This article is for you, if you’re a male (or female) who wants lose weight and fat, build muscle, and get lean in the process. It’s the exact workout plan I used to go from 26% body fat to 17% body fat in less than 3 months. In fact, it only took me 11 weeks.
It’s also the same workout plan I used to go from 17% body fat to 10.7% body fat within the following 12 weeks. Your results will be different based on your starting point, but the workout doesn’t change.
Male or female, this workout is for you. This is the exact same exact workout I do today and the one I share with my clients in my Build Muscle Get Lean body transformation training program.
So, I’ll share the 10 lifts I used that helped me build muscle. And I’ll also share the 2 cardio workouts I used to lose fat, along with the only supplements I used.
Most supplements fail to give you the results you seek, unless the result you seek is to burn a hole in your pocket.
I only used two.
Table of Contents
- The Only Way to Have a Successful 3-Month Body Transformation
- Diet and Nutrition
- Are supplements necessary to have a successful 3-month body transformation?
- The Best Supplements for your 3-month Body Transformation
- Protein
- Creatine
- The Planet Fitness Friendly 3-Month Body Transformation Plan
- The Cardio During Your 3-Month Body Transformation Plan
- The Cardio Rules
- The Weight-Lifting Sessions During Your 3-Month Body Transformation Plan
- Performing the Lifts
- The Lifts—Day 1 and Day 4
- The Lifts—Day 2 and Day 5
- The Lifts—Day 3 and Day 6
- What about Abdominal Workouts?
- How does the 3-month body transformation workout plan change for females?
- Machine Leg Press
- Conclusion
The Only Way to Have a Successful 3-Month Body Transformation
If your goal is to build muscle and lose fat, workouts are only 20% of the transformation. This is the most important concept to realize for any successful body transformation. Unfortunately, many people waste so much time, effort, and money. They try to get ripped following a free body transformation workout plan that fails to mention the important of nutrition.
If your goal is to lose fat and the program doesn’t address nutrition, it won’t help you. I don’t care what these programs promise. Getting nutrition right is the only thing that will help you maximize the results you want.
How you spend your time out the gym matters. In other words, what you put in your mouth gets you the other 80% of your results.
If you don’t believe me, listen to other people you trust. If they had a successful drug-free body transformation, ask them about their diet. Male or female, they will tell you that diet was the key. Period.
So, if you want to have a successful body transformation, you must get your diet under control. My body transformation program has three entire modules dedicated to nutrition and diets. It helps you learn the ins and outs of how and what to eat to lose fat and get lean. Learn more about the program at buildmusclegetlean.com.
The program also covers other things that people don’t think about during their body transformations. Like, finding the right number calories to start with so you don’t starve yourself. And how to adjust your diet.
And it also helps you stick to your diet and your body transformation workout plan. Again, diet is key. If you’re not willing to diet to get the results you want, don’t even think about a body transformation.
That said, there are only 2 main tenants to follow for a body transformation goal. These tenants are an addition to a workout plan. The tenants that help you lose fat and build muscle are to eat in a caloric deficit and eat enough protein.
So it’s important I address these before getting to the workout plan.
Diet and Nutrition
1. Eat in a Caloric deficit
If you want to lose fat while building muscle, you must follow the first tenant which is eat in a caloric deficit. This means eat fewer calories than your body requires. You must do this over your entire 3-month body transformation.
Usually, people who want to build muscle need to eat more calories than their bodies need. The name for this is a calorie surplus.
But people who are new to weightlifting don’t have to eat in a calorie surplus. They can build muscle while in a calorie deficit. This is most people. And if you’re most people, you can also build muscle in a calorie deficit.
You could be new to weightlifting even if you’ve lifted weights your entire life. If you’ve never lifted weights with a progressive overloading weightlifting plan, you’re still new to weightlifting. Some people think they lift heavy, but they do not.
Progressive overloading weights is a deliberate process. If you have never tracked how much you lift overtime, you have not used progressive overloading.
You can also build muscle in a calorie deficit if you haven’t lifted weights in a while. Muscle you built in the past can return. It’s called muscle memory.
So how much of a deficit should you be in?
Start with a 20% deficit.
How do you know when you’re in a 20% deficit? It’s all a guessing game, but you can start with any online BMR calculator. Make sure it uses the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation and go from there.
