Intermediate
exercise plan
High-intensity resistance training, daily moderate activity and weekly sprint intervals—one efficient, continuous system.
Built for experienced trainees. This program assumes familiarity with resistance-training equipment, proper exercise technique, and muscular-failure training.
Your week, one workout at a time.
Select a day to see its exercises. Read the training method before your first session.
Select 2–4 exercises per major muscle group, using different angles and movement patterns. Run every exercise through the full failure → −25% → −25% sequence, then move straight to the next.
Push A
Chest, shoulders and triceps.
Muscle group | Pick | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
Chest | Pick 2–4 | Incline machine chest press · Flat machine chest press · Pec deck · Horizontal cable fly |
Shoulders | Pick 2–4 | Machine shoulder press · Machine or cable lateral raise · Cable front raise · Stable rear-delt machine |
Triceps | Pick 2–4 | Cable pushdown · Overhead cable extension · Machine dip · Cross-body cable extension |
Pull A
Back, rear delts and biceps.
Muscle group | Pick | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
Back | Pick 2–4 | Wide-grip lat pulldown · Neutral-grip lat pulldown · Chest-supported machine row · Low row toward the hip · Straight-arm cable pulldown Include both a vertical pulldown movement and a horizontal or lateral row. |
Rear delts & upper back | Pick 2–4 | Reverse pec deck · Face pull · Rear-delt cable fly · High cable row |
Biceps | Pick 2–4 | Machine preacher curl · Cable curl · Rope hammer curl · Reverse cable curl |
Legs & Abs A
Quads, hamstrings and glutes, calves, abs.
Muscle group | Pick | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
Quadriceps | Pick 2–4 | Hack squat machine · Leg press · Leg extension · Supported split-squat machine |
Hamstrings & glutes | Pick 2–4 | Seated leg curl · Lying leg curl · Hip-thrust machine · Glute-drive machine |
Calves | Choose 1 | Standing calf-raise machine · Seated calf-raise machine · Calf press |
Abs | Choose 2–3 | Machine abdominal crunch (spinal flexion) · Supported knee raise (pelvic flexion) · Ab rollout (anti-extension) Do not repeat these exercises in Friday’s ab session. |
Push B + Pull B
Combined upper body — alternate one push exercise, then one pull exercise, with no dedicated rest.
Muscle group | Pick | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
Chest | Pick 2–4 | Decline machine chest press · Converging machine chest press · Low-to-high cable fly · High-to-low cable fly Choose different exercises from Monday. |
Back | Pick 2–4 | Close-grip neutral lat pulldown · Seated cable row · Wide-grip high row · Machine pullover · Single-arm row toward the hip Cover both vertical and horizontal pulling angles. |
Shoulders & rear delts | Pick 2–4 | Machine shoulder press (different grip) · Cable lateral raise from behind the body · Reverse pec deck · Cable rear-delt fly · Rear-delt row |
Triceps | Pick 2–3 | Machine dip · Cross-body cable extension · Overhead rope extension |
Biceps | Pick 2–3 | Cable curl · Bayesian cable curl · Reverse cable curl |
Legs & Abs B
Second lower-body day — different machines, positions and ab functions than Wednesday.
Muscle group | Pick | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
Quadriceps | Pick 2–4 | Pendulum squat machine · Belt-squat machine · Leg press (different foot position) · Supported split-squat machine · Leg extension Use different positions or machines from Wednesday. |
Hamstrings & glutes | Pick 2–4 | Single-leg seated or standing leg curl · Lying leg curl · Hip-thrust machine · Hip-abduction machine |
Calves | Choose 1 | Standing calf-raise machine · Seated calf-raise machine · Calf press Different exercise than Wednesday. |
Abs | Choose 2–3 | Stir the pot (anti-extension) · Reverse crunch (pelvic flexion) · Cable crunch (spinal flexion) · Pallof press (anti-rotation) · Cable rotation (controlled rotation) Only exercises not performed Wednesday — rotate across spinal flexion, pelvic flexion, anti-extension, anti-rotation and controlled rotation. |
HIIT & Sprint Training
One hard interval session. Choose one: stationary bike, rower, sled, elliptical, incline treadmill, hill, or track.
The session
- Warm-up: 5–10 minutes of easy movement, gradually increasing speed and intensity; finish with several controlled acceleration intervals before the working rounds.
- Work: 15–30 seconds of hard effort.
- Recover: 2–3 minutes at an easy pace.
- Repeat: 4–7 rounds.
Sprint progression — earn top speed
Do not begin with maximal-effort sprinting: joints, ligaments and tendons need gradual exposure to high-speed forces. Begin near 80% effort, progress toward 85–90%, and approach 90–100% only after adequate adaptation — increasing just one variable at a time (intensity, duration, or rounds).
PROGRESS TOWARD MAXIMAL EFFORT ONLY WHEN
Technique remains controlled · no joint or tendon pain develops · recovery remains adequate · lower-body resistance performance remains stable.
Cycling, rowing, sled pushing and incline treadmill intervals are lower-impact alternatives to running sprints.
Rest or light activity
Recovery is where the week’s training turns into results — an easy walk or gentle movement is plenty.
