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Steve Michalik Workout
Intensity or Insanity Training
Steve Michalik is one of those bodybuilders who took his training a step farther than many bodybuilders did. In his own words you only start training when you start to reach the point of failure. His insane punishment on the muscle group he is focusing was something bodybuilders had not seen before.
The kind of workouts that Steve advocated insisted on a new way of looking at your workout. Intensity or insanity is a very good question as Steve always concentrated on pushing the boundaries requiring a deep psychological commitment and is certainly not for every bodybuilder.
His training system could be compared to throwing a baby into a swimming pool to teach it how to swim. It is extreme and only works when EVERYTHING is put into the effort of lifting a weight. His system starts with a conditioning phase that demonstrates the intensity/insanity required if and when you qualify for his building phase.
His total body workout or conditioning phase is a six station circuit lasting only 35 minutes where 35 sets are done using 700 reps. The six movements are machine leg press doing one set of 50 reps using a weight that you would normally only do 10 reps with.
Without resting and without stopping the next station is leg extension then immediately onto machine incline press, machine shoulder press and then triceps extension machine and finally barbell curls. But this is just the first circuit as you need to do 2 sets the next time, which you start without taking any rest.
The final phase 3 of this conditioning phase is where you really get to a point past failure where you now do 3 sets of 50 reps each on each of stations. This is done without taking a breather as you push yourself farther than you have ever pushed before.
After conditioning is done for a few weeks or a few months Steve would then start on the building phase of this kind of insanity. For example a back workout would be done in the same way as above but only concentrating on one body-part.
The first set of 50 reps would start with lat. Pulldowns followed immediately by Smith machine Rows and then directly to Power Cleans, T bar rowing and then Vertical Hammer Rowing followed by Reverse Grip hammer Rowing done with a high pulley.
If you are crazy enough to do the type of workout as listed above then you are super strong and it no doubt took time to get to that level. The point is to get an idea of what Steve meant when he spoke of intensity, it is extreme. It would certainly be an advantage to any novice introduced to this type of training when first starting out.
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Disclaimer: The information presented is intended to be used for educational purposes only. The statements made have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (U.S.). These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition or disease. Please consult with your own physician or health care practitioner regarding any suggestions and recommendations made.