Get Strong, Fast, and Fit with This Twice-Weekly Full-Body Workout

Think you need to train five or six days a week to see real gains? Think again. Even if you can only get to the gym twice a week, you can still train like an athlete. With the right setup, two well-designed workouts can build your strength, power, endurance, and muscle. Maybe you’re juggling a packed schedule, other sports, or simply prefer a more efficient approach. Whatever the reason, this guide shows you how to maximize every workout—and even personalize it to match your unique goals. Ready to see results without sacrificing your time? Let’s get started.

How Lifting Like An Athlete Differs From Bodybuilding Workouts

Lifting like an athlete is all about purpose. Unlike bodybuilding, which often isolates muscles for growth, athletic training focuses on building a body that feels powerful and moves well. With just two full-body workouts each week, you’ll focus on movements that strengthen your entire body, not just individual parts.

This two-day-a-week workout is the best way to lift like an athlete because it allows you to train and build all the athletic qualities—strength, power, mobility, speed, endurance, and resilience—that you would in a three-day or more weekly routine, just in a more condensed way. This approach is designed to be highly efficient, letting you reap the benefits of a multi-day program without needing to be in the gym as often.

Think of these workouts as training for real-life performance, not just looks. Every exercise teaches your muscles to work together as a team, building confidence and resilience that go beyond “gym strength.”

The Benefits of This 2 Day A Week Workout

Training like an athlete twice a week builds a balanced, resilient, and enduring body, offering benefits beyond traditional routines:

• Strength, Resilience, and Endurance: This full-body approach develops functional strength by training muscles to work together, reducing injury risk and enhancing durability. You’ll build endurance that allows you to push harder, longer, both in sports and daily activities.
• Optimized Recovery and Steady Progress: With two intense sessions a week, you’ll have ample recovery time to prevent burnout and support consistent progress, maintaining energy and motivation without overtraining.
• Balanced Power and Athleticism: Each workout uses compound movements to build well-rounded strength, supporting athletic power and practical, everyday fitness.

The 4 Key Movements That Make Lifting Twice A Week Effective

Each workout incorporates essential movement types to build balanced, athletic strength. Here’s a quick guide:

• Squat or Lunge Exercise: Strengthens the legs and core, essential for power in movement. Examples: barbell squats, goblet squats, reverse lunges, or lateral lunges.
• Hip Hinge Exercise: Targets your posterior chain (backside muscles) for explosive power and stability. Examples: stiff leg deadlifts, trap bar deadlifts, or kettlebell swings.
• Pushing or Pressing Exercise: Builds upper body strength, especially in the shoulders, chest, and triceps. Examples: overhead press, bench press, or dips.
• Pulling or Rowing Exercise: Engages your back and arms, supporting upper body balance and stability. Examples: pull-ups, bent over rows, or lat pulldowns.

I also make sure one of the squat/lunge movements is done laterally (moving side to side) and that you do a hip hinge exercise which has you rotating from your waist. These exercises further enhance your athleticism. The lateral lunge or squat builds strength for side-to-side strength, speed, and agility, like a soccer player needs to dribble around opponents. Rotational movements, such as standing windmills strengthen your hips and core so you can do things like hit a backhand or twist and throw a ball or your opponents if you’re into judo with more strength and power.

Lift Like An Athlete Twice A Week Workout Plan

This program is designed by Endura, an AI workout generator and strength coach I built to give you personalized workouts and a world-class strength coach who’s available at the click of a button. Since you’re only training twice a week we’re going to have to double up on what we train at each workout. It’s also important to make sure you’re doing enough work so your muscles can grow stronger.

Warm-Up Routine

Before every workout, it’s crucial to prepare your body for the load and movements ahead. A solid warm-up increases blood flow to your muscles, loosens up stiff joints, and reduces your risk of injury. Here are a few suggested warm-up exercises:

• Dynamic stretches: Arm circles, leg swings, and hip openers
• Mobility work: Bodyweight squats, lunges, and planks
• Movement prep: Light kettlebell swings or resistance band work
• Do 1-2 sets of 5-10 reps of each exercise with moderately light weights

Take 10-15 minutes to do this warm-up and you’ll be ready to go.

---

Workout 1: Power & Strength

In this workout you’re going to first do a total body exercise for building power and speed. This will help you do things like jump higher, sprint faster, and throw farther. To do this you’ll do 8-10 sets with low reps. Use a weight you can lift to do 10 reps with moderate effort. The key thing to focus on doing every rep is moving the weight as fast as possible, using your upper and lower body together.

