Matthew McConaughey’s Power Set Workout
Another classic example of a celebrity transformation that turned the heads of men everywhere was Matthew McConaughey’s in Sahara. In just 10 months, celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson transformed Matthew’s body into that of action hero Dirk Pitt.
This involved a gain in strength, flexibility, agility, and endurance. So if these are some of your goals, you may want to take a good look at the following workout.
The workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday are set up in powersets. This means that you will perform all the exercises back to back without rest, and then repeat the whole set for the number of times indicated. For exercises with weights, use a heavy enough weight to challenge you for an 8- to 12-rep range.
Monday — Powerset
Powerset 1 – repeat 3x :
Dumbbell fly
Incline chest press
Weighted Swiss ball crunch
Powerset 2 – perform once:
Angled pullup: Alternate pulling yourself up toward one of your hands (rather than straight up the middle)
Elliptical machine (1 minute forward, 1 minute backward)
Powerset 3- repeat 3x times:
Bench dip
Single-arm overhead tricep extension with a rope
Reaching medicine ball lunge: Move a medicine ball from your upper left to your lower right as you lunge, and alternate sides
Powerset 4- repeat 3x times:
Medicine ball slam: Grab a comfortably heavy medicine ball and slam it on the floor
Wall climb (for 1 to 2 minutes): Climb a wall to work both your upper and lower body
Ladder drill: Step as fast as you can through a ladder lying on the ground, lifting your knees as high as possible
Powerset 5 – repeated 3x times:
Staggered stance squat with calf raise: With one foot slightly in front of the other, squat, then rise and do a calf raise
Twisting shoulder press: Rotate your torso as you press the dumbbells overhead
Lying medicine ball woodchop: Lie on a bench and move a medicine ball from over your head to one side of your body, and repeat on other side
Powerset 6- perform once:
Stationary bike (1 minute sitting followed by 1 minute standing)
Stairclimber (1 minute without holding onto the handrails)
Tuesday Cardio
Choose one or more cardio machines at the gym or a sport of your choice, and keep moving for 30 to 45 minutes, varying the intensity and pace. The key to this is to keep changing it up so your body never becomes bored and biomechanically used to one action.
Wednesday Powerset
Powerset 1 – repeat 4x times:
Wide-grip lat pulldown
Swiss ball crunch with medicine ball toss: Lying on a Swiss ball with your arms overhead holding a medicine ball, crunch up and throw the medicine ball forward to a partner, then have them throw it back to you, and repeat
Jump squat: Squat down until you are at a 90 angle, then explode upward, jumping as high as you can and landing once again into your next squat
Powerset 2 – perform once:
Stairclimber (1 minute both legs, 1 minute left leg, 1 minute right leg, then 1 minute both legs again)
Jump rope (100 to 200 skips as fast as possible)
Powerset 3 – perform once:
Angled pullup single-leg, single-arm bent-over row: Stand on your right leg, bend over and perform a row with your left arm, then switch sides
Hook (40 to 60 hooks thrown into a punching bag)
Powerset 4 – repeat 2x with a 60- to 180-second rest in between:
Stair suicides: Run up 10 stairs, then back down; repeat, increasing stairs to 20, 30, 30, 20, and 10
Powerset 5 – repeat 3x times:
Uneven barbell curl: Place hands in a shoulder-width grip, move one hand toward the center, and curl; after reps are completed, move the other hand to the middle and repeat
Single-arm dumbbell shrug: Holding a dumbbell in one hand, with the other hand against the small of your back (palm facing out), shrug upward; switch sides
Calf raise
Powerset 6 – perform once:
Cycle (3 minutes)
Dumbbell deadlift to curl: Bend over and grab dumbbells, palms facing inward, then move to an upright position and curl the weights to your shoulders, rotating palms as you move upward; reverse wrist position as you lower them to the starting position
Cable crunch: Kneeling in front of a cable machine, hold the rope attached to the cable near your ears, curl down into a crunch position, hold, then return to start
Barbell wrist curl
Thursday — Cardio
Repeat Tuesday’s workout (but change activities)
Friday — Powersets
Repeat Monday’s workout
Weekend — Rest
