The 3 weeks Better Human Plan: A full body 4 day workout plan

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The Goal

The goal is to concentrate on four blocks of movement types for four days of a week. Each week focus on a particular movement pattern but in variation as mentioned under-

• Day1- Mobility
• Day2 - Work Capacity
• Day3 - Heavy Reps
• Day4 - Paired exercises or Complexes

The Workout

Week 1-Brute strength

Day 1- Mobility

Mobility is important and yet many of us ignore this. So, I have dedicated it it’s own day.

There is a very good video guide on mobility movements by calisthenicmovement. Here you can find a guide to different mobility movements that you can do one day 1.

Mobility movements

Day 2 - Work Capacity

On this day the reps will be on the higher side and there will be a time limit within which you have to complete all the reps.

We will do three different movements targeting the same muscle groups. We will do one set of each movement and 20–30 reps each set.

There will be a time limit of 20 minutes to complete all reps.

Wait! There’s a twist. Even before you start the three main movements you will do 3 sets of an iso-hold bodyweight movement targeting the same muscles which you are going to train.

I had listed down a couple of exercise on iso-hold in my previous article here.

You would be doing 3 sets,20 reps of an iso-hold movement which would closely mimic the big movement which you would be doing on that day.

For example when if the big movements of the day are squat variation then you would be doing 3 sets of iso-hold bodyweight squats.

Doing iso-hold before the main movement pre-fatigues your muscles even before you do the main lift of the day. This enables you to load your main lifts with lesser weights than required.

Pre-fatiguing is important here as with this technique you could workout at home where you would be having lesser weight than your gym. Also sometimes you don’t feel like lifting a ton of weight and in such scenarios pre-fatiguing is helpful.

Now comes the main part. The work capacity workout. Set the timer for 20mins and do the following-

• Snatch grip deadlift - 5*10

• Jefferson deadlift- 5*10

• Conventional deadlift- 5*10

Day 3— Heavy Reps

Day 3 is the Heavy reps day. On this day pick a weight which you would be able to do for about 8 reps and then do it for 16–20 reps or more.

We are going to pre-load the muscle which would be involved in the lift of the day. We are going to pre-load it to the point of failure and then get into the main lift.

For example in this workout sample we would do the same movements as day2 but with a weight heavier than the previous day.

Before starting the main lift we would do the pre-load part.

• Single legged squats 3 sets, max reps to failure or 1 -1/4 bodyweight squat 3 sets , max reps past failure.

After this we would pick a weight which is more than the earlier day and then do the following →

• Snatch grip deadlift — 25 reps
• Jefferson deadlift- 25 reps
• Conventional deadlift- 25 reps.

Day 4 — Complexes

Day 4 is the day to do conditioning exercises. On this day we would do complexes.

When we do complexes, we would be doing a series of exercises back to back without leaving the implement(barbell or dumbbell) out of our hands till the circuit is over.

There are certain rules for this routine→

• During a complex the implement(barbell or dumbbell) should start from the floor and either it should end overhead or at shoulder level.
• Start with the exercise which is the hardest for you.
• Keep the weight light.

Here is a sample of a complex which I did on day 4 →

• Clean pull -10 reps
• Hang cleans- 10reps
• Snatch grip low pull -10reps
• Snatch grip high pull -10 reps

Week 2 -Build The Back

In week two we would keep the pattern of workouts same but we will target a different muscle group and a different movement group.

For this week we will select rowing movement. Rowing is very importing movement and is often times ignored a lot.

It’s very important that you include some kind of rowing movement in your regimen. Rowing builds a strong back and a strong back is important for providing stability during overhead movements. Also strong back musculature holds together the shoulder blades and it prevents internal rotation of shoulders.

So here we go for week 2→

Day 1- Mobility

Day 2- work Capacity

• Pre-fatigue- 3sets, 20 reps
  paused reverse dive bomber(pause half way for 5 secs)

Reverse dive Bomber

Complete in 20 mins-

• Pendaly row- 1*40reps

Pendaly Row

• 45 degree row - 1*40 reps

• bent over neck pull with bands for 1 set, 40 reps -This would be the regular neck pull but instead of doing this on a machine. You would be doing this with a resistance band. If you don’t have access to a resistance band then hold two bottles of water (as if you are holding dumbbells), bend over then extend your arms towards the floor. Then bring up your arms towards your face while squeezing your shoulder blades back together till your palms (while holding bands or bottles) end up near your face. This completes one rep.

Day 3- Strength

Use weights more than the previous day (ideally a weight which you could do for 8 reps)

• Pendaly row- 20,30,40
• 45 degree row- 50,40,30
• Bent over neck pull with bands- 20,30,40

Day 4- Conditioning

• Rope jump 50 reps,3 sets
• Bear crawl 20 steps,3 sets
• Lunges 20 reps each leg ,3 sets

You see I broke my rule here. For conditioning I didn’t do complexes. But that’s how it is, do what works for you or how you feel like on a particular day. However you re free to do complexes on this day. It’s entirely upto you.

Week 3- From ground to overhead.

The rule for this week is that the weight should start from ground and end overhead.

So, here we go.

Day 1- Mobility

Day 2- strength capacity

• pre fatigue -
  The 30-10-30 lunges. Refer to the video below by t-nation

• 50 reps overhead shrug with empty bar .

Overhead Shrug

Complete the below in 20 mins

Here you perform the below exercises in EMOM fashion. “EMOM” stands for “every minute on the minute” and it’s when you begin a prescribed number of reps of an exercise at the top of a minute and then rest for whatever time you have left until the next top-of-minute.

• Squat cleans and push press -EMOM-10 reps every minute

• Turkish getups -EMOM-10 reps every minute

Day 3-Strength

Pre fatigue-

• 1 rep in each set of 30-10-30 squats
• Pike pushups

Pike Pushups

Complete the following in 20 mins-

• Squat clean and push press - 4 reps
• Turkish getups - 10 reps
• Squat clean and push press- 2 reps
• Turkish getups - 5 reps
• Squat clean and push press- 1 reps
• Turkish getups - 3 reps
• Squat clean and push press - 1 rep
• Turkish getups - 1 rep

Conclusion

This workout plan is just a template for you. Don’t stick to the exact exercise, sets or reps. If you are inexperienced in a certain exercise or you don’t enjoy it then don’t do it. If you don’t have access to free weights then use this template to design your workout around bodyweight exercises which target the same muscle groups.

The bottom line is be creative and stick to your goal of going through the 3 weeks with whatever exercises, sets or reps you select for yourself.