Welcome to Week 3 Day 19 of our 4 Week Workout Program.

This is the nineteenth day of our training routine, and today is all about the back and biceps.

Typically, whenever I do back and biceps, I am left very sore the next day. The kind of soreness that’s not just from growing muscles, but from tight muscles. Now, no one likes that kind of pain, right? It really gets in the way, especially because when biceps muscles get sore and tight, you can feel the tightness creep up to your traps and neck. And then you’re left feeling as if you’ve had the worst sleep of your life, the kind that messes up with your neck and leaves you stiff for days at a time.

So, let’s solve that together, shall we? And to avoid this, the answer is: to stretch more.

Below are two common bicep stretches that you can do before and after this workout to kiss the trap/neck tightness goodbye.

The wall stretch:

Place one hand on the wall and slowly turn your body away from the wall. Once a comfortable stretching position has been achieved, hold that position for 30 seconds.

Standing Stretch:

Clasp your hands behind your back with your palms together, straighten arms and then rotate them so your palms face downward. Raise your arms up and hold until you feel a stretch in your biceps.

Incorporate these two stretches to your normal stretching routine, and you’ll be left feeling a lot better! Now, lets get into our workout, it’s a good one.

Today we’re going to be doing:

• Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
• Underhand Cable Pulldown
• Straight-Arm Pulldown
• V-Bar Pulldown
• Incline Dumbbell Curl
• High Cable Curl
• Rope Cable Curl
• Plate Curl
• Optional: Tabata (aka HIIT cardio)

Below you can find the number of sets and each exercise’s description.

WIDE-GRIP LAT PULLDOWN

2 warm-up sets, 3 sets of 15 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Sit down on a pull-down machine with a wide bar attached to the top pulley. Make sure that you adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height. These pads will prevent your body from being raised by the resistance attached to the bar.
2. Grab the bar with the palms facing forward using the prescribed grip. Note on grips: For a wide grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance wider than shoulder width. For a medium grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance equal to your shoulder width and for a close grip at a distance smaller than your shoulder width.
3. As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, bring your torso back around 30 degrees or so while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position.
4. As you breathe out, bring the bar down until it touches your upper chest by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back. Tip: Concentrate on squeezing the back muscles once you reach the full contracted position. The upper torso should remain stationary and only the arms should move. The forearms should do no other work except for holding the bar; therefore do not try to pull down the bar using the forearms.
5. After a second at the contracted position squeezing your shoulder blades together, slowly raise the bar back to the starting position when your arms are fully extended and the lats are fully stretched. Inhale during this portion of the movement.
6. Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

UNDERHAND CABLE PULLDOWN

3 sets of 15 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Sit down on a pull-down machine with a wide bar attached to the top pulley. Adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height. These pads will prevent your body from being raised by the resistance attached to the bar.
2. Grab the pull-down bar with the palms facing your torso. Make sure that the hands are placed closer than the shoulder width.
3. As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, bring your torso back around 30 degrees or so while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position.
4. As you breathe out, pull the bar down until it touches your upper chest by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back. Tip: Concentrate on squeezing the back muscles once you reach the fully contracted position and keep the elbows close to your body. The upper torso should remain stationary as your bring the bar to you and only the arms should move. The forearms should do no other work other than hold the bar.
5. After a second on the contracted position, while breathing in, slowly bring the bar back to the starting position when your arms are fully extended and the lats are fully stretched.
6. Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

STRAIGHT ARM PULLDOWN

3 sets of 15 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. You will start by grabbing the wide bar from the top pulley of a pulldown machine and using a wider than shoulder-width pronated (palms down) grip. Step backwards two feet or so.
2. Bend your torso forward at the waist by around 30-degrees with your arms fully extended in front of you and a slight bend at the elbows. If your arms are not fully extended then you need to step a bit more backwards until they are. Once your arms are fully extended and your torso is slightly bent at the waist, tighten the lats and then you are ready to begin.
3. While keeping the arms straight, pull the bar down by contracting the lats until your hands are next to the side of the thighs. Breathe out as you perform this step.
4. While keeping the arms straight, go back to the starting position while breathing in.
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

