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Build muscle mass with one of the best strength coaches in the game, John Meadows. This Mountain Dog PPL is an exclusive Meadows workout on Muscle & Strength!
An IFBB Pro himself, after a long and trying road to get there, John has competed at the highest level. He has coached his athletes to that level too.
We were very appreciative to get the opportunity to work with such a guy for the M&S Youtube channel.
While filming with John, we asked if he’d be willing to put together a sample program for our readers.
Over the past month, we have released the individual workouts for the program on our Youtube channel.
Today, we’re putting it all together into a split you can take with you to the gym.
We hope you enjoy training alongside this legendary coach and the gainz you get from the program.
After you finish the workout, be sure to check out some of the other more extensive programs John has put together and sells on his website, mountaindogdiet.com.
It contains 3 different workouts and can be performed 3-6 days per week depending on your experience level and what your individual schedule will allow. The 3 workouts consist of a Push Workout, a Pull Workout, and a Leg Workout.
For most, setting this up as an every other day training rotating routine will work nicely. An example would look something like this:
You could even utilize the workout as a 3 days on 1 day off split. Really, the choice is up to you and the possibilities are only limited by your experience level, ability to recover, and time available to go to the gym.
Now that we’ve covered how you can set up your split, let’s discuss each individual workout within the program.
*Prioritize quality reps over quantity while still pushing yourself during your working sets.
John likes to implement the decline press into his training because adding a slight decline actually helps activate the entire chest during the press. Start off with warm up sets of 20 reps, then go into 2-3 sets of 3-4 reps at a target weight, and finish up with 1 big set to absolute failure (6-8 target rep range).
Next up, we’re targeting the upper chest. For this, John goes with the incline dumbbell press. It’s important to play around with the angle of the bench to make it best fit your body structure.
To finish off the chest, we move to the lower pecs with the pec minor dip. This exercise is an old school classic that helped many golden era bodybuilders build barrel like chests. The movement can be thought of as a reverse shrug on the dip bars.
After wrapping up the chest, we move onto shoulders. The primary exercise for shoulders is going to be the overhead smith machine press. John uses a staggered stance to press at an angle.
For his lateral raise variation, John opts for the incline Y raise. This variation covers a lot of delt fibers with 1 exercise.
Then, we head to the cables for some tricep work. The first tricep exercise is a dual rope tricep extension. The dual ropes allow you to increase the range of motion by allowing you to get further back into the tricep extension.
The second tricep extension is the dual rope overhead extension. This movement helps you stretch your triceps making it the perfect finisher after multiple pressing and pushdown movements.
The pull workout kicks off with the Meadows row. For this row, you use a pronated grip on the thicker portion of the barbell. Focus on driving your elbow up and contracting your back when performing this exercise. Using 25lb plates will also help you increase your range of motion during the exercise.
From there, we move onto the single arm barbell row. This row variation will use a more neutral grip. Again, focus on driving with your elbow and squeezing your back while utilizing the 25lb plates for the increased range of motion.
After finishing up with the row variations, it’s time for a vertical pull. John likes using the banded assisted pull up here. He originally started doing them due to tendonitis in his elbows, but the exercise has helped him with the range of motion and focusing on the top contraction.
The next exercise is used to isolate the rear delts. For this rear delt lateral raise, put your forehead on the top of an incline bench. Use a pronated grip and raise the weight up.
The final exercise targets the biceps. It’s the seated hammer curl. John recommends performing these on a lat pull down machine. Doing so provides an external cue that helps keep your elbows in a fixed position.
*On final set perform a double drop, then partials, finish off with 10 sec iso hold.
The solid blood flow from working your hamstrings first should have a positive carry over into the compound movements of the workout. The first compound movement is the spider bar squat.
John believes the squat movement pattern should be the focus of any leg day. Finding a squat variation that works for you and you feel good doing is important. For him, that’s the spider bar squat.
