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The program below is best suited for those who are already familiar with Ian's work here at T-mag. It's not because the program is all that advanced, but because the newbie may not recognize all the exercises listed or Ian's unique method of putting them together. If that's the case, you may want to read Part I and Part II of our article called "The Ian King Cheat Sheets". If you're not familiar with some of the exercises listed or need a reminder, simply type the name of the movement into the search engine on the left and you'll soon find a description and probably a picture of the exercise. Most of the abdominal exercises can be found in Ian's Awesome Abs program. Likewise, many of the relatively obscure leg movements can be found in Parts I and II of Ian's "12 Weeks of Pain" Program.
Dear Ian, I find myself in a situation where I can only make it to the gym once every three to four days. I plan on doing full body workouts but have no idea how to set this up in terms of sets, overall volume, and exercises. Can you help me out? What are the concerns here? Can you provide a program? My goal is mainly hypertrophy. Thanks! A Busy Guy I get practically the same letter every week. A devout trainee gets himself into a situation where he has a very limited amount of gym time. Not being able to train four or five days per week, he begins to panic and swears he can see his muscles beginning to catabolize before his very eyes. Well, his muscles aren't wasting away, of course, and believe it or not, I think this is a great situation to be in! Reduced frequency will likely reduce the risk of overtraining. In reality, many people should only be going to the gym with this frequency anyway, either because they train with such volume that they would need this reduced training frequency to really recover, or because they have reduced recovery ability (from getting older, getting less sleep, being more stressed out, etc.) You can do full body workouts, but don't believe you have to! This is a decision in itself. Sometimes you should, sometimes you shouldn't. This is because there are some downsides to total-body workouts. Mainly, as these relate to this situation, the muscle groups trained last are always compromised because of residual fatigue. Additionally, if you want to avoid excessive volume, you have to reduce the number of sets per muscle group and some muscles may need more volume within a given workout. The whole aim of split routines is to give more muscles the opportunity to be prioritized in training. They're prioritized by being performed earlier in the sequence and by taking up a larger part of the total workout. Remember this: it's not a given that any or all of your muscles really need multiple weekly exposures. I'm not saying they don't, mind you, just reminding you to qualify whether they do! Now, without knowing which of these two options (full body or split) would be best for the individual, I'm going to show you a neat way to get the best of both methods in the same way I go about alternating between all pull/all push workouts and mixed push/pull workouts. Another consideration I give when reviewing exercise selection in a total-body workout is the number of exercises per muscle group. Less exercises per muscle group allow higher intensity (due to the inverse relationship between volume and intensity), but more exercises per muscle group allow more joint/muscle angles to be overloaded. Again, in my illustration below I can show you how to get the best of a mix of methods over time. In essence, you're going to get about two workouts per calendar week which would look something like this: Day 1: Day 2: Off Day 3: Off Day 4: Day 5: Off Day 6: Off Day 7: Off I'm going to use a six-stage approach in this example, but you could use more or less based on your needs. How long should each stage be? Basically, shorter phases should be adopted by the more advanced lifter (two weeks per stage) and longer phases for the less experienced lifter (four weeks per stage). Just keep in mind that I'd expect you to build in recovery weeks in the six stages below. Here's how we'll schedule this program: Stage 1: Total Body Workout Stage 2: Split Routine Stage 3: Total Body Workout Stage 4: Split Routine Stage 5: Total Body Workout Stage 6: Split Routine Within the total-body workouts, I'm going to use the two main approaches I mentioned above — more variation in angle overload and less volume per exercise; and less variation in overload and more volume per exercise. Within the split-routine workouts, I'm going to use the two main approaches I mentioned above: separating push/pull and then integrating push/pull. So here we go, a six-stage workout for those who get to the gym less often!
