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OMNIBUS DOCUMENT: WEIGHTLIFTING/ BODYBUILDING NOTES
Hi, and welcome. Here are some notes that I’ve taken from research across multiple platforms from several sources.
This document will be periodically updated with new notes/ research. Most of this information is geared towards
things that I am specifically interested in (strength, hypertrophy, bodybuilding, powerbuilding), so they may not be
universally applicable but hopefully they may be of some use to others.
Hopefully, as this set of notes mostly is a meta-analysis of a series of meta-analyses, this set of personal notes can
be seen as at least somewhat useful but not specifically the best science available - as the farther away from the
original research you get the less likely it is to be specific (or even 100% accurate for that point).
All told, this document is just me organizing my thoughts in a way to help guide me towards dem glorious gainz. /u/ShouldBeWorking3 (BP: 255, SQ: 365, DL: 385, Bodyweight: 215)
--I do also want to give a shoutout to /u/LawBobLawLoblaw for his pages and pages of notes that served as partial
inspiration to decide to write-up notes on what I’ve read. P.S.P.S., I loved his notes on how he took notes, as it’s pretty
much exactly what I did. To quote:
“Each section of notes will include everything I felt was noteworthy, even if it's repeated 3 times in 3 other
podcasts. I did this as people will cherry-pick which seminars they want notes on, and I don't want them to
miss out on key information just because I wrote it down elsewhere. Also, rehearing the same things over
and over again just works as positive reinforcement and mentally conditioning good habits. Can't hurt to hear
solid advice over and over again.
Additionally, these notes are taken as a stream-of-thought process and later revised and edited, so they may
seem short, fluid, or lacking in information. I reread the notes a few times and tried to expand and clean up,
but I will have missed some parts.” - /u/LawBobLawLoblaw
(reddit link: https://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/comments/89snua/heres_41_pages_of_notes_ive_taken_from_22/,
dropbox link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rdwnfn5tr23uhlj/60%20Pages%20of%20Fitness%20Notes%20-%20A%20Collection.pdf?
dl=0)
I also want to give a second shout-out to a now [deleted] account with a comment in r/Weightroom with some quick
notes that I copied into my own Google Doc and then expanded into the one that I am sharing with you today.
(reddit link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/comments/7tl98e/the_hypertrophy_training_guide_all_muscles/dtdl29s)
Jeff Nipples, er, Nippard is also one of my favorite fitness YouTuber’s. His enthusiasm is fantastic, his programs are
great, and overall knows his shit. http://www.strcng.com/
Shoutout to /u/Rippetoe for his fantastic book! https://startingstrength.com/
I would also love to thank /u/utben Ben Pollack for supplying amazing information, too! Unfuck your program is an
amazing tool, I love your website/ programs, and I’m stoked about project Big Ben!
https://phdeadlift.com/
And finally, special shout-out to the G.O.A.T., /u/GovSchwarzenegger - thanks for all the knowledge and your passion!
http://www.schwarzenegger.com/fitness
--Any and all recommendations for other sources, videos, content creators, or content-specific research are gladly
accepted!
Additionally, here is a curated playlist of YouTube videos that I think are valuable, that also represent a portion of the
research that I’ve done below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2wfYgvVucq8IDAya_hROBNvsdHPP-qYT
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Table of Contents
TL;DR This Whole Goddamn Document Edition, Biggest Takeaways
3
TL;DR Summarized Information Chart
15
Rep Range/ Set Range For Hypertrophy, Notes
18
A Good Summary of Why I Chose to Do This
21
Dr. Mike Israetel/ Juggernaut Training System Notes
22
Jeff Nippard Notes
48
Mark Rippetoe Notes
55
Tyler English Notes
60
Arnold Schwarzenegger Notes
62
Dr. Brad Schoenfeld Notes
79
Dr. Ben Pollack Notes
125
Athlean-X/ Jeff Cavaliere Notes
135
Alan Aragon Notes
142
Dr. Austin Baraki Notes
152
Dr. Eric Helms Notes
156
Greg Nuckols Notes
160
James Krieger Notes
167
Jim Stoppani Notes
169
Dr. Jordan Feigenbaum Notes
171
Dr. Layne Norton Notes
176
Barbell Medicine Podcast Notes
179
Revive Stronger Notes
183
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TL;DR This Whole Goddamn Document Edition, Biggest Takeaways
I realized the irony, after some time, of writing a massive document combined of literally
hundreds of sources under the guise of saving time for everyone involved (mostly me, but still)
while distilling the knowledge that each of those sources provided down to what I deemed as
helpful nuggets of information - that ended up being now over 185 (as of 03-16-19) pages long.
After laughing for some time to myself in my office at the idea that I had literally created the kind
of massive labyrinthian documentation of the exact same sort that I was sourcing and
summarizing to help people save time reading massive labyrinthian documents, I figured that I
would create a biggest takeaways TL;DR section. I’ll try to keep this section to fewer than 20
pages (he said jokingly but only sort of). So, here’s the summary of the summaries. /u/ShouldBeWorking3
Protein
General suggestion is 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. There is some
debate as to whether more is better, but general maximum seems to be around
250 grams per day. Get protein from sources with complete amino acid profiles,
most preferably from animal protein sources as plant sources are not considered
complete protein sources as their amino acid profiles require consumption of
multiple different resources to achieve the same effect (can be done due to
vegan/ vegetarian dietary preference, just considered to be less efficient).
Preferably your protein choice should yield 3-4 grams of leucine per meal.
Assorted notes: BCAA’s considered to be less useful so long as you’re consuming
adequate protein overall. See Nutrient Timing for additional details on pre- and
post-workout nutrition. All protein consumed will be used, but to maximize Muscle
Protein Synthesis (MPS) spacing, which is measured to be between 3-5 hours.
That being said, eating enough protein per day is more important than the timing
of the protein.
Suggested sources: Whey protein, leucine rich protein sources like dairy, egg,
meats and poultry. Complete protein sources: Tuna, salmon, cottage cheese,
eggs, chicken breast, turkey breast, beef (flank steak, bison, sirloin, lean ground
beef), low-fat pork.
Carbs
General suggestion is somewhere between 1 and 3 grams of carbohydrate per pound of
bodyweight per day.
Assorted notes: Completely eliminating carbs, as found in diets like the Ketogenic diet, is
at a minimum counterproductive to any person who seeks to make strength
training or weightlifting a priority in their training. Carbohydrates are not required
for the uptake of creatine, and can still be eaten later in the day/ before bed with
minimal effects (so long as you are within your caloric needs. Trying to maintain
the consumption of carbs near to your workout, either before or after, is probably
best overall. It is also probably worth eating carbs less frequently and instead
spending them in closer intervals together (e.g., 1-2 meals, not throughout the
day) so your body doesn’t down regulate the gluconeogenesis process.
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Suggested sources: sweet potatoes, oatmeal, oat bran, oat bran cereal, brown rice, wild
rice, quinoa, whole wheat pasta (minimal), whole wheat tortillas (minimal), wheat
bread (minimal), beans, fruits (two to three servings per day), maltodextrin
(during or after workouts), vegetables.
Fat
General suggestion is somewhere between .25 and .5 grams of carbohydrate per pound
of bodyweight per day. At least 20% of your overall calories should come from
fats, 25% seems like a good number to shoot for based on several
recommendations.
Assorted notes: Fats are inversely related to carbohydrates - if one goes up, the other
goes down. Ideally, the majority of your fats should come from unsaturated fats,
and you should keep saturated fats to a minimum. Limit fats that you eat to a
minimum prior to your workout, focus on protein and carbs instead.
Suggested sources: avocado, cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, pepper jack,
swiss), extra-virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, fish oil, natural almond butter, natural
cashew butter, natural peanut butter, nuts (almonds, brazil nuts, peanuts,
pecans, walnuts), cold-water fish (salmon, mackerel, lake trout, tuna - both
canned and fresh, anchovies and sardines).
Sex
Goal
Calories
(kCal/lb)
Protein
(g/lb)
Carbohydrates
(g/lb)
Fat (g/lb)
Male
Recomposition
12.75
1.15
1.25
0.35
Male
Fat Loss
11.43
1.25
1
0.27
Male
Muscle Gain
16.9
1.1
2
0.5
Female
Recomposition
12.62
1.1
1.2
0.38
Female
Fat Loss
11.35
1.15
0.9
0.35
Female
Muscle Gain
14.9
1
1.6
0.5
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Calories
General suggestion is to either base your calories around the macros stated above using
calculated amounts via your current bodyweight, or to use a TDEE calculator and
work backwards from there based on percentage (less simple/ uglier process).
I personally use the TDEE calculator spreadsheet because that’s easier for me to track
on and I’m a data nerd, but as long as you are following your macros first and
foremost you should see success. Again, the best calories are nutrient dense
from single ingredient foods.
Online TDEE calculator for the lazy: https://tdeecalculator.net/
Supplementation
As the name suggests, these are to supplement your training diet, not to be the sole
source of nutrition while you eat like shit. Essentially, IIFYM but paying attention
to eat whole food single ingredient sources of those macros.
Assorted notes: Pay close attention to ensure that your ingredients are safe and of high
efficacy (work the way they’re advertised and well), that they’re in the right form
to be properly utilized by your body, that they’re being ingested in healthy and
effective doses, that they work together or at least don’t cancel each other out,
and that you’re timing their usage effectively (don’t take pre-workout within two
hours of going to bed, use pre-workout/ post-workout supplementation to
augment work, etc.).
General recommendation supplements:
Whey + Milk - 0.7-1g/lb
Caffeine - 3-7 days off caffeine every 1-2 months
L-theanine - 4mg/kg per day
Citrulline - 1 hour before training 4-10g
One Multivitamin per day
Creatine Monohydrate - 5g
Fish Oil
Calcium/ Magnesium/ Zinc supplement
Sleep product - melatonin, valerian root, etc. as needed
Aleve for aches and pains as needed
Capsaicin/ Icy Hot for recovery as needed
Reps (Including Rep Speed)
Reps per set are going to largely depend on your overall goals per muscle group, which
training block you happen to be in, your desired effect on that muscle group, and
a couple other factors. For a handy chart regarding suggested reps per muscle
group for hypertrophy/ strength, see the chart below in the main portion of the
notes labeled “TL;DR Summarized Information Chart.” For hypertrophy
specifically, low to high (~3-15) repetitions can be utilized but most repetitions
should occur in the 6-12 range using 70-80% of 1 repetition max. More great
information on reps per set can be found in the “Recommendations for Natural
Bodybuilding Contest Preparation: Resistance and Cardiovascular Training”
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notes under Alan Aragon, or throughout the Juggernaut Training System/ Dr.
Mike Israetel’s notes.
Sets
Sets per muscle group per day are going to largely depend on your overall goals per
muscle group, which training block you happen to be in, your desired effect on
that muscle group, and a couple other factors. For a handy chart regarding
suggested sets per week per muscle group for hypertrophy/ strength, see the
chart below in the main portion of the notes labeled “TL;DR Summarized
Information Chart.” For hypertrophy specifically, roughly 40-70 reps per muscle
group per session should be performed, however higher volume may be
appropriate for advanced bodybuilders. This represents anywhere from 3-12 sets
per session, and with 2+ sessions per week that gives a baseline of 6-24 sets per
muscle group per week. More great information on sets per muscle group can be
found in the “Recommendations for Natural Bodybuilding Contest Preparation:
Resistance and Cardiovascular Training” notes under Alan Aragon, or throughout
the Juggernaut Training System/ Dr. Mike Israetel’s notes.
Inter-Set Rest
General recommendation: Depending on the lift’s intensity, your RPE, your goals, and a
variety of other factors, traditional rest intervals of 1-3 minutes are adequate, but
longer intervals can be used. Shorter rest periods, as short as 30 seconds, can
be used during metabolite sets. The following comes from Dr. Brad Schoenfeld’s
“MAX Muscle Plan” book under MAX Periodization section notes:
Short: 30 seconds or less, difficult to build substantial amounts of muscle
due to muscle tension timing being compromised (despite
metabolite accumulation being higher).
Moderate: 1-2 minutes, “effective compromise,” maintains majority of
strength while promoting significant metabolic stress. “Best of both
worlds.”
Long: 3 minutes or more, good for strength but not size.
Frequency (Times per Week)
“Muscle groups should be training 2 times weekly or more, although high volume training
may benefit from higher frequencies to keep volume at any one session from
becoming excessive.” Overall, the trend regarding frequency is around 2-3
times per week for most muscle groups, with exceptions regarding abs and
calves which may benefit from increased frequency. Titrating in frequency of lifts
to help increase overall volume for a specific muscle group is a strong tool, but
must be carefully used.
Volume, Overall
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Hypertrophy is primarily driven by volume (strength, on the other hand, is more driven by
intensity). Having blocks comprised of both within a single mesocycle is generally
considered to be a good approach towards developing both size and strength.
Reps x Weight = Volume
Weight
Reps
Volume Per Set
Warm Up Sets
x x x
x x x
x2 x2 x2
+
Working Sets
x x x
x x x
x2 x2 x2 = Total Volume
Ideally, only track working sets towards Total Volume.
Splits
Bro-splits (single body part/ muscle group once per week, 5-6 days per week) are
considered by most of the resources that I’ve read to be sub-optimal for most
people in most cases.
General recommendation: Most muscle groups will develop with at least 2 sessions per
week and some can handle as many as 4 times per week, with more rare cases
(like abdominals and calves) of muscle groups that can be hit 5+ times per week.
Hitting any single muscle group only once per week is likely insufficient for
growth. Otherwise, based on the given information of volume/ intensity/ exercise
selection/ specificity, you can guide your programs (AFTER you have completed
the novice level programs and stopped seeing weekly gains on the big
compound lifts) using these principles to modify existing good programs to your
Needs as long as you’re hitting the general recommendation of 40-70 reps per
muscle group per session.
Intensity/ Effort
Depending on your overall goals, you can use a variety of intensities and still progress
and develop. Using intensity as one of your primary variables when adjusting
your programming is key. Juggernaut Training Systems/ Dr. Mike Israetel’s notes
have great recommendations involving the intensity that is best used for each
muscle group, as does the “Recommendations for Natural Bodybuilding Contest
Preparation: Resistance and Cardiovascular Training” notes section under Alan
Aragon. A further breakdown of each sources’ recommendations can be found in
the chart below this section called “TL;DR Summarized Information Chart.”
General recommendation guidelines:
3-5 Reps: 85-90% of 1RM
5-8 Reps: 75-80% of 1RM
6-10 Reps: 70-75% of 1RM
8-12 Reps: 65-70% of 1RM
12-15 Reps: 60-65% of 1RM
15-20 Reps: 50-60% of 1RM
Dr. Brad Schoenfeld’s specific notes:
Low, 1-5, 90-100% of 1RM, “best for increasing muscle strength.”
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Moderate, 6-12, 65-85% of 1RM, “optimal for building muscle.”
High, 15+, less than 60% of 1RM, “associated with adaptations specific to local
muscular endurance.”
Progressive Overload
Basically, at its core, progressive overload is all about making hard things harder over
time to continue to drive adaptation and gains. The amount of progressive
overload that you factor into your programming will depend on your goals, your
training experience, your rest, your diet, and a host of other factors. “Progressive
mechanical tension overload is the primary driver for growth.” - Dr. Eric Helms,
Dr. Brad Schoenfeld, et al.
General recommendation: Try to add 5-10 pounds to the bar on your major compound
lifts every week for as long as you can. After that, play with the variables of
volume, intensity, frequency, variation, or different lifting methodologies in order
to gain the desired adaptation, with the caveat that you should likely only adjust
those infrequently. See Dr. Ben Pollack’s section of notes for more on this issues.
JTS specific notes:
Hypertrophy:
Driven by increased volume (more sets, more reps, more weight)
60-75% of 1RM for sets of 6-12 reps
15-30 sets per week directed at each specific lift/ muscle group that are
heavy/ disruptive
Strength:
Driven by increased intensity (more weight)
70-85% of 1RM Intermediates/ Advanced lifters
75-90% of 1RM Females/ Beginning lifters
Sets of 3-6 reps
10-20 sets per week directed at each specific lift/ muscle group that are
heavy/ disruptive
Peaking:
Technical prowess and neural adaptations
85%+ of 1RM Intermediates/ Advanced lifters
90%+ of 1RM Females/ Beginning lifters
Sets of 1-3 reps
5-10 sets per week directed at each specific lift/ muscle group that are
heavy/ Disruptive
Specificity
“Specificity is the framework around which all other principles are built. It guides the
decision making process for all training: exercise selection, total volume, and
intensity.” Juggernaut Training Series/ Dr. Mike Israetel have a great video that
completely changed the way that I thought about the formatting of programming
in general.
General recommendation: Decide exactly what your goals are (strength, hypertrophy,
powerbuilding, cutting weight, gaining weight, certain bodyfat %, sports related
goals, aesthetic related goals, getting healthy in general) and pick a program that
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works towards that specific goal. From there, work until you plateau, then work
some more but in a directed and organized fashion that will help you achieve
those goals.
Individual Differences
The way that your body operates is generally similar but specifically different than almost
everybody else. That is to say, your leverages are different, your adaptation rate,
your metabolic rate, your recovery rate, your pain scale, you are different from
everyone else. That being said, almost all of the given information should work
for almost all lifters - obviously there are exceptions, but for the most part
everyone can do the same lifts the same ways, eat the same things, and get
similar results.
Two different kinds of differences:
Interpersonal differences: Person to person, largely genetic, lifestyle factors.
Intrapersonal differences: Same person at different times, lifestyle factors, time of
year, stress, training age, proximity to career peak.
General recommendation: Run a novice program from one of the big notable sources,
and run it until you plateau (in this case, meaning you’re no longer consistently
upping the weight on the bar every week for your major compound lifts). From
there, work within either that same program altered to fit your specific individual
Needs. In programming, be sure to be cognisant of your development (track your
results on a consistent basis) and implement variables slowly so you understand
what is working for you best and what might not be working so well. These things
will take time, so be sure that you aren’t program hopping constantly or changing
variables so quickly that you can’t attribute the cause of adaptation to any
specific thing.
Fatigue Management/ Recovery Adaptation
Breakdown of stages of fatigue:
1: Normal Training, less than or equal to MRV
2: Overreaching, planned or unplanned, functional overreaching in peaking is a
conscious decision to exceed normal MRV (more volume or higher
intensity).
3: Overtraining
General recommendation: To avoid hitting overtraining/ excessive fatigue (which is
unproductive), you should implement deloads and light sessions every once in a
while. In addition to that, sleep 8+ hours a night, limit HIIT training to 2 sessions,
limit cardiovascular training to 5 times per week maximum (even that may be too
much, according to some of these sources), eat correctly with enough of each
macronutrient, limit extreme exertion in other sports if weightlifting is your focus,
and implementation of active recovery.
Deloads/ Light Sessions:
- Every 3-7 weeks
- 60-70% of overload volume
- 80-90% of overload intensity
- ex. Normal Hypertrophy: 5x8@70%, Deload/ Light 5x5@60% or 3x8@60%
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- Not doing anything during deload week is counterproductive.
Common Mistakes:
Too much volume close to competition
Chronically going too heavy is unsustainable
Avoiding deloads/ light days -or- too frequent/ unearned deloads
Overuse of passive/ active recovery modalities (sleep, nutrition most important
recovery modalities): avoid overuse of temperature therapy,
Use hydration, soft tissue therapy, massage, active relief.
Variation
“Manipulation of training variables to prevent injury and staleness to magnify long term
adaptive response to training.”
General recommendation: Occasionally, meaning once a mesocycle or a
couple times every macrocycle, strategic use of the variants of the major lifts can
and should be used to address your body’s adaptive resistance mechanisms.
In addition to the variants on the major lifts, you can vary up tempo of the lift to increase
time under tension, variable loading strategies, volume variation, rest timing,
RPE/ intensity, and the exercises you select to work specific muscle groups.
These should be used to address your specific weaknesses or goals, and should
not be overused just to add bells and whistles to programs that don’t need it.
Variants can (and should) be tested on deload weeks, can be used to test out new
techniques, and can implement extra work to help heal injuries.
Tempo of Lifts
General recommendation: 1-2 second concentric and 2-3 second eccentric tempos are
most commonly recommended. Other tempos may work for a variety of
methodologies, but these are the most common. Ensure that the weight is under
control throughout the movement.
Exercise Selection/ Order
A big part of training specificity is exercise selection and ordering within you
programming. Your exercise selection should work to enhance your athletic
performance and get you closer to your specific goal. The choice of order should
typically be based around completing either the big compound movements first or
the specific muscle group that is your biggest weakness area first (on that
groups’ corresponding training day within your split). This will all be highly
individual based, once you’re out of the Novice stage of training.
Pyramid of Strength - become more and more specific in training as time goes on,
Beginners start simple and broad, become more and more focused as time goes
on.
“Bottom line: no single exercise can effectively maximize development of a muscle. You
can achieve full development only by varying exercise selection so that muscles
are worked from different angles in all planes of movement.” - Dr. Brad
Schoenfeld
Dr. Ben Pollack has a great section of notes on this concept:
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“1. Proportion: Using isolation to bring other muscles up to proportion of your big
muscles involved in the heavy compound lifts.
2. Mind-Muscle Connection: Carry-over from focusing on the muscle as you use
it into all exercises can’t really be overstated. Working on activation/
feeling - developed by super high rep sets, use this as a tool for trial and
error to see what really hammers your muscles, then use that feeling to
guide your movements and squeeze on your other lifts.
3. Risk-Reward: Focus on injury - you will get injured, a necessary part of getting
stronger. Don’t do dumb, high-risk injury prone lifts. If you’re a novice or
early lifter, you still need to do these heavy ass lifts (SQ, DL, BP) to build
that strength and size.
General recommendation: “An approach of utilizing a core group of multi-joint
movements for the majority of training with some adjunct single-joint movements
to reach the target volume for any given muscle group is suggested.” - Alan
Aragon section notes, “Recommendations for Natural Bodybuilding Contest
Preparation: Resistance and Cardiovascular Training.”
Warm-Up/ Stretching
For the most part, the Warm-Up should be taken literally - to raise the temperature of
your body and the muscles, to get fresher oxygenated blood flowing throughout,
and to prevent injury overall.
General recommendation: 5 minutes on a rower or an assault bike, followed up by 1-2
empty bar versions of the exercise that you intend to do with perfect form, then
your working sets. Repeat the process minus the cardio started for each lift until
done with the session.
Regarding stretching, most sources argue to not do it before your workout, that if you
choose to do so to do it afterwards. Some suggest that if it feels good and is a
way to be mindful of your mind-muscle connections to stretch so long as it
doesn’t injure or prevent your management of fatigue, but many argue that it isn’t
necessary.
Cardiovascular Training (Timing, Types)
At this point, in many weightlifting communities, cardio is pretty much a meme of its own.
Many, if not all, of my sources cited a variety of opinions that frequently
contradicted each other. Some said no cardio whatsoever, some said cardio is
necessary. In my in-no-way-what-so-ever-professional opinion, it’s probably
somewhere in-between those two stances. Also, fasted cardio doesn’t show
significant enough results to be arguably better, and in some cases is as bad as
just spinning your wheels. Not doing cardio is bad (“Can’t be jacked if you’re
dead.”), doing too much cardio messes with your lifting gains.
General recommendation: No more than 1-2 HITT sessions per week and a maximum of
4-5 LISS sessions (only as needed for your specific calorie deficit/ needs). Do
whatever cardiovascular activity you actually enjoy - it shouldn’t just be straight
torture - and fits your lifestyle. Don’t do cardio on leg days, and only ever do
cardio after lifting. Try to do something low impact.
“It is recommended that bodybuilders perform the lowest number and duration of
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cardiovascular sessions possible (while still meeting their need to maximally
reduce subcutaneous body fat) to reduce interference with strength training.” Dr. Eric Helms
Types of Cardio:
Metabolic Resistance Training:
Lift weights in circuit, supersets, with short rest periods. Intensity is key.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT):
Short bursts of high intensity effort followed by recovery segments at
low(er) intensities. 10 seconds Sprints > 30 seconds Jog/ Walk > Sprints
> Jog/ Walk, rinse and repeat.
High-Intensity Aerobic Training:
Maintains a high level of effort sustained over time for a certain aerobic
exercise, for example 2 minutes high intensity biking followed by 2
minutes recovery biking. Not reported as good for promoting muscle
mass.
Low-Intensity Aerobic Training (LISS):
Sustained low effort/ intensity aerobic exercise for a longer period of time.
“Running, walking, riding a bike at a steady pace for 30 minutes to an
hour.
Intensity:
60-70% of Maximal Heart Rate (MHR) or 6-7 RPE
Maximal Heart Rate: subtract your age from 220. For a 30 year old, that would be
190 MHR.
Duration:
30-45 minutes
Range of Motion
General recommendation: “For most purposes, bodybuilding exercises should take any
muscle through its longest possible range of motion” with few exceptions. Full
stretch, full contraction.
The weights you choose to work with should be controllable throughout the prescribed
ROM, again with limited exceptions for specific metabolite work, variants, injury
work, or specifically stated otherwise.
Training to Failure
Another mixed bag category of opinions - some say do it rarely, if ever, some say do it
every week, some say get close but never actually fail. Again, I think the answer
lies in a combination of each or somewhere in-between.
For some, failure means complete muscular failure - no longer completing the
movement at all (absolute failure), for some it means failing starts once you
pause mid-rep or have to pause longer than 3 seconds between reps, for some it
means once your reps begin to break down out of perfect form (technical failure).
General recommendation: Training to failure on heavy loads should be limited and
strategically implemented in that form of overreach is desired within your specific
personal goals, as it can be extremely fatiguing. General consensus seems to be
training lifts within 2-4 reps from failure, and occasionally reaching to failure
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depending on the lift. Go absolute failure on 2-3 sets per muscle group per week
in accessory work only, and overreach on your big compound lifts according to
your plan occasionally while working within the mindset of technical failure.
Nutrient Timing
Yet another contentious issue - no real consensus involved in specific timing of ALL of
your macro- and micronutrients, but there are some general links between all of
the sources’ arguments.
General recommendation: All else measured and considered (meaning you are
consuming your macros and specifically your protein to the exact-ish levels
required by your body) consuming a combination of carbohydrates and caffeine
prior to your workout and protein/ creatine after your workout seems to be like a
good idea. Limiting your consumption of fats prior to your workout (2-3 hours)
seems to also be a good recommendation.
Not a ton of measured difference between protein consumption before or after a
workout, most important factor is simply consuming enough protein overall
throughout the day.
Mind-Muscle Connection
This is a special focus on the feeling of the full ROM of exercise on specific muscles can you feel it now, Mr. Krabs? “Bodybuilding is about training muscles, not lifting
weights.”
“Pre-activation” may help in the sense of doing low-weight full ROM warm-ups with those
movements so you feel the full stretch and full contraction. Most of the
mind-muscle connection will be guesswork as you “grease the groove” within
your sets to get each muscle or muscle group working the load appropriately.
Here is where the Pump comes into play, as you work with lower weights for higher reps
to really feel all of the muscle fibers as they work throughout the movements.
General recommendation: Work within high reps low weight on a couple
accessory work sets in each muscle group a couple times per mesocycle to \
continuously work on and improve your mind muscle connection. As it begins to
click (“Ahh, that’s how that is supposed to feel when contracting/ flexing/
stretching”), remind yourself of that feeling as you move through your major
compound lifts and other variants.
Injuries/ Aches/ Pains/ DOMS
Prevention then recognition then recovery.
For more specific information Dr. Ben Pollack has an awesome video on “How to Heal
Any Injury Overnight” that I took notes on under his section, and Arnold
Schwarzenegger has a great section in his book “The New Encyclopedia of
Modern Bodybuilding: The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revised.”
General recommendation: Warm up before exercising (See: Warm-Up/ Stretching), work
within proper ROM for the movements you intend on doing and do them with a
weight that you can control. Assess your risk/ reward for your lifts and think about
if the juice is worth the squeeze - could you do something safer for the same
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benefit? Rehabilitate your body using the Dr. Ben Pollack strategies, give
yourself time to heal, complete movements with those muscle groups instead of
entirely putting them on the back-burner and ignoring them, and be smart about
your rest/ eating habits as you recover.
Diets
The general consensus among most of these sources is that the large number of diets
out there can be useful to some individuals because they are largely
mechanisms for caloric deficit/ surplus/ maintenance and that they make you
more aware of your eating habits. That being said, for those who intend on
weightlifting/ bodybuilding seriously there were definite caveats.
The Ketogenic diet is frequently touted and discussed within these sources as it is
currently the big buzz diet, but in many ways it falls flat when it comes to
research as it cuts out carbs - a necessary fuel source - to prioritize fats, which
your body will then get better at burning dietary fat (not bodily stored fat) while
getting less good at burning carbohydrates which it will then store as fat more
easily.
Intermittent fasting is also popular, and some of the research suggests that it may be
useful because it is yet another caloric restriction method, and if it helps you stay
within your range of macros because of the restrictive time window and you don’t
find it fatiguing then it may be a good strategy for you.
General recommendation: If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) seems to be the most overall
general recommendation in the sense that counting calories should come second
to your macro goals as a lifter (your macros will dictate your calories).
In order of importance of implementation:
1. Being smart about calculating your macros according to your needs with a priority
effort to consume adequate protein. Find TDEE and macro levels required to
meet your goals.
2. Tracking your consumption of those macros.
3. Continue to train intelligently and lift heavy.
4. Sleep hard, rest hard.
5. Eating higher quality single ingredient whole foods with strong nutrient profiles.
Find foods that you LIKE eating, so you know you will stick with it. That, or be a
hardass and eat unseasoned chicken and rice forever because reasons.
6. Give yourself enough time - make a goal, make a plan, set a date to meet it by,
be specific, but understand that there will be bumps in the road that may slow the
plan and you may plateau, but to plan around those plateaus ahead of time.
7. Experiment with different levels of carbs vs. fats to see what works best for you
on training days/ off days, prior to competitions, for daily life, etc. “Find out what
works for you and stick with it.” If you’re not responding right away, slowly adjust don’t make sweeping changes or you’ll fuck up your metabolism.
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TL;DR Summarized Information Chart
Living document table can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lLF-LS8Pd4_7ULHUoXiTyNVWWJSQ5oZKD-UnEAS
CBfA/edit?usp=sharing
Sets /
Training
Frequency/
Rep
Ranges Per
Muscle
Group
Abdominals
Back
Brad
Schoenfeld
JTS/ Dr.
Mike
Israetel
Dr. Ben
Pollack
Athlean-X/
Jeff
Cavaliere
Jeff Nippard
(based on
statements
(Based on his
(based on his
(based on
made in his
scientific
(based on his
MRV, not MAV, recommendatio
videos and
literature and
recommendatio
ns from his
see notes for
their
resulting
ns from his
YouTube
lift specific
corresponding
recommendatio
YouTube
videos)
MEV->MRV->
references)
ns)
videos)
MAV)
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
16-20 sets, max training block
25 per week/ 3-5 (see notes,
times per week/ Unfuck Your
8-20 reps.
Program Part 4).
Sets dependent
on training block/
10-22 sets, max 1-2 times per
25 per week/ 2-4 week/ reps
times per week/ dependent on
As low as 6 reps training block
(pullups) or as
(see notes,
high as 20 reps
Unfuck Your
(pulldowns).
Program Part 4).
Biceps
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
8-20 sets, max
training block
26 per week/ 2-6 (see notes,
times per week/ Unfuck Your
8-15 reps.
Program Part 4).
Calves
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
8-16 sets, max
20 per week/ 2-4
times per week/
60-70% 1RM at
12-15 reps, as
high as 70-80%
of 1RM at 6-10
reps.
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
training block
(see notes,
Unfuck Your
3-7 sets per
week/ 3-7 times
per week/ 7+
minute ab
workouts in 30
second
increments in
working sets.
Starting
Strength/
Mark
Rippetoe
Arnold
Average**
Schwarzene
(Why are you
gger
reading what
(based on sets/
“Average”
rep ranges
means? Fine.
given in his
List of values
(based on
Basic LVL I
divided
by the
corresponding
and II, as well
number
of
basic lifts)
as Advanced
entries)
LVL 1 and II)
18-48 sets per
week/ 3-6 times
per week/
weighted 6-12
reps unweighted
15-30 reps.
No specific
recommendation
s found/ No
direct training or
isolation
suggested.
25-30 sets per
week/ 5-6 times
per week/ 25
reps per set.
18-19 sets per
week/ 3-4 times
per week/ 15
reps.
Maximum 25
sets per week/
2-3 times per
week/ As low as
8 reps, as high
as 15 reps.
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
week/ 5 reps.
Intermediate: 5
sets/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5
reps/ minor
accessory work.
Advanced:
Depends on
athlete and
timing.
30-48 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 8-12
reps, as high as
15.
19-20 sets per
week/ 2 times
per week/ 10
reps.
19-38 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 8+ to
failure reps.
8-20 sets per
week/ 2 times
per week/ 4-8
reps for heavy,
8-20 reps for
light.
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
week/ 5 reps.
Intermediate: 5
sets/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5
reps/ minor
accessory work.
Advanced:
Depends on
athlete and
timing.
20-36 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 4-8
reps for heavy,
10-15 reps per
set for light.
19 sets per
week/ 2 times
per week/ 9-10
reps.
18-36 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5-12
up to 25 reps.
