SWEAT: Special Workouts, Exercises and Advanced Techniques: Everything you'll need to know on your fitness journey 1652537988, 9781652537984

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SWEAT! Special Workouts, Exercises and Advanced Techniques By Geoffrey Verity Schofield

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SWEAT!................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Special Workouts, Exercises and Advanced Techniques........................................................................................1 Introduction............................................................................................................................................................. 4 About the Author & Book........................................................................................................................................ 5 Compendium One: Body Parts.................................................................................................................................6 Compendium Two: Exercises................................................................................................................................. 12 Hinge...................................................................................................................................................................15 Squat...................................................................................................................................................................29 Row.....................................................................................................................................................................41 Push.................................................................................................................................................................... 50 Pull...................................................................................................................................................................... 60 Press................................................................................................................................................................... 65 Shoulders............................................................................................................................................................71 Curl..................................................................................................................................................................... 79 Extend.................................................................................................................................................................86 Abs...................................................................................................................................................................... 90 Calves..................................................................................................................................................................96 Compendium Three: Programming....................................................................................................................... 98 Sets and Reps..................................................................................................................................................... 98 Volume............................................................................................................................................................... 99 Intensity............................................................................................................................................................103 Frequency.........................................................................................................................................................104 Balancing Volume, Intensity and Frequency....................................................................................................105 Example Volume and Intensity Combinations................................................................................................. 107 Choosing a Split................................................................................................................................................ 109 Putting It All Together...................................................................................................................................... 112 Example of Creating a Training Plan.................................................................................................................112 Risk vs Reward..................................................................................................................................................114 Keeping a Training Log..................................................................................................................................... 116 Compendium Four: Equipment........................................................................................................................... 117 Essential Equipment......................................................................................................................................... 117 Optional Equipment......................................................................................................................................... 119 Personal Equipment......................................................................................................................................... 122 2

Compendium Five: Special Workouts and Techniques....................................................................................... 124 Manipulating Sets.............................................................................................................................................125 Manipulating Reps............................................................................................................................................132 Compendium Six: Cardio......................................................................................................................................139 High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).............................................................................................................. 139 HIIT Protocols................................................................................................................................................... 143 Low Intensity Steady State (LISS)..................................................................................................................... 144 Tracking Cardio.................................................................................................................................................144 LISS vs HIIT: How to Program Cardio................................................................................................................146 Compendium Seven: Injuries...............................................................................................................................148 General Strategies for Staying Healthy............................................................................................................ 148 Exercise Specific Technique Cues.....................................................................................................................152 My ______ Hurts.............................................................................................................................................. 155 Compendium Eight:............................................................................................................................................. 157 Sample Training Plans.......................................................................................................................................... 157 Training Plan One: The Lazy Man’s plan............................................................................................................ 158 Training Plan Two: The Busy Man’s plan..........................................................................................................163 Training Plan Three: Athlete Power Plan......................................................................................................... 166 Training Plan Four: Beast Plan..........................................................................................................................171 Training Plan Five: Deva Plan........................................................................................................................... 178 Training Plan Six: Spartan Plan......................................................................................................................... 181 Compendium Nine: Making Progress.................................................................................................................. 183 Swapping Exercises...........................................................................................................................................183 Progressing....................................................................................................................................................... 183 Minor Adjustments...........................................................................................................................................185 Major Adjustments...........................................................................................................................................189 Compendium Ten: Strength Standards............................................................................................................... 192 Frequently Asked Questions................................................................................................................................194 Appendix.............................................................................................................................................................. 196 Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................................. 219

