Pin machines and cables · easy on the knees · 45 minutes

Eight Week Rebuild

Every workout, all eight weeks

Look at another day

How the eight weeks get harder

WeeksSetsRepsRestHow hard

How the weight goes up

  1. Visit one, find it. The first time you reach a machine, the page hands you a number. Set the pin there, do ten slow reps, then tap too easy, about right, or too hard. It sets your working weight from your answer and remembers it.
  2. Two clean sessions, then add. Finished every set at the full rep count, and the last two reps were not hard? Add weight next time. One notch on your arms and shoulders, two on your chest, back and legs.
  3. Missed the reps? Stay there. Use the same weight next time. Nothing has gone wrong. That is the system working.
  4. Every two weeks the shape changes for you. Sets go 2, 3, 3, 3. Reps go 12 to 15, then 10 to 12, then 8 to 12. Fewer reps at a heavier weight is what progress looks like.
  5. The first jumps are the big ones. Coming back after a long break, expect the numbers to climb fast for three or four weeks and then slow down. That slowdown is normal and it is not you failing.
  6. Knees get a different rule. On the leg extension, add weight only if the last two weeks were completely quiet. Any pinch, any ache the next day, leave it where it is.

Questions you will have

General fitness guidance, not medical advice. If your knee pain is new, getting worse, or came from an injury, get it looked at before you start.

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