6-11 sets per
week/ 1-3 times
per week/ 6-8
reps (higher may
work, as high as
70 reps per
session).
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
week/ 5 reps.
Intermediate: 5
sets/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5
reps/ minor
accessory work.
10-60 sets per
week/ 2-6 times
per week/ 8-15
reps per set.
15 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 17-18
reps.
14-28 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 4-12
reps.
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Program Part 4).
Chest/ Pecs
Forearms
Front Delts
Glutes
Hamstrings
Advanced:
Depends on
athlete and
timing.
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
week/ 5 reps.
Sets dependent
Intermediate: 5
on training block/
sets/ 2-3 times
1-2 times per
per week/ 5
10- 20 sets, max week/ reps
Around 20 sets
reps/ minor
22 per week/
dependent on
per week/ 2
accessory work.
1.5-3 times per training block
30-60 sets per
times per week/ Advanced:
week/ Heavy 5-8 (see notes,
week/ 2-3 times heavy lifts 3-8
Depends on
or Lighter 8-12
Unfuck Your
per week/ 6-12+ reps, lighter lifts athlete and
reps.
Program Part 4). to failure reps.
8-15 reps.
timing.
4 sets per
exercise, for a
total of 30-45
sets per muscle
group per week
for beginners,
50-85 sets for
advanced/ 2-3
times per week/
8-12 reps, as
high as 15.
20-21 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 9-10
reps.
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
training block
No specific
(see notes,
recommendation Unfuck Your
s found.
Program Part 4).
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
6-8 sets, max 12 training block
per week/ 1-2
(see notes,
times per week/ Unfuck Your
6-10 reps.
Program Part 4).
4-12 sets, max
16 per week/ 2-3
times per week/
as low as 6 reps
for heavy glute
work, 8-12 for hip
thrusting
movements.
6-16 sets, max
20 per week/ 2-3
times per week/
heavy hip hinge
at 70-85% 1RM,
curling
movements
10-15 reps at
60-75% 1RM.
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
training block
(see notes,
Unfuck Your
Program Part 4).
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
training block
(see notes,
Unfuck Your
Program Part 4).
8-27 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/
15-30 sets per
number of reps
week/ 2-3 times no specific
per week/ 12+ to recommendation
failure reps.
s found.
No specific
recommendation
s found/ No
direct training or
isolation
suggested.
26-36 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 8-12
reps per set.
21-22 sets per
week/ 2 times
per week/ 10
reps.
17-34 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 6-15
to failure reps.
8-20 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/
mixture of high
rep low weight
and low rep high
weight.
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
week/ 5 reps.
Intermediate: 5
sets/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5
reps/ minor
accessory work.
Advanced:
Depends on
athlete and
timing.
20-72 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 8-10
reps heavy,
12-15 light reps
per set.
19 sets per
week/ 2 times
per week/ 9-10
reps.
18-36 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5-12
up to 25 reps.
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
week/ 5 reps.
Intermediate: 5
sets/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5
18 sets per
reps/ minor
week/ 2-3 times accessory work.
per week/ 4-8
Advanced:
reps heavy
Depends on
weight, 8-20 reps athlete and
light weight.
timing.
4 sets per
exercise, for a
total of 30-45
sets per muscle
group per week
for beginners,
50-85 sets for
advanced/ 2-3
times per week/
12-16 reps, as
high as 15.
24 sets per
week/ 2 times
per week/ 11-12
reps.
18-36 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5-12
up to 25 reps.
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
week/ 5 reps.
Intermediate: 5
sets/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5
12-18 sets per
reps/ minor
week/ 3 times
accessory work.
per week/ 4-8
Advanced:
reps heavy
Depends on
weight, 8-20 reps athlete and
light weight.
timing.
18-60 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 6-10
reps for heavy,
12-20 light reps
per set.
18-19 sets per
week/ 2 times
per week/ 10-11
reps.
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Quads
Side/ Rear
Delts
Traps/
Rhomboids
Triceps
Omnibus Weightlifting/ Bodybuilding Notes - Google Docs
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
General
Recommendatio
n: 6-24 sets per
week/ 2+ times
per week/ 6-12
reps per set at
70-80% of 1RM.
8-18 sets, max
20 per week/
1.5-3 times per
week/ as low as
6 for explosive
movements, 8-15
reps ideal, as
many as 20.
8-22 sets, max
26 per week/ 2-6
times per week/
8 reps minimum,
10-12 all the way
up to 20 reps.
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
training block
(see notes,
Unfuck Your
Program Part 4).
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
training block
(see notes,
Unfuck Your
Program Part 4).
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
12-20 sets, max training block
26 per week/ 2-6 (see notes,
times per week/ Unfuck Your
10-20 reps.
Program Part 4).
Sets dependent
on training block/
1-2 times per
week/ reps
dependent on
6-14 sets, max
training block
18 per week/ 2-4 (see notes,
times per week/ Unfuck Your
8-20 reps.
Program Part 4).
18-36 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5-12
up to 25 reps.
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
week/ 5 reps.
Intermediate: 5
sets/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5
12-18 sets per
reps/ minor
week/ 3 times
accessory work.
per week/ 4-8
Advanced:
reps heavy
Depends on
weight, 8-20 reps athlete and
light weight.
timing.
30-36 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 4-8
reps heavy,
10-15 light reps
per set.
18 sets per
week/ 2 times
per week/ 10
reps per set.
17-34 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 6-15
to failure reps.
16-22 sets
(combined
between lateral
and rear) per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/
mixture of high
rep low weight
and low rep high
weight.
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
week/ 5 reps.
Intermediate: 5
sets/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5
reps/ minor
accessory work.
Advanced:
Depends on
athlete and
timing.
20-72 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 8-10
reps heavy,
12-15 light reps
per set.
21 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 10
reps.
17-34 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 6-15
to failure reps.
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
6-10 sets
week/ 5 reps.
isolation, 4-6 sets Intermediate: 5
heavy compound sets/ 2-3 times
per week/ Heavy per week/ 5
deadlifts only
reps/ minor
1x per week at
accessory work.
3-8 reps, 2-3
Advanced:
times per week Depends on
all else, 10-15
athlete and
rep range.
timing.
28-36 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 6-8
reps heavy, 8-12
light reps per set.
16-17 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 10-11
reps.
Novice: 3 sets/
2-3 times per
week/ 5 reps.
Intermediate: 5
sets/ 2-3 times
per week/ 5
reps/ minor
accessory work.
Advanced:
Depends on
athlete and
timing.
24-40 sets per
week/ 4-6 times
per week/ 6-10
for heavy, 8-12
light reps per set.
18 sets per
week/ 2-3 times
per week/ 9-10
reps.
8-20 sets per
week/ 2 times
16-32 sets per
per week/ 4-8
week/ 2-3 times reps for heavy,
per week/ 4-15+ 8-20 reps for
to failure reps.
light.
** Averages are often skewed and do not show the whole picture - this section was mostly born of my curiosity for the average across
the 5 groups studied/ reviewed most extensively, and it not necessarily the best guide to your training.**
***Also, I removed Tyler English from this chart (his stuff is still in the original, linked version) because it wouldn’t fit otherwise and I
felt like his numbers didn’t contribute all that much to the overall picture/ schema.***
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Rep Range/ Set Range For Hypertrophy, Notes
(This section is specific to my personal programming, and may not apply to everyone’s program
needs. This organization is based off of the essential mode of all information in the prior chart,
excepting outliers that I felt need not apply, like Arnie’s insane volume or Rip’s crazy low reps.)
Rep Ranges Suggested:
Chest: 5-8 heavy, between 8-15 light
Back: 5-8 heavy, between 8-15 light
Bicep: 8-15 reps per set
Tricep: 6-10 heavy, between 8-20 light
Rear Delts: 6/8-10 heavy, 10-15 light
Side Delts: 6/8-10 heavy, 10-15 light
Front Delts: 6-10 heavy, 10-15 light
Traps: 5-8 heavy, 10-20 light
Quads: 4-8 heavy, 8-15 light
Hamstrings: 4-10 heavy, 10-20 light
Calves: 6-8 heavy, 12-15 light
Glutes: 4-8 heavy, 12-15 light
Forearms: 8-12 reps per set
Abdominals: 15-25 reps per set
Reps AVG
9 reps
11 reps
9 reps
11 reps
10 reps
10 reps
9 reps
10/11 reps
10 reps
10 reps
10 reps
9 reps
5 reps
15 reps
Set Ranges Suggested:
Chest: 10-20 sets per week
Back: 10-25 sets per week
Bicep: 8-20 sets per week
Tricep: 8-20 sets per week
Rear Delts: 8-22 sets per week
Side Delts: 8-22 sets per week
Front Delts: 6-20 sets per week
Traps: 10-26 sets per week
Quads: 8-20 sets per week
Hamstrings: 6-20 sets per week
Calves: 6-20 sets per week
Glutes: 4-18 sets per week
Forearms: 8-27 sets per week
Abdominals: 10-25 sets per week
Set AVG
25 sets
19 sets
15 sets
15 sets
21 sets
21 sets
17 sets
16 sets
16 sets
16.5 sets
16 sets
22 sets
19 sets
19 sets
Intensity Suggested:
3-5 Reps: 85-90% of 1RM
5-8 Reps: 75-80% of 1RM
6-10 Reps: 70-75% of 1RM
8-12 Reps: 65-70% of 1RM
12-15 Reps: 60-65% of 1RM
15-20 Reps: 50-60% of 1RM
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Recommended Exercises
** = Most often recommended
(...) = Variations recommended on original lift
Pull:
Biceps: Barbell curls** (close grip), dumbbell curls** (incline, dumbbell twist curls, hammer curl,
spider curl, alternating curls, concentration), EZ curls**, preacher curls, rope curls, 21s,
cable rope twist curls, cable curls, chin ups**, partner curls, cheat curls.
Forearms: Hammer curls, forearm curls, reverse curls**, dumbbell wrist curl, bench-braced
dumbbell extension, standing wrist extension, plate pinches, farmer’s walks, heavy
barbell holds, barbell wrist curls**, one-arm wrist curls, behind-the-back wrist curls,
reverse wrist curls.
Vertical pull: Pull up** (parallel, underhand, wide grip, assisted overhand, assisted parallel,
assisted underhand), chin up, lat pulldown** (normal grip, parallel pulldown, underhand
pulldown, wide grip, narrow grip), upright rows, hanging serratus crunches.
Horizontal pull: Seated row, barbell row**, barbell bent over rows**, underhand EZ bar row, row
to chest, one-arm dumbbell row, chest supported row, row machine, two-arm dumbbell
row, cable rows, chest supported t-bar row, rope face pull**, rack pull, chest supported
incline shrug, seated cable rear laterals, regular T-bar rows, seated wide-grip rows,
one-arm cable row, seated rows with separate handles, cable crossovers, rope pulls,
one-arm cable pulls, hanging dumbbell rows.
Traps: Barbell shrugs** (bent over, dumbbell, dumbbell bent over), heavy deadlifts, plate loaded
extensions, rack pulls**, deadlifts double overhand, overhead dumbbell shrug, monkey
shrug, upright rows, facepulls**, seated rows.
Rear Delts: Barbell facepulls** (dumbbell, cable facepull), rear delt flyes (and variations),
rows**, upright rows, seated row, incline lat pulldown, reverse flyes, reverse cable
crossovers.
Push:
Incline: Incline bench press** (medium grip, wide grip, close grip), incline dumbbell bench
press**, incline machine bench press, behind-the-neck presses, lying incline laterals,
incline flyes.
Horizontal: Bench press** (medium grip, wide grip, close grip), feet up bench press, dumbbell
bench press**, flat machine bench press, push-up, close grip push-up, dumbbell
pullovers, decline presses, decline flyes, cable flyes, dumbbell flyes.
Triceps: Skull crushers** (dumbbell), tricep rope pushdown, tricep bar pushdown, tricep cable
single pushdown, close grip bench press, overhead dumbbell tricep extension, overhead
rope extension, JM Press, dips** (assisted, behind-the-back, weighted), seated EZ bar
overhead tricep extension, one-arm tricep extension, close-grip barbell presses,
kickbacks.
Side delts: Lateral raises**, cable side raises, barbell upright row** (dumbbell, cable upright
row), thumbs down lateral raises, reverse pec dec, incline lat pulldown, reverse flyes,
reverse cable crossovers, bent-over laterals, Arnold presses, clean and press**.
Front delts: Standing barbell shoulder press** (seated, dumbbell seated, dumbbell standing,
high incline), front raises, overhead press, shoulder press machine.
Chest Isolation: Flat dumbbell flye**, incline dumbbell flyes, cable flyes, high cable flyes,
machine chest flyes, cable incline flyes, pec dec flyes.
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Legs:
Quads: Squats** (high bar, low bar, front squat, hack squat, front squat alternate grip), lunges**,
sumo deadlifts, leg press**, quad extensions, close stance feet forward squats, step-ups,
leg curls, sissy squats.
Hamstrings: Stiff leg deadlift**, hamstring curls (lying, seated, single-leg), good mornings (low
bar, high bar), 45 degree back raise, back extension, reverse hyper, glute ham raises**,
Squats, lunges**, hack squats.
Calves: Calf Machine Raises, stair calf raises, calves on leg press, smith machine calf raises,
donkey calf raises, calf jumps, single leg calf raises.
Glutes: Glute Bridge**, barbell walking lunge (dumbbell), sumo squat, deficit deadlifts, 25’s
deadlift, sumo deadlift, deadlifts**, hex bar deadlift, split squats, single leg hip thrusts,
walking lunges.
Abdominals:
Abs: Crunch, reverse crunch, leg tucks, twists, side bends, stomach vacuum, twisting crunches,
roman chair (10 minutes), side leg raises, bent-knee side leg raises, front kicks, bench
kickbacks, rear leg scissors.
When In Doubt:
Use this tool to figure out what would work which muscle group, how, and videos showing your
proper form: https://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/finder/?muscleid=7
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A Good Summary of Why I Chose to Do This
I think a recent Instagram post from Bret Contreras said it best:
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Dr. Mike Israetel/ Juggernaut Training System Notes
Notes are pulled from JTS videos, and RP’s website, summarized or typed out in whole.
Pull: 50% vertical pull and 50% horizontal pull is ideal.
Push: Each mesocycle should be focused with 50% of one chest movement, 25% of another,
and 25% of another. (eg. 50% incline, 25% isolation, 25% horizontal). Rotate every
meso. Triceps (s) = exercises that hit mainly the short head (pushdowns). Triceps (L) =
exercises that hit mainly the long head (overhead extensions). Tri (comp) = compound
tricep exercises (CGBP, skullcrushers). Tri (acc) = accessory exercises for the triceps.
Legs: Try for a near equal amount of hip hinge vs curl movements for hamstrings.
Hypertrophy Specific Recommendations from JTS
All recommendations/ training guides for each muscle group made by JTS can be found
at: https://renaissanceperiodization.com/hypertrophy-training-guide-central-hub/
Chest:
Maintenance Volume:
In most cases, experienced lifters will need at least 8 sets of chest work per week
to maintain their gains.
Minimum Effective Volume:
Most intermediate-advanced lifters need at least 10 sets of direct chest work per
week to make gains.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 12 and 20 weekly sets on average. Very
big, strong lifters often need lower set numbers when they choose mostly barbell
movements, since those are both so simulative and disruptive.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
Most people seem to encounter serious recovery problems above 22 sets per
week. But some people can train a bit in excess of that amount and still be ok.
When your compound pressing strength for reps starts to decline, you’ll easily be
able to tell that you’re over your MRV.
Exercises:
Horizontal Push:
Medium Grip Bench Press
Wide Grip Bench Press
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press
Close Grip Bench Press
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Flat Machine Bench Press
Pushup
Close Grip Pushup
Incline Push:
Incline Medium Grip Bench Press
Incline Wide Grip Bench Press
Low Incline Dumbbell Press
Incline Dumbbell Press
Incline Close Grip Bench Press
Incline Machine Bench Press
Chest Isolation:
Flat Dumbbell Flye
Incline Dumbbell Flye
Cable Flye
High Cable Flye
Machine Chest Flye
Cable Incline Flye
Pec Dec Flye
Frequency:
1.5-3 times per week.
Intensity (Loading):
Individuals report quite a range of successful loading schemes for the chest, with
some getting great use out of super light and metabolite rep ranges and others
going up to heavy sets of 5-8 reps per set. Though you should train your chest
through a variety of rep ranges in general, what I’ve seen work best is training in
the 8-12 rep range. Much heavier and the kinds of volumes needed to really
stimulate growth are made unlikely by the joint stress and injury risk of such
loads, and much lighter weights seem to give cool pumps for a session or two but
in my experience don’t produce growth nearly as reliably as the middle of the
road.
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Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo1pWGX-Td4&index=4&list=PLwnuh_5UZz
_QNgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Incline great for upper chest hypertrophy.
Aim for a mixture of horizontal, incline, isolation to best attack hypertrophy.
Aim for full ROM, full stretch/ contraction, take the ego hit and go down in weight
to hit full ROM.
Metabolite techniques: flyes superset with presses, isolation sandwich (heavy
compound movement -> isolation movement -> lighter compound movement)
Back:
Maintenance Volume:
Because the back is a large and multi-muscled bodypart perhaps around 8 sets
per week are needed to keep back gains from slipping away. That should
probably be split pretty evenly between vertical and horizontal pulling
movements.
Minimum Effective Volume:
Most intermediate-advanced lifters need at least 10 sets of direct back work per
week to make gains, and for some, it’s even more than that.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 14 and 22 weekly sets on average.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
Most people seem to encounter serious recovery problems above 25 sets per
week. But some people can train a bit in excess of that amount and still be ok.
Especially when individuals are both well trained and still relatively light, they can
often handle pretty high volumes.
Exercises:
Horizontal Pulling:
Barbell Bent Over Row
Underhand EZ Bar Row
Row to Chest
1-Arm Dumbbell Row
Chest Supported Row
Row Machine
2-Arm Dumbbell Row
Cable Row
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Vertical Pulling:
Overhand Pullup
Parallel Pullup
Underhand Pullup
Wide Grip Pullup
Assisted Overhand Pullup
Assisted Parallel Pullup
Assisted Underhand Pullup
Normal Grip Pulldown
Parallel Pulldown
Underhand Pulldown
Wide-Grip Pulldown
Narrow Grip Pulldown
Frequency:
2-4 times per week.
Because the back muscles are numerous and spread over a wide area, and
because the moves that train them employ many of them at once, the back can
take one hell of a beating in a single session or be trained with smaller, more
frequent sessions. As you get stronger, you’ll notice that overloading the back
generates so much fatigue that overload frequency might have to fall with time.
Intensity (Loading):
Because the back is a complex series of muscles, many of them of different
architecture, back training should be done through a variety of intensity and thus
rep ranges. Reps as low as 6 for pullups and as high as 20 for pulldowns or
machine rows are not uncommon in back training, and of course everything in
between.
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrXh8BsAa9o&index=3&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_
QNgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Use a variety of rep ranges and intensities.
Vertical pulling AND horizontal pulling must be done to target the entirety of the
Back.
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Focus on full ROM, full extension and stretch.
Involve metabolite training (giant sets, periodization)
Biceps:
Maintenance Volume:
If you haven’t been training biceps directly, then no direct biceps work is needed
to keep your gains, so long as you’re doing plenty of pulling work. But if you’re
used to training biceps directly, 4-6 direct sets per week are recommended to
keep the size on.
Minimum Effective Volume:
Most intermediate-advanced lifters need at least 8 sets of direct biceps work per
week to make gains. However, you might be able to gain bicep size on even
lower set numbers if your program has lots of pulling work for the back.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 14 and 20 weekly sets on average.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
Most people seem to encounter serious recovery problems above 26 sets per
week. This is more likely to occur if and when your program also includes lots of
vertical and horizontal pulling for back. So if your back training is minimal, you
might comfortably be able to exceed 26 working sets of biceps per week, but if
your back work is a big focus, even as few as 20 sets of biceps might be a
challenge for some. ALWAYS use your own assessment of fatigue and never just
assume you’re good to go for more volume no matter what.
Exercises:
Barbell Curl
EZ Curl
Close Grip Barbell Curl
2-Arm Dumbbell Curl
Cable Curl
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Dumbbell Twist Curl
Hammer Curl
Dumbbell Spider Curl
Alternating Dumbbell Curl
Cable Rope Twist Curl
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Frequency:
2-6 times per week.
Holy crap, yes, that does indeed say “6 times per week.” But how? Doesn’t the
SRA (Stimulus-Recovery-Adaptation) principle imply that muscles only make
their best progress during recovery and not during constant stress? You bet! But
the cool thing is, super high frequency biceps training doesn’t actually violate
SRA. In reality, the biceps are so poorly leveraged to be exposed mechanical
damage, produce so little force, and are comparatively so small (and this goes for
all of the forearm flexors btw) that they can recover from limited volumes in a
VERY short time; often as little as a day. Of course, the emphasis here is on
limited volumes, so you can’t expect to do 8 sets of curls and be recovered to
repeat that a day later. However, if you do only 3 bicep sets per day, you can
easily recover by the next day if you’re adjusted to that kind of workload. And if
you do that every day for 6 days, that’s 18 sets a week and well within most
individuals’ MRVs. So IF you do choose the high frequency approach to biceps,
make sure you weekly volume is still within MRV and you should recover fine.
Intensity (Loading):
The forearm flexors of most individuals are a roughly even mix of fiber types, so
on paper you should be aiming to train biceps with a wide mix of rep ranges.
However, your biceps get pretty much all the heavy work they need as
contributors to your heavy back work, and the bicep isolation work you do for
them should likely be biased towards higher reps. Additionally, curling for super
heavy (sets of 6 or less) sets can be unsafe, so it’s best to focus most of your
bicep volume between 8 and 15 rep sets, with occasional uses of higher rep
ranges for metabolite work.
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8wMzeKn14s&index=7&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_
QNgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Barbell Curls are, by many measures, the king of biceps, stick to the basics.
Variations - different variations of curls, new weight schemes (heavy day and light
day for loading), volume/ relative intensity variations.
Aim for full ROM in the face of lighter weights, ignore your ego.
Periodization: 1-2 mesos on heavy 8-12s, 1-2 mesos on 10-15 reps, 1-2 mesos
of 15-20 reps, 1-2 mesos on maintenance volume, restart.
Metabolite techniques: Drop sets, Occlusion training (save for once every several
months, don’t use constantly).
Triceps:
Maintenance Volume:
If you’re doing plenty of compound pressing work, you might not need any direct
triceps work to keep your gains. But 4 sets of direct work per week is a good
insurance policy to cover most cases.
Minimum Effective Volume:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wADvxToHbwx_f5_EJ3YBoF0ZaZXySUPiPqazp5PxhwI/edit
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Most intermediate-advanced lifters need at least 6 sets of direct triceps per week
to make gains. However, you might be able to make gains in triceps size on even
lower set numbers if your program has lots of pressing work for the chest and
front delts.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 10 and 14 weekly sets on average.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
Most people seem to encounter serious recovery problems above 18 sets per
week. This is more likely to occur if and when your program also includes lots of
compound pushing for the chest and front delts. So if your push training is
minimal, you might comfortably be able to exceed 18 working sets of triceps per
week, but if your push work is a big focus, even as few as 12 sets of triceps might
be a challenge for some. ALWAYS use your own assessment of fatigue and
never just assume you’re good to go for more volume no matter what.
Exercises:
Skullcrusher
JM Press
Dips
Assisted Dips
Dumbbell Skullcrusher
Cable Tricep Pushdown
Cable Rope Pushdown
Bar Skull
EZ Bar Overhead Tricep Extension
Barbell Overhead Tricep Extension
Seated EZ Bar Overhead Tricep Extension
Seated Barbell Overhead Tricep Extension
Cable Overhead Tricep Extension
Frequency:
2-4 times per week.
The triceps are not a small muscle in relation to others, (they are much bigger
than the biceps, for example), and are anatomically positioned to receive great
mechanical stress from training. For likely these two reasons and some possible
others, triceps can only be productively overloaded from 2 to 4 times per week,
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but not much more than that. VERY advanced (read: gigantic) lifters might only
manage one triceps overload session per week and have their chest work to
make up the other recovery session, but those individuals are VERY few and far
between.
Intensity (Loading):
The triceps respond well to the full variety of rep ranges, but your chest and
shoulder work should already be taking pretty good care of the high-force and
lower rep ranges for triceps. Direct, isolation work for triceps should usually be 8
reps or more per set, and can go all the way up to 20 reps per set (and of course
higher if metabolite training is the goal).
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzd7OUaITzs&index=5&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_
QNgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Direction priority: lateral vs. long heads, spend a couple mesocycles to
experiment to see what works best for you, switch up to overload.
2 mesos moderate weight/ sets, 1 metabolite meso super high volume, 1 low
volume sets (8) at or near maintenance, and restart.
Metabolite techniques: supersets (isolation and related compound, e.g.,
skullcrusher to close grip bench, overhead extensions to shoulder presses,
pushdown to close grip pushups), drop sets, giant sets.
Rear/ Side Delts:
Maintenance Volume:
The rear delts can actually be sustained with no direct work so long as pulling
work for the back is still done. But the side delts need at least about 6 sets per
week of direct work to keep their size in most intermediate or advanced lifters.
Minimum Effective Volume:
Most intermediate-advanced lifters need at least 8 sets of direct rear and side
delt work per week to make gains. To be more specific, that’s at least 6 sets of
each if doing VERY isolation exercises that don’t cross-target between rear and
side delts and only 8 sets total if the exercise hits both adequately.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 16 and 22 weekly sets on average.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
Most people seem to encounter recovery problems above 26 sets per week. In
reality, there will be a minority (but a substantial one) that can train with much
higher volumes than this and still recover.
Exercises:
Rear Delts:
Barbell Facepull
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Dumbbell Facepull
Cable Facepull
Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise
Side Delts:
Barbell Upright Row
Dumbbell Upright Row
Cable Upright Row
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise
Thumbs Down Lateral Raise
Frequency:
2-6 times per week.
Just like the biceps, the rear and side delts are so poorly leveraged to be
exposed mechanical damage, produce so little force, and are comparatively so
small that they can recover from limited volumes in a VERY short time; often as
little as a day. Of course, the emphasis here is on limited volumes, so you can’t
expect to do 8 sets of side laterals and be recovered to repeat that a day later.
However, if you do only 3 side or rear delt sets per day, you can easily recover by
the next day if you’re adjusted to that kind of workload. And if you do that every
day for 6 days, that’s 18 sets a week and well within most individuals’ MRVs. So
IF you do choose the high-frequency approach to rear and side delts, make sure
your weekly volume is still within MRV and you should recover fine.
Intensity (Loading):
Both likely because of fiber type and because of safety issues, I’ve found nothing
to work worse or be such a poor use of time as heavy shoulder (side and rear
delt) training. 8 reps is the lowest I’ll ever go or advise anyone to go, and to be
honest, I think most of the action is at 10-12 reps and all the way up to 20 or
more per set. And much lighter metabolite work is a godsend for shoulders.
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5QixcL5uL4&index=8&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_
QNgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Great technique, manageable weight, feel it working, full ROM, don’t do grips that
create shoulder pain.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wADvxToHbwx_f5_EJ3YBoF0ZaZXySUPiPqazp5PxhwI/edit
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Not super big muscles, don’t need to blast with super heavy weights.
Vary exercises, loading variations, volume/ relative intensity variation, never
sacrifice ROM for any variation.
Periodization: Heavy -> Moderate -> Metabolite -> Low Volume
Metabolite Techniques: Giant Sets, Drop Sets, Super Sets.
Front Delts:
Maintenance Volume:
The maintenance volume for front delt work is legitimately no direct work in
almost all cases where compound pressing is still done for the chest. If you need
to get to the gym in a rush and only have time for a maintenance session,
compound pushing is MUCH more worth your time than direct front delt work.
Minimum Effective Volume:
Most intermediates can make great front delt gains with NO direct front delt work,
as both horizontal and incline pushing, as well as overhead pressing and triceps
work is going to be very simulative of the front delts. Even most advanced lifters
shouldn’t see any losses in front delt size if they completely eliminating direct
front delt work or even all overhead work, so long as they keep hammering their
other compound pushing work.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 6 and 8 weekly sets of direct front delt
work, which INCLUDES overhead pressing, on average.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
The front delts actually take quite a bit of damage from push training and have a
very limited fatigue threshold when isolated in conjunction with chest training.
Much past 12 sets of overhead pressing or front delt raises starts to really
become a recovery issue in the context of other chest training.
Exercises:
Standing Barbell Shoulder Press
Seated Barbell Shoulder Press
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
High Incline Dumbbell Press
Shoulder Press Machine
Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Frequency:
1-2 times per week.
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Woah, that’s low. It’s that low for a reason… any more direct front delt work would
start to interfere with chest work. And because chest work is also such great front
delt work, you usually won’t have to train front delts by themselves more than
twice in the same week.
Intensity (Loading):
Front delts usually like things pretty heavy. Presses for more than 12 reps per set
seem more like exercises in pain tolerance than front delt stimulators. I’d
recommend doing sets of between 6 and 10 reps for presses of various kinds.
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K934AW5p8x4&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_QNgmp
Ec-lH9s3A0qBjooFk&index=5
OHP is king.
Metabolite techniques: Giant sets.
Full ROM to clavicles, lighter weights full workload by touching chest to avoid
shoulder and elbow issues.
No full ROM on behind the head presses.
Probably doesn’t need to be the full focus of any particular program.
Traps:
Maintenance Volume:
As long as you’re doing the compound pulling and perhaps heavy deads, you
don’t need direct trap work to keep your traps the same size. Even most
advanced lifters shouldn’t see any losses in trap size if completely eliminating
direct trap work, so long as they keep hammering their other compound pulling
and shoulder work. If you’re just doing maintenance work cause you’re crunched
for time and you’re doing shrugs… you could be using your time better!
Minimum Effective Volume:
Most intermediates can make great trap gains with NO direct trap work, as
deadlifting, rowing, and side/rear delt training is going to be very simulative of the
traps.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 12 and 20 weekly sets on average.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
The traps have a very high fatigue threshold (which is no surprise because they
kind of hold your shoulder girdle up all the time!). However, excessive trap
training will cost you, and in some unusual places, like the distal biceps tendons.
That’s right, if you do enough shrugging, you are likely to aggravate your biceps
tendons before even your traps are overworked, it’s not very common but it’s a
legitimate concern. Much over 26 sets of traps is not highly recommended for
that reason alone. You can try it, but be careful.
Exercises:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wADvxToHbwx_f5_EJ3YBoF0ZaZXySUPiPqazp5PxhwI/edit
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Barbell Shrug
Barbell Bent Over Shrug
Dumbbell Shrug
Dumbbell Bent Over Shrug
Frequency:
2-6 times per week.
Just like the biceps, the traps are so poorly leveraged to be exposed mechanical
damage and are comparatively so small that they can recover from limited
volumes in a VERY short time; often as little as a day. They also have a TINY
ROM, which means the amount of mechanical work they do (and thus fatigue
they accumulate) per any set of moderate reps is going to be quite small. Of
course, the emphasis is on limited volumes, so you can’t expect to do 10 sets of
shrugs and be recovered to repeat that a day later. However, if you do only 3
direct trap sets per day, you can easily recover by the next day if you’re adjusted
to that kind of workload. And if you do that every day for 6 days, that’s 18 sets a
week and well within most individuals’ MRVs. So IF you do choose the
high-frequency approach to trap training, make sure your weekly volume is still
within MRV and you should recover fine.
Intensity (Loading):
Because the traps get their heavy work from their assistance to heavy rows and
deadlifts, shrugs, in my view, are best performed for lighter weights and higher
reps. I’ll do shrugs anywhere between 10 and 20 reps.
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwKXqFdQ59c&index=9&list=PLwnuh_5UZz
_QNgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Focus on mind-muscle connection while training traps.
Variation available: Range of Motion, Angles of work (regardless of angle, focus
on full ROM and full second hold at the top).
Periodization: Heavy -> Metabolite work -> Low Volume/ Off.
Special Metabolite Techniques: Giant sets.
Start with 2x per week, 4 shrugging motions, test with frequencies/ variations/
volume.
Traps/ forearms shouldn’t be a focus of good bodybuilding programs.
Abdominals:
Maintenance Volume:
For most, no ab training at all can maintain the abs. Unless you’re very advanced
and train abs specifically on their own often and hard, just training all of the
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muscles of your body will leave your abs plenty big for physique purposes. In
fact, you can even gain ab size but not training them directly… check out the
section on MEV!
Minimum Effective Volume:
Zero sets per week. Yep. You can pretty much do NO direct ab work and still
grow abs for a very long time. This is because the heavy loading of your
compound heavy basics like squats and deadlifts provides a decent ab stimulus.
But, if you want your abs to really GROW, and not at a snail’s pace, you’ll have to
work them directly. Before we move onto to more details about how to grow the
abs purposefully, let’s fist examine in what context this would be needed.
When choosing the needed context for direct ab growth (and conversely, the
context in which such growth is NOT considered beneficial and is actually best
avoided), we must remember that we are, with direct work, GROWING the abs.
That is, your rectus abdominus muscles will actually be getting BIGGER. Which
means that they pop out more and are more visible at any given bodyfat, but also
means that they slightly expand the size of your waist, especially when viewed
from the side.
