Anatoly Workout Routine & Diet

Vladimir Shmondenko more commonly known as “Anatoly” on Youtube and other social media platforms is a Ukrainian lifter that is freakishly strong. While he may appear like your regular, fit guy, his strength exploits and pranks have propelled him to stardom. Even managing to keep up with other social media strength giants such as Larry Wheels. 

While there are tons of people that I am sure just want to be as big as possible, there are also those lifters out there that would love to just look fit but be capable of incredible feats of strength as well. A “sleeper build” if you will. Unfortunately, not many routines are available for that type of look. In this guide we will go over the full Anatoly workout routine and diet. 

Anatoly Stats

• Height: 5’11”
• Weight: 180 lbs
• Profession: Weightlifter / Influencer

Anatoly Physique

Anatoly Workout Routine

This routine was compiled by watching several of Anatoly’s YouTube as well as listening to his guidance on training. 

Moreover, we used our expertise as fitness training to assemble a program that would be most likely the performance and body of Anatoly. However, Anatoly does have programs available for purchase on his website. 

The Anatoly Powerlifter Workout Routine

Day 1: Upper Body Powerlifting Focus (Chest and Triceps)

1. Bench Press – 4 sets of 5 reps (Strength Focus)
2. Incline Dumbbell Press – 3 sets of 8 reps
3. Close-Grip Bench Press – 3 sets of 8 reps
4. Dips – 3 sets of 10 reps
5. Tricep Pushdowns – 3 sets of 12 reps
6. Face Pulls – 3 sets of 12 reps

Day 2: Lower Body Powerlifting Focus (Legs and Lower Back)

1. Squats – 4 sets of 5 reps (Strength Focus)
2. Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8 reps
3. Leg Press – 3 sets of 8 reps
4. Lunges – 3 sets of 10 reps per leg
5. Leg Curls – 3 sets of 12 reps
6. Calf Raises – 4 sets of 12 reps

Day 3: Rest or Active Recovery

Day 4: Upper Body Bodybuilding Focus (Back and Biceps)

1. Pull-Ups or Lat Pulldowns – 4 sets of 8 reps
2. Barbell Rows – 4 sets of 8 reps
3. Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 3 sets of 10 reps
4. Barbell Curl – 3 sets of 10 reps
5. Hammer Curls – 3 sets of 10 reps
6. Lateral Raises – 3 sets of 12 reps

Day 5: Lower Body Bodybuilding Focus (Quads, Hamstrings, and Glutes)

1. Front Squats – 4 sets of 8 reps
2. Stiff-Leg Deadlifts – 4 sets of 8 reps
3. Bulgarian Split Squats – 3 sets of 10 reps per leg
4. Leg Extensions – 3 sets of 12 reps
5. Glute Bridges – 3 sets of 12 reps
6. Seated Calf Raises – 4 sets of 12 reps

Day 6: Upper Body Powerlifting Focus (Shoulders and Chest)

1. Overhead Press – 4 sets of 5 reps (Strength Focus)
2. Incline Bench Press – 3 sets of 8 reps
3. Pull-Ups or Lat Pulldowns – 3 sets of 8 reps
4. Close-Grip Bench Press – 3 sets of 10 reps
5. Bicep Curl – 3 sets of 10 reps
6. Face Pulls – 3 sets of 12 reps

Anatoly Diet Plan

Without getting too complicated, a diet plan for strength training is actually quite simple. To put your body into the best position to gain mass, you will want to be eating in a calorie surplus so that you give your body enough fuel to build muscle and recover. 

You can certainly see this in Anatoly’s videos where he appears to eat around 3000-4000 calories per day.

Strength vs Hypertrophy

When it comes to workout routines, especially across social media, lots of people get confused when they hear that certain routines are designed for hypertrophy vs strength. It leads to lots of new lifters thinking that you can attain one without the other or that they are not related. 

The truth is strength and hypertrophy are directly correlated, especially if you are talking about natural lifters. Usually, a stronger muscle is a bigger muscle if that makes sense. 

As an example, how many people do you know that can bench 315 or even 225 and don’t have a pretty good chest? Even if they did not specifically for “chest hypertrophy” with flyers or whatever, they could not help to build their chest as they got stronger. 

So sure you will get genetic freaks such as Anatoly that are at the far end of the spectrum and are incredibly strong without being all that big but that does not mean the principles outlined do not apply. 

Now with all that said, let’s discuss areas where training for strength and hypertrophy actually have material differences. 

Overall Volume

Usually a program designed for powerlifting or strength training will be lower volume overall. Reason being is that strength is usually best developed by training in the 1-5 rep range while hypertrophy is better suited with 8+ reps. 

Rest Time

If you are training for strength you are going to want to have longer rest times so you can be as fresh as possible for every set. This way you can truly push your limits and get the PR. Resting 5-10 minutes in between sets, especially for more taxing movements like the squat or deadlift. 

On other hand if you are training for hypertrophy, you really need a moment to catch your breath and clear the lactic acid in your muscles before going again. Many people actually prefer to keep their rest times on their lower end so they can maximize their pumps. 

Exercise Selection

What many people overlook is that strength for a specific movement can also come from you getting familiar with the movement and learning how to exert yourself properly to lift the most weight. 

As an example, if a strong bench presser switched to dumbbell bench press, they would still put up serious gains. However, they would likely see rapid gains in their dumbbell bench as their mind and body got used to the new movement pattern. They did not necessarily put on any actual muscle size, they just got better at that exercise. 

With this in mind, people serious about strength training need to be hyper focused on what they are trying to get stronger at, whether that be bench press, squat, or deadlift. 

Meanwhile, people that just care about gaining muscle can really just switch to whatever exercise they prefer. For example switching between hack squat, leg press, and squatting would be perfectly acceptable as they are not trying to get elite at any specific exercise. 

How Is Anatoly So Strong?

As we have already established, strength and muscle size are closely correlated. That beings said, you will always get some genetic outliers such as Anatoly that are disproportional strong. You combine great genetics and strength-biased training, you get someone as strong as him.

Bottom Line

The routine detail here is very strength focused and will certainly help you gain strength in your desired key lifts. However, you should keep in mind that Anatoly by any metric is a genetic freak in terms of the numbers he puts up. 

Keep this in mind because what the focus really should be is improving your own strength and physique.