10 WEEK WOMEN'S PROGRAM JPG COACHING X FITWITHBREN TABLE OF CONTENTS 02 03 PROGRAM EXPLAINED 04 PHASES EXPLAINED 05 WARM UP 06 READING TEMPO 07 NEURAL PHASE 10 HYPERTROPHY PHASE 1 12 HYPERTROPHY PHASE 2 14 CARDIO 15 NUTRITION 16 CUT, MAINTAIN, OR BULK? 17 QUANTIFYING PROGRESS 18 SUPPLEMENTS 19 EXERCISE ALTERNATIVES 20 FAQ'S 22 DISCLAIMER 23 FACEBOOK GROUP & CALCULATOR PROGRAM EXPLAINED 4 WEEKS STRENGTH, 6 WEEKS HYPERTROPHY This is a 10 week program that will work very well for beginner to intermediate lifters. Advanced trainees can also run this program effectively if it fits their current goals. While it is difficult to say exactly who is a beginner to intermediate, this typically covers lifters within their first 0-3 years of training. I say it is difficult since the length of time where real effective work is being done within those years will vary from person to person. If you’re not sure where you fall, you’re likely within that beginner to intermediate range. The first 4 weeks of the program is a strength focused phase to help potentiate the following 6 week hypertrophy phase. We will be utilizing the same exercises in each phase; however, the rep ranges, tempo, rest times and proximity to failure may differ. Acclimation: a short period of time dedicated to general adaptation to the program. Strength/Neural Phase: a period of time in the program that is dedicated to both neural adaptation/strength building. Although you may feel inclined to skip over this phase and jump into hypertrophy, the neural phase is critical for improving neurological efficiency. Hypertrophy Phase: the portion of a program that is dedicated to increasing muscle mass. for best results and full context, read the entirety of the program before starting 03 PHASES EXPLAINED First 4 weeks: neural phase Use the first week of the program to acclimate and get used to the layout of the split and exercise execution. Throughout the entirety of the 4 week neural phase, you will not be training to failure for your heavy compound movements (Multi Joint Exercises) as this portion of the program is strength focused. For those familiar with RPE, try to stick to RPE 7-8. If you are not familiar with RPE, then base it off of your rep speed. Once you get to the point where your rep speed has slowed significantly despite pushing as hard as you can, then you know you’re getting close to failure. For the compound movements, you should aim to stop a rep or two before you hit a rep where you really have to grind with a VERY slow rep speed. You may accidentally hit that point or even hit failure. Don’t stress it if you do. It’s better to accidentally go over than consistently be under. Use that experience to better gauge your sets for the next session. For your isolation movements (Single Joint Exercises) if you are familiar with RPE, you can train those between RPE 8-9.5. If you are not familiar with RPE, then you’d be pushing to the point where your rep speed gets very slow despite maximum effort. I would still be more conservative with your intensity during the early sets. However, since these are isolation movements, it matters a bit less if you accidentally hit failure. So you can push yourself a bit harder on the final set. If your rep speed still feels fast, then go for another rep. If the rep is a slow grind then you should end the set there. Don’t worry you’ll be training to failure plenty during the hypertrophy phase! For the full 4 weeks of this phase you will be moving through the sets as follows. You will use an ascending load and descending reps as you move through your working sets. This means you should start with the higher end of the rep range and increase the weight as you work up to your last set. So your last set will end up being your heaviest set with the least amount of reps. LAST 6 weeks: HYPERTROPHY phase This phase of the program will solely be focused on building muscle. This means you will be working at a closer proximity to failure as well as training to failure. The first week of the program you can work at higher intensities similar to what you were doing for the isolation movements during the neural phase but I would not train to failure just yet. The following weeks, is when you will start pushing to failure. Make sure when you are pushing to failure that your form does not regress. You will also be using an ascending load and descending reps during this training phase. In this case however your second to last set will end up being your heaviest. Then on the very last set, drop the weight 10-20% and push to failure. Learning RPE properly takes a lot of time training to failure so don’t worry about it if you’re not already proficient. Once you’re able to do a weight for the full rep range, you should increase the load. You should always be aiming to best your previous session in terms of weight or reps. If technique was sloppy, then I would stay at the same weight or decrease till you’re able to perform the movement with good form. WARM UP The best warm up you can do is lighter sets with your main movements. This is how I warm up for all of my training sessions. If you were very sedentary leading up to your workout, you can do a 10 minute light walk prior to your warm up sets. Nothing crazy 2-3.5 Speed if using a treadmill. For warm up sets do 2-3 ramp ups as needed. Make sure you’re picking the weight appropriately as we are not going to failure. First set do 10-15 reps emphasizing the stretch and hard contraction. Control the eccentric and throw in 1s pauses where the muscle is most contracted and stretched. The next ramp up set should be closer to your first set working weight and rep range. Start using the same tempo as your working sets. If you need to you can do another ramp up set or do your first working set. I would rest around 1min between the ramp up sets, then 2 minutes before you hit your first working set. As you move through the workout you will be warmed up from the earlier exercises so you should only need to do 1 ramp up set or none before getting into your working sets. Use your best judgment for the # of ramp up sets you may need. READING TEMPO TEMPO REFERS TO THE PACE THAT EACH PORTION OF A MOVEMENT IS PERFORMED AT. TEMPO IS TYPICALLY DEPICTED WITH 4 NUMBERS, FOR EXAMPLE: 3-1-1-0 ECCENTRIC CONCENTRIC ISOMETRIC The first number, 3, refers to the speed (in seconds) at which one would perform the