So if you actually want bigger abs, then direct training for them is a great idea. If
you already have a very slim waistline, don’t ever plan on getting massive and
competing in bodybuilding, but just want your abs to “pop out” more, then this
training is right up your alley! Because let’s face it, some of us get quite lean but
have such small abs that even VERY low levels of bodyfat leave our abs looking
unimpressive or even barely there. Some folks might be VERY content with just a
flat stomach, but if you want your abs to pop, you might consider them for direct
training.
On the other hand, if you have aspirations to compete in physique sport, and
especially if you’re either planning on getting very big eventually or you’re female
and compete in Figure, then direct ab training might even be a net negative, as
keeping your waist small must be a high priority for you. So before you start
training your abs, consider your goals and then make an educated decision.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 16 and 20 weekly sets on average. But
that’s of course once they’ve built up to those levels with continuous ab training.
It can take YEARS to actually NEED this much volume to grow your best. If
you’re just starting ab training, as few as 4 direct sets per week can start each
meso, with a top off of around 10 sets at the end of accumulation, and then
working up from there each meso after.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
Most people seem to encounter serious recovery problems above 25 sets per
week. But some people can train far in excess of that amount and still be ok. The
abs often develop a great resistance to fatigue with long term exposure to
training. One way in which ab MRV becomes apparent is indirect. Sore and weak
abs from too much training can reduce your stability and thus strength on other
compound moves like squats and deads, leading to a system-wide MRV
reduction even if the abs themselves are still growing.
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Exercises:
Machine Crunch
Slant Board Sit-Up
Reaching Sit-Up
V-Up
Modified Candlestick
Hanging Knee Raise
Hanging Straight Leg Raise
Frequency:
3-5 times per week.
The abs can develop some pretty impressive fatigue resistance, and can also
recover very quickly from overloading training. Thus, you can work to up to 5
overloading ab sessions per week over time and recover no problem. For
beginners and individuals that are very big and strong, perhaps only 3 ab
sessions per week are appropriate.
Intensity (Loading):
The abs grow from the same stimulus as any muscle. They need plenty of
training in the 8-20 rep range. Fewer than 8 reps with abs tends to cause pretty
rapid technique breakdown, and can also expose one to needless back injury
risk, so heavier weight and lower rep ab training is probably best avoided.
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J4ZStmJuWQ&index=10&list=PLwnuh_5UZ
z_QNgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Heavy weight requires abdominal activation for most major compound
movements.
Variations available: Type of exercise/ exercise variation, loading/ intensity, focus
on full ROM either way.
Periodization: Moderate -> Variation or High Volume -> Lower Volume
Special Metabolite Methods: Drop sets, Super sets.
Focus on mind-muscle connection, full stretch full contraction, full ROM.
Glutes:
Maintenance Volume:
In almost every case, just doing squats and other quad work is more than
enough to maintain glute gains. So that if you’ve really been beating up the
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glutes with direct work for multiple mesocycles and they need a break, don’t be
afraid to remove all direct glute work for fear of losing gains… so long as you’re
doing some squatting, your newfound glutes shouldn’t be going anywhere.
Minimum Effective Volume:
The minimum effective volume for most individuals is actually ZERO sets per
week. But remember, that’s sets of direct work. What this means is that most
individuals will get SOME glute growth, even in the long term, from not even
training glutes directly, but training quads and hams, and thus engaging the
glutes significantly. If your desire is to grow your glutes more than their minimum
potential, you’ve gotta train them more, and just letting them get their stimulus
indirectly from other leg work is no longer enough.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 4 and 12 weekly sets on average.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
Most people seem to encounter serious recovery problems above 16 sets per
week. Mind you, this is ON TOP OF a full complement of quad work and
hamstring work. So that’s 16 sets of perhaps lunges and deadlifts per week on
top of the same amount of squatting per week and maybe 8 sets of hip hinge
hamstring work… that adds up!
Exercises:
Barbell Walking Lunge
Dumbbell Walking Lunge
Sumo Squat
Deficit Deadlift
25's Deadlift
Sumo Deadlift
Deadlift
Hex Bar Deadlift
Frequency:
2-3 times per week.
The glutes are large muscles that can produce lots of force, and they are
involved in so many other exercises than just their own direct movements. In fact,
they are even involved in isometric tasks in such exercises as barbell rows! If you
train your glutes very often, combined with them being hit pretty much all the time
indirectly, they will never have a chance to recover and grow to their fullest
potential. Thus, direct glute training is not likely to be a 4x a week activity, but is
best limited to 2-3 sessions a week. Even one glute session a week works great
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for bigger and stronger lifters, as their quad, ham, and back work at other times
of the week provides meaningful stimulus to the glutes as well. Interestingly, even
if the glutes can locally take higher frequencies and even training volumes than
this guide gives them credit for, their constantly being fatigued can impair other
muscle group training (such as hams and quads), and thus lower your overall
results. Even if you want the biggest glutes ever… ease into training them a lot
and make sure the rest of your program is balanced to allow for glute training.
Intensity (Loading):
In my experience, glutes LOVE higher intensities. Sets of as low as 6 reps on
deadlifts and their variations produce significant glute gains, so don’t be afraid to
go pretty heavy on those movements. However, glute bridges and other hip
thrusting moves seem to do very little if super heavy weights are used, and are
perhaps trained better in the 8-12 rep range. Lunges, as unstable and potentially
dangerous as they are, should be trained at even higher rep ranges, perhaps as
many as 20 reps (total steps) per set. However, please note that VERY high reps
(20 plus) for lunges with very light weights (such as bodyweight for experienced
lifters) tend to tax the quads much more than the glutes (in my experience), so
don’t get carried away with super light loads if glute hypertrophy is your main
goal with lunges.
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEDgE6Wh1U0&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_QNgmp
Ec-lH9s3A0qBjooFk&index=11
Variation available: Exercises, loading schemas, ROM variations.
Periodization Methodology: Moderate -> Variation or High Volume -> Lower
Volume.
Special Metabolite Methods: Not very helpful for glutes.
Quads:
Maintenance Volume:
About 6 sets a week seems to be the minimum for quads, but that’s for deep
squats. If you start doing leg presses or leg extensions to conserve gains, your
minimum set numbers will need to be higher.
Minimum Effective Volume:
The minimum effective volume for most individuals seems to be about 8 working
sets a week. Much less than that is unlikely to grow anyone but the most
untrained. For many individuals, even higher MEVs can be the reality, especially
if they are slower twitch and come from a background of field sports or
endurance training.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 12 and 18 weekly sets on average.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
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Most people seem to encounter serious recovery problems above 20 sets per
week. Because the quads are so large and training them with best effects often
requires the use of very homeostatically disruptive exercises like the squat,
stronger and bigger lifters with more experience often have MRVs of lower than
20 sets. On the other hand, individuals that have plenty of training experience but
are on the smaller side and aren’t lifting super heavy weights can have MRVs
that exceed 20 sets on occasion.
Exercises:
High Bar Squat **
Close Stance Feet Forward Squats
Machine Feet Forward Squat
Leg Press **
Hack Squat **
Front Squat
Front Squat (Alternate Grip)
Frequency:
1.5-3 times per week.
Intensity (Loading):
Quads tend to grow from a diversity of loading (and thus repetition) ranges. Sets
as low as 6 reps work great for more explosive, fast-twitch dominant individuals,
but they are the exception rather than the rule. For most lifters, sets of 8-15 reps
are nearly ideal for quads, and sets of as many as 20 reps can be done on
machines because each rep doesn’t take as long to complete and the back is not
a limiting factor. Quads generally respond very well to metabolite training, and
that’s covered an upcoming section in this article.
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOulQsTimB8&index=2&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_
QNgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Volume > Intensity regarding hypertrophy. Vary exercises, rep schemes, and
weight on the bar to increase efforts involved in muscle size.
Cycle exercises (2-3) between mesocycles for 2-3 mesocycles in a row to vary
enough to stimulate maximum gains.
Stick to minimal variations during a specific mesocycle to maintain freshness and
potential yield.
Metabolite sets should/ can be used every few mesocycles (supersets, drop sets,
giant sets, occlusion) to deload full weight on bar without completely detracting
from volume/ work.
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Always maintain full ROM on squats, safely.
Ensure that you’re periodizing your load selection for quad training: switch up
volumes and loads for periodization.
Hamstrings:
Maintenance Volume:
If you’re choosing the heavy variants like good mornings and stiff legged
deadlifts, most hamstring gains can be conserved well with just 4 hard and heavy
ham sets per week.
Minimum Effective Volume:
The minimum effective volume for most individuals seems to be about 6 working
sets a week. Much less than that is unlikely to grow anyone but the most
untrained. You’ll notice that this is quite low, but I’ve in fact myself grown on such
low training volumes for a long time. The hamstrings take on so much disruption
from the heavy hip hinge movements (such as stiff-legged deadlifts) that even
low set number can bring lots of stimulus.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 10 and 16 weekly sets on average.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
Most people seem to encounter serious recovery problems above 20 sets per
week. Now, if your hamstrings don’t get very sore and you’re doing everything
else right (which is not likely as properly done hip hinge movements get almost
everyone), maybe you can do more than this, but in the first couple of
mesocycles of trying to fine-tune your hamstring training, I’d recommend avoiding
much more than 20 working sets per week.
Exercises:
Stiff-Legged Deadlift
Low Bar Good Morning
High Bar Good Morning
45 Degree Back Raise
Lying Leg Curl
Seated Leg Curl
Single-Leg Leg Curl
Frequency:
2-3 times per week.
The hamstrings are large, often more fast-twitch muscles. They can produce lots
of force and are anatomically positioned to be exposed to great stretch under
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heavy loads, which means that especially if you’re doing hip hinge movements,
it’s not likely that you’ll be able to overload your hams more than three times a
week.
Intensity (Loading):
For hip hinge movements, going heavier works best as you’re literally trying to
damage the muscles via loaded stretch. 70-85%1RM is good here. This is
especially effective because higher rep ranges with lighter weights tend to fatigue
your back before your hams get insufficient work, and then it’s just a back
exercise at that point. For curling movements, too much weight can be
dangerous and the forces aren’t high enough to do much anyway without that
stretch, so lighter loads and higher reps work best (60-75%1RM), or 10-15 reps
per set.
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twz7KLIypzo&index=6&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_Q
NgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
6-10 sets, or about, is probably best. 16 is pretty high. Personal experience and
circumstances involved is probably the best guide.
Isolate hamstrings by arching back hard, chest up, shoulders back, like proper
RDL’s.
Depth/ ROM before weight.
Metabolite work: Not super necessary, giant sets if wanted.
Heavy hip hinge movements, good mornings and stiff legged deadlifts, curls
should be an additive not the only movement done.
Calves:
Maintenance Volume:
While calves can be maintained with just various squats and leg presses,
intermediate-advanced individuals should aim to hit at least 6 direct calf sets per
week if they are seeking only to maintain their gains.
Minimum Effective Volume:
The minimum effective volume for most individuals seems to be about 8 working
sets a week. Much less than that is unlikely to grow anyone but the most
untrained.
Maximum Adaptive Volume:
Most people respond best to between 12 and 16 weekly sets on average.
Maximum Recoverable Volume:
Most people seem to encounter serious recovery problems above 20 sets per
week. Now, if your calves don’t get very sore and you’re doing everything else
right, maybe you can do more than this, but in the first couple of mesocycles of
trying to fine-tune your calf training, I’d recommend avoiding much more than 20
working sets per week.
Exercises:
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Calves on Calf Machine
Stair Calves
Calves on Leg Press
Smith Machine Calves
Frequency:
2-4 times per week.
This very much depends on how your calves respond to training. If your calves
have a high percentage of fast twitch fibers, they might get considerable sore
from training and are best trained about twice a week. However, maybe if your
calves don’t get very damaged from each session (maybe because they have a
higher proportion of slow twitch fibers), you can train them as many as 4 times a
week.
Intensity (Loading):
In my experience, staying on the low end of the spectrum (60-70%1RM) for
calves seems to work best for most. But if you’re frustrated with lack of growth in
this range as your dominant focus, please feel free to go into the 70’s and 80’s of
1RM. Just make sure to keep full ROM, as it’s VERY easy to cheat yourself on
calf movements.
Notes from Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISePfnmknYY&index=12&list=PLwnuh_5UZz
_QNgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Variations: Exercise, Loading schemas, ROM.
Periodization: Moderate -> Variation or High Volume -> Low Volume.
Special Metabolite Methodologies: Short rest periods (30 seconds or less rest),
Occlusion.
Full deep ROM, full stretch and full contraction. Likely will need some form of
platform or thing to stand on to achieve.
Straight leg, not bent leg, more usually recommended.
General Notes (not attached to anything specific at the moment):
● He advises adding 1 set per week for every exercise for bodybuilding purposes, and 1
set per "important" (non-accessory) exercise for powerlifting/strength.
● He starts you at your MEV, not MRV. He advises that you finish at MRV (or just
before it).
● Alternatively, try to add weight every week.
● Maybe increase weight every odd week, increase every even week, 3rd week drop new
set for higher weight, 4th week increase sets not weight.
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Overloading Principles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqF8EoDMSGo&t=2s&index=16&list=PLwnuh_5UZz
_QNgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Training hard enough to warrant adaptation, and must get harder over time.
*Training at Maximum Recoverable Volume*
Hypertrophy:
Driven by increased volume (more sets, more reps, more weight)
60-75% of 1RM for sets of 6-12 reps
15-30 sets per week directed at each specific lift/ muscle group that are heavy/
disruptive
Strength:
Driven by increased intensity (more weight)
70-85% of 1RM Intermediates/ Advanced lifters
75-90% of 1RM Females/ Beginning lifters
Sets of 3-6 reps
10-20 sets per week directed at each specific lift/ muscle group that are heavy/
disruptive
Peaking:
Technical prowess and neural adaptations
85%+ of 1RM Intermediates/ Advanced lifters
90%+ of 1RM Females/ Beginning lifters
Sets of 1-3 reps
5-10 sets per week directed at each specific lift/ muscle group that are heavy/
Disruptive
Specificity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7_kCLHOl_0&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_QNgmpEc-lH9s3
A0qBjooFk&index=19
-andhttps://youtu.be/vENxdeS7T1g
Specificity is the framework around which all other principles are built. It guides the
decision making process for all training: exercise selection, total volume, and intensity.
Training should guide choices, specifically towards the adaptations that are made from
those choices benefit the athlete specifically.
Improving technical execution at highest levels possible, as needed per sport.
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General Training (Less Specific) is utilized for: Increasing muscular strength, increasing
coordination/ skills/ motor qualities. Training that is not sufficient enough to improve the
performance of the competitive exercise but has an indirect effect on the athlete.
Specific Training: Supports the athlete’s performance directly. Lift selection, training
selection, exercise selection.
Decrease the amount of less specific work approaching a competition (should you be a
competitor). Increase in specific exercises that have a beneficial directed adaptation to
your sport form.
Individual Differences:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yj6sDg-Pec&t=0s&index=14&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_Q
NgmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Typically overvalued, lower priority in JTS. Specificity, Fatigue Management, Overload all
more important, but this principle is still worth noting.
Interpersonal differences: Person to person, largely genetic, lifestyle factors.
Intrapersonal differences: Same person at different times, lifestyle factors, time of year,
stress, training age, proximity to career peak.
MRV: e.g., How much training can the athlete effectively recover from. Considerations
are basically entirely understanding your circumstances and own abilities. Sports
backgrounds, fiber types, also considerations.
Fatigue/ Fitness Decay Times: Bigger/ stronger/ more experienced lifters can induce
more fatigue with less negative effect, longer to decay, more muscle holds fitness longer.
Development Status/ Goals: Beginners need more hypertrophy. Which of your muscles
are lacking most? Size/ Strength/ Gender/ Proximity to Career Peak are all
considerations when designing training. Beginners (hypertrophy phase priority),
Intermediates (strength phase priority), Advanced (peaking phase priority).
Exercise Selection: Pyramid of Strength - become more and more specific in training as
time goes on, Beginners start simple and broad, become more and more focused as
time goes on.
Exercise Technique: Work directed purposefully towards areas specific to lifter that need
work for development; find exercises with good carryover to your overall development.
Fatigue Management:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPZtjXYNkm0&index=14&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_QNg
mpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
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Hard training (overload) is necessary to improve fitness but also causes fatigue to
accumulate and too much fatigue will cause failure to adapt/ recover which will result in
performance decline.
1: Normal Training, less than or equal to MRV
2: Overreaching, planned or unplanned, functional overreaching in peaking is a
conscious decision to exceed normal MRV (more volume or higher intensity),
3: Overtraining
Deloads/ Light Sessions:
- Every 3-7 weeks
- 60-70% of overload volume
- 80-90% of overload intensity
- ex. Normal Hypertrophy: 5x8@70%, Deload/ Light 5x5@60% or 3x8@60%
- Not doing anything during deload week is counterproductive.
Common Mistakes:
Too much volume close to competition
Chronically going too heavy is unsustainable
Avoiding deloads/ light days -or- too frequent/ unearned deloads
Overuse of passive/ active recovery modalities (sleep, nutrition most important recovery
modalities): avoid overuse of temperature therapy,
Use hydration, soft tissue therapy, massage, active relief.
Principle of Phase Potentiation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAjgTcBJXLU&index=16&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_QNgm
pEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
A logical sequencing of training phases to promote the best overall long term outcomes.
Build more muscle -> produce more force -> improved technique
Priority 6/7. Specificity, overload, fatigue management should come before this.
Specificity:
-Directed adaptation: training a single modality at once, with all efforts focuses is
superior to try to train multiple. Changing too frequently seems to be more like spinning
wheels rather than directing progress.
-Training modality/ Compatibility: optimize your training around modalities (don’t go
marathon training while working on increasing 1RM for benching, etc.)
-Complement, don’t interfere.
Sequence:
- Strategic and logical sequencing of phases in order to complement and support the
following phases. Know your plan, be specific, think it through as you move through your
sequencing between mesos and cycles to enhance your growth and development.
- Build up base of hypertrophy, work on strength to the limit of adaptive resistance, peak
as high as you can. More size, more strength potential, more strength development
more peak development, then restart on building base again with new peak numbers.
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Adaptive Decay:
- Need phases because we can’t train everything at once.
- Build on each other logically.
- If you don’t use it, you lose it (use appropriate training phases to maintain/ develop).
- Strength retains hypertrophic gains.
Hypertrophy for minimum of 3 weeks - 6 months (extreme end of length, 3-4 months is
usually good), strength 3 weeks - 6 months (extreme end of length, 3-4 months is
usually good), peaking 3 weeks - 3 months (extreme end for high end athletes).
Principle of SRA, Stimulus Recovery Adaptation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iV1N4gjGoA&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_QNgmpEc-lH9s3A
0qBjooFk&index=17
Stress -> repair -> ready for next training session.
Small muscles more frequently than large muscles.
The more stimulus given to a muscle, the higher the stress.
Spread out squat and deadlift days, don’t put them back to back.
Low frequency training may lead to diminishing fitness, not enough stimulus unless
you’re a very high level lifter.
Focus on fatigue management to maintain speedy SRA.
Deadlift is most stressful, squat inbetween, bench press is okay being trained more
frequently.
Principle of Variation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGaiCNbZocE&index=18&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_QNg
mpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Manipulation of training variables to prevent injury and staleness to magnify long term
adaptive response to training.
Adaptive Resistance:
The body’s slowing ability to adapt to new stimulus it is presented with.
- Negative Feedback Loops: The more you eat, the less hungry you are. The more you
do something, the less effective that something becomes. Variations lose effectivity over
the amount of time used.
- Adaptive Response: Dampens with continued exposure to the same stimulus - balance
with Directed Adaptation.
1 - Technique, 2 - Hypertrophy, 3 - Neural Strength, 4 - Tissue Integrity
Creating Variation:
- Loading Strategy
- Exercise Selection
- Tempo/ Velocity
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Under-Application of Variation:
- Staleness
- Won’t develop other qualities
- Weaknesses stay weak
- Likely injuries
Overapplication of Variation:
- Variants with low transfer
- Non-overloading variants (specificity more important than variation)
- Phase or goal inappropriate
- Excessively frequent
Proper Variation:
- Properly timed
- Strategic variations for phases or weaknesses
The Myth of Bro-Splits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7b5hOWfwdc&index=20&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_QNg
mpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Bro-Splits: Training each body part only once per week.
1 - Studies: Muscle grows 2-3 days after training. Wait a week: miss out on growth
potentiation.
2 - Nervous system can take a week to recover, but, A. Don’t train at 100% all the time,
present overload but don’t completely smash your muscle groups every time, B. Use
exercise, intensity, volume variation, vary days to ensure growth response but never
completely destroying yourself.
3 - Big muscles can take up to 3 days to recover but small muscles, not even close.
Biceps, rear delts, side/ medial delts all can be trained more often.
4 - For average/ intermediate lifter: 2-4x/ week muscle group training.
5 - To expand frequency, split weekly volume, don’t add right away.
Volume and Hypertrophy: What Works Best for Bodybuilding?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBBYOc7M02o&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_QNgmpEc-lH9s
3A0qBjooFk&index=21
MEV vs. MRV for Hypertrophy, landmarks for muscle growth, how much work to do.
Structure of Hypertrophy: Every 1-2 month Mesocycle at MEV, add 1-2 sets for that body
part every week, until you hit your MRV for the desired lift. Deload to reduce fatigue.
Recycle the whole process but bump up the weights, or choose exercise variants to
rework muscle groups.
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Every once in a while, for 1-2 months, give body a break from high reps and high
volume, go for strength (after 3-5 months of hypertrophy training), maintain muscle,
resensitize to high volume. Wait for physiology to reset and get ready for hypertrophy
again.
Recovery must occur in order for growth to occur - focus on recovery as important as a
factor in your training as you would weightlifting/ exercising.
Finding Your MRV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH0GzNDWW-E&index=22&list=PLwnuh_5UZz_QN
gmpEc-lH9s3A0qBjooFk
Too long to summarize well, information is highly valuable regardless. Check out the
video.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wADvxToHbwx_f5_EJ3YBoF0ZaZXySUPiPqazp5PxhwI/edit
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Jeff Nippard Notes
Much of the research guiding Jeff Nippard’s work are analysis/ meta-analysis driven by Dr. Brad
Schoenfeld, whose specific research is noted below with links to videos/ papers. That being
said, his videos ares still super well made and informative.
Training Volume:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwv3JqOUqWs
10-20 sets per bodypart per week, leaning towards 20 sets per week.
30 sets per week for maximum hypertrophy.
Possible maintenance volume of 20 sets per week.
Fat loss- Caloric deficit, high protein diet, train with weights.
Tips:
1. Rotate carbs and fats at each meal (Meal 1 pro/ carbs min. Fat, meal 2 pro/ fat
min. carbs)
2. Increase periods of fasting in-between meals or lengthen time before breakfast
3. Reduce or eliminate liquid calories entirely
4. Eat out less often (avoid restaurants)
Supplementation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR5jW9iNNiw&t=42s
Whey + Milk - 0.7-1g/lb
Caffeine - 3-7 days off caffeine every 1-2 months
L-theanine - 4mg/kg per day
Citruline - 1 hour before training 4-10g
One Multivitamin per day
Creatine - After training 3-5g
How to Prevent Muscle Loss When Dieting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOh2R-89qqg&feature=youtu.be
“Whether you gain or lose muscle is dictated by the balance between muscle protein
synthesis and muscle protein breakdown.”
What causes muscle loss on a diet?
1. Suppressed rates of Muscle Protein Synthesis.
2. Greater rates Muscle Protein Breakdown.
3. Using protein as fuel.
4. Losing strength.
How to avoid losing muscle during dieting:
1. Maintain your strength by continuing to lift heavy.
a. Use diet and cardio to establish a caloric deficit rather than
bumping up the reps in training
b. “Your training requirements don’t change, your ability to recover
changes.” - Dr. Eric Helms
c. “Try to maintain the weight you can do for 6 to 12 reps on as many
movements as possible for as long as possible.”
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d. Reduce volume before load, eventually (months of dieting) you
may need to reduce both to accommodate recovery.
2. Diet more slowly.
a. Nip’s Recommendation: Lose between 0.5 (when leaner) to 1.5%
(when fatter) of bodyweight per week.
3. Increase protein intake.
a. ~1 gram per pound of bodyweight.
4. Avoid excessive cardio.
a. “It is recommended that bodybuilders perform the lowest number
and duration of cardiovascular sessions possible (while still
meeting their need to maximally reduce subcutaneous body fat) to
reduce interference with strength training.” - Dr. Eric Helms
b. Nip’s Recommendation: No more than 1-2 HITT sessions per
week and a maximum of 4-5 LISS sessions (only as needed for
the deficit).
Why You Should Stretch Between Every Set From Now On (Updated Opinion)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuBhECs587w
Same program tested against stretches or no inter-set stretches.
Results may indicate stretching between sets could help improve size.
Intensity of stretch shouldn’t be painful.
Don’t stretch for too long (30 seconds, less than a minute).
Stretch the agonist muscle for the first 3-4 heavy sets of the day.
Jeff’s Muscle Group Specific Training Recommendations
Back Training: 2-3 Times Per Week, No More than 25 Sets Per Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12xHxUnBEiI
Preactivation for mind muscle connection with lat pull-in, 2-3 sets.
Vertical Pulls:
Pull Up:
Lat Pull Downs: Close Neutral Grip and 1.5 Shoulder Width Grip
Horizontal Pulls:
Chest Supported T-Bar Row:
One-Arm Dumbbell Row:
Bent Over Barbell Row:
Rope Face Pull:
Barbell Shrugs:
Rack Pull/ Block Pull:
Inverted Barbell Row
Full ROM Lateral Raises
Chest Supported Incline Shrug
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Abdominals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xdOuqokcm4
Weighted 6-12 reps | Unweighted 15-30 reps, combine both for best results
Training: 3-6 sessions per week | 2 exercises per session | 3-4 sets per exercise
Recommends: one crunch type movement | one leg raise type movement
Hanging Leg Raises
Lying Leg Raises
V-Ups
Reverse Crunches
Cable Wood Chops
Side Bends
Long Lever Planks (elbows in front of eyes, posterior tilt =squeeze glutes)
Ab Slide*
Double Leg Thrust
Bicycle Crunch
Partner Assisted Decline Ball Crunch Throw**
Partner Assisted Lying Leg Raises**
Hamstrings: Roughly equal to Quads in Reps/ Sets,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a_fVS2s4Ho&t=514s
High and low reps, focus on mind muscle connection, controlled movement, good stretch
and contraction.
Straight Leg Deadlift
Back Extension
Reverse Hyper
Lying Leg Curl
Sitting Leg Curl
Gliding Leg Curl
Glute Ham Raise
Quads: Roughly equal to Hamstrings in Reps/ Sets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMnp7y6_sMA&t=369s
Variety of high reps and low reps should be used
12-18 weekly sets, no more than 20, max 3 times per week frequency
4-8 reps heavy and 8-20 reps light
Squat
Front Squat
Lunges
Step Ups
Leg Extension
Deadlift
Calves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21inrjhoFkQ
Higher reps overall needed for soleus work
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Implement a variety of rep ranges
1-2 times per week, full ROM, 6-8 rep range may work, perfect form
70 reps per session, 3 times per week may also work
Seated Calf Raises
Standing Calf Raises
Donkey Calf Raises
Calf Jumps
Single Leg Calf Raise
Forearms:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xHrOLzTLYI
2-3 exercises with 2-3 sets per exercise after the end of a regular upper body workout,
2-3 times per week.
Use of Fat Grips so long as it’s not on heavy weight lifts
Reverse Grip Curls (partial reps at the top)
Hammer Curls
Dumbbell Wrist Curl
Bench-Braced Dumbbell Extension
Standing Wrist Extension
Plate Pinch
Farmer’s Walks
Heavy Barbell Holds
Glutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgekALiC8Ik
3-4x per week, 3-10 reps,
Switch exercises up every 3-4 months
Glute Medius
Split Squats
Single Leg Hip Thrusts
Walking Lunges
Glute Maximus
Hip Thrusts
Squat (3-6 reps for >70% 1RM, 5-10 reps for >70% 1RM)
Neck/ Traps, Specific:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7MCjaJ02eQ
10-15 rep range, 2-3 times per week, lower volume, 40-70 reps per session for neck
Heavy deadlifts only 1x per week
Traps 2-3 times per week, 6-10 sets per week trap isolation work
Neck
Plate Loaded Extensions
Partner Assisted Extensions
Plate Loaded Neck Curls
Partner Assisted Neck Curls
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Traps
Rack Pulls
Deadlifts double overhand
Shrugs (barbell and dumbell)
Overhead Dumbbell Shrug
Monkey Shrug
Upright Row
Face Pulls
Seated Row
Shoulders:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyTAraGimfE&t=545s
Mixture of high rep and low rep exercises.
More incline = more delt involvement.
Front Delts
Press
Dumbbell Shoulder Press (standing or seated)
Lateral Delts (8-11 weekly sets)
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Cable Lateral Raise
Reverse Pec Deck
Rear Delt (8-11 weekly sets)
Upright Row
Seated Row
Incline Lat Pulldown
Reverse Flyes
Reverse Cable Crossovers
Rows*
Arms (Overall):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4YNi4nRboU&t=339s
Compounds typically beat isolation work for overall strength, but for biceps you will need
isolation work
8 sets minimum, 14-20 sets optimum, 2x per week, for both triceps and biceps
Play with grips to evenly involve
Bicep**
Chin Up
Pull Up
Inverted Barbell Row
Curling Movements: Find one main movement best suited for you
Barbell Curls (4-8 reps for heavy, 8-20 for lighter hypertophy sets)
Dumbbell Curls (4-8 reps for heavy, 8-20 for lighter hypertophy sets)
EZ Bar Curls (4-8 reps for heavy, 8-20 for lighter hypertophy sets)
Preacher Curl (should be combined with other curls in same day/ program)
Cable Curl, facing away from cable machine
Incline Dumbbell Curl
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Tricep**
Bench Press (4-8 reps for heavy, 8-20 for lighter hypertophy sets), flat bench
Tricep Pressdowns
Overhead Tricep Extension
Medicine Ball Pushups
Skullcrusher (4-8 reps for heavy, 8-20 for lighter hypertophy sets),
Tricep Kickback
Chest (Overall):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtV1FIPyTEw&t=445s
At least two times per week, 20 sets per week
Bench Press
Incline Dumbbell Press (45*)
Incline Dumbbell Press (45*)
Seated Upright Cable Flyes
Flat Dumbbell Isometrics (end of session only)
Jeff’s PPL Days:
Leg Day 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Vv2ASsyhs&t=329s
Squat - 3 Sets x 4-6 Reps
RDL - 3 Sets x 8 Reps (Increase Reps each Week)
Optional: Walking Lunges - 2-3 Sets x 20 Strides
Single Leg Extensions - 3 Sets x 10 Reps
Single Leg Lying Leg Curl - 3 Sets x 8+4 Reps
Single Leg Press Calf Raise - 3 Sets x 10-12 Reps
Seated Calf Raise - 3 Sets x 20 Reps
Pull Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCQI1EUE7bo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B-5irFdB3c
1-Arm Lat Pull-In - 2 Sets x 15-20 Reps
Pull-Up - 3 Sets x 6-8 Reps
Meadows Row - 3 Sets x 10-12 Reps (Trap or Lat)
Omni-Grip Lat Pulldown - 3 Sets x 12-15 Reps (Wide, Medium, Reverse Grip)
In Order:
- A: Rope Facepull - 2 Sets x 15-20 Reps
- B: Reverse Pec - Dec 2 Sets x 15-20 Reps
- C: Band Pull Aparts - 2 Sets x 15-20 Reps
EZ-Bar Bicep Curl (Or Straight Barbell Curl) - 3 Sets x 6-8 Reps
Incline Dumbbell Curl - 2 Sets x 15-20 Reps (optional)
Rack Pull - 3 Sets x 6-8 Reps
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Push Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwHoNk-sjgs&t=271s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCQI1EUE7bo
Heavy Wide Grip Bench Press - 4 sets x 4-6 reps
Straight sets* (same weight) x RPE 7-8
Incline Cable Flye - 3 sets x 12-15 reps (upper pec isolation*)
Standing Dumbbell Press - 4 sets x 10-12 reps
Egyptian Lateral Raise - 4 sets x 12-15 reps
Tricep Press Down - 4 sets x 12-15 reps
One arm overhead tricep extension - 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Static Dumbbell Holds - 2 sets c 60 sec hold
Rope Facepull - 3 sets x 20 reps
Leg Day 2*:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sXVbOBFPig
Warm Up
-5-10 Low Intensity Cardio (Eliptical)
-2-3 Dynamic Stretching
-2-3 minutes of foam rolling (hip and mid-lower back
Working Sets
Deadlifts - 4 sets x 4 reps (75% of 1 rep max)
Deficit Bulgarian Split Squat - 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Hip Thrusts - 3 sets x 12-15 reps
3-Second Eccentric Goblet Squat - 3 sets x 15 reps
Enhanced-Eccentric Lying Curl - 3 sets x 10 reps
Machine-Seated Hip Adduction - 3 sets x 30 reps
Standing Calf Raise - 3 sets x 10 reps
*Quads: 14 Weekly Sets
*Hamstrings: 13 Weekly Sets
*Glutes: 18 Weekly Sets
*Calves: 9 Weekly Sets, as high as 12-15 Weekly Sets
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Mark Rippetoe Notes
All recommendations and notes for Mark Rippetoe are my notes specifically taken from Practical
Programming for Strength Training, 3rd Edition: Mark Rippetoe and Andy Baker (2013). Do not
consider this section an exhaustive summary of this book, but instead just a collection of notes that I
found pertinent to my own research. I still suggest getting a copy/ checking out a copy from the
library and reading this book.
