Welcome to the most effective 3 day workout split for sculpting a super sliced and shredded physique. The program is focused on doing just enough strength training to maintain muscle and plenty of fat burning cardio. The result will be insane muscle tone!
The program includes 3 workouts which you will rotate through for a total of 4-6 workouts per week. If you aren’t participating in any competitive athletics you can build up to 6 workouts per week. However if your going to train 6 days a week you will have to have at-least 2 light days per week where you go easy. This is crucial to avoid overtraining.
Here is an example of how the set-up would look like:
Monday: Workout A (chest, bi’s, abs) + HIIT #1 and Low Intensity Cardio
Tuesday: Workout B (shoulders, traps, abs) + HIIT #2 and Low Intensity Cardio
Wednesday: Workout C (back, triceps, abs) + Low Intensity Cardio
Thursday: Workout A + HIIT #1 and Low Intensity Cardio
Friday: Workout B + HIIT #2 and Low Intensity Cardio
Saturday: Workout C + HIIT #3 and Low Intensity Cardio
Sunday: Rest
Note: If you are going to perform 3, 4 or 5 workouts per week than you will alternate through the workouts the same way only you will have more rest days. However if your working out 3-4x per week than you will perform intervals each day. If your working out 5x per week than you only get 1 low intensity cardio day.
Workout A – Chest, Biceps, Abs:
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press:
warm-up sets: 2 x 6 reps
work sets: 3 x 4-6 reps (stop 1-2 reps before failure – 2 minutes rest in between sets)
Incline Dumbbell Curls:
warm-up sets: 1 x 6 reps
work sets: 3 x 4-6 reps (stop 1-2 reps before failure – 2 minutes rest in between sets)
Plank or Stability Ball Plank:
5 minutes total. Take short rest periods every mintue
ex: 40 seconds plank, 20 seconds rest, continue for 5 minutes. If this is easy you can perform 50 seconds plank and 10 seconds rest.
Swinging Side to Side Bent Knee Ups:
2 x max reps (burn out sets)
Hip Extension Hold
2-5 minutes
High Intensity Interval Workout #1:
Set treadmill to 3 degree incline
1 minute sprint / 2 minute walk x 4 = 12 minutes
Steady State Cardio:
Perform 20 minutes of steady state cardio on a treadmill or elliptical.
Workout B – Shoulders, Traps, Abs
Seated DB Shoulder Press:
warm-up sets: 2 x 6 reps
work sets: 3 x 4-6 reps (stop 1-2 reps before failure – 2 minutes rest in between sets)
Power Cleans or Deadlifts:
warm-up sets: 2 x 6 reps
work sets: 3 x 3-5 reps (stop 1-2 reps before failure – 2 minutes rest in between sets)
Ab Wheel Rollouts:
work sets: 2 x max reps
Hanging Leg Raises (straight or bent legs):
2 x max reps
Hip Extension Hold
2-5 minutes
High Intensity Interval Workout #2:
Set treadmill to 3 degree incline
30 second sprint / 90 second recover x 6 = 12 minutes
Low Intensity Cardio:
Perform 20 minutes of low intensity cardio (walking) on a treadmill or elliptical.
Workout C – Back, Triceps, Abs
Weighted Pull ups:
warm up: 2 x 6 reps
work sets: 3 x 4-6 reps
Weighted Bar Dips:
warm up: 2 x 6 reps
work sets: 3 x 4-6
Renegade Rows
3 x 6 reps per side
Dip Leg Raises + leg spread
3 x 8-15 reps
Hip Extension Hold
2-5 minutes
HIIT #3 – Stationary Bike Intervals
30 seconds hard / 30 seconds easy: 15 total intervals = 15 minutes
Steady State Cardio
15 minute walk on treadmill – 3.5-4mph with 3 degree incline
FAQ
How come there’s no leg training? Trust me you will get plenty of leg work from the intervals. If you are worried about losing muscle in your legs you can add dead lifts or squats to Workout C (Shoulders and Traps).
