MOJO MULTIPLIER MAXIMUM - WEEK TWO
Week Two
- Day One - Dead Lift, Wide-Armed Push-Ups, Dumbbell Exercises
- Day Two - 20-30 mins of gentle cardio
- Day Three - 20-30 mins of gentle cardio
- Day Four - Backward lunges (with dumbbells if you want to go nuts), plank hold, Bear Crawl
- Day Five - 20-30 mins of gentle cardio
- Day Six - High Intensity Cardio: 15 mins of sprints of max 30 seconds (run/uphill run, cycle, any aerobic activity)
- Day Seven - Rest
LEG EXERCISES
Dead Lift
Main Muscles used: Back, glutes, legs, arms, shoulders and trapezius.
The deadlift is probably the best movement in terms of developing round, strong, glute muscles. On ascension, at the sticking point, the glutes are bought into play and can be squeezed at this point for a maximal contraction. Deadlifts also work all the surrounding hip/pelvic muscles.
STEP ONE: STANCE
Stand shoulder width apart, grip the barbell so that the inner forearms touch the outside of thighs, and shins lightly touch the bar. Either an overhand or an under/overhand (one hand over, one hand under) grip can be used. The under/overhand grip is preferable in most instances.
STEP TWO: ADJUST POSTURE
Keep a neutral spine position (neither up nor down, but looking straight ahead). Pulling in the lower abs will ensure a neutral pelvic position. Shoulders should be held back, squeezed tightly, and positioned over the bar – they should never be rounded.
Chest should be forward, not down. Before lifting the weight, tighten the shoulders and squeeze the glutes together to help generate power during the initial part of the movement.
STEP THREE: LIFT THE WEIGHT
Grip the bar tightly, and push with the feet. The legs must power the weight up. Hips and shoulders should ascend at the same time, while the hands are holding the weight in place. Toward the top of the movement, lock out by employing more upper body strength until the weight is at about the midway position of the upper thigh.
During the ascent phase, there should be an initial push with the balls of the feet followed by a transference of weight to the heels, as the bar passes the knees into the lock out position. Remember to keep the bar in contact with the body throughout the movement.
STEP FOUR: LOWER THE WEIGHT
Reverse step four until the bar touches the floor, pause, and repeat until completion of set. Bear in mind that the weight should not forcefully hit the floor – it should be lowered in a controlled manner while tightness is maintained throughout the body. This helps to avoid injury and you work the stabiliser muscles for longer.
Do not rely on momentum to power the weight up on the second rep, as this will cause a jarring effect, which might contribute to spinal damage.
Lunges
Lunges or Power Lunges as Lanre demonstrates here work your glutes in your hips and butt along with the hamstrings and quadriceps in your thighs. The calf muscles in your lower legs, your abdominal muscles and your back muscles act as stabilisers during this exercise. Vary these each week but keep the same technique for 3 sets. Do as many as you can each time with a short break in between.
UPPER BODY
Push Ups
Push ups are a great compound exercise. They work all the muscles in your back, shoulders, triceps and to some extent your biceps. Do 3 sets, each time doing as many as you can to failure. This will vary a lot according to the individual. You can mix them up between hands shoulder width apart, wide handed and diamond.
Plank Hold Variation - Legs
Main muscles worked by the plank are the abdominals; rectus abdominis and the transversus abdominis. These are the muscles in your belly, and the muscles that sit in between your belly and your side muscles. Stabilising muscles contracted include the obliques in your waist, your hip flexors, your quadriceps in your thighs, the pectoralis major in your chest, and a group of muscles covering your ribcage called serratus anterior, or “boxer’s muscle.” Hold the plank for a minute without sinking your lower back to avoid injury. You can mix them up by raising your legs either one at a time or alternately. If you want to go nuts, raise your arms out in front as well. You'll be dripping in no time.
BACK AND SHOULDERS
Mixed Dumbbell Exercises
Muscles Worked: Back, shoulders, biceps, legs (quads and hamstrings)
Use appropriate weights to do 3 sets; first 12-15 reps, then 10-12, then 6-8 for maximum strength gaining and fat burning effectiveness. Do in a controlled manner and maintain good form at all times. Never compromise form!
Bear Crawl
Muscles Worked: Arms, shoulders, traps, neck, core, thighs, hamstrings, calves, wrists, hands and feet! That's not to mention the anaerobic benefits. (Anaerobic exercise is an exercise intense enough to trigger lactic acid formation. It is used by athletes in non-endurance sports to promote strength, speed and power and by body builders to build muscle mass.
The Bear Crawl is the MMA fighters, wrestlers, fighters, martial artist best friend. Bear Crawls work the body the way every athlete needs. Get Bear Crawling! You'll need lots of space. If you want to attract some attention from your neighbours your front yard would make a great spot.
Welcome
Welcome to week 2 of Mojo Multiplier Maximum. Here you'll find some alternative exercises to do, building on the exercises from Week One. Week One was purely bodyweight exercises. In this section, we're introducing weights. If you don't have weights, then for the exercises involving weights, use the bodyweight version and do more repetitions.
Upcoming Training
Next week we're doing some serious work on your core with some plank hold variations!