PUSH
PULL
LEGS
PUSH
PULL
LEGS
REST
CAYLEPT
WELCOME
Before going forwards please watch "this" video (Click the text)
so that I can say thank you for purchasing one of my
programmes.
Throughout these I've tried to cover every base I could while
also helping you all to understand the decision making behind
the choices made and how to adapt and customise the plan
based on your own upcoming experiences!
Alongside these programmes you have also gained access to a
private exercise library on YouTube with over 200 videos
covered. Only clients and people who have purchased a
programme have access to this so I hope it's helpful.
Click Here for the exercise library playlist.
CONTENTS
WELCOME 3
PREAMBLE 4
SKELETON PLAN 5-10
EXAMPLE SPLIT 11-17
EXERCISE OPTIONS 18
ROTATION 19
TYPES OF SET 20-21
TEMPO 22
INTENSIFIERS 23
EQUIPMENT 24
DIET & RECOVERY 25-26
VOLUME 27
INTENSITY 28-31
BUSY GYM? 32
REST 33
WARMUPS 34
DELOADS 35
APPS 36
SUPPLEMENTS 37
MIND-MUSCLE CONNECTION 38
SORENESS 39
END NOTES 40
GUIDES 41-100
THE PREAMBLE
In this guide I aim to help you put together your own plan
based on the equipment you have within your gym. But I will
also provide an example plan for someone with very limited
equipment (Such as those in gyms equipped primarily with
Technogym).
Below you will find the skeleton of the plan. To customise this
to your equipment you should look at what the type of exercise
is, and select the appropriate piece of equipment within your
gym to achieve that outcome. For example if I state "Flat press"
this can be with dumbbells, barbell, smith or a machine. I will
also leave a link to my exercise library I have created to
demonstrate as many exercises as I can - for this I travelled
around to gyms near me to cover as wide a base as possible, in
future as I visit more gyms I'll add more to the library.
Please click the exercise name to be taken to a playlist of
exercise options.
This split is designed to be run as 6 days on, 1 day off.
Alternatively, you could run it over 8 days as 3 days on, 1 day
off, repeat, which would allow for an extra rest day.
PUSH 1
LATERAL RAISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
FLAT PRESS
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
INCLINE PRESS
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
FRONT DELT EXERCISE
3 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps x 2
CHEST FLY
3 sets. 8-12 reps
TRICEP COMPOUND
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
TRICEP ISOLATION
3 sets. 8-12 reps
PULL 1
REAR DELT EXERCISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
VERTICAL LAT PULL
2 sets. 10-15 reps
HORIZONTAL LAT ROW
2 sets. 10-15 reps
UPPER BACK ROW
2 sets. 8-12 reps
VERTICAL PULL
2 sets. 8-12 reps
BICEP EXERCISE 1
3 sets. 10-15 reps
BIECP EXERCISE 2
3 sets. 8-12 reps
LEGS 1
HAMSTRING CURL
3 sets. 10-15 reps
QUAD COMPOUND 1
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
QUAD COMPOUND 2
2 sets. 5-9 reps 10-15 reps
ADDUCTOR
3 sets. 8-12 reps
CALF EXERCISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
QUAD ISOLATION
2 sets. 10-15 reps
AB EXERCISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
PUSH 2
LATERAL RAISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
FLAT PRESS
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
INCLINE PRESS
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
FRONT DELT EXERCISE
3 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps x 2
CHEST FLY
3 sets. 8-12 reps
TRICEP COMPOUND
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
TRICEP ISOLATION
3 sets. 8-12 reps
PULL 2
REAR DELT EXERCISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
VERTICAL LAT PULL
2 sets. 10-15 reps
HORIZONTAL LAT ROW
2 sets. 10-15 reps
UPPER BACK ROW
2 sets. 8-12 reps
VERTICAL PULL
2 sets. 8-12 reps
BICEP EXERCISE 1
3 sets. 10-15 reps
BIECP EXERCISE 2
3 sets. 8-12 reps
LEGS 2
HAMSTRING CURL
3 sets. 10-15 reps
HIP HINGE
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
QUAD COMPOUND 2
2 sets. 5-9 reps 10-15 reps
ADDUCTOR
3 sets. 8-12 reps
CALF EXERCISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
QUAD ISOLATION
2 sets. 10-15 reps
AB EXERCISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
AN EXAMPLE
SPLIT
Above is the skeleton of the plan, use it to make the best
choices for equipment based on what you have In your gym.
The following few session examples will be more specific to a
very general gym containing cables, a smith machine,
dumbbells and a barbell, also fairly common machines such as
a hamstring curl, leg extension and leg press.
This example split follows the skeleton of the plan. I'd prefer
you use the above skeleton combined with the exercise library
and an understanding of your own equipment to forge the best
possible plan for your specific circumstance, but if you're in a
rather limited gym you could also follow the below example
split.
Please click the name of each exercise to see the specific
exercise listed.
