Amy Bento's Slo-Mo Strength Challenge

Note from Jen, owner of Advanced Workouts:

OKAY, SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY ABOUT THIS WORKOUT? I mean really, I'm in it for criminy's sake (BTW, what is "criminy" and what is its sake?) Okay, so anyway. I regress and babble again, which I need to stop doing. If you want to hear my babble, go to my blog. Otherwise, here's the lowdown on SLO-MO STRENGTH CHALLENGE:

It's hard. Okay. Just that. Difficult. Difficile. Schwierig. Whatever language you use (excluding the four-letter variety, which you may be apt to exhale during the Hammy Rockers), it really doesn't matter. When Amy Bento says "challenge," expect a challenge, for sure. You're gonna get it with SLO-MO. Watch your muscles react, your body change, your fitness level increase -- because it's gonna happen.

I feel I need to insert a bit of warning here, though; if you're like me, and you're trying to maintain or accelerate your fitness level but you are NOT trying to lose weight, you will need to increase your calorie consumption if you do this workout on a regular basis. You can play with this, and rest assured you will find your balance, but if you find yourself hungry, eat for cryin' out loud! When I started training for SLO-MO STRENGTH CHALLENGE, my metabolism shot through the roof and I had all I could do to maintain my weight. It was difficult for me NOT to lose weight, but it was absolutely crucial that I not lose an ounce. Luckily I had Amy to help me boost my diet. Just please be aware that your metabolism will be fired if you do a workout like this on a regular basis, and judge your food intake accordingly.

Okay. With that said, here's the breakdown on SLO-MO:

The theme of this 3-day split resistance training workout is "heavy weight training at a slower tempo." Amy will emphasize slow reps sets in both concentric and eccentric contractions. The goal of Slow-Mo Strength Challenge is to increase your strength by placing maximum force on the muscles. The benefits to lifting heavy are many: you will increase your metabolic rate; burn calories even at rest; add muscle definition; strengthen bone and connective tissues that protect your body from injury; create better balance and stability and, most importantly, making you feel better mentally. Some exercises performed in this workout are: wobble hack squats, sumo squats, hammy rockers, chest around the worlds, decline triceps dips, the biceps bonfire and more! A modifier is provided for anyone choosing lighter weights. Our NRG MIXES or premixes will include 3 total body workouts and 5 other premixes varying in length to suit any workout schedule. Each workout consists of balanced muscle training with warm-up and cool-down. Muscle groupings for 3-day split are as follows:

Split One - Legs

Split Two - Back and shoulders

Split Three - Chest, bis and tris

Core work - As a separate chapter

This workout features the following equipment: An aerobic step w/ 3 risers each side Plate-loaded bar Heavy dumbbells 8 to 25 pounds Stability Ball Resistance Band Mat Run time: 185 mins. BPM: 128

SLO-MO STRENGTH CHALLENGE PRE-MIXES:

1. Total Body Challenge 1: warm up from leg, Jefferson squats, hammy rockers 2 sets, Lying row on ball, Shoulder press with barbell 2 sets, Bicep Bonfire, French curls, Stretch from chest section

2. Total body Challenge 2: Warm up from Back and shoulders, wobble hack squat 1 arm lat pull over on the ball , cradle side lounge, seated row/ barbell, Single leg squat on ball , Standing reverse flies, chest around the worlds, standing concentration curl w/barbell, tricp dips, Core, Stretch from chest section

3.Total body Challenge 3: warm up from chest bi tri, Sumo Squat , seated row/ barbell, hammy rocker, Cuban press, Glute wrap with barbell, Standing Shrugs, incline chest flies, standing concentration curl w/barbell, tricep band push down, tricep dips, Core, Stretch from the legs workout

4. Short on time - Legs and Core: Legs warm up,Sumo Squat 2 sets, Jefferson squats 2 sets, 2 sets cradle side lounge, 2 sets Glute wrap with barbell 2 sets, Core , stretch from Legs

5. Short on time - Total upper mix: Warm up from Back and shoulders Lying row on ball, Shoulder press with barbell 2 sets, Decline bench press, Bicep Bonfire, tricep band push down, Stretch from Back and shoulders

6. Split it up NRG 1 - Back and Chest Back and shoulders: warm up , Back chapter, chest chapter. use the stretch from chest bi tris

7. Split it up NRG 2 - Shoulders Bi's, Tri's: Warm up for back and shoulders, Shoulder chapter, Bicep chapter, triceps chapter, stretch from the back and shoulders workout

8. 2 set Legs NRG Legs warm-up,Sumo Squat 2 sets, Jefferson squats 2 sets, cradle side lounge 2 sets, wobble hack squat 2 sets, hammy rockers 2 sets, Glute wrap with barbell 2 sets, Single leg squat on ball, stretch from legs workout

RELEASED October 2007