I,bodybuilder

[xamo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xamo]

Training Program Guidelines


No hype, no exaggeration, pure and simple, build muscle as fast as humanly possible. More specifically, build muscle as fast as humanly possible — week after week — until you see a body in the mirror that you barely recognize.

That's radical hypertrophy, bubba, and that's exactly what this program's all about.

I,BODYBUILDER came right out of a black-ops bodybuilding project that Tim Patterson and Christian Thibaudeau have been working on over the last year. The details of the project and the basis of this program were released in an article, called Radical Strategy for Radical Hypertrophy. If you haven't read it (or haven't read it recently), you really need to, starting on page 3.

It's kind of interesting reading that article again, knowing what we know now. Since then, we've trained dozens of lifters with these techniques, and every single person was totally blown away.

Bottom line, these principles work just exactly as we said they would.

So now, with the release of this program, consider everything we promised in that article to have been delivered right smack into your hot little hands. Do the program, following these guideline to the letter, and you will, in fact, make your very best gains, ever.


A NEW REALM IS HERE
High-Impact Video and Interactive Program Design

Instead of making you wade through 10,000 words to get the program details — and still have tons of questions — we're moving into a whole new realm, one that will deliver the information faster and much clearer, using three information-rich components:

High-Impact Video

You're going to see high-impact videos, showing every single workout of the program. To do this, we filmed all workouts in HD video, using three synchronized and stabilized cameras.

These workouts were real, not staged or rehearsed. The only thing edited out were the rest periods. We used experienced bodybuilders as subjects, and Christian Thibaudeau pushed them their limits on every set.

We want you to not only see exactly what we've been talking about, we want you to feel these workouts, just as if you were doing them. And these videos put you there. They're extremely fast-paced, and with the three camera angles, provide tons of information that you just can't see in person or deliver with the written word.

Interactive Workout Charts

Right below each workout video is an interactive workout chart where you can enter your training data and save it to your I,BODYBUILDER Training Log. Simply click the button at the bottom of the chart, and your formatted information is entered into the log.

You can also print out the workout and take it to the gym. A full description of each exercise is right there on the printout, making it real easy and convenient. Hit print and hit the gym.

(You have to be logged in to save the information, though.)

Extended Coaching Forum

Tim Patterson and Christian Thibaudeau are taking our online coaching to a whole new level. They want everyone who's serious about training to become an expert, and they're totally committed to doing what it takes to make that happen.

Reading articles is very important, but long-term coaching is how training is taught best, and that's how we're going to do it here at TMUSCLE. So spend all the time you can in our Coaching Forums. You'll get all your answers there from the world-class experts who really know the facts.

The 2 Elements of Success

The I,BODYBULDER Program is designed for advanced level and elite lifters. This doesn't mean that we don't want intermediate-level lifters participating, because we do. We want to encourage anyone who's serious, and who has enough lifting experience under his belt, to jump right in and get on the program.

So you be the judge. You want it? Go for it.

All of our advanced lifters know this next point, so this is old news for them. But using these methods requires just two elements for total success. Without these two elements, all bets are off. In fact, according to Christian Thibaudeau, without both of these elements, you will get nothing more than mediocre results at best, and more likely fail:

1. The Perfect Rep

You have to perform each rep of every set, using a very specific rep style and associated techniques. To be able to do this, you have to clearly understand all of the workout parameters of the high-threshold hypertrophy methodology. The rep style is by far the most important parameter. And ultimately, you have to go into the gym, and perform each rep perfectly, as if your life depended upon it.

Bottom line, if you haven't read The Perfect Rep article, you really can't even begin to understand the training methods involved in the I,BODYBUILDER Program. Obviously, knowing this information is essential, so read the article. And if you've already read it, do yourself a huge favor and read it again.

