SwoleFit is a combination of workout philosophies from:

• Crossfit (high intensity circuit workouts, constant variation)
• General bodybuilding (balanced, bodypart splits, high volume days targeting hypertrophy)
• Westside Barbell (strength days offset with dynamic/repetition days)
• Wendler 5/3/1 Powerlifting (focus on strength lifts as primary lifts)
• Layne Norton’s PHAT training (powerlifting strength and bodybuilding hypertrophy workouts complementing each other)

Day 1 and Day 5 workouts consist of two portions:

1. A strength movement with 3-5 minutes rest between sets for maximum recovery
2. A metabolic conditioning circuit ( i.e. doing multiple exercises in a row with minimal rest.) that targets cardiovascular conditioning and hypertrophy

Day 2 and Day 4 workouts also consist of two portions:

1. 5-8 sets of a dynamic movement (usually ~50% 1RM) with 60-90 seconds rest between sets. Focus here is speed and explosiveness.
2. A volume workout targeting hypertrophy

A dynamic 5-10 minute warmup should always be performed beforehand. Here’s what I do.

I’ll provide daily entries on the workout, but here’s a high level glance at the routine:

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The SwoleFIT formula:

Day 1 (Shoulders, Traps, Legs, Abs)- Strength + Conditioning

• Strength movement(s)– Work up to a 5/3/1 rep max OR heavy sets of 5/3/1 as a 1RM% in one of the following lifts: (Push press, strict press, thruster, power clean, hang clean, power snatch, snatch, back squat, front squat, overhead squat, Pendlay rows)
• Conditioning circuit workout- 1 weighted shoulder/trap/leg movement (5-10 reps), 1 ab movement (10-20 reps), 1 weighted shoulder/leg/trap movement (5-10 reps), 1 conditioning movement (20-30 reps)

Day 2 (Chest, back, biceps, triceps)- Power + Volume

• Power Movement– do 5-8 sets of 1-3 EXPLOSIVE reps (lower bar slowly and controlled, then explode) in one of the following exercises: (Bench press, Incline bench press, close grip bench press, board press, bench press w/ chains, bench press w/ bands)
• Volume workout (superset movements w/ same numbers, 1-2 minutes rest b/t supersets)
  • 1- Dumbbell chest movement (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
  • 1- Pullup/ Lat Pulldown Movement (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
  • 2- Machine pressing/fly  chest movement (3 sets of 12-15 reps)
  • 2- Lower Back Row Movement (3 sets of 12-15 reps)
  • 3- Bar curl movement (2 sets of 8-12 reps)
  • 3- Bar/dumbbell tricep movement (2 sets of 8-12 reps)
  • 4- Single arm dumbbell curl movement (2 sets of 12-15 reps)
  • 4- Machine tricep movement (2 sets of 12-15 reps)

Day 3 (Active recovery- light conditioning, foam rolling, yoga)

• Run, bike, swim for 20-30 minutes at low-moderate intensity (optional)
• 15-20 minutes of foam rolling to break up lactic acid in muscles (gets rid of soreness)
• 20-40 minutes of yoga

Day 4 (Shoulders, Traps, Legs, Abs)- Power + Volume

• Power movement- do 5-8 sets of 1-3 EXPLOSIVE REPS (50-60% of 1 rep max, 45 seconds b/t sets) in one of the following exercises (Box jumps, vertical jumps, broad jumps, hurdle hops, box squat into box jump)
• Volume workout (superset movements w/ same numbers, 1-2 minutes rest b/t supersets)
  • 1- Squatting movement (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
  • 1- Dumbbell overhead press movement (3 sets of 8-12 reps)
  • 2- Lunge movement (3 sets of 12-15 reps)
  • 2- Shrug/upright row/farmer’s walk movement (3 sets of 12-15 reps)
  • 3- Weighted Ab Sit-ups (2 sets of 8-12 reps)
  • 3- Lower Ab movement (2 sets of 8-12 reps)
  • 3- Ab Rollers (2 sets of 12-15 reps)

Day 5 (Chest, back, biceps, triceps)- Strength + Conditioning

• Strength movement– Work up to a 5/3/1 rep max OR heavy sets of 5/3/1 as a 1RM% in one of the following lifts: (Bench press, Incline bench press, close grip bench press, weighted pull-ups)
• Conditioning circuit workout- 1 bodyweight chest movement (10-15 reps), pull-up variation (5-10 reps), 1 conditioning movement (20-30 reps), 1 bicep or tricep isolation movement

Day 6 (Active Recovery- light conditioning, foam rolling, yoga)

• Run, bike, swim for 20-30 minutes at low-moderate intensity (optional)
• 15-20 minutes of foam rolling
• 20-40 minutes of yoga
• Foam rolling is a great way to break up lactic acid buildup in the muscles and get rid of soreness. It’s essentially the equivalent of a deep tissue massage except it’s free and you can do it yourself.

Day 7 (Rest)

• This physical rest day is a great opportunity to develop that other muscle sitting on top of our necks: our brains.

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Other Important items:

• During conditioning workouts, I always include a prescribed rest period between circuit supersets (30-90 seconds). This allows your heart rate to drop slightly and your intensity levels to remain relatively high over the duration of the workout. More importantly, it allows you to preserve proper lifting form throughout the entire workout.
• Choose weights and take enough rest between circuits such that you aren’t failing mid-set on any of these exercises.
• In the middle of the conditioning circuit, try to minimize the rest between exercises.
• Rest 1-2 minutes between supersets on volume days to facilitate maximum hypertrophy.
• Also, for volume hypertrophy days, use moderately (read: you should feel very comfortable moving them around) heavy weights and focus on perfect form and quality reps.
• The layouts for the workouts above are just rough guidelines. Feel free to come up with your own; just make sure they work all the body parts for the day.
• The most important thing to note: if you are too tired/sore from a previous day, then take a rest day. Just do it. Even though you’ll be missing that sweet, succulent endorphin high, your body will thank you later.