The End Of The Ultimate Weight Training Workout Routine

2,735 thoughts on “The End Of The Ultimate Weight Training Workout Routine”

2,735 Comments

1. Hi,i just found your guide,and wish i’d found it sooner,ive been training on a three day split for almost 3 years,and although most of my lifts have gone up and ive put on some muscle,i don’t feel ive progressed in strength or muscle size as well as i should have,basicly after reading your very detailed guide ive been doing it for the most part like an idiot,although ive kept with it because i enjoy it.anyway my questions are..

   1. because ive been doing it wrong and never started on a beginer program,do i now start all over on a beginer program.and stay on it for 6 months or more.

   2. or should i switch to your intermediate program,as ive been doing these exercises for years,only in a badly planed out split.

   Thanks very much.

   • What type of progress have you made over these last 3 years? How much muscle/strength have you gained during this time? How much are you lifting on some important exercises (bench, squat, deadlift, overhead press, pull-up, etc.)?

     If I had to guess, I’d say you’re probably ready for the intermediate program, but your answers to these questions are the only way to know for sure.

2. I’m deadlifting 150kg for 6 reps,started at 90kg.overhead barbell press 45kg for 3 sets 12,bench 75kg for 6,started about 50kg for 5,for reasons i’d rather not go into i have never squated more than 95kg for 5 reps.so i stick to leg ext,curls,and calf raises,standing calf raises are at 4 sets at 135kg,i can do 3 sets of pull ups 8 reps…i’m curently 85kg i’d estimate just over 15% body fat,when i started i was 90kg at around 25% bodyfat.
   my goal is about 10%.and to be able to do 200kg dead,100kg bench for reps,and bodyweight on the overhead press, my goal is muscle rather than outright strength.so i was thinking of starting your muscle building program at the lower frequency.

   • First, congrats on loss of 10% body fat.

     Regarding which routine to use, you really couldn’t go wrong with either at this point. However, I’d say the 3 day version of The Muscle Building Workout Routine should certainly be just fine for you now.

     The only other suggestion I’d make is that, at just over 15% body fat, I’d like to see you get down a little closer to 12% before going into a full muscle building phase (and creating the required caloric deficit).

     Calorie partitioning is better the leaner you are and worse the fatter you are. Meaning, it’s more likely for excess calories to go towards body fat storage rather than muscle growth when you’re starting out fatter.

     The sweet spot to start tends to be 10-12% for guys.

3. Thanks very much for your advice,i’l keep you posted on my progress,i’m very much looking forward to starting your program.

4. would increasing anything to do with dumbells by 5 pounds a month good for progression, because i have been progressing on everything else except when it comes to dumbells 5 pounds make such a difference for those.

   • If you’re able to go up to the next set of dumbbells each month, then it sounds like you’re progressing quite well.

     But like you said, one of the downsides of using dumbbells is that, for the most part, you have to go up 10lbs total (5lbs per dumbbell) when you’re ready to increase. With a barbell exercise, you can put a 2.5lb plate on each side and go up by a total of 5lbs.

     And that’s one of the benefits of using a barbell… you’re able to increase in smaller increments which tends to be easier.

     I cover all of this in more detail here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/dumbbells-vs-barbells/

5. thank you i get it now yeah i was thinkin like dumbells are 10 pounds more as u say,which makes them significantly harder to progress, also i use to do a full body and that program used barbell only and i can soo tell me left arm is much smaller than my right …. what shud i do? keep using dumbell and barbell for Upper A and B as program is or wud it be better for me to use dumbell all time? also same for my left shoulder … seems my right is the one usin most power.

   Forgot to say thank you so much for this program im loving it been on it for almost a month now and good gains seen. love the excersises and i have honestly been progressing soo much faster than previous program.

   • Awesome to hear the program has been working well. Keep those progress updates coming.

     Regarding your arm size imbalance, how big is the difference? A small difference is pretty normal and may not require too much specialized work (if any) to correct, but if it’s really significant, some major changes might need to be made (like ALWAYS using dumbbells instead of a barbell on relevant exercises).

     I cover this exact topic in detail right here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/muscle-imbalances/

6. Your rant about nutrition gurus is so spot on! How there is always a leader and followers and people are like religious fanatics about it. Brilliant! I thoughr of Marc Sisson.

   What is your opinion of this article basically saying carbs post-workout is a huge no no?

   http://www.marksdailyapple.com/muscle-building-and-carbs/

   Also, what do you think of all these people that workout hard and eat no grains and loads of animal fats?

   • Honestly, I only have the pain tolerance to skim stuff written by guys like Mark who have some sort of all encompassing agenda/gimmick that makes them a shitload of money and will always be pushed at all times regardless of the lengths they often need to go to when doing that pushing.

     But from what I remember when I originally skimmed it after he wrote it, that article is completely retarded in every way imaginable.

     And regarding your other question, I think if you have a legit problem with grains, you should avoid grains. But if you don’t, then the only thing you’re really doing by unnecessarily avoiding them is putting more of a spotlight on (and often more money in the pocket of) the people who make their living preaching the evilness of grains.

7. Yeah. I wish you’d write more about this. Maybe another rant on nutrition gurus. But also, fitness gurus like John Romaniello and Criag Ballantine and that whole crew. Although I don’t think Turbulence Training is bad.

   But on the Primal website, you have hordes of followers who view grains and dairy as the utmost evil in the universe. They are told to eat lots of fat, such as Mark preaching to eat the chicken with the skin. They do these cross-fit type exercises, and I was wondering if you think this is actually dangerous. Is Marc being genuine here?

   Is there a point is the philosophy that while we were nomadic we couldn’t have farmed grains, therefore our bodies were not evolved to eat them?

   I really would like to hear more of your opinions about this, so hopefully one day you’ll do another article on it.

   • Oh, don’t worry… I’ll definitely be writing more about this kind of stuff in the future. I also fully plan on calling out and/or making fun of every single guru who deserves it, doing brutally honest product/ebook reviews (I look forward to burning every bridge worth burning), and at the same time praising the handful of people who I actually like and respect.

     It’s all part of my INSANELY long to-do list that I’ll really start getting around to once I finish up the little project I’m working on now (which will hopefully be ready for you guys before the end of the summer).

     And nope, there’s no legitimate basis for most of the Paleo nonsense. I mean, I’m all for it if it helps people eat healthy and look and feel good. Fine by me. But the fanatic level it’s usually taken to is just a joke… like Crossfit. And few things are as funny as Crossfit.

8. “calling out and/or making fun of every single guru who deserves it”

   Please do this soon! We really need it! Can you just start now little by little?

   Still on your program. Loving it! IF I only do the 6 excercises without the extras thats good enough for now? Sometimes I get tired just from the 3 exercises per workout.

   • Ha… it’s coming. Trust me, there will be plenty of guru bashing in the future.

