All Pump Extreme

All Pump Extreme is another great strength workout from Amy Bento! She doesn’t have a lot of pure strength workouts but I think I have sussed them all out. It looks like her strength workouts consist of Drop Set Strength, Slo Mo Strength Challenge, All Pump Extreme and All Pump. It looks like she has a few bootcamp/metabolic strength training workouts, too, but these are the 4 pure strength workouts by Amy Bento. All Pump is pretty short and, judging from reviews, intermediate level, so I will not be bothering with that one.

All Pump Extreme is an equipment heavy strength workout. There are several ways you can approach this workout. If you click on “Play Program” it is a 2 hour total body workout from beginning to end. But that is a little much for everyone–and I definitely don’t have time for that long of a workout before work in the mornings (though now that I’ve done everything on this DVD I am interested in doing it for a weekend workout). You can either go to Chapters and mix and match your own workout, or use the premixes. I think most folks will use the premixes. 3 Day split premixes are probably the best way to go. But there is also Upper and Lower body workouts. I had initially planned to do this workout using the 3 day split, but those premixes don’t incorporate the Multi-Joint segment. So I did the Legs & Core one day and the next day I used the Chapter menu to create my own workout–warm up, multi-joint, all upper body segments and stretch (69 minutes). In the breakdown below I broke the segments down by chapter so everything is covered.

I wasn’t horribly impressed with Legs & Core. It is a solid lower body workout, but doesn’t hold a candle to Slo Mo Legs. Plus any of Cathe‘s lower body workouts (and she has a lot) do a better job than this lower body workout, so I probably won’t return to it as a split workout. The core segment was unique and I liked it. The last three core exercises on the floor were tough! Upper body was excellent and intense! Excellent, excellent upper body work. And, unlike in Slo Mo and Drop Set, she did an excellent job with the back work. In the future I will probably use primarily the upper body splits, or do a total upper body workout using premixes or chaptering–or I will just hit play all to do an excellent total body workout on the weekends. In that instance, I think the lower body work level is appropriate. The upper body work is so tough that I think if the lower body had been at the same level and intensity as Slo Mo it would have been difficult to push through the rest of the workout. So it is appropriate when using it as part of the total body program. The multi-joint serves as an extended warm up, I think, since that’s where it is placed in the total body workout–directly after the warm up. I did like it; it gets your heart pumping and warms the muscles up even more. Overall this was an excellent and advanced workout if you chose your weights and bands right. Sometimes I went heavier than Amy, other times the weight she uses was appropriate for me and other times I had no idea what weight she was using (barbell exercises usually), so I had to use my own judgement.

One thing that stood out to me about this workout is her rep count is off. A lot. Seems to be a major problem. When I note reps below I am talking about what she meant to do–not what she actually does. Now, she doesn’t screw up the reps on every single exercise, but she does on a lot of them. Another thing I noted is that the warm up and stretch are very lower body focused even tho this workout works the entire body and that bothers me. Also, I don’t like the editing. Because this is filmed in segments, when a body part segment opens, Amy and crew are already standing there with equipment ready to go–so you sometimes have no time for set up. I create workout cards for every strength workout I do to keep track of how heavy I am lifting so that I come to a workout prepared. On those workout cards I also make equipment notes and have the DVD remote close by so I know when I have to hit pause and quickly set up or break down equipment. Just a note, but I think it is necessary in a workout like this.

Note: in the breakdown below I didn’t merely list exercises and sets/reps; I also describe equipment and problems/issues with some of the exercises and ways that I modified it to make it work better for me.

Equipment: step w/ 6 risers, barbell and plates, dumbbells, body bar, resistance tube(s), slide and glide disks and something to do pull ups with (see back breakdown for more information on that). Warm up 6:30 minutes and 6 minute stretch

Multi-Joint (7 minutes)

1. 3 Part Lunge: she uses light dumbbells; front lunge onto 6 inch step with bicep curl, side lunge on floor with side lat raise and reverse lunge on floor with front delt raise. (one set of 8 reps each side and one set of 4 reps each side)

2. Tube Abduction Pushes: stand on resistance tube with bands crossed; side squat while pulling back same side elbow toward back of room. (2 sets of 8 reps each side and 2 sets of 4 reps each side)

3. Single leg squat with tricep kickbacks. (2 sets of 8 reps each side and 2 sets of 4 reps each side)

Legs 1 (18 minutes)

1. Bucket squat with body bar held overhead (3 sets of 8 reps)

2. One leg squat: hold a dumbbell in each hand and each time you squat press the dumbbell that is in the opposite hand toward floor; also, each time you squat press the dumbbell in a different direction (side, middle, other side). (2 sets of 8 reps; one rep actually equals 3 squats)

3. Squats with heels raised: hold barbell behind back (not on shoulders; arms are held straight down, so below bottom), heels are raised on 6 inch step. (3 sets of 12 reps) (I had issues with this exercise; it was uncomfortable on my arms and my heels didn’t want to stay on the step; so in the future I will place the barbell on my shoulders and raise my heels with dumbbells.)

4. Sit & Stands: raise step to 10 inches and hold body bar in front of chest/shoulders; sit on step then immediately stand up. (1 set of 10 reps, 1 set of 8 reps and 1 set of 9 reps–obviously rep count was off and I’m not sure what she intended–10 or 8 reps?) (Cathe does this exercise in some of her lower body workouts but better; so in the future I will just place a heavier barbell on my shoulders to do this more like Cathe does it.)

