It’s unreasonable and, frankly, unrealistic to think you can have a lean body year-round. Is it possible? Yes, but be real: between the holidays, work, and unexpected life situations, you’re going to slip and sometimes keep slipping. That’s OK.
But say life gets back on track after the whole social distancing and quarantining, the events you go to will be teaming with cameras. You don’t want to be the guy who gained 15 pounds over the quarantine. You’ll want to look your best for when the flashes start popping off. For those occasions, we’ve got you covered with a 6-week-long, 5-day workout routine.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the plan, here’s a quick disclaimer. Six weeks is enough time to get lean (about 10-12% body fat) if you’re about 10 to 15 pounds over what you were. However, if you’ve been out of the gym and off your diet for a while, then you may need to leave yourself more time, like 12 weeks. Either way, feel free to follow this plan for longer than 42 days if you have more to lose or want to push beyond your previous best look. (We do suggest stopping at 12 weeks though to keep things fresh, but, again, it’s up to you.)
To help you trim down, we recruited personal trainer and creator of The Fit Body program, Jordan Morello (@Jordan_Morello). He’s also a fitness model, which means Morello knows what it takes to get photo-ready. Here’s his training blueprint for building muscle and keeping lean—whether you’re a beginner or an advanced lifter.
Now we understand that most of you have limited space and lack the gym equipment necessary to do these exercise so check which move to swap out:
Morello’s take on a “quality workout” is built around large, compound moves—the pillars of your programming—followed by a series of isolation exercises for the finer detailing. The program is structured into splits for a total of four workouts, with a day of rest in between each. For example: Monday is chest and triceps, Wednesday is legs and abs, Friday is back and biceps, then Sunday is shoulders, traps, and abs. The cycle begins again on Tuesday the following week. To focus solely on hypertrophy (or muscular size) vs. strength or power, do 8–12 reps for each exercise.
Directions
Complete this plan for six weeks while gradually (and modestly) increasing the reps or weight each week. After the six weeks, switch off the plan for another four to six weeks before returning back to it.
