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Are you willing to drastically modify your body, until it is a master piece? If your willpower leads you to desire an outstanding mark, this is you program. 

Among all this pages, we summarized a whole-year training program, condensing it in six weeks, where you will go from being a weightlifting apprentice to sculpt your own silhouette. You are the piece of rock or wood; we offer you the tools to carve it. Prepare to immediately become a real success story. 

THE PROGRAM

Each week, during six weeks, the program increases its difficulty. After your first week of general adaptation is over, you will follow a divided routine in each of the next weeks: this progression increases the number of exercises and sets performed and boost intensity as it reduces the training frequency of muscular groups. For instance, in the second week, you workout each muscle twice, however, in the fourth week, you just do it once, based on the physical and neurological progress you have acquired in the previous weeks.

This program is focused on strength and size. Sets and repetitions are the daily base of this condensed system. Do not modify it. If you find you can fulfil the prescribed number of sets or you do more than the suggested repetitions, immediately modify the amount of weight. 

WEEK 1 

ENTIRE BODY

(Monday, Wednesday and Friday, or Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday)

Workout all basic muscular groups in each one of the three first week trainings. Rest just a bit between series. Train the upper part in the first place (chest, back, shoulders), then thighs and then arms, finishing the routine with calf and abs. 

 
 

PULLEY PULLS

START UP Standing, facing a high pulley, grabbing a straight bar with prone grip. Slightly bending knees bend front a little bit and place elbows fixed to your sides, moving then your forearms until they are parallel to the floor. Look front, keeping trunk upright and abs tense.

ACTION Squeeze triceps to move the bar towards the floor until your arms are extended. Fully contract those muscles during one second and go back to the starting point in order to repeat as many times as necessary. 

WEEK 2 

ROUTINE DIVIDED IN TWO DAYS

(Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday)

On week 2, increase intensity by doing two exercises per muscular group. Divide your body in two and workout each part twice a week, which allows a good recovering. Join arms and legs together this time. Rest on Wednesday and the whole weekend to recover and be prepared for the third week challenge. 

MONDAY AND THURSDAY TRAINING

 

TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TRAINING

 
 

ROMANIAN DEADLIFT

START UP Standing, holding a bar in front of your thighs with prone grip. Separate feet at hip's width and slightly bend your knees.

ACTION Keeping your chest up, abs tenses and the natural arch of the lower back bend front from the hips, pulling them back until the trunk is parallel to the floor. Keep arms extended and lower the bar almost touching the legs till it reaches the lower part of the tibias, keeping the back flat and head neutral. Squeeze gluteus and femorals to go back to the starting point. Repeat as many times as necessary. 

WEEK 3 

ROUTINE DIVIDED IN 3 DAYS

(MONDAY TO SATURDAY)

On week 3 you will train six times, working out each muscle twice. This week, you have three different trainings; first, the push muscle group; the, the pull group; then legs. Some muscular groups get an additional exercise, and the sets and repetitions alternate to order that increment of time and load. 

MONDAY AND THURSDAY TRAINING

 
 

TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TRAINING

 
 

WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY TRAINING

 
 

SQUAT

START UP In an upright position, standing, holding a bar on the shoulders, feet at hip's width, slightly bending knees and pointing feet out.

ACTION Keeping head neutral, the trunk upright and abs tense, bend your knees and hips to lower the thighs until they are parallel to the floor. Then go up harder, extending knees and hips to the initial point. Repeat as many times as necessary. 

WEEK 4 

ROUTINE DIVIDED IN THREE DAYS

(MONDAY/WEDNESDAY/FRIDAY)

The program is modified this week as we add the concept of working out each muscular group only once a week. If you have worked out accurately the previous weeks, you should be able to manipulate, control and balance weight more than ever, for the neurological progresses achieved. Your mind is now better connected to your muscles. Also here pull and push movements are joined together and separated by three days resting period, because of the increasing volume and intensity. 

TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TRAINING

 
 

WEDNESDAY TRAINING

 

FRIDAY TRAINING

 

BAR ROWING, STANDING

START UP Standing. Feet at shoulder's width, holding a bar on your thighs with extended arms and prone grip. Knees will be slightly bent, abs tense and head front.

ACTION Pull from the bar towards the chin, with elbows high. Keep the bar close to your body, your trunk upright and the natural spine curve. Elbows must be up in the final position and pointing aside. Slowly go down to the starting point and repeat as many times as necessary. 

SEATED ROWING WITH PULLEY

START UP Attach a close grip handle to a low pulley and sit upright on the bench facing the pulley. Place your feet against the platform, slightly bending knees. Bend front to grab the handle as you keep your back flat and the chest high. Pull back until your trunk is upright and arms are extended.

ACTION Pull the handle towards the hips, keeping elbows aside, the trunk upright and head in neutral position as you squeeze your back muscles. Slowly go back to the initial point and repeat as many times as necessary. 

WEEK 5 

ROUTINE DIVIDED IN 4 DAYS

(MONDAY/TUESDAY/THURSDAY/FRIDAY)

Many advanced bodybuilders use this division. It comprises a regime of high intensity of many exercises per group and even more series than the previously done. It also includes several intervals of repetitions, which contributes the implication of several sorts of fibers. 

MONDAY TRAINING

 

TUESDAY TRAINING

 

THURSDAY TRAINING

 

FRIDAY TRAINING

 
 

TRICEPS EXTENSION, LYING

START UP Lying on your back on a flat bench, feet on the ground. A partner will give you a straight bar or a Z bar, which you will hold with prone grip. Hold it with arms extended above your face and slightly backwards.

