Fitness 360: Samantha Ann Leete, Training Program BodybuildingExercisesNutrition by GymRat - 30th October 201931st October 20190 Samantha trains to overcome her weaknesses. She doesn’t cherry-pick workouts for her strengths or make excuses for lagging muscle groups. Her most productive days in the gym are when she’s learning a new lift, working on muscle groups that need extra attention, and moving heavy weight. Her desire to build a better body and become a better athlete fuels her through every workout.Samantha Ann Leete Fitness 360Watch The Video – 13:58Mixing It UpSamantha likes to use multiple training strategies so she never gets bored. “I love incorporating supersets, giant sets, circuits, HIIT cardio, low-intensity cardio, dropsets, and negatives,” she says. “I also like to switch up my rep ranges, tempo, and exercises.” These constant changes help keep Samantha excited about her workouts and motivated for her future goals.Although she uses different modalities to train various muscle groups, Samantha likes to keep her split fairly consistent. “I usually lift three or four days per week and do sprints or plyometrics once per week. For my upper body, I usually stick to a 10-12 rep range. For my lower body, I do 10-20 reps per exercise.”Romanian DeadliftLike most of us, Samantha has a tough relationship with cardio. “Sometimes it can be fun and I look forward to it, especially when I’ve had a stressful day and could use a cathartic sweat session.” She’ll squeeze in a cardio session during lunch at work, but if she’s in the gym, she prefers the arc trainer, the stepmill, or plyos.Unlike some elite competitors, Samantha believes in rest days. “I just try to listen to my body,” she says. Sometimes a rest day means hitting a hard cardio session, sometimes it means going for a long, fun hike, and sometimes, rest just means rest. “Rest days can literally mean just chilling out and watching a movie,” she explains.Samantha’s Training SplitGiant Set (60 seconds rest between giant sets) Single-Leg Barbell Squats3 sets of 12 reps (per leg) Lying Leg Curls3 sets of 15 reps Sled Pushes3 sets of 100 metersSuperset (45 seconds rest between supersets) Deficit Romanian Deadlifts4 sets of 12-15 reps Dumbbell Step-Ups4 sets of 10 reps (per leg)Giant Set (45 seconds rest between giant sets) Plie Dumbbell Squats3 sets of 10 reps (per leg) Barbell Glute Bridges3 sets of 15-20 reps Ball Leg Curls3 sets of 15-20 repsGiant Set (60 seconds rest between giant sets) Inverted Rows3 sets of 12-15 reps Close-Grip EZ Bar Curls3 sets of 12 reps Burpee Tuck Jumps3 sets of 15 repsSuperset (45-60 seconds rest between supersets) Pull-Ups4 sets of 12 reps Reverse-Grip Bent-Over Barbell Rows4 sets of 10 repsSuperset (45 seconds rest between supersets) Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns4 sets of 10 reps Incline Dumbbell Curls4 sets of 12 repsSuperset (30 seconds rest between supersets) Straight-Arm Pulldowns3 sets of 18 reps Hyperextensions (Back Extensions)3 sets of 20 repsPlyometrics (45 seconds rest between each set) Box Jumps3 sets of 30 reps Lateral Box Jumps4 sets of 20 reps Scissors Jumps3 sets of 20 reps Knee Tuck Jumps3 sets of 20 reps Side Hop-Sprints2 sets of 2 minutes Lateral Bounds2 sets of 2 minute Freehand Jump Squats2 sets of 20 repsSuperset (60 seconds rest between supersets) Barbell Squats4 sets of 20 reps Bench Sprints4 sets of 30-60 secondsSuperset (60 seconds rest between supersets) Dumbbell Walking Lunges (bodyweight version shown)3 sets of 15-20 reps each leg Dumbbell Seated Box Jumps3 sets of 12 repsSuperset (45 seconds rest between supersets) Leg Press3 sets of 15-20 reps Calf Press On The Leg Press Machine3 sets of 20 repsSuperset (30 seconds rest between supersets) One-Legged Cable Kickback2 sets of 15 reps per leg Flutter Kicks2 sets of 60 secondsGiant Set (45 seconds rest between giant sets) Push Press3 sets of 10-12 reps Face Pulls3 sets of 15 reps Push-Ups – Close Triceps Position3 sets of 15 repsGiant Set (45 seconds rest between giant sets) Kettlebell Upright Rows (shown with dumbbells)3 sets of 12 reps Bench Dips (weighted)3 sets of 15-20 reps Mountain Climbers3 sets of 