8 WEEKS TO SUMMER SHRED: A Simple, Brutal Plan That Works

8 WEEKS TO SUMMER SHRED: A Simple, Brutal Plan That Works

By Shane Robert

Summer is right around the corner. If you want to unveil a new physique to the pool crowd, one that is lean, defined, and actually looks like you train, now is the time to get serious. You don’t need a complicated program. You need structure, consistency and good ol’ fashioned hard work.

This 8-week plan is built around a high-volume push/pull split, a simple calorie framework, and progressive overload in the gym but in your daily activity.

Training Plan

You’ll be training 4 days per week using a push/pull structure. This ensures that you hit each muscle group twice per week without having to live in the gym.

• Day 1: ‘Push’ - Quads, Chest, Triceps
• Day 2: ‘Pull’ -  Hamstrings, Back, Biceps,
• Day 3: Repeat Push
• Day 4: Repeat Pull 

Weekly Volume & Progression

This is a short-term, hyper-focused program so we start aggressively and get even more aggressive as the program progresses. Week 1 starts with 20 working sets per muscle group per week. Working sets means each set should be taken to 3 or fewer reps from failure.

You should split the volume between the two sessions

• 60% of the volume in the first session / 40% of the volume in the second. Here is an example of what this looks like:
  • Push 1: 12 sets
  • Push 2: 8 sets

Each week, you’ll add 2 sets per muscle group. This means that by week 8, you are doing 34 sets per muscle group. Yes, it’s a lot. That’s the point. Volume drives the adaptation and is a powerful tool to shock your body into new growth while burning more calories at the same time. This is NOT sustainable in the long term.  In the short term, however, it accomplishes what we want—a kickass physique.

Exercise Selection

You will ideally stick to mostly compound lifts with some isolation work to finish, but the more important component is the volume of sets and their proximity to failure. Reps are largely secondary as long as the proximity to failure is the same. However, you can’t go wrong with the classic bodybuilding 8-15 reps. 

If you’re a complete psychopath and want to do all of your sets with 1 or 2 exercises, I can’t really find fault in that, other than the boredom, but I generally prefer 2-5 movements per muscle group that hit it from slightly different angles and recruit slightly different parts of the muscle.

Below is an example of a Day 1 training:

QUADS (12 sets)

• Walking Lunges: 3x25 per leg
• Leg Press: 2x12
• Squat: 4x10
• Leg Extension: 3x20

CHEST (8 sets)

• DB Incline Press: 2x15-20
• Barbell Bench: 3x10
• Dips: 3xAMRAP

TRICEPS (10 sets)

• Overhead DB Ext.: 5x8
• DB Rollbacks: 3x10-12
• Single Arm Cable Pushdowns: 2x20-25

This looks like a lot, but if you pair movements, for example, alternating a quad movement with a chest movement, and keep rest times low, about a minute between paired movements, it won’t take much more than 75 minutes to complete.

Cardio & Activity

Fat loss isn’t just about lifting and we can only do so much lifting before we push our ability to recover. This is where cardio comes in. The whole purpose of this cardio is enhanced calorie burn, not to become a champion endurance athlete or interval warrior. This is moderate intensity cardio that should not take away from your weight training. Even in the face of lowered calories, you should be able to walk on an inclined treadmill or stepmill for 20-60 minutes per day without it being a huge detriment.

• 2 days per week
  • 20–60 minutes of moderate intensity cardio
• Daily: Steps (non-negotiable)
  • Start with whatever your current baseline is 
  • Increase 10–20% each week 

Daily steps are one of the biggest drivers of fat loss in the plan. Ignore it, and the results will stall. Find the time to get them in, even if that means marching in place while watching Real Housewives  

Nutrition: 

(Keep It Simple, Keep It Consistent)

Training is important for building or retaining as much muscle as possible. Nutrition is what strips the fat to show off all of that hard-earned muscle. This is not extreme dieting, just controlled, reasonable fat loss.

What you eat is secondary to the amount of calories and macros. While low-calorie, nutrient-dense whole foods are going to be your best bet for satiety and micronutrients, you’ll still lose fat and build muscle if, for some reason, you want to make most of your diet Pop-Tarts, protein powder, a multivitamin, and a fiber supplement.

Set your calories to 12 calories per pound of bodyweight. This is the starting point and may need to be adjusted down (or up) depending on your rate of loss. Some people will lose weight FAST on this level of calories. Others barely at all. Give it 10 days and see how you respond.

Your macros should be as follows:

• Protein: 1g per pound
• Fat: 0.3g per pound
• Carbs: Fill the remaining calories

This ensures high protein for muscle retention, enough fat for hormones, and enough carbs to fuel high-volume performance and recovery.

Here is an example for a 175-pound person:

• Calories - 2100
• Protein: 175 grams
• Fat: 52
• Carbs: 233

Final

This isn’t meant to be easy; it’s meant to be short-term and effective. But, if you execute properly, you can expect noticeable fat loss, improved muscle definition, and a physique that actually looks “trained.”

Eight weeks. A whole new you.