Reps x Weight = Volume
Weight
Reps
Volume Per Set
Warm Up Sets
x x x
x x x
x2 x2 x2
+
Working Sets
x x x
x x x
x2 x2 x2
= Total Volume
Ideally, only track working sets towards Total Volume.
Training Program Basics:
Repetitions: Number of reps per set is important because different numbers of reps produce
different types of adaptations. An in-depth analysis of rep ranges/ intensities are
found in the book, but the basic jist of Rippetoe’s rep range schema is that 5 is best.
He claims that it is the perfect sweet spot between strength and hypertrophy.
Sets: The number of sets must produce the metabolic effect desired as an adaptation.
General assessment of the section suggests 3-5 sets is Rippetoe’s overall
suggestion.
Rest Between Sets: Strength = goal, rests of 2 minutes + between sets. Hypertrophy = goal,
rests of 45 seconds or less. Muscular endurance/ conditioning = goal, very little if any
rest is taken.
Workout Frequency: Enough to create adaptations, not so much that it prevents growth.
Rippetoe seems to suggest that more than 3 workout days will be required, but does
not provide a specific number he believes is best. “The vast majority of elite
weightlifters train six days per week, with multiple workouts per day.” Rip also says 5
days of aerobic exercise is too much.
Exercise Selection: “Virtually every single effective program for sports performance will
include the following rather short list of weight room exercises: squat, press, deadlift,
bench press, clean or power clean, jerk, snatch or power snatch, and chin ups or pull
ups.”... “The differences in programming lie in variations of load, intensity, frequency,
and rest.” Novices should train 3 times per week. “Workouts should consist of three
to five exercises, with the most emphasis placed in basic exercises, and any
assistance exercises done at the end of the workout.”
Exercise Variation: “The variables of effective strength training are always load, volume,
intensity, and rest; variety for its own sake is a hallmark of Exercise, not Training.”
Specific, loadable, increase-able, and programmed alternatives to Rip’s
aforementioned big lifts are the only acceptable alternatives, he claims. Any other
work done doesn’t serve the main lift’s progression, and thus is a detractor from
strength (keep in mind, this is specifically geared towards strength training, not
specifically hypertrophy).
Exercise Order: “Workouts should be ordered in a way that allows the most important
exercises to be done first.” Rip provides a series of recommendations based on the
level of the lifter for specific lifts and their order, but more technical and less brute
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force lifts should be done first and heavier yet more forgiving technically lifts like the
squat can be done later as fatigue increases.
Speed of Movement: “For exercises useful to strength training for a sports application,
faster is always better.”
Warm-Up: 3-5 minutes of exercise bike or C2 Rower, gradually increasing in intensity to
elevate body temperature. Focus, then, on practicing your movements with complete
ROM with only the bar. Then add in incremental weight until work set weight. Then,
repeat the process without the aerobic part for every exercise in the workout.
Stretching: If you should choose to stretch, do it at the end of your workout. Otherwise, work
with an experienced therapist in Active Release Therapy or myofascial release.
The Training Log: Have one. Keep consistent. Track all meaningful data and improvements.
The Novice:
“Virtually anything that makes a novice work harder than bed rest will produce positive
results.”
Exercises, Sets, and Reps: Squats, press, bench press, and the deadlift. Reps per set is
standard 5. Number of sets is dependent on athlete’s circumstances and prior
experience. Starting at 3 sets moving up to 5 sets. Assistance exercises are done
with more higher reps. 3 days per week.
The Intermediate:
“When the training overload of a single workout and the recovery period allowed
improvement, the novice trainee needs a change of program. A single training stress
constitutes an overload event for a novice. And this overland and the recovery between that
training stress and the next one is enough to disrupt homeostasis and induce a gain in
strength for the beginner. Once this is no longer the case, the trainee is no longer a novice.”
Exercises, Sets, and Reps: Exercises selected via choice of sport or training emphasis,
and “the degree of specialization in exercise selection is also determined by the need
for more than basic strength enhancement.” Assistance exercises become useful.
“Strength work needs up to five sets of 1 to 5 reps on the core lifts, hypertrophy calls
for five sets of 12 to 15 reps with little rest between sets, and power work requires
five to ten sets 1 to 5 reps at weights lift enough to move fast but heavy enough to be
hard to complete. Assistance exercises will be done with higher reps, usually 10 to
15, and fewer sets, usually three to five.”
Intensity:
Intensity
(%1RM)
100
90
80
70
60
50
Volume (Reps)
1
3
5
5
8
8
10
12
20
Light
Medium
Relative Intensity
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wADvxToHbwx_f5_EJ3YBoF0ZaZXySUPiPqazp5PxhwI/edit
1
3
8
10
15
25+
Heavy
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Specific Program Recommendations: Rip discusses at length the Texas Method as a
strong methodology for periodization moving forward for intermediates. I would
elaborate on this section, but it’s pretty lengthy and in-depth, and I doubt my
restatement would be nearly as valuable as just reading it in the book or finding a
summary elsewhere on the intranets.
Rip also discusses the Split Routine Model and the Starr Model as sufficient for
intermediate programming.
The Advanced:
“The advanced trainee has adapted to strength training to the point where a weekly training
organization is no longer working. At this level of advancement, an overload event and
subsequent recovery from it may take a month or more.” Mostly competitors, most lifters will
not his this point.
The Pyramid Model: The pyramid model that Rip provides involves a 4 week accumulation
block where volume is increased, a 3 week deloading and transition period, followed
by an intensification and peak period in the 8th week. As with all the other chapters,
specific examples with numbers, reps, sets, and assistance exercises are given.
The Two Steps Forward, One Step Back Model: Four week block system to manipulate
workload, “with progress made by connecting a series of these blocks using
progressively higher loads. Each block starts with a week at a baseline load of
moderate intensity. The second week moves average intensity up about 10%. The
third week is an offload or recovery week where average intensity is reduced. This
lighter week enables a fourth-week increase, resulting in a PR of some sort.”
Block One: Base work, run 2-3 times.
Week 1: 3x5 @ 90% of 5x5-across PR
Week 2: 5x5 @ PR
Week 3: 2x5 @ 80% of 5x5 PR
Week 4: 5RM
Block Two: Transition, run once before peak
Week 1: 3x3 @ 93% of 5x5-across PR
Week 2: 5x3 @ 5RM, deload after set 3 if necessary to maintain 3 reps
Week 3: 2x3 @ 80% of 5RM
Week 4: 3RM
Block Three: Peaking
Week 1: 3x3 @ 90% of 3RM
Week 2: 5 singles across @ 3RM +3%
Week 3: 2x2 @ 85% of 3RM
Week 4: Meet Week
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From Starting Strength Novice Programming:
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My Personal Book Review:
Say what you will about Rip as a person, but the dude cares about lifting and getting strong.
Practical Programming would be a great jumping off point for people seeking good
fundamental information about strength training. Some of the book came off, to me, as a bit
dogmatic, but overall still a great text worth your time. Rating: 8/10
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Tyler English Notes
All recommendations and notes for Tyler English are my notes specifically taken from Men’s Health
Natural Bodybuilding Bible: A Complete 24-Week Program for Sculpting Muscles that Show: Tyler
English (2013). Do not consider this section an exhaustive summary of this book, but instead just a
collection of notes that I found pertinent to my own research. I still suggest getting a copy/ checking
out a copy from the library and reading this book.
Nutrition:
1. Find your body type: Ectomorph, Mesomorph, Endomorph, or mixture/ hybrid.
2. Know yourself: know your own body and it’s needs/ metabolism.
3. Manage your carbs: A good balance between too much and too little is key.
4. Give yourself enough time: Every diet plan will take a different amount of time depending
on your body type and your own personal body - general guidelines from start until
competition day: Ectomorph 10-16 weeks, Mesomorph 16-22 weeks, Endomorph 22-28
weeks.
5. Track calories to lower body-fat percentage: Determine your body fat percentage and your
lean body mass amounts to track and adjust those numbers as needs be.
Protein: 1 gram per pound of bodyweight baseline. Ectomorph: 1.3g/lb - 1.6g/lb. Mesomorph
1.2g/lb-1.5g/lb. Endomorph: 1.4g/lb- 1.7g/lb. Complete protein sources: Tuna,
salmon, cottage cheese, eggs, chicken breast, turkey breast, beef (flank steak,
bison, sirloin, lean ground beef), low-fat pork, milk protein isolate, whey protein, soy
protein.
Fat: Ectomorph: 15-20% of daily total calories. Mesomorph: 16-21%. Endomorph: 18-23%.
Better fat sources: avocado, cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, pepper jack,
swiss), extra-virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, fish oil, natural almond butter, natural
cashew butter, natural peanut butter, nuts (almonds, brazil nuts, peanuts, pecans,
walnuts), cold-water fish (salmon, mackerel, lake trout, tuna - both canned and
fresh), anchovies and sardines).
Carbohydrates: Ectomorph: 30-45% of daily total calories. Mesomorph: 25-40%.
Endomorph: 20-35%. Avoid simple sugars. Better carbohydrate sources: sweet
potatoes, oatmeal, oat bran, oat bran cereal, brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, whole
wheat pasta (minimal), whole wheat tortillas (minimal), wheat bread (minimal),
beans, fruits (two to three servings per day), maltodextrin (during or after workouts),
vegetables.
His book has a very lengthy but not terribly in-depth analysis on natural bodybuilders’ diet essentially, make sure that your macro- and micronutrients are in balance (or present at all).
The diet section touches lightly on pre- and post-workout nutrition, raising anabolic
hormones, sparking protein synthesis with natural insulin, tapping into your natural
testosterone, building muscle with body growth hormone (that you naturally produce already)
and how to squeeze out more IGF-1 via diet. He gives some light information on the phases
of dieting, also, mostly in the light of contest prep. I don’t think an in-depth analysis is
worthwhile, so I’ll be skipping this section. Basically, eat right.
Tyler provides several great examples/ samples of 3-, 4-, and 5-day splits. I won’t restate all of the
information (just check out the book if you really need his programs - they’re not terribly
unique or surprising - good basics).
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Cardio For Lifters:
“Ectomorph Suggestions:
Frequency: 3 Sessions Per Week
Length of Session: 20 - 30 minutes. Do 1-2 sessions as high-intensity cardio.
Mesomorph Suggestions:
Frequency: 4-5 Sessions Per Week
Length of Session: 20 - 30 minutes. Do 2-3 sessions as high-intensity cardio.
Endomorph Suggestions:
Frequency: 5-7 Sessions Per Week
Length of Session: 20 - 45 minutes. Do 2-3 sessions as high-intensity cardio.
Types of Cardio:
Metabolic Resistance Training:
Lift weights in circuit, supersets, with short rest periods. Intensity is key.
High-Intensity Interval Training:
Short bursts of high intensity effort followed by recovery segments at low(er)
intensities. 10 seconds Sprints > 30 seconds Jog/ Walk > Sprints > Jog/
Walk, rinse and repeat.
High-Intensity Aerobic Training:
Maintains a high level of effort sustained over time for a certain aerobic
exercise, for example 2 minutes high intensity biking followed by 2 minutes
recovery biking. Not reported as good for promoting muscle mass.
Low-Intensity Aerobic Training:
Sustained low effort/ intensity aerobic exercise for a longer period of time.
“Running, walking, riding a bike at a steady pace for 30 minutes to an hour.””
He then gives a series of chapters/ sections on competition prep, tanning, posing, and how to handle
peak week. Nothing I feel like restating or summarizing as I do not intend on becoming a
competition-level athlete anytime soon. If you do, however, these sections probably have
some pretty good advice in them for you.
My Personal Book Review:
A good book overall, but I wouldn’t rate it the best out of the books that I have read so far on
the subject. This book feels and reads less polished than the rest, but I figured that I would
include it anyway as Men’s Health seems to vouch for it pretty insistently. It’s a long book
(354 pages) but you can see from the mere two pages of summary how much of it I felt was
either useful/ interesting, or worth repeating here. Rating: 4/10
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Notes
All recommendations and notes for Tyler English are my notes specifically taken from The New
Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding: The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revised:
Arnold Schwarzenegger with Bill Dobbins (1998). Do not consider this section an exhaustive
summary of this book, but instead just a collection of notes that I found pertinent to my own
research. I still suggest getting a copy/ checking out a copy from the library and reading this book.
Basic Training Principles:
Progressive Resistance: Subject your muscles to progressively more difficult overload.
Reps: 70-75% of 1RM is touted by Schwarzenegger here, with general sets of 8-12 reps for
upper-body muscles and 12-16 reps for major leg muscles (approximations, more
detail to come later).
Training to Failure: Not complete exhaustion, but do a set until you can’t do any more
repetitions with that weight without stopping to rest. Sample:
“First Set: a warm-up set with a lighter weight, 14 repetitions or slightly more.
Second Set: Add weight so that the muscles fail at about 10-12 reps.
Third Set: Add more weight to bring the failure point down to 8-10 reps.
Fourth Set: For maximum strength, add enough weight so your muscles fail after only
6 reps (power set).
Optional Fifth Set: Use the same weight, try to get another 6 reps, get some help
from a training partner if necessary to complete the set (forced reps).”
Sets: In Basic Training Program I, Arnold recommends 4 sets of each exercise. “Doing 4
sets per exercise for a total of 12 sets per body part (for the larger muscle groups) in
Basic … and 20 sets in Advanced … enables you to do a sufficient variety of
exercises to work all the areas of a body part.” This should be the sufficient number
of reps/ sets, e.g. volume, to stimulate growth.
Full Range of Motion: “For most purposes, bodybuilding exercises should take any muscle
through its longest possible range of motion” with few exceptions. Full stretch, full
contraction.
The Quality of Contraction: “Bodybuilding is about training muscles, not lifting weights.”
Concentrate on getting good mind-muscle connection and proper contractions
through full ROM, not just how much weight is on the bar.
Warming Up: Literal, it’s warming up the body and the surrounding muscles to pump fresh
oxygenated blood through the body, raise blood pressure, increase heart rate,
protect the body from overstressing, prevent injury, and so on. “Start each exercise
with one light warm-up set to get those specific muscles to do that specific
movement.” Do some light calisthenics or aerobics to get blood going.
Power Training: Training for power is just as useful and necessary in the long run for muscle
size and density as is specific hypertrophy training. Use power training as part of
your plan towards muscle hypertrophic size growth.
Heavy Days: “Once a week or so I would pick one body part and go to the maximum with
strength moves that worked that area. When training legs, for instance, I would try to
a maximum Squat; for chest, a maximum-strength bench press.” “Once or twice a
week pick one body part and test out your maximum strength.”
Overtraining and Recuperation: Focus on good quality rest and recovery.
Resting between Sets: “Try to keep your rest periods down to a minute or less. In the first
minute after a weight-training exercise you recover 72 percent of your strength, and
by 3 minutes you have recovered all you are going to recover without extended rest.”
Breathing: Don’t hold your breath.
Stretching: Stretch and flex regularly.
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Basic Training Programs:
Split System Training: Divide your training so that you only work some of your body each
day, not the whole body each day (**aka Bro-Splits**).
Organizing Your Training: Recommended Splits
“Level I: each body part 2 times a week - using a 3-day split (taking 3 days to train
the entire body.
Level II: each body part 3 times a week - using a 2-day split (taking 2 days to train
the entire body.
Abdominals: every workout, both levels.”
Rest and Recuperation: 8 hours sleep, rest days, don’t exhaust yourself with other sports
or physical activities, pay attention to your priorities, rest on off days.
When to Train: Do it when it suits you best, but Arnold likes early mornings.
Level I Exercise Program:
Monday and Thursday:
Chest
Bench Press: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Incline Press: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Pullovers: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Back
Chin-Ups: (do as many repetitions at a time as you can until you
reach a total of 50 reps)
Bent-Over Rows: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Power Training
Deadlifts: 3 sets of 10, 6, 4 reps to failure
Abdominals
Leg Raises: 5 sets of 25 reps
Tuesday and Friday
Shoulders
Barbell Clean and Press: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Power Training
Heavy Upright Rows: 3 sets of 10, 6, 4 reps to failure
Push Presses: 3 sets of 6, 4, 2 reps to failure
Upper Arms
Standing Barbell Curls: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Seated Dumbbell Curls: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Narrow-Grip Bench Press: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Standing Triceps Extensions with Barbell: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Forearms
Wrist Curls: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
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Reverse Wrist Curls: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Abdominals
Incline Sit-Ups: 5 sets of 25 reps each
Wednesday and Saturday
Thighs
Squats: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Lunges: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Leg Curls: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Calves
Standing Calf Raises: 5 sets of 15 reps each
Lower Back
Power Training
Straight-Leg Deadlifts: 3 sets of 10, 6, 4 reps to failure
Good Mornings: 3 sets of 10, 8, 6 reps to failure
Abdominals
Leg Raises: 5 sets of 25 reps each
Level II Exercise Program:
Monday / Wednesday/ Friday
Chest
Bench Press: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Incline Press: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Pullovers: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Back
Chin-Ups: (do as many repetitions at a time as you can until you
reach a total of 50 reps)
Bent-Over Rows: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Power Training
Deadlifts: 3 sets of 10, 6, 4 reps to failure
Thighs
Squats: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Lunges: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Leg Curls: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Calves
Standing Calf Raises: 5 sets of 8 to 15 reps
Abdominals
Leg Raises: 5 sets of 25 reps
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Tuesday/ Thursday/ Saturday
Shoulders
Barbell Clean and Press: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Power Training
Heavy Upright Rows: 3 sets of 10, 6, 4 reps to failure
Push Presses: 3 sets of 6, 4, 2 reps to failure
Lower Back
Power Training
Straight-Leg Deadlifts: 3 sets of 10, 6, 4 reps to failure
Good Mornings: 3 sets of 10, 8, 6 reps to failure
Upper Arms
Standing Barbell Curls: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Seated Dumbbell Curls: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Narrow-Grip Bench Press: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Standing French Press: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Forearms
Wrist Curls: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Reverse Wrist Curls: 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Abdominals
Incline Sit-Ups: 5 sets of 25 reps each
Advanced Training Principles:
Increasing Training Intensity: More weight, less rest time, more volume, more time under
Tension.
Intensity Techniques:
The Shocking Principle: “Shock it by training with more weight than usual; doing
more reps and/ or sets; speeding up your training; cutting down your rest time
between sets; doing unfamiliar exercises; doing your exercises in an
unfamiliar order.”
Forced Reps: Workout partner supported to go beyond your normal workload.
Partial Reps: At the end of a set, when you’re almost exhausted, lift and lower
through only partial ROM, working your way through ROM as you can handle
it until you are exhausted.
Isolation Training: Focused efforts on a specific muscle or muscle group.
Negative Repetitions: Lower weights slowly and under control - get the lift to the top
of the movement and slowly return to stretch.
Forced Negatives: Partner or assisted via machine, have them “press down on
weight as you lower it, forcing you to cope with greater resistance”. Avoid
sudden jerks to prevent injury.
The Cheating Method: Forced reps without a partner, get weight to contraction with
the assistance of other muscles as opposed to full isolation - only cheat just
enough to get the weight moving without fully changing it outside of the
desired muscle group’s workload.
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Heavy-Duty Method: A lot of extended sets to exhaustion - “say, 5 sets of 8 to 12
reps. If you can do only 6 or 7 reps, the weight is too heavy.”
Power-Training Principle:
This book is worth purchasing for this section alone, in terms of awesome power sets.
Staggered Sets: Picking a body part you want to train specifically with increased
intensity and working it in-between your working sets of the rest of your lifts
(A, B, A, C, A, D, A, E).
The Priority Principle: Pick a priority based on your weaknesses, and: schedule it
specifically after a rest day, schedule it at the beginning of a training session,
specifically design exercise around the development of that weakness, work
on improving basic technique, add extra intensity.
Supersets
The Stripping Method
The Isotension Principle: Continue to flex and contract your muscles during rest
period between sets.
The Instinctive Principle: Instinctively understand your body to know what is going
to yield the best day-to-day workouts and thus results (only for those
advanced lifters and those with strong mind-muscle connection).
Pre-Exhaust Principle: Pre-exhaust bigger muscle groups with lighter isolation work
so that your big muscles exhaust at the same time as the smaller muscles
during your bigger compound movements.
I Go/ You Go: Go to failure with a lift, trade off with a partner, rest until they go to
failure, take it back, go to failure again, rinse and repeat until your body is
shocked (more useful for small muscles like calves/ biceps)
The Flushing Method: “Involves holding a (relatively light) weight steady at various
points along the path of the exercise, forcing the muscle to maintain a
constant contraction for extended periods.”
Multi-Exercise Sets: Same muscle group, different exercises all in one day (e.g.
barbell curls > dumbbell curls > cable curls > incline curls) for each next set.
The “One-and-a-Half” Method: Complete a full rep, then follow immediately with a
half rep of the movement (very slow and very strict), “hold the weight
momentarily at the extreme point of the movement, then lower it slowly,
totally under control.”
The Platoon System (21’s)
Progressive Workload: Plan your workouts in your split so that “first is intense, with
relatively high reps and sets, but you don’t use the heaviest weights possible.
You increase the weight for the second session, but still stay short of going all
out. For your third workout, however, you go very heavy, keeping your reps
down to 4 to 6 maximum per set.”
Ballistic Training: Big muscle exercises (bench press, shoulder press, squats) - use
weight you can normally do about 10 reps with, 7 reps at the fastest
explosive (yet smooth and controlled) reps possible rather than constant
speed. Normal constant speed returns to the bottom of the movement, then
accelerate smoothly throughout ROM to complete a rep.
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Body Part Specific Training:
Shoulders:
Two basic kinds of exercises: straight arm raises and presses.
Highly power trained development oriented.
Supersets are great for these muscles.
Basic Program Exercises:
Clean and Press
Heavy Upright Rows
Push Presses (dumbbell, barbell OHP)
Dumbbell Laterals
Advanced Program Exercises:
Behind-the-Neck Presses
Bent-Over Laterals
Shrugs
Lying Incline Laterals
Seated Cable Rear Laterals
Assorted Other Exercises:
Machine Presses
Arnold Presses
Front Dumbbell Raises
Front Barbell Presses
Upright Rows
Incline Barbell and Dumbbell Presses
Incline Dumbbell Flyes
Deadlifts
Clean and Press
Reverse Laterals
T-Bar Rows
Cable Rows
Chest:
Two basic kinds of exercises for the chest: flyes and presses.
Focus on full stretch, contraction, and ROM.
Also a superset-able muscle group.
Basic Program Exercises:
Bench/ Incline Presses
Dumbbell Flyes
Dips
Pullovers
Advanced Program Exercises:
Cable Crossovers
Weighted Chins
Wide-Grip Chins
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Rope Pulls
One-Arm Cable Pulls
Hanging Serratus Crunches
Hanging Dumbbell Rows
Upper Pecs
Incline Presses with a barbell or dumbbells or Smith machine
Incline Flyes
Lower Pecs
Decline Presses
Dips
Decline Flyes
Cable Flyes
Outer Chest
Dumbbell Flyes (full stretch, lower ROM)
Dips
Incline/ Bench Presses (wide grip, lower ¾ ROM)
Dumbbell Flyes
Dumbbell Bench Press
Incline Presses with Bar
Rib Cage
Dumbbell and Barbell Pullovers
Back:
Largest muscles of the upper body.
Outer Back
Rows with a narrow grip
T-Bar Rows
Upper Back
Heavy Bent-Over Barbell Rows
Seated Wide-Grip Rows
One-Arm Dumbbell Rows
Lat Width
Wide-Grip Chins
Wide-Grip Pulldowns
Lower Lats
One-Arm Cable Rows
Close-Grip Chins
Close-Grip Pulldowns
Middle Back
Seated Rows with separate handles
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Wide Grip Rows
T-Bar Rows
Lower Back
Heavy Deadlifts
Good Mornings
Hyperextensions
Biceps:
Basic Program Exercises:
Barbell Curl, strict form
Dumbbell Curls
One-Arm Curls
Advanced Program Exercises:
Incline Dumbbell Curls
Concentration Curls
Assorted Other Exercises:
Alternate Dumbbell Curls
Preacher Curls
Partner Barbell Curls
For Mass:
Heavy Barbell Curls
Cheat Curls
For Length and Thickness:
Curls concentrating on the lower third of the ROM
Incline/ Prone Curls
Strict movements like Preacher Curls or Curls with an arm blaster
(rotate wrists 180 degrees 5 or 6 times after each set of dumbbell curls)
For Peak/ Height:
Concentration Curls
Dumbbell movements with a twist of the wrist as you raise the weight
Peak contraction principle
Focus on pump/ urns
For Biceps Mass and Outer Thickness:
Curls done inward, like Close Grip Barbell Curls or Close Grip Preacher Bench Curls
Concentration Curls that bring the weight into your chest
For Biceps Mass and Inner Thickness
Hold dumbbells in hammer position
Standing Barbell Curls
Barbell Preacher Curls wide grip
Seated or Standing Dumbbell Curls
Incline Dumbbell Curls
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Standing Alternate Dumbbell Curls
For Separation and Definition:
High set training, supersets, trisets.
Reverse Curls
Triceps:
Two basic movements: press and extension.
Great muscle group for supersetting, alongside biceps typically.
Basic Program Exercises:
Triceps Pressdown
One-Arm Tricep Extension
Barbell Triceps Extensions
Lying Triceps Extensions
Lying Dumbbell Extensions
Dumbbell Kickbacks
One-Arm Cable Triceps Pressdowns
Advanced Program Exercises:
Supersetting
For Mass:
Close-Grip Barbell Presses
Weighted Dips
Dips Behind the Back
For Mass and Upper Triceps:
Cable Press-Downs and One-Arm Cable Pressdowns (regular and reverse grips)
Kickbacks
Dips
For Mass and Lower Triceps:
Weighted Dips
Dips Behind the Back (partial reps, all the way down, ¾ way back up)
Forearms:
Basic Program Exercises:
Barbell Wrist Curls
Reverse Wrist Curls
Strict technique with relatively high weight
Advanced Program Exercises:
One-Arm Wrist Curls
Superset Wrist Curls with Reverse Wrist Curls
Assorted Other Exercises:
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Preacher Bench Reverse Curls
Behind-the-Back Wrist Curls
For Upper Forearms/ Wrist Extensor Muscles
Reverse Curls with a barbell, dumbbells, and on a preacher bench
One-Arm Cable Reverse Curls
Hammer Curls
Reverse Wrist Curls
For Inner Forearms/ Wrist Flexor Muscles
One-Arm Wrist Curls
Barbell Wrist Curls
Behind-the-Back Wrist Curls
The Thighs:
Quads vs. Biceps Femoris, extend/ straighten leg vs. curl the leg back.
Muscles of upper leg are largest and most powerful in the entire body.
Brutal leg workouts are really the only effective leg workouts.
Basic Program Exercises:
Heavy Squats
Front Squats
Heavy Leg Presses
Leg Extensions
Lunges
Leg Curls
Hack Squats
Lower Thigh Development
Squats/ Hack Squats/ Leg Presses
Leg Extensions with full ROM
Outer Thigh Development
Front Squats
Hack Squats
Any squat or leg press with toes pointed straight and feet close together
Abductor machines and movements
Inner Thigh Development
Lots of Lunges
Straight-Legged Deadlifts
Any squat or press movement with the toes turned outward and a relatively wide foot
stance
Adductor machines and movements
Front Sweep of Thighs:
Hack Squats on a block under your heels
Sissy Squats
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For Overall Development
Feet shoulder-width apart
Toes pointed slightly out
For Outer Thigh (vastus lateralis) Emphasis
Feet close together
Toes pointed straight ahead
For Inner Thigh (adductors) and Front Thigh (vastus medialis) Emphasis
Feet relatively wide apart
Toes pointed out at a wide angle
The Hamstrings:
Basic Program Exercises:
Leg Curls
Squats
Lunges
Straight-Legged Deadlifts
Good Mornings
Shocking principle/ stripping method
Advanced Training Exercises:
Front Squats
Hack Squats
Straight-Legged Deadlifts
Supersetting hamstrings/ thighs
The Calves:
Need to be trained at many different angles with extremely heavy weight.
Need to be constantly shocked.
Basic Program Exercises:
Calf Raises, 4 sets 15 reps each 3 times a week, full ROM, on a block.
Advanced Training Exercises
6 times per week
Donkey Calf Raises
Seated Calf Raises
Standing Calf Raises
Front Calf Raises
One-Leg Calf Raises
Supersets
Lower Calves
Seated Calf Raises
Bend the knee (Jon Snow... ) slightly when doing standing calf raises
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Upper Calves
Standing Calf Raises with special emphasis at the top of the ROM
Emphasis on the Inside of the Calves
Calf exercises with toes turned outward
Emphasis on the Outside of the Calves
Calf raises with toes turned inward
One Calf Too Small
2 extra sets of One-Leg Calf Raises
Front of the Calves
Front Calf Raises
Abdominals:
Strong abs are essential to maximizing performance in almost all sports.
Spot reduction isn’t a thing.
Arnold trained abs in every workout.
Exercises:
Crunch
Reverse Crunch
Leg Tucks
Twists
Side Bends
Stomach vacuum
Twisting Crunches
Roman Chair (10 minutes)
Side Leg Raises
Bent-Knee Side Leg Raises
Front Kicks
Bench Kickbacks
Rear Leg Scissors
The G.O.A.T. then provides a massive section on contest prep, posing, haircuts, music, tanning,
competition strategy/ tactics, water consumption, the whole 9 yards. These sections are
absolutely amazing, but I won’t be re-capping them because this is just research on lifts/
lifting, not competition.
There are also amazing sections on nutrition and injury prevention/ rehab.
My Personal Book Review:
This book is an amazing tome full of tons of first-person experience, solid science, and
enjoyable to read. The pictures help to demonstrate what Arnold is talking about when
explaining his concepts in a very concrete and obvious way. I fully suggest anybody, even
those with a passing fancy in bodybuilding, to pick up a copy of this book and check it out for
it’s wealth of knowledge. Rating: A perfect 5/7. Real Rating: 8/10.
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Dr. Brad Schoenfeld Notes
Much of the research in the field of hypertrophy/ bodybuilding/ gainz was done via research/
meta-analysis through Dr. Brad “It Depends” Schoenfeld’s work.
All recommendations and notes for Dr. Brad Schoenfeld are my notes specifically taken from The
M.A.X. Muscle Plan: Mitogen Activated Xtreme Training: Dr. Brad Schoenfeld (2013). Do not
consider this section an exhaustive summary of this book, but instead just a collection of notes that I
found pertinent to my own research. I still suggest getting a copy/ checking out a copy from the
library and reading this book.
Triggering Muscle Growth:
Three primary mechanisms involved:
Muscle Tension
Generally considered most important factor. “Up to a certain point, greater
muscle tension leads to a greater anabolic stimulus . . . However, it
seems that an upper limit exists, beyond which high tension levels have a
diminishing effect on muscle growth. Once this threshold is reached, other
factors become increasingly more important . . . This is why bodybuilders
generally display superior muscle growth compared with powerlifters even
though bodybuilders routinely train with lighter weights.”
Muscle Damage
Damaging muscle in productive ways is crucial to muscle growth, but
soreness (DOMS) is not necessarily a given prerequisite for muscle
growth.
Metabolic Stress
Buildup of metabolites, through the use of metabolically stressful pressure
cuffs (occlusion training), can increase muscle size using “very light
weights - far less than what is normally considered sufficient for promoting
muscular adaptations.”
MAX Periodization:
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
Intensity
Low, 1-5, 90-100% of 1RM, “best for increasing muscle strength.”
Moderate, 6-12, 65-85% of 1RM, “optimal for building muscle.”
High, 15+, less than 60% of 1RM, “associated with adaptations
specific to local muscular endurance.”
Volume
“Anywhere from two to four sets per exercise is generally a good
guideline . . . Keep in mind, though, that long workouts tend to be
associated with reduced intensity of effort, decreased motivation, and
alterations in immune response. Thus, it’s best to limit intensive workouts
to no longer than an hour in length.”
Muscle Fiber Types
Type I: Slow Twitch, “endurance-oriented fibers that can withstand
repeated contractions but have a limited ability to generate force.”
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Type II: Fast Twitch, “have a substantial capacity for generating force but
tend to fatigue easily.”
Rest Interval
Short: 30 seconds or less, difficult to build substantial amounts of muscle
due to muscle tension timing being compromised (despite
metabolite accumulation being higher).
Moderate: 1-2 minutes, “effective compromise,” maintains majority of
strength while promoting significant metabolic stress. “Best of both
worlds.”
Long: 3 minutes or more, good for strength but not size.
Effort
“The key is to periodize this variable over the course of a training cycle. If
any signs of overtraining manifest, reduce the frequency of sets
performed to failure accordingly.”
10-Point Resistance Training RPE Scale
Rating
Effort Level
1
Complete Rest
2
Extremely Easy
3
Very Easy
4
Easy
5
Moderate
6
Somewhat Hard
7
Hard
8
Very Hard
9
Extremely Hard
10
Muscular Failure
Tempo
Concentric: Positive, the portion of a lift when you lift against gravity.
