A Hybrid Workout Part 3

Sumi’s Hybrid Journey Week 2

22 May || by Sumi Singh

Posted in Sumi's Hybrid Program Journal, Training Programs, Women's Health

I’m following the every other day training protocol for Hybrid, and this week begins with a total body Hybrid HIIT protocol. I decide to look up Will’s suggestion for trying his “killer conditioning” day (sounds fun!). In his video, Will uses a piece of cardio equipment that looks like an elliptical/stairstepping machine. Honestly, there are so many choices at the gym, and all the fancy gadgets and screens confuse me a bit, but I pick one that looks similar to the one in his video.

After a brief 5-minute warm up, I do 1 minute low intensity followed by 30 seconds all out 100% tongue-hanging-out panting-like-my-dog effort, and repeat. I did that for 15 minutes, which is literally all I could stand. I get off and my legs are wobbly but I can still walk. Success!

I can’t do math and work out at the same time, but I count the intervals when I’m done and I’ve nine, which sounds like too many. I’m thinking next week I’m going to try this on a machine I’m more familiar with!

Next up is the squat/chins/bench press weight circuit. I’m sweaty and determined. Last week I substituted lat pulls for the chins because I could only complete 12 on round 1 (not 15 like advised), but this week I’m determined to stick to my chinups even if I don’t hit the 15. For set 1 I got to 12, but for round 2 and 3, I barely hit 8 good ones, am mad, so finish 5 reps by jumping up, and working the negatives. I keep telling myself that this will get easier!

I finish with 20 minutes on another new machine (to me), the stair master. At first, I step on the pedals and sink down to the floor like a water buffalo. I look nothing like the cardio bunnies around me who hop on this thing like gazelles.

Why don’t I see these gals on the weight room floor? I ask this question later of the guy at the front desk, and he tells me it’s because they all think weights will make them “bulky.” I’m thinking “really??? Have they seen me? All 112 lbs of bulkiness??” Anyway, I select a function called “glute blaster,” because I figure my glutes need all the help they can get. After this, I head back to the pullup bar and finish 12 chinups…for fun! My heart is pumping and I’m sweating…err glowing!

The next day is a 6X6 upper body core workout. I am really looking forward to this-I get 3 minute rest periods (yum!) and get to push 80% of my max. Today calls for bench presses (love `em), deadlifts (my fave next to barbell squats and pullups!), incline DB presses, and weighted chins (never done them).

I’m pleasantly surprised that I’m able to lift more already on my bench press over from last week on my 5X5 day! I easily get to 6 reps at 85, bump it a little to 90 to get 6 again, and finish a little less peppy with 5 reps at the same weight. Still after supersetting with deadlifts at 135 lbs (I take no break between the bench and the deads, only once the superset is complete do I rest for 3 minutes) I feel good about my effort. I then superset with incline DB presses (I pick up the 40 lbs but only get out 4,6,and 5 reps). It was a challenge from start to finish but I know the 35s would be way too light. Ugh- I need a 37.5!!

The icing on the cake was discovering I could do weighted chins!! When doing regular chins on my Hybrid HIIT day, I’m already a little spent from the circuit, so I assumed the weighted chins would kick my butt. I’m able to do 12 with 5 lbs, so figure I should pick up the 10s on the next two rounds. I’m happy to be able to do more than 6 reps. 8 to be exact! Next time, more weight on that chain!

The next day is a 6X6 lower body day. So far, I haven’t met a day on the Hybrid that I don’t like. I love them all equally! I choose barbell back squats supersetted with leg curls and leg presses paired with straight leg deadlifts. The power rack is my best friend. I warm up for a 135- lb squat with the warm up protocol described by one the brilliant BBR mods. It’s not like what I used to think about warm ups (i.e., 20 reps with a light weight, but a 5,3,2,1 rep scheme with progressively heavier weights).

I get warm and tell myself I’ve come a long way with the weight, but as I approach the last rep and attempt break below parallel on my squat I feel my form give and the power rack pins come to the rescue. Very frustrating! Getting to ¾ of the way is never an issue but below that it’s a whole new challenge. Something to work on for sure and comments welcome!

Still, despite my frustration I know I’ve improved on the leg curl (70 lbs for 6 reps straight after a 135 is good for me- considering I fought with 70 lbs on a 5X5 the previous week!). Though you can’t see the plates too well, I’m currently leg pressing 380 lbs for 6 reps (I think you can tell by the look on my face though- yikes!). Those gals in the fitness mags who smile through this are either pressing nothing for the sake of the shoot or are superhuman. This ain’t pretty!