50 repsGiant Set (45 seconds rest between giant sets) Front Plate Raises4 sets of 12 reps Side Lateral Raises4 sets of 12 reps Reverse Grip Triceps Pushdowns4 sets of 12 reps Battling Ropes5 sets of 1 minuteRest no longer than 60 seconds between setsCardioThese are examples of cardio workouts that I might do during the weekCardio workout #145 minute Arc TrainerCardio workout #2Treadmill lunge intervals3-minute incline lunge3-minute incline run3-minute incline walkRepeat for 30 minutesCardio workout #3Treadmill HIIT sprints30 second incline sprint30 second incline walkRepeat for 20 minutesCardio workout #4HIIT circuit2-minute row1-minute rope jump100 mountain climbersRest 30-60 secondsRepeat for 20 minutes[ Samantha Ann Leete Fit 360 Main Page ]Recommended For YouROOM TO GROWBrandan Fokken doesn’t just practice being fit for a few months out of the year. He’s dedicated his entire life to fitness and is now reaping enormous benefits. Read his inspiring story!FITTER FASTERSara’s once all-consuming fitness program left her running ragged and almost killed her enthusiasm for exercise. Learn how she revamped her routine and found a healthy medium.HARD CORPS MUSCLECarl Roberts won our 2012 Military Transformation Challenge, and now he is a personal trainer, helping to propel his clients forward with their fitness.About The AuthorCassie SmithVIEW AUTHOR PAGECassie Smith is a writer/editor for Bodybuilding.com and former professor & college athlete. Find out more about her right here.View All Articles By This Author
Power Pairings: Effective Supersets For Strength And Size BodybuildingExercisesNutrition by Intictsit - 15th October 201915th October 20190 As nice as it would be to have unlimited training time, it’s simply not in the cards for most people. The gym is great, but a little thing called life often throws a wrench in your best-laid plans. Realistically, even the most dedicated people can only attend the gym 3-5 days per week for an hour per day, and that’s with a little luck.The good news is that one hour per session is plenty of time, if you use your time wisely! You just have to be smart with your exercise selection and workout program. Enter “power pairings,” which are specific superset-style exercise pairs I created to help you get the most out of your precious training time.As with any superset, you perform power pairings without resting between the paired exercises. Take a bench press and chin-up pair, for example. You perform one set of bench press followed immediately by a set of chin-ups. You won’t rest until after you complete both exercises.Pairing Power“Full-body workouts are my go-to method when life gets hectic.”Power pairings can be useful within full-body routines or body-part splits, but for this article I’ll explain how to use them in full-body routines. Full-body workouts are my go-to method when life gets hectic. In a full-body routine, you’d use a power pairing after your primary lift. This allows you to give your first lift maximum attention and strength.Start your workout with a big-bang strength movement and devote your full energy and attention to it. When you finish your main lift, implement a power pairing as your finisher. Power pairings use one piece of equipment and require little to no setup, which makes them easy to use even in crowded gyms.Here are four power pairings that you can add to your own training program to cut down on your overall workout time and still get a great training effect!1 Ring Dip And Chin-Up/Hip Thrust ComboPair ring dips with a chin-up/hip thrust combination exercise I created to blast the back, glutes, and hamstrings simultaneously. Rather than confusing you by trying to explain the exercise, here’s a video of what it looks like in action:From a strength and muscle-building standpoint, this pairing works well because the exercises focus on different body parts, so they won’t negatively impact each other or impair your strength. From a logistical standpoint, it’s a great pair because the ring height is the same for each exercise, which means no necessary adjustments between sets.To up the ante, try the pairing in a countdown format, as