DAY 01

TOTAL BODY
“A”

DAY 01 - TOTAL BODY “A”

EXERCISE SETS REPS NOTES

Feet shoulder-width apart. Toes

slightly pointed out. Drive knees
Squat 3 5 out. Keep a neutral head/neck.
Push through heels. Grip bar tightly

Keep knuckles pointed towards

ceiling. Keep scapula retracted.
Bench Press 5 5 Maintain natural arch in lower
back. Elbows tucked, avoid flair

Or bent-over barbell row

Pendlay Row 3 6-8 Your choice of overhand
or underhand

Your choice of hand

Lat Pulldown 3 8-10 placement and handle/bar

Incline Dumbbell Fly 3 10-12 Or incline cable fly

Or dumbbell curl,
Barbell Curl 3 6-8 alternating dumbbell
curl, or EZ bar curl

Or skull crusher
French Press 3 6-8 or overhead rope
extension

DAY 1
 DAY 02
TOTAL BODY
“B”

DAY 02 - TOTAL BODY “B”

EXERCISE SETS REPS NOTES

Conventional or sumo
Deadlift 3 5 Shoulder-width grip Shins touch
the bar, keep chest up

Hands are next to shoulders

Standing Overhead to start. Keep knuckles
3 6-8
Barbell Press pointed towards ceiling. Lock
elbows out at the top

Incline Dumbbell Press 3 8-10 Or incline bench press

One-Arm Dumbbell Row 3 8-10 -

Alternating Dumbbell Curl 3 8-12 Or barbell curl

Weighted Dips 3 8-12 -

Or French press
Skull Crushers 3 8-12 or overhead rope
extension

Leg Press 4 8-10 Or hack squat

Stiff Legged Deadlift 3 8-10 Barbell or dumbbells

DAY 2
 DAY 03
TOTAL BODY
“C”

DAY 03 - TOTAL BODY “C”

EXERCISE SETS REPS NOTES

Keep knuckles pointed towards

ceiling. Keep scapula retracted.
Bench Press 3 8 Maintain natural arch in lower
back. Elbows tucked, avoid flair

Feet shoulder-width apart. Toes

slightly pointed out. Drive knees
Squat 3 8 out. Keep a neutral head/neck.
Push through heels. Grip bar tightly

Or reverse grip
Chin-ups 3 8-12 lat pulldown

Or chest-supported
T-Bar Row 3 10-12 T-bar row

Dumbbells or cables also

Kettlebell Lateral Raises 3 12-15 fine; can do single-arm or
both together

Standing or
Reverse EZ Curl 3 12-15 on preacher

Your choice of
Cable Pushdowns 3 12-15 bar/handle

Walking Lunges 4 15 -

DAY 3
 ABS
“A” | “B” | “C”

ABS - “A” “B” “C”

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Rope Crunch 3 15

Hanging Knee Raise 3 RPE 10

Plate Twist 3 20 -30

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Crunch Machine 3 15

Hanging Leg Raise 3 RPE 10

Cable Twist 3 10 -20

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Weighted Hanging
3 10-15
Knee Raise

Decline Crunch 3 15-20

Decline Plate Twist 3 20-30

ABS
 EXTRAS

OPTIONAL: CAN BE INCLUDED AT THE END OF ANY WORKOUT

EXERCISE SETS REPS NOTES

Standing Calf Raise 3-5 6-8 -

Seated Calf Raise 3-5 15-20 -

EXTRAS
 FAQ

HOW SHOULD I TRACK PROGRESSION DURING THIS PROGRAM?

During this time, the goal is to lose as much body fat as possible, while
retaining your existing muscle mass. This means you should be in a caloric
deficit.

While it’s natural to see some loss in strength during a fat loss phase, you still
want to prioritize lifting as heavy as possible throughout the coming weeks.
Progression can be seen in the following ways:

- Lifting more weight.

- Lifting the same weight, but completing more reps.
- Improving your form/technique with a certain weight.

It is important to remember that you will not set personal records each
workout, and again, it is natural (and expected) to lose some strength while
you get deeper into a cut.

HOW SHOULD I ORGANIZE MY REST DAYS?

CAN I REORGANIZE MY TRAINING DAYS?

Definitely! The organization of these sessions is not set in stone. You have
a fair bit of autonomy with how you can organize your training.

Feel free to arrange your workouts so that you’re prioritizing weaker

muscles first. Personally, I feel my back needs the most attention, and
that’s why I have my Pull workouts at the beginning of each rotation.

As far as rest days go, I typically choose to auto-regulate mine, meaning I

take a rest day when I feel I need one. I do not recommend this
approach for most people, especially beginners and intermediate lifters. I
highly recommend taking at least one complete rest day per week -
meaning a day with no lifting or cardio.