The final day of this week is another HIIT training day. But before I begin today’s protocol, I head off in the morning to watch a local figure and bodybuilding show. These athletes have trained hard and dieted harder, so I’ve got plenty of admiration for their hard work and sacrifice.

I’m posting some pics of me with some of the Master’s Bodybuilders and the show’s organizer. (Can you see how happy I look next to those guys…ahem. Maybe too happy.) There’s also a shot of the figure girls and women bodybuilders on stage. From a distance they all look amazing. The show’s organizer tells me that she thinks women’s bodybuilding is a dying sport. Only 4 of them compete today, and there are at least 3 times as many figure girls. I also have a chance to chat with the families and friends of the competitors. It’s a very friendly, supportive environment, even though one husband jokes that his wife has been really cranky during the last few weeks of dieting (she wasn’t around to hear that!)



After the show I head home for my final day of Hybrid this week. I’m doing this workout at home, but luckily I have all the tools to get today’s workout complete. I put my toddler down for her nap, and while she’s off in dreamland, I begin my workout.

I set the incline at 1.5, warm up for 5 minutes on the treadmill, and begin with a sprint at a pace of 6:22 for 30 seconds, walk for 1 minute and repeat the madness for 10 cycles. I can only hope my neighbors below forgive me because I assume I’m pounding our floorboards! I have no idea if this pace is a true sprint, but it’s 9.4 out of 10 as far as level of intensity.

The model I’m using only goes up to to 10! I know I worked hard because the squat, chin, and bench circuit kick my butt. Still not able to complete the full 15 for the chins, and my ability to complete them gets harder and harder by circuit 3. But as aggravating as it is, part of my really enjoys the battle. It’s a fight to the end! I finish with a 20 minute walk at a 14:45 pace at a 2.5 incline.

OK, time to go eat!

About Sumi

Sumi is an experienced group fitness instructor, personal trainer, full-time public policy manager, and mom to two-year old Shaila. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Tufts University and a Masters in Environmental Management from Duke University. Her passion for fitness gives her the stress relieving release that keeps her going!

A life-long weight-training addict, some of her most proud fitness accomplishments include: losing all the baby weight just eight weeks after a C-section; bench pressing her own body weight; and placing in her age class in several 5 Ks.

Her personal fitness journey continues to get better and more exciting with time. While she loves to lead by example and inspire people to "go for it," her ultimate goal is to be a great mom. Her daughter’s name, Shaila, means the Goddess of Strength and Confidence. Sumi owes it to her to be strong and confident so that she, too, can realize her full potential!

Sunny is currently following Will Brink's Hybrid Workout program which comes free with the deluxe edition of Will Brink's Bodybuilding Revealed.

Upping Your Fat Burning Workout

Lately I have been sharing with you information about Joel Marions new fat loss program Xtreme Fat Loss. Today I want to share with you a workout that Joel told me about it is a really cool technique that he calls SUPER supersets.


So what’s a SUPER superset? Well, nothing official, but rather a name that he more or less just came up with to describe a technique in which you combine two different superset techniques: Post-fatigue supersets and antagonistic supersets.

If you have no idea what that means, don’t worry, I’ll explain.

When you hear the term “superset” in regards to weight training, it generally refers to performing two exercises for a particular muscle group back to back (with little or no rest inbetween) in order to maximally fatigue the muscle group in question. This is an example of post-fatigue and isolated failure.

A great way to use post-fatigue supersets is to start off with a big, multi-joint movement (for example, the bench press) and then “superset” that movement with a smaller isolation exercise (i.e. dumbbell flyes) to ensure maximal stimulation and fatigue of the target muscle group (in this case, the chest).

Antagonistic supersets on the other hand are a bit different.

For those unfamiliar with the term, antagonists are simply opposing muscle groups or muscles that perform opposite actions. For example, the chest and back are antagonistic muscle groups, triceps and biceps, quads and hamstrings, etc.

With antagonistic supersets, you alternate back and forth between exercises involving opposing muscle groups. For example, do a set of dumbell bench presses and then follow it up with a set of seated rows.

Antagonistic training allows you to save time in the gym by working the opposite muscle group while the other group “rests”. Time between antagonistic supersets is usually longer than between regular ”post-fatigue” supersets, but still allows you to trim rest periods down tremendously in order to cut your workout time by at least a third.

And if that wasn’t enough, antagonistic supersets have also been shown to have an immediate impact on strength levels by inhibiting something known as antagonistic co-contraction (but we’ll save that for another blog post).


So, how do you combine the two for the ultimate SUPER superset?

