1. Building the perfect posterior – or loosing 100 + pounds
2. Six minute abs – Two exercises that actually work.
3. From Geek to Freak – How to gain 34 pounds in 28 days.
4. Occam’s Protocol (I and II) – A minimalist approach to mass.

Today we are going to focus on building the perfect posterior.

The entire “adding muscle” section feels a bit manic and overwhelming at times. There is quite a bit of overlap from section to section and Tim provides ultimate confusion in the perfect posterior chapter of the 4 Hour Body.

That being said, there is some wonderful information here and to build the perfect posterior you must basically understand one thing:  The kettlebell reigns supreme!

The perfect posterior is composed of 4 separate and overlapping routines, each building on the one before it, ranging from simple to more complex. There is some redundancy here as well. The chapter culminates in the “Kiwi’s Complete A/B Workout” which seems like overkill in my opinion but is sure to give you a rock-hard posterior chain if you can put it all together.

The 4 Perfect Posterior Routines as Seen in The 4 Hour Body:

Tracy’s Workout | Tim’s Workout | Fleur’s Workout | The Kiwi’s Complete A/B Workout

Important note on kettlebell selection:

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Start with a weight that allows you to do 20 perfect repetitions but no more than 30. In other words, start with a weight, no less than 20 pounds, that you can “grow into.”

Kettlebells (www.4hourlife.com/kettlebells) Most men should start with a 20-kg (44 lb) or 24-kg (53 lb) kettlebell and most women should start with a 16-kg (35 lb) or 20-kg (44 lb) kettlebell.

[/note]

Tracy’s Workout (Monday and Friday)

“Tracy lost 100 pounds and 45 pounds of fat in the first 12 weeks.” 

The secret to losing 100 pounds wasn’t marathon aerobics sessions, nor was it severe caloric restriction.

It was the Russian kettlebell swing, twice a week for an average of 15– 20 minutes. Her peak session length was 35 minutes.

Monday 

15-20 minutes Russian kettlebell swing

Friday

15-20 minutes Russian kettlebell swing

Tim’s Workout

“In six weeks, I was at my lowest bodyfat percentage.”

Original, Simplified (Monday and Friday)

Monday

Using a 53 pund kettlebell perform one set of 75 swings one hour after a light, protein-rich breakfast

Friday

Using a 53 pound kettlebell perform one set of 75 swings one hour after a light, protein-rich breakfast

Expanded (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

My weekly training schedule was so light as to be laughable by conventional standards. I also took 10– 20-minute ice baths (two bags of ice bought at a gas station) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

DAY 1 (MONDAY)

• High-rep kettlebell (53 pounds) swings to at least 75 reps (ultimately, I got to 150 + reps in a single set)
• Slow myotatic crunch (next chapter) with max weight x 10– 15 slow reps

DAY 2 (WEDNESDAY)

I alternated these two exercises for a total of 3 sets × 5 reps for each. I took two minutes between all sets and therefore had at least four minutes between the same exercise (e.g., dumbbell [DB] press, wait two minutes, row, wait two minutes, DB press, etc.):

• Iso-lateral dumbbell incline bench press
• “Yates” bent rows with EZ bar (palms-up grip and bent at the waist about 20– 30 degrees)
• Reverse “drag” curls using a thick bar twice the diameter of a standard Olympic bar (I put plates on metal piping I bought from Home Depot, secured with $ 5 pinch clamps): 2 sets of 6 reps, three minutes’ rest between sets DAY 3

Day 3 (FRIDAY)

• High-rep kettlebell (53 pounds) swings to 75-rep minimum
• Slow myotatic crunch with max weight x 12– 15 reps

* Every other week: single-arm kettlebell swings to 25 minimum reps each side

Fleur’s Workout (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

“Goal: to lose those last few pounds of extra fat.”

Three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), she performed a simple sequence of three exercises prior to breakfast, all of which are illustrated below:

Monday

1. One set: 20 two-legged glute activation raises from the floor

2. One set: 15 flying dogs, one set each side

3. One set: 50 kettlebell swings

– 5 minutes per session × 3 sessions = 15 minutes per week.

Wednesday

1. One set: 20 two-legged glute activation raises from the floorr
2. One set: 15 flying dogs, one set each side
3. One set: 50 kettlebell swings

Friday

1. One set: 20 two-legged glute activation raises from the floorr
2. One set: 15 flying dogs, one set each side
3. One set: 50 kettlebell swings

The Kiwi’s (3 day A and B Workout Routine)

The extended “bad ass” program!

To mimic The Kiwi, perform A on Monday and B on Friday, and glute activation raises are performed before each.

MED: two circuits of these exercises, in the order provided.

Workout A (Monday)

Workout A

All exercises, except for kettlebell swings, are performed for 10 repetitions using a 13-Repetition Max2 (RM) weight.

1. Heavy dumbbell front squat to press (ass to heels)—squeeze glutes at bottom for one second before rising
2. One-arm, one-leg DB row
3. Walking lunges with sprinter knee raise – [Note from The Kiwi: “Your progression should be using your bodyweight, then dumbbells. This video shows with barbbell. I would PAUSE more at the top and push for hip extension (be as tall as you can at the top of each rep).”]
4. Wide-grip push-ups
5. Two-arm kettlebell swings x 20-25

Repeat sequence 2–4 times.

Workout B (Friday)

1. One-leg Romanian Deadlift (RDL) (10–12 reps each side, at a 13 RM on first set weight selection)
2. Chin-up (four-second negative lowering portion only) × 10 or until you cannot control descent
3. One-leg hamstring curls on a Swiss ball—6–12 reps each leg
4. Plank for abs (and gluteus medius on sides) -> Progression: start with 30 seconds front, 30 seconds each side, working up to 90 seconds maximum
5. Reverse hyper × 15–25 Repeat sequence 2–4 times. [Note from The Kiwi: “A bit slow on concentric for my tastes, but acceptable.  Do these two seconds down, explosive up.”]

Repeat sequence 2–4 times.

Sunday

1. Glute activation raises

So there you have it. I have to thank Lisa who posted a comment last week that inspired this post.

If you are still wondering what routine is best for you I would recommend you keep it simple.

Purchase a kettlebell and make sure you are using the correct technique. Once you have it down, start by swinging your kettlebell 2 days per week as seen in Tim’s original simplified routine. Do this for a couple weeks before adding more exercises.

From here you can build a rock solid minimalist routine based on Tim’s six minute abs and Occam’s protocol.

A while back I created the “Big 8 Workout” based on this idea of combining workouts into a functional routine.  I challenge you to test these sections of the book, develop your own routines and get creative. Just make sure you keep it simple!