12 Week Workout Program
Want to step up your game but not sure how? If you’re feeling like you’ve hit a plateau and can’t make the gains you’d like at the gym, this 12 week workout program is destined to give you some seriously toned up results.
12 Week Workout Program – Staying Motivated
Getting fit and staying fit take a lot of motivation. So before we get to the workout program, it’s important to think about motivation. Coming up with a detailed plan like this one is a big part of sticking it through, but you should also have back up plans in place for days when you may not make it to the gym, or for times when your mood isn’t quite right.
To help you through it, I recommend taking a look at my article Instant Motivation: Best 5 Pre-Workout Drinks. Preworkout drinks are a gaurantee to boost your motivation and give you serious results.
Speaking about serious results, I’d like to challenge you to take it one step further and grab my recent release of the 30 Day Body Transformation Challenge where I take your hand and walk you through weekly workout routines and meal plans to get your abs, thighs, butt, arms and chest totally toned up. Do it now as I have a time limited Promo Code “3030” for you to get an additional 30% off this full package. I’ll also offer a full money back guarantee so if you don’t get the results you want then you’ll have nothing to lose but just fat.
12 Week Workout Program – The Right Diet
When it comes to getting in killer shape, you also need to think about a diet that supports your workout goals.
Since this 12 week workout program is pretty geared towards strength training and building muscle, I’m going to recommend my full meal plan guide – Sexy Flat Abs Meal Plan. It offers a comprehensive full 7 day meal plan which will be the best money you’ve ever spent on yourself because there is no way you won’t get results.
Now let’s get to the program…
12 Week Workout Program – The Plan
This 12 week workout program is focused on building strength and developing your lean muscle mass. I’ve also incorporated a lot of flexibility into the program, so that you can use it to meet your own workout needs and goals. Here’s a rough guide for number of sets and reps, which I’m going to leave up to you:
- Toning Up and Burning Fat – 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps each, per exercise
- Building Strength and Lean Muscle – 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps each, per exercise
- Building Mass and Getting Ripped – 3-5 sets of 6-10 reps each, per exercise
I’m breaking the program into three 4-week periods. The goal is to continue challenging your body at the end of every block.
Weeks 1 to 4
The first 4 weeks are going to get you to the gym 4 days a week. You’re going to alternate between upper and lower body to really ensure that you have a strong foundation for the rest of the program. I recommend hitting the gym on Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday, making sure you keep Wednesday as a rest and recovery day.
Days 1 and 3: Upper Body
- Cardio Warm-Up: 15 minutes on machine of choice
- Dumbbell Chest Press (view exercise)
- Cable Lat Row (view exercise)
- Barbell Bicep Curl (view exercise)
- Tricep Rope Extension (view exercise)
- Seated Shoulder Press (view exercise)
- Back Extension (view exercise)
Days 2 and 4: Lower Body
- Cardio Warm-Up: 15 minutes on machine of choice
- Front Dumbbell Squat (view exercise)
- Lateral Lunge (view exercise)
- Seated Leg Curl (view exercise)
- Standing Calf Press (view exercise)
- Ab Crunch on Stability Ball (view exercise)
- Oblique Crunch on Stability Ball (both sides) (view exercise)
Weeks 5 to 8
The second part of this program is all about increasing focus. You’re still going to hit the gym 4 days a week, but each day is going to be focused on a particular group of muscles. This will help develop your training and challenge your muscles in a new way. For this period, any 4 days of the week will work.
Day 1: Back and Biceps
- Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
- One-Arm Dumbbell Row (view exercise)
- Barbell Bicep Curl (view exercise)
- Lat Pulldown (view exercise)
- Cable Lat Row (view exercise)
- Seated Bicep Curl on Incline Bench (view exercise)
- Back Extension (view exercise)
Day 2: Chest and Triceps
- Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
- Dumbbell Chest Press (view exercise)
- Incline Dumbbell Chest Press (view exercise)
- Dumbbell Chest Flyes (view exercise)
- Seated Tricep Dumbbell Extension (view exercise)
- Tricep Rope Extension (view exercise)
- Incline Dumbbell Flyes (view exercise)
Day 3: Abs and Core
- Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
- Ab Crunch on Stability Ball (view exercise)
- Bosu Ball Knee Tucks (view exercise)
- Bicycle Crunch (view exercise)
- Oblique Crunch on Stability Ball (both sides) (view exercise)
- 30-second Plank on Stability Ball (view exercise)
- One-Legged Ab Crunch on Bosu Ball (view exercise)
Day 4: Legs and Shoulders
- Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
- Front Dumbbell Squat (view exercise)
- Lateral Lunge (view exercise)
- Seated Leg Curl (view exercise)
- Standing Calf Press (view exercise)
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press (view exercise)
- Lateral Dumbbell Raise (view exercise)
Weeks 9 to 12
The last part of this program is about getting more intense and increasing not only focus, but also frequency of lifting weights. You’re going to get to the gym 5 days a week, ideally Monday-Friday, leaving the weekend for rest and recovery.
