What is Strength & Sculpt with Katie? 

Katie created Strength & Sculpt to mirror her favourite way to train, strength training in a gym-based environment using a combination of machines and free weights.

Progressive overload is the star of Katie’s program. She pushes you to complete similar exercises, targeting the same muscle groups each week and increasing the weights and reps to sculpt and define your muscles. Katie has programmed a bi-weekly structure, where the repetition goal increases every two weeks, to progressively increase your training load.

For 6 weeks, this program will focus on building strength, muscle definition, and overall well-being, as well as setting up and maintaining a consistent training schedule. Katie targets the major muscle groups of the entire body through the use of supersets and trisets performed back to back, with simple workout splits.

Bock 2 is the next 6 weeks and it's packed with exciting changes to keep you motivated. Building strength remains the goal, with slight modifications to the workout structure for added benefits like reduced fatigue, plateaus, and more.

In the next six-week block, Block 3, the exercise complexity, training volume and heavy lifts increase to help you progress. The upper and lower body days now follow the strength and mega set format, with supersets and trisets for your full body day.

What is involved in Katie’s Strength & Sculpt program?

You will have 3-4 resistance workouts a week which will target the following:

• Lower Body
• Upper Body
• Full Body
• Optional Mega Set 

These strength workouts will go for approximately 40-50 minutes including warm-up and cool-down. The exercises will be very consistent over the 18 weeks, however, the workout intensity will be increasing to allow for muscle growth achievement. As your rep range increases and you start to feel confident lifting heavier weights, you will notice the shape of your muscles changing. 

In Block 4, workout split have changed to

• Lower Body
• Chest & Shoulders
• Back & Hamstrings
• Optional Mega Set

Strength training needs to be repeated for a while to be effective. To get stronger, your muscle needs to be worked harder than they are used to (progressive overload). 

Katie likes to train with one big piece of large gym equipment (e.g. leg press) and pair it with smaller portable equipment (e.g. dumbbells). If two machine exercises are used together, it would ideally be using the same machine and at most changing an attachment (e.g. cable machine). 

Alongside strength training, Katie’s program also includes at least 1 cardio (low or high-intensity) session, however, more are there if you need them. There is also one weekly recovery session and of course one rest day. 

What equipment do I need to complete this program?

To efficiently complete this program you will need access to a standard commercial gym with the following equipment:

• Barbell + Plates
• Dumbbells
• Cable Machine
• Chin Up Bar
• Bench
• Back Extension
• Kettlebell
• Lat Pulldown
• Leg Press
• Smith Machine
• Swiss Ball
• Resistance Band

As always, if you don’t have access to some of the equipment, you can use the ‘exercise substitution’ feature available in the Sweat app to substitute equipment in and out. 

How do the workouts work?

Lower Body/ Upper Body/ Full Body 

Each separate workout will focus on exercises in their corresponding muscle group. They are 3 supersets and a triset to finish every workout. Complete the exercise for a specific number of reps with a 30-second rest between each lap (3 laps).

There are slight changes to the workouts in Block 2. The full body workout has been transformed with a focus on endurance over volume, combining set and rep-based work with a condensed mega set. The lower and upper body workouts now include 4 sets per exercise. 

In Block 3, the upper and lower body days now follow the strength and mega set format, with the focus on 3 key strength exercises completed in isolation, followed by a mega set at volume. And the Full Body moves to a three superset and one triset format that was previously used for the upper and lower body days in Block 2.

In Block 4 weeks 19-24, the complexity and volume increases to challenge you further and avoid plateaus. Sets have increased from three to four laps, and your weekly workout split now changes to Lower Body, Chest & Shoulders, Back & Hamstrings.

Mega Set

This is Katie’s signature workout she made optional if you would like to train 4 times per week. It is going to work your full body meaning you can train your full body twice per week. It is a mega set of 5 exercises repeated for a specific number of reps for 5 laps. You will get a 30-second rest between each lap. 

In Block 2 the mega set has been transformed into a time-based workout to challenge your muscular endurance.

Can I do this program at home? 

Katie designed her strength program to be completed in the gym, however, she is aware that some of the Sweat Community has transitioned into well-equipped home gym setups. 

You can do this program at home if you have the Exercise and Equipment Substitution feature in the Sweat app to find alternatives or substitute pieces of equipment.
For instance, if you are working out from home and don’t have access to a cable machine for lat pull-downs, you could try bent-over rows as a substitute exercise. You could use a barbell or two dumbbells to complete this exercise. If you don’t own a smith machine or leg press, try barbell squats as they mimic the same movements and muscle groups. 

If there are any exercises or equipment that you would like specific alternatives for, reach out to the friendly Sweat Support Team at support.sweat.com.

Is this program suitable for beginners or classed as low impact?

This program is designed for those of an intermediate fitness level who are looking to progress to advanced, however, caters for everyone, even beginners. 

The beauty of strength training is that it’s suitable for everyone, even those just starting on their fitness journey or new to strength training. Katie recommends that everyone should alter the level of intensity in their workouts to suit where they are at today. 

You can pick your weights to suit your preferences. Even if you don’t like to lift too heavy, Kate is still going to push you, but in the best way possible. 

There is zero jumping in Katie’s program, which may assist with placing less stress on your joints, meaning you can still get a great workout in if you suffer from knee pain.