This routine is designed to improve muscular endurance, strength and speed whilst also providing complete body sculpting for a naturally lean physique. If you are a former competitive, or junior athlete you will be familiar with this form of macro-cycle training adopted by your coach in the build up to competitions. I have adopted it from my sprinting career as a swimmer using a 3 months macro cycle with 4 week micro cycles. At all times, the calories you consume on a daily basis must equal your daily calorie expenditure. Summary Note: muscles that are regularly exercised as part of our natural everyday lives (e.g. quadriceps and glutes) have a higher endurance profiles than those that are not used as part of our everyday lives (e.g. chest and shoulders), therefore you should train higher endurance muscles in the high rep ranges. Micro-Cycle 1 (first 4 weeks): Building Muscular Endurance # Sets: 3 sets for each muscle isolation exercise # Reps: 20, 15 and 12 depending on muscle group # Rest between sets: 30 seconds Micro-Cycle 2 (second 4 weeks): Building Muscular Strength and Size # Sets: 3 sets for each muscle isolation exercise # Reps: 10, 8 and 5 depending on muscle group # Rest between sets: 60 seconds Micro-Cycle 3 (third 4 weeks): Building Lean Performance and Shredding Fat # Sets: 3 sets for each muscle isolation exercise # Reps: 12, 10 and 8 depending on muscle group # Rest between sets: 45 seconds I imagine you’ll be planning to look good for your holiday, therefore you need to complete the program the week before your holiday. For example, if your holiday is on the 1st March, you will need to start the program on the 1st January, which tends to work perfectly after the Christmas diet. In the first 4 weeks you focus on building muscular endurance by focussing on higher rep ranges to burn fat and train your body to delay the build-up lactic acid, which can have a catabolic effect on your muscles (i.e. breaking muscle tissue down in an attempt to create an energy output) and we want to create an anabolic effect (i.e. create energy inputs to build muscle tissue). This concept forms the foundation of your training. The second micro-cycle focusses on building strength and muscle by focussing on lower rep ranges to increase your power output. Finally, the last micro-cycle is a tapering cycle that focusses on sculpting a lean physique that is optimal for speed. Here you focus on mid-range reps, which after the earlier micro cycles will ensure that you are tapping into your remaining fat stores for energy. Ultimately, a lean body is primed for speed endurance, which also comes across as aesthetically pleasing. Think of any top athlete that you think has a great physique; Christiano Ronaldo, Michael Phelps, or Usain Bolt. The most important achievement of any form of training is complete muscular development, which requires full range of movement in all the exercises completed. Time under tension and stress are equally important because they forces your muscles to cope with the workload. Do not do what most amateurs do in the gym and try to lift the heaviest weight possible with no consideration to form. These guys often injure themselves and put them out of practice for months at a time, which means they never achieve their goals, or they create lack of symmetry in their physiques (e.g. huge arms and skinny legs, or huge chest and no width in their back). If you are not getting full range of motion, swallow your pride and reduce the weight, otherwise you WILL risk injury and create asymmetries that will delay your progress in achieving your goals. For example, if you are not dropping below 90 degrees in your squats (i.e. doing ATG Squats) then reduce the weight until you have just enough stress to complete the last rep. To start with, you need to spend a little time to understand your 20, 15, 12, 10, 8 and 5 rep max. Again, full range of movement, time under tension and overall lifting form is critical. Once you understand your understand your 20, 15, 12, 10, 8 and 5 rep max the program begins by focussing on improving your 20, 15 and 12 rep max over the 4 week micro-cycle by progressively adding more weight to your rep range as the week’s progress in order to build lean muscle (Note: For ladies that want to build lean muscle, but reach a point where they do not want to build any more muscle, I suggest you work on improving the speed in completing your sets rather than adding more weight). The second four weeks focusses on understanding your 10, 8 and 5 rep max to build strength. Finally, the last 4 weeks focuses on full range of movement in your 12, 10 and 8 rep max in order to create a lean physique that is primed for top performance.