17
How to Build a Workout

BEFORE YOU BUILD YOUR OWN WORKOUT, let’s review the basic parameters:

1. You’re going to do two workouts—A and B—for each of the three phases.

2. Each workout starts with RAMP, which will be the same set of exercises for everyone. (You can modify it as you see fit, as I explained in Chapter 15, but for now let’s assume you’re going to do it as written.)

3. You’ll need to select exercises for the next four parts of the workout: core, power, strength, and metabolic training.

4. Those are followed by recovery (Chapter 18). As with RAMP, we’ll assume for now that you’re going to use the recovery exercises as shown.

5. As you know from Chapter 5, the strength exercises you choose for Phase One are ones that you can do for one or two sets of 15 repetitions. If you’re a beginner, you may not be able to do any of them 10 times, much less 15. Not a problem. You have to start somewhere, and you’ll build strength and endurance quickly. For more advanced lifters, keep in mind that you have to be able to make progress from one workout to the next. When you can do 15 reps for both sets, you have to add weight, increase the difficulty, or move up to the next level of that category.

6. The strength program in Phase Two calls for two to four sets of 10 reps. Pick exercises that allow you to increase both weight and volume. That will mean different types of choices in different exercise categories. You may need to go to a higher-level exercise in one category, and a lower-level exercise in another. The goal is to increase the amount of weight you lift as well as the volume of lifting you perform.

7. In Phase Three, pick exercises that allow you to perform two to three sets of 12 reps. You’re adding a fifth exercise to each strength workout, and looking for improved conditioning. You want to breathe hard and get sweaty, if you haven’t been doing that all along. (I know I did, starting with the first workout in Phase One.) This is where you go from grinding it out to performing. You should feel smoother, faster, lighter, more athletic. Alwyn calls this phase “Maximize” for a reason: You want to bring everything you have with the goal of emerging with more than you ever thought possible.

Realistically, there’s only so much transforming, developing, and maximizing you can do in 12 weeks. That’s why the program is set up to be repeatable. The second time through, you can do higher-level exercises, do the same ones with heavier loads, do more sets of each exercise, or some combination. Whatever you don’t accomplish the second time through, you can try the third time. Or the fourth. An inexperienced lifter can do this program for a year and see improvements each time.

Advanced lifters can repeat the program using heavier weights for lower reps. The second time through, you can do two to three sets of 12 reps in Phase One, four sets of 8 reps in Phase Two, and two to three sets of 10 in Phase Three.

Once you get comfortable with the template, you can even fill in some of your own exercises. We could fill an entire book with push-up variations, or exercises you can do with a Swiss ball or TRX, or single-leg-stance exercises. This book has more exercises than any of its predecessors, and we’ve still just scratched the surface.

Advanced lifters can also vary sets and reps by movement pattern. You can stick with higher reps and lighter weights for exercises that require more balance and stability, but go heavier with the big-muscle exercises like squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, presses, and rows.

Now it’s time to take a look at the workout templates. Remember that you can either start with these blank slates and fill in your own exercises, or use the done-for-you programs that we offer as examples. If you choose to fill in your own, you’ll find lists of all the exercise options right after the templates. You can photocopy the templates in this book, download blank copies at thenewrulesoflifting.com, or get free training logs at werkit.com.

PHASE ONE: TRANSFORM

Those who haven’t done Alwyn’s workouts may be confused by 1a and 1b and 2a and 2b in front of the strength exercises, which indicate alternating sets. You do the 1a exercise, rest long enough to catch your breath, do 1b, rest, and repeat until you’ve completed all your sets of both exercises. Then you move on to 2a and 2b. (There’s also a “c” exercise in Phase Three, but the system is the same. Do a set of 1a, rest, 1b, rest, 1c, rest, and then repeat until you finish all your sets.)

One other difference for readers of previous NROL books: In the past Alwyn has given you specific rest periods, usually 30, 60, or 90 seconds. The only instruction this time is to stop long enough to catch your breath and regain your strength. How do you know if you’ve regained your strength? Trial and error. If you’re noticeably weaker from one set to the next, you know you didn’t rest long enough.

