This will be the year you dramatically change the composition of your body. A couple weeks in, take a look into the mirror, you’ll see noticeable differences in all the right places. Your face and jawline will show signs thinning; your shirts will tighten up in your chest, back, and shoulders. You’ll have visible veins in your arms, and you start to see those abs you never knew you had.
With the recent (January 2018) updates to the Redemption plan and the fresh release of the 6-week Unlabeled workout plan, you’re probably wondering why we’re promoting another one. Well, it’s always nice to have options. It’s also nice to have other programs to cycle with. But, more importantly, Reconstruction’s programming works very well with the whole New Year, New You thing.
Let me try my best to explain why.
The big picture
As we all know, January is the unofficial reset button for everyone. We all make resolutions and promises to work on improving some aspect or aspects of our lives. Whether we have the determination to stick to them or see them through—only time ends up telling. But, considering it’s such a huge reflective and goal-setting time for everyone that means there’s a whole lot of people in the same boat. While most of my programs are 100% suitable for anyone, I think this plan is particularly great for two types of people—the beginner that’s never been in the gym and the advanced person that may have let himself go. January is the time of year they mobilize the most.
For the person that’s just starting out
When I was starting out, the very first thing that I learned was to get intensely focused and dialed in on every single rep, and to feel every millimeter I moved the weight. This is what really creates results. I mean, I’m talking hyper-focused. Even on the rest periods. In fact, for years I didn’t allow myself to bring my cell phone into the gym. This is the main reason why Reconstruction was designed with exercises that focus on super-slow repetition tempos. This is a perfect habit to get into as a beginner. They will learn to train to feel everything.
For the person that’s done this before
While I’ve been fortunate enough to have fitness at the center of my life and career, I understand that’s not the case for everyone. Life happens and those single-digital body fat days end up being a memory of the past. But that doesn’t mean they are gone for good. I get countless messages from folks looking to get their body back. They know what’s-what in the gym, they’ve been there before, it’s just been a while. This is another reason why Reconstruction was designed with super-slow repetitions. It’s back to basics. Start actually feeling everything again.
For the person that absolutely lives and breathes it
I do all of my programs, even the one’s other contributors provide. I’ve pretty much done it all. Want to know what happens sometimes? You get lost in it! I originally designed the Reconstruction for myself. It didn’t have a name. It was just another program I made to “reset” when I found myself rushing through workouts. So I forced myself to do slower repetitions. I also found myself getting sluggish and slow mid-week. So I pulled back the volume a bit. I wasn’t hammering circuits with heavy weights every day. I wasn’t doing 5-6+ sets per exercise with each workout. And four weeks in, my strength, recovery, energy, and mood were all back to normal.
THE RECONSTRUCTION WORKOUTS
For each exercise marked with “*”, you will perform repetitions very slow and very controlled. Two-three seconds on the way down, two-three seconds on the way up, with a pause at the bottom and top of each rep. As you strengthen that connection with your muscles, watch how quickly you progress.
It’s suggested that DAY 1 is Monday, DAY 2 is Wednesday, DAY 3 is Thursday, DAY 4 is Saturday. Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday are “OFF” days. In week two, complete the first and second exercise of each body part as supersets. In week three and four, add one-three additional sets per exercise.
DAY 1: Chest & Back
*1.Barbell bench press 3×8-10 rest 60s
2.Barbell bent-over row 3×8-10 rest 60s
3.Incline dumbbell press 3×8-10 rest 60s
*4.Seated rope row 3×8-12 rest 60s
*5.Swooping cable flye 3×10-12 rest 60s
*6.Lat pulldown 3×12-12 rest 60s
7A.Push-up 25,50, or 100 as quickly as possible
7B.Pullup 25,50 or 100 as quickly as possible
DAY 2: Legs & Abs
*1.Back squat 3×6-8 rest 60s
*2.Deep goblet squat 3×20 rest 30s
3.Forward and reverse lunge 3×5 each side and direction rest 60s
4.Stiff-leg deadlift with calve raise 3×8-10 rest 60s
5.10-20 yard wind sprint 5-10x rest 30-60s
6.Barbell roll out 3×8-10 rest 30s
7.Hollow rock/roll 3×15-30s rest 30s
8.Cable chop variation 3×10 rest 30s
DAY 3: Shoulders & Arms
1.Dumbbell clean and press 3×8-10 rest 60s
*2.Side lateral raise 3×12-15 rest 30s
3.Angled plate press 3×10-12 rest 30s
4.Cable pull-apart 3×12-15 rest 30s
5.*Dumbbell hammer curl 3×8-10 rest 60s
6.Lying dumbbell extension 3×8-10 rest 60s
7.Cable rope curl 3×8-10 rest 60s
*8.Cable tricep pushdown 3×8-10 rest 60s
DAY 4: Full Body Fat-Loss Circuit
Complete five rounds as quickly as possible. Rest two minutes between each round.
Dumbell thruster x10-12
Dumbbell push-up and row x10-12
Dip bar knee tuck x10-12
Dumbbell hammer curl x10-12
Dumbbell kickback x10-12
Burpee x10-12
And be sure to post before and after photos with the hashtag #humanfitporject for your chance to be featured to an audience of over 300K+ on HUMANFITPROJECT.com and our social platforms.
