The Chairman's Fitness Challenge Blog

I have refocused my resistance training on the Men's Health Hardbody Plan, a book by Larry Keller that includes a number of workouts with various levels of challenge and areas of focus.  The workouts were created with the help of Dr. Peter Lemon, a name familiar to those interested in physiology and the science of exercise.

I am following the "intermediate full-body" program, which consists of split routines (3/week) hitting arms/shoulders, legs/butt, and back/chest/abs on separate days.  There are actually three weeks of workouts; the idea is to rotate through them so after twelve weeks, each workout will be completed four times.

On the plus side, the different workouts target muscles in various ways so they are always going to be challenging and fresh.  The book dates from about the year 2000, and the routines seem a little old-fashioned (6-10 reps, split routines instead of full-body compound exercises, etc.)  However, the routines clearly target every muscle in a way a full-body routine couldn't, and I find I am pushing more weight by following the direction to move up in weight as soon as ten reps are reached.  This seems like a great option for me, a good change from some of the circuit-training stuff I've been doing recently, and I will spend at least twelve weeks working this routine religiously, then evaluate the results.

By the way, the book has a great deal more in it as well - diet, focused routines for specific body parts (twelve weeks of awesome shoulder workouts only, if you want), and a good reference of various exercises for each muscle group using free weights, machines, or bodyweight/no weights.  It's a good place for someone to start if they are getting more serious about their resistance training.