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The Thaw

Gym Workout for Fitness, for Beginners, 2 Days a Week

After a frosty night, you warm the engine up at idle before you put it under load. “The Thaw” brings you back to the gym the same way: an intro first week, sets that end with reps in reserve, and mostly machines. Pick two days a week that suit you and get started.

  • GoalMaintenance
  • LevelBeginner
  • WhereGym
  • Workouts16
  • One workout~46 min
  • ForEveryone
Start it in the appThe app calculates the weight of every set from your 1RM

Who it’s for

  • You’re coming back to the gym after a break
  • You can get to the gym two days a week
  • You want to stay in overall shape

How it works

  1. 012 workouts a week, 5 exercises each, all full body; 9 sets a week for legs and 6 each for chest and back
  2. 02Base, 4 weeks: weighted exercises for 12 reps, an intro first week, then the load rises week by week
  3. 03Build, 4 weeks: 10 reps, with the load moving in a wave and a step back in week 3
  4. 04Abs for 15 reps, 2 minutes of rest between sets, and the exercises stay the same in both stages
Method

Gradual return to load

After a break, load comes back gradually: the first week is an intro week, in Base the load rises week by week, and every set ends while you still have reps in reserve. There is no barbell in the program; most exercises are done on machines. The app calculates the weight for each set from your max.

Weekly volume

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

  • Chest6 sets2 workouts
  • Back6 sets2 workouts
  • Quads6 sets2 workouts
  • Shoulders3 sets1 workout
  • Hamstrings & glutes3 sets1 workout
  • Arms3 sets1 workout
  • Abs3 sets1 workout

Weighted sets end at least 2 reps short of failure

What the research shows

3

  • With weekly volume equal, training frequency has little effect on muscle growth

    Schoenfeld et al., 2019

  • Load is increased gradually, volume first, then weight

    Kraemer et al., 2004

  • Muscle growth does not require taking sets to failure

    Refalo et al., 2023
The studies tested the principles; the program itself has not been tested in this form.

Workout A

5 exercises · ~46 min

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

  1. 01One-Arm Dumbbell RowMiddle Back3 × 12weight from 1RM
  2. 02Leg PressQuads3 × 12weight from 1RM
  3. 03Lying Leg CurlsHamstrings3 × 12weight from 1RM
  4. 04Machine Bench PressChest3 × 12weight from 1RM
  5. 05Reverse CrunchAbs3 × 15bodyweight

All workouts in the program

16 sessions over ~7.5 weeks, 2–3 per week. Workouts A and B 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–B

hardereasierWorkout 1 (A)Workout 2 (B)Workout 3 (A)Workout 4 (B)Workout 5 (A)Workout 6 (B)Workout 7 (A)Workout 8 (B)Workout 9 (A)Workout 10 (B)Workout 11 (A)Workout 12 (B)Workout 13 (A)Workout 14 (B)Workout 15 (A)Workout 16 (B)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 16 workouts of “The Thaw”.

  • The weight of every set comes from your 1RM
  • All workouts of the program in order, with rest between sets
  • Progress for every exercise
Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play