alpha workout sample exercises

8/13/2019 Alpha workout sample exercises

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A P R I L 2 0 1 3 M E N S F I T N E S S

BlueprintTHE PLAN FOR EVERY MAN

ALPHA-MALETRAININGBUILD A DOMINATING PHYSIQUE WITH D ENSER WORKOUTSY JOHN ROMANIELLO AND ADAM BORNSTEIN // PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW HETHERINGTON You cant deny itpart of the appeal of lifting weights and building muscle is to look and feel more powerful thanhe next guy. To be the alpha male among your buddies. But to

do this, you have to be willing to work harder and more fero-ciously than they are. This month, we bring you a plan thatsexcerpted from our book Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha. Itbuilds muscle, shreds abs, and streamlines your ym time, soyou can rule the weight room and then get back to ruling yourworld outside it. This is highly evolved tness.

YOUR WORKOUT OF THE MONTH

Keep your elbowsas high as possibleand youll be able tobalance the weight.

40The approximate percentage of your

body weight that is muscle


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BLUEPRINT Your Workout

G R O O M I N G B Y L I N D S E Y W I L L I A M S / A R T I S T S B Y T I M O T H Y P R I A N O ; C

L O

T H I N G : A

D I D A S S H I R T A N D S H O E S

, R E E B O K S H O R T S

FREQUENCY: Perform each workout (Day 1, 2, 3, and 4)once per week. The order ofthe sessions will rotate weekly,so see the chart on the bottomof this page for a full four-weektraining schedule. You mayperform cardio of your choice onthe days where it is indicated.

HOW TO DO IT: Perform the pairedexercises (marked a and b)as supersets. Alternate them back and forth, resting as need-ed, until the allotted time is up.Exercises marked a, b, andc are a circuitcomplete oneset of each in turnand continuefor the prescribed time. Afteryou run through a pair or circuitfor one block of time, youll restand then repeat it once more with more weight or for a longerduration. Youll rest again, andthen move on to the next group.

HOW IT WORKS

The theme here is densitytraining. Each time you repeata workout, the goal will be to get more work done than thesession before without increas-ing your training time. We groupyour exercises (as supersets ormini circuits) and assign each group a time frame. Youll doas many reps as you can in thatperiod for each lift, and work toincrease that number over time.To do it, youll have to shavedown your rest periods and pushyourself harder, which will resultin getting stronger, improvingendurance, and burning morecalories. In four weeks, youshould be seeing the beginnings

of a body thats evolved to thenext level.

DIRECTIONS

DAY 11aFront Squat> Grasp the bar atshoulder width and raiseyour elbows up so yourupper arms are parallel to the oor. Nudge the baroff the rack and walk itout of the rack. Plant yourfeet at shoulder width and turn your toes slightly out.Squat down as deeply asyou can without losing thearch in your back.

Alternate exercises for 5minutes. Afterward, rest 3 5minutes, and then repeatthe superset with 5 10%more weight for another 5minutes. Rest 3 5 minutesand go on to exercises 2a, 2b, and 2c.

2bUpright Row> Hold the bar at almost twice shoulder width,palms down, and raise itin front of your body untilyour elbows are bent 90degrees. Your elbowsshould not be higher thanshoulder level.

2cDumbbellBench Press> Grasp a dumbbell in eachhand and lie back on a atbench. Hold the dumbbellsat shoulder level and press them over your chest.

Cycle through theexercises for 6 minutes. Afterward, rest 3 5 minutesand then repeat the circuitwith 3 5% more weight foranother 6 minutes. Rest 3 5 minutes and go on toexercises 3a and 3b.

1bBentover Row> Stand holding the barat shoulder width andbend your hips back untilyour torso is parallel to the oor. Keep your lowerback in its natural archand bend your knees asneeded. Squeeze yourshoulder blades togetheras you row the bar to yourbelly. Do not bounce reps.

2aReverse Lunge> Hold a dumbbell in eachhand and step backwardwith one leg. Lower yourbody until your rear kneenearly touches the oorand your front thigh isparallel to the oor.

3aEZ-bar Curl> Hold an EZ bar with ashoulder-width grip. Keep-ing your elbows close toyour sides, curl the bar.

Alternate for 4 minutes. Afterward, rest 2 minutes,then repeat for another

5 minutes.

3bLateral Raise> Hold a dumbbell ineach hand and raise theweights 90 degrees out to your sides.

Training ScheduleThe order of the workouts will rotate formaximum gains.

Day 1 Day 2 Off Day 3 Off Off Day 4

Cardio Day 2 Day 4 Off Day 1 Off Day 3

Cardio Day 4 Off Day 3 Day 1 Off Day 2

Cardio Day 4 Day 1 Off Day 3 Day 1 Off

M O N

T U E S

W E D

T H U R

F R I

S A T

S U N

Focus your eyes onthe floor in front of you and maintain a flat back. Pull the barinto your navel.




1aRomanian

Deadlift> Grasp the bar at shoul-der width and bend yourhips back. Keeping yourlower back arched and thebar pulled in against yourbody, lower your torsountil you feel an intensestretch in the hamstrings.Extend your hips to comeback up.

Alternate exercises for 5minutes. Afterward, rest 35minutes, and then repeatthe superset with 510%more weight for another 5minutes. Rest 35 minutes,and go on to exercises 2a, 2b, and 2c.

1bPush Press> Hold the bar at shoulderwidth and nudge it off therack. Keep your forearmsperpendicular to the oor.Quickly bend your hips anddip your knees to gathermomentum and thenexplosively press the baroverhead.

