MINIMALIST

TRAINING

BIG RESULTS IN LESS TIME

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TABLE OF
CONTENT

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INTRODUCTION
What is a minimalist program?
Can a minimalist program deliver quality results?

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MINIMALIST PRINCIPLES
What are the keys in setting up a minimalist program?
Is there research to support minimalist programs?

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MINIMALIST PROGRAMS
Examples of minimalist programming for different
options and goals.

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ABOUT
CITIZEN ATHLETICS

Citizen Athletics was founded to help people reach their

goals, moving & feeling better. Built from the ground up by
two Doctors of Physical Therapy and Strength & Conditioning
coaches, Citizen Athletics offers a service like no other.
Bridging the gap between rehab and fitness, Citizen Athletics
provides you with a way to train hard and stay healthy.
Whether you’re a novice and in need of a base program, or an
experienced lifter using the sustainable strength program,
you’re covered with one of the many training programs
offered. As well, if you want to sneak in some extra mobility or
targeted rehab, it’s readily available with your membership. To
learn more, head over to CitizenAthletics.com

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Most people are looking to build some muscle, burn some

fat, what you might call toning, and try to improve their
overall health. While doing this, they’re trying to fit in the
rest of their life - such as work, a significant other, friends,
family, hobbies, and possibly children or pets. As such,
training is likely not the key focus in their life. Instead, they
want the best results in the least amount of time.

At first, you might think that a minimalist training approach

will lead to considerably worse results.

But that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, a well-planned

minimalist approach can get you nearly the same results.

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You see when we start to look at the outcomes that come

from training, such as when developing muscle mass,
there’s a huge spike early on. However, as you do more, you
don’t increase linearly, the gains slow down.

This doesn’t just apply to muscle building, the same is true

for cardiovascular health. A recent study comparing the
health effects of walking saw that the less you do, the more
benefit there is to an increase in step count. Once you
reach a certain point though, there are diminishing returns.

So if you’re someone after the most results possible, that’s

fine, do more. If you’re not though, then we can focus on
the work that gives you the most bang for your buck. To do
that, we need to discuss 5 key principles.

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MINIMALIST PRINCIPLES
PRINCIPLE 1

PRINCIPLE 2

PRINCIPLE 3

PRINCIPLE 4

PRINCIPLE 5

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INTENSITY

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VOLUME

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FREQUENCY

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Alright, so we’ve locked in intensity and volume, but what

about frequency? When researchers compare frequency,
there seems to be a key benefit in training a muscle group
at least twice a week for hypertrophy and strength.

This may be due to the fact that it helps to spread out the
volume, getting in more of those early sets in where you get
the most benefits. If you’re on a low volume approach, such
as this minimalist style, then a higher frequency may be
particularly beneficial.

When it comes to endurance training, it’s difficult to say

what the best frequency is. It’s likely similar with lifting,
where it’s best to have a minimum of a few days per week,
but you can distribute it even more frequent if desired.

A study from 2019 provides a unique take where they had

people do approximately 20 seconds of vigorous exercise 3
times per day, 3 days per week, for a total of 3 minutes of
exercise per week, leading to a 5% increase in VO2 max
after 6 weeks.
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EXERCISE
SELECTION

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This is a critical one to allow you to get the most out of the
prior points. Not all exercises are designed equal. Generally
choosing exercises that are conducive to pushing high
efforts on is ideal. If you’re doing an exercise and the
coordination or technique of it limits you from training to
failure, it’s not a right match for a minimalist program.

For instance, a bodyweight reverse lunge is going to

require a ton of reps for most people to truly reach near
failure, which isn’t ideal. In contrast, a deep heels elevated
goblet squat can be an effective choice for most people. If
you’re someone who trains at home, this can seem hard, but
if you’re creative there are tons of options. Like a wall slide
hack squat.

If you’re not super creative, don’t worry. We’ve got a video

coming out soon going over the best at home exercises. So
be sure to subscribe and watch for that.

Overall, focus on choosing exercises which you can push

hard for low to medium reps, reaching close to failure on
and aren’t overly limited by technique, balance, or
coordination.

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ADVANCED
TECHNIQUE

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SMART SUPERSETS

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DROP SETS

MYO-REPS

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MINIMALIST
PROGRAMMING

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 MINIMALIST PROGRAM 1
THIS PROGRAM IS DESIGNED FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ACCESS
TO BASIC GYM EQUIPMENT, SUCH AS BARBELLS, DUMBBELLS,
BANDS, ETC, AND HAVE 30-45 MINUTES TO TRAIN 3X/WK

DAY 1
A1. HEELS ELEV A TED GO BLET SQ U A T 2 x 10 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th A 2 .

A2. HK 1 A R M PU LLDO WN 2 x 10 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th A 1.

B1. SLI DER LEG C U R L 2 x Failure Sup e rse t wi th B2 .

B2. BA ND R ESI STED PU SH U PS 2 x Failure Sup e rse t wi th B1.

C1. SI DE PLA NK 1 X Failure

D1. TR EA DMI LL/ELLI PTI C A L/BI KE 6x15s/45s Max e ffort on ,

c oast duri n g re st

DAY 2
A1. C O NV ENTI O NA L DEA DLI FT 2 x 6 x 3RIR Sup e rse t wi th A 2 .

A2. DB FLO O R PR ESS 2 x 6 x 3RIR Sup e rse t wi th A 1.

B1. R FESS - DBS 2 x 12 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th B2 .

B2. C HEST SU PPO R TED R O W 2 x 12 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th B1.