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Introduction

Exercise is the elixir of life, and the single best thing that you can do for yourself. The only people who don’t agree with that statement are those who have never exercised and thus have never experienced its benefits, or those who always have and thus take it for granted. The goal of this book is not to set you on the path of exercising. You are clearly already interested in pursuing that goal if you have opened this book. It will give you ideas, options and general guidelines to optimize your plan. This book can be read from page one straight through, or in any order that you want. Read some of it, all of it, or none of it. It’s up to you. The information is here for you to take, but you’ll need to apply it to yourself through personal experimentation. You will not be spoon-fed, but you will be better off because of it. Doing so will allow you to become a better personal trainer of yourself than I or anyone else can. It will give you the satisfaction of taking the responsibility of how you look and feel onto your own shoulders. Or, into your own hands, if you prefer deadlifting metaphors. That’s my gift to you. Compendium one is a brief introduction to your muscles, divided up by body parts. Also included are the three most effective exercises as a reference for those who want to specifically develop that area. Compendium two is the movement pattern section with a variety of exercises to choose from, divided up into beginner, intermediate and advanced. A description of how to do the exercise, a few pictures of yours truly and some tips and tricks are included. At the end it gives a suggested rep range, recovery cost and overall effectiveness. All pictures are from REAL SETS, not just posing for the camera! Compendium three will teach you about programming-how best to take the exercises from compendium two and schedule them into your week for maximum results. How many sets, how heavy of weight to use, how often you work out and more will be addressed here. The goal is to “hack” working out to get more results in less time and effort. Time and willpower are limited resources, and you want to use them intelligently. Compendium four is all about the equipment that will help you reach your goals and how to tell if a gym is garbage. Compendium five introduces some special techniques that can help intermediate and advanced lifters get more out of their training. If you’re looking for something to redefine what it means to work hard and supercharge your progress, this is the section for you! Compendium six is all about cardio and how to implement it into your schedule. Regardless of the intensity or the form of exercise you choose, all the information you’ll need is here. Compendium seven talks about injuries. How they happen, how to avoid them, and what to do if you’re already experiencing one. Compendium eight shares some sample training plans that you can try if you don’t want to fully develop one for yourself. Compendium nine is about making adjustments to your training plan. Sometimes entropy gets in the way of the best laid plans, and this will show you how to make things right. Compendium ten is about strength standards, to give you an idea of how you compare to the rest of the world.

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About the Author & Book

Ever since I popped out of the womb, I’ve always been interested in how things work. I’ve also always been pretty active. In high school I ran cross country and track and field, but was constantly injured due to poor training choices. I was either skinny, or worse, skinny-fat. Diet was less than an afterthought, as a lot of it got burnt off in the furnaces of youth and hard miles, but often my progress was transient and unpredictable. About five years ago, I started lifting weights. I started with just the bar on a lot of exercises, and some less than that. I made good progress though, and went from 68kg to 78kg in about four months. I was hooked. Over the next few years, I read hundreds, if not thousands of hours about training. Websites, articles, books, forum posts, social media groups, old Soviet training manuals, descriptions of Olympians favorite workouts, anything I could get my hands on about how to get top results. During this time I went up to about 96kg, all drug free. I made a lot of friends along the way too! I don’t have a degree in physiology or anything fitness related, but I’ve discovered what works for me, and I’m determined to help you find what works for you. Every body is different, and I would never claim that my plan should be your plan-but between these pages is something that is perfect for you. I’ve read many workout books that looked professional but were actually complete crap-the knowledge between these covers is what motivates me to write it. In some ways it’s like the training itself. If you stick to the basics and work hard, you don’t need a lot of fancy technology or automation to get the job done. You can find a plethora of posts on quora15 million or more views there, and training videos on Instagram. My DMs are open, just mention that you are a proud owner of this book. https://www.quora.com/profile/Geoffrey-Verity-Schofield https://www.instagram.com/geoffreyverityschofield/ Finally, a shout-out to my sponsors, www.baleaf.com You guys are the best.