Eccentric: Negative, the portion of a lift when you lower weight with
gravity.
Isometric: Static, occurs when the weight is not moving in either direction.
Separated by hyphens when annotated in lifting (ex. 1-0-3-0) “in which the
first number represents the concentric phase, the second number
the isometric phase, the third number the eccentric phase, and the
fourth number the isometric phase at the bottom of the lift.” 1-0-3-0
then means 1 second concentric, little to no isometric hold at the
top, 3 second eccentric, little to no isometric hold at the bottom,
repeat until set is done.
Lift concentrically as explosively as possible provided control throughout.
Slower tempo on eccentric portion is beneficial, 2-3 seconds generally.
Frequency
“As a general rule, at least three resistance training sessions per week
are necessary to maximize muscle development, but a greater frequency
can potentially augment results, at least up to a given point.”
“Taking all factors into account, allow a minimum of 48 hours between
exercise sessions that work the same muscle group.”
Exercise Selection
“An assortment of exercises ensures complete stimulation of all fibers.”
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“Bottom line: no single exercise can effectively maximize development of
a muscle. You can achieve full development only by varying exercise
selection so that muscles are worked from different angles in all planes of
Movement.”
Strength = limited number of exercises, hardwired in with heavy
repetition.
Hypertrophy = “frequent rotation of exercises is highly desirable. The goal
is to vary parameters such as angle of pull, exercise modality, and
so on to elicit different activation patterns within whole muscles
and muscle compartments and to provide an unique stimulus to
muscle fibers that heightens microtrauma. It can be beneficial to
switch up your exercises on weekly basis. At the very least, aim to
switch around your exercises every few weeks or so.”
Getting Started
“Adjust exercise variables to better suit your muscle fiber type,
psychological stresses, age, training experience, health status, and
recovery rate. The best advice I can give is to remain in tune with your
body and be willing to experiment according to your individual response.”
Dr. Schoenfeld then gives a set of awesome breakdowns of tons of exercises, their target, how
to do the movement, helpful pictures of proper form, even tips on the lifts for extra gainz.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wADvxToHbwx_f5_EJ3YBoF0ZaZXySUPiPqazp5PxhwI/edit
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MAX Break In Routine
Total-body workout routine for conditioning and preparation for the MAX strength phase.
8 week mesocycle, two training blocks of four 1-week microcycles. Mostly for
conditioning against the rigors of his later programming. Exclusively higher reps (15-20).
**For Workout specifics, see pictures below (p.s., sorry for the shitty photos):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wADvxToHbwx_f5_EJ3YBoF0ZaZXySUPiPqazp5PxhwI/edit
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MAX Strength Phase
“During this phase you’ll focus on lifting heavy weights in a low repetition range. The
goal here is to get as strong as possible; increasing muscle size is of secondary concern
at this point.”
**For Workout specifics, see pictures below:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wADvxToHbwx_f5_EJ3YBoF0ZaZXySUPiPqazp5PxhwI/edit
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MAX Metabolic Phase
“Is a preparatory phase that conditions your body for hypertrophy training. The goal is to
optimize training efficiency by packing more exercise into less time.”
**For Workout specifics, see pictures below:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wADvxToHbwx_f5_EJ3YBoF0ZaZXySUPiPqazp5PxhwI/edit
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MAX Muscle Phase
“This phase maximizes muscle development from both a quantitative (muscle size) and
qualitative (muscle symmetry) standpoint.”
**For Workout specifics, see pictures below:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wADvxToHbwx_f5_EJ3YBoF0ZaZXySUPiPqazp5PxhwI/edit
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MAX Nutrition
Calories
Calories in - Calories out = change in body mass
“The key to a successful muscle-building diet is to keep calories in a range that
promotes the development of lean mass rather than body fat. A gain of about 1
pound (0.5 kg) of muscle per week is the upper limit of what you can expect to
attain without fattening up in the process.”
Lean gains: 18-20 calories per pound (per 40 kg), adjust by 100’s every few
weeks, tweaking to find what works best at gaining/ losing.
Protein
Serious weightlifters should consider 0.7-0.9 grams of protein per pound (1.6-2.0
grams/ kg) of bodyweight, but general recommendation is to round up to 1 gram
per. No need to do 2 grams per (saturation point, no upside). Proteins from
non-gelatin forms of animal-based protein - meats, dairy, eggs, etc. - are best;
veggie proteins lack essential amino acids and are considered incomplete, so
must be eaten in combination with each other to complete amino acid profiles.
Carbohydrates
Must be eaten, but under control. “Can and should be an integral part of your
dietary regimen.” 2-3 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight is suggested for
muscle building purposes. Nutrient-dense carbs are better than trash carbs, and
likely have more fiber (e.g. fruits and veggies).
Fat
Also must be eaten, but under control. “Fat consumption is positively associated
with testosterone production; if fat intake is restricted, testosterone levels
decline.”
At least 20% of calories in your daily diet should be from good fats.
Fat should be inversely related to carbs.
“Say, for example, that you weight 200 pounds (91 kg) and your target is 4000
calories per day. If you consume 2 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body
weight at 4 calories per gram (1600 calories), and 1 gram of protein per pound of
body weight at 4 calories per gram (800 calories), then daily fat intake would
equal 1,600 calories. Because fat has 9 calories per gram, this would equal
approximately 178 grams of fat. If you increase carbohydrate intake to 3 grams
per pound of body weight, then you reduce fat intake to 800 calories
(approximately 89 grams of fat).”
Majority of fats should come from unsaturated fats.
Keep saturated fats to a minimum.
Nutrient Timing
Pre-workout:
Carbs and protein good, fat bad.
Ideally, something nutrient dense with starch, low fat protein, and limited to no
fats. “Try to consume your preworkout meal approximately two to three hours
before training.”
“Consider eating a large piece of fruit within half an hour of training.”
“Ideally, you should combine the piece of fruit with a whey protein drink.”
During workout:
Water, hydrate!
Post-workout:
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Grape and cranberry juices are good choices.
Whey protein shake.
Cardio
Aerobic exercise good for removing midsection fat stores (abdominal fat).
“Moreover, consistent aerobic exercise expands the size and number of your
mitochondria (cellular furnaces where fat burning takes place) and increases the quantity
of your aerobic enzymes (bodily proteins that accelerate the fat-burning process), It also
has a sensitizing effect on insulin function, facilitating a greater capacity to store
carbohydrate as glycogen rather than as fat. Over time, these factors ratchet up your
body’s ability to burn fat.”
Helps improve recovery from heavy lifting training.
Good as active recovery process.
Cardio should be done as both lower body AND upper body cardio (pump arms while
walking like on the elliptical, etc.)
“Cardio seems to impair resistance training adaptations more than vice versa.”
“A proper diet and regimented resistance training is often sufficient for producing desired
Results.”
MAX Cardio Protocol
Intensity
60-70% of Maximal Heart Rate (MHR) or 6-7 RPE
Maximal Heart Rate: subtract your age from 220. For a 30 year old, that would be
190 MHR.
Duration
30-45 minutes
Frequency
3-4 days per week
High Intensity Interval Training
HIIT can cause overtraining if you’re not paying attention to your rest.
HIIT can hinder muscle development.
Good for fat loss, though.
“If you are seeking to optimize fat loss and don’t mind sacrificing some muscle growth,
then HIIT is an excellent choice. Just make sure that you weight your priorities before
making a decision.”
Timing of Cardio
Two choices:
1. Schedule cardio on your off days
2. Include cardio on lifting days
“Do whatever fits your lifestyle.”
Always lift before cardio, never vice versa.
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“To maximize the anabolic response, consume your post-workout drink before the cardio
bout.”
Fasted Cardio
Kind of just spinning wheels - great explanation of it in the book.
“Bottom line: You need to evaluate fat burning over the course of days, not on an
hour-by-hour basis, to get a meaningful perspective on its effect on body composition.”
Can have a catabolic effect on muscle.
Choosing a Cardio Modality
“You can use any continuous, submaximal activities for the MAX cardio component.
Jogging, rowing, elliptical training, jumping rope,. . . Remember that incorporating
movements that involve both the upper and lower body help maximize results.”
“Ideally, you should choose exercises that you enjoy.”
My Personal Book Review:
I think, in terms of the books that I have read so far, this one could easily be considered
one of the better informal but informative texts on bodybuilding/ weightlifting, etc. Dr.
Schoenfeld is well researched and very knowledgeable, but feels very accessible in the
text - it doesn’t feel overly scholarly or difficult to read for the layman in science. Well
worth the read to anyone with even a passing interest. That being said, it does have a
pretty cringe-inducing title which I think would lead many to passing it over as being a
clickbait-esque book. A solid book overall, regardless of title. Rating: 9.5/10.
Below is research specific to him found in YouTube videos:
How Many Sets Are Needed to Maximize Muscle Growth, Jeremy Ethier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EspBPvst5Qc
Optimal Volume (# of sets) to maximize muscle growth?
Currently not enough research to say exactly how many sets is optimal. Research has
show that 10+ sets per muscle group per week is beneficial. Optimal number of sets will
vary a lot between individuals. Somewhere, likely, between 10-20 sets per week.
How to use periodization with what we know about volume and muscle growth?
Too little, no response; too much, decline/ overtraining.
Integrate in volume gradually as opposed to instantly - most like the best way to
manipulate volume but has yet to be studied. Suggested integration program:
Weeks 1-2: Low Volume (e.g. 10-12 sets/ muscle/ week)
Weeks 3-4: Moderate Volume (e.g. 14-16 sets/ muscle/ week)
Weeks 5-6: High Volume (e.g. 18-20 sets/ muscle/ week)
**Beginners do not need periodization - focus on executing the movements properly
while progressing on the same exercises with more weight/ reps throughout the weeks.
Beginners should avoid major program overhauls frequently.
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Does the optimal number of sets differ between muscle groups?
“Some muscles like the biceps/ triceps are indirectly trained with other muscles like the
chest/ back, thus less direct work is needed for them.”
Should you increase the number of sets for lagging muscle groups?
Try increasing the number of sets/ your total volume for that muscle group, but first
ensure that you aren’t overtraining that muscle group. Prioritize that muscle/ muscle
group (start with that group when you’re at your freshest, then move on in your
program).
Summary:
Chest/ Back/ Legs: 10-20 sets/ week
Arms: Fewer direct sets needed (e.g. <10 sets, but optimal number will vary with
individual training experience, requirements, etcs., unless priority lift)
Front/ Rear Delts/ Traps: (e.g. <10 sets, but optimal number will vary with
individual training experience, requirements, etcs., unless priority lift)
Science of Growth, Hypertrophy and Building Muscle - 289, Shrugged Collective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc265c-tLGY
Anabolic window? Recommendation is after workout protein is good, but timing is largely
dependent on the person and when they ate protein last. (This is assuming that you’re
working out before your last meal of the day, otherwise make sure that you consume
protein after your workout regardless.)
0 benefit for consuming BCAA’s as long as you are consuming adequate protein
(containing proper leucine), may actually be detrimental.
2.2g/ kg (1g/ pound) of body-weight is better level of protein in your diet if your goal is to
maximize weightlifting gains. Oxidation of protein towards protein synthesis/ tissue
building is best served by quality proteins - complete proteins (complete complement of
amino acids alongside the proteins). 40 grams of proteins -> at least 6 grams of the
amino acids required. To maximize gains throughout weightlifting, you will likely need to
gain some fat. Body recomposition is possible, but easiest for untrained and obese/
overweight individuals.
Gaining muscle should be at a guideline of around 250 cals - 500 cals surplus, mileage
may vary.
14-15 calories per pound to lose body fat (calculated at ideal body weight, not current).
17 calories per pound for maintenance
20+ calories per pound for muscle/ fat gain.
(So, for someone at 250 pounds that wants to be 200 pounds would need to eat 2800 to
3000 calories. Someone at 200 pounds that wants to stay there should eat 3400
calories. Some at 150 that wants to gain up to the 200 pound mark should eat 4000+
calories.)
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Taking carbohydrates won’t necessarily help with protein synthesis, so a mixture isn’t
100% required or necessary post workout. Ketogenic diet likely not great for maximizing
muscle, potential even gains between keto and non-keto.
Hypertrophy Set Range Studies:
4 sets or less per week per muscle: 5% muscle gains
5-9 sets per week per muscle: 7%
10+ sets per week per muscle: 10%
There is a ceiling limit on the number of sets, eventually levels off.
Periodized volumes is likely the best way to push the volume response towards
overreaching without hitting overtraining.
Reps Per Set:
No differences shown between 65%+ 1RM vs. 60%-. All about hitting volume threshold
for hypertrophy. Some differences with fiber types, higher reps may be best for type 1
(50%, 15-20 reps), lower reps may be best for type 2. 3-5 reps got way stronger than the
other groups.
3 minutes rest good for muscle growth - effects specific to more trained subjects,
untrained could likely rest for however long necessary. Less may not be necessary.
Drop-off in training volume due to decreased rest leading to lost reps may have
significant detriment to hypertrophy. Variety of rep ranges/ number of sets, vary rotation
of exercises, otherwise you are missing out on significant hypertrophic gains.
Frequency literature shows 2 days per week is better than 1 day per week seems to be
better than typical bro-split.
The Science of Fat Burning - Ep. #87, Man Project with Ted Ryce, Legendary Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Col7_MYA8
Protein is king for weight loss, for satiety and muscle maintenance.
At least 3 meals for anabolism, likely.
Intermittent fasting: not necessarily best diet for fat burning, may have a small benefit,
but likely not involved with huge growth.
BCAA’s around workout not shown to give fat loss benefits.
Basic thermodynamics is best in terms of diet plan.
Fat’s still important, omega-3’s still very much necessary. Large doses not necessarily
best, but seemingly a couple grams (2-3) a day is good - megadoses unproven in
effects.
Body recomposition possible, just not the most efficient or best at maximizing either fat
loss or muscle gain.
Train in a spectrum or rep ranges. Periodize volume, periodize weight, periodize
deloads. “Training is both a science and an art.”
Cookie cutter programs with little-to-no consideration for individual differences provide
some amount of progress but are less likely to maximize gains.
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Facts and Fallacies of Fat Loss, NSCA.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9qIIyiJs8o
Fact or fiction: Cutting carbs is key to losing weight?
Short term there appears to be a benefit to weight loss with keto diets
1. Loss of water due to glycogen depletion
2. Improved glycemic control?
Long term results decidedly mixed with most studies showing little difference
between.
Effects on appetite
Individuals adhering to ketogenic diets are significantly less hungry and have a
significantly reduced desire to eat compared with baseline measures.
Confounding issues: focus on sedentary, obese subjects, differences in protein
consumption, poor control of caloric consumption.
High protein diet better for weight/ fat loss over low carb vs. high carb diets.
Bottom line: There is no single “best” diet for everyone. Create a caloric deficit, keep
protein intake high (approximately 1g/ lb of “ideal” body weight), focus on nutrient
dense foods, experiment with different ratios of carbs and fats, and most
importantly stick to the eating plan.
(Calories in) - (Calories out) = gain or loss depending on surplus or shortage.
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Dr. Ben Pollack Notes
All of the notes for Dr. Ben Pollack are taken from his YouTube channel videos, found here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/brp4h/videos
More information regarding Dr. Pollack’s methodology, workouts, recommendations, etc. can be
found here on his website: https://phdeadlift.teachable.com/
Unfuck Your Diet: Part 1, Supplements
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_5PrUzltpY
Essential Aminos (not just BCAA’s)
Pre-Workout
Intra-Workout (Carbohydrate blend with EAA’s)
Creatine Monohydrate
Fish Oil
Calcium/ Magnesium/ Zinc supplement
Sleep product - melatonin, valerian root, etc.
Aleve for aches and pains
Capsaicin/ Icy Hot
Nutrition for Powerlifters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gr9ancU-_E
Carb Cycling Methodology:
Training days - high carb, moderate protein, low fat
Off days - high protein, moderate fat, low carb
Whole unprocessed foods are ideal.
Creatine.
Coffee.
Diet Philosophy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcjB6yzZ-Ig
“Find out what works for you and stick with it.”
Make incremental changes, don’t make massive sweeping changes or you’ll destroy
your metabolism.
Everyone responds differently to everything, so it’s knowing your body.
Calories in vs. Calories out.
How to Get Stronger While Dieting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aFNX7eZ_Dc
Pay attention to recovery and adjust programming appropriately.
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Dieting means reduced recovery resources, so you’ll need to train a bit more
conservatively while dieting - don’t make big adjustments to programming just
because you’re programming, make small changes to adjust in the direction that
you need work done. Adjust your variables accordingly (intensity, volume,
frequency) to ensure your workload is still recoverable.
Prioritize: weak/ lagging muscle group, main lifts, cut back on strongest, “keep your
money maker your focus.”
“Balance your stress/ recovery equation.”
Improve your recovery: Sleep (maximize), rest and relaxation, massages.
Limitations: starvation diets, dieting for crazy long period of time.
Should Powerlifters Do Cardio?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0h_K52W2uI
Powerlifting: just take shorter rest periods if you want more endurance (not specific
enough, little carryover).
Fat Loss: Cut calories (easier than cardio), + cardio can interfere with training.
Low impact only.
Stationary bike, swimming, walking, elliptical, should be slightly out of breath but not high
intensity enough to detract from your strength.
15 minutes or so on off days, do as little as you can get away with. 20-30 minutes per
day, do it after your workout in addition to off days.
Space your cardio away from your leg days. No cardio before training.
Unfuck Your Program: Part 1, The Basics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpylyblBov8
General adaptation goes through phases - Intense workout, body gets weaker at first
(shock) - DOMS possible depending on intensity of workout/ other factors - return
to baseline and beyond, performance increases (supercompensation) - train
again, cycle begins again so long as intensity is maintained and training only
happens during supercompensation phase, not before recovery and not after full
recovery.
Volume = sets x reps.
Intensity = % of 1RM (for strength).
Linear progression < periodization. Your body can only adapt in a linear progression for
so long, whereas periodization can encourage growth for much longer. Starts
with high reps, lower weight, ends with low reps and high weight.
Unfuck Your Program: Part 2, Frequency and Variation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW96MbKOzMc
Frequency = # of times your train/ lift in a given period of a time.
Higher frequencies typically better, to a point.
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Bench more (3-4x per week), deadlift less (1-2x per week), squat medium (2-3x per
week) - start incrementally adding in this frequency if you’re not here yet.
Assistance work: 20% of your time, compared to the 80% of your work which should be
variations of the big lifts that work on your weak points, focus on your lift
frequency (lower absolute loads - anything less than 55% of your 1RM might be
just spinning your wheels, so using variations can help you still work those
muscle groups and increasing your weaknesses without overreaching), and it
may mentally stimulate you.
Supplemental lifts should be high rep low weight, 20% of overall workload, going for the
pump mostly.
Individualize your programs - cookie cutter programs don’t account for differences.
Unfuck Your Program: Part 3, The Split
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FoxChztAqs
1. Have a timeline, make goals, be specific.
2. 3-4 days per week (can experiment with what is best for you).
3. Start with a basic split, then move up in complexity slowly.
4. Make changes slowly.
Ben’s Prep:
Sunday
Monday
Wednesday
Bench(L)
Squat
Bench
Rear Delt
Glute Ham Raises
JM Press Rear Delt
Friday
Deadlift
S(L) Incline B
4 Microcycles (1 Week Each) ~ 12-16 Micro’s per Mesocycle ~ Macrocycle
Start with a basic powerlifting split, Bench 2x Squat x1 Deadlift x1 per week.
1 change at a time - work in gradually to test variables.
Test out variations if overall volume is too taxing.
Test out loading parameters.
Low intensity steady state, 30 minutes cardio - something low impact.
Unfuck Your Program: Part 4, Percentages
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95tFR3UFj9Q
1. Start with Linear Progression.
2. Switch to periodization.
3. Adjust frequency gradually.
Types of Periodization:
1. Linear/ Traditional.
2. Block (Hyper -> Strength -> Power -> Deload -> Hyper, etc).
3. Undulating.
Hypertrophy: 55-75%, 12-30 repetitions per major exercise (total volume is king, set size
is less consequential), 3-6 weeks.
Strength: 75-90%, 10-20 repetitions per major exercise (sets of 3-5 reps), 3-6 weeks.
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Power: 90%+, <10 repetitions per major exercise (sets of 1-5), 3 weeks or less.
Linear
3x10 (30) @ 75%
3x8 (24) @ 80%
3x6 (18) @ 85%
3x4 (12) @ 90%
3x3 (9) @ 92.5%
2x2 (4) @ 95%
vs.
Block
3x10 (30) @ 75%
3x8 (24) @ 80%
3x5 (15) @ 87.5%
3x4 (12) @ 90%
2x2 (4) @ 95%
2x1 (2) @ 100%
Linear transition can be less jarring physically and mentally.
Progress to at least 100% - aim for PR’s periodically (obviously).
Sets and reps are mostly personal preference.
Start with a basic linear progression program (5x5, strong lifts, etc.) until you stall, then
switch to periodization, then adjust your frequency periodically and gradually this process could take up to a year. Take your time.
Unfuck Your Program: Part 5, Adding Assistance Work for Hypertrophy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzdN-OIG7-c
“Chasing after that pump.”
Maximize the overlap in your program: Identify what is lagging, train to maximize your
recovery time on your muscle group.
Revising Your Program
1. Movement > Muscle: If quads are lagging, structure your program around major
movement for strength not around building the sets of isolation movements.
2. Emphasize weakness: “How much am I willing to give up to focus on this hypertrophy
Work?” Think about tradeoffs as you program.
“1. Maximize overlap: You should general try to make sure you're adding assistance
work to days when you're already working those muscles. Add tris to bench day,
not squat day.
2. Focus on movements first. The squat is going to add way more muscle to your whole
body than leg extensions ever will, so make sure you prioritize the big lifts in your
program, even if your goals involve hypertrophy.
3. Emphasize weaknesses. Bodybuilding is all about illusion. The more you can do to
build balance and symmetry, the better you'll look overall, AND you can usually
do that without needed to add a whole lot of assistance exercises.”
Unfuck Your Program: Part 6, Powerbuilding Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMWajx6v3AY
Strength
vs.
Size
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Bigger muscles
More efficient muscles
Hypertrophy
Hyperplasia
It’s like a cup of water - cup is muscle, water is strength. Big cup, little water is big
muscle, little strength; big cup full of water is big muscle full of strength.
Size
1. Hypertrophy
a. Sufficient Stimulus: Muscle protein synthesis, general adaptation takes
place - training response is activated by weight on the bar, intensity,
frequency. Hypertrophy is less about weight on the bar, more about more
volume enough to enter alarm phase of muscle growth. More volume,
more frequency to send on muscle protein synthesis.
b. Proper Environment: Caloric surplus, protein available when body is
ready to recover.
2. Hyperplasia
Unfuck Your Program: Part 7, Powerbuilding Part 2* (3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn9xfQJgj7c
How much accessory work?
80/20 rule, 80% main lifts/ 20% accessory: Doesn’t necessarily apply to powerbuilding/
Bodybuilding.
Powerlifting vs. Bodybuilding:
Chase the Pump!: A pretty good indicator of your workload being effective, also helps
train the mind-muscle connection. Stop once you begin to go flat, start to fail,
strength begins to significantly falter. Think of your recovery resources, don’t
waste it on your supplemental work. Do more work, be creative, get varied to
work lagging parts.
Planning is essential for novice’s/ intermediates, more advanced lifters can tell by CNS
response and feeling.
Glycogen is getting depleted - pump goes down with glycogen depletion, fixed with
strong intra-workout supplementation with gatorade, carb powder, etc.
Unfuck Your Program: Part 8, Powerbuilding Exercises
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy040AGDmJw
Exercise Selection
1. Proportion: Using isolation to bring other muscles up to proportion of your big muscles
involved in the heavy compound lifts.
2. Mind-Muscle Connection: Carry-over from focusing on the muscle as you use it into all
exercises can’t really be overstated. Working on activation/ feeling - developed
by super high rep sets, use this as a tool for trial and error to see what really
hammers your muscles, then use that feeling to guide your movements and
squeeze on your other lifts.
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3. Risk-Reward: Focus on injury - you will get injured, a necessary part of getting
stronger. Don’t do dumb, high-risk injury prone lifts. If you’re a novice or early
lifter, you still need to do these heavy ass lifts (SQ, DL, BP) to build that strength
and size.
Isolation required for several of the smaller/ more specific muscles (appearance vs.
strength).
Exercise selection is highly individual.
Find the Perfect Exercises for Size and Strength
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4amB3WMPBA
1. Identify sticking points: Record 1RM attempts to ID sticking points.
2. ???: Why does it happen, what is lagging - specifically.
3. Profit Identify weakness: Figure out mechanically what needs to be worked on.
4. Connection: Build connection, correct major issue/ complication, find what exercises
work the issue best and fix the problem.
5. Profit: Get stronger/ bigger/ faster/ better.
Unfuck Your Deload: Pro Strategies for Light Workouts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viUvY4M91UQ
Can use deloads to still find ways to improve - shouldn’t just be an off week.
Figuring out new technique queues, trying new exercises/ variants.
Keep it light, but try new things to keep it fresh, still work those muscle groups without
overloading.
Use deloads to identify weaknesses, imbalances, etc.
Use deload light workouts to safely test new techniques so you don’t miss reps, so you
can iron out the kinks before heavy work days.
Don’t try out a ton of new exercises, focus on 1-2 new things with small changes that
you fully focus on - mental gainz, too.
Not a break, just an opportunity to focus on something new for a short period of time.
How to Test Your 1RM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENKTTBhWsr0
Don’t just try to 1RM whenever, plan and strategize around your 1RM attempts.
1. When to Max: 2-3x per year.
2. How’s your training?: Program with your periodization against 1RM (train in 90%
range for a couple, 3-4 weeks before 1RM attempt - practice grinding out good
reps with strong technique so it holds during 1RM attempt)
3. Warming up: <~75%: 10%, >~75%: 5%. Prepare your body for the heavy lift. Working
up with roughly 10% up each new warm-up starting with bar then comfortable
Increases, and take comfortable rests in-between (3-5 minutes between sets).
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Example: Deadlift 1RM attempt at 405.
Bar -> 135 -> 235 -> 275 -> 315 -> 335 -> 355 -> 375 -> 395 -> 405
Aim for small PR’s - if you’re at 400, aim for 405. That being said, if you feel like
you still have gas in the tank, go for another set up by 5-10 lbs., and hit it.
4. Attempts:
- Easy Openers
- ~97% 2nd to last set before PR
- PR+
Competitive strength athletes: Don’t max in the gym. Just use your competition schedule
to guide your 1RM attempts, not in the gym (unless the competition is super far
out).
Do a test day - “Mock Meet” at the gym, test all of your big lifts in a single day. Will be a
hella long day if this is the route that you go.
How to test all of them without doing them in a single day:
~2 days after S/D
~1 day after BP
~2 test days total
Day 1: SQ/ BP
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Light cardio
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: DL (& OHP)
The Problem with RPE Training
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKo0LHY289A
Autoregulation: Responding to your bodily queues - if you feel shitty, you’re going to
perform like shit, try to work within that construct and adjust accordingly. If you
feel like you can do it, more likely than not you can.
1. RPE: Perceived exertion. Not a prescribed set poundage. Trying to quantify a
qualitative variable is difficult and often faulty.
- Qualitative: Just guessing, essentially, unless you’re a super elite athlete that is
insanely in tune with your abilities. “Just saying you have two reps left in
the tank doesn’t necessarily mean that you really have two reps left in the
tank.”
- Subjective: Personal bias comes into play, often doesn’t account for ego/ reality/
emotion/ psychological arousal/ stimulants
- Variable: Too many moving parts to account for to be truly instructional for most
individuals.
2. Solutions: relative intensity (see: INOL Heat Map), eliminates variability/ subjectivity,
qualitative nature of RPE. In theory RPE is better, but in practice relative intensity
seems to better foundationally.
Using AMRAPs in Powerlifting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE8w2KHxjuI
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Often used suboptimally.
Don’t actually do as many reps as possible - very difficult to recover from, mentally and
physically.
Use sparingly - definitely not every week - even if you’re keeping 1-2 reps in the tank.
1-2 AMRAPs per each lift per each training cycle - 6-8 weeks.
Start with a triple at the same weight of your AMRAP, so you can adjust weight so you
can hit the target range of reps that you’re hoping for, plus manages fatigue
better.
Don’t exhaust yourself on the rest of your accessory work after/ before AMRAP’ing.
Article on AMRAP’ing written by Ben
Why You (Might) Need to Train Lighter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz4-g5Oi-5U
Don’t go all out, all the time; Use it in the right way.
Light training should be at weights that you don’t need to get fully psyched up for should be challenging, but not pushing yourself fully mentally. Not made to be
half-assed, though.
Use this time to work on new techniques safely, to work in variants, to focus on speed.
How to Heal Any Injury Overnight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alGc2LhZAvA
Acknowledge the injury, take your time, don’t do too much physically/ mentally, but also
don’t do too little.
Use high reps (20, 30, 50) during rehabilitation of the injured muscle. Gets work in
without really pushing the weight. Mentally useful.
Use different variations of the lift that you injured yourself on to help strengthen up the
muscle, get work in, and reduce the mental anxiety of risking injury.
Work with what you got - if you can’t do the movements at your best, do a variation
instead of half-assing your training.
Use tempo reps: Control weight throughout range of motion, increasing healing rate,
gives you more mental confidence showing you that you can handle the
movement throughout ROM at speed with no pause at bottom/ top; not explosive,
focus on being smooth throughout.
Summary: High reps, do variations, and slow it all down.
Unfuck Your Head: Visualize Big Gains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_A1rVHEi4A
Visualization
1. Multisensory: Not only are you thinking of images of the performance that
you’d like to have, but you’re visualizing all of the other senses: smell,
feel, sound, taste.
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2. Emotional: Don’t just be an impartial viewer of a movie of your performance,
but really get into the excitement, into the moment, into the lift’s emotions.
3. Internal: Are you imagining yourself as the actor in the movie - watching it
happen, or doing it? Internally get yourself into the body of the
visualization and do the movement and feel it.
Not just daydreaming, directed mental performance of your future performance.
Visualization downsides: sometimes life doesn’t line up with your visualization - the
perfect performance you visualize may not translate into the real world, but
instead focus on visualizing a realistic picture of your lift and how to deal with the
reality of any non-perfect lift.
Should be concentrated, done periodically - heavy session (PR, competition) new
techniques, not for your typical training sessions.
Un-Mindfuck Yourself: Mental Training for Powerlifting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UF3Mvqet9I
Think about nothing while attempting heavy weight - get in the zone, chief.
Remember that you’ve trained for this, rely on your body to do it’s thing.
Meditate daily to help stay in the moment when you need to be.
Practice breathing/ mental practice routine (breathing in for 5 seconds, breathing out for
5 seconds, focus on how your body feels as you breathe).
The Secret to Shredded Abs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZl2fZUTlaw
How to see your abs more? Almost entirely diet - lower your bodyfat.
Core is important in energy transfer in all three of the Big 3.
Most important thing in choosing ab exercises: how it lines up with your torso/
musculature. Abs not tight, poor spinal alignment.
3 pieces of spine: lower lumbar, thoracic, cervical.
Lower abs: no anterior pelvic tilt. Flex lower abs, pull hips underneath you.
Upper abs: crunch or bear down on upper abs to complete core chain.
Keep glutes engaged.
Planks are his favorite - can be done with or without equipment.
Ab wheels are his second favorite that can be done with equipment.
Maintain brace throughout both movements, make sure that your spine isn’t bending at
all. Try to combine static and dynamic to really work the muscle.
Accessory Work for Powerlifting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bafiKXqhBKA
Vast majority of powerlifting should be in bench press, deadlift, squat, or a variation
thereof. 80% of your work should be in the Big 3/ major movements.
Training the muscle, not the movement. Use accessory movements to strengthen the
muscles involved in the Big 3, and increase your mind-muscle connection.
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Activation of your muscles involved in the movement, be specific about the work.
Depending on your goals/ structure of your body, find exercises and movements that
help build that connection - not all movements are best for everyone, regarding
accessory work.
Chase your pump - ultra-high rep sets to get that muscle fired up.
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Athlean-X/ Jeff Cavaliere Notes
All of the notes for Athlean-X are taken from their YouTube channel videos, found here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/JDCav24/videos
Heavy Weights vs. Light Weights for Big Biceps: Which is Best?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AGXyd90p9o
Weighted chin-ups are great for big biceps.
Both heavy and light have their place in a good program.
Focus on mind-muscle connection to specifically the bicep muscles.
Should be uncomfortable when you fully squeeze into a contraction.
Spider curls good for full contraction when using good form.
Precise control over the muscle is important - if you can do so, do heavy compounds, if
not focus on mind-muscle control with lighter weight until you can fully contract
and focus the strength of that muscle.
How to Perform Sets for Most Muscle Growth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XwwoHEMXso
Below are example sets based on 225 on bench.
Providing largest amount of workload and stress, in this case, is his guiding
methodology. Use a complimentary exercise to maximize results without
sacrificing volume. Pre-exhaust has a place, to recruit and enhance secondary
muscles.
