Seasons in the gym: tracking Craig Titus' yearlong gym odyssey

Flex, May, 2003 by Terry Goodlad

CRAIG TITUS' OLYMPIA TRAINING PROGRAM

Titus' training program follows a rotation where he works out in the gym
five days per week, but his entire body gets trained in four of those
days. He takes Wednesdays and Sundays off from weight training to rest,
have some social life and catch up on business matters, allowing him to
have a somewhat normal life where he can plan events more easily around
his workout schedule.

BODYPART                                EXERCISE

MONDAY: DAY 1 -- Chest and Biceps

Chest                                   Flat barbell presses
                                        Incline dumbbell presses
                                        Flat dumbbell presses
                                        Cable crossovers
                                        Pec-deck flyes
Biceps                                  Standing alternate dumbbell
                                        curls
                                        Standing cambered-bar curls
                                        Standing barbell preacher
                                        curls
                                        Hammer Strength preacher curls

Precontest

One hour of cardlo before breakfast
Return in the evening to train abs,
               cardio and pose
               Standing cable crunches
               for abs
One hour of treadmill cardio
at night after training
Practice the mandatory poses
for 20 minutes

* Warm up first two sets.

  First set is a warm-up.

TUESDAY: DAY 2 -- Back and Traps

Back                                    Wide-grip pulldowns
                                        Bent barbell rows
                                         or deadlifts
                                        Close-grip pulldowns
                                        Seated cable rows
                                        Dumbbell pullovers
Traps                                   Barbell shrugs

Precontest

One hour of treadmill
cardio in the morning
Return in the evening to
train calves and do cardio
                                        Seated calf raises
                                        Standing calf raises
                                        Leg-press calf raises
One hour of treadmill cardia
at the end of the second workout

* First set is a warm-up.

WEDNESDAY: Day off

No weight training. One hour of
cardio before breakfast and one
hour of cardio in the evening.

THURSDAY: DAY 3 -- Delts and Triceps

Delts                                   Dumbbell side laterals
                                        (one side at a time)
                                        Seated rear-delt machine
                                        Seated front presses
                                         on a Smith machine
                                        Standing upright
                                         cambered-bar rows
Triceps                                 One-arm rope pressdowns
                                        Two-arm overhead
                                         dumbbell extensions
                                        Straight-bar pressdowns
                                        Dips
Precontest

One hour of treadmill cardio
before breakfast

Return to the gym in the evening
               to do abs and cardio
               Standing cable crunches
               for abs

One hour of treadmill cardio at
night after training

Practice the mandatory poses
for about 20 minutes

FRIDAY: DAY 4 -- Quads, Hams
and Calves

Quads: morning                          Leg extensions
                                        Leg presses
                                        Hack squats
                                        Barbell squats
Hams: evening                           Lying leg curls
                                        Stiff-leg deadlifts
Calves: evening                         Seated calf raises
                                        Standing calf raises
                                        Leg-press calf raises

Precontest

Treadmill cardio is done for
one hour before breakfast and
one hour at the end of the
second training session.

Note: Leg day is the only one
Titus splits into two workouts
in both the offseason and precon-
test due to the enerqy expended
during leg training.

SATURDAY

A new rotation with Training
Day 1 begins.

BODYPART                                SETS  REPS

MONDAY: DAY 1 -- Chest and Biceps

Chest                                    4 *  12-20
                                         4    12-20
                                         4    12-20
                                         4     20
                                         4     20
Biceps                                   3    12-20

                                         3    12-20
                                         3    12-20

                                         3    12-20

Precontest

One hour of cardlo before breakfast
Return in the evening to train abs,
               cardio and pose
               Standing cable crunches
               for abs                   4    20-30
One hour of treadmill cardio
at night after training
Practice the mandatory poses
for 20 minutes

* Warm up first two sets.

  First set is a warm-up.

TUESDAY: DAY 2 -- Back and Traps

Back                                     3 *  9-15
                                         3    9-15

                                         3    9-15
                                         3    9-15
                                         3    9-15
Traps                                    4     10

Precontest

One hour of treadmill
cardio in the morning
Return in the evening to
train calves and do cardio
                                         3     15
                                         3     15

One hour of treadmill cardia
at the end of the second workout

* First set is a warm-up.

WEDNESDAY: Day off

No weight training. One hour of
cardio before breakfast and one
hour of cardio in the evening.

THURSDAY: DAY 3 -- Delts and Triceps

Delts                                    3     20

                                         3    12-20
                                         3    12-20

                                         3    12-20

Triceps                                  3    12-20
                                         3    12-20


                                         3    12-20
                                         3    12-20
Precontest

One hour of treadmill cardio
before breakfast

Return to the gym in the evening
               to do abs and cardio
               Standing cable crunches
               for abs                   4    20-30

One hour of treadmill cardio at
night after training

Practice the mandatory poses
for about 20 minutes

FRIDAY: DAY 4 -- Quads, Hams
and Calves

Quads: morning                           3     20
                                         3     20
                                         3     20
                                         3    20-25
Hams: evening                            4    12-20
                                        10    12-20
Calves: evening                          3     15
                                         3     15
                                         3     15

Precontest

Treadmill cardio is done for
one hour before breakfast and
one hour at the end of the
second training session.

Note: Leg day is the only one
Titus splits into two workouts
in both the offseason and precon-
test due to the enerqy expended
during leg training.

SATURDAY

A new rotation with Training
Day 1 begins.