Mama Said The LL Cool J Workout Can Help You Build Muscles

Online, February 16, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The ladies love Cool James but will you love the LL Cool J Workout? Well he was just named the Men's Fitness magazine Icon so that has a lot to say. There's no doubt though that he puts in a lot of work. I found this article on Motleyhealth.com. Check it out:
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What does LL Cool J do in his workouts?
LL Cool J uses a combination of free weight exercises, plyometrics, boxing workouts, callisthenics and endurance training. This approach to fitness training has been shown to give good results for many years now. Many professional fighters and athletes use this combination of fitness methods to build muscle, burn fat, and to improve physical fitness.

The method used is different from a normal weight training session. LL Cool J has developed a circuit training routine for his fitness. The advantages of this routine are that it allows for a quicker workout, and also keeps the heart rate up in the fat burning zone, while also giving enough stimulus to promote muscle growth. Each circuit is done without resting between stations (exercises). At the end of the circuit, 60 seconds rest is taken, and then the circuit is repeated, and then next circuit is done. The routine actually consists of three mini circuits, two for the chest, and one for the biceps, with each chest circuit being done twice, and the biceps circuit being done three times. In total, the workout is 7 circuits, and 20 sets of exercises. The whole workout should take about 45 minutes. You need to be reasonably fit to complete the whole circuit, so halving the number of sets to start with may be a good idea.

LL Cool J Circuit Training
Chest Circuit 1:
Barbell Bench Press - 12 reps
Explosive press-ups - 10 reps
Skipping - 1 minute of skipping
Rest for 60 seconds, then repeat once before moving on to the next circuit.

Chest Circuit 2:
Barbell bench press - 12 reps
Cable crossover - 10 reps
Hanging running man - 10 reps
Treadmill run - 1 minute on an incline, with heart rate in fat burning zone.
Rest for 60 seconds, then repeat once before moving on to the next circuit.

Biceps Circuit:
Standing barbell curl - 6 reps
Preacher curl - 15 reps
Mountain climber - 1 minute
Rest for 60 seconds, then repeat twice.

That's it. Simple, but intensive. If you want to look like LL Cool J and have the ladies loving you too, then do this routine three times a week, and within a month you will start looking more athletic and ripped.

Read more: http://www.motleyhealth.com/celeb/ll-cool-j-how-to-get-ripped-like-rapper#ixzz1E5BWigP7

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That looks simple enough but I bet its tough. You see that he employs High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) like most of the celebs do. LL Cool J also has a fitness book out LL Cool J's Platinum Workout. Here's the review I found on about.com:
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LL Cool J is a hip hop artist and an actor...but he's also known for his amazingly chiseled body and he offers up his secrets in his book, LL Cool J's Platinum Workout. Targeted to men, LL Cool J offers four different workout programs (as well as one for women) along with meal plans and his signature pearls of wisdom for getting in shape and getting the most out of your body. The workouts follow a predictable, linear pattern allowing you to build strength and muscle over several weeks. His no-nonsense style is entertaining and he offers straightforward information about getting in your best shape.

The Workout Programs
The workout programs are divided into four phases so you can start at the beginner level, Bronze Body, or at the more experienced levels of Silver Body, Gold Body and Platinum Body.

Bronze Body
The first phase lasts 4 weeks and the first week involves preparing your body and environment for exercise by cleaning out the kitchen, buying healthy foods and keeping a workout journal. During this phase, you also start to eat more frequent meals and prepare your home gym or join a gym for exercise. The next 2 weeks involves 3 circuit workouts with exercises targeting the entire body (e.g., leg press, rows, chest press, etc.), changing the exercises on the 4th week. These workouts also include minimal cardio at the end.

Silver Body
During the 5th week, you switch to free weights and do a split routine with straight sets working the chest, arms, back and shoulders on two non-consecutive days and the legs and abs on the other days. You also do 15-20 minutes of cardio after each workout. Weeks 6-9 begins the 'strength phase' where you do more exercises, less reps and more sets and more free weight exercises. Some of the exercises include barbell squats, incline presses, pushups and dips.

Gold Body
During this phase, you shift focus to supersets and working to failure while adding more exercise days and tougher cardio workouts that have you increasing speed and/or incline. You'll also do a cardio circuit alternating jumping rope and pushups-oh my!

For weeks 16-19, you switch gears to 'super-muscle-building' with 6 workout days and a lot more cardio.

Platinum Body
This phase, as LL warns us, is not easy. This 3-week phase shakes things up and includes some tough circuit workouts. For example, during one workout you do an incline chest press, resisted incline pushups and 90 seconds of jumping rope. After you rest for a minute, you repeat that circuit before going on to the next circuit - bench presses, incline flies and a 2-minute treadmill sprint. The last circuit includes barbell curls, dumbbell curls, preacher curls and sprints, which you repeat 3 times.

The workouts also include a total body routine, a track workout that includes sprints, a lower body workout and 2 more cardio workouts.

The workouts during the Platinum Phase are by far the toughest, so you'll want all those other weeks of exercise behind you before you try this one.

The Diamond Body
Though women can definitely do this program, he does include a program for women that starts with circuit training and then moves into a split routine. It follows the same pattern as the other phases, but with less volume than the other training programs. What's good about this is that the workouts are just as tough and he makes the point that women need to lift weights just as much as men and, more importantly, they won't bulk up because they don't have the necessary hormones.

Overall, the workouts are solid and what's nice here is that he explains the science and thought-process behind the programs so you understand why you're doing what you're doing...something many books don't do. It helps to stay motivated when you have a reason for what you're doing.

The Meal Plans and More
One thing LL Cool J emphasizes in the book is eating the right way. This probably isn't news to most people, but he does offer nutritional information in a unique way. Rather than lecture us, he presents the material in the form of an interview with registered dietician Christopher Mohr in which they offer tips such as eating whole-grains, lean meats, more fiber and avoiding sugar. Again, nothing surprising here.

This chapter also offers charts for figuring out how many calories you need and a list of carbs, proteins and fats that are healthy and should be eaten regularly as well as those you should avoid.

Throughout the book, he offers meal plans for each phase of the program. For example, in the Bronze Phase you focus on eating healthy and fueling your body. In the Silver Phase, you decrease your calories and carbs and increase protein for fat loss. In the Gold Phase and Platinum phase, you focus on lowering calories a little more, though not so much that you don't have energy for workouts.

He also offers sample meal plans which include 6 meals a day with a variety of foods like oatmeal, omelets, fish, wraps, salads and more.

To read more, see the full article at exercise.about.com

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Nice. It looks like a good through workout program to get you in the right direction.

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Darren
www.darrensmuscletips.com