This program is designed for figure competitors (or anyone that wants to look like a figure competitor/action figure/super hero). The first priority for the program is to create the most dramatic v-taper or X-frame possible. Shoulders as wide as possible, with “capped” delts, and a wide back. Waist as small as possible. And quads as big and “sweepy” as possible.
The program has maximum emphasis on quads, delts and upper back. Every body part is still trained, there is just more frequency and volume allocated to those priority body parts.
As for every program, feel free to adjust variables slightly as needed. The base metric of “1 REP” is not well established in “research”, and can vary largely from individual to individual. So feel free to make slight adjustments to the program’s prescribed: Rep ranges, Number of working sets, and Proximity to Failure (RIR). Anyone that argues any of these variables down to the single metric of measure as definitively “the best”, has spent too much time on social media, and too little time applying training to actual humans. In addition, every individual brings large differences to the table as far as “outside the gym” variables: nutrition, sleep, stress, etc. So while I’m confident this program provides epic guidelines and a great place to start, you are ultimately your own study of 1. So feel free to experiment a bit.
Also, with exercise selection I always follow one of my main, guiding training principles of: As little as possible to produce maximal results. That said, there is no exact cut off point for the number of exercises per workout. So if you want to add an exercise or even two to any given workout, same as the advice I give above… try it out, measure progress and adjust accordingly. Lastly, exercise selection is based on what I feel has the most evidence for being effective long-term, but for any single exercise on the program, there are always other options that can accomplish the same goal similarly. So feel free to swap exercises based on preference, or if you need a recommendation get in the forums.
Rest: 90 seconds – 3 minutes before working sets
RIR: 0-2
Suggested split structure:
Monday – Lower
Tuesday – Upper
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – Quad
Friday – Back/biceps
Saturday – Delts/triceps
Sunday – Off
*These are still just suggestions. There is no right or wrong option here. You can also make this work with any schedule. Whenever you train, just pick right up on the next session. Hypothetically, if you’re ever sick, rundown, excessively busy, stressed or just have a moment of laziness and train less days than the suggested split, no worries at all just pick back up right where you left off. At the same time if you are recovering like a robot, or just absolutely love training more often than the suggested split, have added it. Don’t let anyone, myself included, limit how much you love the train, or make you feel guilty for missing a session. Long-term consistency and adherence are.
Lower
seated leg curls
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 5-8 reps
Set 3: 8-10 reps
quad dominant heel elevated squat
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 6-8 reps
Barbell Thrusts
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Set 3: 10-12 reps
RDLs
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 6-8 reps
Leg Press (hip dominant)
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Set 3: 10-12 reps
Upper
Lying cuff lateral raises
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Set 3: 12-15 reps
wide pull-ups (upper back)
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 6-8 reps
Set 3: 6-8 reps
Chest supported machine row
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Set 3: 10-12 reps
rack military press
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Set 3: 10-12 reps
single-arm cable pulldown
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
cable rear delts
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
hip loaded calf raises
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
ab mat crunches
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Quads
Hack Squats (banded)
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 10-12 reps
leg extensions
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Set 3: 8-10 reps
lying leg curls
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 6-8 reps
Set 3: 6-8 reps
rear foot elevated split squats
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Set 3: 10-12 reps
Prowler
Set 1: 40-60 seconds
Set 2: 40-60 seconds
Back and biceps
Neutral grip pull ups
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 6-8 reps
Set 3: 6-8 reps
chest supported DB rows
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Rack chins
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
tbar rows
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
machine preacher curls
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Incline DB curls
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Delts/chest/triceps
Lying cuff lateral raises
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Set 3: 15-20 reps
reverse pec dec
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Set 3: 10-12 reps
machine shoulder press
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
roller cable fly
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
cross-cable triceps extensions
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Set 3: 10-12 reps
dips
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Seated calf raise
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
hanging leg raises
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