PUSH 1
DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
BARBELL FLAT PRESS
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
DUMBBELL INCLINE PRESS
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
DUMBBELL SHOULDER PRESS
3 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps x 2
CHEST FLY LOW-HIGH
3 sets. 8-12 reps
DIP
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
ROPE TRICEP PUSHDOWN
3 sets. 8-12 reps
PULL 1
REAR DELT FLY
3 sets. 10-15 reps
NEUTRAL BAR PULLDOWN
2 sets. 10-15 reps
NEUTRAL BAR ROW
2 sets. 10-15 reps
STRAIGHT BAR PULLDOWN
2 sets. 8-12 reps
D HANDLE PULL
2 sets. 8-12 reps
DUMBBELL PREACHER CURL
3 sets. 10-15 reps
INCLINE DUMBBELL CURL
3 sets. 8-12 reps
LEGS 1
HAMSTRING CURL
3 sets. 10-15 reps
BARBELL SQUAT
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
LEG PRESS
2 sets. 5-9 reps 10-15 reps
ADDUCTOR
3 sets. 8-12 reps
SEATED CALF RAISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
LEG EXTENSION
2 sets. 10-15 reps
AB CRUNCH
3 sets. 10-15 reps
PUSH 2
CABLE LATERAL RAISE
3 sets. 10-15 reps
DUMBBELL FLAT PRESS
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
INCLINE SMITH PRESS
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
SMITH SHOULDER PRESS
3 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps x 2
CHEST FLY HIGH-LOW
3 sets. 8-12 reps
DIP
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
TRICEP ISOLATION OVERHEAD
3 sets. 8-12 reps
PULL 2
DUMBBELL REAR DELT ROW
3 sets. 10-15 reps
UNDERHAND LAT PULLDOWN
2 sets. 10-15 reps
STRAIGHT BAR ROW-UNDERHAND
2 sets. 10-15 reps
STRAIGHT BAR ROW
2 sets. 8-12 reps
D HANDLE PULLDOWN
2 sets. 8-12 reps
HAMMER CURL
3 sets. 10-15 reps
CABLE CURL LENGTHENDED BIAS
3 sets. 8-12 reps
LEGS 2
LEG EXTENSION
3 sets. 10-15 reps
DEADLIFT
2 sets. 5-9 reps, 10-15 reps
LEG PRESS
2 sets. 15-20
ADDUCTOR
3 sets. 8-12 reps
CALF TOE PRESS
3 sets. 10-15 reps
SPLIT SQUAT
2 sets. 10-15 reps
AB CRUNCH
3 sets. 10-15 reps
EXERCICE OPTIONS
FLAT PRESS OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
INCLINE PRESS OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
CHEST FLY OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
TRICEP COMPOUND
OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
QUAD COMPOUND
OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
QUAD ISOLATION OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
HAMSTRING OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
HIP HINGE OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
TRICEP ISOLATION OPTIONS CALF OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE
VERTICAL PULL OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
LATERAL RAISE OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
HORIZONTAL ROW
OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
REAR DELT OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
UPPER BACK OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
BICEP OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
FRONT DELT OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
ABS OPTIONS
CLICK HERE
ROTATION
Rotating an exercise means to swap it out for something
similar when the need arises. In this instance I would
recommend rotating an exercise when it begins to stall.
For example if your "Flat Press" choice happens to plateau
after a few months it would be wise to swap it out for
something similar. If your flat press of choice was a
barbell bench press and it stalled for more than 3-4 weeks
(We define a stall as you are not able to increase the reps
done by even 1 or the weight moved at all) then it may be
wise to rotate the exercise. In this instance you'd choose
another flat press to replace it with.
You can apply this logic to any exercise you need. A word
of caution however, don't rotate things needlessly, be sure
that you're nailing your execution, your sleep and your
nutrition to rule out any causes of the stall before rotating
the exercise out. Ideally you want to run the same
exercises for all the progression they're worth, to rotate
them out early is to halt your own progression needlessly.
THE TYPES OF SET
All of your sets within the plan are working sets, this means
they should be difficult and you should be trying to progress
them with the aim of building muscle. However there a couple
of different types of set contained within.
On some exercises you'll see that you have 2 sets prescribed
followed by 2 different rep ranges. For example:
Barbell Bench Press:
2 Sets, 5-9 reps, 10-15 Reps
This means that your first set is within the 5-9 rep range and
your second is a set of 10-15 reps. This is known as having a
"top set" and a "Back off set" Both of them should be hard and
you should lift as heavy as you can with good form within those
rep ranges. We know we can build muscle from anywhere from
5-30 reps provided our sets are difficult and progressing.
Knowing this, we should attempt to get strong through lots of
rep ranges. Hence the different sets working in different
ranges.
If you have something like this:
Chest Fly
3 Sets, 10-15 reps.
That means that all three sets are within the same rep range.
This is known as doing "Straight sets"
THE TYPES OF SET
With your straight sets you should still be trying to beat the rep
range and progress. Regardless of the type of set, remember
your effort matters most. The reason why some things are
programmed as straight sets and why some are top set/back
off sets is simply down to the fact some exercises are easier to
load than others.
For example, you're much more likely to lift a heavier weight
with a pressing movement than you are a fly, and as such it can
make sense to programme the press to a lower rep range than
the fly. Furthermore, different exercises serve different
purposes. If the press is about getting as much output through
your chest as possible while progressing the load, this means
we're chasing mechanical tension - the primary mechanism of
hypertrophy (Muscle Building). Where something like a fly,
which uses less load but allows us to create a challenge to the
pec through a greater range of motion, lends itself to higher
reps which may also mean we get more metabolic stress - the
second mechanism of hypertrophy. So now you see why these
are all important.
The final mechanism of hypertrophy is muscle damage, which
we will cover in our next section.
TEMPO
The final mechanism of hypertrophy is muscle damage. This
occurs during the eccentric (Lengthening/stretching) portion of
a lift. Because this mechanism isn't as valuable as mechanical
tension, it means we don't want to sacrifice the potential weight
moved just to move the reps slower. So as such, what we do
instead is standardise our tempo - the speed at which we move
through our reps. If we standardise our eccentrics this means
we standardise the amount of time under tension and
therefore the muscle damage we get.
With this said, what I want you to do is whenever you're doing a
rep, be in control of that rep the entire time. You need to be in
control of the weight and not have the weight in control of you.
Ideally I'd like you to take a mini pause at the top and bottom of
every rep - this will ensure you are in control of the load and
that the tension created by that load is placed onto the muscle
you're actually trying to train. In turn this then helps translate to
a better mind-muscle connection.
