Every workout in the Maquina Strength System follows the same flow.
Dynamic Warm-up
You start with the dynamic warm-up which can take 4-7 minutes depending how quick and how much of a stretch you need.
Main lift section
After your dynamic warm-up you will enter into your first sets of the main lift. The first 2 sets of main lift are warm-up so they are not meant to be challenging at all. They are meant to be “easy”. The 3rd set is where the first “challenging” effort begins in regards to your weight training program. After you finish your 3rd set and sometimes a 4th you will then be moved to the workout section.
Workout Section
This section always starts with the main lift followed by 4 or more additional exercises which most of the times include a cardio machine or cardio type exercise such as a run, rower, treadmill, stair climber etc… After every main lift perform each circuit round as fast as possible taking breaks when needed.
The entire workout is designed around the idea that we want to exert a consistent 75-85% level of effort 100% meaning failure.
Another way to gauge your effort is the following:
- Green = Easy no stress at all.
- Yellow = Moderate easy to moderate challenging effort
- Red = Hard effort to failure.
If you are in the green zone you need to adjust either the weight you’re using for a specific exercise or increase the reps.
If you are in yellow but preferably on the moderate challenging effort side that is the sweet spot. That’s where you want to be for the entire workout.
If you are in red you need to lower the weight or lower the reps.
POPR (Power or PR)
Most of the workouts have what we call the POPR. Your goal is to hit 1-2 reps or more. If you can hit more than 2 reps you will establish a PR (Personal Record). In reality you should hit a PR every 2-4 weeks and not by more than 1 or 2 reps.