The Deep End vs. The Shallow Lane

I remember when this guy came to me...

He was frustrated, tired, and completely lost.

"Fletcher, I've been lifting for 6 months and I'm not seeing results anymore. I'm in the gym 6 days a week. What am I doing wrong?"

I asked him to show me his program, and there it was:

A 6-day bro split with each muscle getting hit once a week, 20+ sets per muscle, exercises that made no sense for his structure...

It looked impressive on paper. But the reality? He was drowning in fatigue.

Then I fixed it.

This happens all the time. Guys either follow a program that's:

1. Too advanced for their experience level

2. Too basic for their experience level

3. Just straight-up designed poorly (like that ridiculous back day I used to do with 56 sets)

The truth is, the workout that will get you the best results depends entirely on WHERE YOU ARE in your fitness journey.

This is exactly why I created two different coaching frameworks.

Both of them have some similarities.

• Join a group where everyone’s following the same workout and you’re all competing against each other

• You’ll receive workouts to follow directly from me

• You can get form reviews at any time to make sure you’re working out effectively and safe

• You get access to methods I’m testing before anyone else

• You get a group chat to have a community of people who are just as serious as you

• You get a direct line of contact to me

So the frameworks themselves, let me break them down for you...

THE SHALLOW LANE

This is perfect for you if:

• You're a beginner (0-1 year of serious training)

• You’ve got a super busy life and can only train 3 days per week

• You want a simpler approach that still delivers results

• You have huge physical demands in your life as an athlete/job

The Shallow Lane is built around 3 full-body workouts per week.

Why full body? Because it’s perfect for people who are new, limited on time, or have fatiguing lives. Your body responds to almost any stimulus. What you need is the right balance for your life.

Hitting each muscle group 3x per week gives you:

• Your muscles have more opportunities to grow throughout the week

• You wake up feeling ready to train, not beaten down and sore

• Your brain learns movements faster (hello strength gains)

• All that without sacrificing way more time for an extra 10% growth

A typical Shallow Lane week looks like:

• Monday: Full Body

• Wednesday: Full Body

• Friday: Full Body

This approach typically leads to better consistency and more fun for beginners compared to every day body part splits.

One of my clients, Jake, gained 17 pounds of lean body mass in his first 6 months on The Shallow Lane.

"I used to think I needed to destroy each muscle once a week. Switching to full body 3x weekly completely changed the game. I've never grown faster." - Jake M.

Join The Shallow Lane here!

THE DEEP END

This is perfect for you if:

• You've been training seriously for 1+ years

• You can commit to 4 days per week

• You want more specialized development

• You're ready for more advanced programming

• You don’t have an overly fatiguing life/sports commitments

The Deep End uses a 4-day upper/lower split.

Why upper/lower? Because if you want to maximise growth, you need:

• More exercise variation to target different muscle regions

• More volume per muscle group (but not excessive)

• More recovery between sessions for the same muscle

• More structured progression

A typical Deep End week looks like:

• Monday: Upper

• Tuesday: Lower

• Thursday: Upper

• Friday: Lower

This approach creates the perfect balance of stimulus and recovery for lifters.

My client Matt was stuck at the same size for over a year before switching to The Deep End. Within 3 months, he added 25 kilos to his bench and finally broke through his plateau.

"The Deep End taught me that training smarter is way more effective than just doing more. The volume is actually LESS than what I was doing before, but I'm growing way faster." - Matt K.

Join The Deep End here!

So which one is right for YOU?

It comes down to these questions:

1. How long have you been training SERIOUSLY? (Not just going through the motions)

2. How many days can you CONSISTENTLY commit to training?

3. Do you have any other physically fatiguing tasks outside of training?

4. Do you want to get the best results possible?

If you're a beginner, can train 3 days a week, have a fatiguing life, and want a simpler approach that still delivers incredible results... The Shallow Lane is your path.

If you've got some experience, can train 4 days a week, don’t have a fatiguing life, and want to take your development to the next level... The Deep End is where you belong.

Both programs are designed around the same core principles:

• Training close to failure (0-1 RIR)

• Using the optimal volume (way less than you think)

• Progressive overload on key movements

• Managing fatigue between sessions

But they're structured differently to match YOUR experience level and schedule.

Struggling to know exactly which one is right for you? If you don’t meet a single piece of The Deep End criteria, I’d just pick the shallow lane.

Your Hypertrophy Hero,
Fletcher

P.S. Remember, the program that works is the one that matches where YOU are in your fitness journey. Don't make the mistake of following the wrong path and wasting months (or even years) of potential progress.