Free weights have several advantages over machine-based exercise, according to bodybuilding author Stuart McRoberts in his book "Beyond Brawn." Free weight exercise is much more "functional" since it requires the athlete to use stabilizer muscles in addition to the prime movers. Free weights more accurately replicate the demands of lifting heavy objects in daily life. Performing total-body abbreviated training routines may be the single most effective way to make resistance training gains, according to Dan John, a nationally ranked Highland Games and strongman competitor, in his book "From the Ground Up."
Step 1
Start your total body workout with power cleans. Stand with a loaded barbell in front of your feet. Squat down and grasp the bar with both hands, approximately shoulder-width apart, keeping your back as straight as possible. Stand up, pulling the bar past your knees. Explode upwards from the thighs and hips as the barbell passes your knees, and pull with your upper back muscles until the bar is moving past your lower chest. Duck under the bar and catch it, with your hands, resting on the front of your shoulders. Perform three repetitions before immediately moving into the next exercise.
Step 2
Follow your power cleans with front squats. Holding the bar in its resting place on the front of your shoulders, sit down, pushing your butt backwards, until your knees are bent long deep enough that the front of your thighs are below parallel with the floor. Drive back upward, pushing with your hips and your thighs, to return to the starting position. Perform five repetitions of the front squat before moving straight into the next exercise.
Step 3
Finish your circuit with shoulder presses. Begin in the same starting position as your front squats, but with your feet together, heels touching. Press with your chest, shoulders, and arms, until the bar is straight overhead, with your arms straight and extended. Lower the bar back to the starting position. Perform five repetitions of this exercise before resting for two to three minutes, to allow adequate recovery of the individual muscle fibers and your energy systems before repeating the entire circuit several more times. According to Dan John, this simple circuit alone, outlined in "From the Ground Up," is more than adequate to allow most strength athletes and general fitness enthusiasts to gain all the strength and fitness gains they need.
Things You'll Need
- Olympic barbell with plates
References
- "From the Ground Up;" Dan John; eBook
- "Beyond Brawn;" Stuart McRoberts; 2007
- "Essentials of Personal Fitness Training;" National Academy of Sports Medicine; 2007
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