Rock Hard Training Plan Month 1: Start Strong
Day 1 Workout
Monday: Legs, Abs, Cardio
Overview of Day 1
For this four-week cycle, leg training is first, which allows you two recovery days after the last workout of the previous week. Legs are not only the largest group of muscles on a standard bodybuilding split, but training them also drives up fat burning because it burns more calories and boosts your metabolic rate. The workout begins by alternating between isolation moves that target the two largest leg-muscle groupsquads and hamstrings.
The purpose of these moves is to pump these muscle groups, priming them for the heavier compound moves that follow. Next, youll perform compound moves to engage all the major muscles of your legs. Youll wrap up your leg training with one burnout set each for quads and hamstrings. Choose weights that are light enough to allow you to achieve a full contraction in these muscles through 30 reps. After this, youll train your abs and finish off with an easy 30 minutes of steady-state cardio.
Steady-State Cardio
What it is: Treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical, or stair-climbing work performed at a comfortable rate. You should be working hard enough to sweat but be able to talk to someone throughout. What youll do: At the end of your weight-training workouts, twice a week, youll drink your post-workout shake before performing 30 minutes of cardio. Benefits: Compared with other fat-burning techniques, steadystate cardio is easy to perform, and it burns calories directly from stored body fat.
Workout
Exercise Sets Reps
Leg Extension
20, 20, 15, 15
-superset with-Lying Leg Curl
15
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Squat
15, 12, 10, 8
Wide-Stance Leg Press
15, 12, 10
Dumbbell Walking Lunge
20 steps per leg
Stiff-Leg Deadlift
12
Burnout:
Leg Extesnion
30
Burnout:
Lying Leg Curl
30
Kneeling Cable Crunch
20
Reverse Crunch
20
Steady-State Cardio
30 min.
Rock Hard Training Plan Month 1: Start Strong
Day 2 Workout
Tuesday: Chest, Triceps, Intensity Sets
Overview of Day 2
Youll train your pecs first, beginning with pressing moves. Dumbbell bench presses are one of the best exercises for recruiting muscle fibers in your chest; they also help warm up your shoulders. Incline barbell presses target the upper pecs. Then, youll include intensity sets, alternating between pushups and step-ups. Perform four sets of each with as little rest as possible. Ideally, this should be performed as one giant set that takes about eight minutes to complete.
After this, perform dumbbell flyes followed by one burnout set of cable crossovers. During this burnout set, emphasize contracting your pecs and feeling a deep stretch in every rep. Finish off the workout with triceps work and a burnout set of pushdowns for 30 reps, emphasizing isolation of the triceps and a deep contraction on every rep.
Intensity Set
What it is: A superset that includes an exercise for the targeted body part and a leg exercise that accelerates your heart rate. What youll do: Perform the move that hits your target muscle group, then follow it immediately with a lower-body move. After you complete a set, rest for as little time as possible (aim for no rest, ultimately). Choose lighter weights that challenge your cardiovascular system more than stress your muscles. After you finish all four intensity sets, take a short rest before moving on to your next weight-training exercise. Benefits: Intensity sets encourage your body to burn stored fat via muscle-building exercises and an increased heart rate. Essentially, youre using anaerobic moves for cardiovascular training and fat-burning benefits.
Burnout Set
What it is: A high-rep set performed as the last set that targets a particular body part. Weve chosen an isolation move for each burnout set so you can really focus on your target muscle group.
What youll do: As you conclude your training for certain body parts, youll perform a burnout set. Youll choose a relatively light load that allows you to concentrate on the contraction. Benefits: Burnout sets encourage muscle growth by forcing more blood into the muscles. The contraction also helps create rippling muscular detail.
Workout
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Dumbbell Bench Press
15, 12, 10, 8
Incline Barbell Press
15, 12, 10, 8
Intensity Sets:
Pushup
20
-superset with- Step-Up
20 per leg
Dumbbell Flye
15, 15, 10, 10
Burnout:
Cable Crossover
30
Dip
Max
Narrow-Grip Bench Press
30
Pushdown
15, 12, 10
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Burnout:
15, 12, 10
Pushdown
30
Rock Hard Training Plan Month 1: Start Strong
Day 3 Workout
Wednesday: HIIT Cardio
Oveview of Day 3
It sounds easy compared to the other training days, and, all things considered, it probably is. But you want to push your limits a bit with your HIIT work. Set a goal of three sets of about 60 seconds of all-out cardio. Then recover for as long as you needprobably about two to three minutes. If youre up to it, add another set or two. In subsequent workouts, try to add 10 seconds to each interval until youre performing up to five 90-second intervals. Once you reach this point, work on taking up the intensity during the
intervals rather than shortening your recovery bouts or lowering the total number of intensity cycles in the workout.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
What it is: This form of cardio work includes intense bursts of activity followed by longer bouts of easier work to allow your heart rate to recover. What youll do: After a few minutes of warming up at an easy pace, youll increase the intensity of your cardio work to a perceived exertion level of about 9. Maintain this for 6090 seconds, then slow down to an easy pace for at least a couple of minutes, allowing your heart rate to come down so youre ready to perform another intense interval. In total, perform at least three intervals, working up to five by the end of four weeks. These workouts shouldnt be long you should be able to finish in fewer than 20 minutes. Benefits: Research shows that HIIT sessions burn body fat more effectively than other forms of cardio activity. Intensity intervals also have a profound effect on your metabolic rate, allowing you to burn more body fat in the hours following your workouts.
