If you missed my #1 post, these are a series of five exercise routines to be done each week, one/day.  I followed these routines prior to competing in the National Senior Basketball Championships this June in Houston and found them to be invaluable in getting me conditioned to compete against the best in the country.

The links to videos that show proper form often times have strong guys/gals pulling/pushing more weight than you and I can/should try to handle.  My recommendation is to start each exercise with almost no weight.  Get the feel of the exercise and increase your weight until you can do the exercise without losing your form and hit the recommended number of reps.

Strengthen your back!

These workouts, I refer to as my Colorado Workouts, were designed by my nephew, Robbie, and his Dad.  Robbie is a senior in college majoring in sports physiology who competes in all natural body building events.

The key to the Colorado workouts is that one can use as light a weight as they need to achieve the number of reps recommended.  Form and reps are the key to success.

Robbie provided me with five workouts to be done each week.  One per day with two days off or for a good cardio burn…run, basketball, elliptical, or my favorite…the old-fashioned stair master…the one with the treads. This routine works five separate muscle groups once/week. The groups are: shoulders, back, arms, chest, legs.

I’ll post each workout separately,  this week being “back”.  Each will have some links to videos that show proper form.  A great website that should provide good tutorials if you are unsure of an exercise is Link to Exercise Guide

Before starting, I also have found that it is advisable to invest in a good protein shake and if older like I, a drink with some L-Glutamine for muscle recovery.  Again, my nephew, who studies this as his major in college, recommended Max Muscle’s IsoExtreme.  It is mixed with water, tastes like a gatorade product, and helps to provide some energy during the workout and really helps with post-workout crashing.   I purchase mine from a distributor in Connecticut who doesn’t charge for shipping and gives you the second tub at 50% off.  If you are working out 5 x’s per week, this is a very attractive price structure.  Robbie recommended I take one scoop with 8-10 oz. of water 1 hour before a workout and 2 scoops with water immediately after a workout. Link to Connecticut Max Muscle Dealer Website

Back:

• 4-5 sets of wide grip chins  (I have always had trouble doing full range chin ups.  I use the “cheater bar” in my gym.Link to Cheater Bar Video
• 4 sets bent over row reverse grip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMXOsgFUN0o&feature=related
• 4 sets bent over row machine: http://www.fitness-equipment.com/acatalog/Fitness_Equipment_Row___Seated_Independent_Back_Row_525.html
• 4 sets seated cable rows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ykUDTcpuJE
• 4 sets close grip cable pull downs:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMVrP-7FP18
• 4 sets wide grip lat pull downs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEb-dwU3VF4
• 4 sets pullovers: http://fitbie.msn.com/exercise/standing-cable-pullover-men

Once again, one great feature of these routines is that you can start with as little weight as you need to hit the desired number of repetitions.  Each of the above sets should hit 15 reps each set.

Have fun!

Regards,

Vinnie Rua- Founder, Christopher’s Custom

A lot of my customers, young and old, talk with me about their “P90X” and Cross Fit workouts.   While I have seen each of these workouts in action, I haven’t actually tried either.  What I have tried, and what I have found to be very effective is a series of workouts developed by my nephew and brother-in-law, Robbie and Bob of Colorado (the Colorado Workouts).  Robbie is a senior in college studying sports physiology and competes in “all-natural” body building events.

Stronger Shoulders!

The key to the Colorado workouts is that one can use as light a weight as they need to achieve the number of reps recommended.  Form and reps are the key to success.

Robbie provided me with five workouts to be done each week.  One per day with two days off or for a good cardio burn…run, basketball, elliptical, or my favorite…the old-fashioned stair master…the one with the treads. This routine works five separate muscle groups once/week. The groups are: shoulders, back, arms, chest, legs.

I’ll post each workout separately, starting this week with “shoulders”.  Each will have some links to videos that show proper form.  A great website that should provide good tutorials if you are unsure of an exercise is Link to Exercise Guide

Before starting, I also have found that it is advisable to invest in a good protein shake and if older like I, a drink with some L-Glutamine for muscle recovery.  Again, my nephew, who studies this as his major in college, recommended Max Muscle’s IsoExtreme.  It is mixed with water, tastes like a gatorade product, and helps to provide some energy during the workout and really helps with post-workout crashing.   I purchase mine from a distributor in Connecticut who doesn’t charge for shipping and gives you the second tub at 50% off.  If you are working out 5 x’s per week, this is a very attractive price structure.  Robbie recommended I take one scoop with 8-10 oz. of water 1 hour before a workout and 2 scoops with water immediately after a workout. Link to Connecticut Max Muscle Dealer Website

Shoulders:

• 4-6 sets of rear delts on the peck deck machine (sit facing the machine)  15 reps
• 5 sets seated shoulder press (on either a machine or smith machine) 15 reps
• 5 sets seated dumb bell presses 15 reps; super set with seated bent over dumb bell lateral raise 15 reps (rear delt exercises including above on peck deck shown here: http://getthisripped.com/exercise/rear-deltoid-exercises
• 4 sets upright rows (or can do front lateral dumb bells raises some workouts too) super set with side lateral dumb bell raise  15 reps
• 4 sets of seated side lateral raise on machine 15 reps (example here: http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/exercises/shoulders/machine-laterals.aspx)
• 5 sets shoulder shrugs; use machine or straight bar with weight; super set with dumb bells and lighter weight for full range of motion.  For this exercise, I use the heaviest barbell or dumbbells I can handle and get 15 reps for the first set; for the super set with lighter weights I choose a weight I can do 20-25 reps with (I find that my super set weight is 50% of my max weight)