
I’ve been working on this for quite a while, so hopefully there is some value here for you…
I can’t put my finger on exactly what sparked this line of thinking, but I recall having an “aha” moment when comparing muscle function to our conception of superheroes.
Muscles have many evolutionary functions, we can think of tribal cavemen who had to survive harsh elements including competing with their own kind in order to mate.
Specifically these functions are: power, speed and size
These three functions also happen to be what we attribute to modern-day heroes both in real life and to exaggerated extents in fiction.
Size may stand out a little bit because it doesn’t actually seem on the surface to be a true function, but the more we consider it the more we may value it’s purpose. Consider the muscularly huge people we see – they immediately earn respect. Their size also tells others they are not to be messed with. Furthermore their size seems to correlate to their own confidence which compounds their capability.
A case could be made that balance contributes to this as well… but to be perfectly honest I could not think of a way to attribute balance to superheroes. Still combining balance and strength training seems to have a harmonious effect – making such movements as split squats one of my personal favourites of late.
So if your goal is to create a training program that helps achieve that superhero persona, we ought to consider designing the program to develop these three functions.
Let’s look at what seems to develop them individually:
POWER
Here we look to the world of power and strength trainers. These people are known to lift tremendous amount of weight, but in small bursts. This is where progressing with heavier weights using small repetitions seems to be most beneficial.
SPEED
When I think of speed in mere mortals I usually visualize martial artists. Not only do those committed to martial arts tend to be fast, they also tend to have efficient physiques – meaning lean and toned.
But between working full-time, being a full-time single dad and everything else in my busy life, I simply haven’t had the time to commit to martial arts training, never mind the costs that seem to be skyrocketing in proportion to the rising popularity of MMA.
So it has had me looking for other ways to develop speed. Here is what I’ve found…
Explosive concentric (positive) movements appear to help this area, which can fortunately be trained to a certain extent while performing strength training.
Incorporating such things as box jumps and HIIT sprints/upright bike into your routine also seem to be effective. Just look at the massive quads on Olympic sprinters if you want more evidence.
SIZE
This is an interesting one, because it isn’t strictly about being huge, it’s about LOOKING huge. That is what I’ve heard described as the illusion of size. Basically it amounts to being both muscular and lean enough for the muscularity to look even larger. Basically what we’re looking at training like here is bodybuilding style volume, but we also want to add in a level of metabolic training to use stored fat as fuel. For that I find antagonistic supersets to be best.
So in an attempt to train all these areas within one program, this is what I came up with…
Note: whenever possible use explosive concentrics and controlled negatives
Day 1: Chest and back (rows)
Bench press superset with 1-arm dumbbell rows; 8 sets; reps = 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 15
Cable crossover superset with seated cable row: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Incline dumbbell press superset with barbell rows: 4 sets of 6-10 reps
Day 2: Legs
Leg extension superset with lying leg curls; 8 sets; reps = 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 15
Squats superset with box jumps; 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Bulgarian split squats superset with 1-leg stiff-legged dumbbell deadlifts: 4 sets of 6-10 reps
Day 3: back (lats) and shoulders
Dumbbell shoulder press superset with wide-grip pulldowns; 8 sets; reps = 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 15
Dumbbell laterals superset with reverse-grip close-grip pulldowns: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Dumbbell upright rows superset with bent-over dumbbell laterals: 4 sets of 6-10 reps
Day 4: arms
Seated dumbbell curls superset with overhead dumbbell extensions; 8 sets; reps = 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 15
Dumbbell hammer curls superset with cable press downs: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Ez curls superset with skull crushers: 4 sets of 6-10 reps
To make this even more effective at least metabolically, try incorporating density something like this:
Week 1: 60 seconds rest between supersets
Week 2: 45 seconds rest between supersets
Week 3: 30 seconds rest between supersets
Week 4: 45 seconds rest between supersets
Week 5: 30 seconds rest between supersets
Week 6: 15seconds rest between supersets
Week 7: 45 seconds rest between supersets
DIET
Obviously what you eat will make a huge difference and what I’ve found to be most effective, practical and sustainable in terms of maximizing body composition is the idea of carb backloading.
In short you eat protein, fat and veggies in the early part of the day and save your carbs for the last meal or two.
If this sounds like a weird concept, you are probably used to the notion of eating your carbs early in the day and tapering then off. The mentality behind this was that you would give yourself energy in the early parts of the day and reduce them while your metabolism is slowing down.
While that does seem to make sense on the surface, if we try to think about it from another angle the picture will look a little different.
Reason number one to avoid early carbs: at the start of the day we don’t “need” extra energy. In fact if your body determines it needs extra energy, in the absence of carbs it will take the energy from stored fat – which is what we want!!
Reason number two: our brains send different kind of messages depending on the present food sources. Protein and fats send messages (neurotransmitters) that are energizing and motivating, while carbs tend to be more relaxing and feel-good. This makes it clear that we want the protein and fats early and carbs later on.
Give this puppy a 6-week run and let me know how it works for you!!!