The Plan
Phase calendar · the two rules · checkpoints · Zone 2, the engine
Twelve weeks. Four blocks. One date.
Phase calendar
| Phase | Weeks | Daily target | Mission |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · The Foundation | 1 to 4 | 2,550 kcal P 210 · C 280 · F 60 |
Install the machine: 4 meals, 6 sessions, a gallon of water, Sunday prep. Weight starts moving on its own. |
| 2 · The Dig | 5 to 8 | 2,350 kcal P 205 · C 250 · F 55 |
The fat comes off. Strength holds. |
| The Reset | 9 | 2,800 kcal Phase 1 menu, one extra cup of rice at dinner |
Scheduled refill, not a reward. The scale goes flat this week by design. |
| 3 · The Finish | 10 to 12 | 2,200 kcal P 205 · C 215 · F 52 |
The hard part. Night hunger management is the skill. Cardio climbs. |
Coffee counts. One creamer plus sweetener is about 40 kcal a day, and it is already budgeted. Black is free.
Rules — there are only two
Stall-Breaker
Scale average and waist both stuck for 10+ days while on plan? Check the basics first: water, sleep, portions honest. Clean? Add 10 minutes to every cardio session for two weeks. Still stuck? Drop 100 kcal from lunch carbs. Never both at once.
Cheat Meal
One planned meal out per week, built around a protein, roughly the size of dinner. Log it in the weekly check-in. Eat it with people, zero guilt, back on plan the next morning.
Checkpoints — what winning looks like
| Week | Target | What it proves |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 7-day average at or under 201 | Week 1 drops fast and most of it is water. The average from here is the real one. |
| 4 | At or under 198 | The machine is installed. Four meals, six sessions, Sunday prep, without thinking about it. |
| 8 | At or under 193 | A month of real fat loss. Lifts holding means the muscle is staying. |
| 9 | Flat, on purpose | The Reset. Scale pauses; waist and photos tell the truth this week. |
| 12 | 188 to 190 | Done. Final photos. Then the reverse diet, which is the part nobody plans for. |
Zone 2 cardio — the engine of this cut
What it is: easy cardio on purpose. Incline treadmill walk or bike at a pace where you could hold a conversation but would rather not sing. Heart rate roughly 120 to 140. Not sprints, not intervals, not "feeling destroyed."
Why it matters this much: Zone 2 burns fat calories without eating into recovery from six lifting days. It is the single biggest lever between landing at 188 and stalling at 194. Lifting protects the muscle; Zone 2 pays for the deadline.
The non-negotiable minutes: Phase 1: 3 × 30 · Phase 2: 4 × 30 · Phase 3: 5 × 35. Do them right after lifting, or as a morning walk on evening-gym days. When a week gets chaotic, cardio minutes are the last thing allowed to drop.
The Training
The blueprint · where the look comes from · the weekly split, every set and rep
Six days. Supersets drive it. Strength on the bar is the proof the muscle is staying.
Training blueprint
Six days, 75+ minute sessions, full gym. Supersets drive the intensity: more work in the same hour, more muscle kept per calorie. Strength on the first lifts is the muscle-retention signal. If top sets drop hard, we look at food and sleep, not more cardio.
| Segment | P1 · Foundation | P2 · Dig | P3 · Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy compounds | Groove the big three: bench, squat, overhead press. Top sets 4 × 6-8, 1-2 reps in the tank. | Add weight. Push top sets while calories still allow PRs. | Hold the numbers. Holding top sets in a deficit is progress. |
| Hypertrophy + supersets | 10-14 hard sets per muscle per week. Learn to train close to failure. | 12-16 sets on priority muscles. Supersets tighten the rest periods. | 10-14 sets, effort up as weight drops. Supersets keep sessions under 75 minutes even as cardio grows. |
| Finisher / detail | Side delts + hanging leg raises. | Arm and delt supersets + ab wheel. | Giant sets; suitcase carries for the waist. |
| Zone 2 | 3 × 30 min | 4 × 30 min | 5 × 35 min |
Where the look comes from
Side and rear delts twice a week plus finishers: that is the width. Incline pressing leads every push day: the upper-chest shelf. Pulldowns and pull-ups before rows: lat width against a shrinking waist is the V-taper. Leg raises, ab wheel and heavy carries: the tight waist that makes the shoulders read wide.
