R.Lewis - My mums workout.

R.Lewis · Nov. 08/06, 06:46 PM

Taking the Piste (ski pain free)
By Russell Lewis
I designed this workout for my Mum,(or “Mom” to you Yanks) as she is going skiing in 3 months time.
Like many gym goers, she has spent the last 10years plodding on with her “Girly Girl workout” which consists of 20mins on this machine and 20mins on that one, followed by some triceps kick backs and bicep curls (to “tone” the arms - Aghh).

So… we have 3 months to get her strengthened up enough to be able to ski pain free.

This workout obviously must focus on the legs, however, as my Mum will not be doing any heavy 5x5 training, a full body program is required to ensure that the entire body is worked at a higher frequency. Meaning every muscle in the body is worked 2-3 times a week rather than once a week.

It’s Obvious that if I were to cram in every single exercise into one workout it would take hours. This is why I have separated the program into 2 Phases (week 1-6 and week 7-12) and split each phase into 2 workouts.

Phase 1 will consist of simple exercises which any gym goer should already be doing but probably doesn’t! Phase 2 will get more complicated and involve more stability work, heavier weights and more effort.

Phase 1 – Basics

Both workouts are set up in the same way.

Legs – Work the legs first as that is the main focus of the program. It’s best to do this 1st while you have the maximum amount of energy.

Upper body – Both Upper body workouts contain exercises for the Pecs (chest), Delts (shoulders), Lats (mid/low back) and Traps (mid/high back).

Core – Very important for health and balance. (and skiing!!!)

CV and Stretching – CV for fitness and the stretching will help loosen the leg muscles and stop them from aching after a day on the slopes.

Supersets – This is when you do 1 set of the 1st exercises, then move straight over to the 1st set of the 2nd exercise with minimum rest. You keep doing this until you have completed your sets on both machines. If you cant do the superset due to busy gyms then just go through the exercises in order.

Sets and Reps - 4x8. (4 = Number of Sets. 8 = Number of Reps)

The 1st time you do Workout 1 use the 4x8 set/rep system. Then for Workout 2 use the 3x12 set/rep system.
The 2nd time you do Workout 1 use 3x12, 2nd time you do Workout 2 use 4x8.
And repeat.
Please note that you will need a heavier weight for 4x8 than you would use for 3x12. You will be doing less reps, so you will be able to lift more.

Workout 1
– Includes side to side lunges to work the adductor and abductor muscles, when skiing this will help when turning and slowing down.
– Uses Wide grip torso exercises to focus on the large torso muscles rather than the arms.

Workout 2- Includes deadlifts to strengthen the back and aid with grip strength.
- Uses close grip exercises to achieve more tension in the arms but also works the torso muscle well.
- Includes woodchoppers to work the Obliques (side twisting muscles)

Workout 1

Superset
- Squats
- Static Side Lunge
……………………………
Superset- Bench press
- Seated Row
Superset
- Shoulder Press
- Wide-Grip Pull-Down
…………………………….
Plank

Swiss ball crunches
……………………………..
Stretches

CV

Stretches

Workout 2

Superset
- Deadlift row
- Step-Ups / Static Lunge
…………………………………..
Superset
- Bench
- Close-Grip Pull-Down
Superset- Standing row
- Triceps Dips
…………………………………….
Woodchopper High

Woodchopper Low
………………………………………
Stretches

CV

Stretches

Phase 2 coming in 1-6weeks!

R.Lewis - My mums workout.

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R.Lewis - My mums workout.