     Glad to hear you’re liking the program. Are you referring to the beginner routine? If so, you can definitely just do the 3 main exercises each workout like it’s written in the first version. That’s usually my first preference anyway.

     I just added some little stuff to the other versions for the people who were going to try to add things themselves and screw everything up in the process.

9. Hey buddy, can you do me a favor? Can you tell me how to do a proper Romanian Dead Lift? Thanks!

   • Basically… slight bend in the knees, chest up/out at all times, tight arch in the lower back, ass pushed back like you’re trying to touch the wall behind you on the way down, hips driven in towards the bar on the way up. The bar should practically be sliding up and down the front of your thighs throughout the movement.

     The whole exercise is hips back, hips in. NOT bend over at the lower back, raise back up at the lower back.

     This is one of the better examples I’ve found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnBREGM7pE0

     This is pretty good too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS3x75_YpsE

10. Hey,

    First of all, great website. I am fairly new to weight training and found this your site to be refreshing. I have a couple of questions though.

    I have currently been weight training for 8 months and I just started your Muscle Building Workout with a 4 day upper/lower body split. I am trying to loose some weight to get my body fat % down I have added some cardio to it. After the weights I’ll do approximately 20 mins of cardio, on the two off days I’ll do 35-40 mins of cardio and have one day to fully rest. I find that with this workout I’m extremely tired and may be over doing it. Would you recommend a different way of incorporating the cardio? Or maybe doing a 3 day split and adding another full rest day? What I find weird is after the workouts I tend to get back home to eat and then fall asleep for about 2 hours.

    Thanks!

    • All good questions, but it would honestly take full articles (not quick comments) to answer them properly (and don’t worry… they are all on my to-do list).

      But the short answer is this. When fat loss is the goal and the required caloric deficit has been created, all things training related (recovery, work capacity, volume tolerance) are reduced.

      That means that the amount of training you’re doing should typically be decreased (NOT increased) to compensate, especially if you’re planning on creating that deficit at least partially via the use of cardio rather than just diet alone.

      If you don’t, and you continue doing too much for your body to recover from in this already-reduced state of recovery, the next thing that will always happen is a loss of strength… and that always comes with a loss of muscle (the opposite of what should be happening during fat loss).

      So, if you’re training with the 4 day upper/lower split now, drop it back to the 3 day upper/lower split. Volume may need to be reduced as well to some degree, as the goal at this point is to just maintain strength and muscle while fat is lost, not increase it.

      As for how cardio should be properly programmed into it all… again, it’s going to take a full article to cover it properly.

      I will definitely get to it sometime in the near future, along with EXACTLY how I set up a full fat loss program and put the diet, weight training and cardio together for the best possible results.

      • Thanks very much for the quick response! I actually went back and re-read your website again and realized even more mistakes I was making during my older program. In fact, I realized that I shouldn’t be doing the 3 day upper/lower split because I would still be considered a beginner. I had a leg injury (varicose veins) and I only recently received approval from my doctor to weight lift with my lower body. Since I haven’t weight lifted my legs before I am going back to the beginner program for a while. I read through your program, starting strength and strong lifts. Between the three I am not sure which one I should follow. Since my goal is fat loss (I am currently at about 17-20% BF) which of the three would you recommend? I’ll also add cardio post each workout and on one of the off days allowing for 2 full rest days.

        Thank you once again!

        • With your goal being fat loss, the most important thing you need is a diet that will allow fat loss to happen (meaning a caloric deficit). As long as that’s in place (along with the rest of a sufficient overall fat loss diet), you’ll lose fat just fine regardless of which weight training program you use.

          Speaking of which, in a deficit most people will not be gaining significant muscle/strength (or in some cases, none at all), so the most important aspect of weight training during fat loss becomes lifting heavy enough to show your body that it has a reason to maintain all of your muscle while body fat is lost.

          As a beginner, you are sort of an exception to this as you should still be able to make good strength gains during this time (especially with your legs being virtually untrained). So, you should definitely stick with something lower volume and compound exercise based and then focus on trying to get stronger on each lift (or at the very least, maintain strength on each lift).

          My beginner routine and the others you mentioned fit this description pretty well, so you probably couldn’t go wrong with any of them.

          • Thank you for the quick response once again. To be honest though I am having trouble deciding between yours and SS/SL. I am concerned that squatting 3x a week may be too much for the knees?

            Sorry for another question.

          • Unless you have preexisting knee issues, too many people have done just fine squatting 3 times a week (especially beginners) for it to be “too much,” so you can eliminate that fear as long as it’s being done sanely (like SS does it).

            As for which program to use… I’d obviously always recommend my own beginner program, so that’s probably my biased #1 choice most of the time. And Starting Strength is one of the most proven beginner programs ever, so I’d definitely recommend that too as choice #1a.

            Flip a coin. 😉

          • Hey! I just wanted to update you on my progress. Since following your beginners program and dieting I’ve dropped about 4 lbs in a month and look a bit more toned!

            About 3 years ago I had lost 30 + pounds in a matter of 3 months. Earlier this year I’ve lost another 15 pounds. I’m finding now that I am having trouble toning up as even though I am thinner – I still feel pretty fat to be honest. I’m 5’4″ and weigh132 lbs now when I used to way 185 lbs 3 years ago. Do you think I should be doing anything else to loose the flab? I can’t really see myself loosing too much more weight based on the scale.

          • Congrats on the progress! Keep those reports coming.

            Regarding your question, here’s the thing. Fat has weight. So, it’s pretty much impossible to lose fat without losing more weight.

            This is a problem many people have when they lose some weight and get as “skinny” as they’d like to be but still have more fat to lose before they are as “lean” as they’d like to be.

            You pretty much just have to keep on going until that level of leanness is reached, and that at point, switch your focus solely towards gaining muscle without letting too much of that leanness disappear in the process.

          • Thanks again! I was wondering though, would I be able to at a dumbbell swing into my off days as a cardio work out or would that be an overkill on my recovery?

          • Overkill in my opinion. I rarely recommend much (if any) truly intense cardio when you’re trying to build and/or maintain strength and muscle while losing fat.

            If you need more of a deficit, low intensity activity (like walking) can get the job done just fine without cutting into recovery. As can just eating slightly less. Or maybe a bit of both.

            Depends on the person.

          • So another progress update for you. I definitely have more shoulder, arms, and leg definition. But in terms of weight I have plateaued. Exactly the same as a month ago. But, as I mentioned I’m really trying to loose the “flab” and just the excess body fat. Should I be introducing more cardio?

          • If your goal is fat loss and you’re not losing any fat, it simply means that a caloric deficit isn’t present.

            So, you either need to reduce your calorie intake by a small amount, increase calories burned by a small amount, or do a little of both.