In terms of the rep speed itself, your concentric
(Contracting/shortening) should be as fast as possible while
under control and actually thinking about contracting the
working muscle to move that weight. As you become more
skilled, that concentric contraction will speed up. You want your
eccentric to be about 2 seconds as a minimum.
INTENSIFIERS
Intensifiers are methods of continuing a set beyond it's natural
conclusion - these might be drop sets, super sets, forced reps,
rest pause, cluster sets, partials etc. Throughout this
programme you'll see none of these planned in and this is
because each of them is situationally specific to an individuals
needs. For example if you're someone who is able to maximise
their recovery variables, such as sleep and nutrition, and you
also happen to be in a calorie surplus, then it can make sense
for you to utilise these intensifiers as you are better able to
recover from them. Remember at all times we always want the
work that we do in the gym to have a purpose. If we cannot
recover from it then it is likely not worth doing.
With that said, I'll recommend that if you want to do these
intensifiers, you do them for the final set of whatever given
muscle you're training that day - as to not have a knock on
effect to your later working sets. For example you could do a
drop set to failure, with partials on your chest flys, if that final
set is the last chest work you will do for the day.
A word of warning - if you're going to use intensifiers, be smart
with them: partials on barbell bench without a spot likely isn't a
good idea. Furthermore, if you implement an intensifier and
find your working sets more difficult to progress? Cease the
intensifiers until recovery capacity can keep up.
EQUIPMENT
For some exercises in the gym you may find you need
equipment beyond what is available to you. In this instance,
should you wish to you could obtain your own.
These are likely to be cuffs, d handles, daisy chains,
resistance bands, wraps, straps, and knee sleeves. None of
these are absolutely essential but in my opinion the ones
most worth having to expand your options are a pair of
Cuffs. Click here for my personal choice and also use code
"CAYLE10" at checkout for a discount.
Next up you'll likely want a pair of wrist straps and a pair of
wrist wraps. In all honesty where you get these from doesn't
matter hugely, as unless you're Eddie Hall or Larry Wheels
you're probably not breaking a strap any time soon.
For my stronger people, you may also wish to obtain yourself
a Gympin. Click Here to see that. With one of these you can
add additional load to machines and cables beyond what is
built in. Once again, you can use code "CAYLE" for a discount.
(You may wish to message @gympin on Instagram to ask
which diameter to get based on the machines you use to
ensure it fits!)
DIET & RECOVERY
To maximise your chances of putting on the most muscle, it's
important that you are paying equal attention to your recovery
and diet as you do your training. This means ensuring that your
calorie goals align with where you wish to take your body
composition. It also means ensuring adequate protein intake
regardless of caloric consumption (1g per lb of lean body mass
is usually advised).
To gain the most muscle with the time you put in, you'll want to
be in a caloric surplus. This means eating more calories than
you need to stay at your current weight. Now this doesn't mean
get fat. Simply have a small surplus - around 300 calories above
maintenance is enough. On average you'll look to gain around
1-3% of your total bodyweight per month. Where you sit on that
scale is dependant on how likely you are to put on fat. If you're
a person who struggles to gain weight at all and have been lean
your entire life, you can likely lean towards the higher end of
that scale. What you'll want to do is control your calories to
ensure weight on the scale is moving at the right pace, keep an
eye on your body composition in progress photos, if you're
gaining weight too quickly you'll want to reduce the size of your
surplus, if you're gaining too slowly or not at all you'll want to
increase calorie intake. Progressing within the gym combined
with bodyweight trending up at a nice pace is the recipe for new
muscle.
DIET & RECOVERY
In the instance that you have fat to lose and need to be in
calorie deficit, do not worry because you can still build muscle
despite this. You'll want to keep your deficit relatively small so
that you have enough energy for your training sessions and
enough room within those calories to hit your protein goals.
Provided you can hit your protein and progress within the gym
you've still got a great chance of gaining new muscle despite
being in the deficit.
As a third option you may try to recomp. This simply means to
stay around the same weight while losing fat and gaining
muscle. It's a very limited time frame at which this can occur
and is likely the slowest of the choices. To have this happen,
your deficit would need to be very small so that you've got the
energy to perform well in the gym.
Lets touch on "maingaining" - I'm not a huge fan of this as I
believe it has been defined recently as gaining muscle without
ever gaining fat which simply doesn't happen for very long to be
meaningful. If you want muscle you've never had, at some point
you'll likely need to take your bodyweight to places it has never
been. With that surplus, regardless how small, will come some
fat gain. But that is fine, normal and acceptable. You can dip
into a deficit later down the line to remove this fat when
needed and reveal all your new muscle. Attempting to stay lean
while growing indefinitely usually leads to no change at all.
VOLUME
For the purposes of the programme we define volume as "the
amount of sets that you do". The sets prescribed in this
programme are advisory. Every individual will need different
amounts of volume based on their current needs and physique.
It is advised to start and rinse the most progress from the
minimum effective volume. This way when you NEED to
increase your volume and work done to see more growth, you
have the space to. If you began on 20 sets per week per
bodypart and then can't see new growth, you'll struggle to
escalate volume further.
If you need or really want to increase the volume you can.
I would recommend not doing so until absolutely needed.
Focus on the quality of the work you do in the gym before
thinking about adding quantity. If you're struggling to grow
from the amount of work you're currently doing, your first thing
to address should be your intensity before adding more sets.
There isn't much point adding more sets to try to stimulate new
muscle growth if the initial sets weren't of high enough quality
to stimulate growth in the first place.
If you find that with your intensity and accuracy nailed and if
recovery allows then you can add more sets where needed.
I would suggest that if you add new sets and these start
negatively impacting the previous sets progression, to cease the
new sets.
INTENSITY
Intensity is the effort you bring to a set. It is arguably the most
important thing when it comes to your growth beyond all else.
If you are not training hard you are simply not going to grow.
