During the Christmas period, many of my clients decide to take some time off from training. It's  normally a week or two, depending on what their plans are for the holiday. Many years ago, I came up with a plan for the Christmas period so that my clients could experience some growth while they're resting and eating. I put together a two-week plan that has a lot of volume compared to normal training programs. During the two-week period that my clients didn’t train, hopefully they would get some decent growth from the break. In most cases, my clients grew, and most came back really strong. The key is not to take your break too far.

Many people decide to just eat junk, but you must keep your protein intake the same as it always is so that you can retain the mass you've built. I've seen so many people lose a lot of mass because they didn’t eat protein as regularly as they normally do. Try to eat four meals per day and make sure that you have some meat, clean carbohydrates, and fats. The best plan is to stick to your normal diet every day except for Christmas Day, but many don’t.

Here's my two-week overtraining plan. I suggest that only intermediate or advanced lifters with experience performing all the movements in this routine use it, as it can be very demanding and technique is key.

Week 1:

  • Monday: Back/chest/traps
  • Tuesday: Quads/hams/calves
  • Wednesday: Shoulders/arms
  • Thursday: Back/chest/traps
  • Friday: Quads/hams/calves
  • Saturday: Shoulders/arms
  • Sunday: Rest

Monday: Back/chest/traps

  1. Pull-ups or lat pull-downs, 2 warm-up sets of 12; 2 work sets of 12
  2. Barbell rows, 2 warm-up sets of 12; 2 work sets of 12 reps
  3. Barbell incline presses, 2 warm-up sets of 12; 2 work sets of 12 reps
  4. Cable flies, 2 warm-up sets of 12; 2 work sets of 12 reps
  5. Narrow grip upright rows, 2 warm-up sets of 12; 2 work sets of 12 reps

Tuesday: Quads/hams/calves

  1. Barbell squats, 2 warm-up sets of 12 reps; 2 work sets of 12 reps
  2. Leg presses, 4 work sets of 12 reps
  3. Romanian deadlifts, 2 warm-up sets of 12; 2 work sets of 12
  4. Seated hamstring curls, 4 work sets of 12
  5. Standing calf raises, 4 sets of 12 reps

Wednesday: Shoulders/arms

  1. Dumbbell shoulder presses, 2 warm-up sets of 12 reps; 2 work sets of 12 reps
  2. Barbell shoulder presses or machine shoulder presses, 4 work sets of 12 reps
  3. EZ bar skull crushers, 2 warm-up sets of 12 reps; 2 work sets of 12 reps
  4. Close grip presses, 4 work sets of 12 reps
  5. EZ bar preacher curls, 2 warm-up sets of 12, 2 work sets of 12
  6. Dumbbell hammer curls, 4 work sets of 12 reps

Thursday: Back/chest/trap

  1. Chest supported rows, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  2. Triangle handle lat pull-downs, 2 warm-up sets of 8; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  3. Reverse grip flat barbell presses, 2 warm-up sets of 8; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  4. Flat dumbbell presses, 4 work sets of 8 reps
  5. Barbell shrugs, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  6. Dumbbell shrugs, 4 work sets of 8 reps

Friday: Quads/hams/calves

  1. Hack squats, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  2. Dumbbell lunges, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  3. Zercher good mornings, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  4. Lying leg curls, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  5. Seated calf raises, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps

Saturday: Shoulders/arms

  1. Cable front raises, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  2. Seated dumbbell side raises, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  3. Triceps push-downs, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  4. Triceps dips on a machine, 4 work sets of 8 reps
  5. Barbell bicep curls, 2 warm-up sets of 8 reps; 2 work sets of 8 reps
  6. Dumbbell hammer curls, 4 work sets of 8 reps

Week 2:

  • Monday: Back/chest/traps
  • Tuesday: Quads/hams/calves
  • Wednesday: Shoulders/arms
  • Thursday: Back/chest/traps
  • Friday: Quads/hams/calves
  • Saturday: Shoulders/arms
  • Sunday: Rest

Monday: Back/chest/traps

  1. Chin-ups or narrow pull-downs, 2 warm-up sets of 15; 2 work sets 15
  2. T-bar rows, 2 warm-up sets of 15; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  3. Dumbbell decline presses, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  4. Incline barbell chest presses, 4 work sets of 15 reps
  5. Narrow grip upright rows, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  6. Barbell shrugs, 2 warm-up sets of 15; 2 work sets of 15 reps

Tuesday: Quads/hams/calves

  1. Leg presses, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  2. Hack squats, 4 work sets of 15 reps
  3. Stiff leg deadlifts, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  4. Standing leg curls, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  5. Standing calf raises, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps

Wednesday: Shoulders/arms

  1. Barbell Bradford presses, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  2. Wide grip upright rows, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  3. Overhead dumbbell triceps extensions, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps
  4. One arm cable push-downs, 4 work sets of 15 reps
  5. Reverse EZ bar curls, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  6. Seated incline dumbbell curls, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps

Thursday: Back/chest/traps

  1. Deadlifts, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  2. Wide grip lat pull-downs, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  3. Barbell flat bench presses, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  4. Cable incline flies, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  5. Dumbbell shrugs, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  6. Barbell shrugs, 4 work sets of 15 reps

Friday: Quads/hams/calves

  1. Leg extensions, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  2. Hack squats, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  3. Standing leg curls, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  4. Lying leg curls, 4 work sets of 15 reps
  5. Standing calf raises, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  6. Seated calf raises, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps

Saturday: Shoulders/arms

  1. Dumbbell front raises, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  2. Dumbbell side raises, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  3. Preacher curls, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  4. Barbell curls, 4 work sets of 15 reps
  5. Close grip presses, 2 warm-up sets of 15 reps; 2 work sets of 15 reps
  6. Push-downs, 4 work sets of 15 reps

The above routine looks like a lot of work and it is. However, it should only be done for a maximum of two weeks, and you should take one week off from the gym, two weeks maximum. I suggest doing some walking or low intensity cardiovascular work during the time off even if it’s just a 30-minute walk every day. We've had the best results doing some GPP during Christmas while doing no resistance training.

I also suggest that you stretch the whole body every day for 30 minutes to one hour. Just choose two stretches per body part. I've always been a fan of stretching every day, and for every hour that you spend doing resistance training, the same amount of time should be spent stretching either before you work out or later in the day. Some of my clients like to stretch in the morning and later on at night. I hope that you get some good results from this routine. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. If you want to share your experiences while using the program, I'm always collecting data on my training routines, so I welcome your feedback whether it's positive or negative.