FAQ
I FEEL LIKE I CAN HANDLE SHOULD I TRAIN UNTIL
MORE VOLUME. CAN I ADD FAILURE?
IN EXTRA SETS?

For the most part, I highly recommend

As long as doing so doesn’t impede avoiding training to complete muscular
your ability to recover or drastically failure.
harm the strength in your lifts, you can
absolutely increase the volume. When performing compound
movements, and most accessory work, I
With that said, keep in mind that there recommend aiming for the designated
is a limit to how much volume is rep range, but racking the weight when
beneficial - if you’re consistently you feel you have roughly one rep left in
completing more than 20 sets weekly the tank - that is, an RPE (rate of
on a muscle you’re training twice per perceived exertion) 9.
week, you may want to consider
lowering the volume and increasing the By doing this, you’ll avoid overtaxing
frequency (training the muscle more your central nervous system and allow
frequently). yourself to create a greater total
Gauge how you personally feel. workload during your training sessions.
With that said, training to failure on an
You’ll find sets ranging from as low as 2, isolation lift at the end of your workout
and as high as 5 in this program. I have is okay in moderation, since it will not
days where, if a particular exercise is be as taxing on your body.
feeling great, I may end up completing
an extra 1 or 2 sets than I originally
allotted - when this happens, I’ll take
WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE ACCESS
away sets from another exercise for the
TO, OR WANT TO SWAP AN
same muscle. Again, feel free to adjust
EXERCISE IN THIS PROGRAM?
the volume of these workouts to your
particular liking.
I recommend adhering to the protocols
written for compound movements as best
you’re able. With that said, feel free to swap
HOW LONG SHOULD I REST out isolation lifts with alternatives that hit
IN BETWEEN SETS? the same muscle group — just be sure to
keep the exercises as similar as possible to
the program I’ve written.
Generally speaking, I recommend
taking 3-5 minutes rest between On several exercises, I’ll include a few
compound movements, and 1-2 suggestions for alternative exercises you can
minutes rest between isolation choose to perform instead if you’d prefer. (For
movements. example, if you’d rather perform an incline
dumbbell fly rather than an incline cable fly,
With that said, ideal rest time will vary that’s totally fine.)
from person to person, from workout to
workout (especially the further you are Proper form should always be priority one, so
into your deficit). I recommend I’ve included a few basic tips on the
performing your set when you feel compound movements in this program too.
adequately recovered, and confident By no means are they exhaustive, though, so
that you’ll be able to lift the most if you’re looking to improve your form,
amount of weight with proper form for continue researching online — there is no
your designated rep range. Remember, shortage of tutorials, walkthroughs, and
these are not concrete rules, but rather checklists you can use to make sure you’re
suggestions. executing these movements correctly.

FAQ
WHAT IF I MISS A WORKOUT?

If you’re unable to work out for one day, do not stress. Simply pick up from where
you left off and resume the program from there. I want to emphasize that these
workouts are by no means assigned to specific days of the week — rather, they are a
continuous rotation.

SHOULD I INCORPORATE HOW OFTEN SHOULD I

DELOAD WEEKS? TRAIN ABS?

When you’ve been consistently I recommend training abs 2-3

training heavy, eventually, you will times per week. With the abs
encounter a few consecutive days workouts I’ve given you, complete
where you feel weak, exhausted, 3 sets of each exercise and then
unmotivated, etc. When this happens, move on to the following
you can take a deload week, or take a movement — or, complete each
few days off from the gym. exercise for one set, take a small
break, and repeat in a circuit
A deload will help your central fashion.
nervous system recover, reduce your
risk of injury, and allow you to recover I recommend training abs on the
both mentally and physically. days that you have the most
energy at the end of your workout.
To perform a deload, you’ll follow the Abs training doesn’t have to be
same workout routine, but cut your complicated — you can choose to
sets in half and decrease the working alternate the routines I’ve
weight you were last using by 50-60%. included, or follow one
indefinitely.
If you’d rather take a few days off from
the gym instead, I’d recommend 3-4.
You can take a bit longer if you’d like,
but I recommend no more than 5-6.

Typically, deloads are needed more

frequently when in a caloric deficit, so
be sure to monitor the way you’re
feeling after 4-5 weeks, and don’t
push yourself too hard if you’re
starting to feel really fatigued.

FAQ
HOW LONG SHOULD I FOLLOW THIS PROGRAM?

This program does not have a set time limit. You can follow this program for as long as
you’re in your deficit — as long as you’re enjoying your split, and find that you’re
progressing, I recommend sticking with it.

HOW MUCH CARDIO SHOULD I BE DOING?

Cardio is a tool that I recommend using to further your caloric deficit, but it should not be the
emphasis of your fat loss phase. Your top priorities should still be on nutrition (eating in a deficit)
and resistance training.