demonstrated in the video. Rather than doing straight sets of each exercise, start by doing decreasing sets of 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 reps of each exercise with little to no rest between sets. Be warned: This is not for the faint of heart.Use it: This pair works as a brutal finisher to cap off a great heavy, knee-dominant exercise like the front squat, back squat, split squat, or lunge.2 “Bottoms Up” Front Squats And Inverted RowsInstead of starting in the standing position, “bottoms up” squats call for you to start at the bottom of the rep and lift from the squat rack’s safety pins. Pause after each rep! This is a great front squat variation to hammer your quads and core, and help you build strength out of the hole.After you finish the front squats, leave the bar on the pins and use it to perform a set of inverted rows. The bar will be at a perfect height to allow for full range of motion with no adjustments. It works great from a logistical standpoint.In the video below, I use chains on the front squats, which is great if you have chains at your disposal, but they’re not essential.Use it: This pairing is an ideal finisher after a heavy bench press or overhead press variation.3 Rack RDL And Split-Stance Row ComboI recommend doing RDLs and barbell rows from the safety pins of a squat rack. Reset after each rep to take stress off your lower back and encourage proper form. I also recommend doing barbell rows with a split stance to take stress off the lower back, because the split stance helps prevent against lower-back rounding.Fortunately, the proper pin height is the same for each exercise, so it works well as a pairing. You’ll almost undoubtedly be able to use more weight on RDLs than barbell rows, so you’ll need to change the weight, which is a breeze because the bar is raised off the floor. This video below shows how the pair looks in action. I use an oversized trap bar, which is great if you have one, but you can just as easily use a standard barbell.If you use a barbell, here is how the rows look.Use it: This pair goes well after a heavy pressing day.4 Overhead Press And Front SquatsPairing overhead presses with front squats works well because you don’t need to waste time adjusting the bar in the rack. It’s set to the same height for each exercise, making this a killer combo.I recommend doing the overhead press before the front squats, because after much experimentation, I found that the overhead press doesn’t negatively impact the subsequent front squats. Alternatively, if you do the front squats first, the overhead press suffers.It’s also important to note that most people will be much stronger on front squats than overhead press. This gives you two options: add weight for each set of front squats, or simply do more reps. I usually choose the latter and do twice as many front squats as overhead presses, as I do in this video.Use it: This pairing works perfectly as a finisher after doing a heavy chin-up or row variation. It’s also ideal as a standalone workout when you’re really pinched for time and still want to get a good training effect.Putting It All TogetherHere’s an example of how to utilize these power pairings within a full-body workout program to keep your workouts brief but effective. Shoot to train 2-4 days per week and rotate the workouts as necessary.Workout 1:A1. Front Squats: 5 sets of 6 repsB1. Ring Dips: 5 sets of 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 repsB2. Chin-Up/Hip Thrust Combo: 5 sets of 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 repsWorkout 2:A1. Incline Bench Press: 5 sets of 6 repsB1. “Bottoms Up” Front Squats: 4 sets of 10 repsB2. Inverted Rows: 4 sets of 10 repsWorkout 3:A1. Dumbbell Bench Press: 5 sets of 8 repsB1. Rack RDL: 4 sets of 8 repsB2. Split-Stance Rack Row: 4 sets of 8 repsWorkout 4:A1. Chin-ups: 5 sets of 6 repsB1. Overhead Press: 4 sets of 6 repsB2. Front Squats: 4 sets of 12 repsAbout The AuthorBen BrunoVIEW AUTHOR PAGEBen Bruno graduated Summa Cum Laude from Columbia University. He lives in West Hollywood, California, and trains clients at Rise Movement…View All Articles By This Author