Scenario #1:
Straight Sets
1. 225x10
2. 225x10
3. 222x10
Rest: 5 minutes between sets
Workload: 6750 pounds in 13 minutes/ 519 pounds per minute
Scenario #2:
Drop Sets (decreasing load by 30% to rep out)
1. 225x10 -> 155x8
2. 225x8 -> 155x6
3. 222x7 -> 155x5
Rest: 5 minutes between sets
Workload: 8570 pounds in 16 minutes/ 525 pounds per minute
Scenario #3A:
Mechanical Drop into Crossover (maintaining intensity across bench sets,
moving into cable crossover because of mechanical similarity)
1. 225x10 -> 100x10
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2. 225x6 -> 100x8
3. 222x4 -> 100x8
Rest: 5 minutes between sets
Workload: 7120 pounds in 19 minutes/ 374 pounds per minute
**Scenario #3B:
Mechanical Drop into Crossover (maintaining # of reps for bench, moving into
cable crossover because of mechanical similarity)
1. 225x10 -> 100x10
2. 205x10 -> 100x8
3. 185x10 -> 100x8
Rest: 3 minutes between sets
Workload: 8550 pounds in 15 minutes/ 570 pounds per minute
Scenario #4:
Pre-Exhaust (using cable crossovers to pre-exhaust bench)
1. 100x10 -> 225x7
2. 100x10 -> 225x5
3. 100x10 -> 225x3
Rest: 5 minutes between sets
Workload: 6375 pounds in 15 minutes/ 425 pounds per minute
How to Perform Reps for Most Muscle Growth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h63JTsVdntw
For hypertrophy, inefficiency should be focus: make the movement harder to fully recruit
and increase overload.
If you’re doing 10RM for 10, you’re doing it efficiently, recruiting all muscles to move the
weight.
If you’re doing the movement full ROM, squeezing fully at the bottom of the movement,
doing 10 with intensifying techniques at your 12-13 RM to focus your intention on
the squeeze/ making the movement less efficient to increase effort in specific
muscles. Make every rep difficult from the beginning.
Essentially metabolic training - really feel that pump and burn.
Efficiency is for strength training, inefficiency is for hypertrophy.
The Best Workout Split for Maximum Muscle Gains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDWyqnGhmWY
Push vs. Pull, 3 days each per week, 6 day split.
Push: Chest, Triceps, Shoulders, Quads
Pull: Back, Biceps, Hamstrings, Glutes
Push, Pull, Legs: 6 day split, 2 days each per week.
Bodybuilding/ Hypertrophy may want to veer towards bro-splits (one muscle group per
day).
Working bro-split: based on sequence and exercise selection.
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If no gains in strength/ hypertrophy/ body composition, change it up.
Test and change based on how your body responds best.
Fat Loss 101 For Men: Chest Fat, Belly, Love Handles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IB1AUnLuLs
Diet first and foremost - if it’s not dialed in, get the crap out of your diet.
Phase 1:
Abdominals: Must be able to feel the abdominals activating and contracting.
Chest: Strengthen the back, stretch your pectoral muscles/ rotator cuff, add in
face pulls.
Love Handles: Work the lats - full contraction, full ROM.
Phase 2:
Good nutrition, macros focused.
Abdominals: Rotational ab crunches, focus on full ab contraction.
Chest: Serratus - dips, pushups, cable/ band straight arm punches.
Love Handles: Focus on rotational ab workouts, work obliques.
Phase 3:
Better nutrition, micros focused.
Abdominals: 5-7 workouts per week focusing directly on abdominals.
Chest: Hit all heads of the chest muscles, high and low pulls - dips, upper fibers
with cable crossovers, change positioning to hit all heads.
Love Handles: Hammer obliques. Video shows good oblique workout.
The Fastest Way to Get Stronger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0sIn6UJcU4
Compound lifts and progressive overload.
Pursuing numbers alone doesn’t fill the entire foundation of strength.
Vertical push/ horizontal push/ vertical pull/ horizontal pull/ squats/ deadlifts.
Imbalances and neglected areas of athleticism result from only pursuing strength.
A complete training program includes strength, foundational athleticism, corrective
exercises, flexibility, agility, acceleration/ deceleration.
The PERFECT Back Workout (Sets and Reps Included)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE7dzM0iexc
*Important Note: Perform 1 set of Straight Arm Pushdowns for each warm-up set of Deadlifts.*
1A. Deadlifts* - 2 Sets (8RM, 6RM), rest 2 minutes after each set
1B. Weighted Chin Ups - 2 Sets (4RM, 8RM)
2A. Deadlifts - 2 Sets (4RM, 4RM) rest 30 seconds after each set
2B. Wide Grip Pull-ups - 2 sets (bodyweight to failure)
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3. Barbell Dead Rows - 2-3 Sets x 10-12RM **(8-10 explosive reps)
4. Focused Tension - 2-3 Sets, Choose One Below
4A. Alternating High Pulley Row (10-12RM to Failure)
4B. Rocking Pulldown (10-12RM to Failure)
5. Hyper Y/W - 2 Sets x 14-20 (alternate Y’s and W’s on every rep)
6. Barbell Shrug Ladder Finisher (10 reps, 10 second hold, 9 reps, 9 second hold, etc.)
Forearms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EkKhkSNjWY
1. Prone Wrist Curls - 2x12-15RM:
Cable machine/ band, bent elbow, push away on wrists.
Interset
Farmer Carries: In between every single exercise here.
2. Wrist Curl Ladder - 2x Ladder Failure:
Opposite hand rolls, then reverse curls. Ladder with 1 second wrist curls,1
reverse curl, 2 seconds, 2 reps, etc.
3. Radial/Ulnar Deviation - 2x 12-15 RM:
Sledgehammer, or use rope handle (see video for explanation).
4. Supination/Pronation - 2x 12-15 RM:
Elevated, elbow bent, rope based on machine or bands.
5. Clip Grip Combo - 2x Superset to Failure:
Hand squeeze on a barbell collar to failure, then slight tension and then into
tension/ flexion.
6. Final Burnout - 1 Minute:
Dead arm hang, hold on as long as you can. Try to hold for a full Minute, go until
the bar exits your palm and extends into your fingers.
Triceps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMyFe-IL7Ks
1. Close Grip Pin Press - 3 Sets to 10, 6, 4 Reps to Failure:
Bench press off of pins on rack from midpoint of lift into lockout to focus on
triceps to remove delts from movement.
2. Weighted Dip Tri-Set - 3 Sets to Failure Each Drop
Weighted > Bodyweight > Band-Assisted (No rest between drops)
Tri-Set, first to failure on weighted, to failure on bodyweight, then to failure with
band-assisted dips. Keep torso upright.
Superset
3A. Rope Pushaways - 3x10-12RM to Failure
3B. Drag Pushdowns - 3 Sets to Failure (use same weight as 3A)
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Superset: Overhead pushaways accentuated to go full stretch and full
contraction, immediately transition into drag pushdown up against chest ride
ribcage down into full extension.
4. Rocking Tricep Pushdowns - 2x12RM to Failure
Drop leg back, lean into pushdown, lean back throughout movement until the
bottom to keep tension perpendicular to forearm to maintain tension.
5. Banded Lying Tricep Extensions - 2x15RM to Failure
Band on two dumbbell, fastened away from your head to something fixed to
maintain tension throughout movement, forces additional stretch and contraction.
Biceps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gozU3CUIizs
Dropset
1A. Barbell Cheat Curls - 3 Sets to Failure:
Heavy cheat curl taken to failure, immediate transition.
1B. Barbell Drag Curls - 3 Sets to Failure:
Keep elbows behind body, drag curl up body.
Dropset
2A. Weighted Chinups - 3 Sets to Failure:
Hits all 3 bicep functions. Start with weighted.
2B. Peak Contraction Chin Curls - 3 Sets to Failure:
Burnout previous set on final contracted state of the chinups, keeps up intensity.
3. Banded Dumbbell Curls - 3 Sets to Failure:
Band under feet, maintain tension throughout movement up to the top of the
movement. Sets at 10-12RM range.
4. Dumbbell Incline Curls - 2 Sets to Failure (Stretch Reflex):
Long head bicep stretch, actively contracting the triceps at the bottom.
5. Dumbbell Curl Trifecta - 2 Sets (8 reps in each position with both arms):
Supinated cross-body curl
Pronated cross-body curl
Externally rotated curls
24 total reps per set.
Shoulders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv31A4Ab4nA
Pre-activation of shoulders important because of so many moving muscles.
Warm-up: Overhead Band Press - 2x 15 (3 second holds each rep)
Not from the ground up, but from an angle tied at waist height, push band up,
hold, activate muscles and warm them up.
1. OHP or Handstand Pushups = 4 Sets of 10, 8, 6, 6
Note: Finish with 1 set of dumbbell/ band OHP for 15 reps
Add weight each set. Finish set with dumbbell with a band tied to your rack, same
height as before, to focus on full stretch and activation.
2. Delt Stretch 21’s - 2 to 3 sets of 7 Reps Each (Rear, Middle, Front):
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Rear delt lateral raise on cable machine to full stretch.
Middle behind the back on low cable machine, full raise and stretch.
Front facing, arm stretched from behind pushing forward just like a DB front raise.
Superset
3A. Dumbbell Cheat Laterals - 3 Sets to Failure (1 arm at a time):
Heavy weight that you can still work but heavier than normal lateral weight, let
traps help, controlled weight (if you can’t control down it’s too heavy).
3B. Dumbbell Push Press - 3 Sets to Failure (1 arm at a time):
Explosively use body to press dumbbell - let all muscles kick in.
4. Cable or Band Face Pulls - 3 Sets of 15 (use 15 sets of 1 concept!):
Good quality reps, knuckles facing backwards, not looking for a burn but more
high quality repetitions.
Chest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89e518dl4I8
Drop Set
1A. Barbell Bench Press - 4 Sets x 6, 8, 10, 12
Flat regular bench press.
1B. Horizontal Cable or Band Crossovers - 4 Sets x 6, 8, 10, 12
Cross midline, alternate high/ low with hands each rep.
Drop Set
2A. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press - 4 Sets x 6, 8, 10, 12
2B. Low to High Cable or Band Crossovers - 4 Sets x 15
To midline and through midline, full contraction and ROM.
Drop Set
3A. Weighted Dips - 4 Sets x 6, 8, 10, 12
3B. High to Low Cable or Band Crossovers - 4 Sets x 15
To midline and cross midline for full contraction of chest.
Drop Set
4A. Weighted Pushups - 3 Sets to Failure
Flat back, maintain good form.
4B. Band Crossover Pushups (R & L) - 3 Sets x 15
Drive one hand in a band crossover movement after each pushup.
Legs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjexvOAsVtI
** Important Notes: Perform Touch-Up set of Box Squats (5RM + 10% before work sets)
Bar Hang B/W Squat Sets for Decompression (30 seconds each)
1. Barbell Squats - 4 Sets x 5RM, 5RM, 10RM, 25RM**
Warm up prior, work up with enough to grease the groove.
Touch up set: Overreach with about 10% higher than our workset with a box
squat for 1-2 rep touch. Good neurological tool.
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Hang from bar for about 30 seconds during 3 minute rest period between working
sets on squats.
2. Posterior Chain Compounds - 4 Sets x 25, 10, 5, 5
Choose One
A. Barbell Hip Thrusts (Better Strength Option)
B. Glute Ham Raise
Initiate with glutes, main drive from glutes. Work with lighter weights in first set to
focus mind-muscle connection.
3. Dumbbell Bulgarian High/ Low Split Squats (see details
A. 2x 10-12 RM each leg (alternating high/ low torso on each rep)
B. 1x Failure each leg (bodyweight explosive plyo hops)
Alternate high/ low (look at video for description) for dual development.
Plyo hop is good for stability of the knee.
4. Dumbbell TKE Drop Lunge - 2-3 Sets x 10-12 RM each leg
Good for balance, loads knee forward on down movement.
5. Dumbbell Adductor Goblet Squats - 2 Sets x 10-12RM each leg
Side lunge on a slick surface - on drop down, return is initiated by activating
adductors to slide outside foot in.
6. Hip Band Ladder Finishers - 1 or 2 Sets x Ladder to 10 reps
Band anchored by your arms, stepping wide without turning toes fully out, in
ladder: 1 step right, 1 step left, 2 steps right, 2 steps left, etc. up to 10
reps both sides.
Pre-Workout Ingredient Showdown (Which Works Best?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOgJIuu0qJs
L-Arginine vs. Citrulline Malate
L-Arginine: Nitric Oxide, Citrulline are byproducts after consumption. Inefficient due to
loss in Ornithene and Urea, leftovers go back into bloodstream as L-Arginine.
Possible loss of up to 99% of dose depending on cholesterol levels. Only
retaining about 30% of total dose, maximum, typically.
Citrulline Malate is a good workaround - more effective at retention that L-Arginine.
Malate helps with muscle pump and more endurance energy.
6-8 grams of Citrulline Malate is a good base for dose effectivity.
6 Greatest “Muscle Growers” of All Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD_FwNODCD8
Ground-based compound movements.
Include unilateral movements.
Include bodyweight exercises.
Don’t avoid isometrics.
Stop exercising. Start training!
Intensity + Consistency = Results. You can’t cheat consistent hard work.
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Alan Aragon Notes
All of the notes for Alan Aragon are taken from his website, found here: https://alanaragon.com/
How Much Protein Can the Body Use in a Single Meal for Muscle-Building? Implications
for Daily Protein Distribution
Dr. Brad Schoenfeld and Alan Aragon
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2018.
https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-018-0215-1
“Based on the current evidence, we conclude that to maximize anabolism one should
consume protein at a target intake of 0.4 g/kg/meal across a minimum of four
meals in order to reach a minimum of 1.6 g/kg/day. Using the upper daily intake
of 2.2 g/kg/day reported in the literature spread out over the same four meals
would necessitate a maximum of 0.55 g/kg/meal.”
For Americans: “to maximize anabolism one should consume protein at a target intake of
0.18 g/ pound of bodyweight/ meal across a minimum of four meals in order to
reach a minimum of .72 g/ pound of bodyweight/day. Using the upper daily intake
of 1 g/ pound of bodyweight/ day reported in the literature spread out over the
same four meals would necessitate a maximum of 0.24 g/ pound of bodyweight/
meal.”
So, for a 200 pound dude: Eat at least 4 meals per day to hit 1 gram of protein per
pound of bodyweight per day to hit the upper daily intake, meaning about 200
grams of protein per day and about 50 grams of protein per each of those meals.
Currently not enough research to say if more than the aforementioned amounts is
productive or not, so no specific upper threshold for per-meal intake is given.
A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression of the Effect of Protein
Supplementation on Resistance Training-Induced Gains in Muscle Mass and Strength in
Healthy Adults
Robert W Morton, Kevin T Murphy, Sean R McKellar, Brad J Schoenfeld, Menno Henselmans,
Eric Helms, Alan A Aragon, Michaela C Devries, Laura Banfield, James W Krieger, and Stuart M
Phillips
British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2017.
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/6/376.long
“With protein supplementation, protein intakes at amounts greater than ~1.6 g/kg/day do
not further contribute RET-induced gains in FFM” (fat-free mass). Comes out, in
American, to .7 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day.
It seems to be that dietary protein supplementation further enhances changes in your
bodily fat-free mass, as well as your 1RM.
The older you get, the less effect this will have on you, but the more resistance training
you have the more effective it is (likely, lack of studies on older resistance trained
individuals makes drawing conclusive statements difficult).
Protein very likely to have a strong/ significant impact on weight loss.
“Our analysis, and those from others,6 leads us to conclude that the specifics of protein
supplementation (eg, timing, postexercise protein dose or protein source) play a
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minor, if any, role in determining RET-induced gains in FFM and strength over a
period of weeks. Instead, our results indicate that a daily protein intake of
~1.6 g/kg/day, separated into ~0.25 g/kg doses,14 is more influential on adaptive
changes with RET, at least for younger individuals.”
Essentially, getting enough protein throughout the day is more important overall than the
specific timing of said protein.
Pre- Versus Post-Exercise Protein Intake Has Similar Effects on Muscular Adaptations
Brad Schoenfeld, Alan Aragon, Colin Wilborn, Stacie Urbina, Sara Hayward, James Krieger
PeerJ - Life and Environment. 2017.
https://peerj.com/articles/2825/
Post-workout anabolic window refuted - similar effects were shown for pre- and
post-workout protein intake, and the window for consumption for muscular
response may even be for up to several hours after workout.
“Previous work recommends covering the bases by ingesting protein at 0.4–0.5 g/kg of
lean body mass in both the pre- and post-exercise periods (Aragon &
Schoenfeld, 2013). This seems to be a prudent approach in the face of
uncertainty regarding the optimization of nutrient timing factors for the objectives
of muscle hypertrophy and strength.”
Basically, just consume good protein in general, before or after training is less important.
Recommendations for Natural Bodybuilding Contest Preparation: Resistance and
Cardiovascular Training
Eric Helms, Peter J Fitschen, Alan Aragon, John Cronin, Brad Schoenfeld
The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 2014.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263746347_Recommendations_for_natural_bodybuildi
ng_contest_preparation_Resistance_and_cardiovascular_training
“Muscle groups should be training 2 times weekly or more, although high volume training
may benefit from higher frequencies to keep volume at any one session from
becoming excessive. Low to high (~3-15) repetitions can be utilized but most
repetitions should occur in the 6-12 range using 70-80% of 1 repetition max.
Roughly 40-70 reps per muscle group per session should be performed, however
higher volume may be appropriate for advanced bodybuilders. Traditional rest
intervals of 1-3 minutes are adequate, but longer intervals can be used. Tempo
should allow muscular control of the load; 1-2 sec concentric and 2-3 sec
eccentric tempos. Training to failure should be limited when performing heavy
loads on taxing exercises, and primarily relegated to single-joint exercises and
higher repetitions. A core of multi-joint exercises with some single-joint exercises
to address specific muscle groups as needed should be used, emphasizing full
range of motion and proper form.”
“Cardiovascular training can be used to enhance fat loss. Interference with strength
training adaptations increases concomitantly with frequency and duration of
cardiovascular training. Thus, the lowest frequency and duration possible while
achieving sufficient fat loss should be used. High intensities may as well;
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however, require more recovery. Fasted cardiovascular training may not have
benefits over fed-state and could be detrimental.”
Resistance training: “Hypertrophy may occur during weight loss, however the overall
magnitude is limited with greater gains seen in novices, the untrained, and those
who are overweight/ obese.”
“Progressive mechanical tension overload is the primary driver for growth.”
Periodization: Hard to draw specific, exacting conclusions.
Linear Periodization
Reverse Linear Periodization
Undulating Periodization: Seemingly more effective than LP in eliciting
performance improvements. Majority of studies indicated superior
strength gains when utilizing an UP model. One study found that
traditional order of “hypertrophy, strength, power” switched to
“hypertrophy, power, strength” in terms of block placement showed
greater strength development. Sample UP below.
Block Periodization: Comparatively modelled against UP is considered just as
good.
Frequency of Training: Novices may make best gains by training each muscle group as
many as 4 times per muscle group, intermediate two-three times per week, but
not enough data to truly determine if more than 2-3 times per week is optimal.
Additionally, volume-equated splits within your program (meaning volume exactly
equal between 4, 5, 6 days splits with the same workouts) didn’t show significant
differences between the splits.
General suggestion is 2 to 3 times per week per muscle group, 40-70 reps per
muscle group per session.
Number of Sets and Volume: Lower body seems to be more resilient to higher volumes
than the upper body.
“It was found that muscle size can be maintained with as low as one third the
training volume that initially produced adaptation.” Supports deloads and
recovery weeks.
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“~40-70 reps per muscle group per session with the appropriate combination of
intensity and frequency of training appears to be the optimal balance for creating
a hypertrophic stimulus in beginner and intermediate trainees. Some advanced
bodybuilders may require higher volumes of training for continued adaptation.”
Repetition Range and Intensity: “Both high-repetition low-load and low-repetition
high-load training should be included to some degree alongside moderate-load
moderate-repetition training to maximize all possible avenues of hypertrophy.”
“When taking the body of literature into account, it is clear that training with
low-loads can promote substantial hypertrophy, sometimes reaching levels
similar to that of heavier loads.”
Exercise Order: “Greater volumes are accomplished with the first exercise performed.”
Compound movements first, don’t “pre-exhaust.”
“Muscle groups that are lagging in the development of a proportional physique
could be prioritized early in an exercise session.”
Inter-Set Rest Intervals: “The commonly recommended rest periods of one to two
minutes for hypertrophy are likely acceptable. . . . longer rest intervals should be
taken as needed to maintain volume and load.”
Repetition Tempo: “2-3s eccentric tempos should be performed and the concentric
phase should be performed with maximal intentional force, which will likely result
in 1-2s concentric contractions if using appropriate loads for hypertrophy
training.”
Training to Failure: Has its place in a structured routine, but overuse or misuse could
result in poor reps, overtraining, unproductive fatigue.
Exercise Selection and Form: “An approach of utilizing a core group of multi-joint
movements for the majority of training with some adjunct single-joint movements
to reach the target volume for any given muscle group is suggested. Rotation of
the core group of multi-joint exercises should occur infrequently and only to vary
the frequency of their appearance in training rather than to completely remove
them at any time point. . . . Secondary single-joint exercises can be rotated on a
more regular basis, but not to the point where they are altered every microcycle.”
Cardiovascular Training/ Interference: A reduction of strength, power, and/ or
Hypertrophy.
The number and length of your cardio sessions has a strong negative
correlations in your hypertrophy, strength, and size. “Overall, it appears that
interference can be minimized by performing the lowest number and duration of
cardio sessions per week. However, some cardio may need to be performed in
order to achieve minimal body fat levels. Thus, when cardio is performed, utilizing
full-body exercises (e.g. light weight cleans or kettle bells) or cycling may be
more preferable to running to prevent interference.”
Cardio - Intensity: High intensity is hard to recover from, low intensity shows negative
impact on strength/ power/ hypertrophy. High intensity cardio is suggested,
selection of intensity should be based on your recovery rate.
Fasted Cardiovascular Exercise: Not recommended by the authors.
Body Composition Changes Associated with Fasted versus Non-Fasted Aerobic Exercise
Brad Schoenfeld, Alan Aragon, Colin Wilborn, James Krieger, Gul Sonmez
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2014.
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https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-014-0054-7
“Findings indicate that body composition changes associated with aerobic exercise in
conjunction with a hypocaloric diet are similar regardless whether or not an
individual is fasted prior to training.”
"Our findings indicate that body composition changes associated with aerobic exercise in
conjunction with a hypocaloric diet are similar regardless whether or not an
individual is fasted prior to training. Hence, those seeking to lose body fat
conceivably can choose to train either before or after eating based on
preference.
It should be noted that given the small sample size and short study duration, we
cannot rule out the possibility that either condition might confer a small benefit
over the other with respect to fat loss. Further study is warranted in a longer term
trial with a greater number of participants.”
The Effect of Protein Timing on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy: A Meta-Analysis
Brad Schoenfeld, Alan Aragon, and James Krieger
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2013.
https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-10-53
“With respect to hypertrophy, total protein intake was the strongest predictor of ES
magnitude. These results refute the commonly held belief that the timing of
protein intake in and around a training session is critical to muscular adaptations
and indicate that consuming adequate protein in combination with resistance
exercise is the key factor for maximizing muscle protein accretion.”
“In conclusion, current evidence does not appear to support the claim that immediate (≤
1 hour) consumption of protein pre- and/or post-workout significantly enhances
strength- or hypertrophic-related adaptations to resistance exercise.”
The following recommendations and notes for Alan Aragon are my notes specifically taken from The
Lean Muscle Diet: Lou Schuler and Alan Aragon, MS (2014). Do not consider this section an
exhaustive summary of this book, but instead just a collection of notes that I found pertinent to my
own research. I still suggest getting a copy/ checking out a copy from the library and reading this
book.
The Truth About Truth
“1. If you want to change your weight, in either direction, you must find a way to create
an imbalance between the calories you take in and the calories you expend.
2. If you want to build more muscle than you have now, you need to get stronger.”
A. Mechanical Tension -> Progressive Overload
B. Metabolic Stress
C. Muscle Damage
What Makes A Diet Work
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Calories in vs. calories out may be a bit of an oversimplification, when factoring in the
quality of said calories and where those calories come from. Thermic Effect of
Food (TEF) can play into a diets effectiveness, 25% of protein calories burnt
before delivered to muscles, fat 2-3%, carbs 6-8%, suggesting protein should be
high if you are interested in losing weight (as well as maintaining muscle).
“To Alan, a quality diet looks like this:
- 80 percent whole and minimally processed foods you like.
- 10 percent whole and minimally processed foods you don’t necessarily like, but
don’t hate.
- 10 percent whatever you want - “pure junky goodness,” as Alan likes to say.”
“Dietary perfection is a myth. It doesn’t exist. There is no unicorn diet for humans.”
Whey protein still king protein supplement.
How much protein?
For those who are eating at or above maintenance, doing light exercise without
specific goals, have moderate to high body fat, aren’t trying to gain
muscle, or your doctor recommends a low protein diet for medical
reasons: 0.8-1.2 grams/ kg of body weight per day (or 0.36 to 0.54 grams
per pound of bodyweight for Americans).
For those who are eating below maintenance, doing vigorous/ progressive/
goal-oriented training, have low body fat, training to gain muscle/ not lose
muscle while losing fat, or have no medical restrictions: 1.6-2.7 grams/ kg
of body weight per day (or 0.73-1.23 grams per pound of bodyweight per
day).
“Simple” and “complex” carb argument is silly.
How many carbohydrates?
For a regular guy working out several times per week: 3-5 g/ kg/ day
For a regular guy working out several times per week: 1.3-2.2 g/ lbs/ day
For serious athletes training 2-3 hours per day, 5-6 days per week: 5-8 g/ kg/ day
For serious athletes training 2-3 hours per day, 5-6 days per week: 2.2-3.6 g/ lbs
For pro athletes training 3-6 hours per day, 5-6 days per week: 8-10 g/ kg/ day
For pro athletes training 3-6 hours per day, 5-6 days per week: 3.6-4.5 g/ lbs/ day
How much fiber?
For guys, 38 grams of fiber per day.
For women, 25 grams per day.
Get it from real food, not a supplement.
How much fat?
20-35% of total calories.
0.4-0.7 grams of fat per pound of target body weight.
Alan Aragons’ model diet:
Meat and other protein-rich foods: animal flesh, eggs, protein powder.
Fat-rich foods: Nuts, seeds, oil for dressing/ cooking, butter/ nut butters, olives,
avocados.
Fibrous vegetables: Leafy greens, broccoli/ cauliflower, asparagus.
Starchy foods: Grains, legumes (beans and peas), tubers (potatoes/ root
vegetables)
Milk and other dairy products: Milk, yogurt, cheese.
Fruits: Whole, fresh fruit - 100% fruit juice okay, just less good.
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“The best diet for long-term adherence is the one that’s based on foods you love.”
The Best Exercises for Size and Strength
Primary Movement Patterns
Squat
Deadlift
Push
Pull
Complementary Movement Patterns
Split Stance
Carry
Core-Stability Exercises
Accessory Movements
They then shit on workout machines, for a variety of pretty strongly reasoned arguments.
What To Eat
The Fat Loss Continuum: Averages for 6-12 Months
1. Rapid weight gain with potentially significant fat gain.
A. 2 pounds per week in the obese (BMI of 30+)
B. 1 pound per week in the overweight (BMI of 25-30)
C. ½ pound per week or less in lean people
2. Muscle gain with minimal fat gain.
A. 2-3 pounds per month in novices and advanced beginners (those with
less than 2 years of consistent strength training).
B. 1-2 pounds per month in intermediates (those with 2-4 years of consistent
training).
C. ½ pound per month in advanced lifters near their genetic ceiling.
3. Fat loss with minimal muscle loss.
4. Rapid weight loss with potentially significant muscle loss.
The Process
How to Choose a Target Body Weight (TBW).
1. Calculate Lean Body Mass (LBM).
Example given is a 200 pound person at 25% bodyfat, meaning
approximately 50 pounds of fat and 150 pounds of lean mass.
2. Select your target LBM and multiply by 100.
“As noted earlier, a realistic target for an intermediate-level lifter is a
pound a month, which would be 6 pounds in 6 months. That gives you a
target LBM of 156 pounds.” 156x100=15,600.
3. Choose a target body-fat percentage and subtract from 100.
Current Status
Monthly Decrease in Body-Fat Percentage
Obese (>25% BF)
3-4%
Overweight (20-25% BF)
2-3%
Average (13-19% BF)
1-2%
Lean (<13% BF)
<\= 1%
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“At 25% fat, a realistic rate of decline is 2-3 percentage points per month,
which means you could drop 13 points in 6 months, leaving you with 12
percent body fat. So, 100-12 = 88.”
4. Divide the result of Step 2 by the result of Step 3 to get your target body
weight.
“In this case, 15,600 / 88 = 177.3”
How to Calculate Daily Calories
1. Estimate your total weekly hours of training.
Strength training/ cardio/ recreational sports/ physical labor.
2. Estimate your average weekly training intensity, and add this number to your
weekly training hours.
Intensity of effort, 11 = badass destroying the gym erry day, 10 = mix of
intensities, 9 = recovering from an injury or casual training.
3. Multiple your activity multiplier by your TBW.
If you’re younger/ leaner/ smaller, use this formula instead:
TBW x (11 - 13 + average total weekly training hours).
How to Calculate Macros
Protein: 1 gram of protein per pound of TBW.
Fat: 0.4-0.7 grams of fat per pound of TBW.
Carbohydrates: Rest of your calories/ 4.
Alan the provides an amazing section on which foods to eat, summarizing portion sizing,
calories, protein, fat, carbs, leucine content, MUFA, PUFA, and calcium levels of
a vast variety of single ingredient/ whole foods/ multi-ingredient healthy foods/
common choices for eating. I found this section to be incredibly helpful for
narrowing down my food choices, and would readily suggest anybody to buy a
copy/ get a copy from the library of this book and read this section.
Does Meal Frequency Matter?
No, not really, in the context of what/ how many people think it does. Most of it, in
regards to weightlifting, involved the Leucine Threshold, which seems to be
around 20-30 grams of protein (including 2-3 grams of leucine) per meal four
times a day with around 3 hours in-between feedings (older lifters would need to
increase the per meal protein to 35-40 grams).
Supplements?
Fish Oil - You could take, but might be better off just eating fatty fish at least three
times a week, or taking 3-6 fish-oil capsules per day.
Vitamin D - Recommended supplementation of 3000-4000 IU a day for hormonal
benefits, or 1000-2000 if you’re worried about a deficiency.
Magnesium - 400 milligrams per day for adult men.
Apparently Effective and Generally Safe Supplements
Muscle Building
Creatine, Protein, Essential Amino Acids (EAA’s), Weight gain powders
Performance Enhancing
Creatine, Carbohydrates, Caffeine, Beta-alanine, Sodium Bicarbonate,
Water, Sports Drinks, Sodium Phosphate
Possibly Effective
Muscle Building
HMB (a metabolite of leucine), Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAA’s)
Performance Enhancing
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Post-Exercise Carbohydrates/ Protein, EAA, BCAA, HMB, Glycerol
Too Early To Tell
Muscle Building
A-ketoglutarate, a-ketoisocaproate, Ecdysterones, Growth Hormone,
Zinc/ Mangesium Aspartate
Performance Enhancing
Medium-Chain Triglycerides
Apparently Dangerous and/ or Not Effective
Muscle Building
Glutamine, Smilax, Isoflavones, Sulfo-Polysacharides, Boron, Chromium,
Conjugated Linoleic Acid, Gamma Oryzanol, Prohormones, Tribulus
Terrestris, Vanadyl Sulfate (Vanadium)
Performance Enhancing
Glutamine, Ribose, Inosine
Alcohol
No suggestion to drink (obviously), but if you do Alan suggests to swap out carbs
for alcohol straight across - two beers, approximately 300 calories, would be
about 75 grams worth of carbohydrates (4*75=300). Could swap for fat, but that
likely is the worse choice due to fat’s essential functions to better physiques.
Crap
10% of your diet can come from “pure junky goodness.” Start with carbohydrate
allotment rather than fat calories, as you would with alcohol. More aspirational
than operational - they don’t assume you will always hit it perfectly, forever.
1. Hit your target goals for calories.
2. Hit your macronutrient targets, especially for protein.
3. Getting almost all of your food from whole and minimally processed sources.
How To Train
“1. Know exactly what you’re going to do in your primary exercises before you start.
2. Remember that anything worth doing is worth warming up for.
3. Whatever matters most is what you do first.
4. Spend 80 percent of your time and energy on exercises that matter most.
5. On each exercise, work with the heaviest weights you can within the context of the
program.
5A. Heavy means heavy for you. It’s relative to your current strength and
conditioning levels, and it’s relative to when you do the exercise within the
workout.
5B. If it’s smaller than your forearm or lighter than your mother’s purse, it’s not
heavy.”
Workout Structure
Warm-Up
Get comfortable, literally get warm, get blood flowing, get excited.
Core Exercises
Do them before your overall work, helps build up strength and stability
with other exercises while they’re still fresh - shouldn’t impact your big
compounds, but instead will help develop them over time.
