Typical Tuesdays: Chest and Triceps

Last week I posted my first fitness-related post and, to be honest, I was utterly shocked by the response. It was really awesome to see how many people read — and enjoyed — the post. With such success, I thought it might be a good time to post my first 'workout' post. Keep in mind, this routine is for someone like myself who is trying to gain weight and increase size. People trying to lose weight can probably stay away from it (in a sense), but it's definitely a great routine for anyone with the right modifications. (i.e. use lighter weights for more reps)

I typically do this workout on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with slight variations in order to avoid the all-too-important plateau. The reason I do chest and triceps on the same day is because the natural motion of chest exercises inherently works the triceps as well. You always want to work out the muscles that are working involuntarily, or else you could end up working any particular muscle group seven days a week. (I'm also not going to include a stringent weight since everyone has their different levels).

 

Tri-set #1: Barbell bench press, triceps pulldown, and side bends.

• The first set includes benching at a good starting weight (10-12 reps), triceps pulldown on the tower (10-12), and performing 15 side bends to each side with 45 lb. weights from the rack.
• In the second, increase weight on the bench press and pulldowns slightly (6-8 reps), while repeating the side bends in the exact same fashion.
• Third set increases the weight even more — push yourself. Usually around four reps on the bench press and triceps pulldown, while still doing the same thing on the side bends.

Butterfly machine

• Four drop sets, starting from maximum weight and lowering by about 10-20 pounds each set.

Tri-set #2: Seated triceps press, incline dumbbell bench press, and skull crushers.

• In alternating order, perform drop sets for seated triceps press, incline dumbbell bench press, and skull crushers (4-6 reps).
• On the next two sets for triceps press and incline bench press, continue to drop the weight by about ten pounds while continuing skull crushers at the same weight.

Cardio: HIIT

(Since I am not trying to lose weight and/or get that 'runner's physique', I am currently on an HIIT training system. Feel free to do some research on the topic, but the idea is to take short rests in between bouts of high intensity exercises — the length of each high-intensity stint, and the workout as a whole, depends on your fitness level. You can do anything for it ... sprint, jog, jumprope ... whatever gets your heart pounding. I love it!)

• Currently, I run roughly a mile per workout ... sprinting for thirty seconds and then resting for the next thirty. Usually, about ten reps will do the trick.

I really like doing cardio in the middle of my routine to, not only confuse my muscles, but also not force myself to be sprinting when I have my least amount of energy. It also forces you to work even harder on the last tri-set.

Tri-set #3: Dumbbell pec flys, tricep dumbbell kickbacks, and dumbbell bench press.

• Same idea as the previous tri-set: I'm doing three drop sets on the pec flys and bench press — starting with maximum weight and working my way down.
• With the kickbacks, I usually use a pretty heavy weight that only allows me to do about eight reps on the first two sets. I also like to lower the weight by about five pounds on the last set to get a maximum rep pump in.

After that, it's back home I go! Hope you guys can appreciate the workout. Obviously I don't do the same routine every time, or I would plateau pretty quickly but this is probably my favorite and most common workout for chest and triceps day. If you have any comments, tips, or workouts of your own that you like to use, I'd love to hear about it!