From there, we pump up the volume with a difficult superset. This superset combines the inverted leg press with the sissy squat. If you don’t have a sissy squat machine, you can substitute this exercise with the leg extension.
The final exercise of the day is a single leg variation. John utilizes the Smith machine split squat here.
Feel free to alter the workout in whatever way you see fit to meet your individual goals, capabilities, access to gym equipment, and experience level.
This program can be ran for 4-6 weeks at a time. After that, or whenever you notice progress begin to stall, you may want to take time to deload or utilize a recovery week.
After which, you can continue on with the program or utilize a new program that better aligns with your current goals. However, if you’re enjoying this particular program and still seeing progress, there’s really no reason to change your routine.
If you have any further questions about the workout, please feel free to leave a comment down below!
WORKOUT SUMMARY
- Main Goal
Build Muscle - Workout Type
Split - Training Level
Beginner - Program Duration4 weeks
- Days Per Week
3 - Time Per Workout60-90 minutes
- Equipment Required
Bands, Barbell, Bodyweight, Cables, Dumbbells, Machines, Medicine Ball, Other - Target GenderMale & Female
- Workout PDFDownload Workout
Workout Description
John Meadows talks the talk and walks the walk.An IFBB Pro himself, after a long and trying road to get there, John has competed at the highest level. He has coached his athletes to that level too.
We were very appreciative to get the opportunity to work with such a guy for the M&S Youtube channel.
While filming with John, we asked if he’d be willing to put together a sample program for our readers.
Over the past month, we have released the individual workouts for the program on our Youtube channel.
Today, we’re putting it all together into a split you can take with you to the gym.
We hope you enjoy training alongside this legendary coach and the gainz you get from the program.
After you finish the workout, be sure to check out some of the other more extensive programs John has put together and sells on his website, mountaindogdiet.com.
Mountain Dog Push/Pull/Legs Workout
The following workout routine was developed by Coach John Meadows.It contains 3 different workouts and can be performed 3-6 days per week depending on your experience level and what your individual schedule will allow. The 3 workouts consist of a Push Workout, a Pull Workout, and a Leg Workout.
For most, setting this up as an every other day training rotating routine will work nicely. An example would look something like this:
Week 1
- Monday: Push Workout
- Tuesday: off
- Wednesday: Pull Workout
- Thursday: off
- Friday: Leg Workout
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: Push Workout
Week 2
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: Pull Workout
- Wednesday: off
- Thursday: Leg Workout
- Friday: off
- Saturday: Push Workout
- Sunday: Off
You could even utilize the workout as a 3 days on 1 day off split. Really, the choice is up to you and the possibilities are only limited by your experience level, ability to recover, and time available to go to the gym.
Now that we’ve covered how you can set up your split, let’s discuss each individual workout within the program.
John Meadows Push Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Decline Dumbbell Press | 5-6 | 2 x 20, 2-3 x 3-4, 1 x 6-8 |
| Incline Dumbbell Press | 3 | 1 x 10-15, 2 x 6-8 |
| Pec Minor Dip | 3 | Failure |
| Overhead Smith Machine Press | 3 | 8-10 |
| Y-Raise | 3 | 15 |
| Dual Rope Tricep Extension | 3 | 15 |
| Dual Rope Overhead Extension | 3 | 15 |
Meadows Push Workout Notes:
We start off the cycle with a full push workout. The first exercise of the day is the decline dumbbell press.John likes to implement the decline press into his training because adding a slight decline actually helps activate the entire chest during the press. Start off with warm up sets of 20 reps, then go into 2-3 sets of 3-4 reps at a target weight, and finish up with 1 big set to absolute failure (6-8 target rep range).
Next up, we’re targeting the upper chest. For this, John goes with the incline dumbbell press. It’s important to play around with the angle of the bench to make it best fit your body structure.