The weekly split
Two of the six days are shown here. The real plan prints all six, every exercise, every set and rep, arranged around the hours you actually train.
Monday — Push A (chest emphasis)
| Exercise | Sets × reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Incline barbell press | 4 × 6-8 | Top lift of the week. Heavy, 1-2 reps in the tank. |
| Flat dumbbell press | 3 × 8-10 | Add weight when 10 gets smooth. |
| Seated dumbbell shoulder press | 3 × 8-10 | |
| A1 · Cable fly | 3 × 12-15 | Superset. Fly, straight into raises, rest 60-90 sec. |
| A2 · Dumbbell lateral raise | 3 × 15 | |
| B1 · Overhead rope extension | 3 × 10-12 | Superset. Last set of each to failure. |
| B2 · Rope pushdown | 3 × 12-15 | |
| Push-up finisher | 2 × max | Empty the tank. |
| Zone 2 | 30 min | Incline walk, right after. Or a morning walk instead. |
Wednesday — Legs A (quads)
| Exercise | Sets × reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Back squat | 4 × 6-8 | Depth honest. Belt optional. |
| Leg press | 3 × 10-12 | |
| Walking lunge | 3 × 10 each | |
| A1 · Leg extension | 3 × 12-15 | Superset. |
| A2 · Standing calf raise | 3 × 12-15 | |
| Ab wheel | 3 × 8-12 | From the knees is fine. Slow. |
| Zone 2 | 30 min | Easy bike if scheduled this day. |
The Nutrition
Pick-one menus for every phase · the Reset week · every quantity exact
Your real food, weighed and aimed at the target. The food scale decides.
Phase 1 · The Foundation (weeks 1-4)
Daily totals: ~2,550 kcal · Protein ~210 g · Carbs ~280 g · Fat ~60 g. Any combination below lands between 2,505 and 2,600, coffee included.
All meat and seafood weights are cooked weights. Raw runs about 25 percent heavier: 8 oz raw chicken cooks down to about 6 oz.
Meal 1 — first food, about 9 AM (pick one)
| Pick one | Exactly | kcal | P | C | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eggs & toast | 3 whole eggs, 2 oz cooked turkey sausage, 2 slices wheat toast, 1 apple | 560 | 38 | 55 | 21 |
| Greek yogurt bowl | 1½ cups nonfat Greek yogurt, ½ scoop whey, ½ cup dry oats, 1 cup berries, 1 tbsp peanut butter | 570 | 57 | 63 | 13 |
| Shake & oats (rush days) | 2 scoops whey in water, ½ cup dry oats, 1 banana, 1 tbsp peanut butter | 590 | 58 | 64 | 14 |
Meal 2 — lunch (pick one)
| Pick one | Exactly | kcal | P | C | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday-prep chicken & rice | 6 oz cooked chicken breast, 1½ cups cooked rice, 1 cup green beans, 2 tbsp salsa, ½ tsp olive oil | 660 | 61 | 79 | 9 |
| Bought-out bowl | Chicken burrito bowl: double chicken, white rice, black beans, fajita veggies, lettuce. No cheese, sour cream, guac or vinaigrette | 700 | 74 | 66 | 19 |
| Turkey & sweet potato | 7 oz cooked 93/7 ground turkey, 10 oz sweet potato, 1 cup asparagus, 2 tbsp salsa | 650 | 60 | 64 | 17 |
Meal 3 — dinner, after training: the forever menu (pick one)
| Pick one | Exactly | kcal | P | C | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef tacos | 7 oz cooked 93/7 ground beef, 4 corn tortillas, 1 cup lettuce and tomato, 2 tbsp salsa, 1 oz reduced-fat cheese | 830 | 70 | 78 | 24 |
| Chicken teriyaki bowl | 8 oz cooked chicken breast, 1¾ cups cooked rice, 1½ cups stir-fry vegetables, 2 tbsp light teriyaki, 1 tsp sesame oil | 845 | 80 | 96 | 14 |
| Beef red-sauce pasta | 6 oz cooked 93/7 ground beef, 2 cups cooked pasta, ¾ cup marinara, side salad | 860 | 62 | 98 | 23 |