V-BAR PULLDOWN

3 sets of 15 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Sit down on a pull-down machine with a V-Bar attached to the top pulley.
2. Adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height. These pads will prevent your body from being raised by the resistance attached to the bar.
3. Grab the V-bar with the palms facing each other (a neutral grip). Stick your chest out and lean yourself back slightly (around 30-degrees) in order to better engage the lats. This will be your starting position.
4. Using your lats, pull the bar down as you squeeze your shoulder blades. Continue until your chest nearly touches the V-bar. Exhale as you execute this motion. Tip: Keep the torso stationary throughout the movement.
5. After a second hold on the contracted position, slowly bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe in.
6. Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions.

INCLINE DUMBELL CURL

4 sets of 15 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Sit back on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand held at arms length. Keep your elbows close to your torso and rotate the palms of your hands until they are facing forward. This will be your starting position.
2. While holding the upper arm stationary, curl the weights forward while contracting the biceps as you breathe out. Only the forearms should move. Continue the movement until your biceps are fully contracted and the dumbbells are at shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a second.
3. Slowly begin to bring the dumbbells back to starting position as your breathe in.
4. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

HIGH CABLE CURL

4 sets of 15 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Stand between a couple of high pulleys and grab a handle in each arm. Position your upper arms in a way that they are parallel to the floor with the palms of your hands facing you. This will be your starting position.
2. Curl the handles towards you until they are next to your ears. Make sure that as you do so you flex your biceps and exhale. The upper arms should remain stationary and only the forearms should move. Hold for a second in the contracted position as you squeeze the biceps.
3. Slowly bring back the arms to the starting position.
4. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

ROPE CABLE CURL

3 sets of 15 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Attach a rope attachment to a low pulley and stand facing the machine about 12 inches away from it.
2. Grasp the rope with a neutral (palms-in) grip and stand straight up keeping the natural arch of the back and your torso stationary.
3. Put your elbows in by your side and keep them there stationary during the entire movement. Tip: Only the forearms should move; not your upper arms. This will be your starting position.
4. Using your biceps, pull your arms up as you exhale until your biceps touch your forearms. Tip: Remember to keep the elbows in and your upper arms stationary.
5. After a 1 second contraction where you squeeze your biceps, slowly start to bring the weight back to the original position.
6. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

PLATE CURL

3 sets of 15 reps
30 seconds of active rest in between sets

1. Start by standing straight with a weighted plate held by both hands and arms fully extended. For the best results, grab the weighted plate at 3:00 and 9:00 o’clock position.
2. Your feet should be shoulder width apart from each other and the weighted plate at your thighs. This is the starting position.
3. Slowly lift the plate up while keeping the elbows in and the upper arms stationary until your biceps and forearms touch while exhaling. The plate should be evenly aligned with your torso at this point.
4. Feel the contraction for a second and begin to lower the weight back down to the starting position while inhaling
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

OPTIONAL (but recommended)

4 minutes of Tabata to finish it off strong.

 

IMPORTANT: You’ll notice that I recommend doing a quick 30 second active rest in between each of the sets. This is to keep your heart rate up at all times. I recommend switch up your active rest movements with every exercise you do, just to keep it from getting monotonous and to allow for different muscles to be worked. Some of my favorite active rest movements include: kettle bell swings, air squats, lunges, jumps and running in place. Get creative, but try to not use the muscle groups you are actually using on your lifting exercises, so that those are ready to go when the 30 seconds are up!

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Other Workouts You’ll Love:

• 4 Week Workout Program
• Tabata Training
• 7 Exercises to Get Killer Abs That Will Make You Proud

Disclaimer: I am a certified personal trainer, however, since I won’t be there with you physically to check on proper form and weight selection, do these workouts at your own risk. You should consult your physician or other health care professional before starting this or any other fitness program to determine if it is right for your needs.