How do I actually follow this strength workout once the AI writes it?

Paste the AI's reply into sweatcue. It structures the session into timed blocks with auto-starting rest timers and calls every set, rest and rep out loud, so you train hands-free instead of scrolling a chat window.

Who is this plan for, and who should adapt or skip it?

Built with one person in mind: Naturally skinny and struggling to grow, mass-focused, eating-implied training. It pushes close to heavy or near-failure effort. If you’re brand new to lifting, build technique on lighter sessions first, and skip the near-maximal loading if you have unmanaged blood pressure or a recent injury.

Home › Workout library › Hardgainer upper/lower split (8 weeks)

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Hardgainer upper/lower split (8 weeks)

Q: What is the best ChatGPT prompt for a weights plan like this?

Use the research-backed prompt on this page: "I'm a skinny beginner male under 25 trying to gain muscle as a hardgainer while eating in a surplus. Build me an 8-week, 4-day-a-week upper/lower split that prioritises heavy compound lifts and keeps cardio minimal so I …" Copy the full version with the button above, it wraps the request so ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini returns a clean, followable strength workout you can run hands-free in sweatcue.

Beginner · Under 25 · Multi-week plan

An 8-week 4-day upper/lower plan built on heavy compounds with cardio kept minimal. Below is a research-backed prompt for ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, copy it, paste the reply into sweatcue, and run the whole strength workout hands-free.

Session at a glance

DurationMulti-week plan

FormatSets, reps & timed rest

FocusUpper/lower

Intensityzone 2

Equipmentbarbell

Best forBuild muscle, beginner

This is how sweatcue structures the session once you paste it in, timed blocks with auto-starting rest and spoken cues. Figures are read from the prompt itself.

The prompt

Copy the complete prompt (it wraps the request below so the AI returns a clean, runnable session).

I'm a skinny beginner male under 25 trying to gain muscle as a hardgainer while eating in a surplus. Build me an 8-week, 4-day-a-week upper/lower split that prioritises heavy compound lifts and keeps cardio minimal so I don't burn off my calories. Each session starts with a 6-minute warm-up (light cardio + 2 ramp-up sets). Upper days: bench press 4x5-8, barbell row 4x6-8, overhead press 3x6-10, lat pulldown 3x8-12, plus one arm exercise 2x10-15. Lower days: back squat 4x5-8, Romanian deadlift 3x6-10, leg press 3x8-12, leg curl 3x10-15, standing calf raise 3x12-15. Use ~2-3 reps in reserve on compounds, ~1-2 on isolations, rest 150-180s on the big lifts and 60-90s on the rest. Give me a week-by-week progression: add weight or a rep when I clear the top of a range, and include a lighter deload in week 5. Cap cardio at two easy 20-minute zone 2 walks per week. Tell me what to track.

Works with Claude, Gemini, Grok or any AI.

Why it's built this way

Roughly 10+ hard sets per muscle per week, spread over 2 sessions each, supports steady hypertrophy in beginners; heavy compound work in lower rep ranges builds strength that lets you add load over time. Excessive concurrent endurance training can blunt hypertrophy, so keeping cardio low and easy is reasonable when size is the priority. Periodic deloads manage fatigue.

Sources: Schoenfeld et al., J Sports Sci 2017 (weekly volume); Schoenfeld et al., Sports Med 2016 (training frequency); Murach & Bagley, Sports Med 2016 (concurrent training & hypertrophy)

Who this plan is for

Built with one person in mind: Naturally skinny and struggling to grow, mass-focused, eating-implied training.

You’re a beginner-level trainer and you want to build visible muscle.
You have access to the kit it calls for: barbell.
You want a structured, progressing plan rather than a one-off session.

Who should adapt or skip it

It pushes close to heavy or near-failure effort. If you’re brand new to lifting, build technique on lighter sessions first, and skip the near-maximal loading if you have unmanaged blood pressure or a recent injury.
As with any new routine, check with a clinician first if you have a medical condition, are injured, pregnant, or returning from a long lay-off. This is general information, not medical advice.

What a 2-week plan looks like

This is a multi-week plan that progresses as you go, the AI builds the later weeks harder. Here’s the rhythm of the opening fortnight, at about 3 sessions a week:

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
Week 1	●	·	●	·	●	·	·
Week 2	●	·	●	·	●	·	·

● This session· Rest, a walk, or light mobility

Keep session days apart where you can, and adjust for how you feel. When you paste the AI’s reply into sweatcue, each session runs hands-free with spoken cues and timers.

Run it hands-free in sweatcue

sweatcue is an AI workout dashboard: paste the AI's reply and it runs the whole session on screen and out loud, auto timers, spoken cues for every set, rest and rep, and your live numbers. The AI writes it; sweatcue runs it.

Download for iPhone →

More weights & related workouts

WeightsSkinny-gainer full-body mass session BodyweightHardgainer home muscle session MobilityPre-lift mobility for new lifters HIITLow-frequency conditioning for gainers

New to prompting an AI for workouts?

Start with the full workout library, learn the method in how to write a workout prompt, or see what an AI workout dashboard does.