Workout of the Week: Arms and Legs
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Some folks like to dedicate special training sessions to focus on each of the muscle groups (i.e. isolation exercises). I prefer compound exercises that simultaneously utilize several muscle groups. My workouts therefore always engage the upper and lower body.
My general approach is to incorporate compound exercise splits into my training schedule: This entails four days of full body splits (i.e. training both the upper and lower body through a circuit of complexes or supersets), and then three days of push/pull splits (i.e. upper body pushing, upper body pulling, plus one or two lower body exercises like squats or jumping with some form of added resistance).
This “Workout of the Week” is a dumbbell complex, which largely focuses on the glutes, quads, calves and biceps; but also works the core muscles, chest, back and triceps.
The goal is to shift from one movement to the other without rest. It’s incredibly hard work, because this means doing intensive strength training and cardio for more than one minute at a time.
I initially performed the following complex with ten reps of each movement for five sets (which took me an average of three minutes per set), but in this case, I am synthesizing it to five reps per movement for a total of ten sets. You can do either format (the demo video in this post is of the five rep variation for the sake of time). Neither is “easier,” but you may ideally get more rest doing the latter version. No matter what, by the end of the circuit you’ll be feeling an intense burn, especially in your quads and biceps.
The complex:
Five plank squat hops to bicep curl
Five alternating arm hybrid squat curls
Five kneeling get ups to bicep curl
Five suitcase squat jumps
Rest and repeat for a total of ten sets.
This concludes another “Workout of the Week” for your exercise enjoyment!
If you choose to do this routine, please let me know about your experience. And if you have any specific questions about this workout or general fitness inquiries, please reach out to me. I am always eager to hear from you!
I tried it, and it was too hard!