          • Hey,

            So I have been progressing, extremely slowly. I’m seeing some more definition but not much more and I still have about 1-2 inches of “flab” around my abdomen, chest and arms I would love to get rid of.

            The issue I’m facing now is that I am already 131 lbs and my height is 5’4″, I can’t imagine lowering my body weight much more to loose that 1-2 inches. Also, I’ve started a new job that has pretty intense hours which probably allows me to fit in 2 weight training workouts a week max and I try to fit in cardio whenever I can, depending on my schedule.

            How do you recommend I tackle this?

11. Ok. Thanks. For the RDL, do I go down to the ground or just around the knees? Does my back stay in the same arched position the entire time like frozen?

    • How low you can and should go depends on individual flexibility. But, in 99.999% of the cases, you should definitely NOT be going until the weights touch the ground. Going that low will cause damn near everyone to round their back to some degree, and that’s a big no-no.

      The best answer is to go as low as you can so that you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings and your lower back doesn’t round. For most people, that will usually put the bar just below the knee.

      And yeah, you should stay fairly tight with an arch in the lower back throughout the lift.

12. hey i have been progressing in everything but its been like a month and a half ive been on dumbells curls doing 25 and everytime i do them i do 12 the first set and the second set i cant do no more at around 7-8 reps. This has been the same for about 1 month and a half. how come i am not progressing at that part?? i rest about 2-3 mins in between too but i think i need more resting time cud tht be why?

    • That’s actually pretty normal. Dumbbell curls (or really any type of curl) aren’t the type of exercise that will progress very consistently. If they did, everyone would be curling 80lb dumbbells.

      Bench press, squats, deadlifts, rows, etc… those are the exercises that will. Not to mention, as long as your upper body pushing and pulling compound exercises (like presses, rows, pull ups) are moving in the right direction, your arms will grow just fine even if the biceps/triceps stuff isn’t increasing anywhere near that rate.

      So… I wouldn’t worry. Get your “pump,” try to get an extra rep in the second set here and there, and focus most on the more important lifts.

13. okay thnx for the quick reply yeah i was just wondering cuz my brother has been advancing a lil with the curls and thts the only thing i just dont seem to progress at . but w.e just keep doing it till i increase. thnx again

14. Hey man..Your workout routine for beginners is great. However, after deadlifts, i need about almost 3-4 days to recover. Following your routine, If i were to do ABA on monday,wednesday and friday, and deadlifts were to be done as A, i cant seem to do dumbell rows for set B which is on a wednesday. Do you have a solution? Thanks in advance

    • When you say you need 3-4 days to recover, what do you mean exactly? The way the program is constructed, you’re deadlifting every 4-5 days.

      So what specifically is giving you an issue? Soreness? Lower back fatigue makes it hard to do rows? Upper back fatigue? Something else?

      And are you doing conventional deadlifts or Romanian deadlifts?

15. Awesome website, learned a lot. I have a question about volume.
    I’m 17/188cm/82kg, have been working out almost for a year. Right now using upper/lower split 4DAW. Is it possible that ‘optimal volume’ range might me too low for me for optimal gains? (in fact i’m teen and naturally have high amount of testosterone, eating everything I see like 5-8 times a day, mostly protein dominating food)

    • Is it possible? I guess. But likely? Definitely not.

      What kind of progress are you making now and what is making you feel like more volume is what would be needed to improve it?

      • So you say recovery times for teens and fully grown men are the same?
        And I just feel that I’m capable of doing more than it is supposed in your sample routine. Maybe I just need a simple deload, so my muscles will be more sensitive?

        • I think there are people who can handle and benefit from LESS volume, and those people (like older people, for example) should reduce volume and/or frequency to compensate.

          What you’re describing is backwards. This isn’t what’s ideal for people with shitty recovery and people with average/above average recovery should increase it. This is just what’s ideal, period.

          And honestly, don’t take this the wrong way… but you just need to shut up and lift. Feeling like you need to do more and actually NEEDING to do more are 2 completely different things.

          Your goal isn’t to blast the crap out of your muscles. Your goal isn’t to feel super sore. Your goal isn’t to get CRaZy PuMP BRo! Your goal isn’t to feel tired and trashed when you’re done.

          Your true goal is to get in, make progress, get out, eat and sleep to support it… and then do it all over again.

          Progression is all you need to care about (especially at this point), and one of the advantages of being a teen as compared to someone older is that you’ll be able to progress a shitload faster and more consistently than everyone else.

          Unless of course you unnecessarily add more to it than you need to be doing, in which case you’ll just be sacrificing progress for the sake of doing as much as you feel like you can/should be doing.

          As someone who started lifting seriously at 16, this is the kind of thing I wish someone would have told me. Then again, at 16 I would have probably been too dumb and stubborn to listen anyway. Hopefully you aren’t.

          • This is what i wanted to hear.
            Pretty much i’m the only person in my gym (at my age) who is interested in doing something more than curls and triceps shit. My beginner stage consisted of heavy squats, heavy deadlifts, overall 5×5 training. I’m not really that familliar with hypertrophy training, so why I shouldn’t listen to you? *Leaving the routine as it is*
            Thanks

16. Hello, The article written by you is very helpful. I thank you for writing such a good article for everyone. I weight around 172 pounds, I am little fat. I joined the gym 10 days back. I have lot of fat in my belly area. I need to decrease the fat in my belly, but I don’t know how to do it. Should I do abdomen exercises daily to decrease fat in my belly area? Or which is the best way to decrease fat in my belly area.

    • All of the ab exercises in the world won’t do a thing about the fat on your stomach.

      The only way fat loss occurs is via a caloric deficit. Once that deficit exists, fat will be lost from the entire body in an order that is predetermined by your genetics. At some point, it will come off the exact spot you want it to the most (in your case, the stomach).

      For more on how to create that deficit, read the diet guide: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/

17. soreness is the main issue..If i were to do deadlifts on Monday, then i would be doing rows on wednesday..And im not healing in time..For me when i do deadlifts, my whole back is sore and my traps also..Im doing the conventional deadlifts..What should i do?

    • Well, the first thing to keep in mind is that soreness doesn’t mean you’re not recovering, and it’s perfectly fine to train through soreness. This is especially true for beginners, as you’re likely to be a lot more sore early on as your body is first adapting to training.

      So, my first suggestion would be to give it some time and see if the soreness gradually lessens each week. In most cases, it does.

      And even if you still end up with a little bit of leftover soreness when the next workout comes around, the thing to remember is that progression is the true sign of whether or not you are recovering properly, not soreness. So as long as you’re able to progress, you’re fine.

      However, in a case where there legitimately is a lack of progression as a result of true insufficient recovery, I’d have 2 suggestions…

      First, you could try alternating between conventional deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts every B workout. So you’d end up doing:

      A
      B (conventional deads)
      A

      B (Romanian deads)
      A
      B (conventional deads)

      Doing so would reduce the frequency of the conventional deadlifts while still allowing you to deadlift each time and sufficiently train the posterior chain (hams, glutes, etc.).