2aPullup> Hang from the bar withhands just outside shoul-der width. Pull yourselfup until your chin is over the bar. If pullups are toodifficult, you can performlat pulldowns.

2bGoblet Squat> Hold a dumbbell orkettlebell (as shown) withboth hands at shoulderlevel. Stand with feetshoulder-width apart and toes turned out slightly.Bend your hips back andsquat as low as you can.

DAY 22cPushup

> Keep your body straightwith your abs braced.Lower your body until yourchest is one inch above the oor.

Cycle through theexercises for 6 minutes. Afterward, rest 3 5 minutesand then repeat the circuitwith 3 5% more weight foranother 6 minutes. Rest 3 5 minutes, and go on toexercises 3a and 3b.

3aBarbell CalfRaise> Set up a barbell as if to squat, but stand on ablock or step. Lower yourheels toward the oor soyou feel an intense stretchand then raise them ashigh as you can.

Alternate for 4 minutes. Afterward, rest 2 minutes,then repeat for another5 minutes.

3bDumbbell Flye> Hold a dumbbell in eachhand and lie back on a atbench. Press the weightsover your chest withpalms facing each other.Keeping a slight bend inyour elbows, lower theweights out and awayfrom your body until youfeel a deep stretch inyour pecs. Bring yourarms back up.

Push your knees outas you descend and sit back as i f you werelowering yourselfinto a chair.

Pull your shoulderbladestogetherthroughoutthe set.

A B

The number ofelectric impulsesper second atwhich nearly allthe muscle bersin a muscle arerecruited. Thisamount of energyallows you to doa set of eight repsto failure.

80Choose the Right Weight For every a and b exercise in each workout, choose a weight youre sure you can lift 812 times. For every a, b, and c circuit, choose a weight you can lift 1215 times. Do not go to failure on any set. If you choose a weight that allows you 812 reps, perform only halfthat many reps on your first set (46). You need to delay fatigue in order to keep going for the allottedtime. Ultimately, it doesnt matter how many reps you get per set. Just keep track of the total for eachlift and try to beat it the next time.




1aRomanianDeadlift> See Day 2.

Alternate exercises for 5minutes. Afterward, rest 3 5minutes, and then repeatthe superset with 5 10%more weight for another 5minutes. Rest 3 5 minutes,and go on to exercises 2a, 2b, and 2c.

1bPush Press> See Day 2.

2aInverted Row> Set a barbell in a powerrack or Smith machine

so that you can hangunderneath it with handsshoulder width. Keepingyour body straight,squeeze your shoulderblades together and pullyourself up until yourchest reaches the bar.

2bHack Squat> Use a hack squatmachine and stand withfeet shoulder width.Squat as low as you can.

JOHN ROMANIELLO and ADAM B ORNSTEIN are theauthors of Man 2.0 Engineeringthe Alpha: A Real World Guideto an Unreal Life, availablefrom HarperCollins on April 16.engineeringthealpha.com

DAY 4

3aRear-delt Flye> Hold a dumbbell in eachhand and, keeping yourlower back arched, bendyour hips back until your torso is parallel to theoor. Squeeze your shoul-der blades together as youraise the weights out 90degrees to your sides.

Alternate for 4 minutes. Afterward, rest 2 minutes,then repeat for another 5minutes.

3bReverse Curl> Hold an EZ-curl bar withhands shoulder width andpalms down. Curl the barup while keeping your el-bows close to your sides.Do not let your elbowsdrift forward.

1aTrap-barDeadlift> Use a trap bar (aka hexbar) and grasp the highhandles. Your feet shouldbe hip width. Keeping yourback at, extend your hips to stand straight up.

Alternate exercises for5 minutes. Afterward, rest 3 5 minutes and then repeatthe superset with 5 10%more weight for another 5minutes. Rest 3 5 minutes

and go on to exercises 2a, 2b, and 2c.

1bHigh Pull> Hold the bar at almost twice shoulder width andbend your hips back tolower the bar below yourknees. Keeping your lowerback in its natural arch,explosively extend yourhips and come up onto theballs of your feet as youpull the bar to chest level,driving your elbows back.

2aReverse Lunge> See Day 1.

2bFace Pull> Attach a rope handle to the top pulley of a cablestation and grasp an endin each hand with palmsfacing you. Pull the rope toyour face, aring your el-bows out until your upperback is fully contracted.

2cDumbbell Over-head Press> Stand holding a dumbbellin each hand and press theweights straight overhead.Keep your core braced.

Cycle through the exer-cises for 6 minutes. After-ward, rest 3 5 min. and thenrepeat the circuit with 3 5%more weight for another 6min. Rest 3 5 min., and goon to 3a and 3b.

2cSqueeze Press> Hold a dumbbell in eachhand and lie back on aat bench. Squeeze theweights together over yourchest and then press up.Keep the tension constant throughout the set.

Cycle through theexercises for 6 minutes. Afterward, rest 3 5 minutesand then repeat the circuitwith 3 5% more weight foranother 6 minutes. Rest 3 5 minutes, and go on toexercises 3a and 3b.

3aSeated CalfRaise> Use a seated calf raisemachine or place dumb-bells on your thighs. Lower

your heels toward theoor until you feel a deepstretch in your calves.Raise your heels as highas you can.

Alternate for 4 minutes. Afterward, rest 2 minutes,then repeat for another 5minutes.

3bShrug > Hold a barbell atshoulder width andshrug your shoulders as

high as you can.

Keep your elbowsout and your thumbs pointing back.

A

B

53The maximumnumber of minuteseach workoutshould take

DAY 3

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