To finish off the chest, we move to the lower pecs with the pec minor dip. This exercise is an old school classic that helped many golden era bodybuilders build barrel like chests. The movement can be thought of as a reverse shrug on the dip bars.
After wrapping up the chest, we move onto shoulders. The primary exercise for shoulders is going to be the overhead smith machine press. John uses a staggered stance to press at an angle.
For his lateral raise variation, John opts for the incline Y raise. This variation covers a lot of delt fibers with 1 exercise.
Then, we head to the cables for some tricep work. The first tricep exercise is a dual rope tricep extension. The dual ropes allow you to increase the range of motion by allowing you to get further back into the tricep extension.
The second tricep extension is the dual rope overhead extension. This movement helps you stretch your triceps making it the perfect finisher after multiple pressing and pushdown movements.
Meadows Push Workout Video:
John Meadows Pull Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Meadows Row | 3 | 8-12 |
| Single Arm Barbell Row | 3 | 8-12 |
| Assisted Pull Up | 3 | 8-12 |
| Rear Delt Fly | 3 | 20-25 |
| Seated Hammer Curl | 3 | 12-15 |
Meadows Pull Workout Notes:
Day 2 is your pull workout. This workout will hit your back, rear delts, and biceps.The pull workout kicks off with the Meadows row. For this row, you use a pronated grip on the thicker portion of the barbell. Focus on driving your elbow up and contracting your back when performing this exercise. Using 25lb plates will also help you increase your range of motion during the exercise.
From there, we move onto the single arm barbell row. This row variation will use a more neutral grip. Again, focus on driving with your elbow and squeezing your back while utilizing the 25lb plates for the increased range of motion.
After finishing up with the row variations, it’s time for a vertical pull. John likes using the banded assisted pull up here. He originally started doing them due to tendonitis in his elbows, but the exercise has helped him with the range of motion and focusing on the top contraction.
The next exercise is used to isolate the rear delts. For this rear delt lateral raise, put your forehead on the top of an incline bench. Use a pronated grip and raise the weight up.
The final exercise targets the biceps. It’s the seated hammer curl. John recommends performing these on a lat pull down machine. Doing so provides an external cue that helps keep your elbows in a fixed position.
John Meadows Leg Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Leg Curls | 3 | 8* |
| Spider Bar Squats | 6 | 2 x 8, 3 x 3, 1 x 6-8 |
| A1. Inverted Leg Press | 3 | 8 |
| A2. Sissy Squat | 3 | 8 |
| Smith Machine Split Squat | 3 | 8 Each |
Meadows Leg Workout Notes:
The third and final day targets the muscles of the legs. To start off, John is a big believer in prioritizing hamstrings. So to do this, we begin the day with lying leg curls. On the final set, you’ll perform a double drop set, followed by partials, and capped off with a 10 second iso-hold.The solid blood flow from working your hamstrings first should have a positive carry over into the compound movements of the workout. The first compound movement is the spider bar squat.
John believes the squat movement pattern should be the focus of any leg day. Finding a squat variation that works for you and you feel good doing is important. For him, that’s the spider bar squat.
From there, we pump up the volume with a difficult superset. This superset combines the inverted leg press with the sissy squat. If you don’t have a sissy squat machine, you can substitute this exercise with the leg extension.
The final exercise of the day is a single leg variation. John utilizes the Smith machine split squat here.
Wrap Up
There you have it – a push workout, pull workout and leg workout from one of the best trainers in the business.Feel free to alter the workout in whatever way you see fit to meet your individual goals, capabilities, access to gym equipment, and experience level.
This program can be ran for 4-6 weeks at a time. After that, or whenever you notice progress begin to stall, you may want to take time to deload or utilize a recovery week.
After which, you can continue on with the program or utilize a new program that better aligns with your current goals. However, if you’re enjoying this particular program and still seeing progress, there’s really no reason to change your routine.
If you have any further questions about the workout, please feel free to leave a comment down below!