Why are there only 2 exercises per workout? The goal is to maintain muscle and get super shredded. Therefore I included just enough strength training to hold onto your muscle. It only takes 1/3 to 1/2 of your normal training volume to maintain. I filled up all of the extra free space with the most effective workouts for melting fat. This will get you to the goal the fastest.
6 Workouts in a Row? Don’t worry. You will be fine. Since the volume is very low and since you will be stopping 1-2 reps before failure you should have no problem lifting weights 6 days in a row. The first week you may get a little bit sore but after that you should be fine.
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hey i am in phase 2 of visual impact i was wondering is this workouts a good substitute for phase 3 or will its be better to have a higher volume of strength training like rusty gives for phase 3
thanks
If your looking at lose weight I would use my sliced and shredded workouts. However if your looking at maintaing your weight you can use the phase 3 workouts.
Simple yet effective, I like it! It looks like you’re taking the best exercises for each muscle group and focusing on those. It makes a lot of sense to do this to preserve muscle while you put more focus on fat burning.
Thanks Dave!
Yah I like this method. Especially when following a super restrictive diet like the (shake and salad diet). There is really no need to perform additional strength training. And thats exactly it. The workouts will all be focused on exercises that give the biggest bang for your buck ex: chin-ups, dips, shoulder press, power cleans….
okay,im 5`9 135 pounds i have okay abs but not the kind im looking for, im looking for “mike the situation” type abs,and the chest and arms to go with that look, do you have any workout suggestions?
If your looking for a workout program to help you build quality muscle to enhance your physique than your best bet is Visual Impact Muscle Building by Rusty Moore. This is the program I use / base all my workouts off of.
I wouldn’t shoot for the situation style physique though. He isn’t even lean anymore and his body doesn’t look that great. Small shoulders, huge arms and chest… Looks kinda silly.
If i’m 6’0, 178lbs but not that big and have extra fat to get rid of should i stick with visual impact or switch to this? I’m almost on phase 2 of rustys program but not seeing great results.
Hey Greg,
many thanks for your Workout B Video. You present many exercises with good explanations.
The traps exercise with the barbell and the stretching exercise lying on the back is for me quite difficult to perform, because I`m not so flexible and rather inexperienced, but these are definitively effective and hit many muscle groups.
Hey, does your 6 workout a week plan mean to work Monday-Saturday and then rest only 1 day (sunday)? Thanks
Yes thats it exactly.
However you may need to start with 3 days on 1 off at first and then after a couple of weeks of that switch to 6 days on 1 off.
could you send me a print off of the workout above? i have the workout A and B but not sure what exercises to do for “C” workout. A printout would be awesome what muscles to hit and what lifts to preform that would be awesome! thanks
Totally agree with the heavier weight and lower reps methodology when it comes to getting shredded…
I don’t buy into that “higher reps for getting cut” idea – good article.
I’m 5’6 160lbs id say im about 10-15lbs over weight. I’d say i got alittle flabby over the winter. I plan on buying Visual Impact over the weekend. I was just wondering if you had any TIPS for me ? Thanks
Hey!
Sorry for the late reply….
If your goal is to drop 10-15 lbs of fat my advice would be to be relentless with it. Diet hard and base your meals off of protein. If you want to get this weight off fast than your gonna have to get used to be hungry. This is alright though. You must learn to enjoy being hungry. Because when your bodies hungry than your working on FAT and your HGH levels will be primed.
I would shoot for around 1200-1500 calories per day. After you lose 10 lbs of fat you can then switch to a more moderate fat loss diet where you eat around 1800-2100 calories.
I like to stick to 3-4 meals per day. With one or two of those meals being protein shakes.
Also your going to want to go into your workouts on an empty stomach. So if you workout in the morning don’t eat or if you workout later in the day allow yourself 2-3 hours without food before hitting the gym. By doing this you will literally burn 3x more fat.
Take green tea extract 300mg and 100-200mg of caffeine in the morning and again pre workout. This increases fat burning and gives you good energy.
Lastly don’t eat any food at-least 3 hours before going to bed. By doing this you will maximize fat burning hormones.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Great tips, I see huge results in a short time that I have been using your site!
