Before you embark on any physical fitness program, please consult a doctor.
Book design by Jennifer Sibbert-Flores of IRON&emotion.
This book may not be reproduced or recorded in any form without permission from the author.
Copyright 2012 by Paul Carter. All rights reserved.
IBSN: 978-0-615-74111-6
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Table of contents
365 Days of Training........................................................................................................................... 4
Efficient Training................................................................................................................................. 6
3 Days a Week................................................................................................................................ 7
More on Balance............................................................................................................................ 7
Goals.................................................................................................................................................. 9
The Meat & Potatoes of Efficient Training - Lower Intensities....................................................... 9
The Lift-Run-Bang Diet....................................................................................................................... 11
Protein............................................................................................................................................ 12
Carbs.............................................................................................................................................. 12
Fats................................................................................................................................................. 12
Gain, Maintain, or Lose Made Easy................................................................................................ 12
Outline of the Lift-Run-Bang Diet.................................................................................................. 13
Key Points....................................................................................................................................... 14
LRB Keto Style................................................................................................................................ 16
First 12 Weeks.................................................................................................................................... 18
Week 13-18........................................................................................................................................ 24
Week 19-25........................................................................................................................................ 27
Week 26-31........................................................................................................................................ 30
Week 33-38........................................................................................................................................ 33
Week 39-52........................................................................................................................................ 35
Some Final Words............................................................................................................................... 40
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365 Days of Training
Weeks 1-11: Strong-15
Strength Peaking, Increase of Strength Foundation
Week 12: Off
Weeks 13-18: Rotational Split with Ultra High Rep Sets
Conditioning Acclimation Phase, Fat Loss, Recovery
Weeks 19-24: Conditioning Acceleration
Fat Loss, Conditioning Peaking
Week 25 : Off
Weeks 26- 31: Lift-Run-Bang Template
Strength Stabilization and Foundation Building
Week 32: Off
Weeks 33 – 37: Strong-15
Short Cycle – Strength Peaking
Week 38: Off
Weeks 39-44: Big-15
Mass and Strength Gain
Week 45: Off
Week 46-51: Big-15
Mass and Strength Gain
Week 52: Off
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N
ot everyone who loves the gym and loves lifting weights plays a sport, powerlifts, does strongman, does MMA, or whatever. In fact, I would venture to say that most people that love the
iron, love THE IRON itself. They love what it gives back to them in their life, mentally and physically. They retreat to the gym because they can escape from “life” for a while, and not have to worry about
anything other than moving that loaded bar through space. It is their zen. The barbell and plates are their
refuge from the daily grind called “life”.
These people still want to be strong, and still want to be in shape, but often times want to be strong and in shape because
it has become ingrained in whom they are. Lifting is something they do, no different than doing the laundry or going grocery
shopping. It’s part of the routine of life as they live it.
Many of these people train just as hard and care just as much about training and reaching goals as competitive people, but for their own personal reasons. Personal health, strength, confidence, appearance, and (as
noted) escape.
The principles that I have written about through all of my articles, programs, and books can be applied across every training
spectrum known to man. The everyday gym rat that wants to look and feel better can use these in the exact same way the
competitive athlete can. Lifting weights after all, is still just about getting stronger in the weight room. Doing conditioning
is still just about trimming off the adipose and having a gas tank to go with said strength. It doesn’t get much simpler than
that.
Applying these things haphazardly will only produce haphazard results. I constantly write about having a
plan, and setting realistic goals (realistic being the key word here). Even if you are just a gym goer, and not
a competitive athlete or strength athlete, you waste your own time by doing unplanned and unproductive
things in the gym. Winging it will eventually leave you frustrated and confused. Having a plan to maximize your time is
always the choice of the wise. This is why I wrote LRB/365. LRB/365 is a one year manual for your training. It is there to keep
you on track, to help you set realistic goals, and to get you to a new level. A strength cycle, a conditioning cycle, and a mass
cycle. Each one lets you set goals for that period, keeps you focused on that alone, and then builds to the next cycle.
If you will apply yourself to this program and do so properly, at the end of it, you will be a bigger, stronger, and more conditioned you. You will be at your best ever.
Decide now to take your training to a new level, or go get back on the kiddie rides and waste your time doing unproductive things. Your choice.
5
Efficient Training
“There’s no such thing as overtraining, only under eating and under sleeping.”
There have been a lot of dumb things said and written about training, and this one is up there with the best
(worst?) of them. Let’s put this to rest. Overtraining is real. Period. If overtraining wasn’t real then people
could just go and train balls out for 10 hours a day 19 days a week. They can’t. The belief behind this comes
from egotistical macho bravado, not common sense or basic physiology. Your body is still just a machine, and
all machines have limitations.
Now, how each person wants to define what “overtraining” is will vary, so let me try to define it in a very simple way for most
everyone.
Overtraining is when your workload exceeds your ability to recover from it. Just so that we are clear on this, there are four key
elements in training that cause progression.
Volume - How many sets and reps you do
Frequency - How often you train
Intensity - The percentage of your 1RM (one rep max)
Recovery - Recovery, as defined by most dictionaries, is “the return to a normal condition”. I think this fits pretty well actually. To be more training specific, it’s what happens after you replenish the body’s “reserves” (glycogen, BCAA, ATP, etc) and
allow supercompensation to happen.
A “normal condition” would be defined by the repair process at the muscular level, but also the systematic level. I’m not talking about your CNS either. I’m talking your body as a whole, and your minds yearning to train. This is something that is not
as tangible as things like muscle soreness, however a lack of enthusiasm about training is generally related to a decrease in
serotonin levels (which could also be from an increase in cortisol levels). If your serotonin levels are low, the last thing you’re
going to feel like doing is picking up heavy shit for a few hours. Now, that may not always be related to training if you have a
lot of stress in your everyday life. However, if you have been going hard and heavy at it for months on end, and you’re having
more -10% days than 80% days, and you’d rather press your face against a frying pan full of hot grease than squat, it’s very
possible you are “overtrained”.
Your body doesn’t have an infinite amount of resources it can tap into for training. You can go about 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food before your ass is going to really be in
trouble. Your stomach can only digest so much food, your heart can only pump so much blood. Training will
make your body more efficient at some of these things, but there will always be a cap on how much. So if you have limited
resource capacity in virtually every facet of what your body can do, why would you think that you have unlimited reserves
when it comes to training and recovery?
Drugs will help, yes. But they too have limitations based on your own genetics. Lots of big strong guys that take copious
amounts of anabolics and androgens have figured out that less can still be more. In fact, most of the strongest and biggest
guys that I know, all train far less than you would imagine. When you’re squatting 700+ and deadlifting 800+ your recovery
time is going to play a bigger role in your training schedule than that of a guy using half of those numbers.
People often forget that training is a stress. The stress of training is the stimulus for getting bigger and stronger. We do not
grow or get stronger until after the recovery from that stress has taken place, i.e. returning the body to a “normal” state (one
not under stress from recovering). There has to be a balance in training between stress and recovery, for progress to take
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place. Progress meaning, that you are getting bigger and stronger weekly or monthly, or accomplishing whatever goals you
have set in place.
If you have no stress in your life outside of training, then it might be very likely that you can train far more
often, with higher volume and at a higher intensity level than someone who has other outside stresses. Work,
kids, marriage, divorce, traffic, etc all are stressors as well. Most people don’t factor these things into the
equation but they take a toll, and matter.
People generally screw the pooch in terms of what they think is “efficient training” based on Bulgarians or Russians who
have nothing to do every day, but train, eat, and sleep. If that is your life, you might be able to get away with that. However
more than likely, it is not. You will need to understand that LIFE itself, is often a “stimulus” (stress) as well, and a really bad
day of work, a fight with the partner or co-worker, then an awful ride home in traffic all take a toll on you mentally as well as
physically. This can and will affect your training, usually in a detrimental way.
Recovery has to be accounted for. It is an individualistic thing, but I do feel that some general guidelines can be used for the
great majority of people in training. From there, each person could and should, tailor their training to fit their own recovery
needs. In other words, your volume, frequency, intensity, and recovery all work hand in hand and all have balance, so that you
get better or meet goals in a timely manner.
That, dear reader, is the definition of “efficient training”.
3 Days a Week
Most of the training “routines” I outline, or espouse, are based around training three days a week of lifting
and two-three days of conditioning. The reason for this is because I have found that three days a week tend
to fit in with most anyone’s schedule, and seems to strike a balance between stress and recovery. Lots of advanced guys have done even better lifting only twice a week. For beginners, four to six days a week isn’t out of the question,
because recovery in comparison to the amount of stress that can be applied through training, is at an all time high. In other
words, you’re weak and recovery fast. But even beginners can train three days a week and get great results.
Since this manual can’t outline perfect routines for every perfect little snowflake, I will generally stick to the three times a
week mantra. During mass building, it will go to six days a week, however three of those days are “small sessions” that don’t
impact recovery very much. During the first conditioning phase you will use the solid rotational split four days a week, however
the intensities will always be low.
More on Balance
Most people find, the longer they train, the more efficient they become at the work they are doing in the
gym. A guy that can squat 450 for eight is applying a hell of a lot more training stress than the guy squatting
225 for eight. His recovery time will probably be a lot longer than the 225 guy, so he has to adjust for that
in order to make progress.
An example of this is often seen with guys who are training for a competition and use some form of periodization. They start
off light on the big lifts, while going all out on the support/assistance work. They get near the end of the cycle and are burnt
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to a crisp because they failed to dial back the workload on the assistance and support work as the work on the big stuff
increased. This is a very common mistake. There has to be ebb and flow of work from the support stuff to the big lifts as the
cycle goes on.