2. Eat Enough Protein
The second tenant you must follow is to eat enough protein. I’ll talk more about protein shortly, in in the supplement section that follows.
When you’re in a calorie deficit, you don’t lose only fat. You also lose muscle. So, you want to keep as much muscle as you can while in a calorie deficit. Eating enough protein helps you do this during your 3-month body transformation plan.
Protein also helps you feel full. Feeling full is very important when you are eating fewer calories. You can end up binging and eating too many calories on days when you don’t feel full. And eating too many calories will bring you out of a calorie deficit and will prevent you from losing fat.
So, as I’ll recommend in the next section as well, try to consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of your body weight.
Are supplements necessary to have a successful 3-month body transformation?
The other thing we should address is supplements. The number of people selling supplements is huge. It seems like everyone wants to sell you supplements.
It’s one of the reasons why people give out body transformation workout programs for free. It’s a way to get you to buy their supplements.
The truth is you do not need supplements for a successful 3-month body transformation. If you have a good weightlifting plan and are eating the right number of calories, you’ll get your results.
But the problem is people buy supplements first. They think it’s the answer to their transformation. Meanwhile, they get weeks into their transformation without seeing the results they want. So, they quit. But the person who you bought the supplements from wins. All they had to do is give you a free workout plan.
Again, here’s the secret: Almost any workout plan will help you transform your body. There are no magical workout plans. If a workout plan forces you to lift heavy enough for 3-months, you’ll get bigger muscles.
So, supplements are not needed, at all. But they can help. Therefore, there are two supplements I recommend during your body transformation.
The Best Supplements for your 3-month Body Transformation
Protein
The best supplements to help you build muscle and lose fat are protein and creatine. You tear your muscles when you lift heavy weights. Protein helps give your body the building blocks it needs to build and repair your muscle. It also helps you recover from your workouts.
As I stated earlier, I recommend 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day when you’re lifting weights. You can get this amount of protein from food, or you can get it in the form of powders or shakes.
I recommend you try to get most of your protein from foods because I want you to feel full. But, if you find it difficult to get this amount from whole foods, protein powders can be helpful.
One scoop of a good protein powder can give you 25 grams of protein for less than 150 calories. The type of protein you buy doesn’t matter. You can buy whey or casein protein. But buy a protein that gives you at least 24 grams per serving for less than 150 calories.
Creatine
The other supplement that is helpful is creatine. Creatine is a well-studied supplement that helps boost muscle and strength. It also improves anaerobic endurance. And it reduces muscle damage and soreness after your workouts.
Taking 5 grams of creatine per day is all that’s needed. Some online articles suggest you start with 25 grams per day for 7 days as a “loading phase”, but this isn’t necessary.
5 grams of creatine per day gives your body enough time to adjust to it while also allowing you to reap its benefits. I say adjust because creatine gives some people stomach cramps in the beginning.
So, I wouldn’t want you to start with 25 grams of creatine per day.
The 3-month body transformation workout plan
Finally, the ultimate male body transformation workout plan. Now that we talked about nutrition and supplements, let’s get to the workout plan.
In full transparency, don’t let me fool you. I used the word “ultimate” to hook you. There is no ultimate body transformation workout plan.
If you use the right nutrition plan, most all workout plans will help transform your body. Assuming your nutrition is correct, all you need is time and a proper lifting plan.
Your lifting plan should focus on a hypertrophy workout and progressive overload. A hypertrophy workout uses about 10-12 lifts per muscle group. If you find a progressive overload, hypertrophy-based workout, your results will come. Guarantee.
The Planet Fitness Friendly 3-Month Body Transformation Plan
That said here is the workout program. It includes 10 total resistance training machines and 2 different cardio machines.
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardio | Cardio | Cardio | Cardio | Cardio | Cardio | Cardio |
| Machine Bench/Chest Press | Machine Seated Row | Machine Shoulder Press | Machine Chest Press | Machine Seated Row | Machine Shoulder Press | |
| Machine Chest Fly | Machine Lat Pulldown | Machine Leg Extension | Machine Chest Fly | Machine Lat Pulldown | Machine Leg Extension | |
| Machine Triceps Extension | Machine Bicep Curl | Machine Leg Curl | Machine Triceps Extension | Machine Bicep Curl | Machine Leg Curl | |
| Machine Calf Press | Machine Calf Press |
It’s a 6 day full body split. Meaning, there are 3 different workouts, that are done twice per week, and then there is 1 day dedicated specifically for cardio.
