12 Week Workout Program – Get Seriously Toned

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.

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 
• Cable Lat Row
• Barbell Bicep Curl 
• Tricep Rope Extension
• Seated Shoulder Press 
• Back Extension 

Days 2 and 4: Lower Body

• Cardio Warm-Up: 15 minutes on machine of choice
• Front Dumbbell Squat 
• Lateral Lunge 
• Seated Leg Curl 
• Standing Calf Press
• Ab Crunch on Stability Ball 
• Oblique Crunch on Stability Ball (both sides)

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 
• Barbell Bicep Curl 
• Lat Pulldown 
• Cable Lat Row
• Seated Bicep Curl on Incline Bench
• Back Extension 

Day 2: Chest and Triceps

• Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
• Dumbbell Chest Press 
• Incline Dumbbell Chest Press
• Dumbbell Chest Flyes 
• Seated Tricep Dumbbell Extension 
• Tricep Rope Extension 
• Incline Dumbbell Flyes 

Day 3: Abs and Core

• Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
• Ab Crunch on Stability Ball 
• Bosu Ball Knee Tucks 
• Bicycle Crunch 
• Oblique Crunch on Stability Ball (both sides) 
• 30-second Plank on Stability Ball 
• One-Legged Ab Crunch on Bosu Ball 

Day 4: Legs and Shoulders

• Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
• Front Dumbbell Squat
• Lateral Lunge
• Seated Leg Curl 
• Standing Calf Press 
• Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
• Lateral Dumbbell Raise 

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 
• Barbell Bicep Curl 
• Lat Pulldown 
• Cable Lat Row
• Seated Bicep Curl on Incline Bench 
• Reverse Bicep Curl on Bench 
• Bent Over Lateral Dumbbell Raise 
• Back Extension 

Day 2: Legs

• Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
• Front Dumbbell Squat
• Lateral Lunge
• Seated Leg Curl 
• Standing Calf Press 
• Leg Extension 
• Barbell Deadlift 
• Stability Ball Squats 
• One-Legged Hip Lift 

Day 3: Chest & Triceps

• Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
• Dumbbell Chest Press 
• Incline Dumbbell Chest Press 
• Dumbbell Chest Flyes 
• Seated Tricep Dumbbell Extension 
• Tricep Rope Extension
• Incline Dumbbell Flyes 
• Single Arm Chest Press with Pulley 
• Tricep Dumbbell Extension on Bench

Day 4: Abs & Core

• Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
• Ab Crunch on Stability Ball 
• Bosu Ball Knee Tucks 
• Bicycle Crunch 
• Oblique Crunch on Stability Ball (both sides)
• 30-second Plank on Stability Ball 
• Stability Ball Rollout 
• Lower Ab Bicycle Crunch
• One-Legged Ab Crunch on Bosu Ball

Day 5: Shoulders

• Cardio Warm-Up: 20 minutes on machine of choice
• Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press 
• Lateral Dumbbell Raise
• Standing Barbell Press
• Shoulder Press on Incline Bench
• Lateral Deltoid Raise with Pulley