15
RESISTANCE TRAINING
PROGRAMS
3-MINUTE BODY PARTS: THE QUICK-SET PROGRAMS
Starting an exercise program is not nearly as important as staying on one. While there are hundreds of movement programs available, it is critical that you begin them with the end in mind. When it comes to exercise you must always ask yourself, “Will I keep it up?” Starting and stopping exercise programs or infrequently exercising does you no good. That is why you must consider everything necessary not just to begin, but to continue.
Body by God: The Owner’s Manual for Maximized Living recommends the Quick-Set Programs. These allow you to get a workout in for an individual body part in as little as three minutes. Combine that with your 4 minute BURST program and you’re a new person with only 7 minutes of time invested! This is the ultimate way to perform resistance training. These routines can be as simple and as short as you need them to be in order to fit them into your schedule or level of motivation on any given day or week. This program can also be performed more or fewer times per week, dependent on how quickly you desire to make changes to the muscles of your BBG. This actually creates the possibility of knowing you will not only exercise consistently this week, or for the next ninety days, but forever.
Due to the type of adaptation the body must make while performing Quick Sets, you are able to create significant changes in the composition (body-fat percentage and muscle tone) of a body part within three minutes. Busy moms, overworked businessmen and businesswomen, or students on a tight time schedule can still be extremely effective in their lives and get in shape all at the same time. Using the Quick-Set Programs for three-minute body parts, I and many of my patients, clients, and friends have been able to maintain busy schedules, a high-quality family life, and find plenty of leisure time while still being in the best shape of our lives.
Like bursts, these routines can be used to increase the intensity of your workouts, shorten your workout times, and very safely speed up your results. Similar to the Burst, the science is to increase intensity while actually decreasing stress to the body. They are designed so anyone can perform them and make great changes to their BBGs on any level. Whether you are a retired grandma or an aspiring Olympian, there is a plan for you on the following pages.
Types of Quick Sets
Decline Set
• Pick one exercise and do it for 8–12 repetitions until failure.
• Rest 5–6 seconds.
• Lower the weight 5–20 pounds and do the exercise again for 6–8 repetitions until failure.
• Rest 5–6 seconds.
• Lower the weight 5–20 pounds again and do another 6–8 repetitions until failure.
Pause Set
• Pick one exercise and do it for 8–12 repetitions until failure.
• Rest 5–6 seconds.
• Using the same weight, do the exercise again until failure.
• Rest 5–6 seconds.
• Repeat this process until you cannot do the exercise for more than 1–2 repetitions.
Monster Set
A Monster Set is when, after performing an exercise for one body part, instead of resting, you immediately perform an exercise for another body part. The other body part should be one that was not used while exercising the first body part. For example: chest and biceps, or quadriceps and hamstrings.
Monster Sets are combined with Decline or Pause Sets so you can get a tremendously effective workout done in a very short amount of time. For example, after you perform a Pause Set with the Incline Flye Press for your chest, you can immediately begin performing a Decline Set with Hammer Curls for your biceps.
Cycle Set (1 Cycle = 3–6 Minutes)
To perform a Cycle Set, you set up 3–6 exercises for the same or different body parts. As soon as you are done performing one exercise until failure, you immediately go to the next . . . and then the next. Continue going around the circuit 3 or 4 times.
For example, set up an exercise for quadriceps, an exercise for hamstrings, and an exercise for calves, then do 1 quadriceps exercise then 1 hamstring exercise then 1 calf exercise. Repeat this circuit 3–4 times.
You can also set up 3 exercises for only 1 body part and go around the circuit that way 2–4 times.
Help Reps
Help Reps can be used with any Intensity Set. A Help Rep is performed when a helper or “spotter” stands near you during your set, and when you reach failure they help you to perform 1–2 more repetitions.
MOUNTAIN STRAIGHT SET
(15-20 Minute Workout for Building Muscle Strength, Size, and Power)
It’s not 3 minutes, but it is a safe way to lift heavier weights and to gain strength.
Up the Mountain (Beginners perform 1, 2, 3, and 5 only.)