First let's cover the loading parameters. Generally speaking, I'd expect the loading parameters to run something like the following: Stage 1 Number of exercises: 12 Number of work sets per exercise: 1 Average number of reps per work set: 12-15 Average speed of movement (tempo): 321 Average rest period between sets: Less than one minute Stage 2 Number of exercises: 8 Number of work sets per exercise: 1-2 Average number of reps per work set: 10-12 Average speed of movement (tempo): 321 Average rest period between sets: 1-2 minutes Stage 3 Number of exercises: 10 Number of work sets per exercise: 1 Average number of reps per work set: 8-10 Average speed of movement (tempo): 311 Average rest period between sets: 2-3 minutes Stage 4 Number of exercises: 6 Number of work sets per exercise: 2 Average number of reps per work set: 6-8 Average speed of movement (tempo): 311 Average rest period between sets: 3-4 minutes Stage 5 Number of exercises: 4 Number of work sets per exercise: 2-4 Average number of reps per work set: 4-6 Average speed of movement (tempo): 211 Average rest period between sets: 4-5 minutes Stage 6 Number of exercises: 3 Number of work sets per exercise: 3-6 Average number of reps per work set: 2-4 Average speed of movement (tempo): 211 Average rest period between sets: 5-6 minutes
Below is a list of exercises to use in each stage and in each of the twice weekly workouts (A and B). Using stage one below as an example, on "A" day you'll perform thin tummy variations for the lower abs. A few days later on workout "B", you'll perform slow speed curl ups for the upper abs. Workout A Muscle Group: Lower abs Exercise: Thin tummy variations Muscle Group: Lateral abs Exercise: Side raise on ground Muscle Group: Calves Exercise: Single leg calf press Muscle Group: Upper traps Exercise: Dumbbell shrugs Muscle Group: Lower back Exercise: Single leg back extension Muscle Group: Glutes Exercise: Single leg lying hip/thigh extension Muscle Group: Hamstrings Exercise: Single leg stiff legged deadlift Muscle Group: Quads Exercise: Single leg partial range squat Muscle Group: Vertical pull Exercise: Wide grip lat pulldown behind neck Muscle Group: Vertical push Exercise: Arnold press Muscle Group: Horizontal pull Exercise: Prone dumbbell row Muscle Group: Horizontal push Exercise: Dumbbell incline bench press
Muscle Group: Upper abs Exercise: Slow speed curl up Muscle Group: Rotational abs Exercise: Unanchored Russian twist Muscle Group: Biceps Exercise: Zottman single arm curl on preacher bench Muscle Group: Triceps Exercise: Dumbbell seated overhead tricep extension Muscle Group: Horizontal pull Exercise: Prone fly Muscle Group: Horizontal push Exercise: Supine fly Muscle Group: Vertical pull Exercise: Dumbbell pullover Muscle Group: Vertical push Exercise: Lateral dumbbell raise Muscle Group: Hamstrings Exercise: Leg curl Muscle Group: Quads Exercise: Leg extension Muscle Group: Lower back Exercise: Rounded back good morning (using both legs) Muscle Group: Glutes Exercise: Sumo deadlift
Workout A Muscle Group: Lower abs Exercise: Toes to sky Muscle Group: Lateral abs Exercise: Side raise on Roman chair Muscle Group: Posterior lower body Exercise: Wide grip deadlift Muscle Group: Posterior lower body Exercise: Wide grip stiff leg deadlift Muscle Group: Posterior lower body Exercise: Wide grip barbell shrugs (with bar held behind the back) Muscle Group: Horizontal pull Exercise: Seated row Muscle Group: Vertical pull Exercise: Wide grip chin-up Muscle Group: Biceps Exercise: Reverse grip EZ bar curl
Muscle Group: Upper abs Exercise: Normal speed curl up Muscle Group: Rotational abs Exercise: Lateral rotation of legs, lying on back Muscle Group: Horizontal push Exercise: Wide grip bench press Muscle Group: Vertical push Exercise: Wide grip, behind the neck shoulder press Muscle Group: Triceps Exercise: Lying triceps extension Muscle Group: Anterior lower body Exercise: High bar squat, narrow stance Muscle Group: Anterior lower body Exercise: Dynamic lunge Muscle Group: Calves Exercise: Standing calf press (using both legs)