So this workout shouldn’t be used to build muscle? Is there a high-volume phase that oughtta come before it?
Yes! This workout is to perform while you are dieting to maximize fat loss while maintaining your muscle.
Unless you are naturally lean it is better to cut the fat first and get super lean. This way you get the shrink wrap skin tight effect as you start to build muscle.
However if you are naturally slim/lean and want to build muscle you are going to want to follow a program with much more volume, higher reps and less intervals.
I will outline a muscle growth program in the future.
Any suggestions on the Workout C?
Workout C will be coming soon! I want to be super lean before I film it.
However I will let you in on the workout now.
Workout C – Back, Triceps and Abs
Weighted Chin-ups: 3 x 5
Weighted Bar Dips: 3 x 5
Side Plank: 2 x max hold per side
Hanging Leg Raises: 2 x max reps
Glute Bridge Hold: 2 minutes
Intervals: 1 minute hard / 1 minute easy x 12 minutes
Steady State Cardio: 20 minutes total
hey hows it going i had a question bout the abs
since we are doing it to max how long will the rest be
thank you
For abs I keep the rest quite short. 45-60 seconds between sets.
Hi,
These routines look great and I’ll try them out in a month or so. But currently I have a fair amount of muscle, but too much fat.
I have been doing weights followed by some interval running in the gym 3 or 4 times a week, and getting good results.
But last week, I switched to doing the Beachbody Insanity dvd workouts to try and drop some fat fast.
I think I’ll need to do some weights along with it to keep the muscle up also. These look perfect to perform later in the day.
How does this sound to you ?
And in general what do you think of Insanity ? Doing my previous workouts I was gaining muscle and my weight was going down pretty steady. But it didn;t change at all during my first Insanity week.
Thanks
I think insanity is a fine program. You will definitely burn a bunch of calories and get a good workout. However I really comes down to diet. If your diet is there and your creating a calorie deficit you will lose fat and make great results. I like to hit the weights 4x per week as well as a couple interval/sprint sessions. That combined with a strict diet I find produces the best results.
hey greg, thx for the info. I too am following rusty’s visual workout. i started in phase two because i’m trying to burn some trouble fat on the lower abs. anyway since i follow rusty i found brad pilon’s book eat stop eat, i think you should check it out and let me know what you think. i think its right up your alley.
Yah! I have eat stop eat. It’s a fantastic book.
I love the 3 day split. 3 days of full body workouts with 2 or three days of intervals works wonders for getting me a flat stomach for summer without losing muscle mass.
My next favorite is a 4 day split upper lower.
Jason – Fitness Workouts recently posted..Vegetarian Bodybuilding
i you dont mind me asking, will the military press and shoulder press be enough for the traps to show? wont i be needing shrugs or upright rows?
I included power cleans. Power Cleans (if done properly) are the most effective trap builder.
what are some alternate pull uo exercises for i cant do 1, and what is the diet.
You can do lat pull down. That is a good alternative for pull ups.
Here is the diet – http://www.kinobody.com/846/eat-like-a-model-lift-like-a-bodybuilder-for-the-ultimate-physique/
when u say Steady State Cardio, how much in kmh? or mph?
A better indication of steady state cardio is % of max heart rate. For steady state cardio you want to work between 65-75% of your max heart rate.
Max heart rate can be calculated by subtracting your age from 220 if your a male or 226 if your a female.
If your 20 years old than your max heart rate is 200 (220-20 = 200). Therefore you want to work between 130 and 150 bpm.
How long should i do this workout for? Looking for a workout that keeps muscle strength but helps to loses that persistant layer of fat round the abs. This looks like the one.
This workout program is very effective for a short, but super dedicated and focused period of time. Anywhere from 3-6 weeks. If your going to do this workout its important that you have all your ducks in a row. By that I mean you really need to have your diet spot on. About 10 calories per pound of body weight and at-least a gram of protein per pound of lean body mass.