I talk about this balance in training and recovery because it’s one of the single most important factors in terms of making
progress. You need to train hard enough to stimulate strength and/or size gains, and then you need to allow recovery time for
the body to repair itself. During that repair process you need to eat quality food, and get quality rest (sleep). Making progress
is generally as simple as finding balance within those things.
I believe that 365 should help you find that balance. Some things you may need to adjust here and there, but after over two
decades of helping people with this stuff, the majority of you who take this program seriously and run it AS IS, will benefit
greatly.
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Goals
I constantly write about setting specific goals, and this will be no different. For each phase, set a specific and
ACHIEVABLE goal. If you don’t know what the word achievable means, go look it up. Trying to hit a 50 pound
PR in 9 weeks probably won’t happen. If you set your sights on a 5 or 10 pound PR, you may be pleasantly
surprised when you realize you are capable of more than that. If you do go full on stupid, and set something
like increasing your bench by 100, then you will probably just fail altogether, which is what you deserve.
Be smart in your goal setting and you will be rewarded handsomely. Be dumb about it, and you will be made the fool.
I also advise setting specific goals for each phase ONLY, and not for the year. Setting and conquering goals in each phase will
give you a bigger, leaner, and stronger you at the end of the year. Keep your vision just a few feet in front of you, instead of
trying to peer to the top of the mountain. It doesn’t get you there any faster and only distracts you from what’s directly in your
path. You won’t reach the mountaintop if you haven’t figured out how you’ll even cross the river in front of you.
The Meat and Potatoes of Efficient Training: Lower Intensities
When you start programming your goals for each phase, I advise you to program even lower than you want.
I write about the “everyday max” later, however I want to precede that part by making it clear that you
are far more likely to make progress programming well under your everyday max, than setting ridiculous
goals.
In other words, if you desire to hit a 405 squat you would likely make better progress programming in 385 as a goal, than
425. It’s always better to leave some in the tank, than to start grinding out sets, and simultaneously grinding yourself into
the ground. Outside of the last few weeks of your training blocks, most weeks should have you exploding through sets with
confidence. The heavier you program the more difficult that is going to be.
Jim Wendler, AKA the other half of my training brain, and I have talked “behind the scenes” so to speak about this for some
time, and the question we kept coming back to was “how low can you program and still get stronger?” The answer to this
question is REALLY the key to making consistent progress because your propensity for getting injured lessens, managing volume becomes easier, recovery is faster, and programming is simple.
Because mine and Jim’s “training brains” work so similarly, we ended up in the same place via a different method. I don’t
want to steal Jim’s thunder because he’s writing about this as well, but my own training and experimenting brought me to
something in the 77-81% range of an “everyday max” (more on this later) for 90% of your training. Yes, that low. This is
heavy enough so that it can be used to stimulate growth and strength, and light enough so that you don’t take a beating
throughout your programming.
This is the bread of butter of the big-15 training, and in retrospect, the intensity I used for the majority of my training life in
order to get bigger and stronger.
Now the ever present argument about training percentages and the most effective range, is that the 90+% range builds
strength the fastest. I would say that is probably true. The problem with that range is, you can’t stay in it very long before you
start to “fall off the cliff”, so to speak. That’s the pendulum swing I am talking about with balance in terms of stimulus and
recovery. The higher up the intensity chain you get, the greater the toll it takes on your ability to recover. This is why in all of
my cycles, you only spend a few weeks in that 90+% range, and the rest of the time in the 77-88% intensity zone.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend time in the 90+% range. You should, I’ve covered that. However not for long periods
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at a time, and certainly I have never been able to find a reason to go over 95% of your legit 1RM in the gym. I have no idea
what purpose that serves other than to beat the living shit out of yourself and/or stroke your ego. As I have noted many times
now, you will pay for that.
So be smart in your goal setting. This will help you to....
• Program properly - find the lowest percentage you can train in that yields the greatest results. This is the REAL sweet
spot of proper programming.
• Find that balance in stress and recovery. Doing the bullet point above will fix this automatically for you.
See how all of that came full circle?
Now there is a caveat to everything I just wrote. If you are a beginner or very intermediate, I recommend that you push up
past the lower intensity range because your recovery ability is going to be at all time high. Once you move part the intermediate range and start moving some real iron with a purpose and decent technique, you can start to implement more and more
of training into the lower intensity range. Everyone wants to know a “number” for what intermediate is, like a 405 squat or
315 bench. It’s not about numbers. That will vary for everyone. That’s a very individualistic thing, and I wrote about it in SLL.
You will KNOW when you’re no longer a “beginner” and when you’re no longer an “intermediate”. This could be 2 years or
7 years. There is no specific timetable or amount of weight on the bar that describes what those things are for every single
person. So I don’t intend to try and define it here.
If you ever feel unsure about something, or have a question about what you should do regarding planning and programming
a cycle, come back to these principles and they will serve you well.
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The Lift-Run-Bang Diet
I hate using the term “diet”. To me it implies something that is temporary. In reality what you really need to
find, is a way of eating that you can adhere to on a 90% basis, and not waiver from. Whatever that is, I don’t
really care, however it should do a few things.
• Allow you to train hard, i.e. provide you with enough fuel to do so.
• Be made up of QUALITY food sources. If you can afford to go organic, do so. It does matter (I used to think not, but I was
wrong). Nothing processed should be part of your diet.
• Anything that can sit on your shelf until the Apocalypse and doesn’t go bad, should not be eaten.
• Give you a good macro breakdown of protein, fats, and carbs depending on goals.
• Not contain shit food as a staple (I feel like I shouldn’t have to write this down, but I will anyway).
• Make you a “healthier” you. You should feel better eating that way, not like shit.
• Meet the 90% rule. 90% of the time you should be eating nothing but things that are on your quality food list. That means
in a month, you get three cheat meals. I know, that’s not a lot. Do you want to make progress and be a bad mother, or do you
want to look like shit?
Let’s keep this simple and eliminate some confusion. I have written quite a bit about dieting through the
blog, so instead of trying to put new words on my same principles, I’m just going to condense it here via copy
and paste. If you don’t appreciate that, I don’t know what to tell you.
• Eat clean foods. This is easy. You know what this means, stop frontin’ like you don’t.
• Eggs, Chicken, Fish, Turkey, Lean Red Meat (sirloin, flank), a Whey Isolate or egg white powder
• All veggies
• Solid complex carbs like sweet potatoes, oatmeal, and brown rice and of course fruit
• Some good fats through nuts and/or an oil.
1 gram of protein per pound of body weight is FINE.
I’ve done up to 2+ grams per pound, couldn’t tell any difference. In fact, Kiefer of Carb Backloading fame wrote an article on
the studies that show that protein mega dosing doesn’t offer any benefit that 1 gram per pound of body weight doesn’t offer.
So protein requirement is an easy solution. 1 gram per 1 pound of bodyweight. Whether you are dieting to lose or gain, just
stick with that.
For mass, eat carbs.
I hate this whole carb hate that is going on right now. Carbs are KING when it comes to building strength and mass. You will
not get big and strong without them. If you don’t believe me, carb deplete or do the keto diet I outline, and watch what happens. Even after you cross over into the metabolic change for that style of diet and you adjust to it, you can add carbs back
in and your strength will skyrocket again. You can also get lean while eating carbs, and not feel like shit the whole time, if
you just manage them. You just have to limit them to clean sources, as listed above, and not go overboard on quantity. That
means you’re dieting.....you can’t eat 14 baked potatoes. A friend of mine had a great little post about dieting and one of the
things he wrote about carbs was “you don’t fill up your car everytime you drive around the block.” This is a great way to look
at eating carbs. Eat enough to meet your energy needs for training, then either plus or minus some, based on what you want
to do from a body composition standpoint.
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If you want to do some simple carb cycling, what I do is this. On non training days I just eat a ton of veggies all day. If I feel
“flat” I will have a jar of baby food sweet potatoes at lunch, and then see how I feel. It’s only like, 25-29 grams of low GI
carbs. On training days, I have 2 jars of sweet taters with my lunch, or a cup of brown rice. With my post training meal I will
do the same. That’s easy. If I feel REALLY flat on a training day, at lunch I will use a cup of jasmine rice instead, which is a type
of delicious white rice.
Eat all the veggies you want and can.
Almost every meal should be loaded up with vegetables. If you don’t like them, fuck you. Eat them anyway. There is no compromise here.
Fats
Eat a small handful of nuts or a tablespoon of peanut butter with 2 meals a day. That is enough for good fats. If you don’t like
peanut butter....kill yourself.
Gain, Maintain, or Lose made easy.
If you want to lose fat, calories should be bodyweight x 10-12 (12 on training days, 10 on non-training days). If you want to
gain, then it’s bodyweight x 16-20. If you tend to gain weight more easily, stay on the 16 side. If you’re a skinny little bastard,
go to 20. If you’re an extra skinny little bastard go to 20+ and dirty it up a bit. But do it POST clean eating, so add the junk
AFTER you eat your quality food. Or, simply add a shake after every meal. This work well too. None of this is hard to follow,
and it’s time tested and proven to work for 99.9999% of the population.
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Outline of the LRB Diet.
Breakfast
Insulin sensitivity is highest in the morning,
so take advantage of this by including Oatmeal and lots of cinnamon.