There are two "Camps" within the bodybuilding world. Reps in
reserve (RIR) or training to failure. Both build muscle and both
work. The difference is with RIR training you stay a specific
amount of reps away from failure. If a set is programmed to "3
RIR" that would mean you end the set only capable of doing 3
more reps. This requires a level of accuracy and awareness of
ones own limitations that I don't believe most have - that is the
biggest problem with RIR. It works provided you're as close to
failure as you believe you are, but often you are not. If you are
5+ reps away from failure, the set you just performed is likely
not of sufficient intensity to stimulate muscle growth.
This is where training to failure comes in. Failure training
(Defined as once you can no longer perform a rep with accurate
form - the set is over) ensures that effort is high. However the
draw back of this style of training is that it is more fatiguing and,
depending on your exercise selection, potentially more
dangerous. If you fail a barbell bench press without a spot for
example you're now stuck under a bar (Hence why exercise
selection when choose to go to failure is an important factor).
INTENSITY
With all of this said, you'll notice within the plan I don't specify
how close to failure to take your sets. I simply specify a rep
range. This is because regardless of the method you choose to
employ, they both work and it will be down to preference.
Personally if I had to train with RIR I would get bored, so I
choose to train to failure, but some may prefer the RIR method.
So do as you wish. The important thing is that regardless of
what you do your sets MUST end close to failure or else you
won't be building new muscle.
What I would say is stick to this rule - let your rep range dictate
the amount of weight you use for a given set. If with that weight
you finish your set at the top of the rep range, next time you
repeat that set, increase the weight.
Across your entire programme you should always be working to
beat the rep range.
If you're barbell bench pressing and your set 1 rep range is 5-9
you may log it like this:
Week 1-100kg x 9
This means you beat your rep range.
So next time - increase the weight. It will naturally knock you
back down.
Which may then look like this:
Week 2- 102kg x 5
INTENSITY
So you've increased the weight you've been knocked back to
the bottom of the rep range (which is a good thing).
Now the next few weeks may look like this:
Week 3- 102.5 x 7
Week 4 102.5 x 9
Now see what's happened? You're back to the top of your rep
range. Which now means it's time to increase the weight again
and repeat the process.
See how fun that is? Now apply that same logic to every set
within your plan, always either try to get more reps than last
time or if you're at the top of the rep range, increase the
weight. This drive for progression keeps you going.
In instances where you have several sets at the same rep range
such as 3 Sets 8-12 it may look like this:
Set 1-20kg x 12
Set 2- 20kg x 10
Set 3- 20kg x 8
See how you lost reps? That's fine, it means you're training
hard. So what you'd do next week is increase the weight on that
first set - because it beat the rep range, but not the second or
third sets. Stay at the same weight until each of those sets hit
the top of the range too before increasing those. Each session
compare the current set to the previous weeks equivalent set.
Rather than the current weeks Set 2 to Set 1.
INTENSITY
To finalise the intensity section, (I know it's been long but it's
the most important) the biggest take away here needs to be
your effort, nothing will build you muscle until you train hard.
Simply trying to lift heavier over time while training hard is
why so many dudes who've got absolutely no clue managed to
get big. Remember hard work first.
Regardless of whether you choose to take the sets to failure or
just near to failure, ensure that they're actively difficult and
that you're trying to beat the previous week.
Once it becomes difficult to beat the previous week? That's
where the fun really begins.
Knowing that we can build muscle from anywhere from 5-30
reps means that if you can double the weight you lift at any of
those rep ranges, you'll have new muscle to show for it.
So get strong across all your rep ranges, your 5-9s your 1015's, your 8-12's. That's why throughout the plan there's
varying rep ranges even during the same exercise.
Go get strong everyone and I look forward to seeing your
results!
BUSY GYM?
The reality of the world we live in is that the gym is becoming
more popular. Because of this, it's likely that you'll need to use
an exercise that is currently in use. If this happens you've got a
few different choices. Now ideally you'd just wait your turn so
that you can continue the plan in the order that is written.
However I realise that won't always be possible as we all have
lives to go live outside the gym. So your next best choice? Ask
the person how many sets they have left. (Be nice about it)
Often it really won't be that many and you'll wait a couple of
minutes at most. If they do have a fair few sets left but seemed
friendly and you're feeling brave you could simply ask to work
in with them. If they're on a pin loaded machine especially this
is easy to do. Most nice people on this planet wouldn't have an
issue with this and it may get you new gym friends.
In the situation where none of the above is possible, then your
next two choices are: Take a look at the exercise you're meant
to do and rotate it out for this session for something similar, if
you were meant to do barbell bench press but can't, go do
dumbbell bench press instead (Ensure you still logbook it so
that you can try to beat those numbers the next time this
happens though). Your next choice beyond rotations is to
change the order of your workout. This is my least favourite
option, but as a last resort it isn't the end of the world, just try
to be logical with it (ie. don't do triceps before pressing).
REST
Rest between sets and warm ups are two things that are both
vital, yet I can't tell you how much you need to do. These are
incredibly specific to the person. If you've had a rough day at
work for example you might find that you need more warming
up than usual, and due to factors like this it would be
inappropriate for me to prescribe exacts. Instead I'll offer some
guidelines on how things might look in certain situations.
With rest you want to rest enough that you can give your next
set it's best effort, and that the reason the set ends is because
the muscle you are training is the limiting factor - and not
something like your cardio gassing out. With this said, that
amount of time will depend on the exercise at hand. Your
barbell back squat for example will likely require more rest
between sets than something like a dumbbell lateral raise. So
rest accordingly. Remember, you build muscle as a result of
what you do during your sets. So if an extra minute of rest
means that you get more reps with a given weight than you
would have otherwise, that means you have done a better job a
stimulating new muscle growth. So with the topic of rest, your
own experience is a big one and it'll take time to develop your
sense for how long you need. A good guideline is 2 minutes for
smaller movements that don't cause much fatigue and as much
as 5 minutes for bigger moves like a squat or a deadlift.
