A fifth weekly session built specifically around the glute-hamstring separation line Wellness judging names directly, plus real volume increases on all three priority lower-body patterns — once Foundation’s base is built.
Just moved up from Foundation? Read the five-day split and the new glute-hamstring specialization day below. Where this fits in the whole arc
Have a competition date now? This phase is what Peak assumes is already built — read that assumption first. Peak phase
Five days a week sits at the top of the ACSM position stand’s own intermediate-to-advanced bracket — the same real change Bikini’s own Growth phase makes from four days to five. The new fifth session here is a dedicated “Lower D” day built around exactly what the NPC’s own quoted Wellness criteria name directly — the glute-hamstring separation line — bringing hamstring frequency to three touches a week and glute frequency to four.
| Day | Focus | Priority pattern trained directly |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Lower A | Quad-dominant squat pattern & glutes |
| Day 2 | Upper | Press, pull, one shoulder-cap touch, waist |
| Day 3 | Lower B | Hip-hinge & hamstring emphasis, plus glutes |
| Day 4 | Lower C | Quad, hamstring, and glute finisher, combined |
| Day 5 | Lower D — glute-hamstring specialization | The glute-hamstring separation line, directly |
Days 1 through 3 keep Foundation’s own sets and reps unchanged — everything else (equipment substitutions, the double-progression rule) carries over directly from Foundation’s own session templates. Day 4 gets a real bump, and Day 5 is new.
| Slot | Barbell | No barbell — DB/KB | Cable / full gym | Sets × reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squat pattern | Back squat | Goblet squat | Leg press | 4 × 8-12 |
| Quad isolation | — | DB walking lunge | Leg extension | 3 × 12-15 |
| Hip thrust | Barbell hip thrust | DB hip thrust | Hip thrust machine | 3 × 10-15 |
| Glute isolation | — | Banded lateral walk | Cable kickback | 2 × 15-20 |
| Slot | Barbell | No barbell — DB/KB | Cable / full gym | Sets × reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Press pattern | Incline barbell press | DB incline press | Machine chest press | 3 × 8-12 |
| Vertical pull | — | DB row or pull-up | Lat pulldown | 3 × 10-15 |
| Lateral raise (shoulder cap, one weekly touch) | — | DB lateral raise | Cable lateral raise | 2 × 15-20 |
| Rear delt / upper back | — | DB rear-delt fly | Cable face pull | 2 × 15-20 |
| Waist / core, kept light | — | Light loaded carry or plank | Cable anti-rotation press | 2 × 12-15 |
| Slot | Barbell | No barbell — DB/KB | Cable / full gym | Sets × reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hip-hinge pattern | Romanian deadlift | DB/KB Romanian deadlift | Cable pull-through | 4 × 8-12 |
| Hamstring isolation | — | Single-leg RDL | Lying or seated leg curl | 3 × 12-15 |
| Glute bridge/thrust variant | Barbell glute bridge | DB glute bridge | Hip thrust machine | 3 × 12-15 |
| Glute isolation | — | Side-lying abduction | Hip-abduction machine | 2 × 15-20 |
| Slot | Barbell | No barbell — DB/KB | Cable / full gym | Sets × reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quad-emphasis lunge or split squat | — | DB walking lunge | Leg press (single-leg) | 4 × 12-15 |
| Hamstring isolation | — | Single-leg RDL | Lying or seated leg curl | 3 × 12-15 |
| Glute isolation | — | Banded lateral walk | Cable kickback | 2 × 15-20 |
| Slot | Barbell | No barbell — DB/KB | Cable / full gym | Sets × reps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hip thrust | Barbell hip thrust | DB hip thrust | Hip thrust machine | 3 × 10-15 |
| Glute isolation | — | Banded lateral walk | Cable kickback | 3 × 15-20 |
| Hamstring isolation | — | Single-leg RDL | Lying or seated leg curl | 2 × 12-15 |
Total weekly direct glute-max sets across the five days: 5 (Day 1) + 5 (Day 3) + 2 (Day 4) + 6 (Day 5) = 18 — the same real number Bikini’s own Growth phase runs, since both divisions’ criteria ask for comparably strong glute development at this training age. What moves further here is the two patterns that are genuinely different from Bikini: direct quad-emphasis sets go from Foundation’s 10 to 11 (Day 1’s 7 plus Day 4’s bumped 4), and direct hamstring-isolation sets go from Foundation’s 9 to 12 (Day 3’s 7, Day 4’s bumped 3, and Day 5’s new 2) — landing hamstring volume comfortably inside the “10+ sets per muscle per week” category Schoenfeld, Ogborn & Krieger (2017) associated with greater hypertrophy. Lateral-delt volume stays flat at 2 sets a week, the same single weekly touch as Foundation — this program’s own reasoned read of “a small amount of roundness” not calling for more than that even as training age advances.
The same real disclosure Bikini’s own Growth phase makes: real posing practice belongs in this phase, not Peak, well before a caloric deficit adds fatigue on top of learning it. Wellness’s own model-walk-and-quarter-turn format is distinct enough from Bikini’s own presentation that this page doesn’t simply point at Bikini’s posing content as a stand-in — it names the gap honestly instead: no posing choreography, no model-walk walkthrough, no stage-presentation coaching built here yet.
Coming from Foundation, or entering here directly with real prior training experience, both work — see the hub page’s own who-starts-where section.
Moving to Peak needs the same real, concrete thing it does on Bikini’s own Growth phase: an actual competition date. Without one, staying in Growth and continuing to build real muscle across all three priority lower-body patterns is the correct call.