Days 1 and 4 works chest and triceps. It begins with 20 minutes of cardio. Then you jump to 3 different machines: the chest press machine, chest fly machine, and end with the triceps extension machine.
Days 2 and 5 works back and biceps. It also begins with 20 minutes of cardio. Then, again, you jump to 3 different machines: the seated row machine, lat pulldown machine, and end with the bicep curl machine.
Days 3 and 5 works shoulders and legs. It, too, begins with 20 minutes of cardio. Then you jump to 4 different machines: the shoulder press machine, the leg extension machine, the leg curl machine, and finally the calf press machine.
For females, I usually swap out the calf press machine for the leg press machine. Most of my female clients would rather grow their glutes than their calves. The leg press machine works both glutes and calves.
Let’s break this plan down.
First, this body transformation workout plan is 7 days per week. While it may seem like a lot, it only takes 7 hours out of 168 hours in your week.
If you’re serious about transforming your body fast, you need to lift often. More lifts give your muscle more volume and more loads.
And working out every day helps you keep a daily routine. There are 2 days between each working day so there’s plenty of rest time for your muscles.
Second, this body transformation workout plan is Planet Fitness friendly. Here’s what I mean. I tell my clients to use machines and not free weights. And Planet Fitness has plenty of machines.
I tell my clients to use free-weights for two reasons. The first reason is that I want them to get in and out of the gym in less than one hour.
I am not a gym rat. I have other things I like to do. So, I do not want to spend 2 hours in the gym. Machines allows you to get to a machine, change a pin to the needed weight, and lift. They also allow you to complete all your sets fast.
Like free weights, machines are a form of resistance training. And any resistance training works when your goal is to build muscle and lose fat.
Third, using machines means you’re less likely to injure yourself. Most people need more skill to safely lift weights using barbells and dumbbells. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you will hurt yourself. And a hurt body can’t build a muscular and lean transformed body. So, I want you to check their ego at the door and use the most efficient means necessary to get the results you want.
Planet Fitness allows you to meet all these goals. It’s open 7 days per week and has all the machines needed to complete the workouts. So, this 3-month body transformation plan is Planet Fitness friendly.
The Cardio During Your 3-Month Body Transformation Plan
Let’s now talk about the cardio.
The cardio is simple. On 6 out of 7 days of the workout week, each workout begins with 20 minutes of a cardiovascular exercise.
On 1 of the 7 days, the workout is only cardio. This cardio day shouldn’t last more than 40 minutes.
The Cardio Rules
1. Pick the cardio machine you like
The first cardio rule is to pick whichever cardio machines you prefer.
I don’t care.
Some people like the row machine. Some people like the recumbent bike. I prefer to use the elliptical and stair climber. I use the stair climber on days when I work out legs.
2. Workout at 70-80% of your max heart rate
The second rule for cardio is to get your heart rate up to 70 – 80% of your max heart rate.
3. Burn at least 10 calories per minute
The third rule is to try to burn at least 10 calories per minute. So, after a 20-minute cardio session you should have burned at least 200 calories.
There are many benefits to adding cardio in your workout routine but there are only two main reasons why I add it.
It warms up your blood for your lifting session that follows and helps you burn calories. All other benefits, like heart health, are extra.
So, you should burn at least 1600 calories from your cardio weekly. You should burn 200 calories during the 20-minute session. And you should burn 400 calories during your 40-minute session. This minimum amount of cardio allows you to burn calories without interfering with your muscle and strength gains.
If you notice, I did not include high-intensity interval training or HITT. HITT is not necessary to lose weight or burn fat.
I don’t care how many extra calories it may or may not burn. The only thing that’s necessary to lose weight and burn fat is a calorie deficit.
If you can get into a calorie deficit without HIIT, why wear yourself out? 3-months is a long-haul game. I want you to build muscle and lose fat slow and easy.
The Weight-Lifting Sessions During Your 3-Month Body Transformation Plan
Now let’s talk about the lifting sessions.
As I stated earlier, there is nothing special about the weightlifting sessions. They get you out the gym in less than an hour.
If your local gym doesn’t have the machines for the lifts I give, you can also use cable machines. But’s it may be easier to switch your gym to a $10 per month Planet Fitness membership.
The lifts hit all your muscles with enough volume to grow them. And you’ll be growing them twice per week. The only “secret” to these lifts is the plan for progressive overloading.
