12 Week Primal Shred Lean Muscle Building Program Overview
Build Muscle And Say Goodbye To Fat
Lean muscle tissue is inherently helpful at promoting fat loss. The reason is, that muscle itself is calorie-hungry. Each pound of muscle you add to your frame burns up to 10 extra calories per day. This may not sound like much, but it is the best long-term strategy to burn fat and keep it off. Also, keep in mind that these are extra calories your body is burning throughout the day.
Each Reverse Pyramid Training HIIT workout you complete also burns calories, and with the added cardio exercises between sets, three days a week, you have the recipe for burning body fat as quickly and efficiently as possible while packing on lean muscle. When it comes to nutrition and weight loss, we will be using Intermittent Fasting.
On this program, fat loss is taken care of from intermittent fasting and eating below maintenance-level calories. Look at intermittent fasting as your cardio. This will enable you to focus most of your energy and effort on lifting, "heavy shit", building muscle and getting strong. Our goal is to make sure you are losing fat while maintaining and growing muscle.
This program is based on five essential components: Minimalism, Intermittent Fasting, Workout 3 Days A Week, No Cardio to Little Cardio and Recovery
What Is Minimalism?
Minimalism is about getting rid of the things that don’t matter so we can focus on the things that do. In this program you will be adopting a minimalist lifestyle.
Fitness can be complicated. But there is a way to simplify your workouts. Taking a minimalist approach to fitness allows you to focus on the basics for maintaining fitness and wellness. With this mindset, you can rest easy that you do not need to invest in a special workout or product. Gimmicks are just clutter. The basics are enough to get you that chiseled physique and keep you healthy.
When tasks are complicated, it is easy to procrastinate or put it off all together. Making things simple means you are more likely to stick with the routine on a consistent basis.
Also, don’t mistake simple for laziness. It's all about training with purpose for a purpose. As the convenience of the minimalist approach sinks in, you will see the advantages of simplicity and abandoning complicated or long workouts. With these basic guidelines, you too, can be a fitness minimalist. You can become a fitness minimalist by making the most of your workouts and performing the most impactful exercises. We will keep your workouts simple and attainable, yet physically challenging. When you feel confident in your workout, you are more likely to be consistent, which is key to creating and maintaining optimal health and fitness.
Workout Philosophy Strategies
Here are the three essential components we will include in your minimalist workouts: mobility, strength and cardio. Cardio and strength training is mixed together in reverse pyramid training, standard pyramid training, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), circuit training, supersets or other interval-type workouts. As a minimalist, we will focus on exercises that utilize big muscle groups to increase metabolic demand and functional fitness. Exercises such as squats, push-ups, bench press are a mainstay, while small-muscle exercises such as biceps curls and calf raises are less crucial. Lifting, pushing and pulling things as you would in daily life are the movements highlighted in these workouts, so no special equipment required. Performing these movements in training will help you perform these activities with more vigor and confidence in everyday life.
In general, we will be doing no cardio to little cardio on your rest days. There is an option to perform short 20 minute intense HIIT workouts, if you prefer 4-5 days of workouts. Keep it short and sweet, because remember it’s your recovery day and don’t want it to effect your next heavy lifting day. The minimalist approach fits great within these guidelines, with a focus on the most demanding or impactful exercises. Simply put, if you work harder and smarter, you can decrease the time you spend in the gym and still achieve amazing results.
Your minimalist workout should include a few minutes of preparatory or warm-up movements. To start, perform dynamic stretching that mimics the movements in your planned workout. This portion of your workout need not be extensive, but can make a big difference in the quality of your workout as a whole. It also allows for mental preparation and focus.
When it comes to strength training, we will take the full-body training approach to fitness. perform large muscle, functional-type exercises. We will focus primarily on the five major movements. For example, pushing exercises like push-ups and overhead presses; pulling exercises such as bent-over rows and pull-ups; bend-and-lift exercises such as dead lifts; rotation exercises such as wood chops; and compound movements like squats. You will perform all of these major movements in one workout every other day, three times a week.
We’ll be using a few simple but effective strategies in this program:
1-Reverse Pyramid Training (RPT) is a training style in which the first set of a given exercise is performed with the heaviest weight. Each subsequent set is performed with a lighter weight but for higher reps.
Here’s an example of Reverse Pyramid Training in action:
➡️Set 1: 4 reps x 225 lbs
➡️Set 2: 6 reps x 205 lbs
➡️Set 3: 8 reps x 185 lbs
Typically, each subsequent set is 8-10% lighter than the previous one.
2-Standard Pyramid Training (SPT) is a training style is about increasing the weight and decreasing the reps for each set, is how the standard pyramid works. Adjust the weights (dumbbells, barbell, etc.), set them in a sequence you are planning to do them.
Here’s an example of Standard Pyramid Training in action:
➡️Set 1: 30 lbs x 12 repetitions
➡️Set 2: 40 lbs x 10 repetitions
➡️Set 3: 50 lbs x 8 repetitions
3-High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
HIIT refers to a very specific and particular type of training, and it's possible to do interval training without actually doing a real HIIT workout.
The hallmark of HIIT is repeated, extremely hard bouts of work interspersed with periods of recovery. During your work intervals, you’ll be challenging yourself nearly to your max. In this programs version of HIIT, you’d perform your HIIT cardio exercise between strength training within supersets of 2 exercises. Then you’d give yourself ample recovery time, usually at about ninety seconds of rest before continuing to complete the prescribed sets. This is different from what many people call HIIT, where their work periods are way longer and rest periods much shorter, meaning they can’t go as all-out.
Recovering before the next set is essential. “The rest periods are needed to prep the body and enable it to truly perform at its max during this very unique version of interval training. We have to recover your energy so you can lift heavy ‘shit’ (weights).
Before you get started you must determine your 1 rep max on your strength training exercises.
What Is a 1RM?
Your 1RM is the absolute maximum amount that you can lift for one rep of any given exercise. A true 1RM will leave you with nothing in the tank. You’ll have the internal feeling of, “I couldn’t add more weight to the bar if I tried.” Knowing or having an estimate of your 1RM is that it facilitates better programming. A great program will be structured to progress strength and adaptations strategically. Knowing your 1RM in the relevant lifts helps dictate flow of training and continuous progressive overload toward getting stronger.
What Is Progressive Overload Training?
Progressive overload is when you gradually increase the weight, frequency, or number of repetitions in your strength training routine. This challenges your body and allows your musculoskeletal system to get stronger.
By changing up your workouts and adding additional tension to your muscles, you can avoid plateauing, which is when your body adapts to the type of exercise you’re doing. With progressive overload, you may notice you feel fitter and stronger.
Here’s why progressive overload is important for your training regimen.
Doing the same workouts over and over or using the same amount of weight every time you strength train can lead to your body plateauing. You may be able to easily lift weight that once was challenging, and you likely don’t notice any soreness or any progress being made. Progressive overload benefits your training because you’ll avoid a plateau. By changing or progressing in your workouts, you’ll keep your muscles challenged and you’ll get stronger and see more results.