As the title suggests, it consists of three exercises: back squats, bench press and deadlifts.
Doing these three together is great because they target all the major muscle groups, making sure you burn calories, build muscle and most importantly get fit.
When choosing a weight, its important to listen to your body and not your ego. The only person you're competing with here is yourself. So choose a weight that you can do five reps with relative ease, and where by the eighth rep you're struggling to an extent.
For this workout I stuck to 3 sets of 5-8 reps of each exercise, but feel free to modify to your liking.
Also, remember for all three exercises, proper form is key for getting the most out of your workout and avoiding injury.
First up we've got back squats. So with feet shoulder width apart, take a deep breath, step underneath the bar with your hands on the barbell in a comfortable position and un-rack the weight.
Take another deep breath and start the squat. Make sure your knees stay in line with your feet the entire way through. Go as deep as you feel comfortable and exhale on the way back up. Its as simple as that.
Next up is everyone's favourite, bench press. Remember choose a weight where you should be struggling by the eighth rep, or even the fifth.
With the barbell gripped slightly wider than shoulder width, feet planted firmly on the floor (or toes pointed to the ground) and knees bent at about eighty degrees you're ready to start.
Lift the weight off the rack and tighten the muscles in your torso. Inhale as you lower the weight.
Once the weight reaches your chest and lightly touches it, explode back up. It is important to not bounce the weight off your chest when you're lowering the bar for obvious injury reasons and because you won't be getting the full effect of the exercise. The bar should travel slightly backwards as you press going from above your chest to over your face at the top. That's one rep.
Finally we have the deadlift. With the weight resting on the ground step to it, squat down, and grip the barbell with an overhand grip that is slightly outside your legs.
Make sure that you keep a neutral spine throughout the movement keeping your lower back flat.
To begin the lift, take a deep breath, keep your chin and chest up, and drive your heels through the floor.
During the lift, focus on driving your chest up and your hips forward.
The last step at the top of the lift is to "lockout" but fully extending your knees and hips and pulling your shoulders tight. It is important to lockout with good posture and not to go as far as to arch your back.
So that's it, a basic, effective weightlifting routine for you guys out there. You can never go wrong with the big 3. Hope you enjoyed this one, and remember be fit, be happy.
Kevin