1. Lift each lift 12 times over 4 different sets.
A lot of people would suggest take your lifts 1-to-2 reps shy of muscle failure.
This is dumb.
Taking a set 1-to-2 reps shy of muscle failure does not matter. When you do this, you must think about when that is. Why should you?
So many people worry about things that do not matter in the grand scheme of things.
Stop it.
Begin the program lifting each lift with half your 1-rep max and then lift the weight for 12 complete reps for 4 different sets. I go into detail about how to find your estimated 1-rep max in my program.
2. Increase your weight lifted from week-to-week
Increase the weight you lift from week to week by 5 pounds, but by no more than 10%. This is the principal of progressive overloading in action.
When you do this, it allows for two things. First, you give yourself enough time to learn and get great at the same lifts. The quicker you learn these lifts, the quicker you gain confidence in the gym.
Second, it allows your body to adapt to the occurring neuromuscular adaptations. Over a 3-month period, you can increase the weight you lift by 60 pounds on some lifts.
And, no, you should not change your lifts. Some people call this muscle confusion. But I don’t want you to sweat the things that do not matter in the grand scheme of things.
3. Take enough rest between each set.
The reason why you want to take enough rest between each set is to give your muscles enough time to recover.
You’ll need to recoup your strength so you can maximize each of your lifts per set. When you first start your lifting program, 90 seconds between each set of lifts should be plenty of time.
So, the machine chest press lifts, for example, in total, should take you no more than 10 minutes. This means the entire day that includes chest press, should take no longer than 50 minutes in the gym, include the 3 lifts and 20 minutes of cardio.
As your lifts get heavier, you should increase your time between sets. But 3 minutes, at most, should be plenty to get you through the first 3-months of your body transformation.
At this point, this is all you need to understand and do the 3-month body transformation workout plan for men. But let’s now talk about how to perform each lift.
Performing the Lifts
The Lifts—Day 1 and Day 4
Machine Bench/Chest Press
Targeted Muscle Group: Chest
- The machine bench/chest press machine exercise targets the chest muscle. It offers more stability for people new to the exercise.
- Start by adjusting a bench/chest press machine. When you sit at the machine, position the bars at chest height.
- Place your hands upon the bars and place your feet flat on the footrests in front of you. This will be your starting position.
- Press out and extend and your arms out as far as possible in a slow and steady motion. You should feel a stretch in your triceps.
- Hold this position for a count then return to the start position.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
Machine Chest Fly
Targeted Muscle Group: Outer Chest
The machine fly exercise is an easy way to target your chest and inner chest muscles.
- Sit on the chest fly machine with your back flat against the padding and forearms against the pads.
- Slowly concentrate on pulling the bars together and squeezing your chest muscles.
- Once you reach the middle position of the motion, squeeze your chest muscles, and hold for a count.
- Return to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
Machine Triceps Extension
Targeted Muscle Group: Triceps
The machine triceps extension ensures proper range of motion and targets the triceps.
- Start off by adjusting the seat height of the machine so your upper arms and elbows lie flat on the pad.
- With your arms fully extended grasp the handles and pull them towards your body.
- Hold for a moment and then slowly return to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
The Lifts—Day 2 and Day 5
Machine Seated Row
Targeted Muscle Group: Upper Back and Latissimus Dorsi (lats)
The machine seated row ensures proper range of motion and targets the upper back and lats.
- Start off sitting on a fixed row machine.
- Grab the handles in front of you so that your arms are in a full extension and chest is up against the pad in front of you.
- Slowly contract your back muscles moving your shoulder blades with your arms
- Pull back on the machine.
- Hold as you reach a peak position and then return to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
Machine Lat Pulldown
Targeted Muscle Group: Back
- The machine lat pulldown exercise uses a machine to isolate and target the lats.
- Start by sitting on a lat pull down machine,
- Grab the handles with an overhand grip.
- Keeping your knees positioned underneath the padding and feet flat on the floor.
- Once in position, slowly pull down on the handles and bring them down towards your sides,
- Squeeze with your lat and back muscles.
- Hold for a count then return up to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
Machine Bicep Curl
Targeted Muscle Group: Biceps
The bicep curl machine exercise uses a machine to isolate and target the bicep muscle.
- Start by adjusting the seat of the machine.
- Align your elbows with the rotation axis.