The rest of the exercises in this workout are designed to build what strength coaches call maximal strength. This means lifting the heaviest weight you can with good technique for 3-5 reps. Being strong is the foundation of an athletic body so put all your effort into every exercise.

Power Exercise

Dumbbell Clean And Press – 8 sets of 2-3 reps per set
Rest 60 seconds between sets

Strength Exercises

• Front Squats – 3 sets of 3-5 reps per set
• Pull Ups – 3 sets of 3-5 reps per set
• Stiff Leg Deadlifts – 3 sets of 3-5 reps per set
• Bench Press – 3 sets of 3-5 reps per set

Rest 3–5 minutes between sets to allow maximum recovery and effort in each set.

---

Workout 2: Building Muscle & Endurance

The second workout of the week is for building muscle and improving the endurance of your muscles. This will help you keep pushing hard right up to the end of a workout or competition. You’ll do the muscle and strength building exercises first in the workout when you have the most energy to lift the heaviest weights. The endurance exercise is last and done as what’s called a ‘finisher’ to end your workout with a burning feeling in your lungs and legs.

Muscle & Strength Building Exercises

• Split squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per set
• Lateral Split Squats – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per set
• High – low kettlebell windmills – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per set
• Push ups – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per set
• 1 Arm bent over row – 3 sets of 8-10 reps per set

Rest 2-3 minutes between each set

Endurance Building Exercise

• Kettlebell Swings – 4 sets of 25 reps
• Rest 60 seconds between sets

---

2 Day A Week Train Like An Athlete Workout Details

How To Plan This Workout Every Week

The way I like to do this workout is to have 2 days between the 1st and 2nd workouts and then 3 days off before you repeat the workout. This gives you plenty of rest between workouts and lots of time to do other types of workout or play your favorite sports. I’ll often train this way when I am training jiu jitsu or surfing 4 or more times a week.

Here’s what a week’s worth of the workouts will look with this plan:

• Monday – Workout #1 for power and strength
• Tuesday – off or play other sports
• Wednesday – off or play other sports
• Thursday – Workout #2 for muscle building, strength, and endurance
• Friday – off or play other sports
• Saturday – off or play other sports
• Sunday – off or play other sports

Why I Alternate Upper and Lower Body Exercises During a Workout

Alternating upper and lower body exercises within a workout offers several benefits that enhance both efficiency and effectiveness:

• Enhanced Recovery Between Sets: Switching between upper and lower body exercises allows each muscle group more rest before it’s engaged again. This extra recovery time means you can put more energy and effort into each set, maximizing strength and performance gains.
• Time Efficiency: By alternating exercises, I’ve found that I can actually reduce overall rest time without sacrificing quality, which helps me complete my workouts faster. This efficient structure lets you get a powerful, full-body workout done in less time, making it easier to stay consistent even with a busy schedule.

This approach keeps your energy up and helps you push harder in each set, building strength and endurance without unnecessary downtime.

Why Every Workout Trains Your Entire Body

In this two-day-a-week program, each workout is designed to engage all major muscle groups—back, chest, shoulders, and legs—every session. This full-body approach is intentional and crucial for building functional, athletic strength. Training like an athlete means preparing your body for real-world movements, where strength and coordination are needed across multiple muscle groups.

Consider the demands of athletic activities: running, jumping, pivoting, or even quick, agile footwork on the court. These movements require your muscles to work in harmony, generating power and control as a unified system. In this workout, we focus on compound exercises that train your muscles to coordinate and fire together, boosting the strength, endurance, and resilience needed for athletic performance.

You might wonder if working the whole body in every session could lead to overtraining, but with just two sessions a week, we’ve structured this program to balance intensity with recovery. By focusing on movement quality, incorporating rest days, and emphasizing recovery through sleep and nutrition, this plan builds you up without burning you out. The goal is to enhance your athleticism and keep you strong, powerful, and ready for any physical challenge life throws your way.

