4 Week Free Workout Program for Busy Dads
Hey busy dads!
I know you are busy with work, your kids, and busy social life. That's why I'm going to make this as easy as possible for you by giving you the tools to get fit without spending hours working out!
This 4-week program will require three days per week at the gym so it fits into your busy schedule easily.
You might ask yourself why you should follow my program. Here are four reasons why you should do it:
I'm a busy dad myself so I know how hard it is to work out.
You will be able to maintain this level of fitness for the rest of your life with only three days per week in the gym.
The system has been tested multiple times, and guess what it works!
This is a completely FREE program!
As I know you are busy and don't have time for long blog posts let's jump straight into the program!
Who is the gym program suitable for?
This program is suitable for all those dads that are injury-free and have at least 1-2 years of training experience.
Basically, if you never trained before you might be better of starting with a trainer to ensure that you learn how to lift safely.
You can get in touch with us here so we can have a chat and arrange a trainer for you that can teach you how to use this program safely and effectively in less than 10 personal training sessions.
This is a great opportunity for you to get into amazing shape in a very short time frame with a program that is carefully curated for the busy DAD!
My reason for giving away a free workout program!
Helping people reach their fitness goals is a blessing! I also believe that providing value to others will help our personal training company grow even faster here in Dubai.
The market is huge and there will always be people that will pay for our services but there are also those that might not be able to do so and they also deserve the best support possible!
People will get some great results using this full-body program and that will definitely make them wanna work with us again!
This program is only for gym use and if it takes you too much time to reach the gym you should get in touch with us and check our options for home workouts.
Is working 3 days a week enough to help you lose weight, get stronger and build muscle?
I have ensured that both the exercise selection and volume are sufficient to get your muscles the stimulus they need to get the results you want!
Now that being said those of you that skip sessions and don't put effort into your workout, well you can't expect to achieve results!
You have the ultimate guide but YOU have to put in the work to make things happen!
If you are someone who has the time to train more often then feel free to do so but going to the gym every day can lead to overtraining and can also create obsessive habits that aren't healthy.
What is the goal of the program?
The main goal that this program aims to achieve is to make you STRONGER!
Getting stronger over time will guarantee that you are on the right path and it will automatically lead to more muscle size and fat loss.
Trust me your body will thank you if you follow this workout plan!
How is the program structured?
It is a 4-week program with 3 weekly sessions that will take you somewhere between 60-90 min to complete.
Each workout will be a full-body routine focusing on stimulating the biggest muscle groups which is the key to making you stronger and quickly improving your physique.
We won't waste too much time training a small muscle group as I know that the key to achieving quick muscle-building adaptations is to focus on big muscles.
The reason we will have full-body workouts every time you train is that we want to hit all the big muscle groups with as high of a frequency as possible. We also wanna be able to target the same muscle with different rep ranges (low and high rep ranges) and different loads (weight on the bar). The reason why I am applying this approach I will explain in a bit in the WHY THIS STRUCTURE SECTION.
Be prepared to struggle a bit with your first few workouts until your body adjusts and starts making serious progress! If you feel like quitting just remember that every start is tough but if you push through you will reap all the benefits of your hard work!
What are the rep ranges in the program?
Workout 1 - 6 to 8 reps
Workout 2 - 10 to 12 reps
Workout 3 - 14 to 16 reps
What are the rest periods in the program?
Workout 1 - 3 min rest between sets and exercises
Workout 2 - 2 min rest between sets and exercises
Workout 3 - 1 min rest between sets and exercises
How to choose your weight/resistance?
You will get a % from your one-repetition max that you should use in the given workout.
Workout 1 of the week will be at 80-85% from 1RM
Workout 2 of the week will be at 70-75% from 1RM
Workout 3 of the week will be at 60-65% from 1 RM
It will take a very experienced lifter to nail those percentages from the start so I will give you two tips to help you figure out your weight!
First Tip - perform 2 slightly lighter warm-up sets that are close to the weight you believe is appropriate for the working set.
Second Tip - the weight you lift should be hard but you should be able to complete the whole set and have 1 max 2 repetitions left in the tank.
Why this structure?
Data that we have from scientific studies show that there are 3 factors that affect muscle building: mechanical tension, muscle damage, and metabolic stress.
The first two elements are closely related to the weight that you use! Therefore by using heavier weights (lower reps) we will be able to put more force on the muscles which means greater stimulus for growth. On the other hand, when working with less load/lighter weights we can increase the number of reps and sets, this allows for more total volume which also increases hypertrophy.
Each load has a different demand on the body. Heavier weights tax the central nervous system more and that means we need more time to recover. They can beat us up pretty badly but are extremely important for us to get the muscle-building results that you are looking for.
That's why we keep it in the program once a week and the other two sessions we focus more on metabolic stress and muscle damage which are slightly different but still important to get you the results you want!
This is also one of the reasons why I recommend training in the gym as I find it way easier to get the mechanical tension you want to achieve the optimal results.
Rest periods explained
You might be a bit surprised that your rest periods in workout one are 3 min long...
So let me explain why. When you lift heavy weights which are 80-95% from your 1RM you need to ensure that you give your body enough rest so you can enter into every set completely recovered. Basically, we do not want to accumulate any fatigue that will prevent us from carrying the heaviest load possible for the given rep range.