WARMUPS
Every set stated within your plan is a working set, that means
that it should be hard and it should be at least near failure with
the purpose of building new muscle.
However you should still do warm ups. My preferred method of
warming up is within the movement pattern that we're going to
be using, eg. if you're dumbbell bench pressing then it makes
sense to warm up by dumbbell bench pressing.
So if your working set for todays dumbbell bench press was:
40kg x 9
Then your warm ups may look like this:
20kg x10, 30kg x 5, 35kg x 3
Then you'd move into your working set. Ensure each of your
warm up sets is not near failure and as such not creating any
new fatigue as we don't want to limit our working sets, they
exist solely to prime ourselves for the hard work.
Apply that same logic to all of your exercises, ramp up through
the weights until you reach your working weight, reducing the
reps as the warm up weight gets heavier. The stronger you
become, the more you'll have to warm up. The guy who
deadlifts 300kg has to do more warming up than the guy who
deadlifts 60kg, makes sense right?
DELOADS
Deloading is taking a period of time off from the gym
completely. This is usually seven days. When you train you are
accruing fatigue, both muscular and systemically, and to some
extent neurologically. As such it can be wise to occasionally take
a deload to drop these fatigues.
Signs you're due a deload are: You find your motivation to train
is lacking. If you're struggling to progress your logbook even by
an extra rep or kg/lb and this happens consistently, not a one
off. If you're feeling particularly sore or just generally lethargic.
In terms of time periods between deloads you're usually
looking at around 8-12 weeks but it will depend person-person
and on how hard you train and how strict you are with it. If
you're not yet that strong or often miss sessions there's a
decent chance a deload may not be needed for you.
Post deload it's normal to see a reduction in your logbook
numbers, all of your exercises are a skill, if you take a week
away from practicing a skill you find you're temporarily slightly
worse at it. As such it makes sense to look at your numbers the
two weeks prior to the deload and attempt to match/beat
those, as the numbers the week before the deload you're
unlikely to match. But will quickly get back up to in your next
training block.
APPS
There are a few apps that I would recommend you use to assist
your training journey. I'm not associated with any of these in
any way but have used each of them for years now and all of
them are free.
These apps are:
"RepCount" To log your training
"MyFitnessPal" To log your nutrition
"Happyscale" To log your weight.
Between these three you'll have all the data you need to make
changes to your plan or nutrition depending on what goal you
have with your body. Below I will include guides on how best to
use each of these to supplement your training journey.
SUPPLEMENTS
I can't stress enough how important your effort and your
nutrition are first and foremost before even considering
supplements. If you're struggling to hit your calories for the day
you shouldn't even consider spending money on a pre-workout
when your goal is muscle building. Prioritise the more
important things first.
With that said, when it comes to supplements there aren't too
many things that are incredibly worth your time or money, but
let's go through the ones that are.
Protein powder: Very simple stuff, it's literally just powered
food to help you hit your protein macro. Easily the best
supplement.
Creatine: Can help improve your performance within the gym to
a small degree. This increase in performance can translate to
extra muscle built, worth it. You don't need to load or to cycle.
Just aim for a gram per 10 kilos of bodyweight and you're
sorted. No it won't make your hair fall out.
Pre-workout: If it helps you perform better in the gym through
increasing your energy? Then it can help build you new muscle.
I wouldn't use it every session because you don't want to be
dependant on a substance to ensure you can have a good
session.
MIND-MUSCLE
CONNECTION
Something that's always a hot topic is the mind-muscle
connection, this is typically defined as your ability to feel a
muscle contracting while doing an exercise.
This said, what I want to really drive in is that provided you're
setting up your exercise properly, provided form is good,
provided tempo is under control and you're moving through an
appropriate range of motion - your target muscle has no choice
but to be the mover of that weight, regardless of your ability to
feel it.
Often what actually happens is that feeling comes with
experience. When you're relatively new you'll have less muscle
and train less accurately than someone more experienced and
as a result you'll have a worse mind muscle connection.
So focus on all of the above first, progress your sets, and it's
likely that as a result of all of those factors being in place that
you'll develop your mind muscle connection.
SORENESS
Soreness after a gym session is often a result of novelty, you've
done something you haven't previously done. Think back to the
first time you ever went to the gym, that first week of training
you were probably absolutely broken.
The chain of events often is: You start a new plan, for the first
few weeks you get sore and you're progressing every week,
then all of a sudden soreness goes away and progression
becomes more difficult to achieve, you go from adding 10kg to
the bar and matching reps to struggling to get an extra rep with
an extra 2.5kg on. This is normal, and actually what we want to
happen. But what most people usually do in response to this is
programme hop and change things up for no real reason. Don't
do this. We want to rinse every movement within the plan for as
much progression as we possibly can. If you always swap things
around when it gets hard and you're shying away from the hard
stuff, it's quite self explanatory that the hard stuff is where the
results lie.
So expect some soreness initially, then it will likely go away. If
after a few weeks you're never sore and all your sets continue
to progress, you could potentially look at adding in more sets as
no soreness + progression is a sign of good recovery, and we
want to do as much work as we can recover from and progress.
END NOTES
Okay so you made it this far. Thank you for taking the time to
read through all of this, hopefully it helps you more than even
the programme itself. My goal with this has been to give people
the tools that they need to get the most from their training. I've
previously not liked the idea of selling one-off programmes like
this as a programme on it's own doesn't really help much
without the context and understanding of everything else.
So upon embarking on creating this I decided to go all in and try
to do everything in my power to make this the best it can be.
I'm hoping that with the information contained in here that
when it comes time to alter or create a new programme, you
guys are able to take the principals contained and make
yourself something great.
