Getting Physical
Plague of Strength
General Fitness, Functional Fitness, Functional TrainingLet's face it: Most people think that the fact that they lift every day means that they're in shape, but they're lying to themselves.
I was slapped in the face by reality about this when I saw Physical: 100, a massively popular Korean sports competition show that pit athletes from various athletic and physical backgrounds against each other to determine who has the best physique.
Two seasons of Physical: 100 and its spin-offs Physical: Asia & Final Draft have exposed a single truth:
Recreational lifters, bodybuilders, and strongmen look strong but in real life they're some of the weakest athletes around. They're not fit enough to use the strength they have, and they're often too muscle-bound to exert their strength for more than a few seconds at a time.
Realizing that I couldn't compete on those shows despite 30 years of obsessive exercise made me realize I'd lost the thread somewhere- I decided I was a lifter rather than an athlete. When I did that, I lost my athleticism and mobility and replaced it with extra stiffness, constant pain, and difficulty breathing.
Let's Get Physical will enable you to reverse that trend and recapture your athleticism, or attain it for the very first time!
By developing your mobility, core, and cardio you will unlock the strength you know is hidden deep within you, but you've never been able to tap or see- your definition is hidden by fat & blurred from being muscle-bound, & all of the strength in the world is useless if you're too winded to use it or too inflexible to get into a position to use it!
Follow the lead of the elite athletes on the Physical series and improve your muscularity by lowering your bodyweight and enhancing your muscularity the old fashioned way: HARD WORK!
The problem you've been having isn't metabolic or genetic- it's that you've been following the wrong examples and listening to the wrong people. Getting Physical is a synthesis of what I've used to get back into shape along with the training methods utilized by professional athletes from a wide variety of sports in the present, past, and distant past (who you can read about here) to enable you to have the most seamless transition possible from chubby gymrat into obvious athlete!
A
Light Jog
1 x 10:00
Prep
B
Warmup (B)
1-3 Rounds, with 0 rest between rounds 1) Walking Lunge with a Twist x 15 (Each Side) 2) Arm Swings and Lat Reaches x 30 seconds (Each) 3) Bend And Reach x 15 4) Bend And Twist x 15 (Each Side) 5) Crossover Toe Touch x 15 (Each Side) 6) The Swimmer x 15 Warming up is an essential part of your workout and is not optional- it is just as important as the workout itself!
Strength/Power
C
Kettlebell / Dumbbell Circuit (A)
5 Rounds of 8 exercises, with 1 minute rest between rounds: 1) Goblet Squat Halo x 10 (Each Direction) 2) Push-Up x 10 3) Dumbbell Goblet Clean & Press x 20 4) Front Leaning Rest x 30s 5) Twisting Goblet Reverse Lunge x 10 (Each Side) 6) Push-Up x 5 7) Dumbbell or Kettlebell Swing x 20 8) Plank on Elbows x 30s Use the same dumbbell or kettlebell for all exercises. I highly recommend you start very light ~5kg / 10lbs and work your way up. The point of this is to do excellent reps with a complete range of motion, not to check a box or do the most weight (ESPECIALLY ON THE TWISTING REVERSE LUNGE!! Make the focus big ROM, a huge stretch, and tight abs with a flexed taint). Keep the weight at or under 10kg / 20lbs or less unless you can do 5 Rounds with no more than 30 seconds of rest between them. Do better reps and faster workouts before you add more weight. Kettlebells are a little harder to manage at first, but are probably superior to dumbbells for most lifts because they require you to fully engage your grip, which is necessary to fully engage the rest of the muscles in your upper body.
Conditioning
D
Cooldown (B)
4+ Rounds of 3 exercises, with 30 seconds rest after the third exercise. 1) Dead Bug x 5 (Each Side) 2) Windshield Wipers x 5 (Each Side) 3) Bird Dog x 5 (Each Side) Every pro athlete on Earth makes core work the backbone of their training, and it's high time recreational lifters followed their lead.
Prep
A
Warmup (B)
1-3 Rounds, with 0 rest between rounds 1) Walking Lunge with a Twist x 15 (Each Side) 2) Arm Swings and Lat Reaches x 30 seconds (Each) 3) Bend And Reach x 15 4) Bend And Twist x 15 (Each Side) 5) Crossover Toe Touch x 15 (Each Side) 6) The Swimmer x 15 Warming up is an essential part of your workout and is not optional- it is just as important as the workout itself!