C1. DEA DBU G 1 x Failure

D1. TR EA DMI LL/ELLI PTI C A L/BI KE 10x10s/20s H ard e ffort on ,

e asy duri n g re st

DAY 3
A1. FR O NT SQ U A T/BA C K SQ U A T 2 x 8 x 3 RIR C hoose sq uat op ti on

A2. 3 PO I NT DB R O W 2 x 8 x 3RIR Sup e rse t wi th A 1.

B1. STA GGER ED R DL - DBS 2 x 8 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th B2 .

B2. 1 A R M DB STR I C T PR ESS 2 x 8 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th B1.

C1. HA MMER C U R LS 2 x 15 x 0RIR Sup e rse t wi th C 2 .

C2. SU PI NE TR I C EP EXTENSI O NS 2 x 15 x 0RIR Sup e rse t wi th C 1.

*YO U SHO U LD C O MPLETE 1- 3 WA R M U P SETS FO R MA I N MO V EMENTS TO MI NI MI ZE

I NJU R Y & MA XI MI ZE PER FO R MA NC E.
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 MINIMALIST PROGRAM 2
THIS PROGRAM IS DESIGNED FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ACCESS
TO A FULLY DECKED OUT GYM, AND HAVE 45 MINUTES TO TRAIN
2X/WK

DAY 1
A1. LEG C U R L - 1 LEG 2 x 10 x 2RIR Se ate d p re fe rre d

B1. LA T PU LLDO WN - O V ER HA ND 2 x 10 x 2RIR C he st sup p ort i f

p ossi bl e

C1. HA C K SQ U A T 2 x 10 x 2RIR E m p hasi z e de p th

D1. I NC LI NE DB BENC H PR ESS 2 x 10 x 2RIR Low to m e di um

an g l e

E1. SI NGLE A R M PR ESSDO WNS 3(1) x 10 x 0RIR 3 drop se ts,

m i n i m al re st

E2. BA YESI A N C A BLE C U R L 3(1) x 10 x 0RIR 3 drop se ts,

m i n i m al re st

Ne ar m ax e ffort
F1. TR EA DMI LL/ELLI PTI C A L/BI KE 5 x 60s/60s on , e asy off

DAY 2
A1. R DL 2 x 8 x 2RIR U se barbe l l or
sm i th

B1. BENC H PR ESS 2 x 8 x 2RIR U se barbe l l or

sm i th

U se dum bbe l l s or
C1. DEFI C I T SPLI T SQ U A T 2 x 8 x 2RIR sm i th

D1. C HEST SU PPO R TED R O W 2 x 8 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th B1.

E1. SI DE PLA NK HI P DR O PS 1 x Failure

E2. BA ND PU LL A PA R TS 1 x Failure

F1. TR EA DMI LL/ELLI PTI C A L/BI KE 10 x 30s/30s Push hard on ,

c oast duri n g off

*YO U SHO U LD C O MPLETE 1- 3 WA R M U P SETS FO R MA I N MO V EMENTS TO MI NI MI ZE

I NJU R Y & MA XI MI ZE PER FO R MA NC E.
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 MINIMALIST PROGRAM 3
THIS PROGRAM IS DESIGNED FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ACCESS
TO ONLY DUMBBELLS & BANDS, AND HAVE 30 MINUTES TO
TRAIN 3X/WK.

DAY 1
A1. SPLI T SQ U A T - DBS 2 x 12 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th A 2 .

A2. LO NG SI TTI NG BA ND R O W 2 x 12 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th A 1.

B1. STA GGER ED R DL - BA ND 2 x 12 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th B2 .

B2. BA ND R ESI STED FLO O R PR ESS 2 x 12 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th B1.

C1. LEG LO WER S 1 X Failure

D1. STA I R C LI MBI NG 6x20s/40s A dj ust ti m e for

fl i g ht of stai rs

DAY 2
A1. 1 A R M DB STR I C T PR ESS 2 x 10 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th A 2 .

A2. DB R DL 2 x 10 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th A 1.

B1. PR O NE A NGEL HO V ER S 2 x Failure Sup e rse t wi th B2 .

B2. R EV ER SE NO R DI C S 2 x 10 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th B1.

C1. SI DE PLA NK HI P DR O PS 1 x Failure

D1. HI GH KNEES I N PLA C E 15x10s/10s Push i t hard, stan d

i n p l ac e duri n g re st

DAY 3
A1. NO R DI C S 2x6 Fi g ht hard throug h
the whol e re p

A2. DB BENT O V ER R O W 2 x 12 x 3RIR Sup e rse t wi th A 1.

B1. HEELS ELEV A TED GO BLET SQ U A TS 2 x 15 x 2RIR Sup e rse t wi th B2 .

B2. BA ND R ESI STED PU SH U PS 2 x Faillure Sup e rse t wi th B1.

C1. A LTER NA TI NG BI C EP C U R LS 2 x 15 x 0RIR Sup e rse t wi th C 2 .

C2. BA NDED PR ESSDO WNS 2 x 15 x 0RIR Sup e rse t wi th C 1.

*YO U SHO U LD C O MPLETE 1- 3 WA R M U P SETS FO R MA I N MO V EMENTS TO MI NI MI ZE

I NJU R Y & MA XI MI ZE PER FO R MA NC E.
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 Summary
Thanks for checking out
our minimalist training
ebook! Hopefully, you
feel educated and
prepared to take on your
training and crush it.
Work your way through
the programs and
experiment with them,
adjusting to your needs.
If you enjoy these
programs, we highly
recommend checking out
our app! We have built an
in-depth library of
programs for different
needs and goals.

In addition you
have access to our
weekly updated
sustainable
strength program
and a range of on-
demand workouts
for mobility,
vertical jump and
more!

All the best to you in your fitness journey,

Sam & Teddy

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ATHLETICS
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