- Press your arms against the pads and keep them stationary throughout the exercise.
- Curls your forearms and flex your arms.
- Squeeze your biceps, isolating the muscles.
- Hold for a count and then slowly lower your arms back to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
The Lifts—Day 3 and Day 6
Machine Shoulder Press
Targeted Muscle Group: Shoulders
Other muscle groups: Traps, Chest, and Triceps
The shoulder press machine exercise works the shoulder muscles, mainly the deltoid muscles.
- Start by sitting up straight with your abs kept tight, grabbing the handles or bar with both hands.
- Once you have a hold on the handles or bar, using a smooth motion, press the bar upward extending your arms.
- At the top position of the exercise, squeeze your shoulder muscles.
- Hold for a count, then return to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
Machine Leg Extension
Targeted Muscle Group: Quadriceps
Other Muscle Groups: Lower Legs, Glutes
The machine leg extension is a staple in weightlifting. It builds strong legs and body strength.
- Start by adjusting the seat of the leg extension bench.
- Your knees should have a full range of motion and the footpad should fit over your legs above your ankles.
- Grab onto the handles, keeping your hips and back up against the bench.
- Slowly extend your legs until your knees are straight.
- Hold this position for a count, then return to the start.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
Tips:
- Use controlled movements for this exercise, do not swing the weight up.
- Refrain from locking your knees as this can result in injury.
Machine Leg Curl
Targeted Muscle Group: Hamstrings
The machine seated leg curl helps build the hamstrings.
- Start by adjusting the machine so that the footpad is above your heels.
- Sit upright with your abs tightly drawn in and your legs positioned in front of you.
- Slowly curl your legs back towards you, isolating your calf muscles and hold for a count.
- Return to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
Machine Calf Press
Targeted Muscle Group: Calves
The machine calf press exercise helps build the calves.
- Start by sitting down on a leg press machine.
- Place the balls of your feet on the bottom of the platform in front of you.
- Use a narrow width spacing and selecting the weight you would like to perform.
- Slowly, using your calves, push against the platform so that you move backwards.
- Feel a stretch in your legs and hold for a count.
- Return to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
What about Abdominal Workouts?
As I said earlier, if your goal is to lose weight and fat, then showing your abs will only come through diet. I didn’t add any abdominal workouts to the plan. Working abs is completely unnecessary when you’re lifting weights.
Your abs are being worked every time you brace yourself during your lifts. I didn’t do abs and still don’t do abs during my workouts. Your abs will show when you get your diet in order and lean down enough to show them.
How does the 3-month body transformation workout plan change for females?
The principals to build muscle, lose fat, and get lean is the same whether you are a male or female. Naturally, drug-free males will build more muscle than females. This is because males have more testosterone.
But nothing says females can’t grow more muscle. And, no, females won’t get big and bulky like males!
Females who want a more muscular and toned look should follow the exact same protocol. There is one exception.
The only thing I would swap out is the leg press machine for the calf press machine. Females would much rather grow their glutes than their calves.
The machine leg press allows them to grow their glutes while working calves as a secondary muscle.
Machine Leg Press
The leg press exercise is a variation of leg press workouts. It targets the external muscles of the legs and glutes.
- Start off sitting on a leg press machine with your feet on the crosspiece about 6 inches apart.
- Point your toes outward.
- Once in position, grab the handles on the sides of the machine.
- Release the locks, slowly bend down at your knees, and bring the weight as far as possible towards your chest.
- Hold for a count.
- Return to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets.
Tip:
Do not lock your knees at the top as this can result in injury.
Conclusion
And there it is. It’s the workout plan you need to begin your ultimate 3-month male transformation.
It’s enough to get you started for sure. But if you want to see your best results, you must stick with the program longer than 3 months.
I went from 26% body fat to roughly 17% body fat in 3 months. But it took me another 3 months to go from 17% body fat to 10.7% body fat.
You can do it, but you should join Build Muscle Get Lean if you want guidance along the way. It includes more details behind adherence, consistency, and diet.
I created it so you can get your best results. It also includes a community that I’m trying to build.
I want to build a community of like-minded people like you who are all aiming for the same goal. Go to buildmusclegetlean.com to learn more about the program details.
Until next time, remember, you’re already going to the gym so you may as well get results. This is exactly what Build Muscle Get Lean helps you do.
I can’t wait to see your transformation results in the community!
