Workout Day Three

You'd have rested on Day 2 after the Shoulders & Biceps Day 1 routine.


I now warmly welcome you to - 


Day 3: Chest and Triceps


Superman had a big one. Countless women want a big one. 


I'm talking about a big chest. 


Forget those pansy pulley-operated machines you see in the gym. The key to obtaining a well-developed physique which boasts strength and stability in addition to size is truly by using free weights. Not all gyms will have the benefit of a free weights bench press bar, thus the following is a portrayal of a bench press you can do with nothing but dumbbells and a basic bench. 


You're going to go heavy with this move, thus if you're a beginner, it's highly advisable that you get somebody to become your spotter, ie. somebody to make sure you're lifting correctly and safely. 








Dumbbell (I'm referring to the weights) Bench Press

Place the weights on your thighs for support.

In a smooth motion, lean back and brace the weights at the sides of your torso. 

Using the power from your pectorals (your chest muscles) push the weights upward in a slow and controlled motion.

Return slowly to the starting position, making sure to pinch your shoulder blades backward as you lower the weights. 

The strength for a bench press should never come from your back. Do not arch your back to assist the rest of your body in performing this move, as doing so could have serious consequences. Instead, if the weights feel too strenuous, it's perfectly okay (and a much more admirable alternative to the pain and humiliation that comes from a gym accident) to step down your weights. 

Perform 3 sets of 12,10 and 8 repetitions, using a heavier set of dumbbells with each set. 

Incline Bench Press


Really nice man-boobs are built in different directions. With the move above, you concentrated on the mid-pectorals, and now with the incline bench press, we're working on our upper pectorals, to give you that comic-book-superhero-chest-jutting-out look. 


Adjust your bench to a 45 degree, diagonal angle. 




The same rules apply as above: do not arch your back. Power comes from your chest. Pinch your shoulder blades backward as you lower the weights. Slow and controlled motion.


The pictures will speak for themselves. 

Perform 3 sets of 12, 10 and 8 reps. Use slightly lighter weights than you would with the basic bench press. 






Dumbbell Fly

I personally don't enjoy doing the dumbbell fly, but many bodybuilding enthusiasts swear by it. With arms extended, hold the dumbbells parallel to your chest and bring the dumbbells in towards each other without bending your elbows.  3 sets of 12, 10 and 8 repetitions and you're good. 








The Dip


Also the name of a popular dance move, the dip is inserted into this routine as a 'bridging' move - a move that transitions your workout from the chest area to the triceps. The dip is another fantastic compound exercise belonging to the same family as the chinup and the pushup and is probably one of the few compound exercises without a direction in its name. 




My gym doesn't have a dedicated dip station, thus I improvised as shown below. Make sure the gym attendant doesn't catch you doing this. Make double sure if you weigh 300 pounds and above. Your gym's insurance might not cover broken treadmill handles from strange gym-goer behavior. 

Keep your back straight and taut. 

Slowly lower your torso until your elbows are at a 90 degree angle. Slowly push back up into the starting position.

Do 3 sets of 8 repetitions. If you cannot manage 8 repetitions, start lower. As your body acclimatizes, you should be able to complete 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions eventually. 

Triceps Pull-down

Most men want big arms but neglect their triceps and go crazy on bicep exercises. The oft-neglected triceps is actually the secret to nice large arms that every woman will want to grab. 

The gym I patronize is also devoid of a dedicated triceps pull-down station. But a man's gotta pull what a man's gotta pull. Make use of the lat pull-down station (almost every gym has one). 

Keep your arms tucked tightly by your sides. Your upper arms should remain stationary throughout the pull-down. All the effort must come from your triceps, with your elbow as the fulcrum. Keep your knees bent and your back straight to prevent any unwanted interference from other muscle groups.  

3 sets of 12, 10 and 8 repetitions with increasingly heavier weights. 

Two handed dumbbell behind-the-neck lift

As with every standing exercise, keep your knees bent and back straight and bust 3 sets of 12, 10 and 8 repetitions.

Bent-over Triceps Pullback

The last in the triceps building family of maneuvers, you'll be using light weights here as this is a muscle-defining move that focuses on muscle tone rather than size. 3 sets of 16, 12 and 10 repetitions should do the trick.

A little something on diet

After you're done, go and get some protein (eggs, nuts, meat, fish). I read somewhere that eating protein right after/before your workouts maximize muscle growth. If you want to become a bona-fide muscle-head, eat 2.2grams of protein for every kg of your target body weight. For example, if you're currently 60kg but would like to bulk up to 65kg, start ingesting 65 x 2.2 = 143 grammes of protein daily. 

Note that a 100g piece of chicken thigh is not equivalent to a 100g of protein. A 100g peice of chicken thigh contains approximately 20 grammes of protein. I'm not advocating eating 7 chicken thighs a day (though that was what I used to do in my more inexperienced body building days). Rather, my personal recommendation is to adopt a healthy balanced diet of meat, fish, eggs, nuts, whole-grains and copious amounts of fruit and vegetables. 

You're definitely going to have to take in more protein than you have before, but you don't necessarily have to go nuts on nuts (nice pun, aye?), eggs (20 eggs a day? Are you kidding?) and meat. Despite the 2.2 grammes of protein per kg of body weight recommendation, I've found that eating the equivalent of one whole chicken breast (approximately 35 grammes of protein) per main meal in addition to your whole-grains, fruits and vegetables is sufficient to obtain a lean toned body with decent size. It's also immensely more practical and sustainable considering the damage a high protein intake can potentially wreak on your liver and kidneys. 

Then take a breather on Day 4 and brace yourself for the culmination.

Day 5 - Back, core and legs