Conditioning
B
Bodyweight Circuit (B)
10 Rounds of 8 exercises done for 30 seconds each, with a 1 minute break between rounds. 1) Burpee Broad Jump 2) Jumping Jacks 3) Burpee Tuck Jump 4) Jumping Jacks 5) Burpee Pull-Up 6) Jumping Jacks 7) Mountain Climber 8) Flutter Kicks That means you will do each of the 8 exercises for 30 seconds apiece before resting for 1 minute and starting another round. Use a Round Timer app to make it easy. 10 rounds can be done in 49 minutes, which means you can get a full workout an hour with warmup and cooldown.
C1
Standing Forward Fold
3 x 30
C2
Cobra Stretch
3 x 30
C3
Cat Cow
3 x 30
A
Light Jog
1 x 10:00
B
Static Stretch
1 x 5:00
C
DB Hang Power Clean & Jerk
3 x 10
D1
Front Squat
4 x 5 @ 60, 75, 80, 85 %
D2
Back Squat
5, 5, MAX, MAX
E1
Bench Press
20, 15, 12, MAX @ 50, 60, 70, 85 %
E2
Chin-Up
4 x MAX
Recovery
F
Cooldown (B)
4+ Rounds of 3 exercises, with 30 seconds rest after the third exercise. 1) Dead Bug x 5 (Each Side) 2) Windshield Wipers x 5 (Each Side) 3) Bird Dog x 5 (Each Side) Every pro athlete on Earth makes core work the backbone of their training, and it's high time recreational lifters followed their lead.
A
Jog
1 x 10:00
B
Static Stretch
1 x 5:00
C1
Diamond Push-Up
4 x 2
C2
Push-Up
4 x 3
C3
Pull-Up
4 x 5
D1
Tricep Kickback Curl
20, 12, 12, 12
D2
Bicep Curl to Shoulder Press
3 x MAX
Recovery
E
Cooldown (B)
4+ Rounds of 3 exercises, with 30 seconds rest after the third exercise. 1) Dead Bug x 5 (Each Side) 2) Windshield Wipers x 5 (Each Side) 3) Bird Dog x 5 (Each Side) Every pro athlete on Earth makes core work the backbone of their training, and it's high time recreational lifters followed their lead.
A
Light Jog
1 x 10:00
Conditioning
B
Warmup (A)
1-3 Rounds, with 0 rest between rounds 1) Crossover Toe Touch x 15 (Each Side) 2) Bend And Reach x 15 3) Bend And Twist x 15 (Each Side) 4) Arm Swings and Lat Reaches x 30 seconds (Each) 5) Plank Alternate Leg Lift x 10 (Each Side) 6) The Swimmer x 15 Warming up is an essential part of your workout and is not optional- it is just as important as the workout itself! Look at all of the most successful athletes- none of them would dream of skipping their warmup. You shouldn't approach your workouts any differently. You'll look and perform better if you warm up before working out, so make sure that even if you do nothing else, you do the Warm-Up and/or the Cool down!
C1
Hex Bar Deadlift
15, 10, 8, 6, MAX
C2
See-Saw Press
10, 10, 10, 10, MAX
D1
DB Floor Press
15, 12, 10, 8
D2
Hanging Leg Raise
4 x MAX
Conditioning
E
Cooldown (B)
4+ Rounds of 3 exercises, with 30 seconds rest after the third exercise. 1) Dead Bug x 5 (Each Side) 2) Windshield Wipers x 5 (Each Side) 3) Bird Dog x 5 (Each Side) Every pro athlete on Earth makes core work the backbone of their training, and it's high time recreational lifters followed their lead.
Jamie Lewis
Jamie is the world's premier strength sports historian (featured on ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary on American Gladiators) and a former powerlifting all-time, all-federation world record holding in powerlifting, as well as a former collegiate wrestler & avid martial artist who compiled a 1W-1L (1KO) record in Tough Man boxing while training in Jeet Kune Do & Mixed Martial Arts.
Doug
Jacked Skateboarder
Verified Athlete""The coaching cues were great for all of the lifts- the bench specifically hit different with the extended lock out, the mix of rep ranges was interesting & fun, & the workouts have great flow! And I’m proud of myself for jogging! 😂😂""
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Getting Physical
Getting Physical
Getting Physical
