Workout Summary
- Main GoalBuild Muscle
- Workout TypeFull Body
- Training LevelIntermediate
- Program Duration6 weeks
- Days Per Week5
- Time Per Workout120-150 minutes
- Equipment RequiredBarbell, Bodyweight, Cables, Dumbbells, Other
- Target Gender Male & Female
- Recommended Supps
- Workout PDF Download Workout
Workout Description
The Accelarated Results 7 (AR-7) Program was developed by personal trainer Eric Laciste. More information about him and his training can be found on his personal website: ericlaciste.com
Jason Momoa’s resume is growing. With (literally) big roles such as Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones and the 2013 remake of Conan the Barbarian Jason is also set to lead in the upcoming DC adventure Aquaman.
With such iconic and demanding roles he has to be in top shape – and I mean crazy good shape since all of the roles mentioned have him with his shirt off most, if not all of his screen time.
In order to do the roles justice, Momoa had to pack on the mass, and quickly. He added 25 pounds to his frame in short order – not an easy feat for even the sometimes catered-to Hollywood type. But he did it.
Enter AR – 7
Accelerated Results 7 (AR – 7) was the key to Momoa’s success.
This unique program will get anyone in superior shape, fast. Utilizing low reps, low weight and little rest it flies in the face of most weightlifting doctrines. Because of the high tempo, fast pace you will start to feel the burn much sooner as your main goal will be to reach muscular failure.
Simply start with 7 sets of 7 reps with 7 seconds of rest between each set for a predetermined circuit of exercises. Next follow the same sequence with the number 6 (6 sets, 6 reps, 6 seconds of rest). Finally, go for 5 on everything as your final round. Rest 1 to 2 minute between each round.
Another advantage of the AR – 7 program is that you can perform 2 to 3 workouts per day without too much fatigue since you aren’t logging in super heavy weights over and over putting wear and tear on your joints.
Momoa started out performing just one workout per day for each body part. After a few weeks he adapted and started ultimately performing 2 and 3 workouts in one day. Do you think you have what it takes?
The Jason Momoa AR – 7 Sample Workout
| Chest (Monday) | Sets/Reps |
|---|---|
| Flat Bench Press |
Do 3 rounds with 1-2 minutes of rest in between each round:
|
| Incline Bench Press | |
| Incline Bench Dumbbell Press | |
| Plate Push-Up | |
| Chest Dips |
| Back (Tuesday) | Sets/Reps |
|---|---|
| Medium-Grip Pull-Up |
Do 3 rounds with 1-2 minutes of rest in between each round:
|
| Reverse-Grip Chin-Up | |
| Close-Grip Pull-Up | |
| Seated Pulley Row | |
| Reverse-Grip BB Bent-Over Row |
| Legs (Wednesday) | Sets/Reps |
|---|---|
| Bodyweight Squat |
Do 3 rounds with 1-2 minutes of rest in between each round:
|
| Stiff-Legged Deadlift | |
| Barbell Back Squat | |
| Bodyweight Jump Squat |
| Core (Thursday) | Sets/Reps |
|---|---|
| Medicine Ball Slam |
Do 3 rounds with 1-2 minutes of rest in between each round:
|
| Kettlebell Swing | |
| Burpee | |
| Leap Frog | |
| 40-yd Sprint |
| Shoulders & Arms (Friday) | Sets/Reps |
|---|---|
| Barbell Military Press |
Do 3 rounds with 1-2 minutes of rest in between each round:
|
| Bodyweight Dip | |
| Diamond Push-Up | |
| Dumbbell Curls | |
| Dumbbell Triceps Extensions |
Note: After each training session Momoa would jump on the treadmill for varied times to trim off the last bit of fat.
Make It Fit You
You may find it tough to go from one station to the next in a crowded gym – a common problem. The remedy? Perform all sets for a particular exercise before moving on to the next exercise.
This is an easy and efficient way to knock out your sets and still get a great, fast-paced workout that will have you leaving spent. The key is to keep the pace of the workout going and adhere strictly to the allotted rest periods in order to get the full benefit of AR – 7.
After a period of time be sure to change up the exercises and slightly increase the amount of weight you are using. Stick with mostly multi-joint movements and practice progression.
77 Comments
So with the 40 yard dash is that 49 dashes? With 7 second intervals?
No. Simply run the 40 once to end the set. Repeat with each round you do.
Hello,
I've been doing this workout routine for a while, and I love it! However, I can't get to the gym as often as this routine says, so I've been doing full body workouts with this routine (e.g. bench press, chin ups, back squats, v sit ups, and medicine ball slams in one day). I've also increased the weight mid round when I've found it too light. I'm looking to switch up my routine now. Any suggestions? I want a good mix of hypertrophy training, muscular endurance, strength, and building muscle.
How often can you get to the gym? I don't want to make suggestions that you can't follow due to scheduling.
How many reps do u do and how many sets ?
The sets and reps are included with each workout, Noah. They are on the right side of the charts.
Hello!
