So you want to build a bum and legs to die for?

You’re in the right place!

Beach Bum is an eight week program which has you training your legs twice per week (ouch!), tackling horrible HIIT workout every Saturday (double ouch!), and applying some of my favourite muscle buster techniques to make every workout as productive as humanly possible (triple outch!).

If you’re looking for a new program which promises to help you build an exceptional physique, one which has been tried and tested by countless others before you (over 100,000 of them!), you’ve just found it.

Program length: 8 weeks.
Frequency: 6 workouts per week.
Session breakdown: Legs twice per week, 2-3 muscles per session.
Rep ranges used: Low, moderate and high reps.
Muscle buster techniques: Dropsets, rest pause, tempo, supersets, tri-sets, giant sets.

Training Calendar

As you can see from the graphic above, you will be training six days per week on this program.

You’ll train legs on Mondays and Thursdays, and you’ll tackle a horrible full body HIIT workout every Saturday. The remaining days take care of your upper body, and you’ll have one full day off per week.

Unlike my other programs on russhowepti.com which can be shuffled, this one is best followed exactly as written because I’ve deliberately structured your calendar this way in order to ensure every muscle group receives the optimal amount of rest between sessions, as well as the perfect amount of weekly volume, so that you can unlock the best possible results from a short eight week timeframe.

Workout Structure

There are several different parts to the Beach Bum jigsaw, and I’ll explain them all on this page, but for now let’s focus on the big picture.

Every time you hit the gym you’ll have a target muscle group(s) for that day. The session will have 7-8 exercises, and your goal is to take the target musce(s) to failure multiple times (see; training to failure). In order to make sure you reach failure you’ll implement one of my muscle buster techniques immediately after finishing the final set, too. Some weeks I’ll have you performing dropsets, other weeks it’ll be rest pause sets, it’s a lot of fun and very easy to do.

When we put it together in the workouts section, it’ll look something like this:

In terms of rep ranges, you will begin week one by hitting x6-8 reps per set but I’m going to change this every week (see; periodization). That means that some weeks you won’t be able to lift as much weight as the previous week, but that’s okay.

Finally, you’ll mark the end of each week with a tough full body HIIT workout. If you’re familiar with HIIT then you’ll already know how effective it is for improving fitness and fat loss results, but don’t worry if you’ve never used it before, I’ll walk you though it below (see; HIIT).

Periodization

When you look at the workouts section you’ll see that your rep ranges jump around from week to week.

This is a training method known as undulating periodization.

Simply put; it works! It’ll set the stage for you to experience much greater results versus doing the same thing over and over. You see, each training style we apply comes with its own unique set of benefits and drawbacks. By using periodization correctly, you’ll be able to reap all of the rewards on offer from both high rep work and low rep work, without hanging around in one zone long enough for any of the negative long-term adaptations to occur. (1, 2)

There are several different forms of periodization available to you, and you might’ve already tried some of them if you’ve used my other programs. Some are better suited to strength programs, others are better suited to fat loss programs, but when the goal is both (like it is with Beach Bum), the undulating periodization model is king. (3)

Rather than following a linear path, your rep ranges are going to bounce up and down every time you start a new week of workouts. Here’s how it looks:

Training To Failure

When you apply undulating periodization you’ll not be able to out-lift yourself from week to week, and that’s perfectly fine.

You see, the goal is not to increase the weights week but rather to take the muscle to failure.

The weights you need could differ greatly depending upon the number of reps you have to perform, but the mission is the same in both instances – get to failure! For example, a pair of 10kg dumbbells might be enough to take your biceps to failure in 6-8 reps, whereas 3kg dumbbells might be necessary when switching to 20-30 reps.

Over time you’ll naturally become stronger, and that’s always cool, but in terms of muscle building all you really need to do is create muscle failure. A 2010 study published in the PloS ONE journal showed that doing so typically yields a 40-60% improvement in the anabolic response to training, so it’s definitely something we want to be doing on a regular basis! (4)

As a guide for weight selection the last third of your set should feel challening – if you can’t hit the rep target you went too heavy, if you blast it without any issues you went too light. Here’s more info on training to failure.

Applying Muscle Busters For Even Greater Results

Muscle busters… cool name, huh?

These are techniques which I’ll have you add after the final set of most exercises in order to make sure you had nothing left in the tank. They’ll feel nasty, and they’ll take you past the point where you’d normally have quit, but that’s kinda the point.

And just like changing your rep ranges every week, I’m also going to rotate the muscle busters. The main reason I do this is because some techniques work better when using high reps, and others low reps, plus it’s also good for variety.

Here are the three techniques you’ll use: