David Laid’s Workout Routine – An Independent Breakdown of His Training Plan (2025)
How He Trains for Strength, Size, and Aesthetic
David Laid has built an impressive physique through years of consistent training, discipline, and a focused fitness mindset. His workouts combine strength, hypertrophy, and athletic movement to improve both performance and aesthetics. The David Laid workout routine gives a clear look at how he structures his training to stay strong, lean, and motivated year-round.
- Last Updated: November 10, 2025
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David Laid Workout Philosophy
David Laid’s training philosophy centers on discipline, intensity, and a long-term mindset. He approaches the gym as both a physical and mental challenge, believing that growth comes from pushing beyond comfort.
His philosophy isn’t about quick results but about showing up consistently, improving with every session, and building habits that stand the test of time. By combining the best of bodybuilding and powerlifting, he creates a routine that enhances both strength and physique in a balanced way.
- Combination of bodybuilding and powerlifting: His training bridges the gap between strength and aesthetics. Powerlifting movements help him develop explosive power, while bodybuilding techniques refine muscle size and shape.
- Focus on compound lifts: The squat, deadlift, and bench press are his go-to exercises. These foundational lifts build full-body strength and engage major muscle groups, creating a strong base for every other exercise.
- Belief in simplicity: He often emphasizes that progress doesn’t require complex routines. Instead, sticking to fundamental exercises and executing them with good form and consistency can lead to impressive muscle and strength gains.
- High training frequency: Laid trains around 5 to 6 days each week, dedicating long sessions that can last up to 6 hours. He believes in putting in serious time under the bar to develop endurance, power, and focus.
- Targeted muscle focus: Each workout centers around one or two muscle groups, allowing him to maximize intensity and achieve better muscle engagement. This structure ensures he can train with precision and purpose.
- Mindset toward progress: He doesn’t rely on fancy programs or constant changes. Instead, he focuses on measurable progress—adding small amounts of weight, improving form, and staying consistent over time.
- Avoiding overthinking: Laid often reminds his audience that people tend to complicate training too much. His philosophy promotes a back-to-basics approach, where hard work, proper recovery, and consistency matter more than trends or shortcuts.
The David Laid workout philosophy shows that success in fitness comes from dedication, not complexity. His commitment to mastering the basics, training with purpose, and maintaining consistency has made his approach one of the most respected and effective in the fitness world.
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Chest Workout
David Laid’s chest workouts are designed to maximize strength and muscle growth through a combination of compound and isolation movements. He focuses on heavy pressing for overall size and accessory exercises for chest shape and detail. His sessions emphasize full control, proper range of motion, and consistent progression to ensure steady gains in both power and aesthetics.
- Flat and incline bench presses: These core exercises are the foundation of his chest routine. The flat bench targets the middle chest for mass, while the incline bench press builds upper chest definition and strength. He progressively increases the weight to maintain muscle overload.
- Dumbbell presses for balanced development: Using dumbbells allows a greater range of motion, improving balance and isolating each side of the chest. This helps correct strength imbalances and enhances overall symmetry.
- Cable flyes for chest contraction: Cable flyes are used to isolate the chest muscles and achieve a stronger contraction. They also help stretch the pecs under tension, which promotes muscle growth and flexibility.
- Bodyweight dips and tricep work: He finishes many chest sessions with dips to hit the lower chest and triceps. Adding tricep-focused movements ensures his pushing strength remains consistent across all pressing lifts.
- Progressive overload and control: David trains with both heavy weights and controlled reps, focusing on slow negatives to maximize time under tension and overall muscle engagement.
His chest workout builds both strength and proportion by combining power-based lifts with detailed isolation work. His consistent approach to volume and progressive overload gives his chest a fuller, well-defined look without sacrificing performance.
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Back Exercises
David Laid’s back training focuses on creating a wide, dense, and powerful upper body. His back workouts are a mix of strength-building compound lifts and targeted exercises that bring out muscle detail. Each session challenges the posterior chain — from the lower back to the traps — while maintaining balance and control in every movement.
- Deadlifts for total-body strength: Deadlifts form the base of his back workouts, improving strength, posture, and muscle density. He focuses on maintaining perfect form, keeping his core tight, and gradually increasing weight to build long-term strength.
- Bent-over and T-bar rows: These movements develop thickness through the middle back while improving grip and pulling strength. He often alternates between barbell and machine variations to train the muscles from different angles.
- Seated cable rows for control: Cable rows let him maintain tension throughout the movement, improving muscle contraction and building detailed definition across the lats and rhomboids.
- Pull-ups and chin-ups for width: These classic bodyweight exercises help widen the lats and strengthen the biceps. He often performs them with added weight for more resistance and continued growth.
- Bicep work for balance: To complement his pulling sessions, he adds hammer curls or barbell curls, improving arm development and preventing muscle imbalances.
- Posture and recovery focus: David pays close attention to maintaining posture and core stability, which supports all his lifts and reduces the risk of injury.
His back exercises are designed to develop power and structure. His focus on compound lifts, paired with isolation work and attention to detail, allows him to build a strong and aesthetic back that supports his overall physique goals.
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Shoulder Workout
David Laid’s shoulder workouts are built to create balanced size, symmetry, and strength across all three heads of the deltoids. He combines heavy compound presses with targeted isolation movements to achieve both power and definition. His sessions also help stabilize other lifts, such as the bench press and deadlift, by strengthening the supporting muscles around the shoulders and traps.
- Overhead barbell and dumbbell presses: These form the base of his shoulder training, building the front and middle delts while improving overall pressing strength. He alternates between barbell and dumbbell variations for better control and balance.
- Lateral and front raises: These isolation movements help create width and shape. Lateral raises target the side delts, while front raises focus on the front delts, giving his shoulders a fuller and more rounded appearance.
- Rear-delt raises for balance: Rear-delt exercises strengthen the back of the shoulders, improving posture and helping prevent muscular imbalances from heavy pressing.
- Shrugs for trap development: Shrugs are added to build the upper traps, giving his shoulders a thicker and more powerful look while also enhancing stability during big lifts.
- Controlled tempo and high volume: David often performs his shoulder exercises with moderate weights and higher reps, focusing on slow, controlled motion to fully engage the muscles.
His approach ensures every part of the deltoids is trained evenly, resulting in strong, aesthetic shoulders that enhance his overall upper-body structure.
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Leg Workout
David Laid’s leg workouts are designed for both strength and visual balance. He treats leg day as one of the most demanding sessions of the week, combining compound movements for power with isolation exercises for detail. His approach builds not only size but also control, coordination, and lower-body stability.
- Squats as the foundation: Squats are the cornerstone of his leg training, targeting the quads, glutes, and hamstrings. He performs variations like pause squats to build better control and deeper muscle engagement.
- Leg presses for volume: Using the leg press machine allows him to push heavy weight safely while working the quads and glutes with high reps for maximum muscle growth.
- Hamstring curls for balance: To complement quad work, he adds hamstring curls to develop the back of the legs and maintain muscle proportion.
- Leg extensions for definition: These isolate the quads, improving muscle separation and definition in the front of the thighs.
- Calf raises for complete development: Standing and seated calf raises help him build lower-leg strength and balance out the proportions of his legs.
- Progressive overload and range of motion: He ensures consistent progress by gradually increasing weight and focusing on full movement through every repetition.
His leg workouts are intense and structured, helping him develop a powerful lower body that supports his overall strength and athletic performance. His dedication to proper form and consistency makes leg training one of the most rewarding parts of his routine.
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Arm Workout
David Laid dedicates focused sessions to arm training, using a mix of strength and isolation work to sculpt well-defined biceps and triceps. He believes in balancing pushing and pulling exercises to maintain even growth and overall upper-body symmetry. His arm workouts are high in volume, with careful attention to contraction and control.
- Bicep exercises for strength and thickness: Hammer curls, barbell curls, and concentration curls form the foundation of his bicep routine. These movements help him build arm mass while improving grip and forearm strength.
- Tricep-focused training: He uses exercises such as skull crushers, tricep pushdowns, and bodyweight dips to build pressing strength and add size to the back of the arms.
- Cable and dumbbell variations: Mixing machines and free weights allows him to target the muscles from multiple angles, ensuring even development and better endurance.
- Mind-muscle connection: David focuses on controlled reps and full range of motion to maximize the contraction and stretch in each exercise, improving overall muscle activation.
- Balanced volume: Each arm session includes multiple sets for both biceps and triceps, preventing overtraining while still promoting growth.
David Laid’s arm workouts are carefully structured to enhance both strength and aesthetics. His mix of compound and isolation work ensures that his arms remain proportional to the rest of his physique, completing his balanced and powerful look.
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Weekly Workout
David Laid follows a structured yet adaptable workout schedule that keeps his training consistent and effective. His weekly plan is designed to hit every major muscle group with enough frequency and intensity to stimulate growth, while still giving the body time to recover.
This approach allows him to balance heavy lifting, volume training, and rest throughout the week, helping him maintain both strength and physique year-round.
- Training frequency: He usually trains 5 to 6 days a week, dedicating each session to one or two muscle groups. This schedule helps him focus deeply on each area while keeping his overall volume high.