It’s pretty easy really:

1. Pair antagonistic muscle groups together for your workout. For example, pair chest/back.

2. Set up the use of post-fatigue supersets for each muscle group.

Here’s how to structure your workout:

•Antagonistic superset pairing: chest/back

•Post-fatigue superset pairing for chest: dumbbell bench press (compound)/dumbbell flyes (isolation)

•Post-fatigue superset pairing for back: pull ups (underhand grip; compound)/lat pull downs (wide overhand grip; more isolated)

Combining the two:

A1) Dumbbell Bench Press supersetted with Dumbbell Flyes [12 reps each; no rest between sets]

Rest 45 seconds.

A2) Pull Ups (Underhand Grip) supersetted with Lat Pulldowns (Wide Overhand Grip) [12 reps each; no rest between sets]

Rest 45 seconds.

Repeat the above sequence 5 times.

So how about you? What type of workout did YOU do yesterday? And are you up for giving SUPER supersets a try sometime soon?

If you haven't already go to Xtreme Fat Loss to see how you can burn fat by having a diet cheat day every fifth day.

Strength and Conditioning A Cardio Circuit Training Workout

I have something a little different for you today. I met a guy named Eric Wong recently. Eric is a trainer for MMA fighters. I know your not a fighter but stick with me here. If you have ever watched an mma fight you probably have seen the strength, conditioning and physique of the fighters (ladies this IS for you too).

In talking to Eric I decided to pick his brain a little about the workouts and training fighters do. So he gave me a copy of a workout he uses and I figured you could benefit from it.

If you're training consistently, then sometimes, the concrete walls of the gym can be a little boring. Especially when the sun is shining and the weather is perfect. When this is the case, knowing a few simple bodyweight exercises and the location of the nearest park can re-energize your workouts. Try the following circuit but I'll warn you, it may be simple, but it's far from easy.


This circuit is great because you combine core work, pushing, pulling, and sprinting, which gives you complete development. I consider this an Anaerobic Endurance workout, and would schedule it 6 weeks or farther out from a fight or competition for one of my MMA athletes.

The first thing you need to do is find a park with monkey bars or a swing set. Use a pyramid scheme, meaning that for each set, I start at 8 reps, then drop a rep until you get to 1 rep. If you're a beginner, you might want to start at 5 reps.

This circuit consists of the following exercises:

Chin-ups

Hanging leg raises

Sprinting

Clap push-ups

So do 8 chin-ups, followed by 8 hanging leg raises, sprint a distance that lasts about 20 seconds, then do 8 clap push-ups (or regular push-ups if you can't clap). Keep your rest times at a minute or less, and go hard! When I'm training fighters, I monitor everything. So if you take more rest, write it down. The next time you do this circuit, do the same number of reps, and decrease the rest time. This is how you make progress, and is a missing link in many people's workout routines.

Go to Eric's site Ultimate Strength and Conditioning and get your Free report Crazy 8's bodyweight circuit training workouts

Try This Circuit Training Fat Loss Workout

Fast and Effective Dumbbell Conditioning Fat Loss Circuit
Most people feel that they don’t have time to perform conditioning workouts or fit fat loss sessions on top of their normal strength training.

This is definitely not the case. High intensity, resistance training circuits are designed to get the most impact in the shortest amount of time.

" Benefits of Resistance Training Circuits "

■ high lactic acid => natural GH response

■ rapid fat loss

■ increased metabolism

■ muscular strength endurance

■ mental toughness

* How Do You Design a Fat Loss Circuit Training Workout? *

Pick an implement and get to work. It is that simple. It could be your own bodyweight, kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells, sandbag, medicine ball, thick ropes, Olympic plates or even a combination of any of these. The idea is to move quickly between exercises and complete the circuit. As you become better conditioned you can perform the circuits for multiple runs, ie. hit the circuit, rest briefly and then hit it again.

* How Do You Increase the Intensity of the Circuit? *

■ perform more runs through the circuit

■ perform more reps for each exercise in the circuit

■ increase the weight of the sandbag

■ decrease the rest time between runs

■ increase the tempo (duration of concentric or eccentric phases)




* Here Is The Dumbbell Fat Loss Circuit Training Workout *

1a) DB Front Racked Squats

1b) DB Front Racked Backward Lunges

1c) DB Hammer Curls

1d) DB RDL’s

1e) DB Military Press

1f) DB Laterals

I would like to thank Jim Smith for this great fat loss circuit training workout and Jim is a strength coach, lecturer and author of numerous innovative strength manuals.

Why should you listen to him? Jim has trained athletes from many sports and at various levels.He is an expert author for Men’s Fitness magazine and a member of the Elite Fitness Q/A staff. Jim is also certified as a strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

Go to Accelerated Muscular Development for more on Jim's Fat Loss and muscle building programs.