| Salmon & potatoes | 7 oz cooked salmon, 12 oz baby potatoes, 1½ cups broccoli, 1 tsp olive oil | 815 | 63 | 74 | 28 |
Meal 4 — 9 PM close-out (pick one)
| Pick one | Exactly | kcal | P | C | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whey-yogurt pudding | 1 cup Greek yogurt, 1 scoop whey, 1 cup berries, ½ tbsp peanut butter | 370 | 50 | 31 | 6 |
| The candy deal | 1½ scoops whey first, then 60 g of the sweet thing, weighed | 370 | 36 | 48 | 2 |
| Cottage cheese bowl | 1 cup cottage cheese, ½ scoop whey, 1 banana | 345 | 37 | 37 | 6 |
The System
Your calendar · the weekly check-in · after week 12 · the grocery list
What happens every single week between now and the finish.
Put these on your calendar
| When | Do this |
|---|---|
| Every morning | Weigh in: after the bathroom, before food or water. Log it. Only the 7-day average counts — single days are noise. |
| Every day | One gallon of water. 5 g creatine. |
| Every Sunday | Waist tape at the navel, relaxed. Meal-prep block. Then submit the weekly check-in. |
| First Sunday of the month | Progress photos: front, side, back. Same spot, same light, phone propped not handheld. |
| Weeks 2, 4, 8, 9, 12 | Checkpoint reviews against the targets above. |
The weekly check-in
Every Sunday night, two minutes. It asks for your 7-day average weight, waist, how the week went, the hardest moment, your cheat meal, and your cardio. On the first Sunday of the month it takes your progress photos too.
Submitting it is the check-in. Cameron reads every one and scores it, and it is how the plan gets adjusted before a problem becomes a stall.
After week 12 — the part nobody plans for
Reverse diet. Add about 100 kcal a week, carbs first, from 2,200 back up to roughly 2,900. Weight holds while the food nearly doubles in comfort. Skipping this step is how the weight comes back, and it is the single most common reason a good 12 weeks turns into a bad year.
Then the build. Same six-day split, in a surplus, gaining 0.25 to 0.5 lb a week. This is where the shoulders and chest actually get built: on a lean frame, with food, and with a plan.
Grocery list — the weekly Sunday-prep baseline
| Category | Items |
|---|---|
| Proteins | Chicken breast (about 4 lb), 93/7 ground beef (1.5 lb), 93/7 ground turkey (1.5 lb), salmon (1 lb), eggs (18) plus an egg-white carton, nonfat Greek yogurt (2 large tubs), 2% cottage cheese, whey |
| Carbs | White rice, pasta, corn tortillas, wheat bread, sweet potatoes (3 to 4 lb), baby potatoes, oats |
| Produce | Green beans, broccoli, asparagus, stir-fry vegetables, lettuce, tomatoes, berries, bananas, apples |
| Pantry | Salsa, marinara, light teriyaki, olive oil, sesame oil, peanut butter, reduced-fat cheese, creatine |
The App
Every workout, meal and check-in earns XP · level 1 to 100 · your rate drops as you climb
The plan is the what. The app is what keeps you doing it.
Every client gets the Level 100 app. Your program lands in it, your workouts are logged in it, and your weekly check-in comes from it. And here is the part nobody else does: your rate only goes down. Every workout, meal and check-in earns XP. Level 1 to 100, a new league every 10 levels, real rewards the whole way up. Reach Level 100 and your rate is cut in half, for life.
Workout player
Levels & XP
Leagues
Weekly check-in
About 15 minutes. Then book a free 30-minute consult and we build yours.