The tale of the BIG FOUR

Sundays are meant for REST, RELAXATION and RERUNS (of whatever is on USA) but this past sunday i decided to get a workout done. This was done simply because of how busy I expect my coming week to be with the fitness classes added to my schedule. So armed with the intent to leave it out on the gym floor I embarked on completing the BIG FOUR...Xfit style! (Got the idea from a link posted by a friend on FB).

The moniker 'The Big Four' pretty much just involves four of the biggest compound movements targeting larger muscle groups like chest, back and legs but involves the use and overloading of the smaller groups like shoulders and triceps. In this case I chose dumbbell decline press, standing push press, rack squats and deadlifts. Now to make this more interesting these were done one right after the other resting only as long as it took to load/strip the bar or move between stations. It certainly kept the heart rate up and had me working pretty hard. The aim was to get EVERYTHING done is as short a time as possible. SO off I went.

Rep range aim was for 10 but where it felt good, I went just short of failure. I did 4 rounds resting only about a minute (or less) between rounds.

Decline dumbbell press: 50's x15 55's x12, 60's x 12 (PR)
Push press: 65lbs x12, 75lbs x10, 85lbs x8
Rack Squat: 185lbs x15, 205lbs x12, 225lbs x10
Deadlifts: 185lbs x15, 205lbs x12, 225lbs x10 no straps for ANY of these sets so for me this is a PR!!

Got a vid for the deads done for my ISOM submission for January 2012. I finally figured out how to work the movie app so this is what I cam up with. btw i went through all this trouble because 20lbs of protein is up for grabs so i may as well put up a vid that's INTENSE enough to win! :)

If I don't get a workout in for the rest of the week, I KNOW i'll be feeling the effects of this one for DAYSSS! Already I'm feeling it....