When I say “build your ideal body” I’m referring to a natural, athletic, healthy, human form. Its up to you how lean or muscular you want to look, and how large you want certain muscles to be, but achieving that look in an efficient time frame all boils down to these 3 steps.
- Body Recomposition
- Strength Training
- Hypertrophy Specific Training
For the specifics on how to do this, keep reading below.
Step 1 - The Cutting Phase
The cutting phase is just a simple and sexy way of saying body recomposition phase. I have to make it clear that I am not advocating for cutting in the traditional sense of weight loss. The goal is specifically to reduce BODY FAT not just any ol’ weight loss. You don’t want to lose a lot of weight, but not really lose much body fat because that’s how you end up in the skinny fat category. If you already are in the skinny fat category, give this article a look here.
The cutting phase should be a hypertrophy specific style of training. This style of training will get you to build muscle as you reduce body fat. This is important for building that ideal body you want, fast! In my experience, clients have been able to drop 4-6% body fat in 4 weeks in this phase. Clients who need to lose a lot of weight, lose and average 6-8 lbs a week. Here’s some examples of what that would look like.
4 Week Routine
Day 1
Goblet Squat
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Stiff Leg Deadlift
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Walking Lunges
1 set x 100 reps
Open To Close Hollow
3 sets x AMRAP
Day 2
Barbell Row
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Lat Pull Down
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Chest Press
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Shoulder Press
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Day 3
Goblet Squat
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Stiff Leg Deadlift
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Walking Lunges
1 set x 100 reps
Open To Close Hollow
3 sets x AMRAP
Day 4
Barbell Row
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Lat Pull Down
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Chest Press
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
Shoulder Press
3 sets x 10 rep min – 20 rep max
- Start with a weight you can do a maximum of 20 reps with
- Increase the weight by 5-10% each set
- Do as many reps as possible (AMRAP) on each set, with a minimum of 10 reps each set
- Rest for 60-90 seconds in between each set
Step 2 - The Strength Phase
After you’ve completed the cutting phase and have dropped a considerable amount of body fat, you should start a strength training program. Even if your goal may not necessarily be to get as strong as possible, this is still a key phase in reaching your ideal body. There are 3 main things that your strength phase should achieve.
- Develop a good foundation of strength
- Improve your strength capabilities
- Accurately quantify your strength
This style of training focuses on a much lower amount of reps, but the weight will be considerably higher. Each training day should revolve around the main compound lifts such as the barbell squat, deadlift, bench, overhead press, and row. This type of training will also get you to increase muscle mass and drop body fat as well even though those are not the primary focuses here.
Here’s an example of what this type of training routine would look like.
4 Week Routine
Day 1
Barbell Deadlift
4 sets x 8 reps (last set AMRAP)
Barbell Back Squat
4 sets x 8 reps (last set AMRAP)
Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat
3 sets x 12 reps per side (last set AMRAP)
Supine Leg Raise Arc
4 sets x AMRAP
Day 2
Barbell Row
4 sets x 8 reps (last set AMRAP)
Barbell Bench Press
4 sets x 8 reps (last set AMRAP)
Dumbbell Incline Press
3 sets x 12 reps (last set AMRAP)
Barbell Bicep Curl
4 sets x 12 reps (last set AMRAP)
Day 3
Barbell Overhead Press
4 sets x 8 reps (last set AMRAP)
Pull Up
4 sets x AMRAP
Dumbbell S. Arm Row
4 sets x 12 reps per side (last set AMRAP)
Prone External Knee Tuck
4 sets x AMRAP
- Start with a weight you can only do 12 reps with
- Increase the weight by 5-10% each set
- Do as many reps as possible on the last set
- rest for 2 minutes in between each set
- Increase the weight each week by 5-10% each week
- Decrease the amount of default reps each week by 2 reps
- Cut the amount you lift by 30-50% on week 4 to deload
Document all sets and reps and weight you used throughout this process. Week 3 will be the toughest week where you lift the most weight. To calculate your new one rep maxes, download an app called 1 Rep Max on your phone. Input the heaviest weight you did and how many reps you completed. The app will do the calculations for you.
Step 3 - The Mass Phase
The key focus in this phase is filling out your frame by building new lean muscle mass. For guys this would be a concentration on developing the back, chest, shoulders, arms, and thighs. For women the concentration would be on developing the lower body with an emphasis on glutes and hamstrings.
This training phase requires a hypertrophy specific program where the amount of sets and/or reps increase over time. The weight should be around 65% of your 1 rep max (1RM). You should be able to calculate your 1RM and percentages using the data from your strength phase. Ideally, you’d target each muscle group 2-4 times per week in order to fully maximize results. An effective training split for this could be full body, or an upper lower training split.
Here’s some examples.
4 Week Routine (Men's)
Day 1 (Lower body)
Barbell Squat
5 sets x 8 reps
Barbell Deadlift
4 sets x 8 reps
Dumbbell Reverse Lunge
4 sets x 8 reps
Alternating Crossbody Jack Knife
3 sets x AMRAP
Day 2 (Upper body)
Barbell Row
5 sets x 8 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press
5 sets x 8 reps
Pull Up
4 sets x AMRAP
Barbell Curl
4 sets x 8 reps
Day 3 (Lower body)
Barbell Squat
5 sets x 8 reps
Barbell Deadlift
4 sets x 8 reps
Dumbbell Reverse Lunge
4 sets x 8 reps
Alternating Crossbody Jack Knife
3 sets x AMRAP
Day 4 (Upper body)
Barbell Row
5 sets x 8 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press
5 sets x 8 reps
Pull Up
4 sets x AMRAP
Barbell Curl
4 sets x 8 reps
4 Week Routine (Women's)
Day 1
Barbell Squat
5 sets x 8 reps
Barbell Hip Bridge
4 sets x 12 reps
Dumbbell Reverse Lunge
4 sets x 8 reps per side
Alternating Crossbody Jack Knife
3 sets x AMRAP
Day 2
Barbell Deadlift
5 sets x 8 reps
Barbell Hip Bridge
4 sets x 12 reps
Close Grip Pull Up
4 sets x AMRAP
Dumbbell Chest Press
4 sets x 8 reps
Day 3
Barbell Squat
5 sets x 8 reps
Barbell Hip Bridge
4 sets x 12 reps
Dumbbell Reverse Lunge
4 sets x 8 reps per side
Crossbody Jack Knife
3 sets x AMRAP
Day 4
Barbell Deadlift
5 sets x 8 reps
Barbell Hip Bridge
4 sets x 12 reps
Close Grip Pull Up
4 sets x AMRAP
Dumbbell Chest Press
4 sets x 8 reps
- Start with 65% of your 1 rep max
- Add 1-2 reps to each set every week for 3 weeks
- rest for 90 seconds – 2 minutes
- Cut the amount of reps down by 30% on week 4 to deload
Phase Duration
The length of each phase depends on what your goals are, and what your level of fitness is. Typically the cutting phase could take anywhere from 8-12 weeks. The strength phase can be done 4-8 weeks at a time and the mass phase can be run continuously over a period of 3-6 months. Do your best to maintain a low body fat percentage throughout the mass phase in order to avoid frequent cutting phases.
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