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Chisel

Gym Workout for Fat Loss, for Beginners, 3 Days a Week

A sculptor works stone with a chisel, one light stroke after another. “Chisel” is built the same way: high reps, sets that stop short of failure, and chest, back and legs in each of three workouts a week. Head to the gym and start with the intro week.

  • GoalFat Burning
  • LevelBeginner
  • WhereGym
  • Workouts24
  • One workout~40 min
  • ForEveryone
Start it in the appThe app calculates the weight of every set from your 1RM

Who it’s for

  • You’re just starting out in the gym
  • You want to get in shape
  • You can train three times a week

How it works

  1. 013 workouts a week, 5 exercises each; chest, back and legs work in every session, 9 sets a week per muscle group
  2. 02Base, 4 weeks: weighted exercises for 15 reps, with the load rising week by week
  3. 03Build, 4 weeks: 13 reps, with the load moving in a wave and a step back in week 3
  4. 04Bodyweight abs for 20 reps, 90 seconds of rest between sets, and the same exercises in both stages
Method

High reps, stopping short of failure

The load comes from long sets with moderate weights: 15 reps in Base and 13 in Build. Each set ends while you still have two or three reps left before failure. The app calculates the weight for each set from your max, with 90 seconds of rest between sets.

Weekly volume

Counts sets where the muscle is the main target of the exercise

  • Chest9 sets3 workouts
  • Back9 sets3 workouts
  • Shoulders6 sets2 workouts
  • Quads6 sets2 workouts
  • Arms6 sets2 workouts
  • Abs6 sets2 workouts
  • Hamstrings & glutes3 sets1 workout

Weighted sets end at least 3 reps short of failure

What the research shows

4

  • In a calorie deficit, muscle gain slows down while strength holds

    Murphy et al., 2022

  • Light and heavy weights produce the same muscle growth; heavy weights build more strength

    Schoenfeld et al., 2017

  • Muscle growth does not require taking sets to failure

    Refalo et al., 2023

  • Resting longer than a minute between sets gives a small edge in muscle growth

    Singer et al., 2024
The studies tested the principles; the program itself has not been tested in this form.

Body fat is set by your diet; the program sets the training load.

Workout A

5 exercises · ~40 min

The whole first workout. Tap an exercise to open its technique with photos and video.

  1. 01Barbell Full SquatQuads3 × 15weight from 1RM
  2. 02Barbell Bench Press — Medium GripChest3 × 15weight from 1RM
  3. 03One-Arm Dumbbell RowMiddle Back3 × 15weight from 1RM
  4. 04Dumbbell Shoulder PressShoulders3 × 15weight from 1RM
  5. 05CrunchesAbs3 × 20bodyweight

All workouts in the program

24 sessions over ~7.5 weeks, 3–4 per week. Workouts A, B and C repeat in a loop, 8 times each. The other workouts and the weight for every set are in the app.

Workout intensity

The load of each session: higher means harder. average per round A–C

hardereasierWorkout 1 (A)Workout 2 (B)Workout 3 (C)Workout 4 (A)Workout 5 (B)Workout 6 (C)Workout 7 (A)Workout 8 (B)Workout 9 (C)Workout 10 (A)Workout 11 (B)Workout 12 (C)Workout 13 (A)Workout 14 (B)Workout 15 (C)Workout 16 (A)Workout 17 (B)Workout 18 (C)Workout 19 (A)Workout 20 (B)Workout 21 (C)Workout 22 (A)Workout 23 (B)Workout 24 (C)Round 1: averageRound 2: averageRound 3: averageRound 4: averageRound 5: averageRound 6: averageRound 7: averageRound 8: average

Workout number

AtletIQ app

Program weights — from your 1RM

1RM is the weight you can lift once. Enter it for the base exercises and AtletIQ will calculate working weights for all 24 workouts of “Chisel”.

  • The weight of every set comes from your 1RM
  • All workouts of the program in order, with rest between sets
  • Progress for every exercise
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