Multijoint movements, commonly called compound exercises, are an efficient way to get a full-body workout done in less time. In this book we’ve covered many exercises that use your body weight and natural movements to achieve a complete workout. These exercises (squats, pull-ups, wood chops, in & outs, etc.) can be combined or modified to build strength and muscle quickly. To put it in a phrase, “The more joints that are worked, the more muscle fibers are activated and the better your results will be.
Maintaining Your Ripped Physique
One of my favorite maintenance workouts involves devoting one day a week (most often Wednesday) to high-intensity training intervals (HIIT). I’ll run up a hill for 30 seconds and then jog/walk back down about for 1 minute and repeat for 20 minutes. After 5 minutes of resting, stretching, and rehydrating, I run for 30 minutes at a moderate pace, trying to keep my heart rate at around 125 bpm (see “Finding Your Target Heart Rate” on page 127).
The other two days of the week (usually Monday or Friday), I’ll pick a routine from the book, jog to a local park and complete three to four rounds before jogging back. On Saturday or Sunday, I’ll either play a few of the games with friends, challenge myself with a couple of rounds of “Hot Corner” or play some organized sports.
EATING TO GET AND STAY RIPPED
As we covered earlier, to get ripped you should eat approximately 1 gram of lean protein per pound of your desired weight. If your goal is to be 165 lb at the end of this program, then you want to eat 165 grams of protein a day. Good sources of protein include lean beef and poultry, eggs, fish, yogurt (especially Greek), tempeh, nuts and legumes, quinoa, oats and milk. Eating chicken and fish is generally considered the quickest and healthiest way to increase your protein intake: 4 ounces of grilled chicken contains about 32 grams of protein. To get enough protein, you may need to supplement with some protein powder. Any whey protein will do egg or milk but be careful of the amount of sugar the powder contains.
MARCHING TWISTS page 99
Can you do the can-can? With your arms at 90°, twist your torso and raise your left knee to your right elbow. Repeat with your right knee and left elbow… and put a little rhythm into it! A little hop with the bottom foot helps you keep your momentum going from leg to leg. Start slow and work up the intensity, even throw in some intervals (See Music Intervals on the next page) to really raise your heart rate. Feel free to get creative, work in some lunges, jumping jacks, and other moves and create your own aerobics routine!
MEDICINE BALL TOSSES
The medicine ball, long a tool for doing core exercises, is fabulous as a game prop whether you do tosses by yourself by throwing the ball against the ground/wall or tossing it back and forth with a partner. I recommend starting with a lighter weight and progressing to a heavier one as you’re able. (See page 130 for examples.)
SPRINT INTERVALS
Choose a few different spots no farther than 25 yards apart. Set down a marker and alternate jogging, bounding, high knees, butt-kickers, crossover side bounds and sprinting between each point. If you’re on a sports field or a flat, grass-covered surface, try sprinting barefoot, which has helped me strengthen my feet, ankles and calves. Take it easy at first! (See “Hot Corner” on page 134 for more details.)