- Classic 5-day split: One of his preferred routines is the traditional 5-day “bro split,” where each day targets a specific muscle group. Day 1 is for chest, Day 2 for back, Day 3 for shoulders, Day 4 for legs, and Day 5 for arms. This split gives every muscle enough attention to grow while maintaining a structured rhythm.
- 6-day push/pull/legs rotation: At times, he shifts to a push/pull/legs plan, repeating it twice per week. The push days focus on the chest, shoulders, and triceps, pull days emphasize the back and biceps, and leg days develop the lower body. This setup allows him to train each muscle group twice weekly with varying intensity levels.
- Active recovery and rest days: Days 6 and 7, when not training, are often used for active recovery. He might go for a walk, stretch, or do mobility work to help muscles recover while keeping his body moving.
- Adjusting for progress: David is known for listening to his body. He changes rest days, exercise order, or training intensity when needed, ensuring that his routine stays effective without leading to overtraining or fatigue.
David’s weekly workout schedule reflects discipline and consistency. His balance of heavy lifting, structured splits, and recovery allows him to train hard while still making time for rest, which plays a key role in sustaining long-term muscle growth and strength.
I would watch YouTube fitness videos, eat, go to the gym, go home, watch more videos, go to bed, repeat. That’s all I would do.
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Workout Supplements
David Laid keeps his supplement plan straightforward, focusing on a few key products that help him build muscle, recover effectively, and maintain overall performance. Rather than relying on a long list of supplements, he sticks to essentials that align with his training goals and nutritional needs.
- Whey Protein: This is the foundation of his supplement stack and one of his most frequently used products. Since David has a low appetite, whey protein helps him reach his daily protein requirements without relying solely on large meals. It supports muscle recovery after heavy workouts and keeps his protein intake consistent throughout the day.
- Creatine: To boost strength and endurance, he takes creatine regularly. It improves workout performance, helps maintain energy during intense lifting sessions, and supports muscle fullness and recovery between training days.
- Multivitamin: To ensure he’s meeting his micronutrient needs, David includes a multivitamin in his routine. It supports energy levels, immune function, and overall health — especially important given his demanding workout schedule and occasional dietary challenges.
- Pre-Workout: Before training, David uses a pre-workout to increase energy and focus. It gives him the mental and physical push needed for long, high-intensity sessions, particularly when fatigue sets in after consecutive training days.
- Hemp Hearts: After shifting toward more plant-based eating, he began adding hemp hearts to his smoothies for a clean source of omega-3 fats. They help him balance his diet and improve nutrient intake while keeping recovery and energy levels steady.
David Laid’s supplement routine has everything his body needs to perform at its best. His focus on consistency and quality over quantity shows that a few well-chosen supplements can go a long way in supporting strength, endurance, and overall progress.
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Workout Diet
David Laid keeps his diet straightforward, focusing on consistency and nutrient-dense foods to support his intense training schedule. His approach is based on balance rather than restriction, and he believes in maintaining a sustainable plan that fuels performance and recovery. Instead of following complicated meal plans, he keeps things simple with whole foods, adequate protein, and smart supplementation.
- Caloric approach: He maintains a steady caloric surplus year-round to build and preserve muscle mass. Despite having a naturally low appetite, he finds ways to stay in surplus through shakes, snacks, and calorie-dense meals.
- Protein and whole foods: His meals typically include high-protein sources such as eggs, chicken, oats, and other nutrient-rich foods. These are often timed around his workouts to maximize muscle recovery and growth.
- Plant-based focus: In 2020, David experimented with a vegan diet, noting that he felt more energetic and healthier, even though he lost a bit of weight. He supplements plant-based proteins and fats, like hemp hearts in smoothies, to meet his daily nutrient targets.
- Supplement integration: Alongside food, he uses essentials such as whey protein and creatine to make up for days when his appetite falls short. This ensures his muscles still get the fuel they need for recovery and strength.
- Diet philosophy: David believes simplicity works best. He often emphasizes that portion control and consistency matter more than radical food changes. He encourages others to “keep it simple” and listen to their body when it comes to nutrition and rest.
- Daily meal pattern: On most days, he eats around three main meals and adds snacks rich in protein and carbohydrates. His structure supports both energy for training and proper recovery afterward.
David Laid’s workout diet reflects his belief in balance and sustainability. He focuses on simple meals, quality ingredients, and smart supplementation to stay strong and lean year-round. His approach shows that success in fitness often comes from sticking to the basics and doing them well.
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References
Photo Credit: David Laid featured in a Gymshark video, photographed on January 16, 2022. Image provided by Gymshark and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.
The David Laid Workout and Diet Plan
The David Laid Workout Routine