ACTION Squeeze your biceps as you slowly lower the bar to the high part of your head. When elbows draw a 90 degrees angle, stop for a moment, and strongly go up to the starting point, to repeat this as many times as necessary. 

WEEK 6 

ROUTINE DIVIDED IN SIX DAYS

(MONDAY TO SATURDAY)

Workout each muscle once a week, doing several exercises per muscular group using heavy weights and advanced intensity techniques as tri-sets and supersets. Each muscle has its own training. This means it will not have specific attention until other seven days have past. That is why it is so important to boost intensity in each repetition and set, to obtain major muscular response. You also need to increase the resting periods to assimilate intensity variations. 

MONDAY TRAINING

 

TUESDAY TRAINING

 

WEDNESDAY TRAINING

 

THURSDAY TRAINING

 

FRIDAY TRAINING

 
 

SATURDAY TRAINING

 

PULLEY CROSSOVERS

START UP: Attach D handles to two high pulley cables. Stand in the middle of pulleys and give a short step ahead with one foot. Arms should be slightly bent, at each side and aligned with trunk. Bend front from the hips about 30 degrees, keeping chest upright, abs tense and back flat.

ACTION: Keeping elbows bent, pull the handles to your chest as if you were about to embrace a barrel. When hands are together, squeeze chest and hold it for one moment before slowly going back to the starting point. Repeat as many times as necessary. 

NINE THINGS YOU MUST KNOW 

1. Warm up before training; stretch before.

'Warming up muscles before training is usually missed but crucial for getting max benefits from training', Ernesto Osorio says, CSCS, personal trainer in Houston. 'Before start training, do 5 to 10 minutes of aerobics to increase temperature and prepare for the high-intensity exercise. Then, go on warming up the muscles and articulations which will be involved that day, doing light series of 10 to 20 comfortable repetitions', he says. 'Stretch at the end of training when muscles are already hot, and you have more flexibility; initial stretching can also limit your strength. And don't forget not to cool down until giving back your body its resting state. You can do 5 to 10 minutes of light aerobics for this'. 

2. Breathe well.

'Proper breathing is essential to boost strength as it prevents from dangerous blood pressure raisings', says Jim Romagna, absolute champion of the USA Central NPC 2004. 'The basic rule is taking air during the eccentric faze or negative faze of the repetition, holding it for one moment during the most difficult part of the positive contraction, and exhaling at the end of that repetition', he explains. 

3. Keep the chest upright and the back flat.

Some positions are universal to almost all exercises. 'The back should always be in a stable position which means shoulders must be back and down, chest upright, abs tense and the back keeping its natural curve', he says. 'To assure the correct body alignment in most exercises and to prevent from injuries, this posture should be the same when we lift weight no matter if we are standing, being seated or lying down'. 

4. Regarding the volume of work, size matters.

The number of series we have to do per muscular group depends on those muscles' size. 'The amount of work should be higher with big muscles (legs, chest and back) and lower on the small ones (shoulders and arms)', Jim says. Workout the big muscle groups, which contain more fibers, doing 3 to 4 sets for 3 to 5 exercises. Smaller groups are usually worked out doing 2 to 3 sets of 2 to 4 exercises. 

5. Repetition speed: Controlled and explosive. The eccentric part of the repetition (negative) should be done controlled: The concentric faze should be done explosively. The most important things is moving the maximum weight possible in the most secure way in both directions to involve all possible muscular fibers. Thereafter, you will increase micro trauma, and recuperation and development process. 

6. Repetitions and goals

Depending on your specific goals, it is important to use determinate intervals for repetitions. If you want to get a hypertrophy, choose a weight that let you do 8 to 12 repetitions per set. If strength is your goal, try doing between 4 and 7. You must use a combination of repetitions, but never forget you specific goals. 

7. Machines vs. deadlifts

Both equipments have its pros and cons, so you don't have to use just one. 'Beginners with problems to balance weight have better results with machines since they let them learn the movements without the risk of injuries' they explain. 'The disadvantage is not every machine can be adapted to different biotypes, and the path interval, direction and angle can limit the general stimulation, including the stabilizing muscles and the middle section, traditionally involved in the free weight training'. Weights provide a higher training, especially for advanced bodybuilders, since free weights are adaptable because they have to be placed and directed according to your own biomechanics, increasing as a consequence the muscle recruit. 

8. Intensity is the key

You won't be able to truly progress in strength and development without giving the best from you. You have to give yourself in each set. If you stop in the tenth repetition when you can do 15, you are not training hard or you should have done 5 more repetitions. In fact, Jimmy Peña, MS CSCS, considers that's not a real set. 'An authentic bodybuilder's set is when you can't do a single repetition extra, unless you are an advanced athlete and you are doing tri-sets, or you strictly work for strength and power', he explains. 

9. Do compound and heaviest exercises at the beginning of training

'When you are a beginner, it is a good idea to do multiarticular exercises at the beginning of training since they involve a higher quantity of muscular mass, as squats, bench press, deadlifts', he explains. 'You can't think of using heavy weights at the end of training, when you are already tired. Use them at the beginning, once you finish warming up, when you are stronger'. You can also do isolation exercises at first to tire in advance the muscles which will workout with heavy load, but generally start your day with squats and not doing extensions.