B.U.F.F. DUDES 12 WEEK PROGRAM Note: A lot of the exercises (mainly the major compound exercises) will stay the same throughout the program because of not only the great advantages these certain exercises will have in many different ways (inside and outside of the gym) but also it’s a great way to track your progression in gaining foundational strength. The main changes in the program will be the amount of exercises, sets, reps, and also weight in the changing weeks. You’ll notice that every major compound movement will work in a pyramid scheme, going up in weight as you decrease the reps; this will promote not only the amount of muscle fibers that are involved in the lift but also you will reap the benefits of gaining strength due to the constant increase in weight. Also in the program you will notice that almost every isolation exercise will stay with the same rep range throughout the 3 – 4 sets. The reason we keep higher repetitions in the isolation exercises is that we want to promote not only hypertrophy but also endurance in the smaller muscle groups (or isolated muscle group). Our hypothesis is that when dealing with compound exercises, you don’t want the smaller (secondary) muscles to burn out and hold you back from lifting heavy and concentrating on the major muscles involved in the lift. You will notice at the end of the program the pyramiding scheme will decrease as the supersets are introduced. The reason behind this is that we want to concentrate on muscle strength, density, and endurance in the beginning and at the end we will concentrate on drawing out the definition and striations of the fibers.
WEEKS 1 - 3 (Prep Phase) Monday Chest & Triceps Incline Barbell Press
4 sets
15,12,10,8 reps
Barbell Flat Bench
4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Incline Dumbbell Fly
4 sets
10 reps
Chest Dips (body weight)
4 sets
15 reps
Standing French Press
4 sets
12 reps
Dumbbell Kickbacks
3 sets
10 reps
Deadlift
4 sets
20,15,12,10 reps
Pull up
4 sets
12 reps
Single Arm Dumbbell Row
4 sets
10 reps
Underhand Barbell Row
4 sets
12,10,8,8
Incline Dumbbell Curl
3 sets
10 reps
Preacher Curl
3 sets
10 reps
Squats
4 sets
15,12,10,8 reps
Walking Lunges
3 SETS 10 steps (each way)
Leg Press
4 sets
12,10,8,8
Standing Leg Curls (machine)
4 sets
12 reps
Seated Calf Raise
5 sets
15 reps
Tuesday Back & Biceps
Wednesday Legs & Calves
Thursday Shoulders & Trapezius Overhead Press
4 sets
15,12,10,8 reps
Upright Row
4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
4 SETS10 reps
Face Pulls (rope)
4 sets
12 reps
Barbell Shrugs
5 sets
12 reps
WEEKS 4 - 6 Monday Legs & Calves Squats
5 sets
20,12,10,8,6 reps
Romanian Dead Lifts
4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Walking Lunges
4 sets 10 steps (each way)
Legs Extensions
3 sets
12 reps
Standing Hamstring Curls
3 sets
12 reps
Seated Calf Raises
5 sets
15 reps
Dead Lift
5 sets
15,12,10,8,6 reps
Incline Barbell Press
4 sets
15,12,10,8 reps
Pull Ups
4 sets
15 reps
Barbell Bench Press
4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Straight Arm Pull Down
4 sets
12 reps
Cable Cross Over
4 sets
12 reps
T-Bar Row
4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Incline Dumbbell Fly w/ Close Press 4 sets
10 reps (each)
Tuesday Chest & Back
Wednesday Shoulders & Trapezius Bradford Press (warm up)
2 sets
20 reps
Standing Arnold Press
4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Single Cable Lateral Raise (behind back) 4 sets12 reps Face Pulls (rope)
4 sets
12 reps
Barbell Front Raise
4 sets
10 reps
Dumbbell Shrugs
5 sets
12 reps
Thursday Triceps & Biceps Barbell Skull Crusher
4 sets
15,12,10,8 reps
Barbell Curls
4 sets
15,12,10,8 reps
Rope Extensions
4 sets
12 reps
Dumbbell Bi-Lateral Hammer Curls
4 sets
12 reps
Triceps Dips (lockout)
4 sets
15 reps
Concentration Curls
4 sets
10 reps
Leg Press
5 sets
20,12,10,8,6 reps
Hip Extensions (lifts)
4 sets
12 reps
Front Squats
4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Single Leg Romanian Dead Lift
4 sets
12 reps
Donkey Calf Raises
4 sets
15 reps
Friday Legs & Calves
Note: These weeks will be concentrating on bringing the lower body up by working it out twice a week and letting the upper body get more rest in between workouts.