Strength Exercises
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Six exercises, two groups of three. First group of three is your primary
exercises, big compounds - typically starts with a deadlift or a squat,
followed by a push (pushup, bench press, shoulder press) and a pull (row,
pulldown, chinup). Second group of three is complementary exercises,
same lower-body, push, pull.
Accessories
Follow your bliss, if you like it and can handle it, do it. Just make sure that
it makes sense.
1.The 80/20 Rule: 80% of your training, both time and effort, should be
dedicated to your strength major compound exercises. No more
than 20% should be accessories or other training modalities.
2. The “Nothing Hurts” Rule: Make sure it doesn’t hurt, or hurt you.
3. The Balance Rule: If you add a push, you need to add a pull. If you add
a bicep lift, add a tricep. Perfectly balanced, as all things should
be.
4. The Multitasking Rule: Try to do more than one thing with each
exercise.
Recovery
“1. You get stronger from week to week.
2. You develop better form on key exercises like squats and deadlifts, due
to improved mobility in your ankles and hips and better stability in
your core and shoulders.
3. You don’t experience lingering soreness in your muscles or joints;
increasing joint soreness over time means you’re doing more
harm than good. This also applies to any accessory exercises that
you tack on at the end of the workouts.
4. You look forward to your workouts and have plenty of energy for them;
you sometimes have to hold yourself back from pushing too hard.”
The authors then go on to give a pretty thorough and elaborate 100 page section
- that I won’t be summarizing or taking notes on here - that I think are well
worth the read to any discerning fan of training methodology. Really good
notes and breakdowns of all exercises and lifts involved in warm-ups,
core strengthening, strength work, and accessories.
My Personal Book Review:
Regarding this book, I can’t imagine really anything negative to say. In fact, with the
exception of maybe MAX Muscle Plan by Dr. Brad Schoenfeld, I would likely recommend
this book to any person new to the world of weightlifting. It’s a great, fun read that feels
very personal and down-to-Earth. They make the content relatable, which I really found
appealing. The recommendations found within the book seem to line up with pretty much
everything else that I’ve researched. A great introduction. Rating: 9/10.
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Dr. Austin Baraki Notes
All of the notes for Austin Baraki are taken from his page on Starting Strength, found here:
https://startingstrength.com/author/austin-baraki
Diagnosing Silly Bullshit
https://startingstrength.com/article/diagnosing_silly_bullshit
Fitness Buzzword Bullshit Claims
Activation/ Firing/ Activation Work - “there’s no evidence supporting that any of this “not
firing” actually occurs in the absence of neurological injury (e.g. nerve transection
or other neuropathy, stroke, or spinal cord injury), muscle infarction, rare
myopathies and metabolic disorders, or general anesthesia (i.e., pharmacologic
paralysis).”
Fascial Distortions/ Restrictions/ Adhesions - “There is no reliable evidence supporting
these bizarre claims about 1) the physiologic significance of fascia beyond its
structural function, 2) that any of these supposed pathologies actually occur and
have clinical manifestations, or 3) that manual/massage therapy can
meaningfully affect fascial tissue structure at all.”
“Functional” - ““functional movements” are often complex and attempt to integrate as
many “domains of fitness” as possible into a few movements, diluting the overall
stimulus and therefore diluting any resultant adaptations.
“There is no such thing as “functional strength.” Strength is the ability to produce
force against an external resistance, and producing more force is more
“functional” compared producing less force. Period.”
Core Strength/ Stability, “Weak Core” - “Save your time by training your squats, presses,
and deadlifts with appropriate weights that require your core musculature to exert
the amount of force necessary to hold a rigid torso, then incrementally increase
these weights (and therefore the force demands) over time. This results in
objective, quantifiable increases in the strength of your “core” muscles as well as
many others that yoga stretches simply can’t provide.”
“Mobility” - “Are you able to correctly hit the positions required in your training? Then you
have adequate mobility. Are you unable to correctly hit the positions required in
your training, despite competent coaching? Then you might need some “mobility
work,” to be determined on an individual basis.”
“Flossing” - “Carefully evaluate the claims of anyone telling you to floss anything other
than your teeth.”
Small Muscle Dysfunction/ Tightness/ Weakness/ Imbalance - “Perhaps instead of
focusing on “activating” one tiny muscle with corrective exercises or obsessing
over your Psoas, all you need is a coach who actually knows how to get you to lift
symmetrically, how to valsalva effectively, or how to set your back properly in the
context of the lift itself.”
“One of my biggest problems here is that, because there is no objective evidence for
these supposed pathologies, there is essentially zero inter-rater reliability among
bullshitters. What I mean by this is that if you take the same exact complaint to a
handful of different bullshitters, each one could potentially give you a different
diagnosis (likely one that falls within their field of “expertise”) requiring their
services to treat. That’s the luxury of being able to completely make shit up.”
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Aches and Pains
https://startingstrength.com/article/aches-and-pains
“Most acute injuries heal within about six weeks, and pain lasting beyond this point
usually represents a syndrome where the pain itself is the problem, rather than
injured tissue.”
Chiropractors: “Unfortunately the overwhelming evidence we have suggests that these
purely structural findings correlate extremely poorly with pain.”
“Although the available evidence isn’t too encouraging, it might provide some
short-term relief, for some people, some of the time.”
“The theoretical basis for the entire Chiropractic field (i.e, the
postural-structural-biomechanical model) is wildly exaggerated and, to date, is
not supported by the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence.
In summary: Your skeleton is not a fragile little snowflake. “Good posture,”
skeletal symmetry, and “alignment” – to the extent they can even be achieved –
are far, far less important than advertised.”
Massage Therapists: “You might be surprised to learn that there is no correlation
between soft tissue texture (i.e., what the therapist is feeling) and pain, functional
impairment, or tissue pathology.[13-19] While you might feel “really tight” in a
particular spot, this observation is meaningless in practical terms.”
“It has been suggested that the evidence for massage improving depression,
anxiety, and feelings of stress might better explain the benefits observed for back
pain.”
“Massage therapists cannot reliably correlate palpable tissue texture (e.g,
“tightness”) to pathology, and this texture has no predictive value for pain. When
massage and manual therapy do work, might there be other mechanisms at
play?”
Physicians: MRI-based and diagnosis based, few indicators long term show physician
route to be best over time - similar pain indicators regardless of corrective
surgery.
“By this point you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that patient expectations and
psychosocial factors (as predicted by standardized questionnaires for
depression, anxiety, fear, etc.), not the severity of disease upon imaging, are the
strongest predictors of whether they will return to work or experience future
disability from pain.”
“In fact, MRI appearance seems to have no predictive value at all for future pain
or disability – even worse, just undergoing an MRI appears to be an independent
risk factor (i.e, not related to disease severity) for future pain and disability.
In other words, just learning that your MRI shows ominous spinal “degeneration”
is enough to make your pain worse and last longer. This fascinating phenomenon
is known as the nocebo effect, and it fits perfectly in line with the biopsychosocial
model where the brain has ultimate control over your perception of
musculoskeletal pain. Consider that before the next time you try to pressure your
doctor into ordering a spinal MRI.
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In summary: When the doc says that, based solely on your MRI results, you
should either get surgery or invest in a rolling walker, take some Vicodin, and
definitely avoid lifting heavy weights so you don’t “blow your back out”… they’re
probably wrong.”
Physical Therapists: “Your pain isn’t solely coming from skeletal asymmetry, or from
muscles being “imbalanced,” “weak,” “shortened,” or “unstable”. Benefits
obtained from physical therapy as it is typically practiced are more likely due to
the passage of time than targeted strengthening interventions on your gluteus
Medius.”
Miscellaneous New-Age Quackery: “These are just a few among a sprawling cornucopia
of structural-based quackery, including Craniosacral therapy, Functional Patterns,
Anatomy Trains, the Integrated Systems Model, Prolotherapy, Alexander
Technique, Thoracic Ring Theory, Reflexology, Bowen therapy, Feldenkrais,
Shiatsu, “postural rehabilitation,” and the list goes on. All of these methods sell
expensive certifications reflecting their pet theories built on structural models of
pain, which I’ve now hopefully convinced you is far less important than
Advertised.”
Conclusions: “they’ll still provide a confident, complex, scientific-sounding explanation for
their diagnosis, which will always lie squarely within their scope of practice and
which needs their specific treatment. It’s a frustrating combination of hubris,
confirmation bias, and (sometimes) greed all rolled into one.”
1. Managing stress, anxiety, and depression (much easier said than done)
2. Education about back pain to reduce the fear that your pain is reflective of
constant “danger”
3. Getting adequate sleep
4. Avoiding use of opiate pain medications and “muscle relaxants” (although
acetaminophen/NSAIDs may be helpful)
5. Exercising – or, even better, training – to move through previously
“threatening” ranges of motion
6. Continuing to participate in normal activities (i.e, avoiding immobility!)
“Our preference for physical intervention involves the application of gradual
progressive overload through basic barbell training.”
The Special Snowflake Problem - Starting Strength Podcast Episode 34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFln4GV70Cg
“You are not a special snowflake,” the notion that there are general principles that don’t
apply to you is, simply put, silly.
Complexities of physiology are not the same as the generalities of physical training.
Training in a way that “feels good,” or “works for you” is the difference between exercise
and training - subjective and thus likely less productive.
Human anatomical variety doesn’t justify significant deviations in people’s training, the
vast majority of the time.
Corrective movement is just the original movement done correctly.
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Reasonable use of all of the major lifts is generally, in 99% of cases, the best use of your
time. It is very unlikely that you need to do crazy specific special stuff in order to
successfully train/ workout/ lift.
Snowflake Solution: Start with a manageable, trainable weight where you can perform
the exercises for full ROM with proper form and continue to progressively
overload. Don’t buy into the coaching routine income-stream driven solution
when the likelihood of your “problems” existing aligns specifically with continued
expensive training solutions.
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Dr. Eric Helms Notes
All of the notes for Eric Helms are taken from his coaching page, found here:
https://3dmusclejourney.com/about/eric-helms/ and more specifically his peer-reviewed articles
found here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric_Helms
High-Protein, Low-Fat, Short-Term Diet Results in Less Stress and Fatigue Than
Moderate-Protein, Moderate-Fat Diet During Weight Loss in Male Weightlifters: A Pilot
Study
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263971800_High-Protein_Low-Fat_Short-Term_Diet_
Results_in_Less_Stress_and_Fatigue_Than_Moderate-Protein_Moderate-Fat_Diet_During_We
ight_Loss_in_Male_Weightlifters_A_Pilot_Study
Eric Helms, Caryn Zinn, David Rowlands, Ruth Naidoo, John Cronin.
International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 2014.
Study pits High Protein Low Fat (HPLF, 2.8g/kg protein and fat 15.4% of total calories)
against Moderate Protein Moderate Fat (MPMF, 1.6 g/kg protein and fat 36.5% of
total calories) against each other to compare performance and muscle loss when
dieting.
Conclusion: “Strength and anthropometric differences were minimal while stress,
fatigue and diet-dissatisfaction were higher during MPMF. A HPLF diet during
short-term weight loss may be more effective at mitigating mood
disturbance, fatigue, diet-dissatisfaction and stress than a MPMF diet.”
“In terms of strength, there was a 19% chance that MPMF might prove to be a more
beneficial approach to maintenance of peak force than HPLF, while there was
practically no chance of the opposite. Intra-muscular fatty acid levels are
replenished to a much lesser degree when consuming 15% of calories from
fat compared to 40% of calories from fat (Boesch, Kreis, Hoppeler, Decombaz,
& Fleith, 2000). Also, despite common perception that carbohydrate alone fuels
resistance training, intra-muscular triglyceride does contribute to energy
expended during heavy resistance exercise of relatively short duration in men
(Essen-Gustavsson & Tesch, 1990). Thus, it is possible that the low fat intake of
15% of calories in HPLF may have impacted training in some of the participants
in such a way that IMTP peak force was negatively affected.”
“From the findings it is suggested that during short-term, high caloric-deficit (40%)
diets, a high-protein (2.8g/kg) low-fat (mean 15.4% of calories) approach
provides lower ratings of athlete-specific stress, fatigue, mood disturbance
and diet dissatisfaction than a moderate-protein (1.6g/kg) moderate-fat (mean
36.5% of calories) approach.”
RPE vs Percentage 1RM Loading in Periodized Programs Matched for Sets and
Repetitions
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323643252_RPE_vs_Percentage_1RM_Loading_in_P
eriodized_Programs_Matched_for_Sets_and_Repetitions
Eric Helms, Ryan Byrnes, Dan Cooke, et al.
Frontiers in Physiology. 2018.
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“Purpose: To investigate differences between rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and
percentage one-repetition maximum (1RM) load assignment in resistance-trained
males(19–35 years) performing protocols with matched sets and repetitions
differentiated byload-assignment.”
Squats then bench press 3 times per week in a DUP program over 8 week, pre-tested
1RM then assigned to % of 1RM, or RPE groups.
“Conclusions: Both loading-types are effective. However, RPE-based loading may
provide a small 1RM strength advantage in a majority of individuals.”
“With that said, strength differences between groups were small and variable enough to
fall short of statistical significance. This may indicate that while some individuals
could benefit from using RPE as a loading strategy,for others, the choice
between using percentage 1RM- or RPE-based loading is inconsequential (at
least in the short term).”
“Interestingly,significant increases in strength and hypertrophy occurred in both groups,
despite the majority of training occurring ∼3–4 repetitions from failure (RPE
∼6–7). This provides further evidence that training to failure at all times is not
necessary to make significant gains in hypertrophy (Sampson and Groeller,2016)
or strength (Izquierdo et al., 2006; Davies et al., 2016), at least when training with
moderate to heavy loads (Ogasawara et al., 2013).”
Continuous versus Intermittent Moderate Energy Restriction for Increased Fat Mass Loss
and Fat Free Mass Retention in Adult Athletes: Protocol for a Randomised Controlled
Trial - The ICECAP Trial (Intermittent versus Continuous Energy restriction Compared in
an Athlete Population)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328323680_Continuous_versus_intermittent_moderat
e_energy_restriction_for_increased_fat_mass_loss_and_fat_free_mass_retention_in_adult_athl
etes_Protocol_for_a_randomised_controlled_trial_-_The_ICECAP_trial_Inter
Jackson Peos, Eric Helms, Paul Fournier, Amanda Sainsbury
BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. 2018.
Terms as follows: FM - Fat Mass, FFM - Fat Free Mass, IER - Intermittent Energy
Restriction, CER - Continuous Energy Restriction, mCER - Moderate CER, mIER
- Moderate IER, EB - Energy Balance.
In layman's terms: IER = intermittently dieting with occasional breaks, EB = maintenance
calorie consumption/ equivalent inputs and outputs of energy, CER =
continuously dieting at a consistent calorie consumption rate.
“While most data to date consistently show no significant difference between intermittent
fasting forms of IER and CER, IER protocols that implemented longer periods of
ER and refeeds have shown mixed results, some of which are promising.”
“As such, athletes typically favour dietary interventions involving moderate ER,26 which
can arguably be defined as a prescribed energy intake of no less than 65% of
weight maintenance energy requirements.29 In a recent series of in-depth
interviews, bodybuilders commonly reported the implementation of refeed days
during pre-contest weight loss interventions, achieved primarily through elevating
carbohydrate consumption.24 Positive effects of this practice were also
described, including enhanced training performance and mental recovery (which
participants attributed to perceived increases in muscle glycogen storage), and a
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perceived prevention of further adaptive downgrades in energy expenditure.
However, it is unknown how participants were able to subjectively perceive
increases in muscle glycogen storage or prevention of adaptive downgrades in
energy expenditure. Some participants also reported better fat loss and muscle
retention when employing refeed periods during pre-contest weight loss
interventions, compared with interventions without refeeds.”
“While recent findings suggest that some IER models—in comparison to CER—may
reduce compensatory responses to ER, in turn, improving weight loss or fat loss
(or efficiency thereof) in people with obesity,20 21 it has yet to be determined
whether this strategy is effective for athletes. Hence, this dietary approach merits
further research attention to explore whether the recruitment of athletes,
implementation of exercise and the optimisation of macronutrient intake could
influence results achieved with IER.”
How to Maximize Muscle Growth with Dr. Eric Helms (Part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeC4AVRDkaE
Why is strength training important while you’re trying to lose fat?
Losses in lean mass, better for aesthetics.
Metabolic training (occlusion) is argued to help produce hypertrophy - similar to
traditional training. Not proven to be fully additive, shouldn’t be done instead of
traditional lifts. Can be used to help with tendonitis to avoid overloading elbow
while continuing to train.
Big 6: Hip hinge pattern, Squat pattern, Upper body horizontal push and pull, Upper
body vertical push and pull.
Best rep range for building muscle: Dr. Helms says 6-30 rep range valuing intensity/
volume can produce hypertrophy. Low rep ranges produces strength but less
hypertrophy, higher rep ranges with sufficient intensity produces more
hypertrophy but less strength.
A bit more stressful to be doing heavy all the time.
Stick to 6-8, 8-10 rep range especially on lower body compounds. Isolation movements
can go as high as 20-30 rep range.
No advantage to going to failure, but can help with hypertrophy to some extent.
6-8 RPE range on big heavy compounds is likely best. Isolation movements can likely do
7-10 RPE.
You can do hypertrophy training without ever going to failure - 8 RPE can serve most of
your strength needs, but you’ll still want to occasionally test to your max.
How often should you train each muscle group?: Frequency is useful as a tool to
increase volume to make any single session not so overwhelming, and training
one time per week is (volume equated) less valuable for driving growth than two
or more. Traditional bro split is unlikely to be optimal.
Rest for about a minute for isolations, 2 minutes for compounds. Rest minimum 3
minutes for maximal strength recovery.
How to Maximize Muscle Growth with Dr. Eric Helms (Part 2)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxna-Ec4OJg
Stretching?: Untrained lifters may see some additional hypertrophic gains from
stretching, but typical lift should be your full stretch stimulus for more trained
lifters. Static stretching for trained individuals likely less useful, unless to just help
maintain full ROM for your lifts. Dynamic stretches similar to your lift are best.
Warm Up?: Raise body temperature, get muscle group ready for dynamic action. Best
way to address a warm up - basic calisthenic exercises at bodyweight, empty bar
circuit work, moving the joints that you’re going to work with explosive active
Movements. Full body movements, 5-10 minutes.
5x50%, 4x60%, 3x70%, 2x80%, 1x90% working weight, then go into working
sets.
Afterburn Effect, HIIT vs. LISS: Over-exaggerated claim, objectively true but not
significant - likely less than resistance training overall. Higher intensity cardio has
a higher fatigue cost, harder to recover from and can interfere with lifts. 1-2 times
HIIT per week, maximum. Cardio argued by Dr. Helms to be less useful than
most people tend to argue - can add up over time, but cardio still interferes with
lifts and recovery. Cardio should be low impact: Elliptical, rower, biking.
Do what you enjoy - maximize your fitness capacities in the way you like.
The larger the deficit, the lower your body fat, the less likely you are to put on muscle.
Body re-compositions are unrealistic for people that are trained, low weight, much more
difficult than for those who are obese, untrained. Also, steroids work.
As you diet, there are consequences to your metabolism via survival mechanisms, so
the more weight you lose the worse your metabolism gets (lower than it would be
if you were at that weight otherwise - stabilizes over time but your hormones and
metabolism don’t like extreme changes). Your body’s priority is no longer creating
muscle mass but instead preserving life functions. Then focus becomes muscle
retention over muscle growth.
Higher protein intake during dieting - to offset protein breakdown, to maintain muscle
mass, .7-1 gram per pound. Protein intake high but not so high that it interferes
with carb and fat intake. 1.2 grams protein cap while dieting, 1 gram max when
not dieting.
You can lose muscle fast, but you can get back into it and regain that muscle within ⅓ as
much time as it took to gain it in the first place. Ramp up into volume and
intensity as you return to working out, though, to avoid injury/ damage.
Soreness shouldn’t preempt you from lifting, DOMS are just inconvenient but it shouldn’t
stop you from continuing to train. DOMS/ Soreness is not synonymous with
effective training - muscle damage is not an accurate measure of how much
hypertrophy is developing. Soreness is not your goal, progressive overload is.
For real deal injuries, take it seriously and see a true professional. Don’t train through it,
don’t do anything that causes true pain, find alternatives. Your emotional and
psychological reaction to your injury is probably more harmful than the injury
itself.
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Greg Nuckols Notes
All of the notes for Greg Nuckols are taken from either his personal page, found here:
http://gregnuckols.com/ or his more specifically peer-reviewed articles found here:
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/author/gnuckols/
High vs. Low Load Training Not To Failure
http://gregnuckols.com/2017/10/12/high-vs-low-load-training-not-failure/
An analysis of the paper “Effects of Low-Load, Higher-Repetition versus High-Load,
Lower Repetition Resistance Trainings Not Performed to Failure on Muscle
Strength, Mass, and Echo Intensity in Healthy Young Men: A Time-Course Study”
by T. Ikezoe, T. Kobayashi, M. Nakamura, and N. Ichihashi, from the Journal of
Strength and Conditioning Research, 2017.
Nuckols takes exception at the experimental design, mostly.
“They found no statistically significant differences in hypertrophy, but the raw percentage
change seemed to favor the group using heavier loads (20.4% for the high load
group vs. 11.3% for the low load group), so there may actually be a meaningful
difference that couldn’t be detected due to low statistical power. Furthermore,
strength gains were almost identical (40.9% for the low load group and 36.2% for
the high load group for 1RM; 24% for the low load group and 25.5% for the high
load group for isometric strength).” - Slight edge given to high load low rep.
Not a ton of takeaways, honestly. Likelihood that either is better than the other seems to
be low, based on the faulty study.
More is More
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/more-is-more/
Key Points
1) The most reliable way, though not the ONLY way, to get stronger is to do more.
“Exercise selection plays a role, intensity plays a role, frequency plays a role,
proper periodization plays a role. But the primary contributor – hands down – is
training volume.”
Following analysis comes as a result from study “The Effect of Training Volume
on Lower-Body Strength” by D.W. Robbins, P.W. Marshall, and M. McEwen, in
the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2012.
“If you want to get stronger, the best thing you can do is train more, provided
you’re sleeping enough, managing stress, and have good technique.”
“But in the simplest terms possible, your current program is probably less
effective than it would be if you just added an extra couple of sets to each
exercise. If you’re not making progress, your default thought shouldn’t simply be,
“time to find an exciting new program!” It should be either “time to add more work
to my current program” or “time to seek out a new program that employs more
volume than my current one.””
2) Even advanced, drug-free athletes can make great progress training a lift just twice
per week.
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3) You probably don’t need to worry about overtraining. Participants in this study
squatted 8 sets to failure with 80% of their max and made sweet gainz.
Muscle Math
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/muscle-math/
Key Points
1) Having useful conceptual frameworks can help you reason through problems as they
arise, rather than having to invest a ton of time to seek out each individual
answer. This is especially useful if you need to make decisions on the fly or if
you’re really busy.
**Note - suggestion of 3-6 meals per day.
Strength and hypertrophy seem to favor higher frequencies. At least 2-3 times
per week for most muscle groups, difference between 3 and 4 will be minimal.
“For new lifters, simply getting adequate calories and protein throughout the day
encompasses essentially all of the benefits, whereas for more
experienced lifters, the point of diminishing returns is reached later, with
pre and post workout supplementation having a more noticeable effect.
The general principle still applies – the difference between getting some
post-workout nutrition immediately after your workout and 20 minutes
after your workout is probably negligible, and the difference between 40g
of protein and 80g of protein in that window is probably negligible, but
benefits still accrue, to a point, by consuming adequate protein and carbs
around your workout, with the benefits diminishing as you consume less,
or as the consumption drifts farther from the pre and post workout
Window.”
2) Factors that fall under the umbrella of “recovery” tend to follow a power law
distribution – you get the most bang for your buck from initial increases, with
further increases making less and less of a difference.
**Note - suggestion of 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
3) Factors that fall under the umbrella of “stressors” tend to follow a parabolic distribution
– more is better, until you overwhelm your body’s ability to adapt.
Generally, the law of diminishing returns comes into play with the number/
amount of stressors that you place on your body. With none, no response/ no
change, with the right amount comes change, with too much comes overtraining.
“With training volume, more is better until you reach your limit, at which point
further increases don’t just failed to produce better results (as we saw with
non-stressful, “recovery”-related things like meal frequency and sleep), but
instead lead to worse results.”
“Research has shown that using loads of at least 60% of your max are necessary
to cause robust gains in hypertrophy under non-hypoxic conditions (i.e. we’re not
discussing blood flow restriction here). From that point, there’s a range from
about 60-85% that gives you the most bang for your buck in terms of strength
and hypertrophy gains.”
Regarding Cardio: “However, for a strength athlete, all you’re really shooting for
is an adequate base of aerobic fitness. Benefits accrue to the point that you
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attain that sufficient base level of aerobic fitness. However, once you start
training like you’re going to run a marathon, strength and mass gains suffer.
Proper structuring of training is key here, too. It takes more dedicated
cardiovascular training to build aerobic fitness, but relatively little to maintain it.
Since it’s a stressor you have to account for, a training block dedicated to building
more aerobic fitness necessitates reductions in resistance training volume.
However, once you have an adequate base, you can dial back your aerobic
training to allow you to ramp your strength training back up.”
“The total possible gainz you can make decrease, the amount of work you have
to do to maintain your strength increases, but the total amount of productive work
you can do increases.”
4) “Recovery” factors, and things such as training status, drugs, and genetics can shift
the stress curve, increasing or decreasing the amount of stress you can handle.
Training Frequency for Muscle Growth: What the Data Say
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/frequency-muscle/
An absolutely fantastic article that I don’t think is worth line-by-line assessing rather than
just suggesting that you read it - it’s worth the time. If you need a TL;DR, here’s his
essential conclusion:
“1) If you’re currently making progress on a low frequency training program, don’t
change anything. When you plateau, however, consider increasing your training
frequency.
2) Many lifters, anecdotally, find that they can tolerate higher frequencies for some
exercises or muscle groups but not others. Higher training frequencies are worth
a shot, but keep in mind that your personal responses may not mirror the
average response.
3) If you increase your training frequency, start by distributing your current training
volume over more days per week. Don’t increase volume until you see how you
respond and how well you can recover between sessions.
4) If training purely for hypertrophy with a high frequency, consider alternating between
more and less taxing exercises for each muscle group. For example, if you do
squats on Monday to train quads, do something lighter like step-ups or split
squats on Tuesday or Wednesday.
5) I’d primarily recommend higher frequencies when training to bring up weak points, or
when weekly volume for a given muscle group is low. They’re useful in other
contexts, but those are the situations where I think they’d give you the largest
return on investment.”
Training Frequency for Strength Development: What the Data Say
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/training-frequency/
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An absolutely fantastic article that I don’t think is worth line-by-line assessing rather than
just suggesting that you read it - it’s worth the time. If you need a TL;DR, here’s his
essential conclusion:
“With those two big caveats in mind, I think the major takeaway is that higher
frequencies (up to at least 4-5x per week) seem to lead to larger strength gains
for upper body pressing exercises, on average, in both trained and untrained
lifters, even when volume and intensity are equated. On the other hand, strength
gains for squat-type movements seem to be less affected by frequency.”
“If you decide to increase your training frequency for a particular lift, I’d strongly
recommend dialing back your per-session volume until you adjust (keeping your
weekly volume unchanged). I’d also recommend making one of your additional
sessions an “easy” session where you stick with lighter loads than you’d normally
use, and stay at least 3-4 reps from failure. Once you see how well you’re
recovering between sessions, you’ll know when you’re ready to start ramping up
per-session volume.”
The “Hypertrophy Rep Range” - Fact or Fiction?
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/hypertrophy-range-fact-fiction/
“So, here’s what I’m personally taking away from this:
1. The “hypertrophy range” of roughly 6-15 reps per set may produce slightly better
results per unit of time invested than low rep and high rep work. However, on the
whole, the advantage you get from working in the hypertrophy range isn’t nearly
as big as people seem to think; maybe a ~10-15% advantage per unit of effort
invested at most.
2. You can absolutely grow effectively when training with low reps and high reps. In
fact, mechanistic work has shown that although different rep ranges trigger
similar elevations in protein synthesis, the signaling pathways activated to
produce that growth response are actually somewhat different. You’re probably
missing out on some growth if you confine yourself to a single rep range, even
the “hypertrophy range.” My assumption is that individual signaling pathways
would habituate to a single stimulus faster than multiple signaling pathways
would habituate to slightly different stimuli.
3. Due to the sheer amount of variability we’re looking at, both within studies and
between studies, it’s probably not wise to assume that a single rep range will be
the best for everyone. Some people and some exercises just seem to do better
with higher reps or lower reps.
“High quality sets refer to those that employ exercises that are likely going to be limited
by the muscle you’re trying to train, through the longest range of motion you can
maintain with safe form, taken within 2-3 reps of failure*, and performed when
you’re adequately recovered from your previous set (generally around 1.5-2
minutes of rest for isolation lifts, and 3-5+ minutes for heavy compound lifts).”
“*Failure defined as absolute failure for exercises like curls or delt raises where injury
risk is low, and technical failure for exercises like squats or deadlifts where injury
risk is higher.”
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“Speaking purely anecdotally, here are my 100% bro-certified, entirely
not-evidence-based observations about the rep ranges that tend to work best for
several key lifts:
Squats and deadlifts:
Sets of 3-8 for people with a strength sports background. You’re probably strong
enough that more than 8 reps gets too metabolically taxing.
Sets of 5-10 for newer lifters, or people with bodybuilding background. It’s
typically a bit lower for deadlifts than squats, because letting your technique slip
as you fatigue is easier with deadlifts.
Rows:
Sets of 8-15. People often make the mistake of going too heavy and turning
rows into a hip hinging exercise more so than a lat exercise. While I have my bro
hat on, cheaty rows are a pretty effective accessory lift for improving your
deadlift, but don’t tend to be a great lat builder.
Pull-ups/Chin-ups:
Sets of 5-10. Pull-ups lend themselves to lower reps than rows because it’s
harder to use momentum to cheat the movement. Additionally, people tend to
start compromising range of motion with higher reps.
Barbell pressing of all sorts:
Sets of 5-10 tend to work best here. Too heavy, too often tends to beat up
people’s elbows and/or shoulders, and a lot of people find that higher rep sets
seem to be limited more by their anterior deltoids than their pecs (bench or
incline), lateral deltoids (overhead press), or triceps (all types of pressing).
Dumbbell pressing of all sorts:
Sets of 8-15 in general. With weights that are too heavy, balance can become
problematic, so you waste a lot of energy just controlling the weight instead of
training the muscles you’re trying to train.
Unilateral lower body work:
Sets of 8-15 in general. Again, the weight needs to be light enough that you can
work the target muscles and train the movement effectively instead of turning the
exercise into a balancing act, but they also need to be heavy enough that
metabolic fatigue within the set isn’t going to start making balance problematic
toward the end of the set.
Any sort of isolation lift or machine work:
Sets of 8+. With isolation lifts, you don’t really have to worry about systemic
metabolic fatigue, and going too heavy can irritate a lot of people’s tendons since
generally you can work the individual muscle through a longer range of motion
than you’d be able to with a compound lift. Regarding machine work, low reps on
machines just seems silly and anecdotally just doesn’t seem to work very well.”
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“As a general rule of thumb: Aim to get 60-70% of your work sets in the rep range that
you personally find works best for you, and get 15-20% of your sets with heavier
weights/lower reps and about 15-20% of your work with lighter weights/higher
reps.”
The “Hypertrophy Rep Range”- Stats and Adjustments
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/hypertrophy-range-stats-adjustments/
Addendum to the previous article with updated data. Cool for data nerds.
Avoiding Cardio Could Be Holding You Back
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/avoiding-cardio-could-be-holding-you-back/
The news that nobody likes to hear:
“My general recommendations:
1. Start slow. 2 sessions per week, both low intensity, and only 20-30 minutes per
session with your HR around 130, or 60-70% of max heart rate. A bike is best,
but incline treadmill walking is also a good alternative.
2. Only increase aerobic training load when you need to. Track your resting heart
rate (measured first thing in the morning) and the work rate you have to maintain
to hit a HR of 130. As long as your resting heart rate is trending down and/or you
can pedal faster/against more resistance or walk faster/at a greater incline week
to week, then don’t make increases.
3. Make increases slowly – 10 minutes more aerobic work per week. Evaluate your
conditioning as you go. Your resting HR should end up somewhere in the 50s,
and you shouldn’t have any issues recovering between sets. You should notice
that the amount of training you can handle has increased quite noticeably as
fatigue during training decreases, and recovery from training increases. Once
you find your minimum effective dose for maintaining that level of conditioning,
stay there – don’t do more for its own sake.
4. Once you reach three weekly sessions of 40 minutes apiece (again, only making
increases as needed), evaluate your level of conditioning again if you’re still not
sufficiently conditioned (see the previous point).
5. If your aerobic fitness plateaus at that level of low-intensity training, you may
need to start including interval training. Start conservatively – 3-4 rounds of 1
minute intervals with 2-3 minutes of rest in between. Choose low-skill movements
(NOT sprinting or weightlifting) like cycle sprints or kettlebell swings. Again,
monitor improvements and only increase as necessary.
