Back to Basics Workout

Back to Basics. This one is made up of classic compound movements that has been packing on muscle for decades. Some of them for all of human history really.

Forget the swiss balls. Forget standing on an unstable platform and pressing light weights. Forget 1000's of crunches and bicep curls. Forget the treadmill and spinning classes. Skip the high intesnity intervals that have you doing 20 different exercises a min with bad form. Forget arms day, and legs day. 

Let's move some weight around with basic, time tested movements and work on one part.

You.

I'll walk you through this workout with links to instructional videos one movement at a time, then lay out the entire workout for you at the end. 

First lets start with a warm up to get your blood flowing and your body warm to prime you for the workout and avoid injury.

Warm up: Pull ups and Bodyweight Walking Lunges. Superset. 5 reps each.

Ah pull ups. Such an underrated movement. Muscles Targeted :Lats, biceps, grip, rear deltoids, core

Perhaps the greatest exercise to work and build your back. Plus it's such an important and classic movement. Pulling up your entire body weight from a dead hang. Humans have been doing this for all of history. 

Superset these with walking lunges to warm up your lower body

Walking Lunges. Muscles targeted : Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, calves, core

Too many men skip these in favor of squats and leg press, but if you want strong, functional legs. walking lunges are a must.  Warmup Video Here: Warmup

And now the workout. 

First up, The Deadlift. 5 sets of 1-2

Muscles Targeted: Core, Lower Back, Hamstrings, Glutes, Quads, Lats, Shoulders, Traps, Biceps,Grip. 

Arguably the greatest exercise due to the mass amount of muscles worked and the simplicity of the movement. Picking up heavy objects off the floor from a dead stop. We've been doing this since standing upright. Technique is crucial in this movement to avoid injury and get mass results. And yes, only two reps. Make sure to come to a DEAD stop (dead lift, get it?) in between reps and DON'T bounce the weight. That's cheating. Here's a video link: Deadlift

Next up, the Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets of 5

Muscles Targeted: Pecs, triceps, shoulders, grip, core

Everyone's favorite and unfortunately along with curls the only thing some young men do. 

Pressing something away from your body is such an instinctual and for some reason pleasuring movement. 

I prefer the Dumbbell Bench over the classic barbell bench due to the reduced stress on the shoulder joints and more emphasis on the pectoral muscles. Less risk for shoulder injury and more chest involvement? Win.

I prefer to do this movement on a slight incline. About 30 degrees 

Here's a video link: Dumbbell Bench Press

Next, Standing Dumbbell Military Press 3 sets of 5

Muscle Targeted: Shoulders, Triceps, Core

Such a neglected press movement nowadays in favor of lateral raises and bench pressing. Foolish. There was a time when a heavy 1 rep max on the military press was much more respected than a big bench number. Besides being the best way to build larger stronger shoulders, lifting something over your head is such a primal movement. (Also a great way to work your core as well. )

Here's your video link: Standing Military Press

The Front or Goblet Squat 3 sets of 5

Muscles Targeted : Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, lots of core

The squat is widely considered the King of All Lifts among most fitness buffs and with good reason. It's such a natural total body movement that works SO many muscles and burns plenty of calories to boot. 

I chose the front squat here due to it's increased emphasis on the the quads and core over the back squat. 

Also, the front squat and goblet squat can be done without access to a squat rack and for inexperienced lifters, holding the weight load in front of you tends to force your spine into a more upright position that is difficult to teach beginners to do on the back squat.

Most workout put squatting first, but I followed the advice of Bodybuilding Legend Steve Reeves (Look him up please!) and put them last, to keep the legs fresh for overhead pressing and deadlifts. Here's your video link: Squats

And now that we've completed what is often known as the Big 4, (Deadlift, Bench, Overhead Press, Squat), lets finish off with a superset of Dips and crunches.

Dips 3 sets of 5

Muscles Targeted: Triceps, Traps, Shoulders, Lower Chest. 

Essentially the opposite movement of a pull up, the dip is a great often over looked movement to build the triceps as well as your shoulders and lower chest.

And yes, Crunches

Muscles Targeted: Abs. Duh. 

I know, I know. Modern Fitness LOVES to hate on crunches and get you to do anything else instead. 

But I'll tell you what. If you use good form and concentrate, you don't have to do very many, maybe 3 sets of 5. Really. That workout you just did already annihilated your core, and if crunches are good enough for Arnold and the legendary abs of Bruce Lee, they'll do for you too. 

Here's your video link :  Cooldown

This workout is really an effort to simplify things and show you that you can do straight sets of classic moves that are time tested to produce results. It's all natural movements, and can be completed in about 30 min. 

Total Body workouts worked for Steve Reeves and they can work for you too. They've definitely worked for me. Anyway, here's the entire routine written out:

Warmup: Pull ups and Walking Lunges- 3 sets of 5

Workout:

Dead lift-4 to 5 sets of 1-2

Dumbbell Bench Press-3 sets of 5

Standing Dumbbell Military Press-3 sets of 5

Goblet or Front Squat- 3 sets of 5

Cooldown: Dips and Crunches-3 sets of 5

This is a workout that can definitely be your go to workout when you want to hit the weights, and will work for beginners or advanced lifters. Stick to it for a while, focus on quality, focused reps, and you will see some results.

Focus on the Big Four! 

-Tom

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