eccentric portion of the movement. The eccentric portion of a movement is the portion in which the muscle is lengthening. In the case of a squat, the eccentric portion would be when the individual is lowering the weight down into the squat. Given the above tempo, the individual would descend into the squat over a 3 second timespan. The fourth number refers to the isometric that follows the concentric portion of the movement. In a squat this is 0 because once the individual rises from the squatting position, they will brace and lower into the squat position immediately after each rep is completed. This isometric hold is most common in movements that load the muscle in the shortened position. For example, in a tricep extension, the tempo could be 1-0-1-2. The eccentric and concentric portions are fairly quick, but at the end of the concentric, when the arm is fully extended, the isometric is held for 2 seconds. ECCENTRIC ISOMETRIC The second number refers to the post-eccentric isometric. Isometrics are essentially a ‘hold.’ In an isometric, the muscle contracts with little to no movement in the muscle (neither lengthening or shortening). At the bottom of the squat, the glutes and quads are lengthened, but not moving. Using the tempo above, the individual will hold this position for 1 second. CONCENTRIC The third number refers to the concentric portion of the movement when the muscle shortens. In this scenario, this number refers to when the individual lifts the weight up from the bottom of the squat. A PAUSE AFTER THE MUSCLE LENGTHENS A PAUSE AFTER THE MUSCLE SHORTENS POST ECCENTRIC HOLD POST CONCENTRIC HOLD 3-1-1-0 ECCENTRIC WHEN THE MUSCLE LENGTHENS. EX. LOWERING INTO SQUAT CONCENTRIC WHEN THE MUSCLE SHORTENS. EX. RISING FROM SQUAT NEURAL PHASE WEEKLY TRAINING LAYOUT UPPER LOWER REST CHEST/BACK DELT/ARMS + LOWER REST REST KEY TERMS GYM GEAR NEGATIVES/ECCENTRIC: The portion of the movement the muscle is being stretched. Ex. Down in a squat, lowering weight on bench press, the bar going up on a pulldown. ISOMETRIC: Pausing and holding while still exerting force to maintain that position when the muscle is most flexed/contracted or fully lengthened/stretched DROP SET: Doing the prescribed rep range then lowering the weight 20-30% and continuing the set to failure without rest SUPERSET: Doing another exercise immediately following another with no rest PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD: Gradual increase of stress placed on the body through training. Adding weight and reps are ways to implement progressive overload. UPPER A TEMPO SETS x REPS REST FLAT DB BENCH 3-1-1-0 4 x 4-7 3-5 m HAND HEIGHT CABLE LATERAL RAISE 2-0-1-1 3 x 8-12 2-3m Set the cable up around hand height and cross over behind you. Raise in the scapular plane. Cue reaching out as you raise. Yes it is fine to come up higher than shoulder height. 2-3m Use an attachment with a neutral grip that allows you to keep the arms tight into the side of the body. If none you can throw d handles onto a straight/ez bar to fashion one. Lean the torso as needed so the shoulder is flexed 90deg (upper arm around shoulder height). Maintain a neutral spine then drive the upper arm down and back. SEATED LAT BIAS ROW LAT BIAS PULL DOWN 2-0-1-0 3-0-1-0 3 x 4-7 3 x 6-8 3-4 m LONG ROPE CABLE TRICEP PUSHDOWN OR CROSS CABLE EXT. 1-0-1-2 3 x 8-10 15s SEATED SUPINATED DB CURLS 2-0-1-0 3 x 8-10 2-3m LOWER A TEMPO SETS x REPS REST SEATED HAMSTRING CURLS 2-0-1-1 3 x 8-10 2-3 m HACK/PENDULUM SQUAT 3-1-1-0 4 x 3-5 3-5 m 45 DEGREE BACK EXTENSION BILATERAL LEG PRESS 2-0-1-2 3-0-1-0 3 x 8-10 3 x 6-8 DESCRIPTION Traps driven into the bench with only a slight arch. Keep feet planted and glutes engaged. Press upper arm in towards the mid line of the chest. Do not press with flared elbows, tuck in to around 45deg to better leverage the pecs Throw some d handles onto a bar around torso width so you're able to drive down in line with the sides of your torso. Lean back slightly/scoot back in the seat so your starting arm position is at around 120deg shoulder flexion. Maintain a neutral spine. Drive upper arms down and back with a neutral grip. Keep the upper arms fixed in place. You do not have to pin them to your side, you can allow them to flare naturally. Slightly retract the scapula for stability. Use a long rope that allows you to extend fully in line with the elbows. If your gym has none you can use two shorter ropes pulled through. If you have access to dual cables then you can do cross cable extensions. Superset the below exercise. Seated with the seat at 90deg. Keep the upper arm fixed in place. Focus on driving the forearms up towards the bicep actively flexing. Control the descent. Dont spend a bunch of time at the bottom though as theres minimal tension there. DESCRIPTION Push/Pull yourself into the seat depending on if your machine has shin pads or a thigh pad to secure you. Feet should be neutral or toes pointed up towards your head. Actively flex the hamstrings and dont shoot out of the starting position with the calves. Hard flex then control the eccentric. Lifting Straps: Lifting Belt: Knee Sleeves: Elbow Sleeves: Hip Thrust Pad: D Handles or Angles90Grips: WEEK ESSENTIAL, I like Versa Gripps but most major brands are fine. Use when your grip fails Optional. Inzer, SBD, Pioneer Optional. Strong SBD Optional. Strong SBD Optional. Amazon Code: JPGCOACHING REPS WEIGHT NOTES REPS WEIGHT NOTES 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 WEEK 1 2 3 4 For more quad bias focus on maximizing knee flexion. Place feet as low on the platform as you can without heels lifting. If your low back/hips get pulled forward off the pad at the bottom of the squat your feet are too high on the platform. Brace and maintain a neutral spine 1 2 3 4 2-3m Hip width stance. Allow for natural external rotation of the feet. Keep heels against the back of the foot plate. Allow for a 20deg knee bend. Drive hips into the pad fully contracting the glutes. Only come down 3/4 of the way. When loading weight hold it away from you with arms extended. 1 2 3 4 3-4m Low-Mid platform foot placement. Feet slightly outside of hip width. We'll get a bit more quad and adductor out of this. The more knee flexion you get the more quads will be worked. Brace, Pull yourself into the seat and don't allow your hips/low back to lift off the seat. Make sure knees are tracking in line with toes. 1 2 3 4 UPPER B TEMPO SETS x REPS REST DB ANTERIOR DELT PRESS 2-1-1-0 4 x 5-7 3-5m DB CHEST SUPPORTED Y RAISE 1-0-1-1 3 x 8-12 3m T BAR ROW 2-0-1-1 UPPER BACK PULLDOWN 2-0-1-0 4 x 3-5 4 x 6-8 3-4m 3m DESCRIPTION WEEK Set up the seat back between 45-60deg so you're able to keep the forearms perpendicular to the ground at the bottom of the rep to get a good stretch on the front delts. Drive the upper arms towards your head as you press. Press in the scapular plane around 30-45deg forward from the shoulder. 1 2 3 4 Set the bench height up around 30degs. Raise in the scapular plane 30-45 deg forward of the shoulder with the palms facing down. We want a strong contraction on the lateral delt. Keep your chest pinned to the bench. 1s isometric Use a chest supported machine driving the upper arm back at a 45deg angle. As the arms pass the torso finish the movement by squeezing the traps. Keep your chest pinned to the pad. Use a 1.5x shoulder width grip and throw d handles on the straight bar. Drive the elbows back in line with the sternum. As the arms pass the torso focus on finishing the movement by squeezing the traps. SINGLE ARM CABLE REAR DELT FLY 3-0-1-0 2 x 8-12 3m Set cable up around head height or slightly above. Your arm and shoulder should be in line with the cable so it forms a 45 deg angle. Come across the body. Do not let the shoulder get pulled forward out of place. Actively reach across getting a stretch on the rear delt. If you feel too much tricep you can bend the elbow a bit to help. LOWER B TEMPO SETS x REPS REST DESCRIPTION GLUTE BRIDGE RDL UNILATERAL LEG PRESS (GLUTE BIAS) LEG EXTENSIONS 3-0-1-2 3-2-1-0 3-0-1-0 1-0-1-2 3 x 4-7 3 x 4-7 3 x 6-8 3 x 8-10 3-5m 3-5m 3-4m 2-3m Do on a bench or decline ab bench. It just has to allow your body to be close to parallel with the floor in the top postion so you're not too angled up or down. Bottom of the scapula should be rested against the bench. Shins should stay vertical, bridge up slowly flexing the glutes. Feet slightly externally rotated. Put a slight bend in the knees 20 deg. Brace then initiate and follow through the whole rep by sending the hips back. Slightly tuck the chin. Only go down as far as you're able to push the hips back. Drive the hips back through the come up. Hip width stance. If leg runs into your stomach reducing rom to a large degree you can go slightly wider. Single leg with the non working foot flat on the ground. Pull yourself into the seat and brace. Use a mid-high foot position so the shin and upper leg form around a 90deg angle in the stretch position. Make sure knees are tracking in line with toes. Line your knees up with the axis of rotation of the machine. Sit back and pull yourself into the seat. Feet neutral or toes pointed up towards your head. Legs should not be rotating as you extend if set up properly. Make sure knees are tracking in line with toes. REPS WEIGHT NOTES REPS WEIGHT NOTES 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 WEEK 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 IMPORTANT! AT THE END OF THE 4 WEEK NEURAL PHASE YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO REMOVE THE PAUSES THAT ARE PROGRAMMED IN FOR COMPOUND (MULTI JOINT) MOVEMENTS ON THE LAST WEEK. THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO PUSH A BIT MORE WEIGHT AND END THE STRENGTH PHASE WITH SOME WEIGHT & REP PRS. THIS IS ONLY IF YOU ALREADY FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE WITH HITTING THE EXERCISES WITH THE PRESCRIBED TEMPO AND REP RANGES. IF YOU ARE STILL WORKING ON IMPROVING YOUR TECHNIQUE AND FOLLOWING THE TEMPO, WE RECOMMEND YOU STICK TO PERFORMING THE PAUSES FOR ALL MOVEMENTS. DON’T WORRY, THIS WILL BE BETTER FOR YOUR PROGRESS IN THE LONG RUN IF YOUR TECHNIQUE STILL NEEDS WORK! HYPERTROPHY PHASE ONE WEEKLY TRAINING LAYOUT UPPER LOWER REST CHEST/BACK DELT/ARMS + LOWER REST REST KEY TERMS NEGATIVES/ECCENTRIC: The portion of the movement the muscle is being stretched. Ex. Down in a squat, lowering weight on bench press, the bar going up on a pulldown. ISOMETRIC: Pausing and holding while still exerting force to maintain that position when the muscle is most flexed/contracted or fully lengthened/stretched DROP SET: Doing the prescribed rep range then lowering the weight 20-30% and continuing the set to failure without rest SUPERSET: Doing another exercise immediately following another with no rest PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD: Gradual increase of stress placed on the body through training. Adding weight and reps are ways to implement progressive overload. UPPER A TEMPO SETS x REPS REST FLAT DB BENCH 3-1-1-0 4 x 6-8 3-4m HAND HEIGHT CABLE LATERAL RAISE 2-0-1-1 3 x 8-12 2-3m SEATED LAT BIAS ROW LAT BIAS PULL DOWN 2-0-1-0 3-0-1-0 3 x 8-10 3 x 8-12 3m 2-3 m LONG ROPE CABLE TRICEP PUSHDOWN OR CROSS CABLE EXT. 1-0-1-2 3 x 8-10 15s SEATED SUPINATED DB CURLS 2-0-1-0 3 x 8-10 2-3m LOWER A TEMPO SETS x REPS REST SEATED HAMSTRING CURLS 2-0-1-1 2 x 8-10 2-3 m HACK/PENDULUM SQUAT 3-1-1-0 4 x 6-8 3-4 m 45 DEGREE BACK EXTENSION BILATERAL LEG PRESS GYM GEAR 2-0-1-2 3-0-1-0 3 x 8-10 3 x 8-10 DESCRIPTION Traps driven into the bench with only a slight arch. Keep feet planted and glutes engaged. Press upper arm in towards the mid line of the chest. Do not press with flared elbows, tuck in to around 45deg to better leverage the pecs Set the cable up around hand height and cross over behind you. Raise in the scapular plane. Cue reaching out as you raise. Yes it is fine to come up higher than shoulder height. Use an attachment with a neutral grip that allows you to keep the arms tight into the side of the body. If none you can throw d handles onto a straight/ez bar to fashion one. Lean the torso as needed so the shoulder is flexed 90deg (upper arm around shoulder height). Maintain a neutral spine then drive the upper arm down and back. Throw some d handles onto a bar around torso width so you're able to drive down in line with the sides of your torso. Lean back slightly/scoot back in the seat so your starting arm position is at around 120deg shoulder flexion. Maintain a neutral spine. Drive upper arms down and back with a neutral grip. Keep the upper arms fixed in place. You do not have to pin them to your side, you can allow them to flare naturally. Slightly retract the scapula for stability. Use a long rope that allows you to extend fully in line with the elbows. If your gym has none you can use two shorter ropes pulled through. If you have access to dual cables then you can do cross cable extensions. Superset the below exercise. Lifting Straps: Lifting Belt: Knee Sleeves: Elbow Sleeves: Hip Thrust Pad: D Handles or Angles90Grips: WEEK Optional. Strong SBD Optional. Strong SBD Optional. Amazon Code: JPGCOACHING REPS WEIGHT NOTES REPS WEIGHT NOTES 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Seated with the seat at 90deg. Keep the upper arm fixed in place. Focus on driving the forearms up towards the bicep actively flexing. Control the descent. Dont spend a bunch of time at the bottom though as theres minimal tension there. 