Matthew L's First BP run

[Matthew L]

Hi everyone!

I am a national level powerlifter here in Canada. Heard about the blueprint on superhuman radio and decided to give it a try since my progress was slowing with what I had been doing before.

Here's some stats:

Age 30 Height 5' 8"
Competition Weight 182.5
Squat 429
Bench 280
Deadlift 517

I weighed myself before starting the famine phase and did bodyfat measurement with calipers.

Pre BP: Weight - 184
Bodyfat - 10.8%

I am currently on day 4 of famine and man does this suck.

[Matthew L]

Some things have been annoying me.

Where do I get the missing information from BP 3.0? I have spent a few hours total on the forum looking around and am still confused as to where or how I get it. I am running 2.0 first but would still like the info because at some point I am going to try and lean out while maintaining strength.

Also I ordered some kre-anabolyn from musclemass 10 days ago and they may have botched the order so at this point I am not sure if I will be getting it anytime soon. May have do this run without it which is fine but still annoying when I was expecting to try adaptogens out.

Now that I have that stuff out of the way on to the training questions.

1. How important is it that I do the bridge workouts? I likely won't have Kre-anabolyn so are the stretching movements important? I was deadlifting 2x a week (not always heavy) before starting the blueprint and with the week off plus 5 days famine, plus 2-3 days gorging, plus 5 bridge workouts over 10 days that puts me over 3.5 weeks without a regular deadlift. I know my maxes. Could I just jump into GLP#1?

2. Recovery could be an issue. I am a roofer so my job is very physically demanding. Pre-Bp I was only working out 2x week but the training sessions were very long (3 hours) I did Squat, bench and deadlift then accessory and was eating about 3000 calories.

I am thinking of running GLP#1 then #2 for both Squat and benchpress at the same time with this format.

Tuesday : Deadlift (rotating heavy, deficit, and rep days) and overhead press + accessory

Thurs: Squat and Bench + accessory

Sat: Squat and Bench +accessory

So 1 extra workout but I figure that they will only be 2 hours long instead of 3.

Does this look do-able or is it too aggressive? I am willing to push calories to 5000+ if necessary to recover and will be doing my best to get lots of sleep. Will be taking body comp every week to keep tabs on if I am gaining lean mass or fat.

3. I haven't decided on my accessory work yet. Will likely do EDT blocks of some sort. I have never tried EDT and am keen to give it a try. Any recommendations for exercises or duration? Should I superset the movements or just do straight sets? I have an idea of what I want to do but am open to input.

[drtda]

A few points.

Get in touch with Rob on 3.0 material.

3 times per week should be doable with your schedule, just take an extra day here and there if needed.

EDT Blocks need to be a superset. You can literally pick any two that you want, just stick with basic, heavy movements. A good example might be to do dumbell incline presses superset with 1-arm rows.

[Matthew L]

A few points.

Get in touch with Rob on 3.0 material.

3 times per week should be doable with your schedule, just take an extra day here and there if needed.

EDT Blocks need to be a superset. You can literally pick any two that you want, just stick with basic, heavy movements. A good example might be to do dumbell incline presses superset with 1-arm rows.

Thanks for the help. I will get a hold of Rob.

Thanks for the EDT info. Incline DB presses and 1 arm rows were already on my list of possible exercises now they are bumped to the top.

[JayBezel]

having a physical job makes recovery really tough sometimes. after you get ahold of the 3.0 supp section look into getting all the tools for "the formula". this seemed to help my recovery once i started using it. a little bit of active recovery on off days does the body good too. if it's in the budget maybe even sip 20g bcaas 10g glutamine 5g creatine mono on off days to give the body some extra goodies to expedite the process. hope that helps a little bit. btw....that 517 dead at 182 is beast mode shit!

[RobRegish]

Some things have been annoying me.

Where do I get the missing information from BP 3.0? I have spent a few hours total on the forum looking around and am still confused as to where or how I get it. I am running 2.0 first but would still like the info because at some point I am going to try and lean out while maintaining strength.

A. Please see your PM's. Kcilflexim will send missing info, once he confirms the particulars...

Also I ordered some kre-anabolyn from musclemass 10 days ago and they may have botched the order so at this point I am not sure if I will be getting it anytime soon. May have do this run without it which is fine but still annoying when I was expecting to try adaptogens out.

A. Sorry to hear it, but 2 sides to every story. A call to MASS should resolve...

Now that I have that stuff out of the way on to the training questions.

1. How important is it that I do the bridge workouts? I likely won't have Kre-anabolyn so are the stretching movements important? I was deadlifting 2x a week (not always heavy) before starting the blueprint and with the week off plus 5 days famine, plus 2-3 days gorging, plus 5 bridge workouts over 10 days that puts me over 3.5 weeks without a regular deadlift. I know my maxes. Could I just jump into GLP#1?

A. Bridge workouts? VERY important, so please do perform them. The loaded stretches are likewise, same answer. Do try to incorporate them if you can. Everything is there for a reason..

