Saturday upper body workout plus "The Fred"

Split routines are really not my thing. But what the hey, it's only for four weeks, and change is good, right? Also, my TRX and kettlebell workouts are total-body, so it's not like I'm really getting away from the kind of training I prefer ... and the fact is, upper-lower splits work very well for building strength, which is certainly one of my goals.

So, here's what it was:

alternating sets: incline BB press, 1x6x65 (warmup), 3x5x85; BB row, 1x6x65 (warmup) 3x5x85

alternating sets: flat DB press, 2x10x40's; recline rows, wide underhand grip, 3x10

tri-set: prone reverse flyes, 1x10x10's; 1x10x8's; BB curls, 2x10x30; pushups, hands on SB, 2x10

Next week my plan is to add a set to the flat press and the tri-set at the end, and try to increase my weights on the incline press and the barbell row. But we'll see.

I felt like doing a little cardio in addition to my weight training, so I finished with some walk/run intervals on the treadmill. The pattern was 1 minute of effort at 7 mph, 2 minutes of recovery at 3.5 mph, repeated 9 times, with the twist being that each interval was performed on a slightly higher incline than the one before. I didn't go crazy or anything: I began with an incline of .5% and ended with an incline of 4.5%, which made for a workout that was challenging but not oh-God-this-can't-end-soon-enough awful. Really, I kind of liked it and will probably do it again. When I do, I will refer to it as "The Fred" in honor of my friend Fred Cook, from whom I stole the idea for the workout. Check out his blog, Luck Is For Rabbits (http://luckisforrabbits.blogspot.com/) if you want to be entertained and inspired. (Gotta love a guy who takes up Thai boxing at age 59!)