Protein Sources - Egg Protein, Egg Whites, Turkey, Chicken, Lean Beef
Carb Sources - Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat
Fat Sources - Whole Egg, Oils, Natural fat in lean beef
Supplement Additions - Multi-vitamin, Cinnamon (not really a supplement, I know)
Lunch: High Protein / Medium Carbs / Low to Medium Fat
Protein Sources - Chicken, Egg Whites and Whole Eggs, Lean Beef, Turkey, Fish, Whey or Egg
Carb Sources - Brown Rice, Yams or Sweet Taters, Veggies
Fat Sources - Whole Egg, Oils, Natural fat in lean beef
Afternoon Snack: High Protein / Medium Carb / Low to Medium Fat
Protein Sources - Chicken, Egg Whites and Whole Eggs, Lean Beef, Turkey, Fish, Whey or Egg
Carb Sources - Brown Rice, Yams or Sweet Taters, Veggies
Fat Sources - Whole Egg, Oils, Natural fat in lean beef
Pre-Workout: Medium Protein / Medium to High Carb / Low Fat
Protein Sources - Cottage Cheese, Whey or Egg Protein
Carb Sources - Rye or Ezekiel Bread, Organic Jelly or Jam
Fat Sources - None other than naturally occurring
Workout Supps - BCAA
Post-Workout: High Protein / Medium Carb / Low to Medium Fat
Protein Sources - Whey or Egg Protein, Milk (skim to whole), Egg Whites or Whole Egg
Carb Sources - Naturally occurring carbs in milk and foods
Fat Sources - Naturally occurring
Meal (Dinner) - High Protein / Low Carb / Medium to High Fat
Protein Sources - Chicken, Fisk, Turkey, Beef, Bison
Carb Sources - Veggies, Salads, - starches are optional once to twice a week for a back load
Fat Sources - Oils, Butter, Naturally occurring in higher fat meats (salmon, ribeye, etc)
Late Snack - Medium Protein / Low Carb / Medium to High Fat
Protein Sources - Whole Eggs, Cottage Cheese
Carb Sources - naturally occurring (no starches or veggies)
Fat Sources - Peanut Butter, Whole Eggs, Almond Butter, Nuts
Supplements at night - ZMA
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I know that someone will ask
“How would I implement this if I trained early morning?”
Meal 1 - Pre-workout
Meal 2 - Post-workout
Meal 3 - Breakfast
Meal 4 - Lunch
Meal 5- Snack
Meal 6 - Dinner
Meal 7 - Snack (optional)
…or just train fasted, hit the BCAA,
and go from there.
Some key points of this diet.
Low GI carbs - Your carbs should come from high GI sources. Even post workout. Lots of guys talk about having a high GI
carb post workout, but all I found that to do was make me hungry as shit in the evening. I have found that keeping my blood
sugar levels keeps my appetite in check and my energy levels stable. However I do feel that there are times when you will feel
“flat” or very low on energy, and higher GI carbs can be a great friend during those times. It’s up to you to gauge when that
is, and eat accordingly.
Occasional carb-back loading - Starches are an option at dinner once to twice a week. It’s an option when you are feeling “flat” (muscles feel flat and you look soft essentially) and especially weak like that stupid ass “CNS burnout” people talk
about. That is when you should load up the evening meal with some junk. I recommend M&M’s because they are delicious.
Ice cream is a good option too. Keep the fat intake medium on the nights you carb-back load. Try to limit this to only twice a
week. More than that and you will throw the curve off and probably just get fat.
Carb and Fat wave - Carbs start high in the morning, then slowly trickle down to near zero in the evening (except for a small
carb load on lifting days). As this happens fat intake trickles up. This will keep your blood sugar stable so you aren’t ravenous
all day, and your energy should be solid. If you do feel flat and like shit, you are not forced to keep carbs out. In fact I welcome
them for the evening backload. Without fail I wake up the next day feeling full again (muscular wise) and feel better. I also
don’t worry about things like not eating the chicken skin at night (that’s my fat) or cutting off the fat on my ribeye. I just tear
away at it and eat my salad or veggies. In a couple of hours I am slightly hungry and I have peanut butter and cottage cheese
and then I’m off to bed. So I stay satiated throughout the day usually.
For gaining - Eat more.
Do not deviate from the LRB diet template. Simply learn how to eat bigger portions. That’s it. Keep the template the same. For
those that do need to get lean, learn what a portion is (it’s the size of your fist).
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For getting leaner - This is not difficult…eat less, so mind your portions.
If you are too hungry all the time and feel weak, increase the portions. If you are full, decrease them. This is not hard. You
should feel satiated after a meal, not like you just left the all you can eat Chinese Buffet in Vegas. When you dial it in you will
know. Then the fat will start to fall off at a steady clip, and you will be hungry only minimally and energy will be solid. Let me
emphasize however, that you can’t really lose fat and never feel hungry. You are in a calorie deficit, which is an energy deficit.
Your body will signal to you that you are hungry, in order to get rid of this. There are just times when you’re going to be hungry,
and you have to deal with it. So deal with it.
LRB Diet Example
Breakfast
7 egg whites with 1 whole egg and turkey
1 cup of oatmeal with cinnamon
Lunch
8 ounces of grilled chicken
1 cup of brown rice
1.5 cups of broccoli
Snack
Met-Rx or Egg/Milk protein powder
Pre-workout
1-2 slices of rye with 2 TBS of organic jelly and 1 cup of cottage
cheese
Post Workout
2 cups of milk with Egg or Whey Powder
Dinner
8-10 ounces of sirloin
Large salad or mixed veggies or more broccoli
Optional - wheat pasta / wild rice / sweet potatoes
Snack
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 TBS natural peanut butter
Protein Powder.
I know everyone jacks it to whey, but there are other options. Whey gets into the blood stream fast, yes. However it also exits
fast, and I found that a whey shake in the afternoon left me ravenous about an hour later. When I switched over to a MRP like
Met-Rx, which has a mix in it, I was sustained longer and didn’t get so hungry. I also found egg to work really well. If you are
ok with whey, use it. I recommend a good isolate with minimal carbs in it because well, it’s a protein powder. Not a protein
carb powder. Look for one that has 1 gram of carb per scoop, or zero (even better).
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LRB Keto style
If you want extreme fat loss, a keto style diet may work better for you. Basically you just cut out all carbs or
keep them at 30 grams per day, or less. The easiest thing to do is simply eat fat and protein and try to keep
carbs at zero per day. If you do this, you will generally end up hitting 10-30 overall. We can use the same LRB
diet and make a few minor changes to make it a keto diet. I also want to point out you should always have a clean protein
source with your higher fat source. So if you have ribs, have a grilled chicken breast with it, so that your fat doesn’t overrun
your protein count. You don’t want 60% fat, 40% protein. Try to reserve that figure or so.
With that said, I will say the place that most people mess up with a keto diet is not upping their fats. You need to up your fats
because eventually this will become your source of energy.
I will also add, if you “cheat” and get in more than the 30 grams of carbs a day, you will really feel like shit. That’s because
your body will not get into ketosis and you won’t really have enough carbs coming in for a good energy source. You have to
just bite the bullet for a few days on a keto diet and suffer some. After you become fat adapted, you will start feeling much
better again.
LRB Keto Diet Example
Breakfast
3 egg whites with 3 whole eggs and turkey
cooked in coconut oil coffee with whole cream
Lunch
12 ounces of dark meat chicken
1 cup of broccoli
Snack
50-70 grams of protein powder (no carbs)
handful of almonds
Pre-workout
BCAA in water
Post Workout
2 scoops of whey or egg in water
Dinner
8-10 ounces of 90% beef or 8-10 ounces of ribeye
Large salad or mixed veggies or more broccoli
Snack
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 TBS natural peanut butter
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Final thoughts on eating
I hate writing about “diets” and such because I find it boring as hell. However it is an important part of your
overall training paradigm so I feel the need to throw it in there.
The keto diet can be ran during the fat loss phases, however I strongly suggest that you use the LRB diet in the surplus or
maintenance phases because no one ever got big or gained mass eating keto. It is not meant for that. It is a fat loss way of
eating.
For the times you are recommended to be in a surplus, I recommend upping the carbs. Feel free to add in more quality carb
sources like fruit or extra sweet potatoes and brown rice. As noted, if that’s not enough go to white potatoes or if you are a
really skinny bastard, throw in some junk a few times a week. However keep it clean 80-90% of the time. Just up the amount
of quality food you are eating.
Eating is not complicated. Don’t make it that way.
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First 12 Weeks
9 weeks strength peaking, 1 week deload, 1 week testing, 1 week deload (off completely).
Primary Goal: Strength peaking in the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
Secondary Goal: Increase Strength and Muscular Foundation.
Training Structure: Strong-15 Template
Conditioning: Steady State 2Xweek
Diet: LRB Maintenance Diet
Overview
The first 11 weeks of the training year will be structured around strength peaking. Since the new year was preceded by several
big eating holidays, most people are not usually ready to hit the beach in their thongs and banana hammocks. As you will see
in the later phases of the program, this plays to our advantage.
For now, however, we’re going to concentrate on simply getting stronger, with a little bit of conditioning. For the program we
are going to use the strong-15 cycle for each, train 3 days a week, and do conditioning 2 days a week. So training will be done
5 total days of the week. Since conditioning is on the back burner here, I am going to keep this simple and say do steady state
cardio twice a week for 35-45 minutes. I don’t care when, just get it in. Don’t make this complicated.
Primary Goal: Strength Peaking
I have written many times about strength peaking. It’s real. There is no denying that. Just because some genetic outlier says
he can be at peak strength year around doesn’t mean a damn thing. Everyone else is pretty much going to have to peak to
hit big PR’s. The other purpose of this strength peak, is to slowly raise that foundation level you have for your base strength.