Im starting this workout but I was wondering while the number of reps drop each set should I be changing weight as well or not?
Hey Jordan - You'll be keeping the weight the same across all sets.
I started this workout this morning on the Arm/Shoulder day...
I did it in order... Military Press, Dips, Diamond Push Ups, Bíceps Curls, and Triceps Extensions. ... I did it as advertised...7, 6, 5. I took 90 seconds of rest between moving on to the next exercise and 90 seconds between each round. The workout only took 55 minutes. Is that right? It says 120 to 150 minutes. What am I missing?
I guess they counted the cardio you could do after the session
I just started my first day of this and so I did the chest day. I found that I was struggling to complete my sets with my non-dominant arm. I am sitting at home now and I feel a good pump in my dominant arm/chest but my non dominant side just overly tight and sore. Should I just drop my weight? I thought I was using a modest weight
Hello , I want to ask is this workout good to lose weight and gain muscle mass while on a low calory cyclical ketogenic diet . Thanks in advance .
You will only lose weight if you are in a calorie deficit. This workout can help but the die will always be the greatest factor.
im tall but skinny ectomorph kind of body i want to gain at least 10 kilos i dont think this stuff is relly for me can you recommend to me eny nutrition and training program that can help
Great stuff!
It mentions that He started out with just one workout per day and eventually built up to three.. could you elaborate?
Does this mean he was eventually doing three completely different muscle groups per day?
I'm assuming he means he would do Mondays work out spaced out 3x on Monday, Tuesdays 3x on
Tuesday etc.
Can ı use this workout for loseing fat?
Hi Emre,
Sure, this program can be used to aid in fat loss - it might be a lot to try to recover from on a deficit tho, given how much volume is in the program.
Hope this helps!
Hey im 17 years old. I have a question, how much weight do i have to take for example flat bench press and the other workout's?
m
Hello, currently I weight about 137 pounds and I'm 6ft tall. My goal is to gain weight (gain 180 punds) through gaining muscle mass. I have been hitting the gym for 4 months now and I have been taking supplements of protein (serious mass) and creatine since about 2 months ago. Taking everything into account, I was wondering if I should try the AR7 workout to fill my purpose, considering I'm an ectomorph since I burn more calories than I consume.
As long as you are in a caloric surplus you can do this or any other work out. I do this as a supplement to my normal weight training. I work out 4 days a week, hitting all muscle groups, then do this on Saturday, targeting the muscle group that I'm wanting to build faster. You'll burn about 500 calories doing this workout
I'm hoping to start this workout tomorrow. I'm only 14 but looking forward to giving it a shot.
Hi Fred,
This may be a bit too advanced for you. At 14, I'd recommend performing an A/B split and focusing on really learning how to execute each lift properly.
https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/2-day-simple-ab-split-by-stev...
Hope this helps!
I'm only 13 do you think this workout is too advanced? I'm looking forward to this and hoping to start tomarrow
Hi Fred,
I wouldn't recommend this program for a 13 yr old. If you are looking to start weight lifting start with the basics and practice your form without weight until you've nailed it down.
Hope this helps!
I gave this workout a try for chest day. Due to time constraints I did 4 exercises, bench press, incline bench press, incline dumbbell press and cable flys; taking me 60 minutes to complete. As I am not rich or famous with my own gym I completed all three sets on each exercise before moving to the next. I started on 65% 1RM but failed first set. Realistically I completed the workout at around 55% of 1RM. The first sets of 7x7 are pretty brutal for each exercise and you quickly learn if you are using the correct weight. The second sets of 6x6 I found to be the worst. The additional fatigue from set 1 added with a second less rest makes the pump pretty intense. By the third set 5x5 your mind has given up giving up and the reps are low enough to make this the easier of the three. What I tried to do was make sure I kept to the 7, 6 and 5 second rests within the set, but I needed about 2-3 minutes rest between the 3 sets. I found myself rushing to start after each 7 second break causing me to not reset my form properly to begin again. My tip would be to make sure you reset yourself properly each time and not rush too much. I did this by sitting up and counting out the rest period, 7, 6 or 5; then lying back and setting my lift up properly each time just like I normally would with any workout. I really enjoyed the workout. I got a really good pump and my chest felt full and well worked. I would rate it 8/10 and will be doing it again.
