IT’S THAT TIME of the year again when we all have good intentions but achieving results is easier said than done.
Unfortunately parting with a membership fee and dragging yourself to the gym a couple of days a week is only laying the foundations for you to achieve your end goal, whatever that may be.
Not all of us have access to a personal trainer to kickstart our training so we’ve teamed up with a leading personal trainer to design a six-week programme for you to follow.
This is a full body workout and will help you settle into the gym, become familiar with the machines and exercises and help you on your way to discernible results.
The equipment and machines we will be using will be available in any gym. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email fitness@the42.ie.
So it’s the last week and we are going to pair off four exercises again into two supersets.
Hopefully trying that last week you found the benefit of working two muscles groups back to back, not least because it should halve the time spent in the gym.
Superset 1
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1. Barbell Row
Stand with your legs slightly bent and hold the bar with an overhand grip, your knees should be just wider than shoulder width.
Keeping your back straight, lean forward at the waist about 45 degrees, so the bar sits just at knee level.
While keeping your torso stationary, breathe out and lift the barbell towards your abs, Keep your elbows tucked in close to your body.
At the top of the contracted position, squeeze the back muscles and hold for a brief pause. Inhale and slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position.
Don’t try this if you have back problems, use the seated row machine instead. Go for about 10-12 reps.
2. Seated dumbbell press
Find a small seat with a back or bench. For this you want to be sitting upright, keeping your back straight.
Hold the dumbbells at shoulder level with your knuckles facing the ceiling. Do not let the wrists flick backwards.
Inhale then extend the arms vertically, exhaling at the top of the movement. Slowly lower down for a 3 second negative to the start position.
You can also vary this and have the palms facing each other.
Lay flat on a bench, hold the barbell with a shoulder-width grip above your chest. Inhale and expand your chest as much as possible, start to lower the barbell behind your head, while bending your elbows slightly bent.
Exhale and return to start position. Start with a lighter than normal barbell, you could also use a dumbbell.
2. Wide grip pull up
This is the king of all the back exercises. Grab a pull-up bar with your palms facing forward at a wider than shoulder width grip.
Hang from the bar and look up towards the bar, pull yourself up and push your chin over the bar at the top of the movement.
Now here is the important part… Slowly lower yourself down to the start position with full lock out at the elbows. Did I mention slowly lower yourself down?
If you can’t do a full rep you can try negative reps. Stand on a box and jump up until your chin is over the bar, pause for a second and slowly lower yourself down. Repeat for as many as you can.
That’s it I hope you have enjoyed attempting these exercises over the last six weeks.
Matt Keatley is a Personal Trainer & Nutritionist. For more information on training programmes and diet check out his Facebook and Instagram. Check back next Thursday for the sixth week of the programme.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
It's the final week of our gym fitness programme with a personal trainer
IT’S THAT TIME of the year again when we all have good intentions but achieving results is easier said than done.
Unfortunately parting with a membership fee and dragging yourself to the gym a couple of days a week is only laying the foundations for you to achieve your end goal, whatever that may be.
Not all of us have access to a personal trainer to kickstart our training so we’ve teamed up with a leading personal trainer to design a six-week programme for you to follow.
This is a full body workout and will help you settle into the gym, become familiar with the machines and exercises and help you on your way to discernible results.
The equipment and machines we will be using will be available in any gym. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email fitness@the42.ie.
Before we get into week six, here’s last week’s workout.
Week 6
So it’s the last week and we are going to pair off four exercises again into two supersets.
Hopefully trying that last week you found the benefit of working two muscles groups back to back, not least because it should halve the time spent in the gym.
Superset 1
1. Barbell Row
Stand with your legs slightly bent and hold the bar with an overhand grip, your knees should be just wider than shoulder width.
Keeping your back straight, lean forward at the waist about 45 degrees, so the bar sits just at knee level.
While keeping your torso stationary, breathe out and lift the barbell towards your abs, Keep your elbows tucked in close to your body.
At the top of the contracted position, squeeze the back muscles and hold for a brief pause. Inhale and slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position.
Don’t try this if you have back problems, use the seated row machine instead. Go for about 10-12 reps.
2. Seated dumbbell press
Find a small seat with a back or bench. For this you want to be sitting upright, keeping your back straight.
Hold the dumbbells at shoulder level with your knuckles facing the ceiling. Do not let the wrists flick backwards.
Inhale then extend the arms vertically, exhaling at the top of the movement. Slowly lower down for a 3 second negative to the start position.
You can also vary this and have the palms facing each other.
Superset 2
1. Barbell pull over
Lay flat on a bench, hold the barbell with a shoulder-width grip above your chest. Inhale and expand your chest as much as possible, start to lower the barbell behind your head, while bending your elbows slightly bent.
Exhale and return to start position. Start with a lighter than normal barbell, you could also use a dumbbell.
2. Wide grip pull up
This is the king of all the back exercises. Grab a pull-up bar with your palms facing forward at a wider than shoulder width grip.
Hang from the bar and look up towards the bar, pull yourself up and push your chin over the bar at the top of the movement.
Now here is the important part… Slowly lower yourself down to the start position with full lock out at the elbows. Did I mention slowly lower yourself down?
If you can’t do a full rep you can try negative reps. Stand on a box and jump up until your chin is over the bar, pause for a second and slowly lower yourself down. Repeat for as many as you can.
That’s it I hope you have enjoyed attempting these exercises over the last six weeks.
Matt Keatley is a Personal Trainer & Nutritionist. For more information on training programmes and diet check out his Facebook and Instagram. Check back next Thursday for the sixth week of the programme.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
Does training in the gym with your partner really benefit your workout?
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