1 2 3 4 DESCRIPTION WEEK Push/Pull yourself into the seat depending on if your machine has shin pads or a thigh pad to secure you. Feet should be neutral or toes pointed up towards your head. Actively flex the hamstrings and dont shoot out of the starting position with the calves. Hard flex then control the eccentric. ESSENTIAL, I like Versa Gripps but most major brands are fine. Use when your grip fails Optional. Inzer, SBD, Pioneer 1 2 3 4 For more quad bias focus on maximizing knee flexion. Place feet as low on the platform as you can without heels lifting. If your low back/hips get pulled forward off the pad at the bottom of the squat your feet are too high on the platform. Brace and maintain a neutral spine 1 2 3 4 2-3m Hip width stance. Allow for natural external rotation of the feet. Keep heels against the back of the foot plate. Allow for a 20deg knee bend. Drive hips into the pad fully contracting the glutes. Only come down 3/4 of the way. When loading weight hold it away from you with arms extended. 1 2 3 4 3-4m Low-Mid platform foot placement. Feet slightly outside of hip width. We'll get a bit more quad and adductor out of this. The more knee flexion you get the more quads will be worked. Brace, Pull yourself into the seat and don't allow your hips/low back to lift off the seat. Make sure knees are tracking in line with toes. 1 2 3 4 UPPER B TEMPO SETS x REPS REST DB ANTERIOR DELT PRESS 2-1-1-0 4 x 8-10 3m DB CHEST SUPPORTED Y RAISE 1-0-1-1 3 x 8-12 2m T BAR ROW 2-0-1-1 UPPER BACK PULLDOWN 2-0-1-0 4 x 6-8 4 x 8-12 3-4m 3m DESCRIPTION WEEK Set up the seat back between 45-60deg so you're able to keep the forearms perpendicular to the ground at the bottom of the rep to get a good stretch on the front delts. Drive the upper arms towards your head as you press. Press in the scapular plane around 30-45deg forward from the shoulder. 1 2 3 4 Set the seat back to around 30 degs. Raise in the scapular plane 30-45 deg forward of the shoulder with the palms facing down. We want a strong contraction on the middle delt. Keep your chest pinned to the bench. 1s isometric. Use a chest supported machine driving the upper arm back at a 45deg angle. As the arms pass the torso finish the movement by squeezing the traps. Keep your chest pinned to the pad. Use a 1.5x shoulder width grip and throw d handles on the straight bar. Drive the elbows back in line with the sternum. As the arms pass the torso focus on finishing the movement by squeezing the traps. SINGLE ARM CABLE REAR DELT FLY 3-0-1-0 2 x 8-12 2m Set cable up around head height or slightly above. Your arm and shoulder should be in line with the cable so it forms a 45 deg angle. Come across the body. Do not let the shoulder get pulled forward out of place. Actively reach across getting a stretch on the rear delt. If you feel too much tricep you can bend the elbow a bit to help. LOWER B TEMPO SETS x REPS REST DESCRIPTION GLUTE BRIDGE RDL UNILATERAL LEG PRESS (GLUTE BIAS) LEG EXTENSIONS 3-0-1-1 3-1-1-0 3-0-1-0 1-0-1-2 3 x 6-10 3 x 6-10 3 x 8-12 3 x 8-10 3-4m 3-4m 3-4m 2-3m Do on a bench or decline ab bench. It just has to allow your body to be close to parallel with the floor in the top postion so you're not too angled up or down. Bottom of the scapula should be rested against the bench. Shins should stay vertical, bridge up slowly flexing the glutes. Feet slightly externally rotated. Put a slight bend in the knees 20 deg. Brace then initiate and follow through the whole rep by sending the hips back. Slightly tuck the chin. Only go down as far as you're able to push the hips back. Drive the hips back through the come up. Hip width stance. If leg runs into your stomach reducing rom to a large degree you can go slightly wider. Single leg with the non working foot flat on the ground. Pull yourself into the seat and brace. Use a mid-high foot position so the shin and upper leg form around a 90deg angle in the stretch position. Make sure knees are tracking in line with toes. Line your knees up with the axis of rotation of the machine. Sit back and pull yourself into the seat. Feet neutral or toes pointed up towards your head. Legs should not be rotating as you extend if set up properly. Make sure knees are tracking in line with toes. REPS WEIGHT NOTES REPS WEIGHT NOTES 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 WEEK 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 HYPERTROPHY PHASE TWO THIS PHASE INCLUDES ADDED TRAINING INTENSITIES WEEKLY TRAINING LAYOUT UPPER LOWER REST CHEST/BACK DELT/ARMS + LOWER REST REST KEY TERMS NEGATIVES/ECCENTRIC: The portion of the movement the muscle is being stretched. Ex. Down in a squat, lowering weight on bench press, the bar going up on a pulldown. ISOMETRIC: Pausing and holding while still exerting force to maintain that position when the muscle is most flexed/contracted or fully lengthened/stretched DROP SET: Doing the prescribed rep range then lowering the weight 20-30% and continuing the set to failure without rest SUPERSET: Doing another exercise immediately following another with no rest PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD: Gradual increase of stress placed on the body through training. Adding weight and reps are ways to implement progressive overload. UPPER A TEMPO SETS x REPS REST FLAT DB BENCH 3-1-1-0 4 x 6-8 3-4m HAND HEIGHT CABLE LATERAL RAISE 2-0-1-1 3 x 8-12 2-3m SEATED LAT BIAS ROW LAT BIAS PULL DOWN GYM GEAR 2-0-1-0 3-0-1-0 3 x 8-10 3 x 8-12 3m 2-3 m DESCRIPTION Traps driven into the bench with only a slight arch. Keep feet planted and glutes engaged. Press upper arm in towards the mid line of the chest. Do not press with flared elbows tuck in to around 45deg to better leverage the pecs Set the cable up around