[xamo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xamo]

2. The ANACONDA Protocol

If you want superhuman results, you have to train with superhuman intensity. And to do that, you have to utilize the ANACONDA Protocol. It's true. The ANACONDA Protocol is a painstakingly researched, peri-workout dosing plan that's designed to potentiate anabolic physiology to the point of superhuman responses when training at advanced levels.

Read what Christian Thibaudeau has to say about ANACONDA:

"I am convinced that I am currently working with the most advanced and most effective training methods ever, methods which have the potential to deliver superhuman growth to almost anyone who'll fully utilize them.

"But it's ANACONDA that actually provides the fuel to deliver the results.

"I am totally serious."

— Christian Thibaudeau, TMUCLE Bodybuilding Specialist

To read more, click here: The ANACONDA Protocol.

I,BODYBUILDER Program Overview

The I,BODYBUILDER Program is divided into 5 phases, 4 are body-part specific, and the fifth is a transition program:

PHASE 1 — Shoulders
PHASE 2 — Back
PHASE 3 — Legs
PHASE 4 — Chest
PHASE 5 — Transition

Depending upon your progress, and the areas of weaknesses you need to work on, each phase can last between 2 and 4 weeks. But it's totally up to you when to move on to the next phase.

Regardless of the areas you want to focus on, please follow the order of the phases. In other words, don't skip a phase just because you don't think you need to work on, let's say, shoulders for example. Or don't change the order of the phases to meet your specific priorities.

The reason being, each phase is designed to build on the previous phase. And the overall design is based on providing the very best gains for all problem areas, including arms (which don't have their own phase).

We chose a body-part specialization approach because, if utilized in a comprehensive program, it's one of the most-effective ways to make the largest overall gains. In other words, emphasizing one major body part at a time — without neglecting the rest of the body — will lead to the greatest overall gains by the end of 12 weeks.

We know we've said this so many times, but the program works. We know it because we've tested it.

Anyway, just do what we ask, please, and don't screw up the order. And we mean this in the nicest way. Really.

NOTE: The program is going to be released in stages, with shoulders being first. The rest of the phases will be published over the next 10 weeks, one every two weeks.


PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Before you get started watching the videos, there are really only three technical pieces of information you need. Remember, anything not fully covered will be handled in the Coaching Forum.

Use "Feeler" Sets, not Warm-Ups

Traditional warm-up sets are counterproductive, whereas feeler (practice) sets are highly productive and effective at ramping up the nervous system and associated target muscle group.

As a general guideline, on your first exercise of a workout, or on any exercise where you don't feel adequately prepared for maximum effort, perform two feeler sets with 40% to 45% of your 1RM. Then go right into the working sets of the lift.

Rest Periods

Overall, you should keep the entire workout pace as brisk as possible without sacrificing rep quality and maximum performance. So, no matter what the suggested rest is on an exercise, understand that it's simply a guideline. The actual objective is to rest the least amount of time required to be able to give a maximum effort on each rep of the upcoming set.

If you actually timed the rest periods of our advanced lifters, they'd range between about 10 and 60 seconds on lighter sets, and 30 seconds to 120 seconds on heavier sets. On rare occasions, they might actually rest up to three minutes, but that's not very often.

Above all, never, ever look at a clock and count down time during rest periods. It totally kills workout intensity. A brisk, auto-regulated workout pace, in and of itself, is an activation technique. So use workout pace to further amp up the nervous system.

Auto-Regulation

Auto-regulation of the workout is the workout. In other words, there's no such thing as an all-encompassing, all-knowing prescriptive workout, one that you do exactly as written. All workouts are simply guidelines and require micro adjustments to make them really work for any specific lifter on any given day.

Based upon a whole host of factors — current physiologic state, how your body's handling the lift, the current state of the nervous system, etc. — you always need to make adjustments to get the most out of a training day.

Just know that the art of auto-regulation has to be learned over time, and we're committed to teaching you the highest level of the art. Unlike a lot of bodybuilding and strength coaches, who are terrified about giving away their "training secrets," we want you to be as good as we are at auto-regulation.


