The Superman Workout
By Gregory Joujon-Roche
Want to become a Man of Steel? While not everyone has the genetics to be as big and buff as Superman, we all can become stronger, faster and fitter.
This intense gym workout is designed to test your strength and endurance, so it should only be done once a week and only by regular exercisers who want to kick things up (Superman is no couch potato! If you're a beginner, start slowly and work your way up to this challenge.).
Here we go:
Warm up with the cardio of your choice (such as walking, jogging or biking) at a medium pace for 15 minutes. During the warm-up, check in with yourself, your breathing, your body. Get ready for the work ahead by getting centered and focused.
Now you're ready to do the Fancy 5: 5 moves, 5 sets, hitting 5 major body parts (chest, legs, arms, back and stomach).
Here are the 5 exercises:
1. Chest: Incline machine press, in which you push the weights straight out in front of you.
2. Legs: Squats, from a shoulder-width stance, holding a barbell across your shoulders, behind your neck.
3. Arms: Straight bar biceps curls, in which you start with the bar on your thighs and curl it up to shoulder height.
4. Back: Wide-grip machine pull-downs, in which you pull the bar down in front of your face, to your chin only.
5. Stomach: Incline weighted sit-ups, performed on an incline bench with a weight on your chest, not your stomach.
Aim for 5 sets of this sequence as follows:
Set 1: A warm-up round. Do all the exercises with light weights and go slowly. Rehearse what the motion feels like and focus on where your stability and power come from. Then go to the treadmill and do a 5-minute run on speed 5 at incline 0.
Sets 2-5: Head back to the weights. This time do 5 reps of each exercise at the heaviest weight you can lift. Really go for it! Your pace should be 5 seconds down and 5 seconds up. If you can't maintain the weight or stay in good form, you're pushing yourself too hard and should reduce the weight. When you're done, go back to the treadmill and increase your pace by .5. Control your mind and breathing. Think about how you can push yourself on the next set, not just with weight but with focus, controlled breathing and grace. By the fifth set, you should be close to complete muscle fatigue and running at speed 7.
Up, up and away!
