06
DAY 01
PUSH “A”
DAY 01 - PUSH “A”
EXERCISE
SETS
REPS
NOTES
Bench Press
4
3-5
Keep knuckles pointed towards
ceiling. Keep scapula retracted.
Maintain natural arch in lower
back. Elbows tucked, avoid flair
Incline Hammer
Strength Press
4
6-8
Or incline dumbbell press
Incline Cable Fly
3
12-15
Or incline dumbbell fly
Lateral Raise
4
10-20
Choice of kettlebells,
dumbbells, or cables; can do
single-arm or both together
French Press
4
6-10
Or skull crusher
Cable Pushdown
3
8-12
Your choice of bar/handle
Single-Arm
Cable Pushdown
3
15-20
-
Incline Bench Press
2
15-20
-
DAY 1
DAY 02
PULL “A”
DAY 02 - PULL “A”
EXERCISE
SETS
REPS
NOTES
Single-Arm Cable Pull-In
3
20-30
Or rope pullover
3
6-8
-
Pendlay Row
3
6-8
Or bent-over barbell row
Your choice of overhand
or underhand
Rack Pull
3
8-10
-
Seated Cable Row
2
8-10
-
Barbell Curl
3
6-8
-
Dumbbell Hammer Curl
3
8-10
-
Lat Pulldown
3
15-20
-
Concentration Curl
3
12-15
Or cable curl, or preacher
curl machine
Weighted Pull-ups
DAY 2
DAY 03
LEGS “A”
DAY 03 - LEGS “A”
EXERCISE
SETS
REPS
NOTES
Squats
5
5
Feet shoulder-width apart. Toes
slightly pointed out. Drive knees
out. Keep a neutral head/neck.
Push through heels. Grip bar tightly
Stiff Legged Deadlifts
3
6-8
Barbell or dumbbells
Walking Lunges
3
10-12
Barbell or dumbbells
Lying Hamstring Curl
3
12-15
Or seated hamstring curl
Standing Calf Raise
3
6-8
-
Seated Calf Raise
3
20-30
-
DAY 3
DAY 04
PUSH “B”
DAY 04 - PUSH “B”
EXERCISE
SETS
REPS
NOTES
Cable Fly
3
20-25
Warm-up and get
a slight pump
Bench Press
3
6-8
Keep knuckles pointed towards
ceiling. Keep scapula retracted.
Maintain natural arch in lower
back. Elbows tucked, avoid flair
Incline Bench Press
3
12-15
Pause reps
Lateral Raise
3
10-20
Choice of kettlebells,
dumbbells, or cables; can do
single-arm or both together
Cable Pushdown
4
6-10
Your choice of
bar/handle
Skull Crusher
3
8-12
-
Incline Dumbbell Fly
2
15-20
Or incline cable fly
Dips
2
15-20
Your choice of chest
focus or triceps focus
Close Grip Push-ups
2
15-20
-
Wide Grip Push-ups
2
15-20
-
DAY 4
DAY 05
PULL “B”
DAY 05 - PULL “B”
EXERCISE
SETS
REPS
NOTES
Deadlifts
3
5
Conventional or sumo.
Shoulder-width grip. Shins
touch the bar, keep chest up
Pull-ups
4
Stop one rep
before failure
Or lat pulldown (10-12 reps)
Chest-Supported
T-Bar Row
3
8-10
-
One-Arm Dumbbell
row
3
8-12
-
Alternating Dumbbell
Curl
3
6-8
-
Reverse EZ Bar Curl
3
12-15
Or reverse cable curl
Bicep Machine of
Your Choice
3
12-15
-
Facepull
3
15-20
-
DAY 5
DAY 06
LEGS “B”
DAY 06 - LEGS “B”
EXERCISE
SETS
REPS
NOTES
Leg Extension
3
12-20
Slow and controlled
Seated Hamstring Curl
3
12-20
Slow and controlled
Leg Press
4
8-10
As heavy as possible
Hip Thrusts
3
8-10
Barbell or Smith machine
Squat
4
8-10
Feet shoulder-width apart. Toes
slightly pointed out. Drive knees
out. Keep a neutral head/neck.