hand height and cross over behind you. Raise in the scapular plane. Cue reaching out as you raise. Yes it is fine to come up higher than shoulder height. LAST SET- As soon as you finish the set drop the cables down to the lowest notch and do another set to failure. You should fail around the mid-short range this time. Use an attachment with a neutral grip that allows you to keep the arms tight into the side of the body. If none you can throw d handles onto a straight/ez bar to fashion one. Lean the torso as needed so the shoulder is flexed 90deg (upper arm around shoulder height). Maintain a neutral spine then drive the upper arm down and back. Throw some d handles onto a bar around torso width so you're able to drive down in line with the sides of your torso. Lean back slightly/scoot back in the seat so your starting arm position is at around 120deg shoulder flexion. Maintain a neutral spine. Drive upper arms down and back with a neutral grip. LAST SET- Once you can no longer complete a full rep continue until you can no longer do a 1/4 Rep. Lifting Straps: Lifting Belt: Knee Sleeves: Elbow Sleeves: Hip Thrust Pad: D Handles or Angles90Grips: WEEK Optional. Strong SBD Optional. Amazon Code: JPGCOACHING REPS WEIGHT NOTES REPS WEIGHT NOTES 1 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 1-0-1-2 3 x 8-10 15s SEATED SUPINATED DB CURLS 2-0-1-0 3 x 8-10 2-3m LOWER A TEMPO SETS x REPS REST DESCRIPTION WEEK SEATED HAMSTRING CURLS 2-0-1-1 2x 8-10 2-3 m Push/Pull yourself into the seat depending on if your machine has shin pads or a thigh pad to secure you. Feet should be neutral or toes pointed up towards your head. Actively flex the hamstrings and dont shoot out of the starting position with the calves. Hard flex then control the eccentric. 1 2 3 4 HACK/PENDULUM SQUAT 3-1-1-0 4 x 6-8 3-4 m BILATERAL LEG PRESS Optional. Strong SBD 2 3 4 LONG ROPE CABLE TRICEP PUSHDOWN OR CROSS CABLE EXT. 45 DEGREE BACK EXTENSION ESSENTIAL, I like Versa Gripps but most major brands are fine. Use when your grip fails Optional. Inzer, SBD, Pioneer 2-0-1-2 3-0-1-0 3 x 8-10 3 x 8-10 2-3m 3-4m Keep the upper arms fixed in place. You do not have to pin them to your side, you can allow them to flare naturally. Slightly retract the scapula for stability. Use a long rope that allows you to extend fully in line with the elbows. If your gym has none you can use two shorter ropes pulled through. If you have access to dual cables then you can do cross cable extensions. Superset the below exercise. Seated with the seat at 90deg. Keep the upper arm fixed in place. Focus on driving the forearms up towards the bicep actively flexing. Control the descent. Dont spend a bunch of time at the bottom though as theres minimal tension there. For more quad bias focus on maximizing knee flexion. Place feet as low on the platform as you can without heels lifting. If your low back/hips get pulled forward off the pad at the bottom of the squat your feet are too high on the platform. Brace and maintain a neutral spine Hip width stance. Allow for natural external rotation of the feet. Keep heels against the back of the foot plate. Allow for a 20deg knee bend. Drive hips into the pad fully contracting the glutes. Only come down 3/4 of the way. When loading weight hold it away from you with arms extended. LAST SET- Once you fail with the arms extended bring the weight close to your body and rep again to failure. Low-Mid platform foot placement. Feet slightly outside of hip width. We'll get a bit more quad and adductor out of this. The more knee flexion you get the more quads will be worked. Brace, Pull yourself into the seat and don't allow your hips/low back to lift off the seat. Make sure knees are tracking in line with toes. 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 UPPER B TEMPO SETS x REPS REST DB ANTERIOR DELT PRESS 2-1-1-0 4 x 8-10 3m DB CHEST SUPPORTED Y RAISE 1-0-1-1 3 x 8-12 2m T BAR ROW 2-0-1-1 UPPER BACK PULLDOWN 2-0-1-0 4 x 6-8 4 x 8-12 3-4m 3m DESCRIPTION WEEK Set up the seat back between 45-60deg so you're able to keep the forearms perpendicular to the ground at the bottom of the rep to get a good stretch on the front delts. Drive the upper arms towards your head as you press. Press in the scapular plane around 30-45deg forward from the shoulder. 1 2 3 4 Set the seat back to around 30 degs. Raise in the scapular plane 30-45 deg forward of the shoulder with the palms facing down. We want a strong contraction on the middle delt. Keep your chest pinned to the bench. LAST SET- Raise the bench to 60-70deg and go to failure with chest supported lateral raises using the same weight raising in the scapular plane still. Use a chest supported machine driving the upper arm back at a 45deg angle. As the arms pass the torso finish the movement by squeezing the traps. Keep your chest pinned to the pad. Use a 1.5x shoulder width grip and throw d handles on the straight bar. Drive the elbows back in line with the sternum. As the arms pass the torso focus on finishing the movement by squeezing the traps. LAST SETDrop set the last set to failure SINGLE ARM CABLE REAR DELT FLY 3-0-1-0 2 x 8-12 2m Set cable up around head height or slightly above. Your arm and shoulder should be in line with the cable so it forms a 45 deg angle. Come across the body. Do not let the shoulder get pulled forward out of place. Actively reach across getting a stretch on the rear delt. If you feel too much tricep you can bend the elbow a bit to help. LOWER B TEMPO SETS x REPS REST DESCRIPTION GLUTE BRIDGE RDL UNILATERAL LEG PRESS (GLUTE BIAS) LEG EXTENSIONS 3-0-1-1 3-1-1-0 3-0-1-0 1-0-1-2 3 x 6-10 3 x 6-10 3 x 8-12 3 x 8-10 3-4m 3-4m 3-4m 2-3m Do on a bench or decline ab bench. It just has to allow your body to be close to parallel with the floor in the top postion so you're not too angled up or down. Bottom of the scapula should be rested against the bench. Shins should stay vertical, bridge up slowly flexing the glutes. Feet slightly externally rotated. LAST SET- Immediately follow up the glute bridges with hip thrusts to failure. On the last rep of thrusts if you have anything left you can try to do an isometric hold at the top till failure. Put a slight bend in the knees 20 deg. Brace then initiate and follow through the whole rep by sending the hips back. Slightly tuck the chin. Only go down as far as you're able to push the hips back. Drive the hips back