Get Bigger, Stronger And Faster With These Workouts

To celebrate the launch of its latest product Endorush, a high-quality energy and performance pre-workout product designed to take your training to the next level, leading sports nutrition brand BSN started a search for a new ambassador. To make the grade, applicants had to answer a series of questions online, with the most exciting candidates invited to central London to test their strength, speed, stamina and size to fight it out to become the newest member of Team BSN.

After hours of intense competition and incredible feats of physical and mental strength, one man emerged victorious – Liam Garner, a 30-year-old electrician from Nottingham.

“If I’m being honest, the competition was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever participated in – physically and mentally,” he says. “We had no idea of the events beforehand so it was very difficult to prepare for the competition. I just increased the intensity in my day-to-day workouts and made sure every set I did I mentally prepared myself to go to failure, so that my chances would be high of achieving anything that came at me. I enter everything I do with a winning mentality – I always have since I was young. Being confident and giving 110% in everything you do will always give you that edge to perform at your best. It’s a dream come true to become the newest member of BSN, and to be affiliated with one of the biggest supplement companies in the fitness industry is something I feel very proud about.”

We’ve worked with Liam to put together four workouts, each one designed to improve a specific physical attribute. The first workout will build strength; the second, muscular size; the third speed; and the fourth stamina. Follow the instructions for each workout to make them as effective as possible.

The tempo of the move is indicated by a four-digit number. The first digit is the time in seconds you should take to lower, the second is how long to pause the bottom, the third is how long you take to lift, and the fourth is the pause at the top.

BSN’s Endorush

Available in four mouthwatering flavours, Endorush is a high-quality transparent formula that uses the right number and combination of ingredients to deliver just the right pre-workout experience. Just one scoop contains a 6g patented blend of arginine and citrulline, 3g of creatine, 2.9g of beta-alanine and 200mg of caffeine.

RECOMMENDED: Pre-Workout Supplements Explained

Workout 1: Gain Raw Strength

Grab a barbell and do these five moves to get stronger

Warm up thoroughly, then do the moves in order. Perform all the sets of move 1 before starting move 2 and so on, sticking to the tempo and rest periods detailed.

1 Deadlift

Sets 5 Reps 5 Tempo 1010 Rest 3min

Stand in front of a barbell and squat down to grip the bar just with either an overhand or alternate grip outside your knees. Keeping your core braced and your shoulders retracted, use your glutes to power the initial lift, pushing down through your heels. Keep the bar close to your body and, as it passes your knees, push your hips forwards. Keep your shoulders back throughout the move. Reverse the movement back to the start.

2 Overhead press

Sets 5 Reps 5 Tempo 1010 Rest 3min

With your feet shoulder-width apart, position a bar on your upper chest, gripping it with hands just wider than shoulder-width apart. Keep your chest upright and your core muscles braced. Press the bar directly upwards until your arms are extended overhead. During the lifting phase, keep your core braced and don’t tilt your hips forwards.

3 Squat

Sets 3 Reps 6 Tempo 1010 Rest 2min

Rest the bar on the back of your shoulders – not on your neck – with an overhand grip. Keep your elbows pointing down. Your feet should be just wider than shoulder-width apart with your toes pointing outwards slightly. Squat down until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. The deeper you can squat, the better. Drive back up through your heels.

4 Bent-over row

Sets 3 Reps 6 Tempo 1010 Rest 2min

Start with your core braced, your back straight and your shoulder blades retracted. Bend your knees slightly and lean forwards from the hips. Grip the bar with your hands just wider than shoulder-width apart, letting them hang at knee level. Pull the bar up, retracting your shoulder blades to allow the bar to come up to your chest, then lower slowly back to the start.

5 Bench press

Sets 3 Reps 6 Tempo 1010 Rest 2min

Lie on the bench with your feet on the floor directly underneath your knees. Hold the bar with an overhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Slowly lower the bar to your chest until your elbows are bent at 90° and the bar is almost touching the middle of your chest or just over your nipples. Drive your feet hard into the floor and push the bar back strongly to the start position.

Workout 2: Build Muscle Size

Warm up thoroughly, then do moves 1A and 1B as a superset, sticking to the sets, reps, tempo and rest periods detailed. Then move on to the superset of moves 2A and 2B. Then finish with straight sets of move 3.