1. Light to moderate weight with which you can do 12–15 successful repetitions without a hesitation in the movement.
2. Moderate weight with which you can do 10–12 successful repetitions.
3. Moderate to heavy weight with which you can do 8–10 repetitions, struggling with the last 1–2 repetitions.
4. Heavy weight with which you perform 6–8 repetitions struggling, and potentially need assistance with the last 2 repetitions.
5. To increase muscle size or power, you can do 2- to 4- or even 1- to 2-repetition sets (for power and explosion sports).
Down the Mountain
Moderate weight with which you can perform 10 difficult repetitions, possibly needing assistance on the last repetition.
Mountain Straight Sets
3-MINUTE BODY PARTS AND SAMPLE WORKOUTS
Decline and Pause Sets allow you to complete an exercise for a particular body part in approximately 3 minutes. Therefore, a workout consisting of 1 exercise per body part for 3 body parts would take only about 10 minutes, which includes setup time. Workouts become 3 minutes longer or shorter as you do more or less body parts.
Combining Decline and Pause Sets by using the Monster Set drastically decreases your exercise time while drastically increasing the results!
1-Day Sample Upper-Body Workout for Women
3-Minute Body Parts for 6 Parts (20-Minute Workout)
Chest and bicep workout together using the Monster Set Format
• Incline Dumbbell Flye Press: Decline Set with Barbell Curl: Pause Set
Triceps and abdominal workout together using the Monster Set Format
• One-Arm Triceps Extension: Decline Set with Abdominal Crunch: Decline Set Do crunches using a weight behind the head (OR Pause Set if you are unable to use weight)
Back and shoulder workout together using the Monster Set Format
• Front Pulldowns: Decline Set with Lateral Flyes: Decline Set
2-Day Sample Upper-Body Workout for Men
3-Minute Body Parts for 3 Parts (10-, 20-, or 30-Minute Workout)
DAY 1: Half upper-body workout (chest, biceps, and triceps)
10-Minute Workout:
Chest and bicep workout together using the Monster-Set Format.
• Incline Dumbbell Flye Press: Decline Set with Barbell Curl: Pause Set
Triceps
• Triceps Pushdown: Decline Set
For 20-Minute Workout, Add:
• Flat Dumbbell Flye Press: Pause Set with Hammer Curl: Decline Set
• One-Arm Triceps Extension: Pause Set
For 30-Minute Workout, Add:
• Push-Ups: Pause Set with Dumbbell Curl Pause Set
• Reverse Bench Dips: Pause Set
DAY 2: Half Upper-Body Workout (shoulders, back, and abdominals)
10-Minute Workout:
Back and Shoulder Workout together using the Monster-Set Format
• Reverse Grip Pulldown: Decline Set with Dumbbell Press: Pause Set
Abdominals
• Crunch: Decline Set using a weight behind the head (OR Pause Set if you are unable to use weight)
For 20-Minute Workout, Add:
• Dumbbell Row: Pause Set with Lateral Flyes: Decline Set
• Bent Leg Raise: Pause Set
For 30-Minute Workout, Add:
• Pull Ups: Pause Set with Bent Flyes: Pause Set
• Side Crunch: Pause Set
1-Day Sample Lower-Body Workout for Women and Men
3-Minute Body Parts for 3 Parts (10-, 20-, and 30-Minute Workouts)
10-Minute Workout:
Quadriceps and Hamstring Workout together using the Monster-Set Format
• One-Legged Squat: Decline Set with Straight-Leg Dead Lift: Pause Set
Calves
• One-legged Calf Raise: Decline Set
For 20-Minute Workout, Add:
• Lunge: Decline Set with Leg Extensions: Pause Set
• Seated Calf Raises: Pause Set
For 30-Minute Workout, Add:
•[Women Only] Abduction/Adduction: Decline Set with Hamstring Curls: Decline Set or
• Squats: Decline Set with Hamstring Curls: Decline Set
• Standing Calf Raise: Decline Set
Or: 10- or 15-Minute Lower-Body Cycle Set
• One-Legged Squat then Hamstring Curl then One-Legged Calf Raise (go around 3 or 4 times for 10 or 15 minutes)
For 20- or 30-Minute Cycle Set:
• One-Legged Squat then Straight-Leg Dead Lift then Seated Calf Raise then Leg Extension then Hamstring Curl then One-Legged Calf Raise (Go around 3 or 4 times for 20 or 30 minutes)
TIPS FOR EXERCISE LONGEVITY
Following these tips will increase your desire to exercise, reduce or eliminate health problems, and help you stick to your program longer—hopefully forever:
1. Warm up! Warm up! Warm up! Do 5–10 minutes of stretching and 1–2 warm-up sets of 12–15 reps with very light weight before beginning your exercises. Stretching, warming up the muscles, and adding weight slowly will drastically reduce or eliminate your chance of injury.