through the come up. Hip width stance. If leg runs into your stomach reducing rom to a large degree you can go slightly wider. Single leg with the non working foot flat on the ground. Pull yourself into the seat and brace. Use a mid-high foot position so the shin and upper leg form around a 90deg angle in the stretch position. Make sure knees are tracking in line with toes. Line your knees up with the axis of rotation of the machine. Sit back and pull yourself into the seat. Feet neutral or toes pointed up towards your head. Legs should not be rotating as you extend if set up properly. Make sure knees are tracking in line with toes. REPS WEIGHT NOTES REPS WEIGHT NOTES 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 WEEK 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 CARDIO DO I NEED TO DO CARDIO? We opted against prescribing specific forms of cardio because the type of cardio that you do will differ from person to person. This can be dependent on not only personal preference and personal fitness goals, but also your cardiovascular health. Your general activity level outside of the gym is another important factor. Those who are already very active due to daily life may not need to do as much cardio. Whether you are bulking, cutting, or maintaining, we recommend some form of cardio, as it's integral for your heart health. If you are already active during the day - perhaps your job has you on the feet all day or you regularly participate in a sport, then you can aim for the lower end of the 6-10k step goal. On the other hand, if these workouts have got you out of breath and you want to work on your cardiovascular health, then aim to hit the recommended 1-2hrs total a week of zone 2 cardio broken up in to 20min-1hr continuous sessions. The continuous bouts of cardio will help keep your heart rate elevated and better improve your cardiovascular health in comparison to sporadic steps throughout the day. How Much Cardio Do I Do? As a baseline, we recommend at least 1-2 hours per week of zone 2 moderate cardio per week. Zone 2 cardio refers to any form of cardio that falls into the low intensity, steady state category. Zone 2 cardio should be comfortable but still allow you to break a sweat. Aside from hitting your step goal, the type of cardio that you do is up to your personal preference. We recommend low intensity steady state cardio, but if you prefer high intensity or interval cardio, we suggest either doing this on your rest days or further apart in time if you're doing them on the same day as your lifts. What Type of Cardio Do I Do? Aim to get 6k-10k steps per day if you don't enjoy doing other forms of cardio such as walking, running, cycling etc. 13 NUTRITION For the nutrition portion of this program, we have created three different “levels” for you to choose from based on your proficiency with tracking nutrition and most importantly, what you’re able to adhere to. If you’ve never done any kind of nutrition tracking, then we recommend starting at level one and working your way up. 1 PORTIONS & GENERAL CLEAN EATING 2 TRACKING CALORIES & PROTEIN If you have no experience with tracking your macros then you can start here! Let’s make it very simple for yourself. Start with a minimum of 3 meals per day all the way up to 6. See what best fits your lifestyle and allows for good digestion. Each of those meals should contain some kind of lean protein source. Try to have 2-3 servings of fruit and veggies per day as well. Try to get the majority of carbs from starchy carbs like rice, potatoes and pasta for example. This will better restore depleted muscle glycogen Once you’re proficient at all of this you can move to Level 2 n level two we will implement all the of the things from level one, but we will now begin tracking your calories and protein. Start by logging the things you've been eating for the first week to see about how much you've been eating. Then utilize the nutrition calculator and decide whether you want to maintain, gain or cut. From there focus on nailing your calories and protein. Try to eat +/- 5g of your protein goal and within a 50cal deviation of your calories. Once you’re proficient at tracking your calories and protein, you're ready to take on Level 3. 3 TRACKING ALL MACROS + OPTIMIZING PERIWORKOUT NUTRITION Calculate your carb and fat macros utilizing the nutrition calculator. Let’s also pay more attention to meal timing and your peri workout nutrition. Take your daily protein intake and divide it by the number of meals you’re having. Ideally eating every 2-5 hours to maximize muscle protein synthesis. Have around 20% of your carbs 1-2 hours pre workout and immediately following the workout. You don’t have to rush but try to have some carbs and protein post workout. Periworkout nutrition refers to how we structure nutrition before, during, and after training. HOW DO I KNOW IF I NEED TO CUT, MAINTAIN OR BULK? The greatest determining factor here will be your body fat percentage. If you are on the overweight or obese end of the range, then you should likely start with a deficit/cut. Newbie lifters as well as obese individuals will still be able to gain some muscle mass while in a deficit assuming good nutrition, training intensity and recovery. Eating at maintenance would be best if you consider yourself to be “skinny fat”. Meaning you may not have a large amount of body fat but also have not yet built a muscular base. So, while your body fat may not be especially high, you do not look lean. This is very common with beginner lifters. If that describes you, then eating at maintenance paired with good training and recovery will allow you to build muscle and recomp. Once you are leaner, you can move to a bulk or if you’ve put a solid amount of muscle on but also gained more body fat than you like you can move to a full cut. Bulking is a good choice for leaner individuals who want to gain significant muscle mass at a faster pace. You should be comfortable with gaining some fat mass as well. However, if you do it properly and are at a good starting point the fat you gain should not be excessive. Fat gain can be reduced by keeping your surplus calories to 150-300 calories above maintenance. Bulking is typically ideal for men under 10% body fat and women under 20% body fat. To recap, if you are not comfortable with gaining fat yet, but also wish to prioritize gaining lean body mass, you may want to start at maintenance and move into a bulk once you are happy with your body fat percentage. If you wish to grow more muscle in the future but still feel that you have significant body fat to lose, you may want to begin on a deficit. Lastly, if you wish to gain muscle mass quickly and are lean enough that you are comfortable with gaining some fat - a bulk is the best choice for you. You can always slow down the pace of your bulk by lowering your surplus. 