BY EBENEZER SAMUEL, CSCS
There are times you want to be on a coordinated workout plan. And sometimes, you just want to go hard, lift heavy things, and truly push your physical horizons. This workout is for the latter occasion, and it’ll challenge you both physically and mentally.
It’s also a perfect way to test out the new SMRTFT 100-pound adjustable dumbbells, which just released. They’re built to take a pounding, and to allow you to challenge your body in new ways.
The format for this total-body session is simple and versatile. This workout is at its best when you’re daring to lift heavy, maybe maxing out your SMRTFTs. But it works just fine if you want to go lighter, too, giving you a lightspeed pump and revving your heart rate.
HOW IT WORKS:
Warm up, then do the moves in order. You’ll do 25 reps of each move. Very likely, you won’t be able to do 25 one-shot (especially if you go heavy). Whenever you fatigue, stop and put the dumbbells down. Then rest for exactly 10 deep breaths (make these breaths deep to push the rest interval). Then go right back to work, chipping away at your 25-rep total. Keep repeating this until you’ve completed your 25 reps. You can rest a bit longer between each exercise.
WHY IT WORKS:
This is essentially a strength training spin on a CrossFit concept called the “chipper.” The chipper has you (you guessed it!) chipping away at a large number of reps or a big cardio interval, resting as needed. It’s not a workout you want to do all the time, but as a changeup session, it’s a great way to acclimate yourself to moving a heavy load for a high rep-load. That can help build muscle and strength, and it’ll rev your cardio engine too.
EXERCISE 1: ROMANIAN DEADLIFT
We start with my go-to move, and the single exercise I need every human on the planet to understand. The RDL recruits your glutes and hamstrings, and it’s teaching you to pick anything up off the ground. Long-term, you should max out your SMRTFT bells on this one. Whatever load you choose, focus on lowering slowly, thinking 3 seconds on the way down. Squeeze your glutes hard as you stand.
EXERCISE 2: DUMBBELL ROW
Now, layer on the back muscle you need to alleviate shoulder and back pain, and hone your posture. You’ll build lats and rhomboids on the classic dumbbell row. But be conscious of tempo here too: Watch how slowly I lower, trying to stretch my lat. Do all reps on one side, then work to the other side.
EXERCISE 3: GOBLET SQUAT
Then we finish by going back to legs, hammering our quads with the classic goblet squat. This’ll give you a nice abdominal pump too. Dare to take this heavy and have to wrestle with the reps. You’ll be tired by now. Just keep driving to at least shoulder height (and enjoy the underrated upper body pump.)
This entire workout friends you of two things. First off, the basics work. I can show you plenty of new and innovative exercises (and I have in previous articles), but attacking classic moves in challenging formats will get you to your goals, in most cases. Secondly, keep pushing your limits and don’t fear going heavy. You don’t need to pile up a ton of reps when you go heavy, either. 25 reps per exercise is fewer reps than you’d hit if you did a classic 3 sets of 10 per exercise. But you’ll get way more bang for your buck because you’re overloading and pushing yourself.
Get after it. Tag me on Instagram too if you do this one.