PUNCH LIST SUMMARY

1. Before you go any further, if you haven't read the following articles, and aren't prepared to do your very best to follow their guidelines, you will absolutely not make your best gains or get anywhere near the kinds of results we've been talking about. So, once again, we really encourage you to read or reread them now:

Radical Strategy for Radical Hypertrophy
The Perfect Rep
The ANACONDA Protocol

2. Watch each of the workout videos several times until you have a good mental grasp of the style, tempo, and feel of not only each exercise, but the entire workout as well.

3. Hook yourself up with The ANACONDA Protocol package in time for Monday's workout. This is extremely important.

4. Start hanging out in Christian's forum. That's where all the advanced training action is. He'll clear up any confusion, and it'll guarantee your success.

5. Print the workouts and take them to the gym. After the workout, log on to TMUSCLE and save your training information to your I,BODYBUILDER Training Log. It's a great way to keep a record of your progress, especially if you want help from Christian and the other coaches.

Foo-Foo Gyms

If you belong to one of those foo-foo gyms that won't let you train with advanced techniques because it's noisy and might scare the children, LEAVE! For goodness sakes, go somewhere else. Get your carcass to a real gym where you can not only train with total freedom, but where you're challenged by the very best to be your very best.

The I,BODYBULDER Program is advanced and we're not going to water it down, period. So don't ask those kinds of questions, just get to a real gym. Enough said.

Strong Words of Advice

Listen, maybe this whole thing seems too daunting or difficult; maybe it hurts your brain too much. After all, doing 3 sets of 8, like most ordinary gym rats have been doing since the dawn of time, doesn't take any smarts.

We're asking you to push the envelope a little. Do a little homework. Furrow up your brow and learn this program. An hour of investment up front, followed by a wholehearted training and supplementation effort, will give you the results you were looking for, hoping for, when you first started lifting.

Now, let's see what you're made of.

[xamo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xamo]

The Perfect Rep
Change the Way You Build Muscle Forever
by Christian Thibaudeau


As a strength and bodybuilding coach, and as a weightlifter myself, I've learned more this year about training than the previous 10 years combined.

To be specific, I've made major advances in determining an exact methodology for sustained maximum growth of muscle cells.

More specifically, I've determined just exactly how to produce radical hypertrophy — every time I train — not only in myself, but in every single individual I've been training with these concepts.

I'm not exaggerating or setting you up for a twist on basic information that you've heard a thousand times before. I'm talking about huge advances in training that'll change the way you build muscle forever — if you can fully understand and implement the core principles of what I've learned.

Let's face the facts, at first glance, the act of performing repetitions with a barbell is a very simple concept involving just a few variables. And, of course, you've "learned" how to lift a weight the very first time you grabbed a bar...

But did you?

Have you ever really learned how to lift a weight for maximum gains — every time you train?

More specifically, do you know how to do a perfect rep, every time, that absolutely produces maximum results?

I fully admit that I didn't until very recently. Furthermore, I didn't even know what a perfect rep was!

For years, I've randomly hit and missed the edge of radical hypertrophy several times, but never really understood what part of the "lifting" was actually producing the results.

So often we focus on advanced training design, thinking it's the key — or frequency, or rep volume, or loads, or regulating rep speed, or body-part splits, or the ideal exercise program — that we forget to look at the most basic of elements: the rep.

The very act of performing a repetition is, no matter how you dissect training, the most basic and by far the most important part of training. In fact, doing reps is training.

So what I'm about to tell you is both basic and extremely advanced. The differences between what you know and what I'm going to show you are, on the surface, subtle, but in the context of results, the methodology is totally unique and extremely different.

In short, if you want to make maximum progress every single time you train, I've found only one universal principle that underpins everything. It's the foundation for all of my gains, and I base my entire training philosophy on it. It's by far the most-important element and it alone makes everything else work.

