Egyptian Warrior Training

Ok, first things first, this routine has absolutely nothing to do with Egyptian warriors, nope this routine is cheesily named because it is based around the pyramid principle and is ideally suited to weekend warriors and other propel who are limited on the days that they can train. The thing that I find intriguing about this method is that unlike many sytems that are hard for the last few sets of an exercise this one is pretty damn hard from the first set!

 

The routine is split into 2 workouts although this could be tweaked around to suit if possible, but for this example we lay things out like this: -

 

• Day 1 - Chest/Upper Back/Lower Back/Shoulders
• Day 2 - Biceps/Triceps/Quads/Hamstrings/Calves

Now down to the exercises, being geared more towards those with little training time we see a lot of basic compound movements, nothing fancy here at all although if you train alone use of a smith machine ore power rack is probably recommended on some exercises for safety.

 

Day 1 Looks like this:

 

• Incline bench press
• Lat Pulldowns or Bent rows
• Deadlifts
• Seated military press or Dumbbell press

 

Day 2 looks like this:

 

• Barbell or dumbbell curls
• close grip bench presses
• Squats or Hack squats
• Leg curls
• standing calf raises

 

Every single exercise you pyramid up in weight whilst reducing the reps, 5 sets in total per exercise. This is where this routine is unique though, normally when pyramiding you always leave a little in reserve on the first couple of sets and use them as a warm up - not here though, we are looking at 100% effort right from set 1, There should be no need to worry about injuries though as the reps are quite high - you start off with a 25 rep set.

 

Each and every set you must reach your target reps, if you do then you add 10lbs (or 5kg) for the next set, if you don't you only add 5lbs (2.5kg). Every week your goal is to start your 1st set with 5lbs (2.5kg) more weight and progress from there, so if you start out doing 100lbs for 25 reps you will start at 105lbs the next week. for Biceps and Triceps Halve the above numbers .

 

The rep scheme is simple 25/20/15/10/5 reps, to determine just where you start if you use this routine take the amount you currently lift for 5 reps and subtract 50lbs. For example if you bench press 315lbs for 5 reps your 1st set of 25 reps will be with 265lbs.

 

This routine is ridiculously simple on paper and to look at it you would honestly thing it would be a breeze, but believe me you will struggle, some exercise will seem easier but most will test you right from set 1, you may not get all the reps for the 1st few weeks but persevere, if you really struggle then hold back on increasing the starting weight, if you seem like you are coasting then feel free to add 10lbs to start instead of 5lbs.

 

In a nutshell this is about it, it's not rocket science but it is one hell of a good power-bodybuilding workout.

21:21 For Biceps

Experienced bodybuilders have probably used the 21's technique at one time or another in their quest for huge arms. The technique was quite popular back in the days of Arnold and co. This 21:21 workout will give you an amazing yet painful pump which should spur your biceps into new growth! at the very least you will be very sore for a few days :)

For those not familiar with 21's basically what you do is take a loaded barbell and curl 7 reps in the lower half of the rep then immediately do another 7 reps in the upper half of the rep before finishing with 7 full reps.

The 21:21 method uses 21's as it's basis but consists of 3 exercises done in a tri-set (consecutive sets with no rest) for 7 rotations, so in total 21 sets of 21 reps hence the name 21:21.

The three exercise you are going to use are barbell curls, cable curls and hammer curls so load up a barbell and take it over to the cable station, then take your dumbbells there too! you will need roughly 50-60% of the weight you would usually use for a 8-10 rep set.

Now start with a set of 21's with barbell curls, when done don't rest and do the same with the cable curls then it's straight to the hammer curls (curl both arms simultaneously). Are your biceps pumped yet? they should be burning already! Rest for about a minute, 90 seconds at the most then repeat until you have done 7 rotations. That's it nothing complicated but try it and I guarantee you will hate me :)

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