Sometimes, our fans can teach us a thing or two, which is why each week Muscle & Fitness will be selecting a Bad-Ass Workout of the Week, submitted by one of our highly knowledgeable readers. Then our training experts will explain why we chose the workout, how how to make it even more bad-ass; and what training style it works for.
This week, Dan Trink, Director of Training at Peak Performance, assesses this routine from our Facebook fan Nicholas Lawhead. Let us know what you think, and show off your own workout at badassworkout@muscleandfitness.com. If we think it's worthy, we'll post it on the Muscle & Fitness website.
Follow this split for 3 weeks. On every fourth week, have a de-load week. Do a Crossfit Hero WOD on Mon. Wed. Fri. and Abs on Tues. and Thurs. Sunday and Sat. off.
I like that you’ve got “sprints, burpees, box jumps or anything that sucks” 3 days per week in what you are calling “HIIT of Choice”. It’s kinda sounds like the ultimate Chinese Menu of Pain. You are banging out copius (big word!) amounts of deadlifts, pull-ups, military presses, bench presses, dips, rows and squats. Tried and true exercises which have been getting guys strong for the past 100 years. And we all know that respecting your elders is a true sign of being a bad ass. Finally, you understand that you need to deload about once every four weeks, which is smart and leads to bigger gains in the long run.
HOW TO MAKE IT BADDER:
While all those big lifts are great, your sets and reps schemes are all over the place (1×15, 3×3-5, 5×10 of the same lift, all in the same day). You’d be better off going with something like 3×12-15 one week, 5×6-8 the next week and 4×10-12 the last week, which is a scheme called undulating (again, big word!) periodization. I wouldn’t mind seeing some single leg work in this program. In fact, you’ve got way more upper body exercises than lower body throughout the week. Fix that up or all I’ve to revoke the key card that gets you into the Bad Ass Clubhouse. Finally, your deload sounds like it has more work in it than your ‘normal’ weeks. Keep the volume and intensity in check and give your system time to recover.
WHO SHOULD DO IT:
If you are a fan of the big lifts (and, if you are not, turn off the computer right now, walk over to the mirror, take a good look at yourself and reevaluate everything you believe in. Go ahead, we’ll wait), like incorporating HIIT and value some serious volume, this workout is for you. If you are ‘afraid of getting bulky’, prefer to train with pink dumbbells and secretly like to watch reality shows about a group of sisters who don’t really do anything, this workout may not be your cup of tea.
Dan Trink, CSCS, is a strength coach, personal trainer, fitness writer and nutritional consultant. He is also the Director of Training at Peak Performance in NYC. You can find out more about Dan at www.trinkfitness.com or on Facebook at www.faceboook/trinkfitness.
