EXERCISE MONTH 16

 

 

BODY-TYPE EXERCISE / INFO

You are a Mesomorph on a sculpt programme. Fortunately your body-type does not tend to store fat and it finds maintaining muscle relatively easy due to having a good mix of both slow and fast twitch muscle fibre, with the majority being fast twitch. This makes the job of sculpting fairly easy and having the ability to maintain a relatively low fat percentage will help to show muscle definition. You may have heard that performing high rep ranges and lifting light weights is the correct way to achieve definition. At YBP we believe this is the wrong approach, we focus on lifting the correct weight for your specific rep range to define and maintain muscle.

Your exercise plan will be an even mix of resistance and cardio workouts. The type of movement performed in your resistance workouts will be a combination of compound and isolation exercises. The compound exercises are big movements and help in creating the correct hormonal response (boosting growth hormone and testosterone). The isolation exercises will create muscle definition. Your cardio will be in the form of high intensity interval training to help increase mitochondria (where fuel is burnt producing energy). The more mitochondria you have, the more fat you burn. High intensity training will also have the effect of increasing your metabolism, which results in burning more calories over the next 24-36 hours. This is why it is important to keep up the frequency of your training sessions, so try not to have more than one consecutive day off.

At YBP we have researched and created the perfect ratio of resistance and cardio workouts for your body-type on a sculpting goal. We have specified how often to perform these workouts to get the best results. Every month the training concept will change (the concept is the way in which you perform your workouts). Within your concept we have tailored and specified the exact sets, rep ranges, duration, tempo, rest and intensity.


MONTHLY WORKOUT SCHEDULE

Below is our recommended order and number of workouts. Try to stick as close to this as possible. Always keep the order of the workouts the same even if you have to take days off. Ideally do not have more than one day off in a row.

 

 
Day 1 Workout One Day 15 Workout Two
Day 2 Cardio Day 16 Cardio
Day 3 Workout Two Day 17 Workout One
Day 4 Rest Day 18 Rest
Day 5 Workout One Day 19 Workout Two
Day 6 Workout Two Day 20 Workout One
Day 7 Rest Day 21 Rest
Day 8 Cardio Day 22 Cardio
Day 9 Workout One Day 23 Workout Two
Day 10 Workout Two Day 24 Workout One
Day 11 Rest Day 25 Rest
Day 12 Cardio Day 26 Cardio
Day 13 Workout One Day 27 Workout Two
Day 14 Rest Day 28 Rest
 

DYNAMIC WARM-UP

The warm-up is to mobilise and prime your body, it should be specific to the exercise you are about to perform. We recommend 5 mins of gentle cardio to increase body temperature and blood flow to the muscles. Follow this with movements that mimic your exercises but at a slower pace with reduced intensity.
Try our basic warm-up or advanced version with a medicine ball.


RESISTANCE WORKOUT ONE

This concept is called Volume. Perform 2 exercises back to back for 10 reps then rest for 1 minute, this completes a set. Perform 5 sets in total, then move onto the next block of exercises. There are 4 blocks of 2 exercises. Remember to keep the weights heavy and challenging to elicit the correct hormonal and metabolic response. 

 

 

EXERCISE CONCEPT – VOLUME

Exercises in each set 2
Reps 10
Sets 5
Rest between sets 1 min
 

 

Before commencing your workout click here for technique advice on some of the big exercises.

Block One

CHEST PRESS — Bench / Dumbbells

Lie on a flat bench and hold dumbbells with your arms fully extended in a vertical line. Lower the dumbbells towards your chest by bending your elbows, allowing the elbows to flare out to the sides. Press back to full extension.


 

CHEST FLY — Bench / Dumbbells

Lie on a decline bench and hold dumbbells above you with slight elbow flexion. Inhale as you open the arms out to the side until they are in line with the shoulders. Exhale as you raise the dumbbells maintaining slight elbow flexion.


 

Block Two

LEG PRESS — Machine

Place your feet hip width apart on a leg press machine and engage your core. Ensure the feet are in parallel and push through the heels to extend the legs, your knees should track in line with your ankles. Do not lock the knees. Lower with control.


 

LUNGE — Dumbbells

Stand feet hip width apart and hold dumbbells to your side. Lunge forwards until the back knee is just off the floor and both knees are at right angles. Keep the pelvis slightly tucked under and the body upright. Step together and repeat with the same leg.


 

Block Three

SHOULDER PRESS — Dumbbells

Stand feet hip width apart and hold dumbbells with palms facing forward and arms bent. Extend the weights overhead without over arching the lower back, maintain neutral spine. Bend the arms and lower under control, keep the chest open.


 

LATERAL DELT RAISE — Dumbbells

Stand with your feet hip width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and raise them laterally to shoulder height with slight elbow flexion. Lower under control.


 

Block Four

TRICEP PULL-DOWN — Cable

Stand facing a high cable and take hold of a rope attachment with both hands. Draw your elbows to your side with your forearms parallel to the floor. Extend the arms towards the floor keeping the shoulder retracted. Maintaining the elbow position throughout.