I'm talking about the ultimate "perfect rep" for maximum growth. And as I've said, the perfect rep works 100 percent of the time, every time you use it. That's because the body never adapts to its power to stimulate growth — which is why it's so perfect.

Once you master the principles of the concept, you'll be able to incorporate this rep method universally, across the board, in all your training.

Stimulating Radical Hypertrophy Every Time You Train

The perfect rep is extremely efficient at activating the nervous system and potentiating maximum force output from the working muscles, thereby stimulating maximum fast-twitch fibers and radical hypertrophy every time you train with it.

In other words, every single rep of every single set, when performed with this method, can be and is highly stimulatory for both muscle and nerve fibers. So, when I say every rep counts, I really mean it!

As I walk to a lift, I get into a highly focused state of mind, and direct that focus on rep performance and nothing else.

I don't even count the reps. I literally mean that.

Most people get fixated on counting reps. That's a huge mistake and one of the main factors for lack of progress.

It's far more important to know when to end a set than to remember how many reps you did, and that can only be done by zeroing in on the quality of each muscle contraction and its resulting rep.

When I finish a set, all I can remember is how my performance of each rep felt, and from that experience I'm able to record the rep number.

So, focus only on the rep you're doing, while you're doing it, like nothing else matters — because it doesn't.

Inducing Maximum Recovery Rate

The perfect rep, while yielding the greatest stimulatory effects, is so efficient that it burns very little nervous energy. This is probably the most interesting thing about it.

In sharp contrast, most training methods are devastating to the nervous system, making training a race between stimulating muscle as much as you can before completely draining the CNS.

Unfortunately, it's that same nervous system that has to continue to run the entire body after you train. And it's that same nervous system that masterminds any potential gains, as well.

The perfect rep actually potentiates the nervous system, leaving you in a potentiated (amped up) state post-training, which actually speeds up recovery dramatically. And just as incredible as that is, this super-physiologic state also stimulates metabolic rate through the roof.

Just ponder that for a minute — maximum stimulation of nerve and muscle fibers, maximum stimulation of recovery rate, and a jacked up metabolic rate — all from a rep method!

[xamo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xamo]

Auto-Regulation for Never-Ending Gains

Rep performance can tell you a ton of information about your current physiologic state and help you auto-regulate your workout session for maximum gains.

As such, the perfect rep is the perfect diagnostic tool for determining your next training step — whether or not to add or lower weight on the next set, continue the exercise or move on to another one, and even when to end the workout.

Knowing how to auto-regulate your workout is, in fact, the art of training, and has to be taught over time. This is why we've started the ANACONDA Protocol forum and section of the site — so that we can really get into advanced-level coaching. We want everyone to be able to use this information as well as we can.

So please keep that in mind as you continue to read about how to perform the perfect rep.

THE PERFECT-REP TRAINING SYSTEM

The perfect rep is actually a training system involving a maximum-force repetition style (max force reps) combined with an overall loading method, called Force Spectrum Ramping.

The entire training system is based on one objective: to activate and potentiate the nervous system's ability to recruit fast-twitch muscle fibers.

Simple activation is not enough. To really induce radical hypertrophy, you have to stimulate the nervous system, each rep of every set, to progressively fire more and more energy into the working muscle.

If done with systematic efficiency — in other words, not wasting nervous energy on unproductive efforts— you'll eventually experience a fully potentiated state. And that's where all the fast-twitch magic happens.

Keep the overall objective in mind as you read on, otherwise you'll likely get off track. Also, in the interest of keeping this article under a million words, I am only going to cover only the basics. Just know that there are variants and exceptions to the following information, all of which will be discussed in future articles and forum posts.

MAX FORCE REPS

There are three components of a max force rep:

1. Maximum-Force Lifting:

Always lift the weight as hard and as explosive as possible. In other words, each rep, regardless of the weight, should actually be a maximum effort. Acceleration is very important, as well. Try as hard as you can to make sure you actually accelerate the weight on every rep.