How every exercise works
Use machines and cables that allow safe muscular failure and rapid resistance changes. Every exercise is one continuous sequence: full-range reps to failure, partial reps, then two immediate 25% drops — with no rest at any point.
- Select a resistance that permits 6–12 controlled, full-range repetitions.
- Use a 2-second lifting phase and a 2-second lowering phase.
- Continue until another full-range repetition cannot be completed.
- Keep attempting full repetitions despite muscular failure.
- Complete approximately 2–4 additional partial repetitions.
- Immediately reduce the resistance by 25%.
- Complete approximately 3–5 repetitions, continuing into partials as failure limits the range.
- Immediately reduce the resistance by another 25%.
- Complete another 3–5 repetitions, again continuing into partials.
- Move immediately to the next exercise.
Stage | Resistance | Repetitions |
|---|---|---|
Start | 100% — allows 6–12 full reps | 6–12 full reps, then 2–4 partial attempts |
Drop 1 | −25% (≈75% of start) | ≈3–5 reps, then partial attempts |
Drop 2 | −25% again (≈56% of start) | ≈3–5 reps, then partial attempts |
THERE IS NO DEDICATED REST
No rest before either weight reduction · no rest between drop sets · no rest after the final drop · no rest between exercises · no rest between muscle groups. Changing resistance and moving between stations is the only recovery — arrange equipment and settings in advance whenever possible.
Partial repetitions and when to stop
The goal of every repetition remains a full repetition. A partial rep is never intentionally shortened — it happens because muscular failure prevents completing the normal range despite maximal effort. These maximal-effort attempts maintain tension beyond full-range failure and provide a potent stimulus for muscle growth.
Keep attempting full reps while…
- You are still trying to complete a full repetition
- The resistance still moves through roughly 30–50% or more of the normal range, with control
STOP THE EXERCISE WHEN…
Movement falls below ~30% of the normal range · momentum replaces muscular effort · body position changes significantly · the target muscle can no longer move the resistance · technique becomes unsafe.
Equipment for this protocol
Use machines. Skip the barbell.
RECOMMENDED | AVOID IN THIS PROTOCOL |
|---|---|
Selectorized (pin-loaded) machines Cable stations Stable plate-loaded machines Smith machines with safety stops set correctly Stable dumbbell isolation exercises | Barbell bench press · barbell overhead press Barbell squat · deadlift · Romanian deadlift Good morning · unsupported bent-over row Unsupported barbell lifts are poorly suited to repeated failure, partials, immediate drop sets, and continuous no-rest training. |
Daily activity
In addition to scheduled training, complete one of the following most days:
- 20 minutes of Zone 2 cardiovascular activity
- Approximately 10,000 total daily steps
- A similar amount of walking, biking, hiking, rowing, or moderate activity
Zone 2 = a sustainable pace that increases breathing and heart rate while still allowing conversation.
Adding another interval session
Add it only when strength remains stable, legs have recovered, sleep and energy remain adequate, there is no persistent muscle, joint, ligament or tendon discomfort, and Saturday sprint performance is not impaired. Reduce or remove it the moment it interferes with resistance training, sprinting, sleep, or recovery.
Vary the movement.
- Chest: incline, flat and decline pressing; horizontal, low-to-high and high-to-low flys
- Shoulders: front, lateral and rear deltoids — overhead pressing, lateral raising, rear-delt fly and rowing patterns
- Back: wide, neutral and close-grip pulldowns; rows toward the hip and abdomen; high rows; pullovers; straight-arm pulldowns
- Legs: machine squat patterns, leg-press variations, knee extensions; seated, lying and single-leg curls; hip-extension and hip-abduction; one calf exercise per leg session
- Abs: spinal flexion, pelvic flexion, anti-extension, anti-rotation, controlled rotation
What this program does
This program combines high-intensity resistance training, daily moderate activity, and weekly interval training. The goals:
- Build or preserve muscle
- Strengthen bones
- Improve metabolic and cardiovascular health
- Support body recomposition
- Improve long-term weight maintenance
- Accomplish a significant training stimulus efficiently
THE OBJECTIVE
A strong muscular stimulus through one continuous full-range → failure → partial-repetition → double-drop sequence per exercise — while supporting cardiovascular fitness, bone health, metabolic health, and long-term physical function.
Track your progress.
For every exercise, record: starting resistance · full-range reps · partial reps · the resistance used for each drop · reps completed after each reduction.
Increase the starting resistance when you can complete more than 12 controlled, full-range repetitions.
Progress can also show up as: more full-range reps, improved range of motion, better tempo control, stronger partial-rep attempts, more efficient equipment transitions, and gradually increased sprint intensity.
Selected research
Training effort. An eight-week trial in 42 trained adults compared single sets taken to failure with sets stopped two repetitions short. Both approaches improved outcomes; several muscle-growth measures modestly favored failure, while strength and local endurance were similar. Hermann et al., 2025.
Short intervals. Over 12 weeks, three weekly cycling sessions containing three 20-second hard bouts improved fitness and insulin sensitivity similarly to longer moderate cycling in sedentary men. Warm-up, easy recovery and cool-down contributed to total session time. Gillen et al., 2016.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Tro Kalayjian and Dr. Laura Buchanan