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Compendium One: Body Parts

This section will give a brief and simple introduction on the anatomy of the area and its main functions. It won’t go into excruciating detail or use overly scientific language, but will share enough to help you train more effectively. When you know the function of a muscle, you can target it better. This section is also useful for those who are interested in developing or improving a certain area of their body. If you want bigger biceps or quads, this can give you a quick glance at the “best” three exercises for that area. There is some overlap between this section and the movement pattern sections. You’ll see the same exercises in both. Shoulders Shoulders, or “deltoids”, are one of the most important body parts. They are vital to create a “V-shape” of the body which is aesthetic for both men and women. Direct shoulder work can also help maintain shoulder health, something that is certainly important for long term progress in the gym! Shoulders can be difficult to train, because the shoulder joint has a huge range of motion and the various parts of the muscle have many different functions. The front of the shoulder raises the upper arm or brings it in front across the body, and is heavily involved with pressing and pushing exercises like bench press, dips and overhead press. The side of the shoulder raises the arm to the side and is involved in overhead work, particularly behind the neck, as well as lateral raises. The rear shoulder does the opposite of the front of the shoulder, moving the arm from in front to back behind you and is recruited with most pulling and rowing exercises. Shoulders respond well to higher reps (twelve to twenty) and recover fast as well, making how frequently you train them important. Three best front shoulder exercises: • Standing Barbell Overhead Press • Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press • Incline Bench Press Three best side shoulder exercises: • Lateral Raise • Cable Lateral Raise • Seated Lateral Raise Three best rear shoulder exercises: • Seated/Prone Rear Delt Raise • Standing Rear Delt Raise • Face Pull 6

Traps The traps are a large muscle in the back that attaches the entire length of the shoulder blades. The main function of the traps is to move your shoulder blades up, together or down. Since the first and last of those functions are complete opposites, a variety of exercises are necessary to fully develop the traps. Large traps convey an appearance of power and density, and proper development is crucial for long term shoulder health. Because they are near the head, trap development is very recognizable, if someone has development in this area it can completely change the way they look. They have the fastest growth response of any muscle group listed here. If you train them properly you should notice results almost immediately, certainly in less than a week. They respond very quickly to heavy weights with a bit of higher rep work. They’re also very durable so don’t be afraid to really go after ‘em. Three best upper trap exercises: • Shrug • Farmers Walks • Low Pull from the Hang Three best middle trap exercises: • Barbell Bent Over Row • Cable/Chest Supported/Machine row • Kroc Row Three best lower trap exercises: • Wide Grip Pullup • Behind the Neck pulldown • Face Pull Lats The lats are the largest back muscle and are among the largest in the entire body. They are mainly responsible for bringing the upper arm from above the body to down alongside it. Well-developed lats are important for creating width in the upper body and are visible from both the front and back. They are also the only muscle that attaches to both the upper and lower body, making them a vital stabilizer during many lifts. The lats respond best to higher rep training, in the twelve to twenty rep range, and a higher overall volume. They’re 7

very durable and can tolerate a lot of punishment. I’ve never even heard of someone tearing a lat. Attack those bad boys. The three best lat exercises are: • Pullups • Pulldowns • Standing Cable Pullover Chest The chest, or “pecs”, are a vital and visible part of the upper body. Even when wearing clothes, it is very clear when fully developed. The chest is mainly responsible for bringing the upper arm across the body. The chest is best hit with compound exercises like all sorts of bench pressing and dips, but isolation work like flys can be useful as well. The chest responds to a good range of motion and stretch, and a variety of rep ranges. They are a bit more fragile than some other muscles, so be slightly more conservative when training chest. Pec tears and strains are very common in those who bench press a lot. The three best chest exercises are: • Incline Bench Press • Dips • Dumbbell Bench press Triceps The triceps are a three-headed muscle that are located on the back of the upper arm. Their main function is to extend the elbow, straightening the arm. The triceps are actually a lot bigger than the biceps, particularly if the arm is resting alongside the torso. Since it is most of the time in life, if you want bigger arms, triceps are the place to put emphasis on. The triceps are hit quite hard from both pushing and pressing exercises such as bench press, incline press and overhead press. Direct exercises to isolate the muscle is not necessary but can accelerate growth. Overhead triceps work is the best way to hit the “long head” of the triceps, which has the most potential for growth. Triceps respond best to low to moderate reps. The six to eight rep range for compound exercises (dips and close grip bench press) and the eight to twelve for isolation is perfect. No need to go crazy with the volume. The three best exercises to hit the triceps are: • Overhead Cable Extension • Dips 8