16 QUANTIFYING PROGRESS Taking Progress Pictures and Measurements When you start this program it would be ideal if you took weekly pictures and measurements to better track your progress. If you wish to take part in the transformation portion of the challenge this is mandatory. I suggest taking pictures from the front, both sides and back. The pictures should be full body showing quads and calves. Make sure you don’t cover your mid section in the side pictures. In terms of what to wear Undergarments, Sports Wear and Bathing Suits work well but so long as you’re able to see the majority of your musculature you can wear what you’re comfortable with. Here's an easy way to take the pictures while ensuring sure you’re in frame. Prop your phone up in selfie mode, then take a screenshot of each of the poses. Take the pictures in natural lighting if possible. There should not be any harsh shadows. It is also important that the pictures taken are similar in terms of how they are framed as well as the scale. Take them straight on, not at an angle. You want to be able to compare your progress overtime accurately so if the pictures are all taken differently it will be difficult to compare down the line. We also suggest taking a measurement of your waist around the smallest part between the belly button and sternum. Do not suck in just relax when taking the measurement. That way, even if your weight does not change or increases but your waist gets smaller you know your body composition is improving! Posting your pictures is not mandatory for this program unless you would like to take part in the transformation portion of the challenge. You may post your progress within the group should you wish to do so. Just make sure the pictures are not lewd in any way. Logging Your Workouts We’ve provided you sections to track your reps and weight for each week. This is a must if you want to make the best progress possible. Only track the working sets. Warm ups do not need to be logged. As you move through the program, reference your previous weeks aiming to best the weight and reps used. Even if you are only able to add a single rep or a 2.5lb plate you should aim to improve each session. 16 SUPPLEMENTS LEGION ATHLETICS SUPPLEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS TRIUMPH MULTIVITAMIN Fill in nutritional gaps TRITON FISH OIL Omega 3s RECHARGE Creatine PULSE PREWORKOUT Performance WHEY/CASEIN/VEGAN Easily digested protein ASCEND NOOTROPIC Cognition/Focus FORTIFY JOINT SUPPORT Reduce Inflammation & Healthier Joints LUNAR SLEEP AID Helps get you to sleep & Improves sleep quality. Use 2-3x a week as needed CODE: JPGCOACHING FOR 20% OFF You do not NEED supplements. Supplements are.... supplements, they are meant to supplement a good pre-existing diet and training regimen. While you do not need supplements in order to be successful on this program these supplements are a great option if you do wish to utilize them. We recommend Legion due to their supplements being backed in science. They use clinically effective doses, as well as quality bioavailable ingredients that have been third party tested. For more information on the ingredients head to Legion's Site, as they outline why they include each ingredient under the supplement as well as the studies that support their use. You can also use examine.com if you have further questions about an ingredient. EXERCISE ALTERNATIVES FLAT DB BENCH: Flat barbell bench, flat machine press, BILATERAL CLAVICULAR (UPPER) CABLE PRESS: Single arm press around, incline machine press T BAR ROW: Seated cable row, chest supported barbell or dumbbell row HAND HEIGHT CABLE LATERAL RAISE: Lying dumbbell lateral raise on incline bench, leaning to the non working side standing dumbbell raise LONG ROPE CABLE TRICEP PUSHDOWN/CROSS CABLE EXTENSION: Band push down SEATED SUPINATED DB CURLS: Cable or machine curl HACK/PENDULUM SQUAT: Heel elevated SSB or barbell squat/regular barbell squat, quad biased leg press, quad biased split squat BILATERAL LEG PRESS: Quad biased split squat, quad biased stationary lunge, smith machine split squat LEG EXTENSIONS: Banded leg extensions, cable leg extension INCLINE DB BENCH:: Incline cable press or machine press BILATERAL STERNAL (MID PEC) CABLE PRESS: Pec dec fly., flat machine press, sternal cable fly SEATED LAT BIAS ROW: Step back hammer row, kneeling single arm cable row behind the machine LAT BIAS PULLDOWN: Kneeling lat pull down. Kneeling high to low hammer row variation DB CHEST SUPPORTED Y RAISE: Cable y raise CHEST SUPPORTED DB LATERAL RAISE: Cable lateral raise FACEAWAY CABLE CURLS: Dumbbell curl, EZ bar curl SEATED HAMSTRING CURLS: Lying leg curl, banded dumbbell lying leg curl STIFF LEG HAMSTRING BIAS DB/BB/TRAP BAR RDL: Good mornings FAQ'S How Do I Know If I'm Making Progress? Should I Still Train While Sore? Are you able to progressively overload? Being able to consistently improve in terms of your weight x reps used from session to session is a good sign that you’re headed in the right direction If the soreness is affecting your ability to perform to a large degree then it is likely better to take another rest day. You should then continue with the split in the same order keeping the other rest days in place. Please don’t worry about “being behind” as everyone is going to recover at different rates. Pushing through when you may have significant accrued fatigue and muscle damage will only hinder your progress. While this program is only 10 weeks just remember that building muscle is a marathon not a sprint. So don’t be afraid to take rest days when they are truly needed. Do you see changes in body composition? Part of the reason we have everyone take pictures and measure their waist is to be able to tell if body composition is improving over the course of the program. A common scenario this could help with would be if your goal is to get leaner but your weight is going up. If you’re