As I mentioned in my previous post, I am currently serving my mandatory military service as a Korean male citizen. Being in the army has placed me in an environment that sparked my interest in weightlifting.
Back when I was in the States, I had some experience with weightlifting through my high school basketball and track teams. However, I never really focused on building muscle or strength at the time. That all changed after joining the army—I started enjoying my time in the gym and developed a real passion for weightlifting! Learning from my seniors and mentors has helped me improve my lifting techniques and build strength properly.
I am still serving in the army and continuing to develop my passion for weightlifting. I look forward to sharing more about my journey with you all!
Day 1: Chest & Biceps & Triceps
At my military base, we do not have cable crossover machines to target my upper body. Most of the time, I use a single cable machine to target my biceps and triceps. Throughout my life, I’ve been insecure about the lower part of my chest, so I usually focus on working that area.
For lower chest exercises, I prefer using the cable crossover machine if it’s available at the gym. Unfortunately, our base doesn’t have one, so I use the decline bench press to target my lower chest. In addition, I personally like to use the cable crossover machine to target my lower chest, but I use the pec deck fly machine since we do not own a cable crossover machine.
I’m trying to learn how to approach weightlifting in a more science-based way. The muscles need to feel tension and stretch in order to grow, so I usually prefer using cables over dumbbells. For triceps, I do cable pushdowns and overhead cable tricep extensions. Lastly, I like to do EZ-bar preacher curls for my biceps!
Day 2: Back
Oh… I love my back days! I don’t know what it is, but it’s always fun to work on your back and feel the muscle tension. I can confidently say, I am obsessed with my back workouts!
First of all, I like to start with the lat pulldown to feel the tension in my lats. Focusing on my lats during this warm-up helps me release the tension in my back.
Next, I enjoy doing incline rows with drop sets, so I can fully focus on my back. Doing drop sets for this exercise has helped me build my back muscles more effectively so far. I just love the feeling of tension in my back after incline rows!
For symmetry, I incorporate one-arm barbell rows. This helps balance my back muscles, and it also provides a great tension in my back and lats. With the single cable machine, I do cable high rows and lat pulldowns to feel the stretch in my back and lat muscles.
Day 3: Shoulder
The shoulders are one of the most important areas to work on if you want a wide frame! I enjoy my shoulder workout, starting with the shoulder press. The shoulder press is one of the most common exercises that many gym-goers like to do, and it targets the front part of the shoulder.
After my shoulder press, I personally enjoy doing side lateral raises to target the side deltoid. It’s absolutely essential for building wider shoulders and will help you develop bigger muscles.
For my last workout, I like to do a rear shoulder exercise called the “face pull.” It’s basically pulling the weight toward your face to target the rear delts. When I tried this exercise for the first time, I struggled to feel the tension, but the more I did it, the better I got at it!
Day 4: Cardio & Core
My Day 4 routine is simple: CARDIO! Cardio is such an essential workout for strengthening your cardiac endurance. It helps your heart sustain your breath while running or jogging.
My personal goal while I’m in the military is to run 3k in 13 minutes. Thankfully, I’ve actually accomplished this goal, but I want to maintain my shape and continue developing the habit of working out.
This is my workout routine for the week! I only do 4 days of workouts because, let’s face it, I’m busy staying active while I’m on the military base. I focus on targeting muscle groups I can’t exactly work on while I’m carrying around heavy gear or yelling ‘MOVE OUT!’ My workout journey has only been 3 months so far, so I haven’t seen enough progress to brag about it… yet. But hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?
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