• Overhead Dumbbell Extension Biceps The biceps are a small yet potentially visually stunning muscle. When someone asks you to flex a muscle, they invariably expect you not to show your leg, chest or back but to raise your arm and show your bicep. The main function of the bicep is to flex or curl the elbow, which happens during pulling and rowing exercises, but isolation work is perhaps useful for maximal growth. The best way to train the biceps are through pullups and rows, but also through curling variations such as basic barbell curls, reverse curls, preacher curls, dumbbell curls and hammer curls. Biceps respond best to the eight to fifteen rep range, and can handle quite a bit of volume. Try to keep your form strict when curling, not swinging the weight. It’s very easy on some of these exercises to be working hips, shoulders and lower back rather than the actual bicep! The three best bicep exercises are: • Pullups • Standing Barbell Curl • Preacher Curl Forearms Forearms are a crucial, yet often overlooked body part. When wearing clothing that humans typically prefer, they are one of the few body parts that are visible, and thus their development or lack thereof is almost always on display. They are also critical for elbow and wrist health, and holding onto heavy rows and deadlifts. The forearms will naturally get trained when holding onto such heavy barbell work, but for maximal growth some specific work should be done.

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The three most effective forearm exercises are: • Bent over row • Reverse Grip Curls Farmers Walks

Quads Aesthetically, quadriceps are the most impressive muscle in the lower body. Furthermore, well developed quads are important for keeping the knee 9

joint healthy. Their main function is to extend the knee, like in a kicking motion. They also greatly contribute to squatting and deadlifting strength, sprinting and overall sports performance. Quads respond well to high volume, but to make sure that your knees feel fine, it’s best to add sets gradually over time. Additionally, when squatting, make sure that you are actually using the quads rather than the hamstrings, glutes and lower back-see the squat movement pattern section for more details. The three best quadriceps exercises are: • High Bar Back Squat • Front Squat • Bulgarian Split Squat (short step)

Glutes Glute development is the most widely sought out muscle group for female trainees but they are important for men as well. They mainly extend the hips which happens naturally when walking, running or getting up from a chair. Strong glutes greatly contribute to athletic performance. The squat, deadlift, Olympic lifting as well as sprinting and jumping all rely heavily on “dat ass”. If you want to be more athletic, the glutes are a good place to add muscle. They respond well to low reps, but the occasional high rep set can also be very effective. The three most effective glute exercises are: • Glute Bridge • Sumo Deadlift • Lunge (long step) Hamstrings The hamstrings are located on the back of the upper leg and are responsible for extending the hip joint, just as the glutes, but also flexing the knee joint. While not a particularly visible or aesthetic muscle, the hamstrings are vital for sports performance. Sprinting, jumping, deadlifting and Olympic lifting are all very reliant on the massive explosive power that the hamstrings provide. If you want to run faster and jump higher, focus on the hammies. They respond best to low reps and low volume. They definitely aren’t the most resilient muscle group in the body, so it’s best not to go crazy with how many sets you do. The three most effective hamstring exercises are: • Romanian Deadlift (RDL) 10

• Nordic Hamstring Curl • Hamstring Ball Curl Calves When calves are not very well developed it is very obvious, contributing to the “chicken leg” appearance. They mainly extend the ankle, like when a ballerina is dancing. The calves are somewhat stimulated by lower body movements such as squats and Olympic lifting, as well as running and sprinting, but for maximal development isolation work is definitely needed. You can do damn near anything to the calves and they won’t have problems. We walk around on them all day so they are build to last. Higher reps, or slower reps including pauses to really feel the calf muscle rather than the Achilles tendon work, are ideal due to the range of motion naturally being pretty short. The three best calf exercises: • Standing calf raise • Seated calf raises • Leg press calf raise Abs The abdominal region is comprised of several distinct muscle groups and fully developed abs are very visually impressive, especially at a low body fat percentage. That last point is mainly a factor of diet, not training, which is slightly beyond the scope of this book. Many of the abdominal muscles will be hit during overhead presses, squats and deadlifts, but targeted work can really make the abdominal muscles appear clearly. They can also help you maintain correct posture and prevent injury. Abs respond better to higher reps and high variety of movements. The three best ab exercises: • Side bend (obliques-side of abs) • Ab wheel (upper abs) • Foot to bar (lower abs)