Jumping into GLP 1 without the 5 bridge workouts is ill advised. When this has been attempted before, results suffered. Just trying to help, based upon all that I've experienced/counseled in the past.

Trust, and you will be rewarded...


2. Recovery could be an issue. I am a roofer so my job is very physically demanding. Pre-Bp I was only working out 2x week but the training sessions were very long (3 hours) I did Squat, bench and deadlift then accessory and was eating about 3000 calories.

I am thinking of running GLP#1 then #2 for both Squat and benchpress at the same time with this format.

Tuesday : Deadlift (rotating heavy, deficit, and rep days) and overhead press + accessory

Thurs: Squat and Bench + accessory

Sat: Squat and Bench +accessory

So 1 extra workout but I figure that they will only be 2 hours long instead of 3.

Does this look do-able or is it too aggressive? I am willing to push calories to 5000+ if necessary to recover and will be doing my best to get lots of sleep. Will be taking body comp every week to keep tabs on if I am gaining lean mass or fat.

A. Recovery is best accomplished by establishing a training frequency with adequate REST days. A 1on/2off to START is the safe bet. Thereafter, adding KA, Synthagen or another quality adaptogen will help as well. REST though, is priority #1, especially with as physically demanding a job as you have..

Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals...


3. I haven't decided on my accessory work yet. Will likely do EDT blocks of some sort. I have never tried EDT and am keen to give it a try. Any recommendations for exercises or duration? Should I superset the movements or just do straight sets? I have an idea of what I want to do but am open to input.

A. Supersetting agonist/antagonistic muscle groups is KEY to EDT, and you can do no finer. Please see the "New Blueprint User? All you need to know - all in one place!" sticky for suggested EDT movements.

If you need any additional guidance, please PM me. I'll provide a phone # for one of the 5Faces of Fear(tm), to assist you... :):):):)

[Matthew L]

Thanks for the help Rob, Jay and drdta.

Actually was listening to the most recent blueprint power hour and Rob answered my question about the bridge workouts.

I am going to do them but I think I might throw a deadlift workout in there somewhere.

I am eating up right now. Will post some more updates once I do another body comp test and the first bridge workout.

[Matthew L]

OK so yesterday was the one week mark weighed myself and did skin fold again. I was down as low as 178 during famine so I am glad most of the weight came back. Water loss mostly I guess.

Weight 183
BF% 10.4

Did my first bridge workout.

Bench 209x9 (paused)
Pullovers cambered bar 88x10

Squat 330x10
Stiff Leg DL 198x12

Only Did one EDT block. My quads were still sore from the last famine workout so I only did EDT for upper body.

15 min -Wide Grip Bench, 187x40
Medium width pull ups, body x 33

Overall the workout went well, felt like my strength came back after the couple days of eating. Headed over to an all you can eat sushi bar afterwards.

This morning though I woke up and my outer pecs were ridiculously sore. Almost to the point where I thought they were injured, having trouble fully contracting them, but it is just extreme muscle soreness. I think I am going to have to be cautious with the pullovers. I rarely do them and never this heavy. So they are a real shock to the body.

[JayBezel]

holy hell you did 33 bw pullups? thats pretty impressive

[Matthew L]

It was EDT so over a 15 minute period. Don't think that is too impressive.

[Matthew L]

OK so two more workouts in the bag.

Did a deadlift workout 2 days ago and Bridge workout #2 today.

For my Dealift workout I did it in the same manner and rep ranges that I have been working with in the bridge workouts.

August 21

Deadlift 405x8

15min EDT OH Press 120x 6,6,5,5,5,4,4 Total 35
Pendlay Row 175x 6,6,5,5,5,4,4 Total 35

Didn't want to over fatigue my legs for upcoming squat workout so I only did 10 minutes for the EDT set to ease into it.

10min EDT Leg Press (DL stance) 3 plates+25/side x 6,6,6,5,4 Total 27
Glute Ham Raise Body x 6,6,6,5,4 Total 27


My Hamstrings were super sore from the glute ham raises even though I only did the 10 minutes.

Today August 23

Bench Press (Paused) 220x8 ( underestimated and ended up doing more reps then I thought I would)
Pullovers 70x7 (went pretty easy on these. Did not want to end up super sore again especially since I have only 1 day to recover instead of 3. Will challenge myself on my Saturday workout though)

Squat 370x6
Stiff Led DL 225x7

10min EDT Incline DB Press 70x 6,6,5,5,5 Total 27
One Arm Row 70x 6,6,5,5,5 Total 27

10min EDT Leg Extensions 115x 6,6,7,6,6 Total 31
Glute Machine 160x 6,6,6,6,6 Total 30

Went easy on both EDT's. Partly because my hamstrings were still really sore and partly because with the frequency of training I don't want to over train by going full throttle all the time. I still feel like I am getting some decent volume work in though and will gauge if I need to do more by how I feel the next day.

I have been doing ice baths in addition to the overeating, foam rolling and supplementation for recovery.

Things seem to be going well though. Really surprised my self on the bench today. Hopefully that continues.