Danny Care’s Essential 28-Day Gym Regime
England and Harlequins rugby player Danny Care shares his full-body gym workout – six moves, 4 x 6 reps each.
Danny Care knows a thing or two about muscle building – the England and Harlequins rugby player regularly takes down 18-stone giants for fun. Handily for him, he’s also realised that pretty girls like muscly guys – hence why he was recently voted one of Company magazine’s ‘50 hottest bachelors of 2011’.
“As a scrum half, I wanted strength but also agility so lean muscle is best,” he says. “I used to be 77kg and now weigh 85-86kg so you can build muscle quickly if you work hard,” which is good news if, like 98% of the population, you spent more time on FIFA than the treadmill over the Christmas break. Just follow Danny’s full body workout regime and you’ll be as stacked as him in no time. Maybe.
Danny’s full-body January workout
1 Military press
Targets: Shoulders. Get a good stable base with your feet shoulder-width apart. Make sure you don’t arch your back by getting your core really tight. As you drive up, push your head under the bar so the bar is in line with your head, shoulders and back. Make the move explosive so it’s nice and quick. 4 x 6 reps
2 Hammer curls
Targets: Arms. Take two dumbbells, but rather than doing normal bicep curls, turn the dumbbell around so that your palms are facing inwards. Keeping your elbows at your sides, raise the dumbbells upwards until your forearm is vertical. Lower them back down and repeat. 4 x 6 reps
3 Bench press
Targets: Chest. Lie flat on a bench with a weighted barbell in the rack above you. Grab the barbell with a grip just wider than shoulder-width and hold it above your chest. Lower the barbell down just above your nipples then press the bar powerfully upwards until your arms are extended. 4 x 6 reps
4 Deadlift
Targets: Back. Position your feet flat beneath a barbell. Squat down and grasp the bar just outside your knees. Lift the bar upwards, keeping it close to your body, by extending your hips and knees and pulling your shoulders back. Stare forward and keep your hips low and back straight. 4 x 6 reps
5 Swiss ball crunch
Targets: Stomach. Sit on a Swiss ball and move your legs forward until you’re lying horizontally with your back on the ball and your feet under your knees. Clasp your hands on your chest and do a short crunch upwards, keeping your back straight. This one is best done slowly to really work your abs. 4 x 6 reps
6 Squat
Targets: Legs. Stand in a squat rack with a barbell at chest height. Dip under the bar, raise it off the rack and hold it on the back of your shoulders. With your feet shoulder-width apart, squat down thrusting your hips backwards. Keep your back straight, chest up and your knees in line with your toes. 4 x 6 reps
Photography by Adrian Weinbrecht. Danny Care is represented by Big Red Management (bigredmanagement.com) and sponsored by Nike (nike.com). Photographed at Surrey Sports Park (Surreysportspark.co.uk). Kit supplied by Nike (nike.com/rugby).
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