      A second option would be to stick with the original setup, but reduce the volume a little on the deadlifts. So maybe 2×8-10 instead of 3×8-10. Or even 2-3×5 instead of 3×8-10. Or maybe even as low as 1×5 like in Starting Strength.

18. Oh ok..Thanks alot for your help..I will keep you updated on my level of progression. 🙂

19. What do you think about locking out your elbows at bench press top? (or any other movement; ex. squats)
    Does it depend on your goal type? Like not locking out for hypertrophy to maintain tension on target muscles? Or vice versa: do lockout for pure strenght development?

    • Not locking out or even just not pausing at the top or bottom of a rep for the purpose of keeping constant tension on the muscle(s) makes WAY more sense with isolation movements.

      With compounds, I’d much rather see everyone but the VERY advanced just focus on getting stronger.

20. Hey!

    I have been looking for ages for a workout routine that would suit my schedule and I think I have most definitely found it! 🙂

    I plan on doing the 4 day Upper/Lower Body split, starting today, but I had a question regarding it. For the next two months I will be away almost every weekend leaving on Fridays around lunch time, and returning Sunday nights. Looking at the schedule, this means I wouldnt have time for Lowerbody Workout B?

    I am personally not too bothered as I have always had a pretty “in-shape” lower body from sports including football, etc. I am more focused on increasing muscle/size on my Upper Body. Is it okay if I skip Lower Body B then for the next two months and then add it in once I stop travelling? Or will it impede my overall development?

    Thanks!

    • Well, you have 2 options. You can do the 3 day upper/lower split on something like Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.

      Or, you can do what you said, which is drop the second lower body workout. In that case, the only thing that would truly suffer is your leg development, and that doesn’t really sound like a problem for you as you’re already fairly happy with your legs anyway and are more interested in your upper body… especially since it’s only for a short term amount of time.

      I would however adjust Lower Body A to be something along the lines of Squats 3×6-8, RDLs 3×6-8, Leg Press 2×10-12, Leg Curls 2×10-12, and then Calves and Abs.

      • Perfect, thanks!

        I plan on sticking to your workout till at least December so I shall let you know how it goes! 🙂

        • Definitely looking forward to hearing it!

21. Hi, I have a question. I’m not a gym type of person at all. Working out at home works for me. I mainly exercise at home using DVD’s such as Jackie Warner: Xtreme Time Saver and Julian Michaels: 30 Day Shred. Both are no longer than 35 minutes of Cardio and weight training. What are your thoughts/opinions on exercise DVDs?

    BTW, I am a big fan of your blogs. I’ve been following you since you began. I’m really happy to see how far you have come. You are smart and witty. And success was inevitable. Congratulations!

    • I left off Yoga and Pilates DVDs……

      • First, thanks for the feedback and compliments. Definitely appreciated.

        Second, what are you goals? If it’s just burning some calories for the purpose of fat loss, then pretty much anything that gets you moving is useful to some extent. Of course, your diet has to support the goal of fat loss as well otherwise no amount or type of exercise will make a difference.

        Regarding those DVDs, it’s honestly impossible for me to give a real opinion on any DVD without actually seeing it, so all I can really do here is just guess and make assumptions. So, here goes…

        In terms of cardio, steady state cardio is steady state cardio. Whether it’s jogging, riding a bike, jumping rope, skating, swimming, dancing or whatever else, it all burns an almost identical number of calories when the same intensity is used. So, as long as the cardio isn’t anything stupid… it’s probably fine as far as typical steady state cardio goes.

        The weight training on the other hand, if I had to guess, is probably crap. Again this is just an assumption, but I’m thinking it’s probably the usual high rep, light weight “toning” and “sculpting” type nonsense that comprises most workouts geared toward women.

        I explain this in detail here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/workout-routines-for-women/

        And here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/muscle-tone/

22. I’m mainly looking to lose weight. Not a lot. Roughly about ten pounds. I’ve been losing and gaining this same ten pounds for as long as I can remember. I’m going to try your method in hopes that it cure me from my insane dieting habits. 🙂

    Thanks a lot for your feedback.

    • Sounds like you just need a consistent caloric deficit (via diet is always my first choice, but cardio can be used as well), and then you just need to maintain a certain calorie intake/expenditure once the 10lbs comes off in order to ensure it stays off permanently this time.

      The diet guide covers all of this in way more detail: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/

      And obviously a solid weight training routine (the opposite of the silly “toning” workouts I mentioned) will certainly help as well.

23. We need some guru bashing and we need it now! We would love to see you pick apart what is true and what is just utter B.S. by some of the most well known internet fitness gurus.
    Mark Sisson
    Tom Venuto
    Jeff Anderson
    Craig Ballantyne
    John romaniello
    Jillian Moore
    Vic Magary

    • Proper bridge-burning guru bashing takes time. Soon my friend, all who deserve it shall be bashed accordingly.

      And if you can ignore the fact that his sales/marketing methods are in line with typical fitness guru crap, Tom Venuto definitely doesn’t belong on that list.

      He’s one of the good guys.

24. And is it fine to do this three times a week?

    • Sorry my above post didnt go up.

      So basically im 17 years old and have been working out for the past year and stopped recently for a month since school ended. Im really thin as I weigh about 135 and im about 6 foot. Is it fine for me to do this workout:
      1. Bench Press
      2. Seated Cable Rows
      3. Seated Overhead Shoulder Press
      4. Lat Pull-Downs
      5. Triceps Cable Press-Downs
      6. Standing Biceps Curl
      As I read on another link on this site you must hit all 6 upper body parts to maintain balance. Shud I stick with the above one you provided about the ABA BAB beginners one or is mine fine as well 3 times a week. Thanks and also should I be using protein shakes or weight gainer shakes first?

      • What you wrote has no leg exercises of any kind. Any special reason for that? If not, at 6 feet tall 135lbs, squats and deadlifts are your friend.

        My beginner routine would definitely be a better choice in my opinion.

        And even more importantly… a caloric surplus.

        • Thanks for you input, I tried the workout today at my local gym its just that I finished it in about 25 mins and didn’t feel very tired. I felt like I needed to do more. Do you think I should add more weight or just take my time doing the movement so I get the best stretch. Im really looking to make my arms bigger cause I have tone, since my arms are thin, so what do you think is best for me?
          And ill definitely work on my legs now, thanks again.

          • You 17 year olds are bringing back so many fun memories from 10 years ago when I was that same age and thought that same silly shit.

            A dude named def (who also mentioned he was 17) asked an almost identical question in these comments a few weeks ago about “feeling like he needs to do more” (scroll up to see).

            Here’s the same thing I told him…

            “Feeling like you need to do more and actually NEEDING to do more are 2 completely different things.

