January 19, 2012 Workout Routine- Shoulders & Legs Supersets

Muscle Prodigy is committed to helping you with your fitness goals. You need to hit the gym often and hard. However, sometimes it gets overwhelming with what to do in the gym. We're here to break down a structure for you that will include a detailed script of exactly what you should be doing in the gym each day. That's right...every Monday we will post the schedule for the week, meaning that you will have advance notice of exactly what days you should be hitting the gym, which muscle groups you will be training, and which days you have off to give your body adequate rest. Every single morning, we will post the routine of the day, so you know exactly what to do while in the gym.

These routines are exactly what the founders of Muscle Prodigy do, so you know that you are in good hands. We will always stay committed to provide you with tough workouts, but we will never overtrain you like most other programs do. We also show you exactly how to perform the exercises with our before and after pictures and our instructional videos, in which we demonstrate the exercises and walk you through them. Be sure to check back every single day for your structured workout program!

Please check out our Exercise Database to learn how to do any type of workout as well. 

Schedule for the Week of January 16, 2011:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Cardio/Abs
Thursday: Shoulders/Legs
Friday: Arms
Saturday: Cardio Only
Sunday: Off

For this week, you will focus on doing both compound supersets and isolation supersets. Isolation exercises target one specific muscle and are great for building definition. Therefore, an example of a bicep isolation superset would be pumping out one arm cable curls followed immediately by concentration curls. Isolations are particularly good for building your weaker muscles. Compound exercises are used to work out a group of muscles. Therefore, when you do 2 sets of a very similar exercise on the same muscle group, it is called a compound superset. These are great for building and balancing all the muscles of a group since they get hit by two similar exercises one right after the other. A compound superset example would be doing a flat bench press followed immediately by an inclined bench press. 

For Thursday, January 19, 2011, you will focus on your shoulders and legs with supersets. You should immediately go from one exercise to the next. After you do both exercises (which counts as one superset), you should rest for no more than two minutes and repeat with the supersets. When going from one superset to the other, make sure you lower the weight by around 40%. Therefore, if you do 225 lbs. on squats, you would want to drop the weight down to 135 lbs. on lunges and try to get the same amount of reps as the first exercise. You should adjust the weight accordingly so that you can do around the same reps between the two but struggling on the last few reps. 

Shoulders

1) Military Dumbbell Shoulder Press (right to Arnold Press)

5 sets of 12 reps 

Sit down on a seat with a back rest with feet sturdily planted on the ground, head looking forward, back straight against the pad but with a slight arch, and abs tight. Kick up the dumbbells with your knees to prevent injury so that each dumbbell is beside your head at ear level. Palms should be facing forward. In one smooth motion, push the dumbbells up until the dumbbells are over your head and arms are locked out. Slowly bring the dumbbells back down to the original position until your arms parallel to the ground.

1) Arnold Press

Sit down on a seat with a back rest with feet sturdily planted on the ground, head looking forward, back straight against the pad but with a slight arch, and abs tight. Curl the dumbbells up so the dumbbells are being held by your chest with your arms tucked into your sides. In one smooth motion, push the dumbbells up whilst simultaneously rotating the dumbbells (so palms switch directions 180 degrees) until the dumbbells are over your head and arms are locked out. Slowly bring the dumbbells back down to the original position with the dumbbells in front of your chest and palms facing towards you.

Stand up to a barbell, with feet shoulder-width apart, and deadlift it up properly in order to prevent injury. With the barbell in hand (hands at shoulder-width apart) with both palms facing toward your body, and head looking forward, back straight, abs tight, and feet planted, clean the bar up to your shoulders by rotating your wrists and lifting the bar while getting under it, and simultaneously splitting your legs so that one foot is in front of the other (staggered stance).  Keep your knees bent. Press the barbell up over your head until your arms lock out and fully extended above. Slowly bring the barbell back down to the original position in which your arms are just below parallel.

2) Bent Over Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise

Stand up with a dumbbell in each hand and feet shoulder-width apart, holding the dumbbells out in front of your thighs with arms bent 90 degrees at the elbow (palms should be facing each other). With head looking forward, back straight, body bent over at the waist, abs tight, and feet planted, slowly bring the dumbbell up sideways in an arc-like motion until it is level with your shoulders while keeping your arm bent 90 degrees throughout the motion. Hold them at the top for a brief moment to squeeze your deltoid muscles at the top of the movement. Slowly bring the dumbbells back down in that same arc-like motion until your arms are hanging down in front of your thighs again.

3) Cable Front Raises (right to Standing Dumbbell Shrugs) 

5 sets of 20 reps (go for the pump)

Place a handle on the lowest (shortest) setting of the cable rack. Stand with your back facing to the cable rack, with feet shoulder-width apart, and grab the handle from behind you as illustrated wit arm fully extended (handle should be behind your leg). With head looking forward, back straight, abs tight, and feet planted, slowly bring the dumbbell up in an arc-like motion until it is level with your eyes while keeping your arm fully extended throughout the motion (don't bend your arm). Hold it at the top for a brief moment to squeeze your front deltoid at the top of the movement. Slowly bring the handle down in that same arc-like motion until your arm is hanging down again.

3) Standing Dumbbell Shrugs

Stand up to two dumbbells, with feet shoulder-width apart, and deadlift them up properly in order to prevent injury. With the dumbbells in hand and head looking forward, back straight, abs tight, and feet planted, shrug the dumbbells up using your traps (bring your shoulders and traps up to your ears) keeping your arms fully extended (don't bend your arms). Do not roll your shoulders backward or upward to bring them up either. It should be brought up in a linear motion. Squeeze your traps at the top of the movement. Slowly bring your shoulders down in a linear movement until your arms are hanging down again.