Legs 2 (16:30 minutes)

1. Curtsey lunge to side lunge with dumbbells (3 sets of 10 reps)

2. Stiff leg deadlifts with barbell while standing on 10 inch step. (3 sets of 12 reps)

3. Hamstring curls: need resistance tube and body bar; slide one foot into handle of resistance band and bring band over shoulder so leg is bent (you will hold body bar in other hand for stability/balance), raise foot up and down while also pushing hand holding band overhead as foot presses down. (3 sets of 12 reps)

4. Hamstring pushes (bridges): lay on back with one heel on step the other leg is brought into body and held with both hands; raise and lower hips. (3 sets of 8 reps)

Back (11:30 minutes)

1. 84 chin ups (Amy has something like 20 risers in two stacks with the body bar laid across it, another person has a similar set up but with chairs instead of risers; I used my squat rack/bench press; sit on the ground and do modified chin ups) The chin ups are done in sets with a short rest between; following is the break down of how many reps are in each set: 16/12/8/4/4/4/16/12/8 (Amy uses the chin up hand position; in the future I will change my hand grip halfway through to pull up grip.)

2. Rows with barbell but holding it with one end on the floor and straddling it; you will do two hand and one hand rows. (1 circuit repeated 3 times; each circuit contains 8 double hand rows, 8 one arm rows on right, 8 one arm rows on left, 8 more double hand rows)

3. Reverse delt flys: step will be on an incline (4 risers on one end and 1 riser on the other); lay on your stomach with head toward incline. (3 sets 12 reps)

Shoulders (7 minutes)

1. Alternating overhead press with resistance tube and very light dumbbells (Amy suggests 2-3 pound dumbbells); stand on resistance band holding both a handle and a dumbbell in each hand. (3 sets 12 reps)

2. Upright rows with body bar, both two hand and one hand. (1 circuit done 2 times total; each circuit contains 8 double hand rows, 8 one arm rows on right, 8 one arm rows on left, 8 more double hand rows) (because of the length of the body bar this was very awkward for the one hand rows; also, my 15 pound body bar was too light for the double hand upright rows but appropriate for the one hand; in the future I will just use two 15 pound dumbbells.)

3. Stand on resistance tube; double arm front raise then bring straight arms/band behind you. (4 sets of 8 reps, 2 sets of 4 reps)

Chest (14 minutes)

1. Bench press with barbell (lay on step at 10 inches) (3 sets total; for each set you will do a total of 12 reps and 4 pulsing reps at the bottom of the move; the 12 reps are done at different slow tempos)

2. Pull overs with one heavy dumbbell, laying on step with knees raised and bent. (3 sets of 12 reps) (Note–go heavier than Amy on this exercise to get the full advantage of this excellent move; Amy only uses a 10 pound dumbbell–I used a 30 pound dumbbell and really felt it.)

3. Fall down push ups on knees, hands fall onto step. (4 sets of 15 reps; first set the step is at 10 inches, second set the step is at 8 inches, the last two sets the step is at 6 inches)

Biceps (7:30 minutes)

1. Bicep curls: resistance band with handles on either end of body bar; stand on resistance band. (2 sets of 8 reps at a slow tempo)

2. Internal and external rotation curls with band only (standing on band). (3 sets of 12 reps)

3. Incline curls (lay on back on step at an incline and do slow half hammer curls and half forearm curls). (3 sets of 8 reps of hammer curls and 4 reps of forearm curls)

Triceps (9 minutes)

1. Tricep push ups on knees with hands on step at 8 inches. (each rep consists of 2 push ups then you lower part way down and raise on arm and hold, then the other arm and hold; do a total of 8 reps)

2. Tricep kickbacks (dumbbells) (2 sets of 8 reps and 2 sets of 4 reps)

3. Overhead tricep extensions: sit on step with resistance band under one foot, holding the band in the other hand over the head. (2 sets of 12 reps) (I stood for this exercise to get more tension on my band.)

Core (14 minutes)

1. Hold one dumbbell one hand; do overhead press into a side bend then bring arm to goal post position while turning and lowering torso diagonally, shoulder toward opposite knee. (I think she meant to do 1 set of 8 and 1 set of 4 on each side, but her count is off the first set and one of the first sets has 9 reps)

2. Reverse wood chops with medicine ball or one dumbbell (3 sets of 10 reps)

3. Holding one dumbbell in both hands circle dumbbell overhead but to one side of body (2 sets of 8 reps)

4. Crab to side plank to plank to side plank to crab (1 set of 9 reps and 1 set of 8 reps)

5. Get into plank with feet on slide and glide disks; walk hands to side for 4 “steps” then pull straight legs up to hands into pike (2 sets of 6 reps)

6. Disks under hands, get onto knees and slide hands out into knee plank then pull them back in (2 sets of 8 reps)

Premixes:

#1 Total Body (2 Sets) 81:15

#2 Upper Body (All Sets) 80:00 (is actually 76:30 and includes core)

#3 Lower Body (All Sets) 55:00

#4 Timesaver Upper 39:00

#5 Timesaver Lower 48:00

#6 3 Day Split: Chest, Shoulders & Core 47:30

#7 3 Day Split: Back, Biceps & Triceps 42:00

#8 3 Day Split: Legs & Core 61:30