            Your goal isn’t to blast the crap out of your muscles. Your goal isn’t to feel super sore. Your goal isn’t to get CRaZy PuMP BRo! Your goal isn’t to feel tired and trashed when you’re done.

            Your true goal is to get in, make progress, get out, eat and sleep to support it… and then do it all over again.

            Progression is all you need to care about (especially at this point), and one of the advantages of being a teen as compared to someone older is that you’ll be able to progress a shitload faster and more consistently than everyone else.

            Unless of course you unnecessarily add more to it than you need to be doing, in which case you’ll just be sacrificing progress for the sake of doing as much as you feel like you can/should be doing.”

25. Jillian Moore. Haha I meant Jilliam Michaels.

    Ok Tom Venuto can be taken off the list. This is why we need your input.

26. Quick question, should doing squats for 4 sets of 10 reps count as 40 reps for quads AND hamstrings/glutes since they work out all of those muscles alot, or only counted for quads? and what would be a good calf exercise?

    • That’s a good example of where specific volume recommendations per muscle group get tricky. There is definite overlap between various lower body muscles during exercises like squats, deadlifts, split squats and lunges.

      And then there’s also the fact that some people are just more quad or hamstring dominant during certain exercises than others (for example, my hamstrings/glutes tend to take over more than most people).

      AND THEN there’s little differences like foot width or how far you step out during lunges or how high your feet are on the leg press platform that will also shift focus to some muscle groups more than others.

      So, yeah… it can get complicated trying to pin things down to an exact number of reps. I’d say count 4×10 of squats as 40 reps for quads, not hamstrings. From there, depending on all of the stuff I just mentioned, you may feel like 40 reps for hamstrings are still definitely needed. Someone else may feel like at that point, they need less.

      As for calves, any type of seated or standing calve raise/press is fine.

27. Hi again. Just one quick question:
    What tempo would you recommend for your Upper/Lower hypertrophy routine (will it be different for compound and isolation movements?)? Thanks

    • I don’t really recommend specific tempos, as I feel like counting the EXACT seconds of every step of every rep of every set is just a big distraction that isn’t really serving enough of a beneficial purpose to even bother with in the first place.

      The majority of the time, I simply recommend lowering the weight under control, and exploding on the way up.

      This is almost always true for compound exercises, but with certain isolation movements it would be better to do a little less exploding on the way up.

      • This is what I always did, but I saw a lot of intelligent routines with determinated tempos on some exercises.. so just askin if you prefer anything for your routine. Ty.

28. Thanks Again, you were a great help. Just one last question, how long do you think I should be doing your recommended workout for?

    • Pretty much until it stops working. As long as you’re progressing at a sufficient rate on the most important exercises, just keep riding that routine.

29. When, or should we switch up our workout routines such as exercises? i am doing the upper/lower body splits 3-4 times a week and am wondering if i should switch up the exercises i do once in a while

    • These articles should answer that:

      https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/changing-your-workout-routine-too-often/
      and
      https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/when-why-how-often-should-you-change-your-workout-routine/

      • thanks, didnt see these atfirst haha

30. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4K7LxrI8eo
    True?

    • No time to actually sit through all 10 minutes of that, but what exactly are you asking is true?

      • nevermind, your articles answer that

31. Standing Biceps Cable Curl
    One Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl
    Reverse Cable Curl
    Alternate Hammer Curl

    Triceps Pushdown – Rope Attachment
    Reverse Grip Triceps Pushdown
    Seated Bent-Over One-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension
    Kneeling Cable Triceps Extension

    This is my biceps-triceps workout plan 4×8 rep. I don’t know which one comes first which should come at last. Do I need to switch the order? Also, is there any arm exercise you would recommend to switch any of them?

    • The only thing I would recommend is reading through this guide.

      If you’re doing 4×8 on 8 different arm isolation exercises, you have a shitload to learn.

32. Hey man, I have read through a lot of your stuff and I’m loving it.

    I started lifting about a year ago, but most of the time I was pretty stupid and didn’t know what I was doing. I’ve still managed to make some decent gains over that time though, because when I started my upper body was really weak.

    I looked over your ultimate workout routine and I’m getting excited to start it up once I get back to school and can use a real gym. I’ve got a few questions about it though.

    1. I couldn’t help but notice that two of my favorite exercises were left off: deadlifts and dips. I know you have RDLs and tricep isolation exercises already, but is there a reason I shouldn’t substitute deadlifts for RDLs and do dips for one of the tricep days? Or is there another way I can get these into the workout?

    2. I noticed on your ultimate guide to building muscle on acaloriecounter.com that the workout is slightly different than the workout you have on AWR. The most obvious difference is that you have 4 sets for many exercises on acaloriecounter and only 3 for most of them on AWR. I’m planning on going with the 3 sets, but is there a reason that those are different?

    3. Lastly, I want to do HIIT (sprinting) on wed/sat, so I was planning on switching the workout to Lower/Upper/Rest/Lower/Upper/Rest/Rest. I’m assuming it shouldn’t matter that lower comes first, right? And does it matter which leg exercise is A and which is B as long as I keep it consistent from week to week?

    Thanks for the info, I can’t wait to get back into a real gym and try out this workout.

    • 1. Conventional deadlifts are one of (if not THE) hardest exercises to program because they are really a full body exercise (quads, hams, glutes, lower back, upper back, etc.). And that means they can easily interfere with the training of other muscle groups. RDLs on the other hand are just hams/posterior chain, so they are easy to just program as a primary hamstring exercise without having to worry about any problems arising as a result.

      So yeah, the conventional deadlift is a potentially awesome and useful exercise like any other and can definitely work in many programs. But in this specific one, it just doesn’t fit as well. RDLs do.

      As for dips, I generally don’t recommend them by default because they bother a lot of people’s shoulders (including mine), but they can possibly be worked in. Would you be doing them as a chest exercise (forward lean) or triceps exercise (fully upright)?

      2. Yup, that was actually a separate (yet still fine and effective) routine. Of the two, I’d definitely recommend the one you’ve seen here on AWR.

      3. Doing lower/upper is perfectly fine. Whether or not 2 days of HIIT will still be a problem is another more complicated story that depends on goals, diet and just your individual ability to recovery.

      • Ok, I’ll hold out on deadlifts for a while, but I might be back to ask you about a program that incorporates deadlifts in a few months.

        I like to get an even mix of triceps and chest when doing dips, but for this program I would probably do them for one of the triceps isolation exercises. I have never really had shoulder problems so I’m not too worried about that.

        I don’t think that doing 2 days of HIIT is going to affect my recovery too much, but the reason I’m asking is because I’ve never done an upper/lower split. I would feel weird about not doing some sort of intense cardio a few times a week since I’ve played soccer my whole life. And I figured doing HIIT would be better for maintaining muscle mass than a longer moderate run would.
        How do you mean it will depend on my diet, though? I have really started paying attention to it over the last few months, so I now more or less follow your recommended diet plan for bulking.