In future whenever I visit gyms with new equipment that I can't
film in my home town, I'll attempt to record there to further
expand the exercise library as well. (As I'm writing this, it's
already a combination of three different gyms)
Over the coming months (or years) since the creation of this
plan, I'd love it if when you guys train or see results that you
post about it and tag me over on Instagram @Caylept - (Click
that) I look forward to seeing what you guys are capable of and
I'm eternally grateful that you chose to support me through
purchasing this. Have a great day everyone.
GUIDES
Earlier in this ebook I talked about apps that I believe will assist
you in your fitness journey.
So you can best make use of these I have created guides for
each one attempting to be as extensive as I can.
Hopefully you'll find each of these helpful.
HOW TO USE
MY
FITNESS
PAL
COACHED BY CAYLE
HOW TO USE
MYFITNESSPAL
This guide will get you to grips with using
MyFitnessPal to track your daily calorie
intake.
By the end of this guide should be able to
use the app confidently to help you reach
your goals, be able to track your foods,
and create lisitngs for foods, meals and
recipes.
Don't be scared! There are lots of pages in
this guide but the app is easy to use and
you'll be a MyFitnessPal pro in no time.
The goal of this guide is to answer any
MyFitnessPal related questions you may
have, and you can refer back to this later
if you forget how to do something
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Download the 'MyFitnessPal' app from your
respective app store to your phone.
ACCOUNT AND SETUP
Open the app and select how you would like to
create an account, I suggest using your email.
The app will ask you questions about you, your
goals, and your lifestyle.
The answer to this will determine how many
calories per day the app will set you to achieve
this goal.
Most people want to lose as much as possible,
as quickly as possible, and will select 2 pounds
per week - giving them a super low and
unsustainable calorie target. Sustainable long
term weight loss should be around 1% of your
bodyweight per week.
Don't worry about this as I will be setting your
calorie target for you. Select 0.5 or 1lb.
Your account will now be created and your
calorie target set.
Again, don't worry about the number the app
gives to you.
EXERCISE CALORIES
As you track your food and move throughout
the day your 'Remaining' calories will change.
Here, although I have tracked 1,371 calories of
food. I have done 92 calories worth of steps,
and MyFitnessPal says that in order to reach
my calorie 'goal' of 1,500, calories, I need to 'eat
back' those 92 calories.
I want you to ignore all of the numbers except
for 'Food'. I will set your calorie target already
taking your daily activity level into account.
GOING UNDER OR OVER
ON CALORIES
You should try your best to hit the calorie target
I have set for you every day (remember to
ignore what the app sets for you).
But some days, the food you are eating or have
tracked in advance may leave you under or over
on your calories.
This is okay, it's all about the bigger picture and
one day shouldn't make a difference to your
overall progress.
Tracking all your food at the begining of the day,
or the day before can help as you can be
prepared in advance if you need to eat more
calories to reach your target, or make sure you
stick to what you have tracked if you are on
target or slightly over.
TRACKING FOOD
To track food, select the meal of the day you are
tracking, or snacks if thats what you are eating.
HISTORY
When you go to track a food item, the app will show
you this page which includes your history.
You can filter this by most recent or most frequent.
Which makes adding your most eaten foods or
tracking leftovers from last nights dinner even easier.
On a new day the app will ask you if you want to track
yesterday's breakfast as well, as most people eat the
same every day.
BARCODE SCANNER
Select the barcode
scanner next to the
search bar and position
the barcode of your item
in within the icon on the
screen.
The app will show you the matching listing.
You can also manually enter the barcode number if
the barcode won't scan
Make sure the listing matches the nutrition
information on the packet. If the listing is incorrect,
you can search for a product that matches the label,
or you can create your own food and input the in
formation from the nutrition label (I'll show you how
to do this later)
Make note of how the nutrition on the packet is
calculated - cooked or as sold. I recommend tracking
all food as uncooked as it is more accurate, but make
sure the listing you then use is for the uncooked item.
If you are unsure what to do or what listing is
accurate have a search of multiple sources on google
and choose what is most accurate or ask me for
guidance.
Generic foods such as plain rice, pasta and raw
vegetables are going to be the same no matter
where they are from - 75g of raw fusilli is going to
have the same nutrition as 75g of raw penne.
If you find an accurate uncooked listing for pasta
for example, you can use this going forward rather
than scanning the barcode from each packet.
This is the listing I use for raw pasta, regardless of
where I buy it from or what shape pasta it is.
As long as you are consistent and use the same
listing each time, exactly which listing you use
shouldn't matter - as long as you can accurately
track and report your calories. Which again is
easier to do when using raw and uncooked food.
Change the serving size to 1g, weigh out your
food on a digital kitchen scale and change the
number of servings to how many grams you are
eating.
SEARCHING FOR A FOOD
If you know what you want to track but don't have
the barcode handy, or have thrown away the
outer packaging on a multipack, searching for the
product can help you find what youre looking for.
Type what you're looking for into the search bar,
including brand name, product and flavour, to
find matching listings.
Choose the one which matches the nutrition on
the packaging and the serving size you are
consuming.
Don't forget to adjust the serving or number of
grams if you need to.
CREATING A FOOD
If the barcode won't scan, typing in the number
doesn't work and you can't find the correct lisitng
through search, you can create a listing for the
item yourself using the nutrition information on
the packaging.
To do this select the 'More' icon at the bottom of
the screen and then select 'My Meals, Recipes &
Foods'. Then go to the 'Foods' tab.
CREATING A FOOD
Select 'Create a Food' at the bottom of the screen.
Input the brand name, description (product name),
the serving size, and how many servings the
container or item has. For example, Heinz, Baked
Beans, 415g can or 1 can and 2 servings.
Then input the nutrition from the packaging. Input all
fields given on the packaging to help other app users.
DAILY SUMMARIES
To view a daily summary of your nutrition, tap on the
'Calories Remaining' bar at the top of the page.