I had a question, i remember in a video or post you said build muscle size then when im getting close to my goal, build for strength. So i am starting with size and i was wondering if this 3 day split workout (with 8-15 reps instread) will work for size increase? And if i do a super strict diet 800-1200 (usually 900) Calories with lots of protein and do your 2 fasting days a week idea and your ultimate fat burning cardio 5x a week (M,Tu,Th,Fri,Sun) for 2 weeks how much weight do you think i can lose??? Plz reply Thx a ton
Hey DeShawn!
The Sliced and Shredded Workout Program is geared towards increasing muscle strength / tone while dieting. If your goal is to build muscle you will need to eat extra calories. You can’t build muscle while eating less calories than you burn. In addition the sliced and shredded workout program only has 2 main exercises per workout which is good when dieting to maintain muscle but not good when trying to gain muscle. For a muscle gaining post checkout this post – http://www.kinobody.com/906/workout-for-muscle-mass/
For a muscle gaining diet read this – http://www.kinobody.com/145/a-simple-diet-approach-to-building-pure-muscle/
When your ready to cut fat than you can switch to the sliced and shredded workout program.
Great workout. Just a few questions.
1. All the workouts you list “Hip Extension Hold” but the videos do not demonstrate. What is this workout?
2. According to your chart at the top workout C doesn’t have HIIT incorporated in. However under the workout C video it clearly states that we should be doing HIIT and you also state to do intervals in the actual video. Which should I follow?
3. Should I increase the weight every workout so that the intensity is higher?
Thanks in advance and great website. Lots of useful information.
Hey Erick! My apologies for the confusion. Just fixed that up. So workout C you are going to perform intervals on the Bike. However if you feel burnt out you can skip the workouts and just do steady state.
Oh and I demonstrate the exercise in the Workout B video at 9 minutes.
Oh, ok thanks. And one more question. I was wondering if i could do Intrervals 5-6 times a week for only 2 weeks because I need temporary weight loss.
hey um i have a question what would you consider eating during lunch?
Go for a protein based meal with some greens and health fat.
Examples
1. tuna with 2 tbs of mayo and lemon + celery/cucumber
2. Chicken, advocado and spinach or kale
4. Steak with salad and sum walnuts
3. Protein shake mixed with unsweetened almond breeze and 1 tbs of whipping cream
Those are all high protein / moderate fat / low carb lunch options. When it comes to losing fat you want to keep the carbs low – this way you force your body to use stored fat for energy. In addition you want to get enough protein so you maintain your muscle. You also want to get in a good amount of fat to keep you full, support proper hormones. If you eat a low carb, low fat, high protein diet than your body won’t want to burn its on fat. So you will lose muscle and fat. Whereas if you eat protein, fat and low carb you body will be happy to burn fat.
oh ok thanks.
have a question how tall were you when you started to work out and how tall are you now?
If i do this workout 6 day’s per week for 1 month and have a good low carb diet and do interval cardio my loose skin is gonna come back to normal ?
Give it time. It takes a few months for your loose skin to tighten up.
Wat could be the result of following this as STRICLTY as it can be (includes a verry healty low carb diet with enough protein etc) for the upcomming 2,5 weeks ?
i have around 14-16% bf now
@George
You should be able to drop a solid 1% bodyfat every single week. The first week you might drop 2% bodyfat.
what other exercises i can do instead of hanging leg raises (not storng enough yet) (••,)
@Mike
You can do lying leg raises. Or you can do hanging knee raises – hang from a pull up bar and bring your knees to your chest
This looks perfect! I’ve been working through phase three of VI but starting to plateau a bit. I’m going to give this a crack for the next six weeks and see how I go. Cheers Greg!
@Guy
Awesome Guy! Excited to hear about your results. If you have questions I’d love to hear them at my facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kinobody-Fitness-Systems/207574622605460?ref=ts
So do not take any form of casein protein before bed at all? Cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach? What do I eat after cardio?
Amazing site Greg! Thanks a lot for all the amazing information! Love how you make everything so simple and straightforward :).
Just one thing: it looks like in the workout C video, you forgot to show us how to do “Hip Extension Hold”? Can you make another video to show how to do that please?