I apologize if my response sounds a little condescending. I've been reading a lot of comments and responses and it seems to me that almost no one understands how this workout is actually performed. Fundamentally, this is a circuit type workout. For instance, you perform five exercises. You perform exercise #1 for seven reps and move to exercise #2 taking no more than seven seconds to get there and begin the seven reps. Then, move to exercise #3 taking no more than seven seconds and begin your seven reps and so on until you've completed your five exercise circuit. Then you rest for a minute and a half and you do it again six more times, 7 sets total. Then you do it all over again for six sets total. Then you do it all again at 5 sets total. Then you'll be dead. The other variation to this would be to do all seven sets on one exercise and moving straight to the next exercise and doing seven sets of seven reps (i.e., flat bench-7 reps wait 7 seconds, 7 reps, wait 7 seconds, 7 reps wait 7 seconds etc.) The problem is you'll never make it to the 7th set with the same weight as someone suggested because it can't be done if you're going to failure on each set. In circuit training, you're not really going to failure on each set, you're using several different exercises to put a heavy load on a particular muscle group and bring it to failure. In order to benefit from the circuit, you perform the circuit as it was intended (i.e., bench press-7 reps, incline press-7 reps, incline dumbell press-7 reps, cable flys-7reps, decline bench press-7reps). Then you do it all again 6 more times. Seven seconds is just enough time to move from one exercise to the next. You don't complete 7 reps, count to 7, then move to the next exercise, situate yourself, make sure your form is good then begin your next exercise. In this particular program you'll find that you won't be able to use heavy weights and make it to the end of all the sets keeping the same weight. It's not about weight it's about hammering the chest 5 different ways over and over and over with almost no rest, which will exhaust any normal human being. Someone else had suggested they, instead of doing 7x7, 6x6, 5x5, they would do 6x10 then 5x10 and that would equal the same number of sets. If you vary the program in this manner then you're not really doing this program. In this program you're basically doing 245reps then 180reps, then 125reps. The key to hypertrophy is bringing the muscle to failure regardless of weight used (according to one theory). Here's the math: 5 exercises x 7 reps is 35 total reps x 7 sets is 245 total reps. Then you do 6 sets then 5 sets. In other words, you choose 4 or 5 exercises for your circuit. You do that circuit 7 times performing 7 reps on each exercise taking no more than 7 seconds to move to the next exercise. Then you take a breath and do it all over again 6 more times using 6 reps and no more than 6 seconds to get to the next exercise. Then you take a breath and do it all over again 5 more times with 5 seconds to get to the next exercise (i.e., faster). You'll find that in order to complete this entire program you'll be using a light weight. So, the key would be to find a weight that will allow you to complete the entire circuit and then build from their. Either way the muscle you are training will be sufficiently exhausted. Maybe I'm completely way off base on the math. Someone please let me know. Also there is no reason why a young teen couldn't do this circuit since heavy weights don't have to come into play. Heavy weights will obviously stunt one's growth, at least that's one theory.
I'm going to have a try at doing this a little differently just to simplify it a little. I was thinking instead of 7x7, 6x6, 5x5, I'd do 6x10, rest and then 5x10. This equals to the same amount of reps for each exercise (110). Any reasons why this wouldn't be as good?
What should be the recommended weight to use when doing this workout ? In terms of percentage of your o.r.m
yes i really want to know that too
What is a leap frog?
I started this workout and i started it from BACK .... And i would say that next day i felt the most horrible pain in my back.... I hope it shows a gr8 result
For the core workout., do you think they intend 7 (then 6, then 5) 40 yd sprints with 7 sec rest in between as the final excercise in each round or just one 40 us sprint?
Would this workout be productive using body weight only?
So for every rep I perform am I increasing weight? Decreasing? Maintaining?
So, we have to do for example:
7 sets, 7 reps with 7 seconds between set of flat bench press and when I have done that go and do 7 sets of the other exercises and when I have done that rest 2 minutes and start again but now 6 sets?
That's how it's done?
I'm a girl. And I interpret AR7 as 7*7+6*6+5*5 for one movement. And use 3 different types of movements to work 1 muscle group in one day. So that is one muscle group once a week, 5 days a week. Is that correct?
Yes that's correct.
I'm still a bit confused as to how exactly this is supposed to be done. Is it 7 reps of exercise 1, 7 second rest, 7 reps exercise 2, 7 rest, ..., rest 1 min, then 7 reps of exercise 1 again? That's the only way the 777 name makes any sense, but that means the plan has 18-36 minutes of just rest.
I'll be 54 in May. Last year I went from 212 to 175, lost 4" off my waist. Lifting weights 4 days a week (something I have never done before.). Starting the AR-7 tomorrow.
Awesome, Mark!
That's fantastic Mark how did you lose the bulk of your weight mate.
Hey, I'm coming off my second back surgery and really like the layout of this workout. But I probably shouldn't do stiff legged dead lift. What would you replace it with?
Hi Matthew. Hmm. First I would address this issue with your doctor. There are many alternatives to RDLs. Lying leg curls, seated leg curls, standing leg curls, dumbbell leg curls just to name a few.
I am just coming off working nights and i am just wondering if i am reading this wrong:
FLAT BENCH:- 7X7; 6X6; 5X5 = 18SETS
INCLINE BENCH:- AS ABOVE
INCLINE DB PRESS:- AS ABOVE
PLATE PUSH UPS:- AS ABOVE
CHEST DIPS:- AS ABOVE
TOTALLING 90SETS
Chris,
Sounds crazy, right? I've never tried it but the trainer who worked with Jason swears by his system.
I will give a go and try it out for 4-6weeks
Sounds crazy doesn't it. You'll be doing 110 of each exercise!
Is working 1muscle group once a week enough to see results?