Express Cutting Training Guide: 10-Week Workout Plan

David Diaz Gil 5 min. of reading Training Routines Leave a comment

There comes a point in the season when you want to fine-tune your physique. If you’ve completed a lean bulking phase and need to cut body fat in a short period, this guide is designed for you: a 10-week workout plan based on full-body and strength training, easy to follow and without having to push yourself to exhaustion.

The idea is to combine a diet tailored to your goal with a well-structured training routine over a specific, limited period.

Who Is the Express Cutting Training Plan For?

This training plan is designed for advanced users: people who have been training consistently at a high level for more than two years, have tried different workout routines and have a body fat percentage of around 12%.

It’s also suitable for athletes who need to cut body fat in a short period. If you’ve never performed paired sets or supersets before, we recommend gaining some experience with these techniques first.

Why Full-Body and Strength Training?

The routine doesn’t include a single Weider-style split session. Full-body and strength training form the foundation because, for most people, they place less stress on the central nervous system and allow for better recovery, which is particularly important when reducing calorie intake.

It’s also worth remembering that cutting is closely linked to your nutritional strategy: with a lower calorie intake, your performance may be affected.

The guide takes this into account, providing specific recommendations and guidelines for each week.

Why Follow a Structured Cutting Plan?

During this phase, there’s little room for improvisation. A structured plan tells you what to train each day, how long to rest, when to include cardio or HIIT, and how to progress from week to week. That way, you can save your energy and motivation for training rather than making decisions.

What’s Included in the Guide?

10 weeks of progressive training based on full-body and strength workouts.
Daily workout tables with exercises, sets, repetitions, rest periods and tempo.
Cardio and HIIT integrated into each week, with recommended sessions.
Advanced techniques: paired sets, trisets, giant sets, and ascending and descending pyramid sets.
Exercise guidelines: warm-ups, stretching, muscular and technical failure, and lower-back compensation exercises.
Progress tracking: how to weigh and measure yourself to monitor your results.

What Does Each Week Look Like?

Week 1: Getting Started

Three days of weight training with an emphasis on chest, back and legs. There’s no cardio this week.

Week 2: Compound Exercises at High Intensity

Compound exercises are introduced at a higher intensity, with one day focusing on legs. Cardio: two moderate sessions of 20-30 minutes, with no HIIT yet.

Week 3: Three Areas of Focus

Chest, legs and back. We continue with two moderate cardio sessions.

Week 4: More Cardio

The structure remains the same as the previous week, but moderate cardio increases to three sessions per week.

Weeks 5 and 6: Partial Strength and Accessory Exercises

Strength training with one partial-strength day and another combining strength and accessory exercises. Cardio: two moderate sessions and the first HIIT session on Friday.

Week 7: Chest, Legs and Back with HIIT

Only two cardio sessions, both HIIT (Tuesday and Saturday), with an intermediate-to-advanced intensity level.

Week 8: Heavy and Light Training

Heavy and light training days are combined: heavy legs, light upper body and heavy upper body. Cardio: two HIIT sessions immediately after weight training on upper-body days. If you want to add more cardio, do 30-40 minutes at a moderate pace over the weekend.

Week 9: The Most Cardio-Intensive Week

We continue alternating light and heavy upper-body sessions, now with three HIIT sessions after weight training on upper-body days, plus optional moderate cardio over the weekend.

Week 10: The Final Week

A full-body routine with one day focusing on legs. Two HIIT sessions: one on Wednesday immediately after weight training and another on Sunday.

Key Guidelines to Keep in Mind

Warm-up: 5 minutes of cardio and 2 sets of 15 repetitions of the first exercise in the session.
Rest periods: around 120 seconds between exercises; between sets, follow the rest periods indicated in the workout table.
Moderate cardio: at 65% of your maximum heart rate for approximately 40 minutes, unless otherwise specified for that week. Running is a good option, but you can choose another activity as long as you monitor your heart rate.
Stretching: at least 10 minutes stretching the muscle groups worked after weight training, and the legs after cardio.
Progress tracking: weigh yourself once a week, at the same time and on an empty stomach, and measure your body fat once a month (using skinfold calipers, performed by a qualified professional).

Remember that body weight alone doesn’t distinguish between fat, muscle and fluids.

A Well-Planned Diet Matters Too

Following a structured training plan is only one part of the cutting phase. The other is maintaining a well-planned, practical diet with sufficient protein throughout the day, which isn’t always easy to manage when cutting.

That’s where HSN proteins come in: a convenient option to help you meet your daily protein requirements, whether at breakfast or after training.