Hard. Explosive. Accelerate. Every rep. It's the only way to produce the maximum force possible.

Quality of rep performance, on every single rep, should be your only concern.

This means that for most of your training, you won't be lifting above 85 percent of your 1RM. In fact, the usual training range is somewhere between 50 - 85 percent of 1RM. Just remember, every single rep of every set is performed using maximum force.

Don't worry about training with weights that you might perceive as "lighter" (below 80 percent 1RM). This system will soon enough have you toying with your current personal bests.

We're about getting huge and muscular and strong. It's not an option. And all my current training weights exceed my previous 1RMs, and that's pretty darn heavy by anybody's standards.

The Max Force Point and Fluctuating Physiology

Because it's so important, and it's all but completely overlooked in traditional training models, I want to expand further on accelerative lifting.

We've experimented with training the entire spectrum of forces, going from explosive lifts all the way to 100-plus percent of 1RMs. And for advanced lifters, not exceeding the Max Force Point delivers, by a huge margin, the very best and most consistent gains.

The max force point (MFP) is the heaviest weight you can accelerate, on any given lift, on any given day. By definition, this means that your MFP will vary from day to day. That's the way your body works, it fluctuates.

You cannot predict physiologic states from hour to hour let alone from day to day. So how in the world can you go into the gym and expect to have an ideal physiologic state for lifting heaver weights every time you train?

On the other hand, every single time you train you can absolutely determine your max force point, and use that information to deliver gains as fast as humanly possible — that is, if you lift with maximum force efforts.


2. Maximum-Force Lowering:

Just like maximum force lifting, you want to achieve maximum force lowering. In other words, lower the weight as fast as you safely can. Max force lowering loads the turnaround (in the bottom position) for maximum activation. And you potentiate that action by utilizing one of the method's turnaround techniques.

The stretched-relaxed position is a point in the range of motion of a muscle that's at the very beginning of where it's being stretched. It's when the muscle is technically in the stretched position but still has all of its elasticity left in it.

And the term "turnaround" refers to the act of reversing the direction of the weight in the bottom position.


3. SRP Twitch Turnaround:

The SRP (stretched-relaxed position) twitch turnaround is the single greatest rep-activation technique we've found to date — and needs to be used on every full-range rep.

Here's how you perform an SRP twitch turnaround:

As you enter the SRP, perform a micro drop —allowing the descending weight to freefall for an instant — immediately followed by a catch-reversal, pushing the weight back up as hard and as explosive as possible. In other words, you're doing a setup twitch in the bottom turnaround.
Finding the SRP
For Bench Press

Lie on a bench press and put your arms out in front of you as if you had a bar in your hands (but there's no bar, of course). Then lower your arms as if you were doing a bench press, until you can gently relax your chest and shoulder muscles in the bottom position.

Don't force your arms lower than where they naturally stop with nothing but the force of gravity pulling them. Notice where your hands are and where the bar would be (if you had one in your hands). Most lifters will have a gap of about four to six inches between the chest and hands.

This is the stretched-relaxed position for bench press. And knowing where that point is on every lift, and using it to further enhance muscle activation, is critical.

"Ouch! My joints!" you might be thinking.

If you're using weights you can accelerate, and you do not go below the stretched-relaxed position, SRP twitch turnarounds are extremely safe. In fact, when lifting this way, most of our lifters' joint problems lessen significantly or disappear altogether.

SRP twitch turnarounds are critical for potentiating the nervous system and producing maximum force, and making the whole system work. The end result of utilizing SRP twitch turnarounds is nothing short of fast-twitch magic, making you feel superhuman.

We always use SRP twitch turnarounds, or another type of specialized turnaround technique, on every lift.

I know this is sounding rather ominous, requiring a lot of explanation. Don't worry about understanding all of the details about turnarounds right now. Otherwise, this article would read more like an unabridged encyclopedia.

