Last blog post we discussed Day 1 (Sheet 1) of how Jtab formats a program for one of Joey's clients. This week we will break down Day 2 (Sheet 2).
Day 2 is a Full Body workout with Lower Body Pull and Upper Body Push emphasis. Day 2 normally starts with an upper body power drill and immediately goes into a drill that either helps hip mobility, hinge work for the deadlifts that are coming, or an upper back activation drill to make the rest of your workout better.
Section 1- Power Exercise - 3-5 reps for 2-3 sets
1a) Explosive Face Pulls. Why? This drill helps wake up the upper body and create a power output on the upper body as well. This will help set up the rest of the workout as we need the upper back muscles to be firing on all cylinders for heavy deadlifts, etc.
1b) Lower Trap Activation. Why? This piggy backs on the last exercise as it helps fire up the correct upper back muscles so we can use them when we deadlift and press.
Section 2- Strength Exercises for the day. These are opposite movements from Day 1's exercises. These also include a third exercise for hip mobility or core activation. Just like Day 1 strength section we try to stay low reps (about 3-4) so we can go heavier on these.
2a) Trap Bar Deads. Why? Trap bar deads are one of the better hinge assisted drills to create strong hips, glutes and hamstrings and upper backs. It also teaches clients how to correctly pick things up off the floor, something that happens all the time at home and at work.
2b) Push Press. Why? We need to work on our pushing muscles and with this exercise you lift overhead, creating strong pushing muscles. This offers a good opposite movement to the trap bar deadlift which is why we do them back to back.
2c) Lateral Lunge Stretch. Why? Deadlifts tend to make your adductors tight and many just have tight adductors in general so this drill will help stretch them out.
Section 3- This is the higher rep range (about 12-15 reps) group of 5 exercises done back to back. This will create further hypertrophy and crank fat loss as a result.
3a) Band Pulldowns. Why? This is a great exercise to keep tension on the lats in a vertical pulling fashion, like a pull-up. Bands allow you to do high reps without breaking form. This spot is reserved for all different kinds of pulling exercises since we just did heavy pressing in the strength section. We all need to pull more than push and this helps keep it a pull heavy program.
3b) Quadruped Leg Raises. Why? This exercise will get those glutes cranking and sore without any loading on the spine since we already did heavy deadlifts before. Most people can stand to do high rep direct glute work towards the end of their program. This spot is reserved for lower body exercises that either compliment or work as an antagonist to the heavy strength exercise.
3c) 1/2 Kneeling LM Press. Why? This is a great overhead shoulder pressing variation that doesn't put as much stress on shoulders but you still helps you really work them. This spot is reserved for all upper body pushing exercises while working on shoulder stability.
3d) SLDL's. Single Leg Deadlifts. Why? This is a great core balancing and hamstring/glute exercise that again deloads your spine but still gives you a great hamstring/glute workout. This spot is reserved for single leg work, either pushing or pulling. I try to figure which the client needs to work on.
3e) Farmer's Walks(1,2). Why? This is a great exercise for either fat burning/conditioning and posture and grip work. Loading bilaterally (one arm) while walking and loaded 1 forces those abs to work to keep yourself walking straight and not tilting to one side. This spot is usually reserved for core exercises or hitting some triceps in the back of your arms.