Strength phase 2 – upper body / lower body split program
Strength is the mother of all fitness qualities so let’s take a look at phase 2. This phase consists of 2 workouts done alternately and ideally performed x4 a week.
The premise of each session is to work up to a heavy set.
Workout A – Lower Body
Exercise A1: Back Squat – Heels elevated
Another phase of back squat with lower reps this time and therefore more load.
- Keep wrists and elbows vertically under the bar.
- Ensure knees track over the toes.
- Squat as low as possible with good form – ideally past parallel.
Exercise A2: Lying leg curl – toes plantar flex
This exercise pairs up well with back squats and targets the knee flexors. By pointing the toes in a plantar flex position you isolate the hamstrings further by taking out the gastrocnemius ( calf muscle ).
- Keep hips down on the bench.
- Be explosive on the concentric curl and slow and controlled on the eccentric.
- Keep toes pointed.
Exercise B1: 45% Back Extension – DB on chest
You can never be strong enough in the lower back! Make sure you stick to the slow controlled tempo, try to increase the weight every set.
Exercise B2: Heavy sled drag
Great for overloading the VMO muscles in the quads. This will help with knee health as well as strength endurance.
- Keep an upright posture when dragging sled.
- Try and drive through the balls of the feet taking short quick steps.
Workout B – Upper Body
Exercise A1: DB Chest Press – Pronated
Keeping with DB chest press, changing grip to pronated and lowering reps to 3-5. We are looking for the weight to go up with every set in a progressive manner.
- Ensure scapulars are retracted.
- Try to push through your feet to stabilise the body.
Exercise A2: Chin up – Supinated
Like squats chin ups are a main stay of most of our strength programs. This workout we want a supinated grip allowing for a little more assistance from the bicep brachii.
- Aim to drive elbows down and back.
- Ensure shoulders touch the bar at the top.
- Control excessive body movement by turning on glutes and abdominals.
Exercise B1: 55% Kneeling trap 3 raise
This exercise is excellent for developing good shoulder health by targeting the lower trap muscles. These muscles help with scapular control and are often weak and under active.
- Lye prone on the bench at 55% with knees on the seat.
- Prior to lifting retract the shoulder blades to set the scapular.
- Lift the DBs with straight arms in a Y shape and pause the top position.
- You should be able to clear the height of your ears with each lift.
Exercise B2: 45% DB Bicep curls – neutral
The elbow flexors are often the weakest link for females that want to do chin ups so will benefit from some direct work, equally most guys won’t need asking twice to work biceps!
- Make sure you start the exercise with your elbows back behind the shoulders.
- Keep the elbows still when you curl and try to squeeze the bicep at the top.
- Control tempo on the way down and squeeze the tricep at the bottom.
The ideal split for this program is to train: Mon / Tue then Thurs / Fri.
Aim to complete the program in 3 weeks, let us know how you get on!
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