What a Week of Workouts for Fitness Coach Marissa McNamara Looks Like

Marissa McNamara’s Training and Nutrition Protocols

Marissa McNamara, a fitness influencer, has gained attention online for her impressive physique transformation, training methods, and nutrition protocols. Once focused on weight loss and cardio, she has shifted her approach to strength training and muscle building, even modeling for Gymshark.

Marissa McNamara’s Training Split

Marissa follows a push-pull-legs training split five days a week, complemented by a full upper-body workout and an extra leg day. She prioritizes active recovery on Saturdays by hitting the gym with her husband or engaging in outdoor training. Sundays are reserved for rest and recovery.

"My week looks like legs, push, pull, legs, and upper body day," Marissa explains. "That full upper body day can sometimes look like a shoulder-and-back or a more chest-and-back-focused workout. Maybe I won’t do a full upper body day. It just depends on how I’m feeling and how I’ve recovered during the week."

Marissa incorporates cardio into her routine two to three times a week, dedicating 20 to 30 minutes to sessions on a Peloton bike at the end of her workouts. She strives to reach a daily goal of 10,000 steps.

Marissa McNamara’s Workouts

Marissa begins every workout with a 10- to 15-minute treadmill walk. After that, she transitions into warm-ups tailored to her specific workout. Specific warmups offer a slight advantage over general or combined approaches. (1)

Her go-to warmup on upper-body days includes shoulder dislocates and lightweight shoulder presses. She also incorporates lighter weights into her warm-up before progressing to her working sets.

Legs Workout 1 (Posterior)

Marissa’s leg days are split into a posterior-focused leg targeting the calves, glutes, and hamstrings and an anterior leg day for the quads.

Hip thrusts are intended to bias the glutes. Marissa includes five-to-10-second holds at the top of each rep.

Marissa superset Romanian deadlifts to hit her glutes and hamstrings with step-back lunges. Her glutes stay sore for days after going heavy on step-back lunges.

Weighted back extensions are intensified by incorporating weight plates. She performs 10 to 12 weighted reps, sets the plates aside, and drop sets into body weight, performing as many reps as possible (AMRAP).

Lying hamstring curls are avoided with lighter weights. Hanging leg raises are incorporated into her routine twice weekly, often pairing them with a five-to-eight-minute ab training circuit. On days when time is limited, they’re a great addition.

Leg Workout 2 (Anterior)

During her second leg day, Marissa focuses on her quads. She warms up on the treadmill, followed by a series of mobility exercises.

Push Workouts

Marissa’s push exercises include her chest, triceps, and shoulders.

Bench presses are her go-to exercise. Compound movements can feel intimidating, but she credits the bench press with enhancing her performance in other workouts.

"Trying it out, I feel like the bench is one of the things that has helped me improve my strength so much," Marissa said. She arches her back off the bench to protect her shoulders from injury.

Pull Workouts

Marissa’s pull day prioritizes strengthening her back and biceps. Her 2025 fitness goal is an ultra-slim waist, and she’s strategically creating that illusion by building her back and lower body.

Full Upper Body Day

Marissa’s approach to dips is similar to pull-ups: "Complete them unassisted if you can, and if you can’t move to an assisted machine or add bands," Marissa suggests. She follows with close-grip lat pulldowns.

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References

(1) Andrade, D.C., Henriquez-Olguín, C., Beltrán, A.R., Ramírez, M.A., Labarca, C., Cornejo, M., Álvarez, C., & Ramírez-Campillo, R. (2015). Effects of general, specific and combined warm-up on explosive muscular performance. Sport Biology, 32(2), 123–128. https://doi.org/10.5604/20831862.1140426

(2) Rodríguez-Ridao, D., Antequera-Vique, J. A., Martín-Fuentes, I., & Muyor, J. M. (2020). Effect of Five Bench Inclinations on the Electromyographic Activity of the Pectoralis Major, Anterior Deltoid, and Triceps Brachii during the Bench Press Exercise. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(19), 7339. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197339