On a side note, I've been more focused on bodyweight exercises and sprints lately, and I've gotta say, the results are actually impressive. I think a lot of people underplay the value of their own body in fitness, so it's cool to see you recommending it.

I am currently weeks within my goal of 4-5% bfp + clearly defined abs. The body fat calipers pin me at 6-7%, and I have a 4 pack. The fat just below and around the belly button is being a real pain in the ass. Its been 5 months following your routine and 37 pounds lost with substantial strength gains. I am honestly surprised that I was able to get so much stronger by doing heavy weights at 4-5 reps, even as a seasoned weightlifter prior to dieting. This was probably the best advice that I ever took and I don't plan on changing this.

My question is, as I am looking forward to soon balancing out my upper body proportions (I have genetically really big legs), can I stay in the 3-5 rep range and still gain dense mass? or can a combination of high rep sets with low rep sets get a best of both world kind of results (mass + density)?

Happy up and coming 2 year site anniversary!

I wanted to ask you, what do you think of doing a strength program like Texas Method, Sheiko, or Smolov jr. to increase my bench/press. Obviously, I wouldn't do the squats and deads, but I've heard good things about these programs.

Losing the weight will be more about diet adjustment than working out. So diet like you weren't going to workout at all…but then workout. Does that make sense. You could be a bit more focused on HIIT and circuits, but still lift occasionally. You will improve over time, you are just at a plateau right now. It happens to everyone.

Christy,

You can learn the basics from a personal trainer and then continue to exercise. There isn't anything magic about a personal trainer. In fact, I wouldn't recommend that anyone use one permanently. They can be great for learning, but after 10-15 sessions, you will probably know what to do.

Manan,

I think you may be training too much. It is okay to temporarily work out hard 5-6 days per week, but really 4-5 will do the trick. You can actually maintain off of 3, once you get your desired physique. The key behind your results will be your diet. You are already doing plenty of exercise, you just got to dial in your diet and it won't be a problem at all to hit 10% body fat.

Chuck,

You are correct. The compressed time periods are just an effective way to fatigue the muscle. Rest up and then do it all over again.

ben,

If muscle mass is you goal (which is not my goal by the way), then it isn't how often you train…it is how much rest the muscle group gets. You can divide the workout into a 3 or 4 day split and workout 5 times per week and still put on mass.

Janel,

I haven't tried holding my legs at 90 degrees. I'll give it a shot. I'm starting to get quite good at pull ups these days (although it isn't a naturally strong exercise for me at all). Planks will give you the abs you desire and will help you maintain great posture. Crunches are brutal on the posture.

John,

I like to separate lifting from my HGH releasing exercises. I lift for strength and low reps to build density and then do HIIT or bodyweight circuits to release growth hormone. The problem with high reps is it builds pumped up soft looking muscles.

anonym,

The key in your quest to getting lean will be your diet. Your workout sounds solid. Hard to say how long it will take. I've seen people go from 12% to 6-8% in 6 weeks. Once you get to that level, it will take another month or so for you to look especially lean (your skin has to catch up a bit to fit tightly around your smaller body size).

scott,

You will probably never go back to high reps. I haven't gone above 5 reps on a regular basis for over 6 years. Not only will you get stronger, you will rarely ever get sore and you will look more defined than ever. Thanks for the compliments on the pictures. I do my best to find good ones. To me the ideal situation is to work day one and day two back-to-back, followed by a day of "active" rest.

Wolverine,

In your special case, you may want to try "marathon cardio" to lose a bit of muscle on purpose while dropping body fat. I don't recommend marathon cardio to many people because it does break down muscle, but in your case you sound like it wouldn't hurt to lighten up a bit. The other approach is to diet even a bit harder than you are dieting right now. Both of these approaches could help you get closer to your goal. Once you lighten up, then go back to lifting and HIIT, etc.

Matt,

Your workout and diet plan looks awesome and you will get great results. I wouldn't change a thing. Well done. You are just 5 pounds out from being razor sharp, so that is just in time for summer. I dig Mark Sisson's site and Craig Ballantyne's site as well. Great job on making such solid progress.

chica,

Shoulder presses of any sort work your entire deltoid region. The fitness magazines vastly exaggerate the need to isolate the side delts and rear delts. The rear delts get worked well in back exercises as well. I used to do lateral raises and bent over laterals, but more than anything they just irritated the shoulders. As far as posture goes. The reason I work back on the same day as chest is to isure good muscle balance in the deltoid region. The rowing exercise works the rear delts, the bench pressing works the front delts…so this evens out. Good question…you just gave me an idea for a post!

karie,

Some women do have the tendency to put on more muscle than they desire…and these women don't need to lift (or just maybe lift for part of the year). My girlfriend doesn't lift and looks outstanding. You could do bodyweight circuits, HIIT, etc. and look great. I have no problem talking about losing muscle mass. In fact…I wrote a post called "How to Lose Muscle Mass on Purpose". Some people have more muscle than they desire and it is something that nobody was addressing. Type in "lose muscle" into the search bar at the top of my site and you will find that post.

Great comments!

Rusty

Your shoulder exercises seem to work mainly the front deltoid, the lateral deltoid to an extent and the rear deltoid not at all.

Since this is (I think ) the only workout your lateral deltoids get, do you find that you get sufficient lateral deltoid development?

Also, your front deltoids seem to get worked twice a week (with chest and shoulders) while your rear deltoids seem to get woked only once (with back). Is this deliberate? Do you find that it causes any muscle imbalance (I've heard that imbalance between front and rear deltoid can cause postural problems)?

thanks,

chica

Wondering if you could give a quick comment on the routine I'm going to follow to lean out the next couple of months, it's very similiar to yours. I've noticed that my body does not respond well to training more that 3x per week. I've come up with a more compressed routine cut from the same mold as yours, same rep. range, performed 2-3x per week.

The routine:

Cable row warm up

Standing barbell press – 3 working sets of 3 reps (this exercise will be the one I push myself hardest to progress on)
Incline dumbell press – 3 working sets of 3 reps
Chin-up – 3 working sets of 5 reps, no added weight yet
Cable row or DB row – 3 working sets of 3 reps
Abs – either planks or leg raises
I agree with you 100% on no leg training

Finish with HIIT or steady state cardio, depending on "feel" – I've noticed a tendency to overtrain with too much HIIT as well – I'm a big beleiver in listening to your body on this one.

At least one BW circuit per week, and unlimited walking and fun non gym exercise.

Eat stop eat 2x per week – Paleo/Primal low carb diet the rest of the time, occasional (1-2x week) night out drinking beer and eating pizza, nachos, etc. but watching portions.

Currently I'm 6'3" 190 lbs. approx. 9-10% bf and looking to chisel out the physique just a bit more.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I've been a reader of your site for over a year now, since first finding it while searching for the "David Beckham Workout". When first discovering the site I was approx. 210 lbs. approx. 12-14% bf and have made the majority of my progress following the advice found here as well as advice from Craig Ballantyne and Mark Sisson.

Thanks.