In other words, to raise your everyday max to eventually max your best day max. Which I will write about now….
Secondary Goal: Increase Strength and Muscular Foundation
There are 2 types of maxes when it comes to lifting.
Everyday max – Something you can walk into the gym, and hit 99% of the time, with no outward psyche.
Best day max – Something you hit at the end of a peaking cycle, or on a +10% day, that is a PR. For example, if you peak
to a 405 bench from a 390 bench, that’s a net gain of 15 pounds. If both of those PR’s were hit during peaking cycles, or a
“best day max”, then that means you weren’t capable of hitting these lifts on any given day.
Your foundation level strength, or everyday max, is basically a max you know you can hit on just about any given day in the
gym with no “outward psyche”. If 390 is your all time best, it may have really been that your everyday max was actually more
like 375 or 380. When you break through plateaus on your best day max, your everyday max will have risen as well. Eventually,
over time, your “everyday max” will be higher than your previous best day max.
No “outward psyche” doesn’t mean you don’t mentally prepare to do this max, it means you don’t need to stomp around and
slap the shit out of someone in order to get “ready to lift it. A few deep breaths, some internal focus, and a hard, tight, setup
is required. However it’s not a “psyche up” attempt. Whatever that weight is, is a good starting point for determining what
you are going to use for your programming.
The purpose of strength peaking is not only to set you up for a short period of maximum strength, but the raise your foundation level of strength by doing so as well. So it’s a two for one. Not to beat a dead horse, but this is why It’s important for you
to be honest with yourself on what your best day max is, compared to your everyday max, when it comes to programming for
the strength cycle.
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If you benched 405 two years ago after eating your face off and running a big cycle, but since then you have lost weight and
aren’t on any anabolic substances, then plugging in 405+ as a goal, is rather disingenuous.
So let me make programming real simple for you. What is your everyday max, give or take 5 pounds?
Again, if you recently ground out a hard 600 squat, then don’t say it’s 635. It’s 600. If your spotter touched the bar on that
350 attempted bench, then 365 is not your everyday max. It’s more like 340.
You have to drop the ego, and allow logic to take over in order to get better. Ego says “he barely touched the bar, that was
mostly all me.” Logic says “I don’t take that for a ride without a spotter.” Understood?
So you’re plugging in something within 5 pounds of your everyday max. That’s it. That’s all.
If you do this, you will bust through that weight, and then some. If you are greedy, and get stupid, you will miss lifts, and grind
yourself into lifting submission halfway through the cycle.
Fact. Science. Physics, even!
What you want to happen, is you want to CRUSH that 93% of your goal in the last week of phase 3. Let me state that again.
CRUSH the 93% in phase 3, and your goal is pretty much a given. You do not have to train with maximum weights in order
to get maximum results.
Strength Peaking with the Strong-15
The strong-15 is a tried and true program for strength peaking in the big-3 lifts. Now that you know what you need to shoot
as a goal, you will program the strong-15 as follows for each cycle.
Phase 1 – 85% of goal
Phase 2 – 93% of goal (you will hit this at the end of phase 3)
Phase 3 – goal to hit
Phase 1: Acclimation The first three weeks of the strong-15 is an acclimation phase. These can be used in
many ways, for many reasons.
• If you are coming off of being detrained or injured. If you programmed properly, the first three weeks should feel
incredibly easy on the big-3 programmed lifts.
• It’s to get you in the groove of doing the lifts with speed and explosiveness. People overlook the first three weeks and
what they are supposed to be doing with this time. It’s a time to ask yourself “how fast can I move this weight?” The
more you practice this, the more power output you learn to generate.
• You should be using this time to do more support and assistance work. This will be pared down during phase 2 and
phase 3. You can’t be good at everything, so use the first three weeks to get in a lot of work on the support and
assistance stuff, while the intensity level for the big-3 is low.
If you get cocky, and program too high for your goal, phase 1 is going to be too heavy, and you’re going to go into phase 2
possibly missing lifts. Phase 1 should feel EASY. I cannot overstate how easy the programmed lifts should feel during this time.
You are not going to get weaker. So chill out.
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During phase 1, you will up the assistance and support work volume. The volume and intensity for the big-3 will be low. So
the support work should be high. There is an ebb and flow to this handshaking mechanism between main lifts, and support
lifts. If the main lift volume and intensity is high, the support work has to take a back seat…which happens in phase 2, and
more so in phase 3.
So during the first three weeks, warm up, do your programmed sets with speed and explosion, then move on to the support
work, and get a metric work-ton of volume in.
“What if I can’t squat, bench press, or deadlift?”
If you happen to have suffered some injury that doesn’t allow you to do one of the big 3, or train at home and lack the equipment to do these lifts, then of course there are alternatives. I want to be clear about this before I go any further however. You
will strength peak at another cycle in the year. So whatever lifts you pick for this cycle will be the same lifts you pick for the
next one. So don’t ask “can I do X lift this time and Y lift the next time?” No. So here are some alternatives.
Squat – Front Squat, Hack Squat, Machine Squat
Deadlift – Everyone should be able to deadlift, but if you can’t then just find a back movement you can do safely. A chest
supported row should work nicely.
Bench Press – Standing Press, Incline, Hammer Strength Bench/Incline, Db variations
I know, that’s not a lot of variation however, some very slight modifications can make a huge difference in someone being able
to train pain free. Do not add movements to this list. And everyone should be able to deadlift. If you can’t, you might want to
think getting checked out as to why you can’t pick shit up.
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Training Split: The man maker
The routine used here is going to be the man-maker from Strength, Life, Legacy. Each phase however, we will drop volume or
entire assistance movements to give full attention to the big stuff.
Phase 1 Routine
Day 1 – Squat and Deadlift
Squat-strong-15
Pause Squat-strong-15
Deadlift-strong-15
Leg Curls – 4x20
Day 2 – Bench and assistance
Bench – strong-15
Incline – 5x10
Flat Flye – 2x20
Pushdowns – 4x20
Day 3 – Back and Biceps
Chins or Pulldowns – 5x20 for pulldowns
5 sets of AMAP for chins
Rows – 4x10
Shrugs – 4x20
Curls – 4x20
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Phase 2 and 3 – 6 hard weeks of training.
If there has been any sort of paradigm shift in my training philosophy, it’s that 6 weeks is about all you can give to a really hard
training cycle before things start to go into the shitter. Sometimes you can get away with another week or two, but generally 6
weeks is about right. I never liked the built in “de-load” to a training cycle of three weeks. Three weeks? Shit I’m just getting
to decent weights after three weeks, now I gotta take time off? No way. So when you get into phases 2 and 3, this is going
to be the real bread and butter of ramping (phase 2) and peaking (phase 3). Each phase builds, so you have the acclimation
phase, the ramping phase, and the peaking phase.
Phasing out support work.
As I noted before, there is a ying and yang to the main work vs the support work. For phase 2, cut the sets in half. So where
you did 4x10, you will now do 2x10. Do not take this as a sign to up the weight on support work. Your goal here is to peak
in strength on the main lifts, not become a support work champion.
Let me also add, before you go “can I swap out…?” No. Do the program as written. Period.
Phase 2 Routine
Day 1 – Squat and Deadlift
Squat-strong-15
Pause Squat-strong-15
Deadlift-strong-15
Leg Curls – 2x20
Day 2 – Bench and assistance
Bench – strong-15
Incline – 3x10
Flat Flye – 1x20
Pushdowns – 2x20
Day 3 – Back and Biceps
Chins or Pulldowns – 3x20 for pulldowns
4 sets of AMAP for chins
Rows – 2x10
Shrugs – 2x20
Curls – 2x20
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Phase 3
In phase 3 the weights are going to start moving into the 90% range. The 90% range in training contains both the best and
worst worlds of the training intensity paradigm. Training in the 90% range generally yields the greatest strength returns. It
also is the most demanding on recovery ability. The Russians figured this out a long time ago, and it’s one of the reasons they
spent so much time in the 75-85% range, and then sprinkled a few weeks here and there in the 90’s. The longer you stay in
90’s, the sooner you are going to fall off the cliff. Especially for things like the squat and deadlift. There is a point of diminishing returns with the 90’s. It will ramp your strength up very fast, however it will stall faster in that range as well. After it stalls,
expect a setback. This is why busting ass in the lower intensities are gold for most people. As your testing time approaches,
throwing in a few weeks in the 90’s will give that extra push needed to peak.
In phase 3 you will continue to pare back the assistance work, and instead focus almost solely on the lifts.
Phase 3 Routine
Day 1 – Squat and Deadlift
Squat-strong-15
Pause Squat-strong-15
Deadlift-strong-15
Day 2 – Bench and assistance
Bench – strong-15
Incline – 1x8
Flat Flye – 1x20
Day 3 – Back and Biceps
Chins or Pulldowns – 2x10 for pulldowns
2 sets of AMAP for chins
Rows – 2x10
Shrugs – 1x10
Curls – 2x20
After a week at 50%, you can take the next week to test some maxes if you desire, or you can take a week of doing whatever
you’d like. 9 weeks of training is a solid start and some people desire a bit of a break at this point. I personally do not text
maxes in the gym. I think it’s dumb and egotistical lifting and doesn’t serve much of a purpose. However some guys may want
to see what they can hit after this ramping cycle, so this one time I will give my blessing for it.
If you do decide to test it’s pretty easy to decide what your attempts should be after warm up.