6. Do 2-3 sets to failure per muscle group, per week. Save this for your accessory
work – going to true failure on squats or deadlifts regularly probably isn’t the
smartest idea. You can get the same local aerobic adaptations with safer
exercises. This is perfect for isolation work, actually. If someone tries to hate on
you for being a bro and doing pec flyes or leg extensions, you can say you just
care about maximizing mitochondrial biogenesis, thank you very much.”
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The best graphic:
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James Krieger Notes
All of the notes for James Krieger are taken from his specifically peer-reviewed articles found
here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James_Krieger3
Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained
Men
Brad Schoenfeld, Bret Contreras, James Krieger, et al.
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2018.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327286690_Resistance_Training_Volume_Enhances_
Muscle_Hypertrophy_but_Not_Strength_in_Trained_Men
“The present study shows that marked increases in strength can be attained by
resistance-trained individuals with just three 13-min sessions per week, and that
gains are similar to that achieved with a substantially greater time commitment
when training in a moderate loading range (8–12 repetitions per set). This finding
has important implications for those who are time-pressed, allowing the ability to
get stronger in an efficient manner, and may help to promote greater exercise
adherence in the general public. Alternatively, we show that increases in muscle
hypertrophy follow a dose–response relationship, with increasingly greater gains
achieved with higher training volumes.Thus, those seeking to maximize muscular
growth need to allot a greater amount of weekly time to achieve this goal. Further
research is warranted to determine how these findings apply to resistance
individuals in other populations, such as women and the elderly. Volume does not
appear to have any differential effects on measures of upper-body muscular
endurance.”
Super long Rich Piana 8 hour arm workouts not likely to be necessary for gains, but
generally the more volume the better for hypertrophy until your maximal stress
limit where gains decrease and progress may decline.
Resistance Training Combined with Diet Decreases Body Fat While Preserving Lean
Mass Independent of Resting Metabolic Rate: A Randomized Trial
Todd Miller, Stephanie Mull, Alan Aragon, James Krieger, Brad Schoenfeld
International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 2017.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319499045_Resistance_Training_Combined_With_Di
et_Decreases_Body_Fat_While_Preserving_Lean_Mass_Independent_of_Resting_Metabolic_
Rate_A_Randomized_Trial
Terms: RT - Resistance Training, RMR - Resting Metabolic Rate
“Significant reductions in fat mass were achieved by all experimental groups, but results
were maximized by RT+DIET. Only the RT group showed significant increases in
lean mass.”
“Findings of this study indicate that a total-body RT program combined with a caloric
deficit is a viable strategy for reducing body fat while preserving lean mass in
obese, premenopausal women. Positive results do not appear to be related to
increases in RMR. Given the health-related implications for carrying excess
body fat, these findings indicate that diet is the paramount consideration for
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combating obesity and combining nutritional prescription with RT appears to help
optimize changes in body composition.”
“These results reinforce the fact that nutritional intervention combined with exercise is
paramount with respect to fat loss, with exercise providing a supplemental but
important role in the process.”
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Jim Stoppani Notes
All of the notes for Jim Stoppani are taken from his peer-reviewed articles found here:
https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/2113769631_J_Stoppani or from his
YouTube channel videos found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrJimStoppani/videos
Effects of Ibuprofen and Vicoprofen on Physical Performance After Exercise-Induced
Muscle Damage
Jaci Vanheest, Jim Stoppani, et al.
Journal of Sport Rehabilitation. 2002.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291815957_Effects_of_Ibuprofen_and_VicoprofenR_o
n_Physical_Performance_after_Exercise-Induced_Muscle_Damage
Summary: “The drugs had no significant effect on performance throughout the 5-day
evaluation period. Pain was lower at days 4 and 5 in the VIC group than in P.
Conclusions: It appears that Vicoprofen reduced pain after muscle damage, but
the drug interventions did not enhance performance in aerobic and agility tasks.”
Reverse Thinking on the Bench Press
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZoBTXmMsC8
Upper pec involvement may increase by as much as 30% when doing reverse grip
bench press.
Unrack bar in regular, drop to chest and switch to reverse grip, hands wider than
shoulder width, arch down to lower chest (not same line as the regular bench
press).
Cardio Acceleration vs. Steady-State Cardiou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zxIj8muKqA
LISS for 30 minutes -orCardio Acceleration: About 1 minute of cardio in-between sets, a form of HIIT.
Suggests that cardio acceleration is best for lifters for efficiency of workout/ quality of the
cardio.
Can You Take Creatine When Dieting to Get Lean?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfD2JaJu55Y
Creatine doesn’t stop fat loss.
Water retention can be a minor issue on creatine, but it all is store in muscles, but if it is
an issue switch to HCL (Creatine Hydrochloride) to get same load.
My Take on the Paleo Diet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiHWli6QX4Y
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Not a very good diet for athletes according to Dr. Stoppani.
Need fast digesting carbs/ sodium.
Puts you at a disadvantage for muscle growth.
Pre-Workout Must Have Ingredients
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsfa9wbeq0A
1. BCAA’s, 5-6 grams - Leucine, Isoleucine, Valine (2:1:1 ratio): For energy and blunting
fatigue. Valine is BCAA champion, blocks tryptophan, tryptophan uptake
produces serotonin (bad for workouts).
2. Beta-Alanine, 2 grams - Blunts fatigue. Produces carnosyn. Can be tingly.
3. Creatine (HCL), - Needs to be taken over a long period of time.
4. Betaine, - Modified form of glycine (trimethylglycine)
5. Citrulline Malate, 6 grams (2:1 ratio of citrulline to malic acid) - Arginine is poorly
absorbed, citrulline is more readily absorbed.
5 Pillars of Supplementation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EYrzbrLBSw
Built on the foundation of Nutrition. Everything else just supplements.
Ingredients: Efficacy and safety are the two main concerns. Must work in both lab and
gym. Shouldn’t be unsafe/ untested. Citrulline vs. Arginine argument - arginine
not good at being absorbed, citrulline is preferred to get the same job done.
Form: Use the right form to get the job done. Creatine argument (HCL vs. monohydrate):
solubility, and body’s use of those ingredients. Fast energy should be fast, Dr.
Stoppani argues that monohydrate is slower due to lower solubility.
Dosing: How much is in the supplement - if not at the proper dose, won’t be effective.
Ibuprofen example: 200 mg effective dose on ibuprofen, must hit that amount for
effectivity at least. Research effective doses of ingredients.
Synergy: Should be able to work synergistically with other ingredients. BCAA’s +
creatine.
Timing: When to take the supplement - certain ingredients are better at certain times.
Typically, use pre- and post-workout supplementation to support effects.
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Dr. Jordan Feigenbaum Notes
All of the notes for Dr. Jordan Feigenbaum are taken from from the Barbell Medicine Blog found
here: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/resources/ or from his YouTube Barbell Medicine videos
found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMcGFPjX2aQy31KYdEvT2-Q/videos
To Be A Beast
https://www.barbellmedicine.com/584-2/
“Your individual goals, training, genetics, history, and compliance will determine exactly
what you need to do to get where you want to go.”
Counting macros > simple calorie counting.
“My argument hinges on the fact that macros determine total calorie intake whereas a
specific calorie level does not specify a particular macronutrient level, a known
variable in total caloric expenditure. The fact that differing macronutrient levels
also influence things like satiety, muscle protein synthesis, food reward, etc. all
support my bias that macros are relatively more important than calories when
discussing nutrition protocols.”
“So my initial suggestion to all folk looking to start an intelligent nutritional plan is this:
Use MyFitnessPal to track your intake over a week WITHOUT CHANGING your
current intake and get the scoop on what you’re actually taking in and how you
respond to that level of calories and macronutrients.”
Sex
Goal
Calories
(kCal/lb)
Protein
(g/lb)
Carbohydrates
(g/lb)
Fat (g/lb)
Male
Recomposition
12.75
1.15
1.25
0.35
Male
Fat Loss
11.43
1.25
1
0.27
Male
Muscle Gain
16.9
1.1
2
0.5
Female
Recomposition
12.62
1.1
1.2
0.38
Female
Fat Loss
11.35
1.15
0.9
0.35
Female
Muscle Gain
14.9
1
1.6
0.5
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Following is an awesome case-by-case example of how he breaks down typical dietary
considerations in clients. Well worth the read.
General Strength Training Template for the Intermediate/ Advanced
https://www.barbellmedicine.com/scivationstrong/
“Workout 1
Competition Squat x 1 @ RPE 8, 5 @ RPE 8 x 3-5 sets
2 count Paused Bench x 4 @ 7, 4 @ 8, 4 @ 9 x 3-4 sets
Romanian Deadlift x 7 reps @ 6, 7 reps @ 7, 7 reps @ 8 x 4 sets
Workout 2
Competition Bench x 1 @ RPE 8, 5 reps @ RPE 8 x 4-6 sets
2 count Paused Squat x 4 @ 7, 4 @ 8, 4 @ 9 x 3-4 sets
Press x 7 reps @ 6, 7 reps @ 7, 7 reps @ 8 x 4 sets
Workout 3
Competition Deadlift x 1 @ RPE 8, 5 @ RPE 8 x 3-5 sets
Touch n Go Bench Press x 4 @ 7, 4 @ 8, 4 @ 9 x 3-4 sets
Front Squat 7 reps @ 6, 7 reps @ 7, 7 reps @ 8 x 4 sets
Dumbbell Incline Bench 8 reps @ 6, 8 reps @ 7, 8 reps @ 8 x 4 sets”
General Physical Preparedness Days
- 25-30 min steady state cardio @ RPE 6 (conversational pace)
- 6-8 minutes of upper back work (no sets to failure)
- 6-8 minutes of ab/trunk work (preferably isometric in nature)
- Mobility/active recovery, if necessary
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Handy RPE Chart:
Why RPE?
1. Accounts for an individual’s variability in performance.
2. Provides optimal training stress.
3. Improves a lifter’s physical self awareness.
Why not RPE?
1. Poor RPE gauging: over- and under-estimating both real issues with newer lifters.
2. Planned progress is limited.
The Truth About Belts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3coLPynaROs&feature=youtu.be
If you expect it to work, it will likely work to help you out.
Not shown to impact muscles negatively (“core”) - controls abdominal pressure, doesn’t
completely negate the use of your abdominal muscles.
Use it on last warm-up and all worksets on squat, deadlift, bench press.
10 Scientific Things You Need to Know About Creatine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffLWfXb2zGs&feature=youtu.be
1. Creatine Monohydrate is prefered form.
2. Dosing: Maintenance dose is ~5 grams per day, ~20 grams per day to load.
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3. Responders and non-responders exist: 30% respond, 30% show some response,
30% show no response.
4. Creatine is not shown to be dangerous, long term, to any organ system.
5. Creatine may alter BMR panel (which falsely shows issues with kidney function).
6. Creatine may increase water retention up to 1-2 kg of water weight.
7. Caffeine and creatine have no impact on each other (unless you’re loading creatine in
which case you may want to avoid caffeine as it may impact your gastrointestinal
system and cause distress).
8. Carbohydrates not needed to aid in uptake of creatine - creatine does improve
glycogen storage which increases overall performance.
9. Creatine increases muscle satellite cell recruitment, meaning you get more muscle
protein synthesis per unit of exercise.
10. Creatine shows improved cognitive ability.
Training Specificity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdI5PPY7aVs&feature=youtu.be
Specificity is very important in a good program, regarding smart choices involved in why
you’re doing what you’re doing.
How long do you benefit from being 100% dialed in on a specific goal? Recall the law of
diminishing returns - if you constantly hammer the same thing, you will eventually
see less and less gainz despite more and more work.
Set goals for each training block - meso’s, microcycles, macrocycles.
You’re probably not overtrained, you’re probably just training wrong. If anything, you’re
likely undertrained. And the whole thing of overtrained = probably just
under-recovering.
Sensitivity to training dependent on your age, gender, physical qualities, training history,
amount of testosterone, etc.
For non-competitive lifters - do variations, do assistance lifts.
For competitive lifters - do variations occasionally, economically use training specificity.
7 Rules to Optimize Protein Intake
https://www.barbellmedicine.com/7-rules-to-optimize-protein-intake/
1. You will eat enough protein each meal. In this case, the amount of protein that yields
~3-4g of leucine, a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA). 3-4g of leucine per meal
has been shown to maximize muscle protein synthesis.
2. You will optimize meal frequency. “Every time a large enough dose of protein is
ingested, i.e. one that provides enough leucine and EAA’s to push the MPS
reaction over the edge, there’s a 3-5 hour refractory period that must transpire
before another dose of protein (at a meal/shake/etc) will yield another bout of
MPS.”
Basically, eat 3-5 times per day, with 3-5 hours in-between each time.
3. You will determine optimal protein intake by taking rules 1 and 2 into consideration
with total calorie intake, age, and gender (to maximize per meal muscle protein
synthesis). Factors to consider:
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a. Gender - Males need slightly less protein per pound than a weight and
age-matched female. Lean body mass also plays a role.
b. Age - The older you are, the more protein you should be consuming.
c. Dietary Preferences - Vegans need more protein; the higher quality, more
amino-acid complete protein you consume the less of it in general you
need to consume compared to lower quality less amino-acid complete
proteins like those from plant sources.
4. You will not listen to bros who tell you that you only need x grams of protein per day.
5. You will not listen to bros who tell you that you can only absorb x grams of protein per
meal.
6. You will not get lured into buying expensive protein with suboptimal amino acid
profiles.
“Whey trumps casein on satiety, MPS rates, and time that it keeps plasma
(blood) amino acid levels elevated. In other words, all the nonsense the bro at
GNC regurgitates about casein being a slow digesting protein that is good to take
at night because it slowly releases amino acids from the GI tract is BS.”
7. You will not fall into the trap of megadosing protein, because gainzZz.
“There is an actual upper limit to useful protein intake, i.e. there is an inflection
point where increased protein dosing does not yield improvements in
performance, muscle protein synthesis, aesthetics, etc. This point is obviously
different for many people, but I could make a pretty strong argument to avoid
intakes in excess of 300g or so for anyone who is under 350lbs.”
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Dr. Layne Norton Notes
All of the notes for Dr. Layne Norton are taken from from the Biolayne blog found here:
https://www.biolayne.com/blog/author/layne-norton/ or from his YouTube Biolayne videos found
here: https://www.youtube.com/user/biolayne/videos or from his more specifically peer-reviewed
articles found here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Layne_Norton2
Optimal Protein Intake to Maximize Muscle Protein Synthesis Examinations of Optimal
Meal Protein Intake and Frequency for Athletes
Layne Norton, Gabriel Wilson.
Agro Food Industry Hi-Tech. 2009.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288150322_Optimal_protein_intake_to_maximize_mu
scle_protein_synthesis_Examinations_of_optimal_meal_protein_intake_and_frequency_for_athl
etes
“Leucine is responsible for most of the anabolic effects of a meal and current research
suggests that 3g (~0.05g/ kg bodyweight) of leucine is required to maximize this
response. The MPS response to a mixed meal is only 3 hours long despite
producing elevations in amino acids for 5 hours, thus athletes maximizing MPS
will require inducing this response multiple times throughout the day. Consuming
multiple meals per day containing 3g of leucine may be beneficial in maximizing
MPS.”
“Current research suggests that the amino acid leucine is responsible for much of
the anabolic properties of a meal and maximization of MPS in response to a
meal is dependent upon consuming sufficient leucine (3g or ~0.05g/kg
bodyweight) to saturate the mTOR signalling pathway. The amount of protein
required at a meal to achieve this outcome will differ based on the leucine
content of the protein source with leucine rich protein sources like dairy, egg,
meats and poultry being preferable to leucine poor sources of protein such as
wheat.These leucine rich meals should be consumed multiple times per day
and consumption of carbohydrate with free form essential amino acids
ingested between whole protein meals may further optimize MPS, possibly by
overcoming refractoriness.”
Sodium, Water, Carbs… Oh My. What to Adjust for a Proper Peak?
https://www.biolayne.com/articles/contest-prep/sodium-water-carbs-oh-my-what-to-adjust-for-aproper-peak/
Layne doesn’t support adjusting water, carbs, or sodium in a peak for contest, but
instead just giving yourself enough time to lean out and diet to your desired level
of leanness. Layne suggests continuing to drink water, eat carbs, consume
sodium at pre-existing levels prior to show.
Blood Flow Restriction Training: The Next Generation of Anabolic Exercise
https://www.biolayne.com/articles/training/blood-flow-restriction-training-the-next-generation-of-a
nabolic-exercise/
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Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) or Occlusion training, just cutting off blood flow just enough
to augment training via accumulation of metabolites. Allows athlete to use much
lower weights than normal to still achieve sizable anabolic responses. Good for
giving joints/ ligaments/ tendons a break from heavy lifting.
“BFR isn’t a replacement for heavy training, it is a supplement. It is also very useful for
people who can’t train heavy due to injury or deloading. However, occlusion
provides several long term benefits that regular heavy training doesn’t.”
Best Form of Cardio for Bodybuilding?
https://www.biolayne.com/articles/contest-prep/best-form-of-cardio-for-bodybuilding/
“Endurance running or walking caused significantly more decrements in the
development of optimal hypertrophy compared with cycling. This is also in
accordance with a study that compared cycling with incline walking on a treadmill
(a very common cardio practice in bodybuilding community) and found that
cycling was significantly better for achieving hypertrophy when combined with
resistance training compared to incline treadmill walking. The researchers
concluded that the differences observed here were likely due to the fact cycling
requires more hip flexion and multi-joint activation of muscles involved in
exercises like squats and leg presses compared to endurance running and
walking which are not similar movements to any leg exercises that produce
muscular hypertrophy. It should be noted that sprinting is quite a bit different
than endurance running and is superior for muscle mass due to the hip flexion
required during sprinting, making it more similar to exercises like squats & leg
presses vs. jogging.”
“Additionally, it has been demonstrated that rowers who added high intensity resistance
training (with rows) to their protocol had similar strength and hypertrophy gains
compared to a group of non-rowers who followed the same resistance training
Protocol.”
“They essentially demonstrated that the longer the bout of cardio was, the greater the
impairment of strength and hypertrophy. Interestingly, they found that short, high
intensity bouts of cardio like repeated sprinting actually had no negative impact
on strength and hypertrophy development.”
“Perhaps even more interesting was that further analysis of the literature on cardio
demonstrated that not only was short duration, high intensity cardio better for
strength and hypertrophy, it was also superior for fat loss.”
Carbs at Night: Fat Loss Killer or Imaginary Boogeyman?
https://www.biolayne.com/articles/nutrition/carbs-at-night-fat-loss-killer-or-imaginary-boogeyman
“So unless you are obese, not only does your metabolism NOT slow down during sleep,
it actually increases! The idea that you should avoid carbs at night because your
metabolism slows down and you won’t ‘burn them off’ definitely doesn’t pass the
litmus test.”
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“If you ate carbs less frequently with further time between carb dosings, you would be
less hungry because your own body would ramp up systems that deal with
endogenous glucose production, and keep your blood glucose steady. When you
consume carbs every 2-3 hours however this system of glucose production
(gluconeogenesis) becomes chronically down regulated and you must rely on
exogenous carb intake to maintain your blood glucose levels.”
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Barbell Medicine Podcast Notes
All of the notes from the Barbell Medicine Podcast are taken from from their podcast archives
found here: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/tag/podcast/
Episode #18: Body Fat, Training Volume, and Do You Even Lift?
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jordan-feigenbaum/barbell-medicine-podcast/e/51794318
Can you get stronger while not gaining a ton of weight overall (in either fat or muscle) e.g. in a weight loss situation? Definitely possible to gain strength in
maintenance, but tradeoff is at the expense of the rate of strength increase that
you could have vs. gain of body mass.
As long as your programming is constructed in the context of the situation that you’re in,
you can gain strength during a cut/ maintenance, it will just be much slower.
Most of the issue involved in you not getting stronger is likely that your programming is
inappropriate - if you’re at a good weight. Other factors come after those two.
Jordan - volume is king over intensity in regards to optimal training.
How to look like you lift? Eat intelligently, train intelligently with long term development in
mind for 10 years without missing sessions. You’ll need volume to develop
hypertrophy, eat for muscle protein synthesis, sleep regularly, stay healthy. If
you’ve adapted and no longer seeing results, titrate in volume to increase
response.
Starting Strength Linear Progression Tips and Tricks
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jordan-feigenbaum/barbell-medicine-podcast/e/50311213
Why they think you should do a linear progression:
Novice means you can still add weight to the bar every session. Most people mistake
when they move up into intermediate - form mistakes, rest timing, extreme
overreaching.
Don’t want to stall too quickly - try to continue to progress as long as you can, so
extreme jumps in weight/ volume are not necessary.
Artificial Intermediates do exist.
Strength training is safe, effective, at attacking pathophysiology of obesity. All of it is
scalable to all levels of training, and can be done safely on day 1 if trained
correctly.
Stair step all of your lifts up bit by bit, 3x5 @100, if good then 5x5@ 100, then 3x5 @
105, then 5x5 @ 105, etc.
Episode #26: The Nuances of Obesity, Feat. Dr. Spencer Nadolsky (Part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTQ8guhaTU4
30+ BMI = Obesity.
40+ BMI = Class 3 Obesity.
Waist = bigger than 40 inches, more likely to die.
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Eat less, move more - matra doesn’t work consistently with obese and super obese.
Our body fights us as we try to lose weight - tries to maintain homeostasis.
Typical diet advice seems to fail most people - “quit carbs, get off the couch” isn’t
sufficient most of the time, creates a negative feedback loop.
People want magic diets, which are sold to them as stuff like Keto/ Carnivore/ etc. are in
that they can lose insane amounts with no issue, and when they fail cause
issues.
Proper tracking, exacting measurements, specific guidelines involving conservative
consumption therapy is likely best for true obese people to lose weight.
Episode #27: Managing Obesity with Exercise and Nutrition (Part 2)
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jordan-feigenbaum/barbell-medicine-podcast/e/54575245
Fitness needs to become a big part of your life for weight loss to truly work.
Surgery and drugs are options for high spectrum BMI and comorbidity (second negative
health condition alongside BMI issues). Podcast gives them, not going to restate.
Surgery (gastric bypass) often has great results.
Tracking calories and macronutrients is far and away the best method, coupled with
fitness becoming a large part of your life (borderline obsessed, but not so much
that it takes over your life.
Exercise is, for overall health, necessary.
2 days a week is likely the minimum effective dose for working out.
Taking psychosocial context of your life into picture regarding your training abilities/
schedule/ resources, start with minimum 2-3 days of lifting/ resistance training
and 1-2 days of conditioning. Move up in complexity and progressive overload as
you continue to work over time.
Interview with Alan Thrall: Nutrition, Weight Loss, and Strength Training
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jordan-feigenbaum/barbell-medicine-podcast/e/49964856
General answer to question: Can you train and build muscle, and lose weight at the
same time? Maybe if you’re very undertrained, maybe if you’re extremely obese.
Strength training to augment diet, helps with compliance.
Single ingredient foods only is one of the best dietary interventions, even before quantity
- then meal number goal (3 a day, 4 a day, 5 a day) - then macros/ calorie
counting.
1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (up to 250), 1 gram carbohydrate per pound
of bodyweight, fat in grams should be about 25% of body-weight (200 pounds =
50 grams).
Keto diet not optimal for lifters or those looking to put on muscle.
At some point, you can only get so strong at a certain weight - to get better, you’d need
to get bigger.
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Episode #22 - The Programming Podcast, Part 1: Why Harder Does Not = Better
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IEFJ_90vGE
Productive Stress: Any training stress that improves the desired outcome(s). Stronger,
bigger, both.
Non-Productive Stress: Any training stress that does not improve the desired
outcome(s). Whatever doesn’t improve your overall performance.
Recognizing your individual response to stressors and training differences is key to
better addressing your own unique training needs.
Resensitizing yourself to training stressors can go long ways towards building up your
performance. (Switching rep schemes, sets, variations, deloads.)
Stressors can have a wildly vast period of times where your body can respond and
recover from a stress - no guaranteed timeline regarding fatigue recovery.
Performance Fatigue-Ability: Given stressors that may impact your ability to train,
physically detrimental stressors.
Perceived Fatigue-Ability: Psychological stressors, mood state, elevation, perception
related to ability.
Tons of variability in fatigue influence, very hard to measure.
Dr. Jordan Feigenbaum does not recommend wearable tech, not good guides for
fatigue, recovery capacity, workload, etc.
More highly trained athletes can handle more fatigue.
Work capacity can decay extremely quickly - tolerance of training goes down quickly.
Being in a Novice LP for longer than 6 months is inappropriate - either incorrect
programming, lack of intensity, or poor progression.
Adaptation to physical training, for outcomes that we are tracking: Your body will adapt in
a way specific to the stress that you put on it, not in some other random way.
Measurement should be sensitive and specific enough to inform your coaching/ training.
1RM is a good metric of strength, single at RP8 (1 rep at 3RM) good to tell you about
your current overall training effectiveness.
Male, younger, genotype specificity, history of athleticism, strong diet, all good indicators
of better response to training stress.
70-83% of 1RM is likely the money range for intensity for training the lifts in volume,
likely 5% lower for older people. General suggestion seems to be you maintain
volume but lower the intensity in order to train up your work capacity until you can
manage the force and fatigue. Sub-maximal is okay so long as it continues to
drive adaptation. Volume threshold seems to be the best answer.
Humans are not robots, not calculators, training variability based on fatigue/ individual
factors/ other factors can cause people to fail and can be detrimental to training.
Foam rolling has no mechanisms by which they can/ should work.
Foam rolling/ massage works under Perceived Fatigue Ability - works on your
psychological state, but does nothing to fix Performance Fatigue Ability issues.
To improve recovery: Train more with appropriate training methods, sleep more, take a
ton of drugs. Also eat more.
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Episode #22 - The Programming Podcast, Part 2: Why Running It Out and Getting Fat is a
Bad Idea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCPAffRLtNo
There is known to be a massive variability between all trainees - how are you defining
work, what are you defining as the outcome, are they working hard, is intensity
correct for the individual, not everyone responds to the same stressors the same
Way. Arguing that everything will always work the same way on every single
person and gets results always is patently false.
Novice, Intermediate, Advanced is rejected by Dr. Feigenbaum and Dr. Baraki, they both
find Novice and Post-Novice to be more useful. If you can continue to add weight
every week for your sets across, then you are no longer a novice. Non-specific
criteria are the issue for “Intermediate” and “Advanced” criteria, too broad.
Training resistant individuals should increase dose, not decrease dose - less athletic,
less male, older, chronic medical conditions, low testosterone.
Every time that you train, you are imparting less stress on yourself, and your recovery is
increasing, so your adaptability is at an all time low - you’re receiving less benefit
per unit of exercise, so you need more exposure not less.
If intensity was primary driver, 1 set of 5 heavy squats should be enough to drive full
growth. Progress as absolute stress goes up should continue, but that’s not what
we see. At some point, you need more stress, more frequency, more volume.
Claiming a program is optimal for everyone, then someone fails at your purported
results, that statement places implicit blame on the individual rather than training
resistance/ outside issues.
If your waist is over 40 inches, gaining muscular body weight is likely not the answer.
Gaining fat at this point likely is going to create a negative feedback loop.
Stress, lack of sleep, modifiable but likely huge impacts on your training sensitivity.
Alcohol use, hypogonadism, low testosterone, smoking, general stress, previous level of
activity being too low, all impact training sensitivity also.
Muscle hypertrophy is volume dependent, not intensity dependent.
You should be training more over time, not less, more than likely (with extremely rare
circumstances).
If you want to swim faster, you’re gonna have to swim more. If you want to lift better, lift
more.
Episode #24 - The Programming Podcast, Part 3: A Bipartisan Look at Volume, Intensity,
and Programming Variables
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI6QwgKLP0M
You can use Repeated Bout Effect to your benefit, hammering your body via large
volume over time can still create hypertrophy.
The higher degree of response to training variables that you have, the more robust
response to that training you are likely to have. The more training you get in
those specifically trained effects, the less response you have over time to those
same trained feats.
Volume = Sets x Reps only. Tonnage not a terribly useful metric, intensity more useful.
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Interindividual variability means that any program can work if applied to the right trainee,
but inversely any program can fail horribly given the wrong trainee. Meaning, the
consideration of a “good” program or a “bad” program depends on your individual
variables and application and response, and all guidelines given by Dr. Baraki
and Dr. Feigenbaum are suggestions based on given research and trends fitting
within models that work for many if not most but not all people.
Complexity within bodies can mean that logically concluded outcomes won’t happen, or
things that you think should work may not, so periodically re-thinking/
re-evaluating/ re-implementing new information is important.
Ensuring that your training stress is appropriately high to merit general physical
adaptations - if the stress is not high enough and no adaptations are presenting,
it is likely time to increase stress.
“Moving arbitrarily sized weights through space.”
Important to start with a novice program, but ending weight amounts at the end of a
novice program are of little long term importance. Specializing early on in your
lifting program is not recommended.
Compliance and consistency in diet and training is paramount.
Four things that improve force production:
1. Genetics
2. Anthropometry (measurements and proportions of your body)
3. Hypertrophy** (more important the longer you train)
4. Neuromuscular Changes** (higher in the beginning)
** are the primary changeable drivers of your ability to produce force throughout your
lifting career. Highest level performers are those who carry the most lean body
mass.
Post Novice stage, the suggestion is to increase you long term strength potential you’ll
need to increase your skeletal muscle as quickly as you possibly can.
Volume is largest driver of muscular hypertrophy - the more sets you do, the better the
dose response.
Hypertrophy response is independent of intensity so long as you’re doing the appropriate
volume, meaning past about 60-70% 1RM there is little more impact on
hypertrophy as that is maximal motor unit recruitment but it’s more fatiguing and
limits the number of sets that you can do.
If you overstress and become over-sore, you need to change up a bit to maintain a
volume that doesn’t absolutely destroy you. 70% is about where both Dr.
Feigenbaum and Dr. Baraki both program most of their clients at.
“Adding weight to the bar does not add more hypertrophy.”
Dr. Feigenbaum wants it crystal clear that compromising your volume to increase
intensity overall is a poor choice regarding hypertrophy.
Lower volume, period, is worse for hypertrophy.
Myofibrillar hypertrophy is intensity independent. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy also
intensity independent.
To maximize long term strength potential, get more jacked quicker.
Train more, do conditioning.
Gotta do singles if you want to get good at singles and get good neural adaptations and
get strong at singles, but you gotta do volume at 70-80% range to get full effect of
hypertrophy (which in and of itself increases your strength potential but doesn’t
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as directly impact your total strength). Do high intensity work to accrue strength
to manage fatigue through volume sets.
Not enough data to prove absolute necessity of exercise variations (though some
models do show that they can be worthwhile).
Variants allow you to use less volume to create novel gains with lighter weights, good at
managing fatigue.
Mental burnout can destroy your programming and adherence.
How to evaluate your program to see if it is effective? How should variables be adjusted
to be more effective?: Long term single training variables are less likely to be
extremely significant. Running new variables must be done over a long enough
time to show a clinically significant difference, which is not very practical in terms
of adjusting and measuring variable differences. Then, trainee is significantly
different enough that measuring adequately and predicting further impact is
exceedingly complex. Humans are not robots.
No benefit or purpose to peaking if you’re not competing/ going to a meet.
Higher than 70% is still good for driving strength performance.
Simple Novice Linear Progression is best to start with, to create a base of training.
Doesn’t matter where you end at, doesn’t matter how long it lasts (typical 9-12
weeks but longer isn’t an issue), once it’s completed in the sense that you’re no
longer adding weight to the bar, it is time to change your program, no benefit to
running it out.
Humans are too complex to say “This is the way, just do this.”
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Revive Stronger Notes
All of the notes from the Revive Stronger Podcast are taken from from their podcast archives
found here: https://revivestronger.com/podcast/
Bodybuilding & Powerlifting with Jeff Nippard
https://youtu.be/aQvE3w5T4Eo
Nutritional Periodisation for the Bodybuilding: Cutting vs Bulking, essentially just down to
surplus vs. deficit, protein doesn’t really change. Refeeds also considered
important. Planning out phasic portions of your dietary intake.
Importance of specificity increases as your skill advances.
Objective measurements for development of progress gives you something to
psychologically identify with as you progress.
Maintaining a physique with powerlifting easier than building a good physique to begin
with. Don’t start with powerlifting, start with physique work while getting
somewhat stronger, then phase into powerlifting for strength if that’s your goal
(strength/ physique). Jeff thinks it is possible, but if your goal is looking good then
powerlifting shouldn’t necessarily be your primary focus.
Mechanical tension 6-12 rep range, metabolic stress 15-30 rep range, strength <6 reps.
Most of Jeff’s work comes within 6-12 rep range.
Technique work is to maximize the efficiency of your movement, and to move with speed
in mind. Metabolic stress work should go at the end of a workout.
Less than optimal work is still better than no work at all.
Consider maxing out your genetic potential then going juicy if you are absolutely, 100%
committed to that path.
“Do as little as you need to progress” vs, “Do as much as you can to progress”?:
MRV is more attractive to Nippard. Minimal effective dose not as efficient at
growth and therefore should play play backseat to MRV (even if conceptually
theoretical as opposed to specific/ measurable). How easy is it to jump over into
non-recoverable? Powerlifting should lean towards MRV, though, to avoid injury.
Powerlifters: Slow and steady. Bodybuilding: High volume with variants.
In practice, MRV is likely not super easy to track interpersonally.
Risk of injury might be worth bumping up work if you want to move faster in your training.
***More coming soon!***
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