The definition phase is the moment in which the results of the volume phase are revealed, so it is important to know how to correctly plan this process.

Diet, training and rest are especially important at this point, because poor planning can stop your progress in one go.

Diet in the definition phase: this is what you should do

Although the rest of the factors that we have discussed are important, diet is probably the most decisive factor, since achieving results with training without a good diet is very difficult.

For example, eating 700 calories is relatively easy. In fact, this can be done in as little as 10 minutes. However, burning the same amount of calories in exercise is much more complicated and takes longer.

In the definition phase, the caloric volume of the diet decreases compared to the volume phase.

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This means that the foods that we should prioritize are the low-calorie foods within the foods we consume.

As you can imagine, these foods are fruits and vegetables, not refined flours or sugars.

Strategies such as eating large amounts of fiber and protein at the same meal (for example, lettuce fiber and tuna protein in the same salad) can also help you feel fuller to achieve a negative caloric balance.

One of the best ways to promote muscle mass retention in this cutting stage is through a high protein intake. As a reference, you can take into account being above 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.

Physical activity: the most important ally

Another very effective stimulus to maintain muscle mass during a caloric deficit is physical activity, especially strength training.

It’s true that strength training consumes fewer calories per unit of time than cardio training, but in the long run, prioritizing strength training provides a better body composition advantage.

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Does this mean I have to strength train without cardio? . You can combine cardio and strength for best results, but you should never allow aerobic exercise to be an excuse to avoid strength training.

Cardio has many benefits for our physical condition and health, including the improvement of the maximum volume of oxygen, and mitochondrial biosynthesis. These effects should not be underestimated, in any case you must work hard with the weights to maintain the muscle mass gained during the bulking phase.

Break: The Great Forgotten

In the definition stage, a calorie deficit occurs. This increases the chance of getting tired sooner.

If lack of calories is a prerequisite for fat loss, what else do I need to do? Simple, you have to prioritize rest.

At this stage, it’s perfectly normal to feel tired and need more sleep. In that case, you should take a break and set aside a weekend day to relax or get more sleep. Try to go to bed a little earlier on weekdays…

Poor rest can result in increased caloric intake throughout the day, as well as poor performance, as our body is literally telling the brain that it hasn’t recovered and is looking for other ways to get energy.

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Another important point is to take advantage of sleep time, since the quality of sleep over the quantity is a relevant factor.

In this case, you can resort to sleep improvement strategies such as avoiding light sources in the room, following a regular sleep schedule, and keeping the room cool and quiet.

The last ally that you can use to improve sleep is melatonin. Melatonin, found in supplement form, can significantly improve sleep quality and increase sleep time.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

Choosing the first routine when you arrive at the gym or when you start training is not easy, but it can impact your future performance and will save you from losing a lot of time, fatigue and even motivation. It is the most important decision when you start.

Next, we will try to shed some light on the most basic question when we first go to the gym: what routine should we do? Do you want to define or create a volume? Do you need to change your routine?

What should you do if you are new to the gym?

The short and quick answer is that if you are new to the gym, the first training program you should do is a basic conditioning program to work and prepare muscles and joints. This general conditioning training program should be basic to the whole body and last 10-12 weeks. After this, you need to weigh the different training programs out there and decide which direction to take.

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strength routine

The strength routine is based on moving heavy weights and performing several iterations for each set. As a rule, we will work with a load of 75% to 90% of 1 RM (maximum repetition), so we will describe a series made up of 3 to 6 repetitions.

hypertrophy routine

The hypertrophy routine is a routine used to increase muscle mass and consists of 6-12 repetitions, so the weight used is significantly higher than that used in the strength routine. In this case, the load will be in the range of 60-70% of 1RM.

definition routine

In general, the definition routine has more repetitions than a normal routine. In this case, series of 12 to 15 repetitions, even reaching 18 repetitions per series.

As these are series of high repetitions, we must proportionally reduce the weight moved, so in this case the loads will oscillate between 40-60% of our 1RM.

Volume or definition?

If you’re new to the gym, the usual answer is none. If you’re starting your gym workout for the first time, or if you’re starting to train after an extended period of time, it’s a good idea to get into a general conditioning routine. This is usually an adaptation period of at least 8 weeks (2 months). After this period, it’s time to check your form and future goals, so ask yourself when you get there.

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At the end of this adaptation period, which is mandatory for beginners, unless you are overweight or obese where you need to continue losing weight, start with a volume phase to gain muscle mass. Otherwise you can destroy muscle mass in the definition phase and not achieve optimal results.

However, it should be noted that the diet is more important than the routine to follow. Without a proper diet, it is impossible for our routine to work. In addition, energy is lost if it does not receive the adequate quantity and quality of nutrients, we will not achieve our objectives either.

Volume phase: routine + diet

As we have previously commented, for a volume phase, our routine will be made up of series of between six and twelve repetitions (around 60-75% of our 1RM the weight used).