Cheers!
@Frank.
Check workout A and B. I show that exercise in one of those videos.
Hi
This is amazing and I cant wait to start it
But I do have a question about how heavy I should lift?
Again, Thanks a lot for the information and the workout plan !!
@Adam
Use a heavy weight that challenges you within the repetition guidelines (4-6 reps). But make sure to stop a rep before failing.
And also, will this effect my growing on height?
Im only 17 and I want to be taller
Cheers!
Adam – You’ll be fine. Weight training does not stunt growth. Just make sure to use proper form and you’ll be fine.
hey I was wondering what would be ur optimum diet plan to use during this workout schedule… would u recommend fasting everyday 18 hours ….. or doing eatstopeat method using the ” eat like a model ” diet?
Hi Greg,
In your post “The Ultimate Fat Burning Workout”, you listed 6 HIIT variations.
Which of those variations do you use during the “Get Sliced & Shredded” program?
Would this be a good workout system for phase 3 of visual im
@Zack
Yes it would. I adapted visual impact into this workout back in the summer.
Hi Greg
Can you do cardio at seperate times from weights instead of straight after weight training ? and also is working your abs 6 days in a row counter productive?
Dan
@Dan
If you would prefer to do cardio at another time then that is fine. If your abs are getting too sore then you can do them only 3x per week.
hey greg,
i am 16 yaers old 5’8″ at 161lbs. with no six pack . i have about 10-20lbs left to lose. and only 5-20lbs dumbbells and a treadmill. so what would u say is the best way to lose my last 20lbs the fastest and get a six pack. thanks
Hey Juga,
It comes down to diet. I recommend you watch your calorie intake and aim for 500-700 calories under maintenance with 1-2 days of regular eating per week.
Hey Greg
Is it good to use the “sliced and shredded” program and the “eat like a model diet” at the same time?
@Khalil
The eat like a model diet is a very low calorie diet. I recommend adding 300-400 additional calories on top of that diet.
Hey Greg, ive been recently doing your sliced and shredded workout. and it seems to really work your abs because mine are really sore. However, i feel like pec excercise on workout A isnt enough. Is it bad to do more then one excercise for a group that day. And also should i be drinking protein shakes after these workouts or be eating any certain way?
@Greg
You will be surprised at how little it takes to maintain muscle mass and strength.
Hey Greg,
What kind of diet do you recommend when using the sliced and shredded workout. I feel like i should eat something after i workout out or drink a protein shake? what do you recommend?
@Bob
For a fat burning cardio workout there is no need to eat right after. Just wait until you are hungry.
How sore should I be the next day?
@Gary
You shouldn’t be too soar. The routines are pretty low volume so maybe slight soreness at first.
Hey chief,
how should my diet look like?
And should i use creatine afterwards to maximize the s.w.effect?
Thanks ,
Oliver
@Oliver
No need for creatine during a cut. Eat 10-12 calories per pound of goal bodyweight daily. 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. At-least 100 grams of carbs and make the rest up with fat. Incorporate high carb refeeds 1-2x per week.
Do you think i could use this as a replacement for visual impact phase 3 after doing your hollywood bulk routine for a few months?
Yes, that would work quite well.
Thanks for replying :D I am already skinny , but with a small layer of fat on belly/waist… do you reckon i should do 2 months of the hollywood bulk and then 2 months of sliced and shredded then? :)
Yes that would be an effective protocol.
hey greg i love your kinobody workout exercises but can i know do this exercises help burn love handles fast?
You need to diet and eat at a calorie deficit to lose fat.
Hi Creg, can i still practice IF while on this program? If yes, can i have a low calories day and then a 24h fast day? thanks
Yes you can.
Hey I don’t wanna get bigger and I keep hearing that density training will make my muscle appear smaller and harder will this workout do that if not do you have one that will ?
It will help but really you need to lose fat. This is accomplished through dieting. When you get your body fat percentage to under 10% then you rarely hear about people complaining about not wanting to get their muscles too big.