2. Beginners, or people attempting to just maintain or develop some strength and muscle tone, can perform only 1 routine a week for lower body and 1 for upper body.
3. Upper-body workouts can be split in half by both men and women to make them shorter and more time-efficient. For example: chest, biceps, and triceps can be exercised separately from back, shoulders, and abdominals.
4. Change your routines around every week or month so you do not get bored and you avoid plateaus due to your body being used to your routine.
5. If you are suffering injuries regularly or feeling excessively sore, physically exhausted, or burned-out, that means you are overtraining. When this happens, take an extra day or days off and/or lower the intensity of the workouts for a week or two. It also means that you need more hydration and more use of foods that reduce/neutralize acids in the body and a more basic environment. (See “Back to Basics” on page 76 in the Food by God part of your Owner’s Manual.)
6. Try these combined routines to save even more time or make EBG even easier.
BBG Owner’s Guide to Combining Aerobics, and/or
Lower- and Upper-Body Resistance Movements
Perform these activities 3–5 times/week for men and women at FUR moving zone for a minimum of 15 minutes with a 5-minute warm-up and cooldown phase.
• Walking with ankle or hip weights while doing shoulder, bicep, and triceps movements (combines all 3)
• Walking with ankle or hip weights while holding hand weights and doing shoulder, bicep, and triceps movements (combines all 3)
• Doing an aerobics class that uses hand weights while stepping, lunging, and/or bending at the knees (combines all 3)
• Doing yard or housework that requires both leg and arm motions (combines all 3, as long as there are at least 15 minutes of straight activity)
• Riding a stationary piece of cardio equipment that has foot and arm pedals (combines all 3)
• Swimming (combines all 3)
START MOVING FROM WHERE YOU ARE
The true measure of people is not determined so much by where they are, but by where they are going. In the beginning and throughout the Owner’s Manual programs, it will always be important to just start moving from where you are. I know how hard it is to change. Setbacks and errors may have accompanied your last efforts to change and created where you are right now, but do not let them determine where you are going. Just begin and keep moving forward. You don’t lose if you fail. You lose only if you quit.
We all have something in common: We win some and we lose some. Mostly, when it comes to permanent change, we lose some. What I am praying for, what I wish I could get on the phone with you every day to inspire, what the world needs, and what God is counting on, is that losing doesn’t mean the same thing as stopping.
Not stopping is what makes a person who is doing things for God different from everyone else. Everyone fails. If everything is going your way, you are probably going the wrong way. In fact, if you are really trying to make a difference, you’ll fail even more often than the average person.
Failing and quitting make you average for a man or woman.
Failing and continuing make you better for God!
Fail, but never give up. Just start moving where you are.
THE BODY BY GOD 40-DAY PLAN FOR MOVEMENT
The Body by God 40-Day Plan in the Life by God section at the end of your Owner’s Manual for Maximized Living will give you recommendations on starting to apply the Laws of Movement.
Like all elements of the 40-Day Plan, all that is required is that you get 40 percent better for God in 40 days and then continue for as long as you desire to keep moving (staying alive). This means that you are not killing yourself at home or in a gym by trying to create miraculous “before and after” pictures in only two weeks. It means you begin . . . and just keep getting better.
On the other hand, the good news is that if you use the Quick-Set Programs for three-minute body parts, along with properly applying your fat-burning Moving Zones, you will see dramatic changes in the health and appearance of your BBG in a very short period of time. This should inspire you to continue exercising and keep improving for God. (See “Overnight Success” plans on p. 349.)
If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. (Ps. 37:23–24)
