The 200 Rep Challenge

Need a challenge? Need to shock your muscles into a growth spurt? Need
to make that personal trainer with the oversized head and youth-sized
Under Armour shirt drop his favorite baby blue dumbbell on his toe?

Then this killer workout – a mash-up of Poliquin, Staley, and
even Arnold's training ideas – is for you.

The Challenge

Your challenge: Perform a chest/back day consisting of only two exercises:
the dip and the semi-supinated (palms facing each other) chin-up.

Your goal: Get 100 reps of each exercise, alternating between them.
One set of dips, short rest, one set of chin-ups, short rest, back to
dips, repeat until you get 100 total reps of each movement.

The twist: Use a stopwatch and time the entire workout, from rep one
to rep one-hundred. The next time you do this particular workout, try
to beat that time.

The Exercises

Dip: Taking a fairly wide grip on a set of dipping bars (if you have
that option), lower yourself under control into a deep bottom position.
None of that halfway-down crap; the biceps should touch the forearm.
Pause a split second at the bottom, then fire back up. That's one rep.

Allow your legs to extend behind you a bit to put more emphasis on the
chest. Remember, wide-grip dip plus leaned-forward position equals chest
exercise. Narrow grip and upright position makes it more of a triceps
exercise. Not what we want here, though your tri's are going to get clobbered
pretty good anyway.

Semi-Supinated Chin-up: Use two parallel chinning bars here if your
gym has them (you'll usually find these in the middle of the crossover
machine or attached to a dip station). From a rock-bottom hang, pull
up, pause a split second at the top, then lower yourself under control
back to rock bottom. Again, none of that halfway-down, leg-kicking jackassery.

Notes and Tips

• Most people are going to finish the dips before
the chins. That's okay, just alternate exercises until you hit 100 dips,
then finish out the chins all by themselves.

• A notepad is handy here since your mind may start
playing tricks on you after 75 reps.  Make a column for each exercise
and write down the reps while resting between sets.

At the end of the workout, make a note of the time it took you to hit
100 reps of each movement. Remember, you'll try to beat that time the
next time you do this same workout.

• If you can, try to find one of those dip/chin/leg
raise stations. That way you can park there for the whole workout. Ignore
the looks from the housewives wanting to do leg raises (thinking this
leads to spot reduction, of course).

• If no parallel chinning bars are available, a V-handle
will work in a pinch.

• If you can count the number of chin-ups or dips
you can get on just one hand, then try for 50 reps of each instead of
100. (By the way, the best exercise for increasing your chin-ups is the
Push Away From the Dinner Table You Fat Bastard.)

Give this shock routine a try the next time you need a challenge in
the gym, and be sure to tell us about your workout in our discussion
section!