85%
93%
GOAL
If you hit your goal, be content. That’s what you trained for. Getting greedy and possibly getting injured will not serve you for
the rest of the year. Each phase is designed to reach a goal. If you hit that goal, then job done. Do not keep maxing out
until you fail. Read that again and again until it sinks in Mr. Ego Lifter. At the end of that week, take a week off
and relax.
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Weeks 13-18: Rotational Split with Ultra High Rep Sets
Primary Goal: Conditioning Acclimation Phase, Fat Loss, Recovery and Strength Maintenance
Secondary Goal: Prehab and Mobility
Training Structure: Rotational Split with Ultra High Rep Support work
Conditioning: HIIT twice a week, steady state twice a week
Diet: LRB Deficit Diet or keto diet
Overview:
Spring is a pretty awesome time of year to start getting your fat ass into shape. More than likely, even if you’re in decent
shape, the holidays took a toll on you, and you put on some pudge and slop. The best thing about spring is that it precedes
summer, so you get a few months to peel off the sloppy pudge so you can look and feel awesome during the summer. Banana
hammocks for everyone!
Lifting will be done at a maintenance level for the most part. I know that your buddy told you that you can get stronger while
getting leaner and blah blah blah, but for the most part you can’t. What you can do, is not beat the shit out of yourself while
you are in a calorie deficit, and you will hold on to your baseline level of strength, and yes, sometimes you may even get
slightly stronger, or at least be able to demonstrate it on a very good day.
Primary Goal:
Conditioning Acclimation Conditioning is not that difficult of a thing to grasp. The biggest problem is that it’s much harder
to get “up” for that session of “walking” than it is for that session of heavy lifting. However just like training in the 77-85%
range should be the mainstay of your strength work, the mainstay of your conditioning should in fact just be, plain ol walking…..with a twist.
Secondary Goal:
Prehab and Mobility You may not see it in the details, but the prehab and mobility work is coming from the ultra high reps,
which not only have a tendency to remedy former aches and pains, but also create a better support system for the big lifts.
From a mobility standpoint, the 1-legged work is your friend and you cannot overlook it. Not enough guys do 1 legged work
and end up with imbalances in the lower body without realizing it until they incorporate 1-legged work into their routine.
You don’t some overly elaborate plan in order to do prehab and mobility work. Make sure you get a big step on the walking
lunges, or really get the foot out in front of you for the 1-legged squats. Don’t shorten it up. This is for your benefit, do don’t
short change yourself by shortening the ROM on the 1 legged work.
The weighted vest: Here is that twist to “walking”.
Walking should be done with a weighted vest, or at a clip as fast as you can go without overstriding. Overstriding being,
when you have to step WAY out in front of you in order to create speed or walk faster. This is one of the primary causes of
shin splints. So don’t do this. The easiest option is the weighted vest. Go to any sporting goods store and get one. You spend
$10,000 a month on god damn nonsense at GNC. Take a month off from that and go buy a weighted vest. If you are really
poor, go buy a backpack and throw some weights in it. There, done.
If you are so poor that it’s not even an option, then it might be that you don’t even have food, and aren’t fat at all, and don’t
have to worry about reducing said slop and fat. However, the last option is to simply walk a set distance for time, then try to
beat that time each week without overstriding. This is pretty basic and simple.
With the weighted vest program there is no need to push the pace the first couple of weeks. Just get the time in. Once the
second week you can start pushing the pace a bit, but the key, just like strength training, is to be consistent and get the work
in. Not try to be a PR hero each week. You’re also going to mix in a HIIT session during the week as well. I don’t care what it
is. It can be sprints, hills, sled, whatever. My recommendation will be in the program below.
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Weighted Vest Program with intervals:
Week 1 – 20 minutes 2X a week, 1 HIIT session – 8 sets of whatever you choose
Week 2 – 25 minutes 2X a week, 1 HIIT session – 8 sets of whatever you choose
Week 3 – 25 minutes 3X a week, 1 HIIT session – 8 sets of whatever you choose
Week 4 – 30 minutes 3X a week, 1 HIIT session – 10 sets of whatever you choose
Week 5 – 35 minutes 3X a week,1 HIIT session – 10 sets of whatever you choose
Week 6 – 40 minutes 3X a week, 1 HIIT session – 10 sets of whatever you choose
Non-Weighted Vest Option: Walk for time and mark your distance. Try to beat that time each week. HIIT sessions are the same
as the weighted vest program. The first week don’t push it. You want to have some cushion because you’re going to have to
cut the time you walk this distance in half in 6 weeks. So walk casually the first week.
Week 1 – 40 minutes 2X a week
Week 2 – 35 minutes 2X a week
Week 3 – 35 minutes 3X a week
Week 4 – 30 minutes 3X a week
Week 5 – 25 minutes 3X a week
Week 6 – 20 minutes 3X a week
Comparisons:
As you can see, the big difference in the weighted vest option and the
non vest option, is that you end up flip flopping the times. In the early
part of the vest program, you walk for 20 minutes and end up going
for 40 minutes several times a week. In the non-weighted vest option
you walk for 40 minutes the first week for a set distance, and then try
to walk that same distance in less time over the 6 weeks. Both options
will help build your conditioning foundation. It really all comes back to
if you are poor or not. Only being semi funny about that.
Do not try to be a cardio or conditioning hero the first couple of weeks.
Break into the program slowly and deliberately. The last thing you want
is to develop shins splints or some other overuse injury because you
took a sprint out of the gate rather than an a few well intentioned
steps. At the end of the 6 weeks you WILL be in shape if you are smart
with this program, and you will have lost bodyfat. Especially if you are
keeping the diet in check.
Strength Maintenance: The solid rotational split with 100’s
In the previous phase you worked on strength peaking. The WORST WORST WORST thing you can do, is try to maintain that
strength peak. You cannot base your strength maintenance plan off of trying to do that. You will fail, and regress. This is a
fact. The BEST thing you can do, is deal with the fact that after a few months of trying to peak, the body will naturally want
to regress just a bit and help it ease into that process. It’s natural for the body to ramp up, then ramp down, then level up just
a little bit.
This is the way the body responds to stress, and or basically the supercompensation theory. Instead of trying to hold on to that
peak, just accept the valley that comes with it, ease off the intensity a bit, and let the body recover.
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If you do this properly, you will have a nice little rebound on the other side. If you try to force the body to maintain or hold a
peak, you probably will regress to where you were before you started the peak cycle, and lose confidence. So it behooves you
to be smart here.
Using the solid rotational split here is what we are going to do. We are going to use phase 1 and phase 2 of the strong-15
you just previously ran, with no back offs. So these sets should be VERY EASY.
After that you will do some ultra high rep work to force a lot of blood through the muscles and tendons. This has a healing
and growth affect and will benefit you greatly after several months of the heavy work.
This is what the split is going to look like.
Day 1
Squats - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1
Upperback work – 1x100 reps pick one chins/rows/face pulls/rear delts
1 legged work – 1x100 reps pick one lunges/speed skater aka Bulgarian split squats
Day 2
Press - Bench or Incline - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1
Upperback - 1x100 reps pick one pulldowns/rows/face pulls/rear delts
Triceps/biceps - pushdowns/db skulls/overhead triceps, etc db curls/cable
Curls/poundstone curls - 100 reps
Day 3
Pause squats- strong-15
Deads – 5,4,3,2,1,1,1
Upperback – 1x100 reps pick one shrugs/rows/pulldowns
Day 4
Press - Db overhead Bench or Incline - 2x12-20
Upperback - 100 reps pick one pulldowns/rows/face pulls/rear delts
Triceps/biceps - pushdowns/db skulls/overhead triceps, etc db
Curls/cable curls/poundstone curls - 100 reps
If you can’t get the 1x100 in one set, that’s ok. Just keep the rest to a minimum and keep going until you do. You’re going to
be doing a lot of conditioning over the 6 weeks so do not fret adding weight to the big movements at this time. Again, this
is for strength maintenance. Not strength building. Often times, if you are smart about strength maintenance, you will in fact
get stronger. If you are dumb about it, you won’t. So be smart. At the end of 6 weeks, take a week off altogether, or go light
for a few days a week. You should be in damn good shape by the time this week goes around. If you were paying any real
attention to eating clean, you should be noticeably leaner.
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Weeks 19-25: Conditioning Acceleration
Fat Loss, Conditioning Peaking
Primary Goal: Conditioning Acclimation, Fat Loss, Strength Maintenance
Secondary Goal: None – This is a conditioning peaking block
Training Structure: Two days a week lifting with ladder circuits.
Conditioning: HIIT 2X a week, Weighted Vest/Steady State 2X a week.
Diet: LRB Deficit Diet or keto diet
Primary Goal: Conditioning Acceleration, Fat Loss, Conditioning Peaking The primary goal of this 6 week block is to get you into the best shape you can be in. Period. For 6 weeks strength is going
to be put on the back burner a bit, and getting your bodyfat down and gas tank up will be the priority. There is no secondary
goal because you are going to put conditioning at the forefront of your training for 6 weeks. Do not bitch and moan about “all
the strength you gained”….while you were fat. I don’t care. You’re not competing, so you shouldn’t be worried about having
to demonstrate strength for anyone. You should be worried about creating a bigger, stronger, leaner you over time in the big
picture of things, and that’s what this block is about. Getting you leaner, and in “fighting shape”.
After the last block, you should already be in solid shape. Now it’s time to take it up a notch. For the next 6 weeks, your interval training will be the focus of training along with narrowing down lifting to a few basic movements, and some bodyweight
circuits. This is the kind of training I did when I was getting ready to go back into the military and it got me into the best shape
of my life. So let’s get knee deep in the shit.
