This program is the “off season” program Terrence and myself followed in prep for the 2022 season. The main physique focus of this program will be to bring up arms, and overall upper body size, at a slightly faster pace than lower body. Arms, back, chest and calves will all be trained twice over the course of the week. Proximity to failure, as well as volume, were specific to Terrence’s current needs.
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 – Pull
Tuesday – Push
Wednesday – Lower
Thursday – Off
Friday – Push/pull
Saturday – Arms
Sunday – Off
Other split options for consideration:
Legendary recovery:
4 days on, 1 day off
Good recovery:
2 days on, 1 day off
Below average recovery:
1 on, 1 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.
Pull
Single Arm Cable pulldown
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Chest Supported Tbar row
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Chest supported machine Row
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Low back extensions
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
reverse pec dec
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Single arm preacher curls
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Incline Cable Curls
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Ab Mat Crunches (body weight)
Set 1: AMRAP
Set 2: AMRAP
Push
Incline SmIth Chest Press (banded)
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Roller Fly
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
High Incline machine press
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Cuff laterals
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps*
*single drop set
Cable Cross Triceps Extensions
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Dips (BW)
Set 1: AMRAP
Set 2: AMRAP
Leg Raises (body weight)
Set 1: AMRAP
Set 2: AMRAP
Standing Calf Raises
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Lower
Seated Leg Curls
Set 1: 5-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Hack squats (banded)
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Lying Leg Curls
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Leg extensions
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Walking lunges
Set 1: 20 steps total
Set 2: 20 steps total
Push/pull
Ab mat crunches
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Hip loaded calf raise
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 10-12 reps
machine flat press
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
machine pull down
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Rope Seated Pullover
Set 1: 10-12
Set 2: 12-15 reps
Pec Dec
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Arms
Seated cable cross extension
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-12 reps
Single arm preacher
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 10-12 reps
Smith JM Press (banded)
Set 1: 8-10 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Cable neutral grip curls
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
seated overhead rope extensions
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 8-10 reps
Incline DB curls
Set 1: 6-8 reps
Set 2: 6-8 reps