I promise I'll get into the details of just exactly how to do the SRP technique, as well as the rest of the turnaround techniques, on the forum and in subsequent articles and videos. For now, I want you to really grasp the general idea of maximum force training.

In summary, if you're performing max force reps correctly, every rep should feel as if you're dominating the weight. Each repetition of a set should either feel progressively easier than the previous rep or the same, but never harder. If you perform a rep that feels noticeably harder or heavier than the one before it, stop the set.

It's all about rep performance, rep quality. Every rep is a max effort — always!

[xamo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xamo]

THE NUMBERS — Sets, Reps, and Exercises

REPS

If every rep is a maximum effort, and quality of performance is the most important factor, then quantity, by its very nature, is the enemy. So, with the exception of an occasional max-rep set, the number of reps per set is always kept low.

Our best training results are obtained performing 3 reps per sets. Depending upon rep performance, we will occasionally drop to 2 or even 1 rep per set, but when and how to do that is a function of the auto-regulation principle, which has to be taught over time.

We always start everyone, regardless of training experience, using 3 reps per set. And we keep them there until we begin teaching them how to auto-regulate their workouts.

SETS

The target number of sets per exercise is 6 sets. With the auto-regulation principle, we will do as many as 10 sets per exercise and as few as 4 sets, but the target is always 6 sets per exercise.

The end result is, you're performing 18 to 30 max efforts per exercise!

EXERCISES

We get our best results from using no more than three exercises per workout. Again, we're after quality of performance, and you simply cannot train this way and do more than about three exercises in a workout.

REST PERIODS

Overall, you should keep the entire workout pace as brisk as possible without sacrificing rep quality and maximum performance. So, regardless of whether it's between sets or exercises, rest the least amount of time required to be able to give a maximum effort on each rep of the upcoming set.

If you actually timed my rest periods, they'd range between about 10 and 60 seconds on lighter sets, and 30 seconds to 120 seconds on heavier sets. On rare occasions, I might actually rest up to three minutes, but that's not very often.

Above all, I never, ever look at a clock and count down time during rest periods. It totally kills workout intensity. A brisk, auto-regulated workout pace, in and of itself, is an activation technique. So use workout pace to further amp up the nervous system.

FORCE SPECTRUM RAMPING

As I said earlier, force spectrum ramping is the other vital part of the perfect-rep concept. It's the loading method required to activate and potentiate the nervous system, and achieve the results and effects I've been describing.

Done right, you'll experience force production so powerful that it'll scare you. If you really learn how to use it effectively, your training weights soon will blow past your current personal best 1RM's, and keep going like there's no ceiling.

Always remember, you have to use max force reps in order for force spectrum ramping to work. And even though you're "ramping up" the weight, from set to set, the term "ramping" (in force spectrum ramping) actually refers to the ramping of the nervous system and the potentiation of force output.

In other words, this is not what's commonly referred to in weightlifting as ramping. So, don't rip out the soul of this incredible method by turning it into nothing more than a simple weight-progression method.

Keeping that always in mind, the details of how to perform a force spectrum ramp, using max force reps, are pretty simple.

The following is a break-in Force Spectrum Ramp. It's what we use to teach the concept to all of our lifters, again, regardless of training experience.

This means that the weight increases from set to set are smaller, and the number of sets per exercise is a little higher, probably somewhere around 8 sets.

The goal is to really get a feel for the max force point (the heaviest weight you can still accelerate), which is done best with smaller weight increases.

Break-In Force Spectrum Ramp

1) Perform 3 reps per set.

2) Start with two "feeler" sets to get the nervous system primed and get the movement pattern down. This is done with 40 - 45 percent of your 1RM.

3) Begin the first working set with 60 percent of your 1RM, again, always lifting the weight with max force.

4) For the next three weeks, to really get the feel and a good understanding of the max force point (MFP), limit per-set weight increases to 10 pounds.