WEEKS 7 - 9 Monday Chest & Back Pull Ups 4 sets
20 reps
Incline Barbell Press 4 sets
15,12,10,8 reps
Bent Over T-Bar Row 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Flat Dumbbell Press 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Dumbbell Pull Overs
4 sets
10 reps
Landmine Press
4 sets
10 reps
Single Arm Dumbbell Row (Chainsaws)
4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Chest Dips (weighted)
4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
5 sets
20,12,10,8, 4 reps
Romanian Deadlifts 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Walking Lunges 4 sets
10 steps each way
Tuesday Legs Squats
Hack Squats
4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Seated Hamstring Curls
3 sets
12 reps
Leg Extensions 3 sets
12 reps
Seated Calf Raises
5 sets
20,15,12,10,8 reps
Wednesday Shoulders & Trapezius Overhead Press
5 sets
15,12,10,8,6 reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Upright Rows (wide grip) 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Bent Over Dumbbell Reverse Fly 4 sets
10 reps
Reverse Upright Row
4 sets
10 reps
Alternating Dumbbell Front Raise 4 sets
10 reps
Barbell Shrugs 5 sets
15,12,10,8,8 reps
Thursday Back & Biceps Dead Lift 5 sets
12,10,8,6,2 reps
Seated Cable Rows 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Straight Arm Pull Downs 4 sets
10 reps
Under Hand Pull Downs 4 sets
10 reps
Barbell Curls
4 sets
12,10,8,6 reps
Alternating Dumbbell Hammer Curls 3 sets
10 reps
Preacher Bench Concentration Curls 3 sets
10 reps
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Note: At this point in the program the body is increasing in strength and size. It will take more stress to continue to progress in results and this is the reason we want to workout the major muscles twice a week in different combinations. Switching things up in the program will not only keep the body guessing but will also keep your mind stimulated through a brutal 12-week program.
WEEKS 7 - 9 Friday Chest & Triceps Incline Dumbbell Fly to Close Press 4 sets
10 reps
Flat Barbell Press 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Underhand Cable Fly
4 sets
12 reps
Decline Dumbbell Press 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
EZ-bar Skull Crusher 4 sets
12,10,8,6 reps
Rope Extensions 3 sets
10 reps
Cross Bench Dips (weighted) 3 sets
10 reps
Saturday Legs & Calves Leg Press
5 sets
20,12,10,8,6 reps
Step Ups (weighted)
4 sets
10 reps
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts
4 sets
10 reps
Single Leg Extensions 3 sets
12 reps
Lying Leg Curls 3 sets
12 reps
Standing Calf Raises
5 sets
15,12,10,8,8 reps
WEEKS 10 - 12 Monday Legs Squats
5 sets
20,12,10,8,4 reps
Superset Romanian Dead Lifts 4 sets Single Leg Hip Lifts 4 sets
10 reps 10 reps
Walking Lunges 4 sets 10 steps (each way) Superset Leg Extensions Leg Curls
4 sets 4 sets
12 reps 12 reps
Standing Calf Raises
5 sets
10 reps*
Superset Straight Arm Pull Down 4 sets Pull Ups 4 sets
12 reps (pre – exhaust) 12 reps
Superset Incline Barbell Press 4 sets Incline Dumbbell Fly 4 sets
10 reps 10 reps
Superset Bent Over Dumbbell Row (Bi-Lateral) Flat Bench Dumbbell Press
4 sets 4 sets
10 reps 10 reps
Superset Dumbbell Pull-Over 4 sets Dips (weighted) 4 sets
10 reps 10 reps
Tuesday Chest & Back
Wednesday Shoulders & Trapezius Lateral Raise (pre-exhaust) 4 sets
12 reps
Overhead Press 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps
Superset Bent Over Reverse Dumbbell Fly 4 sets Cable Front Raise (rope) 4 sets
12 reps 12 reps
Superset Upright Row 4 sets Reverse Upright Row 4 sets
12 reps 12 reps
Seated Dumbbell Shrugs
4 sets
10 reps
Standing Behind the Back Barbell Shrugs 4 sets
10 reps
* After 10 full reps finish with partial reps till failure
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Note: In weeks 9 12 our goal is to be increasing not only the amount of weight per exercise but also the intensity per workout as well. This will be accomplished by introducing super sets, drop sets, forced reps, negatives, and so on, trying to involve as much muscle fiber as possible while feeding them the proper nutrition and promoting new growth that might not have been realized before.
WEEKS 10 - 12 Thursday Triceps & Biceps Superset Ez-Bar Skull Crusher 4 sets EZ-Bar Close Grip Press 4 sets
10 reps 10 reps
Barbell Curls (5 reps wide, mid, and then close grip) 4 sets
15 reps
Superset Pronated Triceps Extension Supinated Triceps Extension Rope Triceps Extension
4 sets
10 reps each
Dumbbell Hammer Curls (bi-lateral)
4 sets
10 reps
Concentration Curls 3 sets
12 reps
Friday Legs Leg Press 10 sets 15,12,10,8,6 REPS Drop set 5 times on last set Hack Squats 5 sets
12,10,8,8,6 reps
Standing Leg Curls 3 sets
20 reps
Single Seated Calf Raise
3 sets
20 reps
Standing Calf Raise 3 sets
10 reps
Saturday Chest & Back Superset Bent Over Row Flat Barbell Press
4 sets 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps 12,10,8,8 reps
Superset Seated Low Row (cable) 4 sets Machine Fly 4 sets
10 reps reps 10 reps
Superset Underhand Pull Downs 4 sets Underhand Dumbbell Fly 4 sets
12,10,8,8 reps 12 reps