Summer Prep Workout

School is ending soon. (Dun! Dun! Dun!)

That means I have about a month and some change to switch up my workout to focus on the kind of volume necessary to get down to my ideal body weight and fat %.

Right now I look mostly like this — a picture taken a couple weeks ago after my incline press personal record at 422lbs. (humblebrag ✅)

I’m super happy with where I am right now in terms of strength, but coming off of winter and a year on a university meal plan, I’m carrying a bit more body fat than I’d like, and with summer around the corner, its time to shift into “show” mode.

Why? Pretty simple.

I’m graduating soon and I want to look my best on commencement day.

So with that motivation in mind, keep scrolling to check out my summer transition workout.

Summer Transition Workout

So I’ve split my workout into 3 days, on an A/B schedule. That is for the first three days of the week I work through days 1, 2, and 3 on cycle A. Then, I switch to Days 1, 2, 3 on cycle B.

Cycle A focuses on hitting big key lifts with moderate to heavy weight and low reps. Cycle B focuses on the same muscle groups, but with lighter weight and higher reps.

My Nutrition is gonna change a bit here as well. For starters, I’m cutting out the unnecessary sources of liquid sugar. That means no more fruit juice with breakfast, no more kombucha, and absolutely no soda (bleh!)

I’m also upping my protein intake. Supplementing morning and before bed with protein powder shakes, and focusing on increasing dietary protein servings to 4x per day.

Daily Supplement Schedule is as follows:

[haven’t settled on exact dosages yet, will update next week]

→ Creatine (pre workout)

→ Pea-derived Protein Powder (breakfast + dinner)

→ Ashwagandha (with breakfast)

→ Nitric Oxide (pre workout)

→ HHC 30mg. (pre bedtime)

During the school year my nutrition is much less regimented and I essentially eat whatever I want within reason. But eating like that has the negative impact of generating a bit too much body fat for my liking.

— Anyway, here’s my workout —

Day 1A — Chest + Back

→ Incline Press Wide Grip [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Seated Row Parallel Grip [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Flat Press [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Seated Row Wide Grip [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Decline Pushups [reps 15, 15, 15, 15]

→ Lat Pulldowns [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ PecDec Flyes [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Reverse Pec Dec [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Cable Crossovers [reps 15, 15, 15, 15]

→ Free Weight Back Extensions [reps 15, 15, 15, 15]

→ Incline Press Narrow Grip [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

Day 2A — Legs + Abdominals

→ Leg Press [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Captains Chair Leg Raise [4x15 reps]

→ Hip Mobility Squat [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Ab Wheel [4x15 reps]

→ Leg Extensions [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Back-Ups from Floor [4x15]

→ Leg Curls [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Lying Leg Raises [4x15]

Day 3A — Shoulders, Arms, Plyometrics

→ Seated Shoulder Press [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Box Jump [4x10]

→ Seated DB Arnold Press [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Hill Sprints [5 reps]

→ Shoulder Extensions [4x10]

→ Split Squat Jumps [4x10]

→ One-arm cable Pull [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Assault Bike Sprints [5 reps]

→ Barbell Curls [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Tricep EZ Bar Skull Crushers [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ DB Bicep Hammer Curl [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

→ Tricep Heavy Pulldown Cable [reps warmup 10, 8, 7, 6]

Day 1B — Chest + Back II

→ Light Deadlift [4x15]

→ 3 Variation Pushup Complex [4x15]

→ Pullups [4xFailure]

→ Romanian Deadlift Dumbbells [4x15]

→ Explosive Clapping Pushups Elevated [4x10]

→ Thoracic Spine Cable Pulldowns [4x15]

→ Cable Face Pulls [4x15]

→ Deep Thoracic Spine Stretch

→ T Bar Row [4x15]

Day 2B — Legs + Abdominals II

→ Split Squat 3-Variation Bodyweight Complex [4x15]

→ Overhead Weighted Crunches [4x15]

→ Pause-Rep Calf Raises [4x15]

→ Incline Platform Walking Lunges [5 full lengths]

→ Incline Platform Backpedal Job [5 reps]

→ One Legged Squats [4x15]

→ Hanging Leg Raises [4xfailure]

Day 3B — Shoulders, Arms, Plyometrics II

→ 3-stop Shoulder Complex DB [4x15]

→ Strict DB Curls [4x15]

→ EZ Car Curls [4x15]

→ Tricep Cable Pulldown Hammer Grip [4x15]

→ Cable Curls Hammer Grip [4x15]

→ Tricep Pulldown Perpendicular Grip [4x15]

→ Cable Curls Perpendicular Grip [4x15]

→ Forearm EZ Bar Curls [4x15]

→ Forearm Plate Extensions [4x15]

→ Cable High Lateral Raise [4x15]

→ Stair Shuttle Run[5 reps]

Thanks for reading, and please follow me on social media via my linktree link

-Xavier Manley