5) Continue performing sets until reaching your MFP for that day. For most of you, that'll occur on your 7th or 8th set.

This step is the very essence of the loading method. Blow it here and you blow the whole deal. So, don't make this a prescriptive percentage thing and get hung up on the numbers. It's not about the numbers, it's about rep performance. Let that and that alone dictate the next step.

If performed correctly, you will always, at some point during an exercise, get to the "zone" set — when activation and potentiation really kicks in — and a heaver set actually feels substantially lighter than the previous lighter set.

You should be able to get into the zone (fully activated) state, and stay there throughout the workout, and experience this phenomenon during every exercise.

As you progress through an exercise, from set to set, acceleration will obviously decrease, but there should never be a dramatic difference between any two sets. Once that occurs, you've gone past your MFP.

6) Stop a set if any rep feels noticeably harder or heavier than the previous rep of that set, and never, ever lift the weight with a slow grind. Grinding reps absolutely kills progress.

You want max force, not max pain. Super heavy, slow-moving weights, although heavy, are not your highest-force sets. On the other hand, lifting a moderate to heavy weight that you can accelerate — and that you do as hard and as explosive as humanly possibly — those are your highest-force and by far most-productive reps.

7) Once you reach the max force point for that lift on that day, stop the exercise and move onto the next exercise.

8) Stop the workout at any time if overall performance is beginning to diminish. This doesn't mean to keep training until that occurs. It simply means that if you begin to experience diminished performance levels before you've completed your workout, stop right there and get out of the gym.

[xamo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xamo]

QUICK GUIDE

Break-In Force Spectrum Ramping

1. Always lift the weight with maximum force — hard and explosive. Think about your rep performance while doing each rep, and make sure it's max effort.

2. Lower the weight as fast as you safely can, setting up the SRP twitch turnaround.

3. Use an SRP twitch turnaround to activate and potentiate the force in which you explode the weight up.

4. Each rep of a set should feel the same or lighter/easier than the previous rep, and if it doesn't, stop the set, regardless of the rep prescription.

5. Select two or three exercises per workout, and keep them basic for the next three weeks. For example: squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, chin-up, etc.

6. Perform two feeler sets with 40 - 45 percent of your 1RM.

7. Begin your first working set with 60 percent of your 1RM, and add 10 pounds per set until reaching your MFP for that day on that lift.

My Personal Guarantee

Let me end this discussion for now by saying that I have had 100 percent success in teaching this method to the guys I train with. It's not difficult at all to learn. So, don't get hung up on anything, just keep practicing the fundamentals I've outlined, and chatter it up in the forum. I'm there to help you nail this.

About the Video

In the following video I teach force spectrum ramping to Kevin Nobert and Nate Green. In the video you're going to notice that both ramps go a couple of sets past the MFP. I wouldn't often do that with anyone who's at an advanced level with the method. On the other hand, for lifters new to the technique, like Kevin and Nate, and pretty much everyone reading this, I recommend going one set past the MFP for the first three weeks.

Going through a three-week phase where you go one set past the max force point — really feeling the dramatic difference between the sets done pre-MFP and the one set post-MFP — is the very best way to learn the principle.

Also, you might notice that neither Kevin nor Nate performed reps using the SRP twitch turnaround. There's a real good reason for that... I hadn't taught it to them yet.

When teaching our training method to first-timers, I always start with no other rep-activation technique other than the rep speed itself, and simply give these instructions:

"Lift the weight with as much force as possible — hard and explosive!"

Also notice the difference between Kevin's rep speed and Nate's. Even though Kevin is much stronger and has more muscle mass than Nate, Kevin lacks Nate's explosiveness.

Nate on the other hand, has the ability to efficiently recruit high-threshold motor units, but he's nowhere near his strength or bodybuilding potential. He's simply not yet learned how to use his explosiveness to his advantage in building mass and strength.

Our method has very specific answers for addressing the deficiencies of both guys, and anyone else who wants to pack on muscle and strength as fast as humanly possible.