        • In that case, if you want to work dips into the program I’d recommend making the following changes to the Upper Body A workout:

          Replace incline dumbbell presses with incline dumbbell flyes.
          Replace the triceps isolation exercise with dips.
          Keep the same set/rep ranges intact for both, or…
          *Optional:* Make the incline flyes 2×8-10 or 2×10-12 (instead of 3×8-10), and make the dips 3×8-12 (instead of 2×10-12).

          If you want to make it more of a chest exercise rather than mostly triceps, then I’d recommend inserting it in place of flat dumbbell presses in the Upper Body B workout. No other changes would need to be made.

          Regarding HIIT, you’d be surprised just how much HIIT can in fact cut into recovery. Each HIIT session is basically the equivalent of another weight training workout in terms of the stress it places on the body and the amount it’s affecting recovery.

33. Hey, Great instructional guide that you’ve prepared, truly unique and useful.
    I’m just starting to weight lift this week and would like your opinion.
    I just turned 17 and weight 140, and am looking to gain weight, while making my body look better (toned) and bigger.
    I’ve read through most of your articles about exercising and have decided to use your sample beginners workout routine, which is… the full body split ABA.
    (ex. A- squats, bench press, rows, triceps press downs, calf raises)
    Do you think this workout will be effective considering I am underweight (skinny) and am looking to not only gain weight but make my body look good (toned and big).
    Give me your feedback whenever you can, and thanks for taking your time to construct this guide.

    • Yup, that beginner’s routine is definitely what I’d recommend. Focus on learning proper form and then just progress consistently. Your body will improve in all that ways you want it too assuming you’re eating right to support it.

34. Also I have some stomach fat that I would like to lose, is doing cardio, say going for a run, right after my workout would be fine? Or what do you think is the best approach cause I want to get abs as well.

    One more thing, I read the sample beginners workout routine and say only for A you had 3 excersises and B only 3 excercises as well. I’ve decided however to use the 5 excercise one youve provided cause I feel I won’t be doing enough with only 3. Would doing 5 excercises in one workout still be as efficient for a beginner, Thanks. (Sorry, I know you have alot to answer)

    • Just “doing cardio” isn’t what’s going to allow fat to be lost while muscle is built. It’s more complicated than that and it’s definitely a topic I’ll be writing about in the future.

      But since you’re a 17 year old beginner who seems mostly interested in gaining weight/building muscle (and at 140lbs… there can’t be much stomach fat to lose in the first place), I’d suggest just focusing on getting stronger on the main lifts, eating just slightly over maintenance, and getting your daily macronutrients (protein, fat, carbs) within their ideal ranges. Good things will definitely happen.

      And yeah, either of the 2 versions of the beginner routine I laid out will be just fine.

      • Thanks this is an exceptional guide with pre, during and post information which I what I was looking for. Thanks so much!

35. So I tried to change the sample routine a bit; to fit my personal needs more. Do rest times make any sense for you? What about overall routine?

    Upper Body A

    A1 Bench Press 3 x 6-8 / 75 <– rest in seconds
    A2 DB Rows 3 x 6-8 / 75
    B1 Inc. DB Press 3 x 8-10 / 60
    B2 Cable Chinups 3 x 8-10 / 60
    C1 Lateral Raise 2 x 10-12 / 45
    C2 DB Triceps 2 x 10-12 / 45
    C3 DB Curls 2 x 10-12 / 45

    Lower Body A (ham dominant)

    A RDL 3 x 6-8 / 120
    B Leg press 3 x 10-12 / 90
    C1 Calf Leg press 2 x 15 / 45
    C2 Hyperextensions 2 x 15 / 45
    C3 Leg raise 2 x 15 / 45

    Upper Body B

    A1 Pull-Ups 3 x MAX / 75
    A2 Military press 3 x 6-8 / 75
    B1 Cable Rows 3 x 8-10 / 60
    B2 DB Bench press 3 x 8-10 / 60
    C1 DB Flyes 2 x 10-12 / 45
    C2 Barbell Curls 2 x 10-12 / 45
    C3 Tri extensions 2 x 10-12 / 45

    Lower Body B (quad dominant)

    A Squats 3 x 6-8 / 180
    B Lunges 3 x 10-12 / 90
    C1 Leg Curls 3 x 10-12 / 45
    C2 Seated Calf 2 x 15 / 45
    C3 Situps 2 x 15 / 45

    • Are you doing upper body A and lower body A all in one day?

      • No, in different days.

    • Looks pretty good.

      And it’s funny that you post this today. You’ll understand why real soon.

36. Hey, so I’ve tried out the sample workout plan for a week and i seem to like it. The only thing im unsure of is like what foods will be best for me to eat.
    Looking at the diet plan article you wrote I figured that I need about 2750 calories a day to maintain a good calorie surplus. Therefore… this means
    135g of protein, 83g of fat and 365g of carbs.
    What foods(just a few) do you recommended is best for me to eat before and after my workout. Thanks again in advance, as I greatly appreciate your help.

    • This question and pretty much every other question you have about your diet is answered here: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/

37. Hey. Thanks so much for the guide and its nutrition sister site. Have both been a great help, and eye openers. – have been following your begginer routine for about 4 months and have seen some great gains compared to any other routines I have tried before, both self-made and created by others. – feel I am now ready to move on to the intermidate routine as my gains have slowed and can’t wait to start – ill keep you updated!

    Few quick questions:
    1. You don’t prescribe any cardio, I am well aware that it is not needed for any kind of muscle building workout and as this is my primary goal I know I don’t need it. However I was a runner in my younger years not doing a session or two a week as part of a workout routine just feels so wrong, especialy as part of my reason for working out is to contribute to overall health and fitness. What would you prescribe in terms of activities, sessions per week, time, and when to do it in terms of cardio, without having to much of a drastic effect on muscle/strength gains?
    2. In relation to nutriton I have been told by many a source to incorprate green tea, or other antioxidant into my daily nutrition. You don’t mention this on either site, so is this a waste of time and money or do you believe in the benifits of it?
    3. I have always experianced pain in my elbows when doing skullcrushers. Unsure of the reason behind it, but what is the best action. Reduce weight but do more reps/sets? Change to another set of cable pushdowns? Another exercise?

    I have many more questions I wanted to ask, but it seems that now I’ve taken the time to ask I can’t remember them!

    Thanks again for the sites, really can not thank you enough.

    Sam – Wales, UK

    • Ahh just thought of another question!

      4.Forearm exercises? Are they worth doing or is the workout they get as part of the other exercises enough for size and tone? If not what exercises would you suggest as well as reps/sets.

