the free plan
Two days. Two hard sets. Write it down.
This is the structure I train with, written so you can start Monday. Print it, or download the PDF, and keep it where you train. Change nothing for eight weeks.
1 · Diet: the part that gets you lean
- Calories. Bodyweight in pounds × 10–12 to lose fat. × 12.5–13.5 to hold. × 15–16 to build. A 180 lb guy cutting eats 1,800–2,160 a day.
- Protein. 0.8 g per pound of bodyweight, every day. 180 lb → about 145 g. This is what keeps the muscle while the fat comes off.
- Food. Whatever you'll actually eat, mostly real food. Steak, eggs, Greek yogurt, rice, potatoes, fruit. Macros over food choices.
- Count everything. Every meal, every day. It was the main factor in my fat loss — more than any lift. The food-log prompt does the counting for you.
2 · Training: the part that builds the muscle
Pull day
- Weighted pull-up — 2 hard sets × 5–8
- A row or a pulldown — 2 sets × 8–12
- Curls — 2 sets × 8–12
Push day
- Weighted dip — 2 hard sets × 5–8
- A press (bar, dumbbell or machine) — 2 sets × 6–10
- Lateral raises, then triceps — 2 sets each
Legs · when you can
- Hack squat or goblet squat — 2 sets × 6–10
- Hamstring curl — 2 sets × 8–12
- Calves, if you care — 2 sets
The frame
- Two or three days a week. Two is enough.
- Three to five minutes rest between the hard sets.
- Forty minutes door to door. Then leave.
The first lift on each day is the session. It's the one that's heavy, logged and progressed. Everything after it is support, and support can be sloppy without costing you anything.
3 · The one progression rule
When both sets of the opening lift hit eight clean reps, add five pounds next session and start again at five. Any other result: same weight next time. Never add weight to fix a stall.
| Session | Belt | Set 1 | Set 2 | Next time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 lb | 5 | 5 | Same weight |
| 2 | 10 lb | 6 | 6 | Same weight |
| 3 | 10 lb | 7 | 7 | Same weight |
| 4 | 10 lb | 8 | 8 | Both at 8 → add 5, reset to 5 |
| 5 | 15 lb ▲ | 5 | 5 | Same weight |
Repeating a weight is not standing still. A hard five becoming a clean eight on the same load is the progress. The plate change is the receipt.
4 · What counts as a rep
- Pull-up. Dead hang at the bottom, arms straight. Chin over the bar at the top, not level with it. No kick. Two seconds down.
- Dip. Shoulders below elbows at the bottom. Full lockout at the top. Lean forward for chest, upright for triceps — pick one and keep it so the log means something.
- If it didn't meet the standard, it didn't happen. Adding weight to a rep you cut short makes the log a lie, not you stronger.
5 · The rules that keep you in it
- Never two in a row. Missing one session costs nothing. Missing two teaches your brain the plan is optional.
- The twenty-minute version. On a bad day you don't skip, you shrink: one hard set of the main lift, write it down, leave.
- Write every set down. Lift, weight, both sets. Eleven seconds. It is the entire difference between people who progress and people who attend.
- Nothing hurts before you progress. An ache in a joint means hold the weight and cut a rep, not push through.
6 · Your first week
- Sunday, 20 min. Cook the week's protein. Belt or backpack by the door.
- Sunday, 5 min. Open two chats, paste the two prompts, send your first bodyweight.
- Monday, 40 min. Pull day. One easy set, two hard ones, log it.
- Every morning. Weigh in. Ignore the daily number; judge the weekly average.
- Thursday, 40 min. Push day. Same shape.
- Sunday. Read the week. Change nothing based on one week.
- Repeat seven more times. Twenty-four sessions is where a body visibly changes.