PHASE TWO: DEVELOP

PHASE THREE: MAXIMIZE

THE EXERCISES

Core: stabilization

Level	Exercise
Pre-Level 1	Torso-elevated plank (p. 54) Modified side plank (p. 55)
Level 1	Plank/side plank (pp. 54–55)
Level 2	Plank/side plank with reduced base of support (pp. 56–57)
Level 3	Feet-elevated plank/side plank (p. 58)
Level 4	Feet-elevated plank/side plank with reduced base of support (pp. 58–59)
Level 5	Feet-elevated plank/side plank with unstable point of contact (pp. 59–60)
Beyond Level 5	Feet-elevated plank/side plank with reduced base of support and unstable point of contact (pp. 60–61)

Core: dynamic stabilization

Level	Exercise
Level 1	Plank and pulldown (p. 61) Side plank and row (p. 62)
Level 2	Push-away (p. 63) Side plank and row with reduced base of support (p. 63)
Level 3	Spiderman plank (p. 64) Swiss-ball mountain climber (p. 65) (or) Mountain climber with slides (p. 65–66)
Level 4	Cable half-kneeling chop (p. 67)
Level 4 progression	Cable kneeling chop (p. 68)
Level 5	Cable split-stance chop (p. 69)
Level 5 progression	Cable horizontal chop (p. 70)

Power

Level	Exercise
Level 1, lower body	Box jump (p. 73)
Level 1, upper body	Elevated explosive push-up (p. 74) (or) Medicine-ball push pass from knees (p. 75)
Level 2, lower body	Body-weight jump squat (p. 75)
Level 2, upper body	Explosive push-up (p. 76) or levitating push-up (p. 76) (or) Medicine-ball push pass (p. 76)
Level 3, lower body	Kettlebell swing (p. 77)
Level 3, upper body	Dumbbell push press (p. 78)
Level 4, lower body	Dumbbell jump squat (p. 79)
Level 4, upper body	Explosive push-up from boxes (pp. 80–81)
Level 5	Dumbbell single-arm snatch (pp. 81–82)

Squat

Level	Exercise
Pre-Level 1	Supported body-weight squat (p. 86)
Level 1	Body-weight squat (pp. 84–85) (or) Suspended body-weight squat (p. 87)
Level 2	Goblet squat (p. 88)
Level 3	Front squat (p. 89)
Level 4	Back squat (pp. 92–93) (or) Hex-bar deadlift (p. 94)
Level 5	Overhead squat (p. 95)

Hinge

Level	Exercise
Level 1	Swiss-ball supine hip extension (p. 99)
Level 2	Cable pull-through (pp. 100–101) (or) Romanian deadlift (p. 102)
Level 3	Rack deadlift (p. 103)
Level 4	Deadlift (pp. 104–105)
Level 5	Wide-grip deadlift (pp. 106–107)
Beyond Level 5	Wide-grip deadlift from deficit (p. 108)

Lunge

Level	Exercise
Pre-Level 1	Supported split squat (p. 113)
Level 1	Split squat (p. 112)
Level 2	Dumbbell reverse lunge (p. 114) (or) Goblet reverse lunge (p. 115) (or) Reverse lunge from step (p. 115)
Level 3	Split squat, rear foot elevated (pp. 116–117) (or) Bulgarian split squat (p. 118) (or) Suspended split squat (p. 119)
Level 4	Forward lunge (pp. 120–121)
Level 5	Walking lunge (p. 121)
Beyond Level 5	Change angle, resistance, elevation, stability, balance (weight on one side of body), or any combination

Single-leg stance

Level	Exercise
Level 1	Step-up (pp. 125–127)
Level 2	Offset-loaded step-up (p. 127)
Level 3	Single-leg Romanian deadlift (p. 128)
Pre-Level 4	Supported single-leg squat (p. 131)
Level 4	Single-leg squat (p. 130) (or) Kettlebell single-leg squat (p. 132)
Level 5	Single-leg deadlift (p. 133)
Beyond Level 5	Crossover step-up (p. 134) (or) Sprinter step-up (p. 135) (or) Overhead sprinter step-up (p. 135)

Push

Level	Exercise
Pre-Level 1	Push-up with hands elevated (pp. 140–141)
Level 1	Push-up (p. 139)
Level 2	Push-up with hands suspended (p. 142)
Level 3	T push-up (p. 143) (or) T push-up with weights (p. 144)
Level 4	Dumbbell bench press (p. 145) (or) Dumbbell single-arm bench press (p. 146)
Level 5	Dumbbell shoulder press (p. 147) (or) Dumbbell single-arm shoulder press (p. 147)
Beyond Level 5	Barbell bench press (p. 148) (or) Barbell board press (p. 149)

