GARAGE: The 4-Day Home Gym Plan
At home, four days a week, upper and lower. Built for a rack, a barbell, a bench, light dumbbells, a band and a cable station.
Who it's for
GARAGE is built around my own garage: a rack with a pull-up bar, a barbell and plates, an adjustable bench, a few pairs of lighter dumbbells, a long band, and a cable station (lat pulldown, low row, chest press, leg extension, leg curl). If that's roughly your setup, this is your program. In the app, anyone who trains at home lands here.
The week
Upper 1, Lower 1, rest, Upper 2, Lower 2, rest, rest. Only three days? Run the four sessions in order, rolling.
- Upper 1: chest and back.
- Lower 1: built on the squat.
- Upper 2: shoulders and back.
- Lower 2: built on the hinge.
Bench and squat inside the rack with the safeties set just under your bottom position. No spotter needed.
Upper 1 in full
Warm up: skipping rope or stairs, 5 minutes, then Hanging Leg Raises, 3 sets of 15.
| Exercise | Warm-up | Working | Reps | RPE | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bench Press | 2 | 3 | 6-8 | 7 | 3:00 |
| Lat Pull Downs | 1 | 3 | 8-10 | 7 | 3:00 |
| Machine Chest Press | 1 | 3 | 10-12 | 7 | 3:00 |
| Close Grip Cable Row | 1 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 3:00 |
| Dumbbell Lateral Raises | 0 | 3 | 12-15 | 7-8 | 1:30 |
| Seated Incline Dumbbell Curl | 0 | 3 | 10-12 | 7 | 1:30 |
The top set
Every lift climbs to one top set at RPE 7: three reps left in the tank. Every set before it is a step up in weight. The last set you log is the top set, and it is the one the app reads. You finish it clean, not crawling. What RPE 7 means, and how to tell one.
Rest
Rest is timed to the lift. Big compound lifts (squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, pull-ups, dips): 3 to 5 minutes, and the timer starts at 3:00. Single-muscle lifts (curls, raises, extensions, flys, calves, core): 1 to 2 minutes, and the timer starts at 1:30. The timer reads the lift, not its place in the list, so a swap brings its own rest. Why the lift decides the rest.
Progression at home
Barbell and cable stack: reach the top of the rep range on your top set at RPE 7, then add the smallest jump (the smallest plates on the bar, one pin on the stack) and drop back to the bottom of the range.
Light dumbbells: once the heaviest pair is easy at the top of the range, slow the lowering to 3 seconds, then add a set. Four ways up: weight, reps, sets, cleaner form. Progressive overload, the whole rule.
Deload every 4 to 6 weeks: same program, half the volume.
Alternatives
No exercise is mandatory. The movement pattern is what matters. No equipment for it, a joint that doesn't agree, or a lift that doesn't connect: swap it for one that trains the same movement. In the log, tap the lift's name and pick from its alternatives. The swap keeps its own history.
No rack? Tap the lift's name on the log and pick a swap. Upper 1's lifts and some of their swaps:
- Bench Press: Dumbbell Bench Press, Machine Chest Press, Floor Press
- Lat Pull Downs: Pull-Ups (assisted/weighted), Straight-Arm Pulldown, Machine Pulldown
- Machine Chest Press: Bench Press, Dumbbell Bench Press, Floor Press
- Close Grip Cable Row: T-Bar Row, Dumbbell Row, Chest-Supported Row
- Dumbbell Lateral Raises: Cable Lateral Raise, Machine Lateral Raise, Band Lateral Raise
- Seated Incline Dumbbell Curl: Bayesian Cable Curls, Lying Dumbbell Curl, Incline Cable Curl
Inside The Shift
Lower 1, Upper 2 and Lower 2, the log with last session's numbers next to every set, the next-weight call, the rest timer and the swaps. GARAGE is one of four programs. The Shift is $6 a week ($26 USD billed monthly, founding price).
Emil Pasini