Ultimate Workout
Hi everybody. It's me, the lump of winter-past. Today in Santa Cruz, home sweet home, it was gold and emeralds and 75 degrees. The cobalt and steel gray, the wet and the cold have faded. They'll be back before the Spring dances, but only for a short encore. Today it was smiles for miles and pumps for the lumps. YES.
The war is over, the battle's have begun. Laree and I have just finished moving our cluttered office from an old Victorian house to our little loft above the kitchen. It's no longer cluttered, it's packed: wall to wall desks, shelves and filing cabinets under a low slanting, head-breaking beam ceiling. Laree sits in the center of the mess like a kid floating in an inner tube. Cute. Now she can work 24 hours a day, no excuse. There'll be necessary breaks for workouts, preparing my hamburgers and tuna and housecleaning. Busy burns calories; she's in heaven. I lied about the hamburgers and housecleaning. I do that. Bombers do everything.
There's a guy, a sort of bodybuilding junkie, who lives in Denmark or Denver or somewhere around there. He posts regularly on IronOnline and asks a very interesting question.
" Hi Dave - er - what's that last name again? Drip? Drop? Draper - got it! Try to imagine this. You're back in the year 1962 and trying to build as much muscle bulk as humanly possible. With all the knowledge you have today, what would your training program look like? I'm not talking recommendations for others here. What I mean is, if you were to design the ultimate muscle-bulk building program for Dave D in 1962, what would it look like? The program should specify exercises, straight sets/supersets, sets, reps, days per week and so forth. I know we're about to enter the Get Ripped Season, but heck, I'm still concentrating on muscle bulk - just can't help myself. Henrik (That slice of homemade Danish Pastry)"
Henrik is a loveable, short stout fellow - we call him stubby. If he bulks up any more, he won't have to walk - he can roll around like an over-inflated beach ball. Neat guy.
Now let's get to the routine. Incidentally, since Laree and I are driving to San Francisco in the early morning to visit a gym equipment Expo of monstrous proportions, I will only outline the upgraded program of 1962. I'll leave the details until next week's newsletter. More thought may have me alter what I write here tonight.
Day 1
Abs
Combinations of incline crunches, leg raises, rope tucks and hyper extensions - elaboration to follow next week
Chest and Back
Bench press supersetted with chins
Dumbbell inclines supersetted with dumbbell pullovers
Single cable crossover
Bentover barbell row
Seated lat row
Day Two
Abs
Same as Day 1
Legs
Extensions, curls and mild calf raises in superset for warmups
Squats
Calves
Day 3
Abs
Same as Day 1
Shoulders and Arms
Rotary cuff tubing exercises
Press behind neck supersetted with side arm lateral raises
Steep dumbbell press supersetted with bentover lateral raises
Wrist curls
Barbell curl supersetted with overhead triceps extension
Seated dumbbell alternates supersetted with lying triceps extension, followed by pulley pushdowns
Day 4
Rest
Day 5
Abs
Same as Day 1
Legs - repeat Day 2
Day 6
Shoulders, Back, Arms
Rotary cuff tubing exercises
Press behind neck supersetted with chins
Mid to Steep Incline dumbbell press supersetted with pullover
Bentover row
Wrist curl
Barbell curl supersetted with dips
Day 7
Rest
The above is a basic rundown of how things would go if edited. Five sets of everything, 6-8 reps here, 8-10 reps there, pyramiding where effective. It's not unlike what I do today, not as much as I did then. I'll review this and expand on it next week, defend my volume and the appearance of overtraining. Eat big.
About Henrik. In the land where he dwells, Denmark, they don't make stubby people. The man is known as "The House" 'cause last time he visited World Gym Santa Cruz, he was 6'5," 275 pounds and looked lean. He is, however, lovable.
dd
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