Bob Thomas, director and lead trainer of the Navy Wellness Center, has been writing OFFduty’s Military Muscle column for over four years. Bob was in town recently so we twisted his arm until he agreed to model the column’s exercises himself. Not too shabby for a retired commander. Here’s Bob’s take on how to approach a multimuscle workout:
A “complex” is a great way to approach a multimuscle workout. It builds on the more familiar “super set” that works either the same muscle with two different exercises or works two opposite muscles — one exercise for biceps and one for triceps, for example. You can go total body or split into upper/lower. Keep the reps low and execute multiple rounds with no or minimal rest.
You can do this complex as a warmup or as a strength-endurance workout. It incorporates five weight exercises using a weight bar, plus one body-weight exercise. It hits almost all of the major muscles. Set the weight, reps and rounds according to your ability.