You can then tap between the tabs to view a breakdown
of your calories across each meal, how much of each
nutrient you've consumed, and your macronutient profile
.
CREATING A MEAL
In 'My Meals, Recipes & Foods' you will also find the
'Meals' tab. This enables you to combine foods you
commonly eat together.
This can make tracking things like your everyday
breakfast or daily protein shake easier as they can
appear as one item in your food diary rather than
several.
Select 'Add Food' and add foods to the meal from
your history, search or barcode. The meal will then be
stored in the 'Meals' tab.
CREATING A RECIPE
In 'My Meals, Recipes & Foods' you will also find the
'Recipes' tab. This enables you to import recipes from
the internet or create your own.
This is good for batch cooking or when you are
making a meal such as lasagne, with several servings.
Select 'Create a Recipe' and choose to import or enter
manually.
Name the recipe and indicate how many
servings it will have, you can also edit this later.
CREATING A RECIPE
Add each ingredient for the recipe or change the
ones added when importing recipes to the specific
items you are using. You can then see the nutrition
for each serving and save or log the recipe.
If you dont know how much you want to eat, you can
weigh the total weight of your cooked recipe and
input this weight in grams as the number of servings.
Then when you track the recipe, weigh your portion
and input this as the number of servings in your diary
HOW TO USE
REP
COUNT
COACHED BY CAYLE
HOW TO USE
REP COUNT
This guide will teach you how to use the
app 'Rep Count'.
We need to track our workouts to make
sure that we are seeing progress.
It can be very easy to forget what weight
you used last week or how many reps and
sets you managed on an exercise - so
tracking is important if we want to progress
in the gym.
I prefer Rep Count to track workouts
instead of a physical log book as you are
highly unlikely to forget your phone when
going to the gym, especially if you listen to
music while working out.
But if you prefer, a log book works just as
well as long as you bring it with you to each
session! I'll show you how to set this up in
another guide.
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Download the 'Rep Count' app from your
respective app store to your phone.
ACCOUNT AND SETUP
Open the app and select how you would like to
create an account, I suggest using your email.
CREATING ROUTINES
You can now create your workouts within the
app, using your Programme I created for you in
your Google Sheets file..
Go to the 'Routines' tab, where you will find
some pre-loaded workouts. Tap the '+' icon in
the top right to start adding your own.
CREATING ROUTINES
Name the Routine as set out in your
Programme and select 'Add Exercise' to begin.
Choose the muscle group the exercise belongs to.
CREATING ROUTINES
The exercise selection within the app is limited
and your given exercise may not be there. You will
need to create some of your exercises within the
app in order to add them to your Routine.
CREATING EXERCISES
Tap the '+' icon in the top right to add an exercise
to the list.
CREATING EXERCISES
Name the exercise as shown in your Programme
and select the Category or muscle group the
exercise belongs to, then press 'Done'
The exercise will now appear in the Routine in the
order you input them
CREATING ROUTINES
To edit the number of sets for each exercise, tap
the exercise and change the number of sets as
detailed in your Programme.
Continue these steps to add each exercise from
your Programme into Rep Count in the order they
are shown and change the number of sets
accordingly.
All your exercises and number of sets for each
exercise should now be added.
CREATING ROUTINES
Some exercises may require specific rep-ranges or
different rep-ranges for each set, these will be
detailed in your Programme.
To add these, tap the 'Notes' section and write
these out like the example below for reference
when training.
LOGGING A WORKOUT
To start a workout, tap the 'Routines' tab at the
bottom of the page and select the workout you
would like to complete. Then press 'Start this
workout'.
LOGGING A WORKOUT
On the workout page you will see the workout
name, date and start time, and be able to view any
notes for the Routine you have already added.
Perform the exercises in the order they appear in
the workout.
If a piece of equipment is taken, wait for it to
become available.
LOGGING A WORKOUT
As you complete each set of an exercise, log the
weight used and the number of reps you
complated before moving onto the next set.
If you would like to add a note for your sets you
can, maybe include how easy/hard you found it so
you know next time if you have improved.
This page also includes a rest timer at the top
right that you can use to time your rest periods if
you would like to do so.
LOGGING A WORKOUT
When you have finished the last exercise and
completed your workout, make sure to tap the
'Finish' button at the top of the page to save your
workout to your log.
If you leave the workout page during your session
and would like to return to it, tap the 'Resume
Workout' button at the bottom of the page to pick
up where you left off.
LOGGING A WORKOUT
Each workout you complete using the app will be
stored in the 'Log'. You can use this to go back
and look at your data for previous sessions.
When you go to complete the same workout
again, the app will show you what weight and reps
you used last time, along with any notes you left so you can make sure you try to beat one or both
of these numbers next time!
HOW TO
USE HAPPY
SCALE
COACHED BY CAYLE
HOW TO
USE HAPPY SCALE
This guide will show you how to use the app
Happy Scale to track your bodyweight
change over time using moving averages.
Unfortunately this app is only available on
iOS but the app 'Libra' for Android has very
similar features.
HOW TO
USE HAPPY SCALE
Here is the front page of the Happy Scale app
where you can view all of your data.
HOW TO
USE HAPPY SCALE
To add your weight for today, tap the '+' at the
bottom of the screen.
You can then log your weight.
To change the units of measurement, tap the
'settings' tab, and then 'Calculation methods'
HOW TO
USE HAPPY SCALE
To view all of your weigh ins, tap the 'Logbook'
tab, and you will see this view.
HOW TO
USE HAPPY SCALE
To set yourself goals within the app, tap 'Settings'
and then 'Weight Goals'.
Customise these as you like, however I don't
recommend committing to a certain amount per
week
HOW TO
USE HAPPY SCALE
You can keep track of your moving average and
the resr of your data in the 'Summary' tab
HOW TO USE A
LOG
BOOK
COACHED BY CAYLE
HOW TO USE A
LOG BOOK
In this guide I will show you how to set up
and use a Log Book to track your workouts
We need to track our workouts to make
sure that we are seeing progress.
