The Workouts
GUIDELINES Week 1&2
All exercises should be practiced with one set of 8 to 12 repetitions. The style of performance is very important. The movement for each repetition should be 4 seconds in the positive phase and 4 seconds in the negative. Keep the motion slow and smooth. When 12 repetitions are accomplished, increase the resistance by approximately 5 percent. Keep the time between exercises to a minimum, no longer than 60 seconds. No workout should take more than 30 minutes to complete. Perform each workout three days a week.
Exercise | Sets | Reps |
Leg Curl | 1 | |
Leg Extension | 1 | |
Bench Press | 1 | |
Lying Biceps Curl | 1 | |
Seated Shoulder Press | 1 | |
Seated Abdominal Crunch | 1 | |
|
|
|
GUIDELINES Week 3&4
All exercises should be practiced with one set of 8 to 12 repetitions. The style of performance is very important. The movement for each repetition should be 4 seconds in the positive phase and 4 seconds in the negative. Keep the motion slow and smooth. When 12 repetitions are accomplished, increase the resistance by approximately 5 percent. Keep the time between exercises to a minimum, no longer than 45 seconds. No workout should take more than 30 minutes to complete. Perform each workout three days a week.
Exercise | Sets | Reps |
Leg Curl | 1 | |
Leg Extension | 1 | |
Bench Press | 1 | |
Lying Biceps Curl | 1 | |
Seated Shoulder Press | 1 | |
Rear Deltoid Rows* | 1 | |
Seated Triceps Extension | 1 | |
Seated Abdominal Crunch | 1 | |
|
|
|
GUIDELINES Week 5&6
All exercises should be practiced with one set of 8 to 12 repetitions. The style of performance is very important. The movement for each repetition should be 4 seconds in the positive phase and 4 seconds in the negative. Keep the motion slow and smooth. When 12 repetitions are accomplished, increase the resistance by approximately 5 percent. Keep the time between exercises to a minimum, no longer than 30 seconds. No workout should take more than 30 minutes to complete. Perform each workout three days a week.
Exercise | Sets | Reps |
Leg Curl | 1 | |
Leg Extension | 1 | |
Leg Press | 1 | |
Bench Press | 1 | |
Lying Biceps Curl | 1 | |
Lying Shoulder Pullover | 1 | |
Reverse Fly | 1 | |
Rear Deltoid Rows* | 1 | |
SeatedTriceps Extension | 1 | |
Seated Abdominal Crunch | 1 | |
|
|
|
*The Upright Row exercise was used in Dr. Darden’s original study. Although many people have used this exercise for years, recent information in the Physical Therapy field has caused the authors of this manual to caution against performing this exercise because of the unnatural twisting movement created in the shoulder joint. We suggest you substitute Rear Deltoid Rows for the upright Row exercise.
17