Section Recap: Each muscle group has a unique group of functions, and requires specific exercises to maximize its potential. 11

Compendium Two: Exercises

The exercises listed below are grouped by movement pattern. This means that each group of exercises works similar muscles, listed below: Hinge-Hamstrings, Glutes, Lower Back, Abs Squat-Quads, Glutes, Lower Back, Abs Row-Lats, Traps, Rear Shoulders, Biceps, Forearms Push-Chest, Front Shoulders, Triceps Pull-Lats, Rear Shoulders, Biceps, Forearms Press-Front+Side Shoulders, Triceps, Abs Shoulders-Front+Side+Rear Shoulders Curl-Biceps, Forearms Extend-Triceps Abs-Abs (duh) Calves-Calves (also duh) Having a good variety of movements to choose from allows you to really tailor your program to yourself. Don’t like a movement? Then don’t do it. Switch it out for something similar but different. That isn’t to say you should completely avoid squatting variations just because you don’t like them, but if you really like back squatting and detest front squatting, there is absolutely no harm in choosing what you like to do. You need to enjoy your training for it to be sustainable. I don’t give you hundreds of exercises so that you can do hundreds of exercises. I give you hundreds of exercises so that you can find the best twenty to forty that are ideal for you. Find two to four exercises per movement pattern that target the muscles that you want to develop, you enjoy doing on some level, and can do pain free. How to read this section This section is broken down into the eleven movement patterns, with roughly ten to fifteen exercises for each. In each movement pattern section, it will note which muscles it targets, give some tips and tricks on how to get optimal results, share some considerations for volume, frequency and intensity as well as how to keep you safe and injury free. For each exercise, there will be a picture or two showing the movement and a short description of how to perform the exercise. There will also be a few notes for every exercise: difficulty, effectiveness, recovery cost, rep range and priority. Difficulty is simply when it is suggested to try this movement. Beginner means that this exercise is appropriate for anyone, even someone on their first day starting in the gym. 12

Intermediate exercises are ones that should be tried only after a few months of mastering beginner level exercises. A beginner COULD start off would these, but there is no real reason to-they are better off left for later in most cases. Advanced exercises are ones that complete beginners have no business attempting under any circumstances. These exercises are often extremely effective, but are more difficult to learn and are potentially risky if you haven’t already mastered the lower levels. Try them after you have a few months of beginner and intermediate exercises under your belt. Keep in mind that some exercises in the beginner section are extremely effective. Just because they are easy to learn does not mean that they are not great exercises. Even Olympic level athletes have a lot to gain from “simple” exercises like back extensions (see left) and pulldowns (see right). When you “graduate” to another level of exercises, that doesn’t mean you can’t go back to or keep doing the lower level ones. Effectiveness is simply how effective the exercise is at changing your body. This number is compared to the other exercises in the same movement pattern, but also as a whole. For example, the average hinge exercise, many of which work half a dozen or more major muscle groups, has an effectiveness higher than that of a curling exercise, which is mainly targeting just part of the arms and not much else. A deadlift will be far more effective at changing your body than a bicep curl will be, just because it is affecting more of your body. It’s science. Pulling and rowing exercises can work the biceps just as well as curling exercises, pushing and pressing exercises can stimulate the triceps about as well as extending exercises, and other upper body movements can replace some direct shoulder work. The curl, extend and shoulder movement patterns are thus best thought of as supplements to the main lifts. You could cut them out and not see much of a difference. They’re replaceable. No exercise, however, can truly replace hinging, squatting, pressing, pushing, rowing and pulling exercises, especially the heavy barbell and dumbbell movements. They are fundamental. You’ll notice that there is no exercise listed that is a ten-that’s because no exercise is fully effective. I just couldn’t bring myself to put any exercise on that pedestal. You’ll also notice that no exercise listed is below a three. That’s because I’m not going to write a book and bother including shitty exercises. You only get the good ones. Three=Niche movement, perhaps useful in some situations Four=Fully replaceable, but useful in some circumstances 13