Pull

Level	Exercise
Pre-Level 1	Split-stance cable row (p. 154)
Level 1	Standing cable row (p. 153)
Level 2	Kneeling lat pulldown (p. 155) (or) Standing lat pulldown (p. 156)
Level 3, option 1	Dumbbell two-point row (p. 157) (or) Dumbbell three-point row (p. 158) (or) Dumbbell chest-supported row (p. 159)
Level 4	Inverted row (pp. 160–161) (or) Suspended row (p. 162)
Level 5	Chin-up (p. 163)
Beyond Level 5	Pull-up (p. 164)

Combination

Level	Exercise	Notes
Level 1	Single-leg, single-arm cable row (pp. 166–167)
Level 2	Reverse lunge and cable row (p. 168)
Level 3	Romanian deadlift and row (p. 169)
Level 4	Squat and press (p. 170)
Level 5	Reverse lunge and single-arm press (p. 171)
Beyond Level 5	Create your own combo

RAMP

Exercise

Kneeling hip-flexor stretch (p. 174)

Single-leg hip raise (p. 174)

Open one-half kneeling adductor/ankle mobilization (p. 175)

Open one-half kneel with T reach (p. 176)

Squat to stand (p. 177)

Wall slide (p. 178)

Forward/backward jump (p. 179)

Walking knee hug to forward lunge (p. 179)

Side-to-side jump (p. 180)

Walking lateral lunge (p. 180)

Skipping (p. 181)

Carioca (p. 182)

Side shuffle (p. 183)

Metabolic Training

Level	Exercise
Level 1	Body-weight squat (p. 187) (or) Step-up (p. 187) (or) Shadow boxing (p. 187)
Levels 2 and 3	Burpee (p. 188) (or) Kettlebell swing (p. 188) (or) Box jump (p. 188) (or) Squat/push-up combo (p. 188)
Levels 4 and 5	Barbell matrix (bent-over row, front squat, shoulder press) (pp. 188–189) (or) Farmer’s walk (p. 190) (or) Sprint (p. 190)
Beyond Level 5	Jump rope (p. 191) (or) Take the stairs (with or without push-ups) (p. 191) (or) Hit a heavy bag (p. 191) (or) Turn your yard into a gym (chop wood, sledgehammer, wheelbarrow pushes or pulls) (p. 191) (or) Push your car (p. 191)

Now we’ll fill them in. Let’s suppose you’re a novice lifter, or someone who’s new to NROL-type training. I start with these assumptions:

• You’re healthy, with no back pain or limitations in your knees, hips, or shoulders. I know it seems odd to write a book for people with limitations and then assume the sample lifter has no issues. I do it this way because I don’t know what your individual problems may be.

• You have access to a gym with all the standard equipment, like cable machines and Swiss balls.

• You’re a sometimes-active person who can walk around the block a couple of times without stopping to rest.

• Here’s how you might select exercises for your first time through the program.

PHASE ONE: TRANSFORM

PHASE TWO: DEVELOP

PHASE THREE: MAXIMIZE

I could go on all day about why I selected each exercise from the available options. But what it comes down to is this: There really are no right or wrong answers. Nor are there any permanent answers. That’s the beauty of Alwyn’s template system. You can adjust anything you want on the fly. Alwyn’s only hard-and-fast rule is that you stick to the category of exercise. You can jump to higher levels or back to lower levels if those exercises make the most sense in the context in which you’re doing them.

Or you can just choose all Level 1 exercises for Phase One, Level 2 for Phase Two, and Level 3 for Phase Three. Yes, you’ll get some redundancies. You may get tired of certain exercises, and on others you’ll have to move up to the next level before you’ve gotten all you can out of them.

But those are minor problems, which may not apply to you. And even if they do, what’s the worst outcome? That you get 90 percent of the potential benefits of Alwyn’s program, rather than 95 percent? Believe me, you’d be happy with that.

Now it’s time to look at something a bit more complex: the choices I made in my own NROL for Life workouts. I annotated some of my decisions, so you can either follow along with my thought process, or ignore it entirely. It’s a good workout either way.

PHASE ONE: TRANSFORM

PHASE TWO: DEVELOP

PHASE THREE: MAXIMIZE