So, watch the video and let's talk training on the forum.

If You're Going to Make a Mistake...

One last word of advice. If you're going to make a mistake, go too light, which is not a mistake at all if you're lifting the weight as hard and as fast as possible. The only mistakes you can make are going too heavy too quickly, or adding too much weight from one set to another.

Note from TC

I know the average mind is going to probably want to resist this methodology. The average mind is going to say, "This is too different from anything I've ever read, seen, or experienced. I'm not going to even try it because that might mean that everything I thought I knew is wrong and my ego can't handle that."

I'm hoping the average mind doesn't win out. I'm hoping the average mind, for once, gets its ass kicked, because the potential rewards from learning the perfect rep methodology are too great.

How great?

If you nail this, you'll soon be tossing around weights that used to scare you. Furthermore, a lot of your sore joints will heal up, you won't get worn out, you'll actually feel incredibly athletic after a workout, and best of all, you'll make the kind of strength and size gains you made when you first started lifting — you know, when all you had to do to grow was pick up a weight.

Put aside your skepticism for just a few weeks. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[xamo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xamo]

Monday

Top-Half Seated Overhead Press from Pins
Each set, perform 3 repetitions, resting up to 10 seconds between each rep. The idea is not to rest the full 10 seconds, but to only take the time required to unload the muscle, reposition the lift, and give a full effort on the next rep. Most experienced lifters will take less than 5 seconds between reps on earlier sets, and 6 to 8 seconds with more challenging weights. Ramp (increase) the load each set by 10, 20, or 30 pounds. Perform every repetition with maximum force (as hard and as explosive as possible), including feel sets. Rest a maximum of 90 seconds between sets, but only take the minimum time required to give maximum effort on the next set.

High-Incline Bench Press
Perform 6 sets of 3 repetitions, ramping (increasing) the load each set. Begin the work sets of the ramp with approximately 50% of 1RM and add 10 or 20 pounds on each subsequent set. Ramp for 6 sets, ending with the weight that's the heaviest you can lift without slowing down through sticking points. For advanced lifters, the load should be between 85% and 90%. For everyone else, the load should be between 70% and 80% 1RM. On each rep of every set, always lift the weight with maximum force (as hard and as explosive as possible). Rest no more than 90 seconds between sets, only taking the time required to give maximum effort.

Push press
A ratchet is comprised of 2 sets, both using the same weight. The first set is an activation set, so you'll perform 1 repetition. The second set of a ratchet is the stimulation set, and you'll perform 3 reps. After the second set of a ratchet, add 10 or 20 pounds for the next ratchet. Perform three ratchets, which is 6 total sets. As a general guideline, your first ratchet should be with approximately 75% of your 1RM, and your last ratchet should be the heaviest weight you can lift without slowing down through sticking points, which is usually around 85%. After the last ratchet (set 6), for set 7, reduce the weight by 20% and perform as many reps as you can without technical breakdown. Perform every repetition with maximum force (as hard and as explosive as possible), including feel sets. Rest a maximum of 90 seconds between all sets, but only take the minimum time required to give maximum effort.

[xamo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xamo]

more to come

[ds222 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ds222]

more to come

gee great, like that wasnt enough to read....lol jk...looks interesting. once its all posted ill see if i wanna try this..just started some german volume training

[xamo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xamo]

hey bro send me a mail

[Guest Close Guest]

I am definately an ANACONDA.. lol .. good post brosephous

[Liquid Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Liquid]

Nice post, bro

[Guest Close Guest]

For some reason this reminds me of "air-alert" back when I played basketball they had a program that guaranteed liek 12 inches on ur vertical.. if u did this hard ass program.. never got it.. prob a gimic.. I just had no idea intensity mattered so much.. now im going to throw my bench up as hard as possible each time not just get it done add that extra umph and see where it gets me.. has any1 here done shit liek this?