      Thanks,

      Sam

    • Glad to hear you liked both sites and that the beginner routine has been working well for you. Definitely keep me updated on your progress!

      1. Cardio is one of those big topics that really needs a couple of articles/an entire guide to cover properly (and it’s already on my to-do list for sure). The short answer is that, if the #1 goal is building muscle, I usually don’t recommend much in the way of cardio. And if I do, it’s usually very low intensity (like walking) done on your off days. But if cardio is part of your overall goal, that changes things in a way that needs more than I can provide in a quick comment. 😉

      2. Some of the health benefits of green tea are real (though still usually exaggerated like the health benefits of EVERY food). But as long as your overall diet is what it should be and you’re eating a good amount of high quality foods (vegetables, fruits, etc.), then you’ll be pretty set in the antioxidant department. Having said that, if you happen to enjoy drinking green tea, then by all means drink the hell out it. It’s perfectly fine.

      3. Skull crushers are an exercise that bother a lot of people’s elbows, so it’s definitely not just you. There are plenty of equally effective triceps exercise you can do that won’t bother your elbows, and my suggestion would be use one of them instead. You can try them with dumbbells (using a grip where your palms face each other) and see if that feels any better. But if not, any other dumbbell or cable extension would be just fine.

      4. Unless you’re training for a sport or activity where forearm strength is a big deal, then direct forearm work really isn’t needed for most people. They get plenty of work during damn near every single exercise you do.

38. Do you reccomend wearing a weightlifting belt on deadlifts/squats? I’m asking because we had an accident in our gym – a guy got hernia while doing cable rows lol

    • ?

39. Do you think doing cardio after my workout is fine?
    I’ve heard from other people in the gym that if your thin (like me) then cardio is actually deconstructive and can slow down the progress of muscle growth. Im not sure if thats exactly what they said, but overall is that true?
    If not, is there any negative side effects of doing cardio while working out.

    • It depends on a bunch of factors, but generally speaking yes, cardio definitely has the potential to hinder muscle growth in 2 ways.

      First, it burns calories, and a caloric surplus is required for building muscle. If cardio is eliminating that surplus or just making it harder for you to get those calories… it can definitely be a BIG problem.

      Second, it cuts into recovery to some degree depending on the exact type and amount being done. For example, HIIT is practically the equivalent of an additional weight training session in terms of the stress being placed on your body, and *excessive* amounts of steady state cardio have been shown to cause muscle loss.

      But if you can consistently make up for the extra calories being burned and limit cardio to a sane duration, frequency and intensity… these problems can be lessened or avoided completely.

      But honestly, unless you have some really good reason, a typical naturally super skinny guy/girl just looking to build muscle shouldn’t even be thinking the word cardio.

      • Basically I workout 3 times a week, and then to end it off i either go on the treadmill or stationary bike for 5-10mins max. It that small enough, cause I’m really just looking to burn off belly fat that I have attained even though im thin.

        • Well honestly, 5 minutes on a treadmill will barely burn 35 calories if you’re lucky, so you’re not really getting much out of that at all.

          Losing fat is a matter of creating a caloric deficit, not just doing a few minutes of cardio a few times a week.

          Future articles will cover all of this (along with wanting to build muscle AND lose fat) in way better detail.

          • great thanks for the help! Its appreciated.

40. If I wear my Ab Ripper 2000 Belt when I do bicep curls, will that help me get long, thin toned muscles, not the big bulky kind, while strengthening my core to spot reduce belly fat?

    • 😀 are u joking

      • For the sake of all humanity, let’s hope he’s joking.

        • August 19, 2011 at 2:30 pm Reply

          Btw, do you reccomend wearing a weightlifting belt on deadlifts/squats? I’m asking because we had an accident in our gym – a guy got hernia while doing cable rows lol

          • Honestly, it depends on the exact situation, as I’m not really JUST for them or against them. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Whatever is best for you, really.

            And I once saw a guy fall off the bench while dumbbell pressing and almost drop a dumbbell on his head. Doesn’t mean everyone should start wearing a helmet to the gym. 😉

41. How do you recommend getting abs, when your trying to gain muscle/gain weight at the same time? Is it possible if you thin, because the only reason my abs dont show is because of the fat layer on top of it, which you probably already know.
    What do you recommend I do to get abs, if im currently weightlifting, or is it a bad decision overall?

    • Too complicated of a question to answer in a comment, but there will definitely be articles that cover this in the future.

42. Yeah I was joking about eh Ab Ripper 2000 Belt.

    On a serious note, If one egg has 185- 213 mg of cholesterol, I am confused if 2 whole eggs 5 days a week is bad for you or not. People like Tom Venuto talk about using egg whites, but then others say a lot of the nutrition is in the yolk. From what I understand the white of an egg has about 3 grams of protein. Why is this considered such an amazing protein source with only 3 grams? Even if you had 3 egg whites that’s 9 grams. What is your position on eggs?

    Another note on Cholesterol,, Whey protein powders tend to have about 30-50 mg cholesterol per scoop. But for some reason some has less than 5 mg. I don’t understand why some have more than others. Also, many When powders have artificial flavors and colors, and it’s hard to know if something so processed like that is good to eat daily.

    Overall good health is what I’m after, so I like to pay attention to these things such as cholesterol and saturated fat intake. I’d like to people’s opinions about this.

    • The typical “avoid the egg yolk” mindset is outdated and wrong for the average healthy person. Eating the whole egg is perfectly fine assuming it fits in line with what your daily calorie and nutrient intake needs to be.

      And the reason the egg white is considered such a good source of protein by certain people is because it’s pretty much JUST protein. No fat, no carbs, no nothing. But yeah, you’d need to eat a lot of them to get the amount of protein contained in a normal serving of chicken or meat.

      If you don’t like the artificial flavors in certain wheys, look for a natural one. There’s plenty of them around (some are even organic).

      Regarding cholesterol intake… for certain people and those with preexisting health issues, it can be an problem and need to be monitored closely. But for the average healthy person, dietary cholesterol will have very little impact on total blood cholesterol.

43. Hi, also when you bench press, should you be arching your back?

    • Yup, you should. Powerlifters will often take that arch to an extreme that most people never need to, but some amount of arch should be there.

44. Great Instructional Guide, I enjoyed and learned alot from reading through this.
    I find maybe you should ad maybe a small article on a few warm up exercises that allow us to get ready to do our main workout, as I find I can never find any information about that. Other than than I think you hit about everything.

    I just have a question about your beginners guide. I’m a teenager and am looking to gain muscle mass, and get bigger. I saw your begineers sample workout routine and think it will work for me. Only quesiton I have is that my chest is the weakest part of my body in which I can probably only bench 15 pounds on each side, while the rest of my body is stronger. Do you think the sample workout 3-day split is still fine for me, will I still see good improvement on my chest?