How to Keep Pushing Yourself for Continual Progress

As you build strength and fitness, the key to continued progress is keeping your workouts challenging. Here’s how:

• Use A Heavier Weight: Once you’re nailing every rep with good form, it’s time to add a little more weight. Try increasing by 5-10 lbs., or smaller increments as you get stronger, to keep the workout tough.
• Change the Tempo: If adding weight isn’t an option, tweak your tempo. Try pausing at the bottom of a squat or lowering the weight slowly to increase time under tension. These small adjustments make the exercise more challenging without using heavier weights.
• Do A Different Variation Of An Exercise: You can do this by doing the exercise in a more challenging way. For example, elevate your hands on blocks during push-ups to increase the range of motion and intensity or add an additional movement like a reverse lunge to every rep of regular lunges you do.
• Find A Different Way To Add Weight: If you don’t have heavier weights to lift there are still ways to make the overall weight you’re lifting greater. You can do this by including resistance bands or wearing a weighted vest. I do both. I often put a resistance band across my back to make pushups harder and when I’m training from home I’ll throw a kettlebell in a backpack to make leg exercises more challenging.

Rest and Recovery When You’re Training Like An Athlete

Recovery is just as important as the workouts in this two-day-a-week plan. With the intensity of each full-body session, giving your body the time and support it needs to recover will maximize your results and keep you performing at your best. Here’s how to prioritize recovery to build a strong, resilient, athletic body:

Workout Schedule

With only two workout days each week, it’s essential to make the most of your off days for full recovery. Space out your workouts, such as on Tuesday and Friday, allowing multiple rest days between sessions. This rhythm provides plenty of time for your body to recover, adapt, and grow stronger, ensuring you’re ready to give full effort in each workout.

Active Recovery Days

Use the days between workouts for active recovery. Light activities like walking, stretching, or recreational sports improve blood flow, reduce soreness, and help maintain mobility without placing excess stress on your muscles.

Sleep

Quality sleep is essential. Aim for at least 7 hours a night to support muscle repair, hormone balance, and overall recovery. Consistent, restful sleep keeps your body prepared to lift with intensity and focus in every session.

Nutrition

Fuel your body with a balanced diet, focusing on protein intake—aim for about 1 gram per pound of body weight daily. Adequate protein supports muscle repair and growth, while a nutritious diet overall ensures you have the energy to sustain athletic performance and recover fully.

With the right balance of intense workouts and focused recovery, you’ll build strength, endurance, and resilience, setting yourself up for long-term athletic gains.

Track Your Progress to Keep Building Athletic Strength

Keeping a workout log is essential when training like an athlete, even if you’re only working out twice a week. Tracking your progress helps you stay consistent, motivated, and on the path to peak performance. Here’s how to make tracking work for you:

• Log Each Workout: After each session, record the exercises, sets, reps, and weights. With just two workouts a week, tracking each detail becomes even more valuable, allowing you to see progress over time and stay focused on lifting with purpose.
• Celebrate Your Milestones: When you achieve a new personal best or master a challenging exercise, take a moment to celebrate. Recognizing these wins reinforces your progress and builds momentum.
• Use Endura for Tracking: Endura is your ally in workout tracking, helping you easily record and adjust your sessions as you get stronger. It’s a quick, organized way to stay on top of your athletic goals without extra planning.
• Review and Adjust Regularly: Every few weeks, review your log to assess your progress. Making small adjustments as you grow stronger will help you avoid plateaus and keep moving toward new goals, maximizing your gains from each workout.

Keeping a workout log turns your twice-weekly sessions into a strategic, trackable journey toward peak athletic performance.

Personalize Your Workout Plan and Unlock Your Athletic Potential

Endura helps you get the most out of your two-day-a-week “lift like an athlete” program by customizing it to match your unique goals. Whether you’re focused on building strength, enhancing endurance, or improving mobility, Endura tailors each workout to keep you progressing efficiently.

For example, if your goal is to develop explosive power, Endura will add additional exercises and adjust your sets and reps to optimize gains within each session. This way, you’re making purposeful, targeted progress that aligns with athletic training principles—maximizing your full-body strength and performance while lifting just twice a week.

Lift Like an Athlete with Endura

Training like an athlete is about more than just building muscle—it’s about enhancing your overall athleticism, including strength, endurance, mobility, and power. With a focus on functional, full-body movements, steady progress, and smart recovery, this two-workout-a-week plan helps you make gains that support both sports performance and everyday resilience without spending hours in the gym.

What makes this approach effective is its flexibility. With Endura, you can personalize each workout to fit your specific goals, ensuring that your training evolves as you do. Whether you’re new to lifting or looking to reach the next level, Endura guides you on the path to consistent improvement.

Ready to take your training to the next level? Start this program and discover how Endura’s personalized approach can help you unlock your full athletic potential. Let’s get stronger, faster, and more capable—together.