We do that because we want to achieve as much mechanical tension in workout number 1 and we wanna make as many strength gains as possible. Don't get me wrong we are still making hypertrophy gains/muscle growth but we might not be maximizing it as much as in workouts 2 and 3 of the week where our focus is more oriented towards pure muscle hypertrophy.
During workouts 2 and 3 of the week, you will also find that you can't lift quite as much weight as you will accumulate some fatigue. In workout 3 you actually might have to reduce the weight after each set to be able to complete the given rep ranges.
This way I have ensured that each week of the program all the dads are getting the best possible stimulus!
Make sure that you read and understand all the information above so you can get the most out of your FREE full-body program.
If you have any questions do not hesitate to leave a comment below!
Busy Dads Workout Plan - Week 1 to 4
Warm-up
Each workout you will go through a full-body warm-up routine that will prepare you both mentally and physically for the main portion of the workout!
These drills have been carefully chosen to engage all the important muscles that you will use throughout the workout!
1- Bear Walk Exercise
3 x 30 seconds on 30 seconds off
This exercise will help you stretch your whole posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, lower and upper back) and it will also warm up your shoulders and arms and prepare them for the main portion of the workout.
2- Bear Crawl Exercise
3 x 30 seconds on 30 seconds off
This amazing drill will help you warm up and strengthen your core. It will prepare your whole body for the main part of the session.
3- Bird Dog Exercise
3 x 8 reps each side
Bird Dog exercise will help you warm up your glutes, lower and upper back muscles.
Session 1
6-8reps at 80-85% from 1RM
a) Supported T Bar Row
4 x 6-8 reps
b) Incline Dumbell Chest Press
4 x 6-8 reps
c) Seated Shoulder Press Machine
4 x 6-8 reps
d) Barbell Squat
3 x 6-8 reps
e) Laying Down Hamstring Curl Machine
3 x 6-8 reps
f) Stairmaster
12-15 min at heart rate 130-140 beats per minute
Session 2
10-12 reps at 70-75% from 1RM
a) Inverted Row
3 x 10-12 reps
b) Deep Pushups
3 x 10-12 reps
c) Elevated Heel Dumbell Split Squats
3 x 10-12 reps
d) Stiff Leg Deadlift
3 x 10-12 reps
e) Z Bar Biceps Curl
3 x 10-12 reps
f) Assault Bike
4 rounds 30-sec max effort 2 min rest
Session 3
14-16 reps at 60-65% from 1RM
a) Bench Supported Upper Back Row
3 x 14-16 reps
b) Chest Fly Machine
3 x 14-16 reps
d) Lateral Raise Machine
3 x 14-16 reps
e) Triceps Cable Extension
3 x 14-16 reps
f) Standing Calf Machines
4 x 14-16 reps
g) Incline Walking
10 minutes at heart rate 120-130 beats per minute
Why the same workout every week?
The reason we are doing the same workouts for 4 weeks is to get yourself familiar with the exercises and to allow your body to become more efficient and performing them.
This will also allow you to increase the weights you lift each week and it will enable you to track your progress and avoid injury!
Most professionals in the field maintain the same routine sometimes for up to 3 months before they start tweaking the exercises.
The body does not adjust that fast especially if you are someone who is a beginner or intermediate lifter.
Cooldown you can choose for yourself
For now, I will leave the cooldown to you! We know that you are a busy individual so we do not want to waste too much time and keep you in the gym for 2 hours at a time.
We are big proponents of working through full ranges of motion while exercising and we can guarantee that if you train that way you will minimize your injuries.
Because we value the importance of stretching we will soon make a blog post that will share with you some passive stretching methods that you can use after your workouts to improve your flexibility and range of motion!
How to eat to get the most out of your program?
Unlike the training method which can be a one fits all approach the nutrition will differ from individual to individual.
Therefore it is impossible for me to give the nutrition plan but I will give some basic tips that everyone can apply:
consume 3-4 meals daily
consume 1.8-2.2 gm of high-quality protein from sources like eggs, meat, fish, and poultry (80kg person should consume 144-176 grams of protein daily
keep most of your carbohydrates in the meals surrounding your sessions
eat more food on days when you train and less on days when you rest
eat whole foods and avoid processed stuff
introduce a 30-40 gram unflavored casein shake before bed
hydrate well, try reaching 2.5-3 liters daily
salt your meals
If you want to lose weight check out our blog "34 tips for weight loss that actually work" or get in touch with us for personal training.
Summary
This 4-week full-body exercise plan can be extended for up to 6 weeks. After that time frame, you can do a de-load week to give your body some time to recover before you attempt another strong training cycle.
The program will take your strength and physique to the next level and that's exactly what we Dads need!
Being a dad is tough and we don't have that much time to care about ourselves and that's why I have designed this program to help you regain your Greek God body and strength!
If you have any questions do not hesitate to leave a comment below.
In case you think you need some more professional help in the gym and if you are based in Dubai you can check out our personal training services or we can send a trainer to your home location!
Or if you live in some other part of the world or simply don't want to go to the gym you can also get someone to train you online.
Stay Strong #BeFortius
Additional related resources:
Services: Fortius Dubai Personal Training
Services: Fortius Dubai Life Coaching
