Workouts
The Gannondorf Workout
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Character Spotlight: Gannondorf
The Gannondorf Workout
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Gannondorf is not a small individual. While not quite as bulky as, say, Bowser, or Duke, he still has quite the imposing frame and physique. As such, we’re going to be focusing less on hypertrophy (the method by which bodybuilders focus on building large amounts of muscle), and focus more on building strength by lifting heavy-ass weights (more similar to Kratos or Dante), with size being a side effect reliant more upon our diet.
Speaking of diet, I would definitely recommend you give Macros and You! a read first, if you haven’t already, as well as The Big Guy Diet. More than anything else our size is decided by what we put into our body, so nailing that down is integral to building the Gannondorf body. Now, on to the workouts!
Required Equipment:
Free Weights (going to need a full-size barbell, squat rack, bench, and plates)
Dip Station (or somewhere else to do dips)
Pull Up Bar OR Lat Pull-down Machine
Sledgehammer
Strength Workout
Workout A:
5×3-7 Deadlifts
5×3-7 Bent-over Rows
5×3-7 Barbell Curls
5×3-7 Lat Pull-downs OR Pull Ups (start with chair-assisted if necessary)
5×5-30 second planks
Workout B:
5×3-7 Bench Presses
5×3-7 Overhead Presses
5×3-7 Dips (add weight if necessary)
5×5 Standing Barbell Twists
5×5 Dumbbell Wrist Curls
5x5 Dumbbell Wrist Extensions
Workout C:
5×3-7 Front Squats
5×3-7 Deadlifts
5×3-7 Weighted Hip Thrusts
5×5-10 Leg Lifts (hold a weight plate between your feet when these start getting easy)
Strength Workout Notes:
Hey guys, it’s a weight workout! Yeah, we usually resort to these for tanks. We’re keeping our rep counts low to limit hypertrophy, and focus instead on building raw power (as would befit the bearer of the Triforce of Power). Remember, gaining mass on this one is a secondary effort, compared to just getting freaking strong. We work core stuff into every workout to keep our bodies rock solid, and able to brace us for whatever Hyrule might throw at us.
As with all weight workouts, starting really low is absolutely fine! Even if you’re just using the bar, that’s still really awesome, and you always have room to add more weight next time. Speaking of adding weight, try to bump your weight up on everything by five pounds, every week. Sometimes you may not be able to, but it’s worth trying anyway. As my friend Steve says, by the time you get to reps 5, 6, and 7 on these, you want to be really requiring your “fighting spirit” to push the weight back up again.
Cardio Workouts
Workout A:
10-20 Minutes Walking/Jogging
5-10 Hill Sprints
Workout B:
10-30 minutes Sledgehammer Slams
Workout C:
5×3-10 Burpees/Squat Thrusts (with push-up and jump at the end)
Cardio Notes:
Total body explosiveness and maximum neuro-muscular engagement is what we’re shooting for with these workouts. Basically we want to be training all of your body to use all of your body, all of the time. We want to encourage cardiovascular conditioning, so we can continually power through whatever is in front of us. At the same time, we want to emulate Gannondorf’s shape-shifting aspects by utilizing different muscle groups in different ways, and getting our body used to it.
Workout Schedule
Day 1: Strength Workout A
Day 2: Cardio Workout A
Day 3: Strength Workout B
Day 4: Cardio Workout B
Day 5: Strength Workout C
Day 6: Cardio Workout C
Day 7: Rest
Schedule Notes:
This is a pretty heavy duty schedule. Your muscle groups are split up pretty well so they should get at least 24 hours to recover before you use them again, but even so, you might want to add an extra rest day in on Day 4, especially when you’re first starting out. Better to take an extra rest day to avoid injury than to try to force the issue and hurt yourself.
So, that’s it for Gannondorf! I hope you enjoyed it, because I sure did. We’ll see you again tomorrow for a Saturday video post! Until then, remember to live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome.
Dan “DaRatmastah” Wallace
Pingback: Character Spotlight: Gannondorf | Be a Game Character
Can you do prophet or Alcatraz from crysis
Ooh, there’s a suggestion I haven’t heard! I’ll add them to the list =D
Can you add Little Mack from the Punch Out series as well?
Hello there. I’m having trouble with the hill sprints since I live in a very flat area. What would be a good alternative?
I would just do regular flat ground sprints, then. =)
Hey Dan, great workout!
When I search Leg lifts online I get a variety of results. What type of leg lifts where you intending with this workout?
would tabata sprints work after the 20 min. run?
Sure!
I’m sorry, but what does 3-7 mean? I’m new in regards to fitness, other than do as many as you can.
Hey! This workout looks great. I mod a Ganon Fitness Discord server and someone just brought this in to show us so I posted the link to this page in our “tips and tricks” thread. One thing I’d like to note: his name is spelled “Ganondorf” just fyi.
Thanks man, have a great day.
vivir es morir
morir es vivir