For the volume phase to work, it is necessary to adjust the food and follow a high-calorie diet. Care should be taken not to increase calories too much, especially in those cases that accumulate excess fat. Therefore, it is recommended that the increase in the amount of calories consumed by our diet be 10-15%.

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Definition phase: routine + diet

You have now finished the volume phase and want to run the definition phase. How can you do it correctly?

The first step is to adjust your diet. As with the bulking phase, caloric intake must be coordinated with training. In this case, the same, but in reverse, that is, a hypocaloric diet. To do this, you need to reduce your calorie intake by no more than 10-15%. Otherwise, you will lose a significant amount of energy and your routine will not work properly.

And for the routines, as we’ve seen before, these are routines that have a higher number of repetitions than volume routines. For this type of routine, the series consists of 12 to 15 repetitions. The definition routine uses 40-60% by weight of 1RM.

Do you need to change your training routine frequently?

This is a question whose answer is a bit complicated. First of all you tell yourself that you don’t have to change your routine as usual, because if you do, your body never adapts to the stimulus of doing the routine.

When you start a routine, your body receives external stimuli and tries to adapt to them. This phase of adaptation to the routine usually lasts from 6 to 12 weeks (that is, from a month and a half to three months).

As with most people, if we make routine changes every eight weeks or less, we don’t have enough time for our bodies to adjust to the stimuli they receive from our daily lives. Therefore, it is likely that if we change the routine before 8 weeks, the routine will not have an effect. However, that doesn’t mean you always have to change your routine after that time.

From time to time, simply changing training sessions can give amazing results: higher reps and reduced sets, changes in training intensity, changes in running angle or grip type for a particular exercise… As you experiment, You don’t have to change the whole routine.

This definition routine is suitable when you are in a late definition phase, when we cannot tolerate a lot of workload and it is interesting to include a little cardiovascular work to maintain a caloric deficit and continue progressing.

To do this, this muscle definition routine is divided into three blocks. The first is a superset with a basic exercise and its antagonist, to then do two blocks in a triset. In this way we managed to train quickly and gain some time to do cardio.

At this point, most likely you will not be able to progress in loads so focus on maintaining strength and you will have the next phase of volume (in which we hope you do not fall for these myths)

Guidelines:

1. Weekly Division of the Routine:

Monday: Torso
Tuesday: Leg
Wednesday: Active Rest
Thursday: Torso
Friday: Legs

Although in general this gym definition routine is designed to go to the gym four days, if for some reason you can only go three days a week, you can do four days of this routine and start the following week with the training that was missing.

What is active rest? It consists of resting from our PHAT powerbuilding routine, but continuing to be active by doing some moderate activity with a moderate pace and duration. Examples of active rest: yoga or stretching session, 45-60 minute walk, foam roller routine, riding a bike… there are options for all tastes.

2. Rest between sets:

This routine has a great weight of multi-joint exercises to lower repetitions, so in order to maintain performance you have to have long rests between series. The rests are variable according to our sensations or you are afraid to rest 4 minutes if you feel fatigued before your last series of Deadlift, but if you feel fresh go for the next concentrated series.

3. Effort:

Given the predominance of multi-joint exercises, we do not recommend training near failure if we want to maintain performance and technique throughout our sets. As a general rule in compound exercises we recommend training with a weight that allows us to do 2 or 3 more repetitions. In the more analytical exercises we recommend training with a weight that allows us to do 1 or 2 more repetitions.

If we are beginners we can apply a linear weight progression and almost every week we will be able to lift more weight than the previous one, but if we are already intermediate we recommend other types of more complex progressions that we will talk about later.

4. Warm up and stretch:

The warm-up will be the same every day for our muscle definition routine, it is VERY IMPORTANT never to skip the warm-up and stretching before doing the dumbbell exercises at home if we want to continue progressing without injuries.

5. When should I change the definition routine?

Many people wonder how long we can do this gym definition routine and continue to get results, the answer is simple until you finish your definition! If you like training this way, it fits your lifestyle and you keep making progress, there is no reason to change this routine for another. If our goals change or we want another distribution of days, we can opt for another type of routine such as the super series routine or a dumbbell routine if you train at home.

Our recommendation is that if you are a beginner, stick with this gym definition routine for the duration of the final phase of your definition.

6. And the diet?

To make truly significant progress in the gym, diet is just as important as training if not more. Avoid processed foods, eat a reasonable amount of protein for your weight and training level, and calculate a caloric deficit to accompany your cutting routine. With this cutting routine we only reduce the volume a bit to cram in a little more cardio and expend some extra calories, but if you don’t have a fat loss diet to go along with it you won’t get results.

The Definition Routine

Day 1: Torso

Day 2: Leg

Day 3: torso

day 4: Leg

With our definition gym routine and the complementary information you can now get the most out of the muscle definition phase. Don’t forget to record your progress and upload it to Fitenium!