Five=Decent exercise, worth cycling in occasionally Six=Good movement, use it sometimes Seven=Great exercise, consider scheduling it in often Eight=A staple. Definitely worth regularly using. Nine=Truly amazing exercise, keep in your program much of the time. Recovery Cost is how much of a physical and mental toll the exercise takes on your body. This often closely correlates with effectiveness. The more effective an exercise is, generally the longer it takes to recover from. That’s just the nature of the game. Greater risk sometimes equals greater reward. The exercises that can “mess you up” also trigger the most possible gains, for that very reason. Rep Range is how many reps you should do per set for the exercise. Just because a certain number is listed, doesn’t mean you have to use any or all of them, it just means that generally speaking, that range is a good place to be. For example, pulldowns are listed at eight to twenty, so that means that you could do sets of ten reps, sets of twelve reps, sets of sixteen reps. You could do eight reps per set sometimes and twenty sometimes, even in the same workout. Now…you could do sets of six reps, or sets of twenty-five reps. I’m not your mom. It just means that it is either inefficient, less effective, or dangerous. Priority is how you can program the movement, which I’ll admit is somewhat subjective. This is mostly just to give you a general idea of which exercises you should be focusing on. Main movements are those that can be focused on and progressed for years and years. These are mainly barbell and dumbbell movements and are your “bread and butter”. If you are gluten intolerant, pick another phrase-I guess they are your “rice and oil”. Assistance movements are slightly lower priority-they are mainly used to correct weaknesses, get in extra volume and add some variety to your program. They’re usually slightly easier to recover from. Tertiary movements are those that are the lowest priority, easiest to recover from and are mostly used to balance your physique, bring up your weak pointsor target a specific area. Equipment is what you need to do the movement. Make sure you have access to these items before charging into battle. There’s no point in planning to do back extensions when you don’t have access to a forty-five degree back extension machine or benching when your gym doesn’t have a bench press!

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Section Recap: Each exercise has a difficulty, effectiveness, recovery cost, suggested rep range, programming priority and required equipment listed in it’s description, as well as instructions on how to do the exercise itself in bold.

Hinge

Hinge exercises generally work the hamstrings, glutes and lower back. If you want an attractive back of the body, incorporating some of these exercises is a must. These are some of the most physically and mentally difficult of physical things you can do, but the payoff is worth it, because no movement pattern can so completely transform your physique. I would encourage everyone to deadlift in some manner, and there are many types in this section to choose from that vary in difficulty. It’s the best lower back muscle strengthener out there, and when those muscles are strong, they will actually protect you from back pain. They’re also a great trap, lat and forearm developer. However, I would not recommend doing deadlift variations with high frequency or volume-because they are so taxing, it’s better to be conservative. A good rule of thumb would be deadlifting once a week in most circumstances, and if you want to add more hinge type work, substitute in exercises that are easier to recover from such as back extensions, hamstring curls, pullthroughs and glute bridges. For almost all of these exercises, it is vital that you are hinging at the HIPS, not the lower back. You want your spine to move minimally, if at all. Before lifting, make sure that you take a deep breath into your belly to stabilize your core. Breathing through the nose will help make sure you are breathing into your belly. Pretend like you are about to get punched in the stomach. A lifting belt can help, see the section on equipment for details. Back Extension One of the best hamstring and glute exercises, the back extension is beginner friendly, very safe, and the best way to learn how to properly hinge at the hips. The pad locks you into the correct position and you can focus on using the glutes and hamstrings. It’s important to place the pad in the correct place-it should be at the top of your thigh as shown in the pictures. If it is too high, it will prevent you from hinging at

the hip and it will turn into a lower back exercise. If it is too low, it’ll bother your knees. Find the correct 15