If my previous cycle was all about barbell exercises, then you could say the theme this time around is a focus on dumbbell exercises. I know from experience that it is a lot harder to make linear progress with dumbbells but I think I need to change things up a bit to make progress in my “problem areas”, namely my chest and shoulders. For this reason I am actually cutting back on the pressing and including some isolation exercises which target the pecs and lateral deltoids directly. Since I am still working with a full body workout twice per week I will alternate the two presses and the two isolation exercises which target these muscles. That way I will be hitting everything twice per week with roughly the same volume I have used previously. But with less focus on the triceps.

Workout A

3x Chinup (BW to Failure)
3x Squat (5-10)
3x DB Bent Over Row (5-10)
3x DB Bench (5-10)
3x DB Lat.Raise (10-15)
2x RDL (3-7)
2x Superset: Triceps Dips (BW to failure) + Barbell Curls (10-15)
2x Superset: Back Extension (10-15) + Bosu Ball Crunch (10-15)

Workout B

3x Chinup/Pullup (BW to Failure)
3x Split Squat (5-10)
3x Barbell Bent Over Row (5-10)
3x Seated DB Press (5-10)
3x DB Fly (10-15)
2x Deadlift (3-7)
2x Superset: Triceps Dips (BW to failure) + Barbell Curls (10-15)
2x Superset: Back Extension (10-15) + Bosu Ball Crunch (10-15)

Even though I have two different workouts, this isn’t a body part split routine. It’s a 2x/week full body routine which I will start out as alternating A/B every week and move towards alternating it A/B one week and B/A next week. I do this because I know that I will need to vary the intensity over the week (weekly periodization) after about 2-3 weeks in order to progress another 2-3 weeks into the cycle before I need to deload. Two workouts per week has worked out pretty well for me so far so I’m sticking to that for now. 3x1h cardio per week and a 300 kcal daily surplus should be a good starting point.

I’m putting chinups first in my program because I find it to be the most rewarding and thus most fun exercise and by placing it first I should be able to put more focus on it. I can currently perform five chinups and my plan is to work myself up to 15 chinups and then alternate it with pullups, which put more emphasis on the lats and less on the biceps. Once I can do 15 pullups it will be time to add weight to the exercise.

My “other row” is the Bent Over Row and I will alternate between the dumbbell and barbell version just to figure out which one I like the most.

For some reason I have not been able to improve my Split Squat and Lunge performance in Body Pump and Cross Training class even though my back squat has improved, so I will be alternating the squat with the split squat in order to address this weakness.

I learned from my last cycle that putting deadlifts directly after squats was not such a good idea, so I’m placing the deadlifts further down in the workout. I’ll be alternating clean style deadlifts with the Romanian deadlifts for some variety.

Another thing I learned was that while arm strength has stayed roughly the same, endurance has decreased as a result of not doing much direct arm work. So I’m including a few sets for that purpose. I may have to increase the number of sets at a later stage, but lets see where this leads me. I could just as simply add an extra arm workout before/after a spinning class if the weekly volume isn’t high enough.

I use the supersets simply to save time, I don’t like spending more than 1.5h at the gym each session.

Bosu Ball

I see many people using Swiss Balls for various different crunches, and it seems like a good way to add a few extra inches to the range of motion for the exercise. What I don’t really care for is the whole “instability” aspect, so I’m thinking that a Bosu Ball should work out better for this purpose. I tried this out a few days ago and while it was a bit difficult to find that “sweet spot” on the ball, once I did get it right, I felt the crunch very nicely in the target muscle. I didn’t try it with a weight, as I think I may have to find a way to lock my feet down if I am to attempt that.