Muscular focus - it's not only about circuits

Muscles are in a constant state of protein synthesis (growth) and protein breakdown (shrinking).  In fact, they both happen at the same time.  If you put the muscle under stress (exercise) you get more synthesis than breakdown.  If you sit around and watch TV for a week, you get more breakdown than synthesis.  Pretty simple stuff.

Sometimes we do circuits to get the heart rate way up there to build cardio strength as well as muscular endurance.  Sometimes we add a little more rest in there to get a more "muscle building" focus.  Don't worry ladies, this kind of thing will not make you big.

Just remember: more lean muscle = higher metabolism = less body fat.

Workout:

4 sets of each station.  Rest 1 minute after each pair of exercises. Complete all 4 sets before moving on to the next station.

Station 1
5 Walking lunges, each leg (with weight.  We used 95 pound barbell)

10 walking lunges, each leg (no weight)
rest 1 minute


Station 2
10 ring pushups
20 regular pushups
rest 1 minute


Station 3
5 weighted pullups (pick weight, we used 20#)
5 pullups (no weight)
rest 1 minute

Progressions - a great way to measure muscular endurance

A progression is a great way to see how far you have come in your training.  I am a huge fan of measurement so you can know your success.  Many people only measure their weight: "how much have I lost?".  This is a very small picture of what is happening.  Physical results follow physical performance and performance is much easier to measure.

A progression is a series of exercises you go through until you can't do any more.  If the first time through was too easy, you make the next one harder.  The key to them is HOW you do them.  You must not rest during the entire progression.  There are natural transitions between movements but those are all the break you get.  If you stop during the set, you record your stopping point and try to beat it next time.

Here's what we did last night.

3 weighted pullups
6 pushups (no extra weight)
repeat these 2 exercises, starting at 10#, then 20#, 30#, 40#

If you finish the progression rest 5 minutes and repeat as 4 weighted pullups and 8 pushups.

Here's another we did.

10 overhead dumbbell press (with only one dumbbell)
20 goblet squat (with same dumbbell as above)
repeate these 2 exercises, starting with10#, then 20#, 30#, 40#

If you finish the above progression successfully rest 5 minutes and repeat as 15 overhead dumbbell press and 30 goblet squats.