Push through heels. Grip bar tightly
Standing Calf Raise
3
6-10
-
Seated Calf Raise
3
20-30
-
DAY 6
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
Knee Raise
3
10-15
Decline Crunch
3
15-20
Decline Plate Twist
3
20-30
ABS
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
MORE VOLUME. CAN I ADD
IN EXTRA SETS?
As long as doing so doesn’t impede
your ability to recover or drastically
harm the strength in your lifts, you can
absolutely increase the volume.
With that said, keep in mind that there
is a limit to how much volume is
beneficial - if you’re consistently
completing more than 20 sets weekly
on a muscle you’re training twice per
week, you may want to consider
lowering the volume and increasing the
frequency (training the muscle more
frequently).
Gauge how you personally feel.
You’ll find sets ranging from as low as 2,
and as high as 5 in this program. I have
days where, if a particular exercise is
feeling great, I may end up completing
an extra 1 or 2 sets than I originally
allotted - when this happens, I’ll take
away sets from another exercise for the
same muscle. Again, feel free to adjust
the volume of these workouts to your
particular liking.
HOW LONG SHOULD I REST
IN BETWEEN SETS?
Generally speaking, I recommend
taking 3-5 minutes rest between
compound movements, and 1-2
minutes rest between isolation
movements.
With that said, ideal rest time will vary
from person to person, from workout to
workout (especially the further you are
into your deficit). I recommend
performing your set when you feel
adequately recovered, and confident
that you’ll be able to lift the most
amount of weight with proper form for
your designated rep range. Remember,
these are not concrete rules, but rather
suggestions.
SHOULD I TRAIN UNTIL
FAILURE?
For the most part, I highly recommend
avoiding training to complete muscular
failure.
When performing compound
movements, and most accessory work, I
recommend aiming for the designated
rep range, but racking the weight when
you feel you have roughly one rep left in
the tank - that is, an RPE (rate of
perceived exertion) 9.
By doing this, you’ll avoid overtaxing
your central nervous system and allow
yourself to create a greater total
workload during your training sessions.
With that said, training to failure on an
isolation lift at the end of your workout
is okay in moderation, since it will not
be as taxing on your body.
WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE ACCESS
TO, OR WANT TO SWAP AN
EXERCISE IN THIS PROGRAM?
I recommend adhering to the protocols
written for compound movements as best
you’re able. With that said, feel free to swap
out isolation lifts with alternatives that hit
the same muscle group — just be sure to
keep the exercises as similar as possible to
the program I’ve written.
On several exercises, I’ll include a few
suggestions for alternative exercises you can
choose to perform instead if you’d prefer. (For
example, if you’d rather perform an incline
dumbbell fly rather than an incline cable fly,
that’s totally fine.)
Proper form should always be priority one, so
I’ve included a few basic tips on the
compound movements in this program too.
By no means are they exhaustive, though, so
if you’re looking to improve your form,
continue researching online — there is no
shortage of tutorials, walkthroughs, and
checklists you can use to make sure you’re
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
DELOAD WEEKS?
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I
TRAIN ABS?
When you’ve been consistently
training heavy, eventually, you will
encounter a few consecutive days
where you feel weak, exhausted,
unmotivated, etc. When this happens,
you can take a deload week, or take a
few days off from the gym.
I recommend training abs 2-3
times per week. With the abs
workouts I’ve given you, complete
3 sets of each exercise and then
move on to the following
movement — or, complete each
exercise for one set, take a small
break, and repeat in a circuit
fashion.
A deload will help your central
nervous system recover, reduce your
risk of injury, and allow you to recover
both mentally and physically.
To perform a deload, you’ll follow the
same workout routine, but cut your
sets in half and decrease the working
weight you were last using by 50-60%.
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.
I recommend training abs on the
days that you have the most
energy at the end of your workout.
Abs training doesn’t have to be
complicated — you can choose to
alternate the routines I’ve
included, or follow one
indefinitely.
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