After a couple cycles of this plan, people will definitely be saying “WTF?!” about your bigger and leaner physique. Doesn’t matter if you’re just starting, cycling off another one of our plans, or just getting back into the whole working out thing. This is a solid all-around guide to get built for beach season. In typical HFP fashion: the moves are relatively basic, the programming is straight-forward, and the scaleability for beginners, intermediate, or advanced folks is simple.
Complete beginner? Check out our visual guide of the 20 best exercises for men and women
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Here’s how Built for the Beach v2.0 works
The plan begins with legs first. Leg day can take a lot out of you and require a lot of mental strength getting it done. We’re going to get that out the way early in the week. Monday Motivation, right?
The second workout is a split of shoulders and arms. It’s nice to combo these three up, they compliment each other well. And, when you walk out of the gym you’ve got one helluva pump.
The third day is time to chill and relax. Let everything recover.
The fourth day really gets things started again with a split between chest and back. You’ll be super-setting back and forth between the two big muscle groups so your heart will be pounding and muscles pumping with blood. This is a killer combo of strength plus metabolic conditioning.
Day five is somewhat another active recovery day, but with steady-state cardio to really emphasis fat loss. 45-60 minutes or so at 60-65%.
On day six you’ve got some options. Unfortunately, both options are challenging. This is full body circuit day. You’ll be hitting every muscle group with a series of exercises non-stop. Very reminiscent of the day four chest and back super-sets, but with everything else thrown in there. Another strength and conditioning combination.
Day seven: chill, again. Do some light cardio to get the blood flowing, but for the most part, rest up for your next week.
What’s up with doing abs several days per week?
Some of you might be a bit confused by this. Muscles need rest to recover, right? No different for the abs, right? Yes, but here’s the deal: instead of going hard on the abs a couple days per week with a load of exercises, sets, and reps; the training frequency increases to several days per week, but the workload on each individual day decreases. There are also two options of ab workouts so each day is experiencing something slightly different. If you’ve been training the same way since, like, forever, this is a good change to try.
Directions
Beginners can start with half the number of sets, but slowly add an additional set as you feel comfortable. For resistance: find a weight where you hit failure (can’t do anymore with good form) at the number of prescribed reps. For the full body circuit workouts in day six, the prescribed number of reps is 10, but pick a weight you can do about 15. Due to the fact that you’ll be circuit training, you’ve got no time to recover. You’ll need lighter weight than what you’d typically use for straight sets with regular rest.
Progressing forward: Follow this plan for 6 weeks. Then, you can follow the 10×10 workout plan for 2-3 weeks to really accelerate your fat loss even further. You may then cycle back to this 6 week plan or find another HFP plan of choice.
Don’t forget to get your eating situation in check. Check out this piece on intuitive eating for lean muscle.
The Built for the Beach v2.0 Workouts
Day one: Legs and abs
1. BB squat 6 sets x 10, 8, 6, 8, 10, 25
2A. Bulgarian split squat 5 x 8-10
2B. DB Romanian deadlift 5 x 8-10
3. BB walking lunge 5 x 10-12
4. Air squat 300 reps as fast as possible
Rest 45-60 seconds between sets
*Complete leg day with ab workout option one.
Day two: Shoulders, arms, and abs
1. DB high pull 5 x 8-10
2. DB shoulder press 5 x 8-10
3A. DB pinch press pause 5 x 12-15
3B. Cable delt flye 5 x 12-15
4A. DB off-set curl 5 x 10-12
4B. DB kickback 5 x 8-10
4C. Tate press 5 x 8-10
5A. Cable curl 5 x 10-12
5B. Cable pushdown 5 x 10-12
Rest 45-60 seconds between sets
THE FINISHER
6. BB shoulder + arm complex 3 x failure
Rest as little as possible
*Complete shoulder and arm day with ab workout option two.
Day three: Rest/recovery/active recovery
Day four: Chest, back, and abs
1A. DB bench press 5 x 8,8,6,6,8
1B. BB deadlift 5 x 8,8,6,6,8
2A. DB floor press 5 x 8-10
2B. Standing cable row 5 x 8-10
3A. DB flye 5 x 8-10
3B. DB renegade row 5 x 8-10
4A. Push-up 5 x failure
4B. Pull-up 5 x failure
Rest 45-60 sec between sets.
*Complete chest and back day with ab workout option one.
Day five: Steady-state cardio
Day six: Full body circuit (two options)
Option one: Complete exercises in a circuit format for 6 rounds. Rest 60 seconds after each round. Perform 10 reps per exercise.
KB goblet squat
DB bench press
DB bent-over row
DB high pull
Cable curl
Cable pushdown
Hanging leg raise
Option two: Complete exercises in a circuit format for 6 rounds. Rest 60 seconds after each round. Perform 10 reps per exercise.
DB thruster
DB renegade row
Push-up
Pull-up
DB curl
DB kickback
Plank (to failure)
The built for the beach ab workouts (two options)
Option one
1. Hanging leg raise 5 x failure
2A. BB roll-out 5 x failure
2B. Cable chop 5 x failure
3. Plank 5 x failure
Rest 30 seconds between sets
Option two
1. Stability ball circles 5 x failure
2A. BB roll-out 5 x failure
2B. V-up 5 x failure
3. Plank 5 x failure
Rest 30 seconds between sets
