How to Build a Fit Body with Only 2 Short Workouts a Week — No Cardio Needed
A father’s journey to achieving a lean and muscular physique while working full-time
Many people believe that achieving a fit body requires endless hours of cardio and weightlifting, and that those who are in shape never indulge in “unhealthy” foods like pizza. Additionally, some assume that fatherhood = “dad bod”.
But those people are wrong.
First, you don’t need to spend hours at the gym every day. Two 45-minute strength training sessions per week are all you need.
Second, it’s possible to enjoy delicious foods like pizza or ice cream and remain lean and strong.
Third, a dad body need not be a “dad bod”.
Too good to be true? Well, as a father who works full-time, I am living proof that it’s not. Here’s my personal transformation, my before and after:
Disclaimer: I am not a certified professional. This article is the result of years of learning and experimenting. I did my best to share what worked for me in the hopes it can work for you too. Always, always consult your doctor or another certified professional before putting into practice any advice I provide here.
How I made it
Let’s start with good news: you can skip cardio.
That’s right, you don’t need to toil away on the treadmill or elliptical machine to build a muscular physique.
With cardio out of the way, we can focus on two key factors: workout and diet. Let’s take them one at a time.
Workout Guidelines
Do a full-body workout
Yes: chest, shoulders, legs, back, arms, and abs — all in one single session.
Get plenty of rest
Aim for 2 to 3 days of rest between workouts. Remember, muscle growth happens outside the gym during recovery, not during the workout itself.
Focus on compound movements
Compound movements engage a large number of muscles simultaneously. A classic one is the bench press, which is meant to develop your chest but also trains your shoulders and triceps. The other classics are the military press (shoulders), the squat (legs), and the deadlift (back), but there are more on the menu. Feel free to choose. Just as an example, you can replace the squat with the leg press.
How to perform the exercises
For each exercise, perform two sets, reaching muscular failure by the 15th repetition.
Muscular failure? Let me explain: it simply means you can no longer perform the exercise with proper form.
Rest for 3 minutes between each set so that you fully recover, being able to give your best at each set.
To avoid injury, it’s crucial to maintain proper form when performing the exercises, especially as you approach muscular failure. If you don’t have a spotter, consider using machines for increased safety.
When performing each rep, contract in 1 sec and extend in 2 or 3 seconds. Don’t deliberately perform a very slow movement, as this can hold you back from performing that last rep.
Before beginning each exercise, warm up with a light load, performing 20 reps. Increase the load slightly and do 10 reps. Increase it again, and do 5 reps. Rest for one minute and you’re ready to go.
A workout example
Bench press: Warm up, then two sets, resting for 3 minutes between each set.
Lat pull down: Warm up, then two sets, resting for 3 minutes between each set.
Leg press: Warm up, then two sets, resting for 3 minutes between each set.
Seated military press: Warm up, then two sets, resting for 3 minutes between each set.
Biceps curl: Two sets, resting for 3 minutes between each set. No need to warm up.
Triceps pushdown: Two sets, resting for 3 minutes between each set. No need to warm up.
Abs: Perform two exercises only: the myotatic crunch and the cat vomit. Six-pack, here we go!
Note that although this workout focuses on compound movements, there’s still room for isolated exercises such as the biceps curl and triceps pushdown, which can help you sculpt strong arms.
Tracking progress
Since you’ll not become Mr Olympia overnight, you need a way to track your progress to remain motivated.
The best way to do this is by taking note of the load and how many reps you can do before reaching failure. Being able to do one more rep means you became stronger already, which translates to an increase in lean mass.
As you become stronger, you’ll reach a point where you reach muscular failure by, say, the 18th rep. When that happens, increase the load so that failure occurs again by the 15th rep. This is called progressive overload and is essential for continued muscle growth.
Dieting
When it comes to dieting, what you eat once in a while doesn’t matter, but what you eat regularly does. So, as long as you eat your veggies and other healthy food regularly, an occasional pizza won’t hurt.
What you should focus on instead is maintaining a minimum protein intake of around 1.5g per kg of body weight per day.
Clueless about what that means? MyFitnessPal can help you. Also, protein powder may come in handy to meet this requirement.
That’s all. No need to get fancy.
Bulking and Cutting
Definitions first: bulking = weight gain, cutting = weight loss.
The whole idea is to gain both muscle and fat when bulking and shed only fat when cutting. Then, by cycling between bulking and cutting, you gain more and more muscular mass over time. See below.
But is this really necessary? I’d say yes. The reason is that it’s much easier for your body to build muscle when you’re gaining weight. However, it’s important to bulk and cut properly to reap the benefits.
As a male, you ideally want to aim for a body fat percentage of 10–15%. However, a range of 15–20% can also work. To start, aim to cut down to 15% body fat, and then begin cycling between 20% and 15%. Females: use the 20–25% range.
No need to obsess about calories. Just eat less to cut, and more to bulk.
But how much less? And how much more?
Your new best friend, the scale, will answer. If you are doing it right, you should gain between 0.5kg and 1kg per week when bulking and lose weight at the same pace when cutting. After a few weeks of trial and error, you’ll figure it out.
Bonus: check the slow carb diet and the “holy grail” of weight loss to help you with the cutting.
Recap
Having a fit body is not out of your league. With only two 45-minute strength training sessions per week and a few adjustments in your diet, you can do it.
I’m living proof.
To know more, check Bigger Leaner Stronger, by Michael Matthews, and Hypertrophy, by Chris Beardsley.
