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Transform Your Physique with Total Body Training
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Up until now you've probably been training for size and strength gains as most trainers do during the cold season. It's time for your training program to do a 180 and get back to an old school method of training that has been proven to produce results – Total Body Training.

To get the most out of total body training you're going to have to work. The workouts may be short, the sets and reps will be limited and you'll have a long time to recover between training sessions, but this is no “walk in the park” training program. Compound and single-joint exercises are the name of the game. Here's the list:

Compound Movements

Quads

  • Barbell back squat, barbell front squat, leg press or hack squat

Shoulders

  • Dumbell military press or standing barbell push press to the front

Chest

  • Barbell flat, incline, decline bench press, dumbell flat bench press or wide grip dips

Lower Back and Hips

  • Deadlift from floor, standing good mornings, power cleans or power snatches

Back

  • Barbell/dumbell Rows, T-bar rows, chin-ups or pull-ups

Single-Joint Movements

Hamstrings

  • Leg curls or glute-ham raises

Biceps

  • Standing barbell/dumbell curls, hammer curls or preacher curls

Triceps

  • Lying tricep extensions, cable press downs or dumbell overhead extensions

Shoulders

  • Dumbell side and front raises, reverse pec-deck or barbell upright rows

Calves

  • Standing or seated calf raises

Ground Rules

  1. Each week you will train three days and rest four days with a minimum of 48 hours to recover between workouts
  2. Every major muscle group must be trained three times each week
  3. Intensity level must be high to keep the training session as short as possible
  4. Increase the load every week
  5. No two workouts should ever be the same
  6. Each workout must consist of four compound movements and two single-joint movements

How It's Done

Each training session will consist of four compound movements and two single-joint movements that you will choose from the list. Make sure to change up the exercises from workout to workout so that no two days are ever exactly the same. This program is designed to contain three training sessions within a seven-day time frame. Each workout has a designated number of sets and reps per exercise to be performed each time:

Workout 1

  • 3 sets x 5 reps

Workout 2

  • 4 sets x 8 reps

Workout 3

  • 2 sets x 15 reps

The exact same sets and reps scheme will be repeated each week for eight weeks, and each week you should be increasing the load being lifted by 1-2 percent. Rest times between sets should not exceed 90 seconds. Below is an example of how the workouts are structured.

Workout 1 – Sets: 3 – Reps: 5

Compound

  • Barbell back squat
  • Dumbell military press
  • Barbell flat bench press
  • T-bar rows

Single-Joint

  • Hammer curls
  • Seated calf raises

There it is - the total body eight-week training program. When performed according to the parameters outlined above, your body will make a drastic transformation while leaving you an ample amount of free time to recover.