Hi everyone!
I stumbled upon the blueprint when I purchased the Mass Pro Synthagen supplmement from predator nutrition. I then read many reviews about the program and they were all positive so I bought the blueprint myself and it has been an overwhelming read. Lots of information and totally different approaches regarding both training and nutrition to what you would normally see.
Back ground:
I have tried various strength/bodybuilding programs in the past and they all work up to a certain point where you hit a plateu and no matter what supplement you take or how many times you reset the same program I have always plateued over and over again. This is my biggest frustration, the lack of progress.
The frustration has then led to the next program/supplement yielding similar disappointing results but I think I can say that that’s hopefully about to change. I began training seriously again early 2012 and have made some decent gains using high frequency templates working out 5 times a week. It’s going to be really hard to cut back on training and therefore I refuse to workout less than 3 times a week (Unless I really have to ).
I just really love hitting the weights but I also understand that I need the rest to grow and get stronger. Taking a week of training right now before I start the famine phase and due to my training adhd I’m going crazy
already
Goals:
Build a stronger back, shoulders and trapz. I would also like to get my bench up to about 120 kg. I suffered from a disc herniation back in 2010 which kept me out of the gym for almost a year. Needless to say I also want to stay injury free. I cannot squat/deadlift at the moment so I will have to rely on legpress and lunges for leg development.
Diet
I’m currently bulking and will continue to do so for my first run of TB.
During the famine phase I will drop my calories to bw x 8 = 1500 calories eating mainly fruits, berries lots of vegetables, different types of oils, etc.
During the feast phase I will bumb up my caloric intake to bw x 20 = 3750 calories on training days and bw x 17 = 3200 calories on rest days.Protein will be kept high at 1,5g/ pound of bw. I know this is higher than the recommendation but right now I’m eating 3500 kcals just to maintain my weight.
In the solidification phase I will reduce the calories to 3500 calories on workout-days and 3000 on the rest days. Protein intake will be 1 g/pound of bw.I will also eat more carbs and less fat on the days I work out, and less carbs and more fat on rest days.
Supplements
I was thinking of going totally without supplements as recommended for the famine phase.
In the feast phase I will start taking synthagen, creatine, Erase pro, multivitamin, gainers and protein shakes.
In the solidification phase I would leave out Erase pro but continue taking synthagen and the other supplements mentioned above.
A few words on setting up my workouts.
I’m a big fan of doing quality back work and really feel that my shoulders stay much healthier if I incorporate more pull than push exercises. I have been tinkering a little while on how to setup my first run and would really appreciate any feedback on the workouts I have designed. They follow the guidelines from to BP to 90% but I have made some small adjustments/tweaks to fit me better.
Famine workout
Day 1 Day 2
A)Pullups 3 x 4 – 6 reps A)Benchpress 4 x 8 – 10 reps
B) Legpress 3 x 8 - 10 reps B)Shoulder press 4 x 8 - 10 reps
Do as supersets, rest for 2 minutes Do as supersets and rest
and repeat 2 times 1 minute between sets
C)Rows 3 x 8 – 10 reps A)Floorpress 3 x 8 – 10 reps
rest 1 minute between sets B)Pushdowns 3 x 8 – 12 reps
D)Biceps 1 x 8 – 12 Do as supersets.
E)Biceps 1 x 8 - 12
F)Biceps 1 x 8 - 12
Rest 2 minutes between sets
Day 3
A)Pullups 5 x 12 – 15 reps
B) Legpress 5 x 12 – 15 reps
Do as supersets, rest for 30 seconds and repeat 4 times
C)Rows 5 x 12 – 15 reps
rest 30 seconds between sets
D)Biceps 3 x 12 – 15
E)Biceps 3 x 12 - 15
F)Biceps 3 x 12 - 15
Rest 30 seconds between sets
Questions:
Should any of these sets be taken to failure?
Should the weight I use remain constant or should I decrease the weight as the my workout goes on?
Feast phase
First 5 workouts I will do 1 set to complete failure for both Legpress and Benchpress following the recommended rep protocol laid out the program.
I then follow up that with and EDT block consisting of 20 minutes of supersetting
A)Inclinde dumbbell presses
B)Pullups
If I have the energy I might throw in a few sets of hyperextensions and shrugs at the end of the workout.
I’m going to try 1 on 2 off and see where that takes me. Doing so would mean that this phase lasts a little under 2 weeks. After the fifth workout I would then take 2 days off before starting the GLP#1
Questions:
The fourth workout should be a deload workout, but should I still try to hit failure on the benchpress for tge recommended 6-8 reps on that workout?
Should I only do the legpress and benchpress the fourth workout or is it ok to include the EDT block aswell?
After workout 5 I will hopefully have set a new 1rm and will use that as a base for the German loading pattern # 1
Note that I will not follow the GLP for legs since I really can’t go that heave due to my back injury.
I was thinking about doing the following split the next 3 weeks
Workout 1 (Monday)
Benchpress GLP #1
EDT block consisting of:
A)Floorpress
B) Rows
Static BP holds
Workout 2 (Thursday)
Benchpress GLP#2
EDT block consisting of:
Pullups
EDT block consisting of:
A)Shoulder press
B)Rows
Finish off with some trap work
Workout 3 (Saturday)
Legpress 5 x 8
Lunges 3 x 10-12
EDT block consisting of :
A)Leg extensions
B)Leg curls
I would then continue following this split until I all 6 workouts for the GLP# 1 are done, and I will hopefull have set another PR in the bench. After the sixth and last workout I would take two days off before going into the consolidation phase.
Consolidation Phase
During this phase I will divide my workouts into A and B
Workout A
A) Bench press 5 x 5 using 80% of my new 1rm
B)Shoulder press 5 x 5
C)Close grip bench press with a 6-10 second static hold using 120-140% of my bench press 1rm
Workout B
A)Leg press 5 x 5
B) Lunges 3 x 8 - 12
C)Pullups x 3 sets
D) Rows 5 x 5
E)Static Hold preacher curl 15-45 seconds
F) Abs
I will do 3 workouts a week for a total of 6 or 7 workouts in 16 or 18 days. Instead of progression using more weight I will instead try to increase my reps as suggested and stay below 90% of my 1rm.
After completing the consolidation phase I will evaluate my progress and hopefully made some strength and Hypertrophy gains.
After that I would go back to famine phase and start over.
Any feedback on training , diet and supplement use would be really appreciated. Not really looking forward the famine phase but I will do the best of it and train/eat like a machine later on in the feast phase!!
Finaly I would like to thank Rob Regish for his tireless help and support!!