Workout A Muscle Group: Horizontal pull Exercise: Bent over row Muscle Group: Horizontal push Exercise: Medium grip bench press Muscle Group: Vertical pull Exercise: Medium grip chin-up Muscle Group: Vertical push Exercise: Medium grip shoulder press, behind the neck Muscle Group: Posterior lower body Exercise: Medium grip deadlift Muscle Group: Anterior lower body Exercise: Front squat Muscle Group: Lower back Exercise: Loaded back extension Muscle Group: Calves Exercise: Seated raise Muscle Group: Lower abs Exercise: Knee up on incline Muscle Group: Lateral abs Exercise: Side raises with a twist on Roman chair
Muscle Group: Anterior lower body Exercise: Back squat, medium bar, medium stance Muscle Group: Posterior lower body Exercise: Medium grip stiff leg deadlift Muscle Group: Glutes/Hamstrings Exercise: Loaded hip/thigh extension Muscle Group: Upper traps Exercise: Medium grip front shrug with bar Muscle Group: Vertical push Exercise: Front shoulder press Muscle Group: Vertical pull Exercise: Lat pulldown to front using triangle bar Muscle Group: Horizontal push Exercise: Incline bench press Muscle Group: Horizontal pull Exercise: Underhand seated row Muscle Group: Upper abs Exercise: Weighted curl up Muscle Group: Rotational abs Exercise: Anchored Russian twist with load
Workout A Muscle Group: Horizontal push Exercise: Medium grip bench press with arch Muscle Group: Horizontal pull Exercise: Medium grip bent over row Muscle Group: Calves Exercise: Seated calf press Muscle Group: Upper traps Exercise: Speed shrug from above the knees Muscle Group: Lower abs Exercise: Knee up on vertical Muscle Group: Lateral abs Exercise: Loaded side raise with twist on Roman chair
Muscle Group: Anterior lower body Exercise: Squat, medium bar, medium stance Muscle Group: Posterior lower body Exercise: Medium grip deadlift Muscle Group: Vertical pull Exercise: Medium grip chin-up Muscle Group: Vertical push Exercise: Shoulder press, medium grip, behind neck Muscle Group: Upper abs Exercise: Medicine ball sit-up Muscle Group: Rotational abs Exercise: Medicine ball leg lateral lowers
Workout A Muscle Group: Anterior lower body Exercise: Back squat, low bar, medium stance Muscle Group: Horizontal push Exercise: Medium grip bench press Muscle Group: Horizontal pull Exercise: Bent over row with underhand grip Muscle Group: Integrated abs Exercise: Wrist to knee curl up
Workout B
Muscle Group: Vertical pull Exercise: Chin up, reverse grip Muscle Group: Vertical push Exercise: Shoulder press, medium grip, behind the neck Muscle Group: Posterior lower body Exercise: Medium grip deadlift Muscle Group: Integrated abs Exercise: Knee up on Swiss ball Workout A Muscle Group: Horizontal push Exercise: Medium grip bench press with arch Muscle Group: Vertical pull Exercise: Chin-up, reverse grip Muscle Group: Integrated abs Exercise: Full V-sit ups
Muscle Group: Anterior lower body Exercise: Squat, low bar, medium stance Muscle Group: Posterior lower body Exercise: Medium grip deadlift Muscle Group: Integrated abs Exercise: Push-up hold and variations
Let me make a prediction. You're going to get the same benefits from this program as the average person who goes to the gym more often. You might even get greater benefits! In fact, because it's such a fine program, you may surprise yourself with your growth! Don't believe you can make more progress by spending less time in the gym? Give it a try and find out for yourself.
Note: For more of Ian's training philosophies, read his books Get Buffed! and How to Write Strength Training Programs available at www.getbuffed.net and KingSports.net.
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