Hollywood Training Snapshot
The Hollywood training is a thoroughly designed program, a combination of heavy weight, light weight, low reps, high reps, intensity-boosting lifting techniques, and HIIT cardio – all to maximize fat burning and conditioning while also working on muscle mass in 4 weeks. At that point, your physique is worthy of a Hollywood-style show time.
Program Length: 4 weeks
Workout per Week: 6 times
Training Split: 3-day split, repeated twice for a total of six workouts per week.
Required Equipment: Commercial gym or sufficiently-equipped home gym
Highlighted Techniques: Supersets, linear periodization, and reverse linear periodization. HIIT cardio using a 2:1 work-to-rest ratio is also used in this program.
Rep Ranges: Most superset pairings consist of one “heavy” exercise with relatively low rep counts and one “light” exercise with higher reps. Then, the rep counts for heavy exercises decrease each week, while the reps for light exercises increase, in this manner: 9-10 reps (heavy) and 12-15 reps (light) in Week 1; 7-8 reps and 16-20 reps in Week 2; 5-6 reps and 21-25 reps in Week 3; and 3-4 reps and 26-30 reps in Week 4.
Rest Periods or Interval: You can take 1-2 minutes between supersets; or, for a quicker workout, drop rest to 30-60 seconds between supersets. But, no rest is taken within supersets (ie, between the two exercises being supersetted).
Cardio: The HIIT sessions are incorporated into every workout. You will do three HIIT sessions per workout, after each muscle group. HIIT sessions increase in length each week during the program. To site, it will be 7 minutes in Week 1, 10 minutes in Week 2, 10.5 minutes in Week 3, 11 minutes in Week 4.
Meal Plan: The Hollywood training program has its own accompanying nutrition plan which is the BRN Diet. However, Dieting Basics can also be used for fat loss emphasis as Muscle Building Nutrition for muscle gain.
Summary: The Hollywood training program is great for anyone who wants a program that prioritizes muscle building and fat loss. Yes, you read it right, both can be achieved simultaneously.
3-day training split
The 3-day training split focuses on building muscle, as are the two periodization schemes: linear and reverse linear.
Fat loss is boosted considerably with the HIIT sessions tied up in the workouts. And finally, supersets are proven to be effective for both muscle building and fat loss.
Note: If you’re a beginner or just getting back to the gym after an extended time away (months or years), this program will likely be too intense/advanced for you.
If you’re a beginner or have been on hiatus, I suggest considering my BRN Beginner’s Program before taking on Hollywood.
Hollywood Training Overview
The program summarizes that all exercises are done as supersets with one exercise done with very heavyweight for low reps and the other with lightweight for high reps.
The first superset exercise pair of the workout for each muscle group regulates the workouts with the heavy one done first and then the light one follows. On the other hand, the second superset and oftentimes, the third, are done in reverse order, with the light one being done first before the heavy one.
For many muscle groups, the second superset is performed as pre-exhaust exercise which is incorporated with a single-joint (isolation) exercise being performed first with lighter weight. Then, a multi-joint exercise follows with heavyweight. This setup allows you to build muscle and strength at the same time shed off body fat.
Based on innovative research and study from the College of New Jersey, the use of supersets is one of the most effective ways to burn fat while in the gym. The research shows that resting for only 30 seconds between sets can burn over 50% calories while doing a bench press workout compared to resting 3 minutes between sets.
While supersets theoretically call for no rest between exercises, it normally takes 10-30 seconds to move from one exercise to the next, which still guarantees of burning at least 50% more calories than you normally would when performing traditional straight sets.
Hollywood Training Repetition Ranges – Highs and Lows
I intentionally included high-set reps to stimulate more calorie burning during the workout. The same study from the College of New Jersey found that doing 10-rep sets burned more calories during the workout than 5-rep sets.
This is also the reason why I boosted the reps to 30 on some exercises and the total number of sets performed per workout in the final week to keep you burning fat each and every week while following Hollywood training.
While calorie burning is essential during the workout, the number of calories you burn after the workout and the duration of the post-workout burn are far more important. The process is scientifically referred to as EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) which means, the more oxygen you take, the more calories you burn, which is also used for recovery purposes.
Since doing high-rep sets does not keep your calorie-burning up after the workout as high, or for as long, as low-rep sets do, I balanced the high-rep exercises with low-rep workouts.
Another research from the Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education in Oslo reported that subjects training their legs with their 6-rep max burned significantly more calories for up to 48 hours after the workout as compared to those using their 12-rep max.
The researchers from the College of New Jersey also found that when the subjects used 5 reps per set on the bench press they burned significantly more calories after the workout was over – while the subjects were just sitting around on their glutes! – than when they did 10-rep sets.
In addition, they reported that 30-second rest periods between sets also led to a significantly greater increase in EPOC than the three-minute rest periods did.
Each week, as the Hollywood training progresses, the heavy exercises get heavier which are done in fewer repetitions while the light exercises get lighter and are performed for more reps. The program will not only make you get bigger and stronger but also leaner as this will jack up the calorie burning during and after the workout.
Each week the number of sets performed per exercise or the number of exercises you perform increases to bump up calorie and fat burning.
Hollywood Training Reps, Week to Week
Here’s the rep ranges for the majority of supersets (with smaller muscle groups being the exception) showing the linear and reverse linear fashion each week for both “heavy” and “light” exercises.
Hollywood Rest Periods
When super setting exercises, no rest is taken between the two exercises. But a minute or two rest periods are recommended after the second exercise of each superset.
However, if you want a quicker workout or are in top shape, feel free to limit your rest periods to 30-60 seconds.
Hollywood Training Diet Plan
The Hollywood training comes with a nutrition plan to maximize fat loss. Contact me for more details about it including sample meal plans.
But if your goal is more on muscle-building, you have the option to pick a different diet plan. You may also want to check intermittent fasting, an excellent way to cleanse your body regardless of the program you are doing.