Day 1: Back and Biceps
- Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
- One-Arm Dumbbell Row (view exercise)
- Barbell Bicep Curl (view exercise)
- Lat Pulldown (view exercise)
- Cable Lat Row (view exercise)
- Seated Bicep Curl on Incline Bench (view exercise)
- Reverse Bicep Curl on Bench (view exercise)
- Bent Over Lateral Dumbbell Raise (view exercise)
- Back Extension (view exercise)
Day 2: Legs
- Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
- Front Dumbbell Squat (view exercise)
- Lateral Lunge (view exercise)
- Seated Leg Curl (view exercise)
- Standing Calf Press (view exercise)
- Leg Extension (view exercise)
- Barbell Deadlift (view exercise)
- Stability Ball Squats (view exercise)
- One-Legged Hip Lift (view exercise)
Day 3: Chest & Triceps
- Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
- Dumbbell Chest Press (view exercise)
- Incline Dumbbell Chest Press (view exercise)
- Dumbbell Chest Flyes (view exercise)
- Seated Tricep Dumbbell Extension (view exercise)
- Tricep Rope Extension (view exercise)
- Incline Dumbbell Flyes (view exercise)
- Single Arm Chest Press with Pulley (view exercise)
- Tricep Dumbbell Extension on Bench (view exercise)
Day 4: Abs & Core
- Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
- Ab Crunch on Stability Ball (view exercise)
- Bosu Ball Knee Tucks (view exercise)
- Bicycle Crunch (view exercise)
- Oblique Crunch on Stability Ball (both sides) (view exercise)
- 30-second Plank on Stability Ball (view exercise)
- Stability Ball Rollout (view exercise)
- Lower Ab Bicycle Crunch (view exercise)
- One-Legged Ab Crunch on Bosu Ball (view exercise)
Day 5: Shoulders
- Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press (view exercise)
- Lateral Dumbbell Raise (view exercise)
- Standing Barbell Press(view exercise)
- Shoulder Press on Incline Bench (view exercise)
- Lateral Deltoid Raise with Pulley (view exercise)
12 Week Workout Program – Taking it to the Extreme
For those who are really serious about getting the quickest results possible then you should take a close look at the Top 10 Workout Supplements for Women or Top 10 Workout Supplements for Men. I’ve carefully selected the highest rated and safest supplements in the workout, they’ll take your results to a new level.
If you want to change things up and continue making gains after the end of this 12 week program, try using some of these Weight Training Techniques. They’re a great way add variety to your workout and train your muscles in a new way.
Have any questions or feedback about this 12 Week Workout Program? Please leave a comment below…
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Thank you for visiting! Weight Loss and Training is a health blog which features all the best weight loss tips that I have learned over my 20 years of training. My background includes a degree in Kinesiology from the world renown Simon Fraser University, certification in nutritional sciences from UBC, and Personal Trainer Specialist certification from Can Fit Pro.
How many reps, and sets do you recommend In the 12 week workout?
Hi Delvin, I think you missed it in the article where I outline this based on your goals:
I just want to make sure I have this correct. So for the first four weeks is toning up so I would do 2-3 sets and 12-15 reps? Then weeks 5-8 I am focusing on Building strength and lean muscle so I do 3-4 sets and 8-12 reps? Then the last 4 weeks I am following the building mass workout? Is that correct?
Hey Salvatore, thanks for the great question. Actually I as recommending you stick with one set/rep range depending on what your goal is. So if you want to build muscle then stick to 8-12 reps, but that variation you mentioned is also good to shock your muscles if you find your body is adapting too quickly within 4 weeks of time and results start to slow down. Let me know if you have any more questions on this!
How about rest periods for all?
just finished the 12 weeks following this program doing 3 sets of 10-12 reps. It works. I can see a difference to my body. I generally eat healthy Mon – Fri and cheat a little at wkends. Will definately be following more work out plans on this website.
That is pretty awesome Natalie, take before/after pics and if you send them to me I’ll send you one of my comprehensive full workout and nutrition plans of your choice. Let’s do this!