): 12 reps
- Preacher Curls (Isolation): 65-70% of 1RM for 16 reps
Shoulders:
- Military Press (Compound): 80% of 1RM for 10 reps
- Lateral Raises (Isolation): 65-70% of 1RM for 16 reps
- Military Press (Compound): 80% of 1RM for 10 reps
- Front Dumbbell Raises (Isolation): 70% of 1RM for 14 reps
Triceps:
- Dips (Compound): 10 reps
- Lying Triceps Press (Isolation): 65-70% of 1RM for 16 reps
- Close-Grip Bench Press (Compound): 85% of 1RM for 8 reps
- Triceps Pushdowns (Isolation): 70% of 1RM for 14 reps
- Close-Grip Bench Press (Compound): 75% of 1RM for 13 reps
- Lying Triceps Press (Isolation): 75% of 1RM for 13 reps
Lats:
- Pullups (Compound): 10 reps
- Straight-Arm Pulldowns (Isolation): 65-70% of 1RM for 16 reps
- Pullups (Compound): 8 reps
- Straight-Arm Pulldowns (Isolation): 70% of 1RM for 14 reps
Cool Down:
- 15 minutes on cross trainer to gradually lower intensity
- Static stretching - keeps muscular balance and maintain good posture after workout!
Conclusion
My inspiration when designing this workout came from Mike Mentzer's book "High Intensity Training". His theory of high intensity work on the muscle in a limited amount of time, is what has allowed him to be one of the greatest of all time!
More importantly, this workout avoids overtraining. Overtraining is a common factor in the fitness industry where people believe the longer they stay in the gym, the better. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Try this workout, and I am sure you will agree too.
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