It can be very easy to forget what weight
you used last week or how many reps and
sets you managed on an exercise - so
tracking is important if we want to progress
in the gym.
If you prefer to use pen and paper rather
than an app to track your workouts that's
perfectly fine, many people do. But you
need to make sure that you have your Log
Book set up properly, and most of all,
remember to bring it with you to each
session!
CHOOSING A
LOG BOOK
Before we look at how to set up your log book,
you need to choose one first.
You can find notebooks specifically designed as
gym log books, but you are then limited to the
layout that is already set.
I reccomend choosing a plain notebook, with
either lined, squared or dotted pages to make
sure your Log Book is kept neatly.
Choosing a notebook smaller than A5 may
mean that your tracking runs on to the next
page which makes seeing progress week-toweek harder than seeing a whole workout on a
single page.
SETTING UP YOUR
LOG BOOK
Once you have your Log Book, it's a good idea
to write down your current training programme
with exercises, sets and rep ranges before
tracking any workouts, so you have a solid copy
of your Programme on hand to refer back to
during training.
Push - Monday
Cuffed Side Lateral Raise 2x10-15
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press 1x6-9, 1x10-15
Incline Smith Shoulder Press 1x6-9, 1x10-15
Bodyweight Tricep Dips 3xAMRAP
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise 2x10-15
Rope Tricep Extension 2x8-12
Write your programme out like this for each
training day as detailed in you Programme on
Google Sheets and repeat for each training
session in your Programme.
USING YOUR
LOG BOOK
Now you have your Programme written out in
your Log Book, you can begin to track your
workouts.
I recommend writing out your session before
your start to save time.
Push - DATE
Cuffed Side Lateral
Raise
1
2
Flat Dumbbell Bench
Press
1
2
Incline Smith Shoullder 1
Press
2
Write out your session with the number of sets
given for each exercise, leaving room to fill in
the weight used and reps completed.
USING YOUR
LOG BOOK
Once you have your session written out you can
begin your workout.
Make sure you fill in the weight and reps after
each set so you can track your session
accurately.
Push - (DATE)
Cuffed Side Lateral
Raise
5kg x 15
5kg x 15
Flat Dumbbell Bench
Press
15kg x 8
12.5kg x 12
Incline Smith Shoullder 17.5kg x 8
Press
15kg x 12
When you come to complete the same workout again, make sure you
check back to your previous session in your Log Book to make sure
that you are improving your weight and/reps to achieve progress .
EQUIPMENT TO
ENHANCE
YOUR
TRAINING
ENHANCE YOUR TRAINING
You might have access to some of these things
in your gym already - and any decent gym
should have them. But you can't guarantee
they're available when you need them, if they're
clean, and you can't guarantee the quality
Each of these things is employed to improve
your training - either by expanding exercise
selection options, mitigating joint stress, allowing
for better alignment, or making training more
comfortable.
D HANDLES
D Handles will revolutionise your pull training. They
allow for more comfort by allowing freedom of
movement at the wrist, and allow you to tailor a
movement to fit your individual structure.
I recommend purchasing a pair like the above with a
rubberised grip, rather than foam.
CUFFS
There are many exercises that can be improved
through the use of cuffs. By using cuffs instead of
handles we can reduce forces on the joints and even
create new exercises.
Make sure any cuffs you purchase are long enough to
fit comfortably around the thickest part of your upper
arm - as many are designed for the ankles they may
not fit elsewhere
The 1MR cuffs Click Here are personally the best I
have ever tried, if you can get a pair of these I would
highly reccomend them.
WRIST WRAPS
Wrist wraps are diesinged to support the wrist joint
during pressing movements, by limiting wrist
movement.
They are designed to be worn tightly, covering the
wrist joint. You should not be able to bend your wrist
whilst wearing them and should need to undo them
after each set.
Again I use the wraps from 1MR. but the others
shown from Amazon have served me well.
LIFTING STRAPS
Wrist straps or lifting straps are designed to take your
grip strength out of the equation during pulling
movements. When the goal is training the back, we
don't want your grip to be the limiting factor.
There are multiple types of straps and the standard
straps and figure 8 straps above are the most
common. Which one works for you best will be
personal preference and trial and error. I prefer
figure 8's where Niamh prefers the standard straps.
Feel free to contact me for how to use them as it can
be a bit tricky to get the hang of.
DAISY CHAIN
A daisy chain can be used to manipulate the starting
and ending positions of several exercises to make the
movement more personal for you.
When used in conjunction with a long resistance
band, you can alter the resistance profile of an
exercise.
GREEN LONG RESISTANCE
BAND
When used in conjunction with a daisy chain or alone,
a resistance band can be used to alter the resistance
profile of an exercise to better suit the strength
profile of a muscle
Long resistance bands such as these usually have
standardised resistances for each colour. Green is the
most widely used for the purpose of the above.
CARABINERS
Carabiners are useful when using a daisy chain and
for attaching other eqipment, handles, and
attachments
Your gym will have these and most cables will have
them attached but often there are not enough when
modifying an exercise using a daisy chain etc. so
having a few of your own can be useful..
OTHER PEOPLE TO
LEARN FROM
Within the fitness industry you'll always learn more from
experience and mentors than you will any kind of course or
study. Knowing this here is a list of people I believe are well
worth your follow if you wish to expand your knowledge on
training.
Trainedbyjp
Hypertrophycoach
Joe Jeffrey
Themusclementors
Teamprocoach
NickGloff
N1 Training
Integra Education
John Jewett
Mike Israetel
Eric Helms
Victor Black
Eugene Teo
THE END
THANK YOU ALL AND GOOD LUCK!