Workout
Exercise Sets Reps Duration
HIIT CARDIO
3-5
60-90 sec.
Rock Hard Training Plan Month 1: Start Strong
Day 4 Workout
Thursday: Back, Biceps, Abs, Intensity Sets
Overview of Day 4
To begin, youll include three classic musclebuilders, targeting your lats and other back muscles from a variety of angles. Then youll perform four intensity sets, alternating between your target muscle group for the day (back) and leg work that drives up your heart rate. As with your intensity work on Day 2, aim toward completing the group of intensity sets in about eight minutes with no rest. After you complete this, take a short rest and perform one last set of lat pulldowns, emphasizing strict form and a deep contraction in your lats.
Next, perform your biceps work, finishing off with one high-rep burnout set. Finally, train your abs.
Intensity Set
What it is: A superset that includes an exercise for the targeted body part and a leg exercise that accelerates your heart rate. What youll do: Perform the move that hits your target muscle group, then follow it immediately with a lower-body move. After you complete a set, rest for as little time as possible (aim for no rest, ultimately). Choose lighter weights that challenge your cardiovascular system more than stress your muscles. After you finish all four intensity sets, take a short rest before moving on to your next weight-training exercise. Benefits: Intensity sets encourage your body to burn stored fat via muscle-building exercises and an increased heart rate. Essentially, youre using anaerobic moves for cardiovascular training and fat-burning benefits.
Burnout Set
What it is: A high-rep set performed as the last set that targets a particular body part. Weve chosen an isolation move for each burnout set so you can really focus on your target muscle group. What youll do: As you conclude your training for certain body parts, youll perform a burnout set. Youll choose a relatively light load that allows you to concentrate on the contraction.
Benefits: Burnout sets encourage muscle growth by forcing more blood into the muscles. The contraction also helps create rippling muscular detail.
Workout
Exercise Sets Reps
Pullup
To failure
Reverse-Grip Lat Pulldown
15, 12, 10, 8
Barbell Row
15, 12, 10, 8
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Intensity Sets:
Seated Cable Row
20
-superset with- Step-Up
20 per leg
Burnout:
Lat Pulldown
30
Dumbbell Curl
15, 12, 10
EZ-Bar Curl
15, 12, 10
Burnout:
EZ-Bar Curl
30
Bench Knee-In
15
Twisting Crunch
30
Rock Hard Training Plan Month 1: Start Strong
Day 5 Workout
Friday: Shoulders, Calves, Forearms, Cardio
Overview of Day 5
Your final workout of the week targets shoulders, calves, and forearms. First, youll perform a pressing movementArnold presses. Follow this with lateral raises, which target the middle head of the delts. Then, its back to a pressing move before finishing off your shoulders with an exercise that targets the rear delts (bentover lateral raises) and one that hits the traps (dumbbell shrugs). Cap off your delts training with one burnout set of machine shoulder presses, focusing on feeling the contraction and stretch in your shoulder muscles. Next, work your calves, performing both standing and seated calf raises to hit the gastrocnemius and soleus. Then use a barbell to perform wrist curls and reverse wrist curls to develop forearms. Finish off your workout with the same HIIT cardio session as Day Three.
Steady-State Cardio
What it is: Treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical, or stair-climbing work performed at a comfortable rate. You should be working hard enough to sweat but be able to talk to someone throughout. What youll do: At the end of your weight-training workouts, twice a week, youll drink your post-workout shake before performing 30 minutes of cardio. Benefits: Compared with other fat-burning techniques, steadystate cardio is easy to perform, and it burns calories directly from stored body fat.
Workout
Exercise Sets Reps
Arnold Press
15, 12, 10, 8
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
15
Machine Shoulder Press
15
Bentover Lateral Raise
15
Dumbbell Shrug
20, 15, 12, 10
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Burnout:
Machine Shoulder Press
30
Standing Calf Raise
20, 15, 15
Seated Calf Raise
20, 15, 15
Wrist Curl
15
Superset with Reverse Wrist Curl
15
HIIT Cardio
Exercise Sets Reps Duration
HIIT CARDIO
3-5
60-90 sec.