Hills or Track – You will need a hill or a ¼ mile track for this block. The hill should be 60 yards. If it’s a little less, that will
work, but not less than 50 yards. The hills will be annotated at the intensity or percentage of speed that you run it. So if 100%
is as fast as you can run, then obviously 75% is about ¾ that speed. If you choose to run the track intervals, they will be run
with a maximum time per lap, and ALWAYS only 2 minutes rest between laps. You cannot do both or do one of them one
week, and then one the next. I get so pissed off at guys that want take my programming and bastardize it to hell. Do it AS
WRITTEN. So pick which one you want to do for this block.
HIIT 6 week block – Week 1 is a bit of a break in week. So it’s only 10 hills @ 75% and 8 ¼ miles @ 3 minutes per lap.
Treat these with respect. Don’t push it the first week too hard. Each week will get more difficult from here on out.
Week 1 – 10 hills @ 75% - 8 intervals @ 180 seconds per lap
Week 2 – 10 hills @ 85% - 8 intervals @ 150 seconds per lap
Week 3 – 12 hills @ 85% - 10 intervals @ 130 seconds per lap
Week 4 – 15 hills @ 80% - 10 intervals @ 120 seconds per lap
Week 5 – 15 hills @ 85% - 12 intervals @ 130 seconds per lap
Week 6 – 15 hills @ 90%+ - 12 intervals @ 120 seconds or less per lap
The stop-watch: Someone is bound to ask…”How do I judge 75% on hills?” Pretty easy. Warm up on a few hills. Then run
a hill at a speed you can pretty much call full speed, and have someone time it, or time it yourself (this is a little more difficult).
This is 100% intensity for a hill. So if it takes you 18 seconds to run the 60 yard hill at full speed, running it at 75% means
about 23 seconds. If this is too much trouble, just calibrate a little bit on speed. However by the end you could fool yourself
into being lax in your hill sprints if you have nothing to really judge them by. For the track laps, you have no choice. Go buy a
stop watch and time it.
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Lifting: The ladder circuit
For lifting you’ll be training twice a week, each time doing ladders in a circuit. Most of this will be bodyweight only after the
big main lift. For the ladders you will do the listed movements all non-stop, for the designated amount of reps. You will then
take a 2 minute rest, and go again.
So for example if you are supposed to do bodyweight squats, sit ups, push ups, and chins and the first round of ladders says
3,5,3,2 that means you do 3 bodyweight squats, 5 sit ups, 3 push ups, and 2 chins.
Like so…
Bodyweight squats – 3
Sit Ups – 5
Push Ups – 3
Chins – 2
You do all of these non stop, then rest for 1 minute. The numbers generally double up to a top ladder, then back down to
where you started.
For the big stuff, you’re going to use the strong-15 method. However for this block, it’s best to go feel. The reason I option this
up is because you will probably be tired as fuck some days lifting wise because of all the conditioning and even if you program
very conservatively, your legs and back could feel beat the hell up. The back off set is simple what you hit for the first single
Lifting and circuit portion
Week 1
Day 1:
Squats – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1x5 @ first single
Ladder Circuit #1:
Bodyweight Squats: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5
Sit Ups: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5
Chins: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
Push ups: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5
Day 2:
Bench Press: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1x8 @ first single
Ladder Circuit #2:
Dips: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3
Chins (different grip than circuit #1): 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
Push Ups: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5
Leg Raises: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3
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Week 2
Day 1:
Deadlifts – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1x5 @ first single
Ladder Circuit #1
Day 2:
Incline Press – 5,4,3,2,1,1,1, 1x5@first single
Ladder Circuit #2
Notes on the ladders: Do not ask what you change about them. Nothing. If they are too hard, just take as long as you need
to get the reps in for that ladder, and then continue. If they are too easy, don’t take the 1 minute rest between ladders. Just
do the whole circuit if you can, OR throw the weighted vest on. Now that’ll make it interesting again.
After this 6 week block is up, take a week off and recover. If you did everything correctly, you should be lean as hell and feeling
pretty damn awesome. Especially if you were tight on your diet and really following the LRB diet.
It’s very possible that strength faded a bit during this block, and are all whiney about it. However, the big picture here, is to
be a bigger and LEANER version of yourself by the end of the year. That requires getting lean first. Which you should be at this
point. Now on to getting that strength and mass back.
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Weeks 26-31: Lift-Run-Bang Template
Strength Stabilization and Foundation Building
Primary Goal: Regaining Strength, Foundation Building
Secondary Goal: Mass gain Training Structure: LRB Template 3xper week
Conditioning: Steady State Walking (weighted vest optional) 2-3X per week
Diet: LRB Weight Gain
Primary Goal: Regaining Strength, Foundation Building
Let’s be honest here about what getting into truly awesome shape does to you in terms of strength. Namely, it zaps it harder
than pictures of dead nuns zap libido (unless you’re into that, of course).
You can’t get as strong as you can get, and also be in the best shape you can be in. One is going to take a little bit from the
other. So think of it like a teeter-totter. The heavier kid always gets his way on that thing. The heavier your training is tilted to
one said, the less the other side gets to have his way in the ups and downs of things.
The last 6 weeks of training should have put you in awesome condition. Your body fat should be low(ish), and you should feel
like you could “go” all day, and feel just fine. The drawback to this, is that your strength may have taken a hit. The severity is
going to be very individualistic. Some people may not get much weaker, and some people’s strength may have totally gone
into the shitter. What people don’t realize is, you didn’t get weaker permanently, you’re just in a weakened state because of an
energy deficit. I know that sounds like an obvious statement, but I wish I had a dollar for every time some guy that ate himself
into a whale to bench 3 plates told me he didn’t like to get in shape because he loses all of his strength.
A lot of people think you need to get fat in order to get stronger. This is ridiculous and completely untrue. The reason strength
rises while you are gaining weight, is because there is generally a calorie surplus involved. So there is an abundance of BCAA,
ATP, and glycogen readily available for your body to use for energy and contractile power. This makes for a stronger you, but
the fact is, fat has no functional purpose for strength. The “gives you more leverage” argument is bunk. Even if your chest
measurement increased by an inch, that’s not enough change in ROM or leverages to make up for the 30-40+ pounds on a
lift people often get when “bulking”.
Don’t think so? Give me said fat guy, let me take away all of his carbs for the next 2 weeks, and watch his strength drop like
a rock. Now, his measurements didn’t change. He’s still virtually the same “size”. It’s the lack of energy coming in from food,
and the lack of fuel resources that made him bottom out. The extra fat he’s carrying isn’t really serving a purpose in helping
him move weight or be strong. Even if the “leverage” argument were true, you know another way to increase your leverages?
Build more muscle!
If you think being a fat ass is required to be strong, then all you have to do is look no further than Jamie Lewis, Stan Efferding, and Dan Green. Who all own raw total records in the 181, 220, and 275 pound classes. They all did so in single digit
bodyfat.
I don’t recall Ed Coan nor Doug Young nor John Kuc ever looking like lard asses. I believe that Mariusz won the WSM title a
record five times, lean as shit.
Is it easier to just eat processed diarrhea all day long for that surplus of calories? Sure. Lots of guys do it. They also look like
fat frat boys that don’t even look like they lift. There really is no reason why, other than being lazy as fuck, to not put some
effort into making sure your calories come from quality sources 90% of the time. Getting a surplus in can be difficult, however
you would be amazed at how well a small surplus of quality makes you feel and allows you to train, in comparison to a big
surplus of shit.
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I’ve gone down that route before myself, and each time I regretted it. I looked back and saw that I looked like shit, felt like
shit, and lifted like shit. Have some go with your show... but have some show too. The reason for this long “speech” about
this is, if you got weaker during the last phase it’s not something to panic over. You lost strength because you lost an energy
deficit. Which is also why you are leaner now. All that has to happen is for an energy surplus to return, and strength will come
with it. Don’t be such a baby about it.
Training: LRB Split
Week 1:
Day 1: Pressing (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps) - Heavy
Overhead Work - Barbell Variation - Pick One
Standing Press / Seated Press / Press Behind Neck / Push Press - 3 sets of 5 @ same weight
Bench Press – strong-15 cycling no back offs
Assistance Work - Pick one for shoulders/traps
Upright Rows / Db Cleans / Hang Pulls - 5 sets of 8-10
Pushdowns / Overhead Extensions / Bench Dips - 5 sets of 15-20 / AMAP on bench dips
Day 2: Legs/Heavy
Squats – strong-15 cycling no back offs
Pick one - Hacks/Machine Squats (Hammer, Strive, something plate loaded, etc) - 4 x 6-10 to a top set
Leg Press - 4 x 10+ to a top set
Single Leg Work - 1-legged leg press / 1-legged squats / lunges (any kind) - 4 x 10-20
Day 3 - Back - Hamstrings - Biceps - LIGHT
Pick one - Romanian Stiff Legs / Cleans (hang or power) / Dynamic Shrugs / Elevated Stiffs - 3 sets of 5 same weight – medium
weight
Pick one - Lat Pulldowns / Cable Rows / Hammer Row or Machine Rows / Db Rows - 5 sets of 20 to a top set
Pick one - Hypers / Glute Ham Raises / Leg Curls (seated, 1 legged, lying, etc) - 4 sets of 15-20
Pick one - Machine or Db Curls - 3 sets of 25 to a top set
Week 2:
Day 1 - Pressing - Light
Pick One - Seated Db Press/Standing Db Press/Machine Press - 3 sets x 12-20 reps
Pick One - Incline Press/Decline Press/Machine Press - 2-3 sets of 12-20 reps
Shoulder - Side or Bent Laterals - 5-6 sets of 15-20
Tricep - Pullovers or Pushdowns - 5-6 sets of 15-20
Day 2 - Legs Light
Front Squats/Pause Squats - 5,4,3,2,1,1,1 or 5,4,3,3,3 to a “top” triple. “Top triple” just means that’s the TOP triple you
worked up to. It should not be heavy.
