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Original poster

Please help me plan a session for my trainer!

38 replies

June2009 · 24/03/2011 14:51

I have been given the challenge to plan a gym session for my trainer this saturday...male, 20 yo, very fit, he wants a six pack for the summer.
It needs to be hardwork and fill an hour. Some of these exercises will be done in parallel, but some of them (the hanging ones at the chin up bar for example) we'll have to take turns.

I am thinking:

Warm -up

  • skipping to warm up 5 minutes - if you mess up with the rope you do a press-up
  • burpee, / press up / sit up / jump squat - 3 sets of 8 - 60 seconds rest in between

kettle bells workout

  • 150 kettlebells swings (24kg) Target in under 6 mins.

Abs workout:

  • dragon flag (lying on a bench, gripping the bench on each side of yours ears, lift your legs up until the they're pointing directly up making a straight line from chest to feet, top of the shoulder blade are on the bench) - as many as you can.
  • hanging knee raise (2 sets of 10)
  • hanging leg raise (2 sets of 10)
  • full rotation hanging knee raises (twists left and right, 2 sets of 10)
  • weighted gymball crunch (2 sets of 10)
  • press up jack knife (2 sets of 10)
  • gym ball plank, raise your feet one after the other (10 times)
  • medicine ball lower leg (lying down, ball between your feet, hold your leg straight up (2 sets of 10)
  • sitting down, balance on your bum (legs in the air, not too high) + medicine ball: twist your body and alternate left and right with the ball (2 sets of 20)
  • plank to pess up 10 each arm

Stretch.

Even though we want to work abs, is that too much abs do you think?
and will that fill an hour....

Thanks for your input! I'm totally open to other ideas.

OP posts:
Original poster
June2009 · 25/03/2011 23:06

thanks i'll come back and let you kow.
i looked it up on youtube and i'm definitely going for the suitcase deadlift by the way, with kettlebells, after our 150 swings. Thanks for that it'll fit in very well.

OP posts:
LostGirl · 25/03/2011 14:21

Can't wait to hear how it goes. Very Envy , I'd love to have a personal trainer.

Original poster
June2009 · 25/03/2011 13:06

i haven't done suitcase ones before so I'm going to give him the choice providing he knows the correct form.
looking forward to it :) it's the first work out I've put so much planning into!!

OP posts:
LostGirl · 25/03/2011 10:02

Sounds like fun, come back and tell us how he found it!

Are you doing regular deads or suitcase ones?

Original poster
June2009 · 25/03/2011 09:19

all right got it now...
we'll do bench press after deadlifts and i'll swap the chest press on the cable work for the one where you kneel down and bend forward.

thanks for your suggestions :)

OP posts:
Original poster
June2009 · 25/03/2011 06:35

actually still think too much abs work, I want to add another compound movement but we did clean and press last week and squats the week before, any other idea? (bent over rows??)

OP posts:
Original poster
June2009 · 24/03/2011 23:17

right, updated workout....

Warm -up

  • skipping to warm up 5 minutes - if you mess up with the rope you do a press-up
OR
  • Jog outside
  • burpee, / press up / sit up / jump squat - 3 sets of 8 - 60 seconds rest in between

kettle bells workout

  • 150 kettlebells swings (24kg) Target in under 6 mins.
  • chin ups:
  • hanging knee raise (2 sets of 10)
  • hanging leg raise (2 sets of 10)
  • full rotation hanging knee raises (twists left and right, 2 sets of 10)
  • deadlifts lighter weight 8 reps, than 3x5 reps

cable work:

  • chest press lighter weight 8 reps than 3x5 reps
  • standing cable rotation perpendicular to machine, triangular handle, hold with both hands, arms out ni froint striaght, turn your shoulders. (10 reps 3 times)

Abs workout:

  • dragon flag (lying on a bench, gripping the bench on each side of yours ears, lift your legs up until the they're pointing directly up making a straight line from chest to feet, top of the shoulder blade are on the bench) - as many as you can
  • press up jack knife or spike (2 sets of 10)
  • gym ball plank, raise your feet one after the other (10 times)
  • medicine ball lower leg (lying down, ball between your feet, hold your leg straight up (2 sets of 10)
  • sitting down, feet off the floor + medicine ball: twist your body and alternate left and right with the ball (2 sets of 20)
  • One partner lying down legs raised, one partner standing up pushing the legs away towards the floor. the one lying down must resist and not touch the floor.

Stretch.

OP posts:
Original poster
June2009 · 24/03/2011 21:47

Thanks for that.
Now I'm thinking it is too much straightforward "crunching" iyswim and I am going to have a look again tonight and mix it up with exercises that use the abs but are a bit more interesting.
I like the idea of doing somehting that we don't usually do (but of course that means I have to come up with it.)
We usually do some skipping and some boxing so I might take the skipping out of the equation and go outside for a quick jog if the weather is nice. That's different.

OP posts:
LostGirl · 24/03/2011 15:22

Where ever you like really. At the moment I do mine straight after my dynamic warm up, followed by some other direct core work like plank rows and lunge with cable chop, inchworms etc, then full body exercises along the lines of squat/deadlift/chest press/chin up, then I do my interval training type cardio such as kettlebell swings at the end. They say the best workout for you is the one you haven't done yet, so mixing up the order he usually gets you to do things in might be good.

Original poster
June2009 · 24/03/2011 15:13

thanks, yes he said he doesn;t do enough abs work, I think he was struggling last week with stuff he was getting me to do.(he would obviously deny that.)

So the things you suggested like turkish get up etc would be between kettlebells and abs right?

OP posts:
LostGirl · 24/03/2011 15:09

Sorry, me again. To make it really challenging you need to try and find exercises that he doesn't normally do/hasn't done for a while, that way he will really feel it.

LostGirl · 24/03/2011 15:08

Sorry, that should say 'it does make the press up part easier because...

LostGirl · 24/03/2011 15:07

Have you told him you get a six pack in the kitchen, not the gym? Grin

Get the direct core work in first but you could then throw in some full body exercises which work the core as well so he has more of a total body workout at the same time
.
Things such as off loaded squats, or dumbbell lunges with offset loading, suitcase deadlifts, turkish get ups, mixed grip chin ups, all of these require the core to work hard whilst still working the larger muscle groups as well.

Instead of the press up jack knife, you could do the press up pike , so much harder than a jack knife, though it does make the press up part because of the starting position with your lower legs on the ball rather than feet.

Do you have a cable machine? Static holds or one armed rows in front and side plank positions are good.

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