looking noticeably leaner that may be a good thing. You can then ensure things are moving in the right direction by checking your waist measurement to see if it has gone up, stayed the same or even gone down. If it has stayed the same or gone down despite weight going up then that’s a good sign your body composition is improving. How Much Muscle Will I Put On? The amount of muscle someone can put on will be highly dependent on their training age, genetics and how well they’re able to optimize all aspects of their training, nutrition and recovery. I really wouldn’t worry about exactly how much muscle you can put on and instead focus on doing your best when it comes to those 3 big variables. That will ensure you’re putting on as much muscle as YOU can :) How Do I Know When to Increase My Weight for Working Sets? Once you’re able to complete the top of a rep range with a given weight, you should challenge yourself and increase. For example, lets say your rep range is 8-10 and you did 100lbs on bench for 10 reps. If you were able to do that on one of your initial sets with more working sets left, then I would increase the weight the following set 510% depending on how hard that set was. If that was a struggle at 10 Reps, then perhaps you’d want to stay at the same weight then aim to hit the top of the rep range with that same weight the next session or even add a single rep to each set. However, if you managed to do that with relative ease then I would increase the very next set. What If I'm Not Getting Sore? Should I Do Anything for My Mobility? While soreness is not a necessity for determining whether a training session was effective or not, if you're never getting sore then you may want to look at how hard you’re pushing during your lifts. If you’re constantly challenging yourself in the gym and looking to best your previous training sessions then some soreness is very likely to occur. Yes! Congratulations you’re already doing plenty for your mobility by strength training and working your muscles under load through their full contractile range. Strength training is an excellent and effective way to improve mobility. FAQ'S What if I Want to Move My Workout Days Is This Program for Gaining Fat or Losing Around? Muscle? The program is written in such a way that the Depending on your current body composition training and rest days complement each other so and training age, you could very well end up as to allow for the best recovery. We would doing both over the course of this 10 weeks. much rather you add an extra rest day as However, it will be easier for beginners especially described above and then continue with the those with higher body fat to recomposition. We program in the same order rather than moving don’t expect everyone to have the same goal the training days around in a way we did not coming into this program . That’s why we’ve laid account for when writing the program. out instructions along with a calculator to help you find your nutrition needs to best fit your goal. How Should I Pick the Weight for Working When Should I Use a Lifting Belt? Sets? The first week or two on the program is where you’ll be testing the waters and finding working weights that are suitable for the desired rep ranges. If you’ve already done some of the exercises in previous programs you should have a fairly good idea. If you have no idea then ramp up each set with your warm up sets and working sets till you find weight that allows you to train within the set rep ranges close to or to failure depending on the training phase. A belt can be used on ANY lift that you feel requires a large degree of bracing. If you do not know what bracing is, then you probably shouldn’t be using a belt yet. If you do know how to use it properly, then feel free to use it on any working sets that require a large degree of bracing. For example, heavy squats would be a good exercise to use a belt on but you probably don’t need it to do your curls. How Do I Train to Failure? When Should I Use Lifting Straps? For this program, it will be most important to You should and must use lifting straps on any movement where your grip has become the limiter (what is failing first). So pulling movements like Rows, RDLs and Pulldowns for example would be movements you may need to use your straps on if you’re loading heavily enough. understand the difference between form/technical failure and absolute failure. Form failure refers to the inability to move the load without breaking form. Absolute failure refers to the inability for the muscle to move the load, even with form regression. When training to failure aim to train until your movement involuntarily slows and stops, even with maximal exertion. You should aim to hit failure without form breaking down. DISCLAIMER JPGCOACHING AND FIT WITH BREN LTD. ARE NOT DOCTORS NOR REGISTERED DIETICIANS. ANY PROGRAMS OR ADVICE GIVEN ARE INTENDED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO SERVE AS MEDICAL ADVICE. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE, OR PREVENT ANY HEALTH PROBLEM. CONSULT A PHYSICIAN OR A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL FOR ANY MATTERS REGARDING YOUR HEALTH. USE OF THE PROGRAM IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. JPGCOACHING AND FIT WITH BREN LTD. WILL NOT ASSUME ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT LOSSES OR DAMAGES THAT MAY RESULT INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ECONOMIC LOSS, INJURY, ILLNESS OR DEATH. PAYMENT IS NON-REFUNDABLE ONCE PLANS ARE ISSUED DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROVIDED. FACEBOOK GROUP WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND MAKING A TEMPORARY FACEBOOK ACCOUNT FOR THE PROGRAM IF YOU DON'T ALREADY HAVE ONE. THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO GET THE MOST VALUE OUT OF THIS PROGRAM, AS YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS TO OUR EXCLUSIVE Q&A'S ABOUT THE PROGRAM AS WELL AS OUR ASSISTANCE WITH FORM. THIS GROUP ALSO PROVIDES A COMMUNITY TO SHARE YOUR PROGRESS WITH AND STAY MOTIVATED. INTRA-CHALLENGE OPPORTUNITIES TO WIN PROGRAMS WILL ONLY BE ACCESSIBLE VIA THE FACEBOOK GROUP. CLICK ON THE CALCULATOR TO VIEW THE CALORIE AND MACRO CALCULATOR. THEN CLICK FILE, MAKE A COPY, AND SAVE IT TO YOUR PERSONAL GOOGLE DRIVE. YOU MUST BE LOGGED IN TO A GMAIL ACCOUNT IN ORDER TO SAVE THIS FILE TO YOUR DRIVE.