Project HUGE : 'Cause It's About Time

I have a birthday coming up. A new year of living. And, it's time to make some changes. I used to be in good shape. I was never in great shape, but as I get older, the importance of good health is becoming greater and greater. That is why this week marks the beginning of PROJECT HUGE. From now on, I am following a work out routine, good eating, healthy habits, and just about anything that will increase my overall wellness. This will be accompanied by regular photo and weight updates posted on the site. The more public I am about it, the more likely I am to get jazzed up about it.

As you know, I have had some shoulder issues. I have been going to see Frank over at the Chelsea Piers Sports Medicine office and my shoulder is definitely getting back in the game. I have been rehabbing it over the past couple of months and the strength is slowly getting there. I can do overhead dumbbell press and dumbbell chest press with relative comfort. I haven't messed around with too many barbell movements with the shoulder, so we will see how that goes.

So, let's get down the nitty gritty of it. Time to design a workout routine. Since I have some what of a life outside of work (mostly consisting of a girl friend), I can't go too hard core at the gym or my life will lose balance. Right now, I am aiming for three days a week (mon, wed, fri) with simple, large, compound movements in each plane of the body. I will do single joint movements, but only as a secondary set of exercises.

The game plan:

Week 1

Week 1 is going to be aimed at legs. They will be put on Monday when I have the most energy. It's time to get these saplings growing into some nice red-woods. The primary movements will be pyramiding up in the 12-10-8 rep scheme. Something nice and easy, not too hard.

Monday : Legs / Misc.

1. Back Squats (the grand daddy of all exercises)
2. Step-Ups
3. Hip Adduction
4. Calves
5. Forearms
6. Abs (if I feel like it)

Wednesday : Chest / Shoulders / Biceps

1. DB Overhead Press (still gonna emphasize this till my shoulder is better).
2. DB Chest Press
3. Dips
4. BB Curls
5. Uni-Lat DB Preacher Curls

Friday : Back / Triceps

1. Dead Lifts (Yeah baby!)
2. Pull Downs
3. Narrow Grip Cable Rows
4. EZ Skull Crushers
5. Cable Push Downs
6. Calves

As you can see here, I am keeping it to a limited number of exercises. I am not trying to go super pump methodology where I kill each muscle group (sometimes referred to as the Wieder Blood Volumization Technique). Instead, I working through each plane of movement with a big, compound exercise. No overkill. Gotta walk before I can run.

I figure this is going to run in two-week cycles. Week 2 will be same take on things, just different exercises. I will design that later today or this week.