 

HANGING LEG RAISES

Hang from a bar above you with an overhand grip and the shoulders retracted. Keep the legs as straight as possible and raise the toes up towards the bar. Lower the legs slowly.

 

RESISTANCE WORKOUT TWO

Perform this workout with the same exercise concept as workout one.

Block One

LAT PULL – Cable

Kneel on 1 knee and hold high cables in both hands. Pull your arms into your side whilst keeping your chest lifted. Extend the arms with control.


 

ROW — Block / Dumbbell

Perform a plank on 1 hand (placed onto a block) and hold a dumbbell in the other. Engage your core to maintain stability and pull into a single arm row. Allow the body to rotate and raise the elbow. Make sure your wrist is placed directly under your shoulder.


 

Block Two

HAMSTRING CURL — Machine

Sit upright on a hamstring curl machine and engage your core. Press downward with both legs and bend the knees. Ensure to flex the knees as much as possible.


 

QUAD SQUATS — Barbell

Stand with your feet close together and heels raised onto a plate. Hold a barbell on your shoulders and lower into a squat. Take the squat as deep as possible keeping your chest lifted. Allow the knees to come slightly forward of the toes.


 

Block Three

TRAPS – Cable

Stand facing a head height cable with a rope attachment. Pull the cable towards your nose and keep the elbows raised.


 

BICEP CURL — Bench / Dumbbells

Sit on an incline bench and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Begin with the arms extended towards to floor, and as you bend the arms maintain the positions of the elbows, keeping them slightly behind the line of the body. Bring the weights to the shoulders then lower under control.


 

Block Four

BRIDGE — Cable

Lie on your back with 1 foot attached to a high cable behind you and place the other onto the floor with the knee bent. Begin with the hips raised into a bridge position and hold throughout. Press the leg down towards the floor with the knee extended. Raise under control.


 

PLANK — Dumbbell

Lie on your side and place your weight onto your forearm with your shoulder directly over your elbow. Stack your feet on top of each other and raise the body. Hold a dumbbell in the free hand then rotate the torso taking the weight underneath the body then extend the arm to the ceiling.

 

CARDIO WORKOUT

The cardio workout is split into 3 sections: Intervals, lactic acid removal phase, followed by a repeat of the intervals. You can use any piece of cardio equipment such as the cross trainer, treadmill, rower, bike or skipping rope. You can also combine equipment rather than performing the entire workout on one machine.

Intervals (pre LAR phase) – perform the required number of intervals. The sprint phase should be performed at 100%, the highest intensity possible and the rest phase should be performed at a low intensity to recover. For example on a cross-trainer increase the speed for the sprint phase then bring it back down on the rest phase, allowing you to recover.


Lactic acid removal phase – work at a consistent pace, but to the maximum intensity possible (you should not be able to hold a conversation) yet able to sustain it for the required length of time. The time is stated in minutes below the first table.

Intervals (post LAR phase) – perform the intervals again with the same format as the first section.

Enjoy! 

 

 

CARDIO CONCEPT

Number of Intervals Sprints Rest
4 20 sec 40 sec
Lactic Acid Removal Phase - 25 minutes
4 20 sec 0 sec
Total Workout Time - 33 minutes
 

 

CARDIO EQUIPMENT

This video shows examples of cardio equipment to use when perform your interval training.  

 

STRETCHES

Hold each position for 1 minute and increase the length of time on particularly tight muscles.

GLUTES & BACK

Lie on your back with your arms stretched out wide, take one knee across your body and apply gentle pressure drawing the knee towards the floor. 


GLUTES

Lie on your back and place your foot onto the opposite knee. Press the top knee outwards as you clasp the underneath leg and draw it towards you. 


BACK

Sit back onto your heels and simultaneously reach your hands forward with your forehead resting on the floor.
 


ABDOMINALS

Lie prone (on your front) and place your hands beneath your shoulders. Press into the floor, straighten your arms and raise your body. 


HIP FLEXOR

In a half kneeling position tuck your pelvis under, squeeze your glutes and press your hips forward. 
 


QUADS

Draw your foot towards your bottom. Squeeze your glutes, tuck your pelvis under and keep your knees together.
 


HAMSTRINGS & CALF

Raise your foot onto a surface and lean your body forward. Flex the foot bringing the toe towards you.


CALF

Lean into a wall, extend the back knee and press the heel into the floor. Ensure both feet are in a parallel position. 


LATERAL

Place one foot behind the other and reach the same arm (as back leg) overhead. To increase the stretch lean laterally.


UPPER BACK

Place your hands together and reach forward. Drop your head between your arms and curve your upper back.
 


CHEST

Place your forearm onto a wall, creating right angles at the shoulder and elbow joints. Apply pressure into the wall and turn your torso away. 


TRICEP

Take one arm overhead and bend at the elbow. Apply pressure with the opposite hand and keep the head raised. 


ALTERNATIVE EXERCISES

Use this section to replace specific exercises in your programme which do not work for you. This may be due to not having the correct equipment, the exercise being too challenging / not challenging enough, or possibly due to an injury. Click on the links below to find alternative exercises for the same body part or movement.