SLAM TRAINING

"Sorry, friend, you have to stop working out for a while!""

"Never!!!" you shout. " Bodybuilding is an important part of my existing lifestyle!" Your response may be true, but if there is anything happening in your life aside from bodybuilding, then chances are that some day you'll have to invest some of your precious workout time in other pursuits.

Perhaps it's a time-consuming family obligation, or maybe you have to work two jobs for a while. Maybe you're employed full-time and trying to carry a full 16 credits at the college level. Then perhaps you have to study for exams or a critical license test. You could also be moving from your business or residence and relocating. Maybe you have just been trying to get restarted and find your workouts are too long and unfocused.

For one reason or another, you find yourself cramped for gym time. A lack of training time should never become an excuse for procrastinating or missing workouts completely. Have no fear! A simple solution is to devise a plan where you can do a workout, including dressing and showering, in 30 minutes. What can you do in 30 minutes? Plenty to keep you from becoming as shapeless as a half-inflated balloon and enough to keep the high level of strength and muscle bulk you've already developed, until you can once again return to your previous full-length optimum workouts. Maintaining your hard-earned gains is best accomplished by performing one of the five following Slam-Training workouts.

Within the structure of this workout, I suggest that you use four basic exercises 2 or at most 3 days per week:
Bench Press
Squat
Barbell Bent over Rows
45 degree (machine) Leg presses (if you do not have this machine available substitute the regular or sumo dead lift)

It seems the best sequential order of doing the exercises is to begin with the Bench press, next do the Squat, follow it with the Rowing and finish up with the Leg press. Performed in this manner, you are able to partially rest the upper torso while working the legs and then let the legs grab some needed rest as you do the upper body exercise(s). You don't have time for long rests between sets and exercises; neither can you afford as high reps as you might like. So work with five or six reps each set as little rest as possible.

Begin the series or exercises by doing 5-6 reps in the bench press with about one-half of your usual exercise poundage; go right to 5-6 reps in the Barbell back squat with approximately two-thirds of the usual exercise poundage. Squat down only as far as knee and lower back integrity and flexibility will allow. Move on to the Barbell bent over rows, again for 5-6 reps with one-half of the usual exercise poundage. Use a narrow hand spacing of no more than 6 inches. Still with no rest, blast out 5-6 45º Leg presses (on a machine) with two-thirds of your regular exercise poundage. This completes the first series!

There are five more series to go and so you may take a breather, but it must be only long enough to change weights for each proceeding series. Series two: Increase poundage ten to twenty percent on each exercise, doing another 5-6 reps of each. Series three: Increase the poundage so it's half way between your series 2 weight and the most weight you can use for 5-6 repetitions. Series four: On this series, increase the poundages so that the absolute most weight can be used in each of the four exercises for 5-6 maximum repetitions. Series five: Decrease the poundages used in the above series by ten percent and do 5-6 reps. Series six: Again reduce the poundages used in series five and do as many "burn-out" repetitions as you possibly can, to complete failure. Going through a single series of these four exercises, and preparing the weight jumps when either moving up or down will take about two and a half minutes. On your limit sets (series four), it may take a bit longer, but you can still finish the six series in 20-30 minutes. Always rest the total body one or two days between workouts!!!

Follow the above workout program for a month or so if you are limited for workout time. During the first week of the program, adhere to the 4 sets x 12 reps outlined above. During the second week, change your sets and reps to 6 sets x 8 reps on the three upper torso exercises and for the squat movement, do 3 sets x 16 reps. The third week, change your sets from six to eight and the reps from eight to five on the upper body exercises.

On the squats, reduce the sets from three to two and increase the reps from sixteen to twenty. Week four remains the same as week three. Always try to increase the poundage whenever possible but not at the expense of “technique emphasis.”

On this simple but effective routine, begin by performing the Barbell full squat for 10 repetitions (desperately try for 15 reps with a weight you can only get 10 reps with), then immediately do 5 reps with the Pullup (palms facing away grip/shoulder-width spacing), then finish off with some Vertical dips on the parallel bars for 10 reps with just your body-weight only. This completes one Tri-series. With absolutely no rest pauses, begin a second and third Tri-series.

Note: If you do not have a Pullup bar or Dip bars, you can substitute the barbell row for Pullups and the Bench Press for Dips.

Train twice or three alternate days per week (or whatever your limited schedule allows). Each week, add 2 additional Tri-series of the three exercises listed until you are doing 10 Super Tri-series.

Another option with regard to the instruction given on the Super Tri-series (especially if you're not used to training in race-the-pump fashion) would be to begin with just one Tri-series and add one each proceeding workout until you are doing three Tri-series, then add 2 additional series as instructed until you are doing the 10 Super Tri-series. The 10 Super-Tri series should only be done for 5 workout days, then add weight to the bar for your barbell exercises and back off to 4 Tri-Series for 5 training days and then back to 10 Super Tri-series, etc.

Begin this workout (two or three alternate days per week) by warming up with the Clean and press over head for 6-8 reps. Add enough poundage so that you can do 4-6 reps. This is your initial starting point. Each proceeding set, add 5 pounds to the barbell until you are unable to perform more than one repetition.

With meals − Mass aminos is my choice for muscle building. I have really seen a change in my delts and even more muscle definition in my abs.

Dennis B. Weis is a frequent hard-hitting, uncompromising writer for many of the mainstream bodybuilding and fitness magazines published worldwide. He is also the author of 3 critically-acclaimed blockbuster books: Mass!, Raw Muscle, and Anabolic Muscle Mass. His newest book, Huge and Freaky, coauthored with Muscle Mag International publisher Bob Kennedy, will be in book stores in late October. Be sure to visit Dennis’ website at www.dennisbweis.com.

You don’t have to be training like a Mr Olympia contender to benefit from the proper supplements – in fact the further your nutrition drifts from being perfect, the greater the void you’re filling by using supplements.

"Saving Grace" Supplements: These are the ones you’ll take because your daily nutrition is just not what it needs to be. Let’s start with protein (Ultimate Muscle Protein), vitamins and minerals (Ultra 4), and essential fatty acids (EFA Gold).

"Slam Training" Specific Supplements for mass and power:

All four of the above workouts provide the stimulus for size and strength gains (despite your reduced workout time). Here’s a prioritized list of supplements to help you get the most mass and power from these slam training workouts.

Essential: Creatine Select with beta alanine Next Steps: Up-Lift
Stack: Mass Aminos and Ultra 40
Additives: Muscle Synergy

Many people with a hectic lifestyle will discover that supplements are their saving grace" nutritionally speaking. Even if you take a period off from training, why compound the effect by throwing in the towel and decreasing your nutrition too?