(B)ikini (B)ody (b)y (S)ummer
NOTE: Even though I originally wrote this program for women (my sister and a few of my female friends), this program is just as applicable to men. Its overall purpose is to improve a trainees overall fitness level and is designed for begginer to intermediate level participants. If you adhere to this program for two to three months and eat healthy you can expect to lose weight (tone), greatly improve your level of conditioning, and maybe even get stronger in the process. Good Luck!
The program consists of two upper body days and two lower body days. Each day consists of four phases. The first phase is the Build phase where you do two multi-joint exercises (a push and a pull) designed to increase your strength and muscle size. The second phase is the Burn phase where you do two exercises back to back to attack and “tone” your arms. The third phase is the Blast phase which is designed to increase your heart rate and burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. In this phase you will do four exercises back to back with no rest in between. The last phase of your workout is the Sweat phase which is a short cardio session designed with the purpose to burn some additional calories before ending your workout.
There are lots of ways to warm up before a workout. I prefer to walk on the treadmill on an incline for five minutes to work up a light sweat. The most important thing to remember is that there is no need to do any stretching unless there is an area of your body which you feel is tight. Another way of warming up which works rather well is the rowing machine because you are able to activate the muscles in your upper body and well as your lower body. Another method that is very effective is the workout itself. You never want to start an exercise with the weight that you will be using for your work sets. It is best to start with a light weight and to work up. For example, if you are doing the squat and your work weight is 95lbs. your warm up sets would look something like this:
Work Set1 – 95lbs. x 8-12
Work Set2 – 95lbs. x 8-12
Note: don’t do any more than 5 reps for your warm up sets, it will only burn you out
Rest in between sets should be autoregulated. By that I mean you should go when your body is ready. Of course you shouldn’t spend too much time chatting to a friend before going into the next set. Just make sure that once you’ve caught your breath and your muscle are recovered enough for the next set you GO!
You’ll notice that I have given you a rep range for the majority of the exercises i.e 8-12
This is not incredibly important. Just make sure that your last reps is done with good form! You don’t need to sweat, grunt and fart to get that dumbbell up. Your last reps should be the same as your first abeit slower since your muscle will be fatigued. Also, make sure that each workout your are either doing one more rep with the same weight or you are increasing the weight. This is necessary to continue to progress. If you do eight curls with 15lbs. on Day 1, the next time you do that exercise make sure you aim for 9 reps. This is why it is helpful to have a workout book to track your progress.
For your cooldown it is a good idea to stretch the muscles you’ve worked in order to reduce soreness and increase recovery. Still, if you’re running late or just feel lazy that day it won’t be that bad if you don’t.
I can’t overstate how important proper nutrition is when it comes to getting the results that you want. Now I won’t ask you to count each calorie or to deprive yourself of the sugary sweets that I know you love BUT I do encourage you to do your best to adhere to the following guidelines:
1) Drink LOTS of water AND try to avoid sugary drinks
2) Eat whole foods and avoid processed food
3) Eat balanced meals i.e protein/carbs/fat
4) Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
5) Eat at least 3 whole meals/day and snack on healthy food in between to keep your metabolism going and your energy levels up
Before Workout: Have a balanced meal approximately 2 hours before your workout. This will ensure that you have energy when you are working out!
Post Workout: As soon as you can you should have a balanced meal of protein and carbs. Carbs are the most important here. You can eat something sugary or something like white rice/potato etc.. and make sure you get in some protein so that your muscles recover. Here is an analogy. If your muscles are a house under construction then the carbs are the workers and the proteins are the tools they are suing to build it.
(B)uild: Strenght and Hypertrophy
Build: Horizontal Push/Vertical Pull
1) Horizontal Push: Bech Press/Push ups/Machine Press
2) Vertical Pull: Lat Pull Down (wide/narrow/neutral grip/chin up grip)
3) Superset - Cable Curls with Cable Tricep Extensions OR Barbell Curls with Lying Tricep Extensions
Burn: Conditioning - 2-3 Sets
4) Bodyweight Squats (15 reps)/Rock Climbers (30 reps)/
Alternating Lunges (10 reps)/Jumping Jacks (20 reps)
Sweat: 10 min. cardio equipment
Build: Bilateral/Unilateral
1) Bilateral: Squat variation (Front Squat/Back Squat/Dumbbell Squat)
2) Unilateral: Lunge variation (Static Lunge/Alternating Lunge/Reverse Lunge)
3) Superset – Leg Extensions with Leg Curls
Burn: Ab Curcuit – 2-3 Sets x as many reps as you can do
4) Reverse Crunch/Crunch/Side Plank Hip Raise
Sweat: 10 min. cardio equipment
Build: Vertical Push/Horizontal Pull
5) Vertical Push: Shouler Press Variation (Barbell/Dumbbell/Machine)
6) Horizontal Pull: Seated Row Variation (wide/narrow/neutral grip/chin up grip)
7) Superset - Cable Curls with Cable Tricep Extensions OR Barbell Curls with Lying Tricep Extensions
8) Bodyweight Squats (15 reps)/Lateral Raises (15 reps)/
Alternating Lunges (10 reps)/Rear Delt Fyes (15 reps)
Sweat: 10 min. cardio equipment
Build: Bilateral/Unilateral
5) Bilateral: Leg Press (lower foot placement for Quad emphasis)
6) Unilateral: Step Up (about knee height – the higher the step the more emphasis is placed on the Glutes and Hamstrings)
7) Superset – Leg Curl on Swiss Ball/Glute Bridge on Swiss Ball
Burn: Ab Curcuit on Swiss Ball – 2-3 set x as many reps as you can do
8) Knee Tuck/Crunch/Russian Twist
Sweat: 10 min. cardio equipment