If you liked the challenging nature of the routines in this issue's "Smash HIT," you'll love these two musclescorching programs
By Jimmy Pena, MS, CSCS and Eric Velazquez Photos by Pavel Ythjall
In the September/October issue of Hers, on newsstands August 25, we present four of the toughest programs ever printed in our pages. But that's the idea behind HIT, or highintensity training. We want you to walk away from this workout and take a healthy hobble into your next (from soreness, that is). These routines are designed to wage war on every single fiber in the targeted muscles in one grueling set using advanced, cheap uggs proven training methods.
These two physiquechanging programs are an extension of "Smash Hit" in the September/October issue. If you've tried those four already and found yourself savoring each taxing set then dive into these two to really test your mettle. If you haven't picked up the new issue, then perhaps these two routines will pique your interest in the other four. (Insert sinister laugh here) What we're going to be asking scratch that demanding of you here is 100 reps per set. By the end of this workout, you will have knocked out an extraordinary 900 reps, hitting every real ugg boots single muscle fiber imaginable along the way. The key is in the way your muscle are recruited. As muscle fibers fatigue, others are called into play to pick up the slack.
To perform a set of 100, choose a weight that's roughly half of what you would normally do for 1215 reps. Do as many reps as you can at the start of the set, aiming to reach 70 without stopping. Once you hit 70, take a 30second break before continuing. If you fail again, rest as many seconds as reps remaining in the set. So, for example, if you reach 92 reps after that first rest, take eight seconds before starting again. The following routine hits every major muscle group using mostly machines to reduce your risk of injury. As you progress, you can switch out light dumbbells for these machine moves. Also, 100s can be used as a simple shock routine for one bodypart on a given day. Fasttwitch fibers are primarily responsible for quick, explosive movements and are recruited to move heavier weight. Slowtwitch muscle fibers are the endurance specialists within a muscle, allowing you to complete more reps, particularly at lighter weight loads. Together, they make for a great team, yet within a given set, you usually emphasize one or the other.
Speedrep training, in which you change your rep speed during the course of a set, allows you to make sure that your fast and slowtwitch fibers are getting bombarded with equal ferocity. For this program, choose a weight that you can perform 2025 good reps (except on the pushup, of course). For each 15rep set, you'll complete the first five reps as quickly and explosively as possible using good form before downshifting and completing the next five reps very slowly, taking as 710 seconds on both the positive and negative portions of each rep. Finally, complete five reps at normal speed 12 seconds on the positive and the negative.