Leg Ext - 4-5 sets of 20-30
Adductor/Abductor Machine - Pick one or both - 4-5 sets of 15-20
1-Legged Movement - Lunges / Speed Skater Squats / 1-Legged Squats - 4 sets of 20
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Day 3 - Back HEAVY
Deadlifts – strong-15 cycling no back offs
Pick One - T-Bars/Weighted Chins/Barbell Rows - 5x6-8 to a top set
After this we’re going to hit some MODERATE good mornings, or if you’re back is feeling too fatigued at this point, go to leg
curls. You will need to be the judge of this.
Good Mornings - 3-4 sets of 8/Leg
Curls - 4 sets of 20-30 Curls of some sort - 4-5 sets of 10-20
Notes: I understand that because of the rotation of this split, you won’t but a few weeks of the strong-15. That’s ok. It’s there
to just keep you on track for what you should be doing when you get into the gym. The main thing here, is to get in the snappy
singles and then really get after the follow up support/assistance work. So many guys don’t think you can build strength like
this, but they are wrong. Often times, especially for veteran lifters, you don’t need to beat the shit out of yourself in order to
inch forward. The body will sometimes respond very well to letting it ease forward itstead of shoving it.
The support work should be LIGHT, with limited rest between sets. You are there to work, not to screw around and talk to chics
in yoga pants, no matter how much you want to do that. And trust me, I know how difficult it can be to avoid that temptation.
However, you want to keep the assistance work very light, and force as much blood through the muscles as possible. This will
be very painful on movements like leg curls and leg extensions. Don’t jerk the weight around to get the reps in. If you have to
do it in rest/pause fashion to get the reps in, do it. But get all of the sets and reps in.
You’re going to start feeling very strong again after 3 or 4 weeks. You will be tempted to bump the weight on the big stuff. DO
NOT DO THIS. This circumvents the process of allowing your body to naturally ramp its strength back up. The reason you are
feeling and getting stronger is because you are easing back into things instead of trying to get blood from a turnip. The other
reason you shouldn’t do this is because the next 6 week block is the new strong-15 short cycle block for strength peaking.
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Weeks 33-38 – LRB Strong-15 Short Cycle – Strength Peaking
Primary Goal: Strength peaking in the squat, bench press, deadlift
(or alternative compound movements)
Secondary Goal: Increase Strength and Muscular Foundation.
Training Structure: LRB Old School Template
Conditioning: Steady State Walking (weighted vest optional) 2-3X per week
Diet: LRB Weight Gain
Primary Goal: Strength Peaking
After the last cycle, your strength should be returning at a steady clip, and you should feel as though it’s time to ramp the
strength gains up again. Since strength has been on its way up, or should have been, then we don’t need an acclimation
period and can get right into the meat and potatoes of things. This is what the strong-15 short cycle is made for.
There won’t be any max testing at the end of the cycle. This is the short cycle and is here to ramp your strength back to a peak.
Should know from experience by now, that if you can destroy that 93% then you are good for the goal you set. Speaking of
which…
“How do I know what to program for a goal?”
By the end of the previous LRB cycle, you should have an idea of what your everyday max is. You should know your body well
enough at this point to know that. So again, plug in something that’s within 5 pounds of your everyday max and go from
there. Or even program in well under that, and really crush the living hell out of your programmed weights each week. Personally, I think this is the best option because it really builds confidence and doesn’t beat your recovery to shit. How low can you
program? We’ve talked about this. I think anything in the 80-90% range of your 1RM will net you strength gains depending
on volume. The lower the intensity, the more volume you are going to need. So that would mean more back off sets to be
added on. If you choose to play with that, don’t go haywire. Add in 1-2 extra back offs in addition to what the program calls
for and go from there.
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Training Split: Old School/Traditional Template
We’re going to stay pretty straight forward here with the training split and use the old school/traditional template from SLL.
Squat one day, bench one day, deadlift one day.
Day 1: Squats
Squats - cycle
Leg Press - 2x15-20
Leg Curls - 2-3x10-15
Calf Raises - 2-3x10
Day 2 - Bench
Bench - cycle
Incline - 2x8-15
Dips - body x lots
Day 3 - Deadlift
Deadlift - cycle
Sitff Legs - 1x8-12
Shrugs - 1x5, 1x20
Chins or Pulldowns - 2-3x8-10
Curls - 1-2x8-10
This is very simple and straight forward. If you do not have access to any of the things like leg presses or leg curls, you can do
1 legged work like lunges and split squats. It’s only 5 hard weeks of training so the volume is low and your working intensity
should be balls to the wall on all of your movements. Let me emphasize again, the whole cycle is based around your EVERYDAY MAX AT MOST, give or take FIVE POUNDs. Not 20, not 15, and not your best PR. I can’t emphasize this enough. At the
end of this 5 weeks, take a week off. Then it’s time to build some mass for winter.
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Weeks 39-52: Big-15 Cycle – Mass gain and foundation building
Primary Goal: Gaining muscle mass, breaking rep PRs
Secondary Goal: Increase Strength and Muscular Foundation.
Training Structure: Big-15 3 big/3 small split
Conditioning: Steady State Walking (weighted vest optional) 2X per week
Diet: LRB Weight Gain
Primary Goal: Mass gain and REP PRs
Ahhhh, mass gaining. It was what I lived for in my early years. I know the yearning of wanting nothing more than to be physically bigger. To have your shirt sleeves wrap tight around your biceps, and have the admiration of other males because of it,
and the accolades of the ladies. Gaining muscle is such a rewarding task. In a lot of ways it is more rewarding to me than just
getting stronger because there is a constant feedback on your hard work when you are getting muscularly bigger. People tell
you, they have comments or compliments, and this is a positive reinforcement that your hard work is paying off.
Building strength is awesome too. However you can’t be out somewhere and tell someone to load up a barbell for you so
that you can show how strong you are. And for the love of Pete, there’s nothing worse than to hear someone brag about how
strong they are or what they lift. So to me, lean muscular mass always was a bit more appealing than just being brutally strong
at all costs. Fortunately, I learned later that these two entities really help each other, and that getting good at one, often meant
the other one got a helping hand as well. The application of each was what was important.
Since we’ve gone through two strength peaking cycles, and are now coming off of a strength peaking cycle, it’s time to
transfer that limit strength over to rep PRs. I don’t care what anyone tells you, REPS BUILD MASS. Period. After more than 20
years of doing this, and training people and looking at all of the anecdotal evidence, I don’t think it can be argued that reps
are where it’s at for mass gain.
I don’t care about scientific studies that say this or say that about how muscles respond equally to doubles just the same way
as a set of twelve, blah blah blah. Nonsense. Bodybuilders are the kings at building mass, and they live on reps. We can even
look at the old school powerlifters, who were also mass monsters, and they too spent the majority of their training doing sets
of 5-10.
With all of that written, there is still so much confusion about building mass in a lot of younger lifters. “Well so-n-so does tons
of singles and he’s jacked.” Great, good for him. The fact remains, I can take you into any gym that is host to tons of massive
lifters, and you will watch the great majority of them do rep after rep after rep. Let’s stop trying to find exceptions to create
rules. Get on board with what works, and has worked for decades and decades, and is foolproof. Namely…
• Hit rep PRs
• Eat a lot of high quality food
• Get plenty of sleep.
That’s it. That is really the entire package. Drugs or no drugs, these things need to be in order for you to take full advantage of
growing into a bigger you. Once you become a bigger you, your strength ceiling gets raised. As the saying goes, mass moves
mass.
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Sleep: The most underrated aspect of productive mass training –
Maybe I should have written this earlier in the manual, but I feel that sleep might be the single most underrated aspect in regards to making training progress. Sleep is in fact, when you recover. As I wrote earlier, training progress is a balance between
stimulus and recovery. If you take away the recovery, then eventually the stimulus will overrun that balance and progress will
come to a halt.
Babies sleep for most of the day because their body is growing at such a rapid rate. If sleep wasn’t the factor in growth, babies would just run the same schedule we adults do. There have been many studies done now that show that teenagers need
more sleep, and don’t perform as well in school when they get less sleep. So many schools have now started a “late start”
for teens.
You may feel I’m getting off track, but when I was 17 I decided that summer I was going to get big and grow. I trained 6 days
a week, ate so much food I often gagged and was in pain. However I was also in bed by 9:30 almost every night. I went from
170 to 205-210 during that summer and my strength skyrocketed. So for you young guys reading this, if you want to REALLY
grow, sleep as much as possible. You will in fact notice a marked difference in your training if you do.
Something I highly recommend for guys who have trouble getting to sleep is ZMA. It will help you relax, and often times this
is the biggest issue in getting to sleep. Just being able to relax at the end of the day is often the biggest problem with most
people suffering from insomnia.
Another thing to do, is get into habits for the evening that allow you to relax. Don’t sit in the bed watching TV or on the laptop.
Use the bed for sex and sleep only. If you’re not banging anyone, then that just leaves the bed for the only option it should be
used for. I promise you this, if you make sleep a big priority then you will be rewarded for it in training. Guarantee it.