With that said, I would recommend starting with one low-intensity steady state (LISS) session of
around 250-300 calories, and one high intensity interval training (HIIT) session. More cardio can be
added as needed, although I recommend experimenting to find the balance between food and
cardio that works best for you.

For example, if you prefer to keep your food intake maximized, you can add in an extra 1-2 sessions
over the coming weeks as necessary. However, if you’d rather keep cardio to a minimum, I would
recommend gradually reducing your food intake to further your caloric deficit. Again, work towards
finding the sweet spot that works best for you and your lifestyle.

Here’s an example of a LISS session:

Choose a machine (StairMaster, incline treadmill, stationary bike, or elliptical), and adjust the
intensity to get your heart rate to around 128-140 BPM. Once you’ve achieved your target heart rate,
continue until you’ve burned the amount of calories desired.

Here’s an example of a HIIT session:

- Warm up for 5 minutes

- Sprint for 20 seconds
- Power walk for 40 seconds
- Repeat this 20/40 split 10 times
- Cool down jog for 2-3 minutes

Again, this is an example — you are not obligated to do sprints. You can use any cardio machine
you’d like, or any high intensity activity like battle ropes, sled runs, or tire flips. The goal is to make
sure you perform a movement that allows you to reach “max” intensity, followed by a cool-down
period.

FAQ
SHOULD I WARM UP BEFORE TRAINING?

Absolutely. I highly recommend taking a few minutes to warm up before each session. This
should not be intense work that drains you of energy before your workout - rather, simple
movements that aid in getting your blood flowing and muscle fibers primed and ready to
work.

Essentially, I want you making sure that your heart rate is up and your muscles aren’t going
into your workout cold. If you want to spend a few minutes on an incline treadmill,
elliptical, StairMaster, or even play some basketball, feel free to do so. I also recommend
performing dynamic stretches pertaining to the muscles you’ll be training that day. If you
have access to a foam roller, a softball, or lacrosse ball, I recommend spending time
releasing any muscles or areas that are feeling tight or sore beforehand.

A simple example to follow could be 5 minutes on a treadmill, followed by 2-3 light sets of
the first exercise you’re going to perform that day. After completing these, I recommend
performing another 2-3 acclimation sets - these are sets that ready your muscle fibers for
the heavy working sets that are about to follow. Gradually increase the weight with each
set, stopping short of the weight you’ll use for your first working set. Again, these are not
your working sets, and should not be heavy enough to drain you of energy or undermine
your working sets that follow.

Here’s a protocol you can use to determine the weight you should use on your acclimation
sets:

SET PERCENTAGE AND REPS

1 JUST THE BAR FOR 15-20 REPS

2 50 % FOR 10 REPS

3 70 % FOR 4 REPS

4 90 % FOR 2 REPS

HOW DO I KNOW IF I’M MAKING PROGRESS?

Remember, since you’re in a caloric deficit, strength gains are unlikely. As a fat loss phase,
progress is going to be visual, so gauge what you see in the mirror and on the scale.

When in a fat loss phase, I weigh myself each morning. When tracking my progress for a
week, I like to take the average of my week’s weight and compare it to the week prior. For
men, I recommend aiming for a roughly 1-2 pound loss per week. For women, 05.-1 pound
is ideal.

FAQ
WHAT SHOULD MY NUTRITION LOOK LIKE DURING THIS PROGRAM?

I’ve been an advocate of flexible dieting for years, and it’s the approach I continue to take
to my nutrition to this day. As a rule of thumb, I recommend aiming to get 80-90% of your
macros from whole foods, leaving yourself some room for foods that may be considered
less “macro-friendly” — essentially, the more indulgent foods you may crave most often.
Finding ways to keep yourself satiated and satisfy your cravings will help you stay
consistent throughout your cut.

As far as supplements go, all I recommend is fish oil, a multivitamin, and creatine
monohydrate (5 grams per day for men, 3-4 grams per day for women).

I also recommend drinking a gallon of water daily.

An extremely common mistake made with beginners and intermediates is starting a fat
loss phase too aggressively — that is, overdoing cardio and starting with their macros too
low. This will put you at a higher risk for losing some lean body mass along the way.

Taking this process slowly is a far more effective route — the results may take longer, but it
will help preserve your muscle, and lower your chance of burning out. To begin, I
recommend starting with a 250-300 calorie deficit.

Gauge your progress, and when the scale starts to stall for 2 weeks or more, subtract
another 100 calories.

WHEN SHOULD I HAVE A REFEED DAY?

The frequency for refeed days can vary from person to person, but a refeed every 10 days or
so is a useful technique to boost your energy and help continue progress in a fat loss
phase. The deeper into your cut you are, a weekly refeed may be best.

On a refeed day, I like to drop my protein intake to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight, lower
fat by around 5 grams, and increase carbs by 150-200 grams.

FAQ