1A Chin-up

Sets 4 Reps 8-10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Grab the bar or rings using an underhand grip with your hands shoulder-width apart. Start from a dead hang with your arms fully extended. Pull yourself up by squeezing your lats together. Once your chin is higher than your hands, lower yourself back to the start.

1B Dip

Sets 4 Reps 8-10 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Hold rings or parallel bars, keeping your body upright. With your elbows pointing straight back, lower your body as far as you can comfortably go without stressing your shoulders. Keep your core braced and don’t swing your legs for momentum. Press back up powerfully but don’t lock out your elbows at the top.

2A Incline dumbbell press

Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Lie on a bench set at a 45° angle holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height. Keep your feet flat on the floor and back against the bench. Press the weights directly above your head but don’t lock out your elbows at the top. Slowly lower the weight back to your chest, flaring your elbows out to the sides.

2B Prone dumbbell row

Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 2011 Rest 60sec

Lie chest down on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip. Keeping your chest on the bench, row the weights up by retracting your shoulder blades, leading with your elbows. Return slowly to the start.

3 Seated dumbbell overhead press

Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec

Sit on an upright bench holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height. Keep your feet flat on the floor, your core braced, your back against the bench and your head looking forwards. Press the weights up powerfully until your arms are fully extended, then return slowly to the start.

Workout 3: Achieve Pure Speed

Get faster with these five moves that build explosive power in the key muscles

Warm up thoroughly, then do the moves in order. Perform all the sets of move 1 before starting move 2 and so on, sticking to the tempo and rest periods detailed.

1A Box jump

Reps 8 Rest 45sec

Stand in front of a box or raised platform. Explosively jump up on to the box, landing on both feet. Step back down and repeat.

1B Clean

Reps 8 Rest 45sec

Start with the barbell on the floor, holding it with a shoulder-width grip. Drive through your heels to lift it, then explode up as it passes your knees, using momentum to help pull it upwards until you can drop underneath it into a squat, catching it across your shoulders then stand up.

1C Med ball slam

Reps 8 Rest 45sec

Raise the medicine ball overhead then powerfully throw it towards the floor. Catch it and immediately repeat the exercise, moving as explosively as possible.

1D Prowler

Time 45sec Rest 45sec

Grip the poles tightly at a comfortable height. Keep your chest up and core tight and drive through your legs to push the prowler forward.

1E Sled pull

Time 45sec Rest 45sec

Stand facing away from a long, clear pathway, holding a sled strap in each hand. Keeping your core braced and your arms straight, sprint backwards as fast as you can. At the end, turn around and sprint back to the start.

Workout 4: Build Stamina Stores

Use a variety of gym equipment to get deeper energy reserves in just five moves

This is a circuit, so after a warm-up do the full distance of move 1, rest as indicated, then go into move 2 and so on. After move 5 rest for two to three minutes. Complete three or four circuits.

1A Row

Distance 250m Rest 30sec

Set the damper at 10, then position yourself correctly with feet securely fastened and an overhand grip on the handle. Start the drive by pushing your feet down to straighten your legs, keeping your arms straight. When your legs are almost straight, drive your elbows back to bring the handle powerfully towards your chest. At the end of the drive your torso should be leaning back slightly with your elbows behind your body.

1B Battle ropes

Time 45sec Rest 30sec

Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart, holding a battle rope in each hand. Start to move both ropes up and down, creating a wave movement through them. Move the ropes quickly and smoothly, keeping your chest up and your core tight.

1C Kettlebell swing

Time 45sec Rest 30sec

Swing the kettlebell between your legs with both hands, then pop your hips forwards to drive it up to head height, keeping your arms relaxed. Let the kettlebell swing back into the next rep – you don’t need to bend your knees much.

1D Dumbbell farmer’s walk

Time 45sec Rest 30sec

Stand in front of a long, clear pathway, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your core braced, walk as quickly as you can down the track. At the end, turn around and walk back quickly to the start.

1E Plank

Time 45sec Rest 30sec

Hold your body in a straight line from head to heels with your elbows beneath your shoulders and head looking down. Hold the position without letting your hips sag.