    • Glad to hear it. And yeah, a general weight training warm up article is on my never ending to-do list.

      Regarding your question, yes… if you’re a beginner, my beginner routine or any of the other similar beginner routines I mentioned (like Start Strength) is definitely what I’d recommend regardless of how much you bench right now.

    • sounds good! thanks for the help.

45. “for certain people and those with preexisting health issues, it can be an problem and need to be monitored closely. But for the average healthy person, dietary cholesterol will have very little impact on total blood cholesterol.”

    Oh really? Can you elaborate on this. I don’t have high cholesterol but I do watch what I eat. So what do we do with eggs on the AWR routine? occasionally or often or 5 egg whites or 2 whole eggs or?

    Thanks Chief!

    • The same thing you do with any food on my recommended diet… ensure it fits within your ideal daily calorie and nutrient intake. If it does, and it’s a food that you actually enjoy and want to eat, then great. If not, then don’t.

      I feel like Alan Aragon has written something specifically about egg yolks not too long ago, but I can’t seem to find it. It’s possible it was in his research review (which I pay for access to), in which case I couldn’t share it.

      But I’m sure if you search for his name and “yolks” or something similar you’ll find something useful somewhere.

46. Hey, I just want to know your input about your sample workout 3-day split. It shows there for 3 sets you should have 2mins of rest in between. However some of my friends who have taken fitness in their highschool years, believe thats to long from experience with their teacher. I would just like to know your input on this matter, is there a reason for an extended duration of rest?

    • I explain the purpose of different rest intervals here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-long-to-rest-between-sets-exercises/

      And just out of curiosity, is there any special reason why you’ve posted comments using 3 different names (Jason, James, and now Levin)?

      • Sorry those are my brothers. My brother had showed us this site since we go to the gym together, and he told us that you could help us with our workouts so yeah lol.
        We just change the names to find out where we last asked u the question.

        • It’s cool… makes sense.

47. First off, thanks. You have compiled a large amount of information here that is very useful. I have been using your routine for muscle building for a couple of weeks ,and I feel that it has helped me out of a rut that I was in. I particularly liked the advice you gave women about “toning “. Keep up the good work.

    • Thanks for the feedback dude… awesome to hear the site has been helpful and the routine has been working well.

48. So I have been doing the beginner split, and although I am getting stronger and gaining muscle, I am not losing any weight. I weigh 175 lbs., am 5’10”, and I have a gut that I just can’t shrink. I have never watched calories before, as it seems like a monumental task to keep track of everything. I have read through your advice.

    2000 calories per day
    175 g protein- 700 Cal
    55 g fat- 500 Cal
    200 g Carb- 800 Cal

    Is this correct?

    My primary goal now is lose fat. Lose the belly! That is #1. If I have no muscle but lose the belly, I will be happy. Of course, muscle is welcome, but primary goal now is lose a gut that seems to not budge!
    Any other advice you could offer me, including how much and what type of Cardio?

    Thank you for your time! This is all very much appreciated!

    Jeremy

    • Weight loss is simply a matter of creating a caloric deficit, and there is nothing about the beginner routine that is designed to create that deficit (it’s designed for building muscle, increasing strength, etc.).

      Which means, if you’re not losing weight and you would like to be, you need to either eat less, burn more, or do both. And yeah… that’s going to mean paying some attention to your daily calorie intake to ensure the deficit is being created consistently.

      Your macronutrient breakdown looks just fine. Try to eat that amount of calories each day and monitor what your weight does. If it’s moving in the right direction at the ideal rate, you’re good. If not, adjust until it does.

49. Thanks for that helpful advice. I’m not sure why you didn’t say the routine burns calories.

    So I found this website and app Myfitnesspal, that has databases of almost every item of food to help keep track of calories. On the app I can even scan something and it will tell me it’s stats.

    So tell me if I get these theories right:
    If I eat less calories then my body needs in a day, it will burn the deficit as fuel, which results in burning fat for fuel.

    If I do cardio or even weight lifting, it burns calories as well, assisting in the process. Compound movements such as squats and bench press, burn a considerable amount of calories.

    The body is able, even in a calorie deficit, to repair damaged muscle from a workout somewhat, so I should be able to gain a bit of muscle, even in a deficit. To build big muscles, I need a calorie surplus.

    Obviously if I worked out while on a calorie deficit, there must be some muscle gain, right?

    I know it is taboo to use words like “toning”, but if a guy works out a lot on a calorie deficit, but not so little that he has no energy and collapses, after some time, wouldn’t we see weight loss with some defined muscles?

    Thanks Chief!

    • I didn’t mention the calorie-burning effects of weight training because A) it is typically minimal in general, B) it is EXTRA minimal with any intelligent low volume beginner routine, and C) this specific routine is just not designed at all for burning calories (like metabolic routines are). Yes, it will still burn some calories for sure, but that is not the intent. The intent is muscle/strength gains.

      If you eat less calories than your body needs, it will burn something else for fuel… fat, muscle or both. If your diet and training is set up properly, only body fat will be used, not muscle.

      If you do cardio and/or weight training or really any physical activity, it burns calories. And yes, that will add to the deficit. But as for squats and bench presses burning “a considerable amount of calories,” that’s not really the case at all.

      In a caloric deficit, most people will NOT be able to build muscle. Fat beginners and steroid users are the main exceptions, but just about everyone else will be training to maintain muscle while losing fat rather than build it. When the fat is lost, then it’s time to switch priorities and work on building muscle (and creating a surplus instead of a deficit) while minimizing fat gains. This is a complicated subject I’ll be writing more about in the future.

      I’m not really sure what you’re asking in the last question, but if you have some muscle and you lose more and more of the fat that is covering that muscle, you’ll gradually appear more and more “toned.”

50. Thanks! This is a tough subject because each person may respond slightly different.
    “When the fat is lost, then it’s time to switch priorities and work on building muscle (and creating a surplus instead of a deficit) while minimizing fat gains.” This is definitely a science.
    At the end, what I was asking was if you are working out in a caloric deficit, why would you not build some muscle? You are breaking down the muscle during the workout, and your body will send the necessary nutrients to the muscles that will make it stronger and bigger, just as in a calorie surplus. Since there are less nutrients going in, I would assume it would not build it nearly half as big as in a calorie surplus. But I can’t see how it wouldn’t build muscle at all.

    I thought it’s been proven that 30 minutes of weight training burns more calories than 30 minutes of average cardio.

    • You wouldn’t build muscle in a deficit because the primary dietary requirement for muscle growth (calories!) just aren’t there. The energy (aka calories) needed to support recovery and synthesize muscle don’t exist. Instead, there is an energy deficit, which is the complete opposite of the environment required for muscle to be built.

      And regarding your last question… my beginner routine is literally 3 sets of 3 exercises in the 8-10 rep range with full rest periods. It will burn some calories, just not very many.

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