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3 big 3 small –
This is the split that I wrote about in SLL and one that I have used with great success. The key to making this program work
to the fullest are a few.
• Bust ass hard on the 50% sets. That is where the growth is. You want to beat both to total number of reps each week,
and of course try to get the half reps on the second set as you did the first. For those of you who do not understand
what I am talking about, a 50% set is two sets. The first set to failure, and then a second set ONE MINUTE LATER (no
longer) where you try to get half the reps you did on the first set. I will tell you this, the higher the reps on the first set,
the more difficult it’s going to be to match them. THIS IS GOOD! Not bad.
• Program properly. You should be looking for hitting reps in the 8-12 range for most upperbody stuff, and 15-20+ for
lower body. Don’t be afraid to push the reps up higher. This is not detrimental in any way in terms of building mass. In
fact it will serve you very well. Initially you want to hit around 10 reps with the upperbody movements before failure,
and 12-15 for the lowerbody ones.
• On the small days, do NOT bust ass. Get a nice solid pump, move fast, get in and out. This is the part most guys
strugglewith. The small sessions could have some “hurt” involved in them because of the high reps, but the actual load
itself should always be something you sneeze at. Seriously. Force as much blood through the muscle as possible but
keep the load LIGHT. LIGHT! Reduce rest between sets as much as possible and make those sets count. More on how
to program this later.
The big-15 3 big 3 small split with programming I went into a ton of detail about the big-15 programming and splits, so I’m not going to do that here. I am going to give you
the basics of how to run it, and let you roll with it. It’s not complicated, don’t pretend to make it that way.
STAPLE MOVEMENTS – A STAPLE movement is one that you are going to use for the entirety of the 6 weeks. You will be
pushing hard to beat your rep PR each week. This is the movement you will program for. Again if you have a 315 incline, you
know you’re going to do the over-warm up, then do as many reps as possible with 245. Trying to make it to 15 by the end of
the cycle. If you don’t make the goal, it doesn’t mean the cycle was a failure. It’s just the goal for the cycle. The goal for the
cycle is to get bigger and stronger. If you gain quality weight, and go from inclining 245 for 10 to 245 for 13 or 14, you didn’t
hit the 15 goal, but accomplished the overall goal of the cycle.
STAPLE movement examples
Chest Pressing - Incline/Flat/Decline Barbell - Smith and Hammer Incline/Flat/Decline,Weighted Dips Shoulder Pressing Barbell of various types both seated and standing - Smith and Hammer Back - Chins (various grips), Romanian, Stiff Legged
Deadlifts, Rows (various types) Legs - Squats - Barbell, Front, Hack, Smith, Safety Bar
This is pretty simple. You are going to use the spreadsheet to program in the everyday max. You should be hitting something
in the range of 10 reps for the upperbody stuff and 12 or so reps with the lower body stuff. You are going to stay after it, until
you can hit 15 and 20 reps respectively.
Overview of the staple movements within the program –
Each upper body session with have a staple pressing movement (2 all told) that you stick with for the program. It will also
have a secondary pressing movement that you do for a little bit of volume. You will row or chin in between the pressing. For
the chins, it will be a staple movement that you program. For the row you will do volume work.
Each lower body session will have a staple squatting (type) movement that you do. The caveat to both of these is that one of
your staple pulling movements will fall on one of the leg days, and it will be a romanian or stiff legged deadlift.
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Upperbody Programming based on everyday max 40% x 5
50% x 4
60% x 3
75% x 2
85% x 1 - over warm up single
77% x AMAP + 50% set - try to turn your 10RM into your 15RM here
Lowerbody Programming based on everyday max40% x 5
50% x 4
60% x 3
75% x 2
85% x 1 - over warm up single
73% x AMAP + 50% set - take your 12 rep max to 15-20
Programming small sessions - The small sessions run in three waves of set and rep progression.
5x20
5x15
6x10
My personal suggestion for programming the small sessions is like so. Stick with the same movements each 6 week cycle.
So if you do barbell curls for the first small session, stay with those through the whole cycle. Same for the delts and triceps
movements.
A very simply way to program is to use both the rest time between sets, and the weight used in waves. I will give an example.
5x20 - 30 seconds between sets
5x15 - 45 seconds between sets
6x10 - 60 seconds between sets
Since the 6x10 would be the “heaviest” of the three waves, start there and move backwards. So whatever weight you think
you’d do for the 6x10, that would not be heavy, just knock off 5-10 pounds each week from there.
For example, with curls Week 1 - barbell curls - 65x5x20 @ 30 seconds between sets
Week 2 - barbell curls - 75x5x15 @ 45 seconds between sets
Week 3 - barbell curls - 85x6x10 @ 60 seconds between sets
This won’t change through the whole cycle before you ask “when do I add weight?” If you want to make it harder, reduce
rest time between sets. So if you get to week 3 or 4 and you’d like to make the small sessions a little more difficult, just drop
15 seconds off of each weeks time between sets.
Week 1 - 15 seconds between sets
Week 2 - 30 seconds between sets
Week 3 - 45 seconds between sets
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The overall template Week 1
Day 1 - Upperbody #1
Staple Press #1 - cycle with 50%
Staple Pull #1 - always a chin variation - cycle with 50%
Press #2 - 2-5x8-20
Day 2 - Small 1 Biceps - 5x20
Triceps - 5x20
Abs - 5x20
Day 3 - Lowerbody #1
Calf Raises - 3x10-15
Staple Lowerbody Movement #1 - cycle with 50% set
Hamstring Movement #1 - Leg Curl (any kind), Glute Ham, Russian Leg Curl - 4x20
1 legged work - Lunges, 1-Legged Squats, or 1 Legged-Leg Press - 4x20
Day 4 - Small 2
Delts - Pick 2 - Upright Rows/Side Laterals/Bent Laterals/Face Pulls/Front Raises
5 x 20 for each
Day 5 - Upperbody #2
Staple Press #2 - cycle
Staple Pull #2 - a row, t-bar, cable, db - 4-5x8-12
Press #2 - 2-5x8-20
Day 6 - Small 3 - Biceps/Triceps
Biceps - 5x15
Triceps - 5x15
Week 2 Day 1 - Lowerbody #2
Calf Press - 3x10-15
Staple Lowerbody Movement #1 - cycle
Staple Pull #2 - Romanian or Stiff Legged Deadlift Support Work - 1 legged work
Day 2 - Small 1 - Delts 5 sets of 15
Day 3 - Upperbody #1
Day 4 - Small 2 - Biceps/Triceps - 6 sets of 10
Day 5 - Lowerbody #1
Day 6 - Small 3 - Delts 6 sets of 10
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Some final words
If you run this manual to a T, eat exactly as outlined, train with good programming, and do all of the things I have written
about, you will no doubt be a bigger, leaner, stronger YOU at the end of the year. The biggest problem with people in training
is that they let their mind wander to “bigger and better” programs or ideas, and then toil around making no progress for
months on end. When all they really had to do was stay on track, keep after their goals, and make small proper adjustments.
There are no short cuts. Stop for one minute, and REALLY let that sink in. There is no special program or piece of equipment
that is going to make you Batman overnight. Even Batman had to work for years and years to master all of the tools of his
trade. And he’s not even real! So you, as a real living, breathing person, will actually have to do the work, be patient, and not
stray from the principles and ideas that work, and have worked for decades.
There will undoubtedly be periods and phases during the year, that
will not go as well as you had hoped and planned for. Do not worry
or fret, such peaks and valleys are the ebb and flow of both lifting,
and life. You can’t appreciate the mountain tops without experiencing the valleys as well. Let me also stress, that if you never have a
dip in training, it probably means you haven’t been training very
hard. The training valleys cannot be avoided if you are trying to
reach your goals. Setbacks happen. Take them in stride and keep
battling.
WIN! You MUST have an undying belief in yourself. I cannot emphasize this enough. Stop telling yourself that you can’t get this
done, and KNOW that you can. Stop babying yourself, having pity
parties about not measuring up, and grok that you have all the
power. You get all the control. Seize that, and get on your war horse
and ride into this fight. Never become weary, even when you are
tired, or hungry, or when you can’t win the battle on that particular
day. You must breath in the journey. It’s hard, but it is rewarding. No
one ever reached worthwhile goals without suffering some in the
process. Expect it.
EXPECT IT!
No infantry officer ever took men into battle without expecting losses. If he focused on the men he lost he wouldn’t adequately be able to command the men he still had alive. While lifting weights and fitness does not really deserve an allegory
related to combat, the point here is simple. When you lose a battle here or there, have a bad workout, feel like crap, cheat on
your diet, or don’t progress for a short while, take a step back and look at your “battle plans”, and make adjustments. Often
times, it’s usually something small that you need to change, and throwing the baby out with the bathwater isn’t required.
Stay the course here. Fight the good fight and win all of the small battles throughout the next 365 days, so that at the end a
victory in the war is netted.
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Strong-15 - SQUAT PHASES 1, 2, and 3
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Strong-15 Deadlift - Phases 1, 2, and 3 (yes I know it reads weeks “1 2 3” on each phase)
42
Strong-15 Bench Cycle - Phases 1, 2, and 3 (phase 1 and 2 are identical in terms of intensities)
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Strong-15 Short Cycles – Squat cycle
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Book design by Jennifer Sibbert-Flores of IRON&emotion.
This book may not be reproduced or recorded in any form without permission from the author.
Copyright 2012 by Paul Carter. All rights reserved.
IBSN: 978-0-615-74111-6