PRIME/BLAST/CRUISE The “Single- Shot” Slingshot Training System
By Ronnie Rowland “Author of the Slingshot Training System”
Introduction
Steroids are pervasive in bodybuilding, and they’re here to stay. Just about any male over 5’8” can take enough drugs to reach a very lean body weight of 200 pounds or more eventually—if he eats a well balanced diet and sticks with basic training concepts. The problem with this scene is many successful bodybuilders’ who have taken drugs try to use their stats to bolster arguments in favor of some idiosyncratic approach to training and dieting. It’s the flavor-of-the-month approach to bodybuilding. The truth is, many drug- enhanced bodybuilders make impressive initial gains by training only 3 days per week, but are not making continued gains because they do not know what constitutes proper diet and training.
I realize it’s no secret that the two biggest problems for bodybuilders are stagnant training and eating patterns. Many of you reading this are very frustrated with your progress. You’re not building the muscle the way you want, you lack muscle shape, and you’re carrying way too much bodyfat. Even worse, some of you refer to yourself as a hard-gainer and have been guilty of jumping from program to program and it’s not really made any noticeable differences in your appearance. Let’s change that by getting you on the right path!
The Single-Shot is the definite guide to getting as big-strong as humanly possible while training each body part twice a week on a 3 day per week routine. It’s one of several routines derived from the Slingshot Training System. I do not want to try and force people to adhere to my 3 day per week training system because that would be my EGO talking. I have been teaching bodybuilders and power-lifters how to train for over 20 years. My biggest success story in bodybuilding is IFBB Pro-Bodybuilder ”Tricky Jackson” who is often referred to as being the greatest light weight bodybuilder off all times. It’s up to you to decide if my way of training is superior. Base your progress on performance, not hype!
**As a bodybuilder you will be going up against giants. In biblical times David used a “slingshot” to destroy his largest opponent of all, Goliath. **
The “Single-Shot” Slingshot Training System consists of a PRIME/BLAST/CRUISE. The anabolic prime is about intentionally creating a controlled catabolic state over a two-week time span in order to down-regulate anabolic hormones and receptor sites for androgens. After a two-week anabolic prime, muscle mass and strength gains are maximized by proceeding into a four-week blasting phase where androgen receptor sites are up-regulated and every anabolic hormone in the body is at its peak. Adaptation begins to set in after a four-week blasting phase and a 2 week cruising phase is taken to allow the muscle-strength gains to be fully manifested.
Even with all the information available to the bodybuilding community, many still do not understand how to use periodization to their benefit. We’ve all seen people who were naturally strong and had rather small muscles for their strength capabilities. But, I am not making reference to those kinds of people. I want to direct your attention to a beginning bodybuilder who is only capable of squatting 145 lbs for 2 sets. Over a period of time, someone who is genetically capable of gaining strength and muscle mass at a fast rate will be capable of squatting 300 lbs plus. Even if they do not increase over-all volume past 2 sets, these individuals will still enhance muscular development due to strength increases. However, by increasing the total volume to 4 sets after strength gains have been made using less volume, the muscle growth seen in their quad development will be nothing short of miraculous.
(CHECKMATE)!!!
Some trainees stay the same size after completing their first initial 3-6 months of training because they do not have a game plan to cause the body to change. So what is the secret? I’ll tell you the secret! There are only 3 phases needed to succeed in bodybuilding. I coined the phrase
Slingshot Periodization to define these 3 phases. 1) ANABOLIC PRIME (in order to make further progress in muscle size/strength one must use strategic de-conditioning for 2 weeks so that when the muscles are exposed to a higher volume phase they will experience a very rapid training effect. 2) ANABOLIC BLAST (one must move to a highly specialized training phase for 4 weeks and train each muscle group with higher volume to fully traumatize the muscle tissue. 3) ANABOLIC CRUISE (involves a 2 week phase where you train each muscle group with less volume so heavier weights can be lifted and gains can become fully realized).
Activity Phase Time Period
(in sequence)
Muscle Definition and de-conditioning (the anabolic prime”) 2 weeks
Mass and Strength (the “anabolic blast”) 4 weeks
Strength and Mass (the “anabolic cruise”) 2 weeks
* * The lesson to learn from “Slingshot Periodization” is that “hurling” more volume towards the muscles will dramatically change your physique in a short amount of time if done right, trust me on this one.* *
Power-lifters and other competitive strong men (and women) obtain their massiveness by utilizing safe and effective straight sets. They avoid beyond failure techniques because it creates too much of stress to the tendons, joints, ligaments, and Central Nervous System. I use this concept as the springboard for the “Single-Shot” Slingshot Training System: You get stronger and bigger by using more sets for each key exercise because you build up the neural paths along with the muscle. In brief, this is accomplished by using only straight sets while stopping one rep shy of absolute gut bursting failure, training a body part twice every 8 days on a 2 way split, and using only 2 exercises for each muscle group. A key movement is used during the first weekly workout to fatigue the strongest regions within each major muscle group; you finish off the muscle group later in the week by targeting the weaker region of the muscle from a different using a secondary movement consisting of a completely different compound movement or an isolation exercise. It’s the same training principles I have my powerlifters follow by using a key movement at the start of the week and then changing over to a secondary movement later in the week. This allows specific adaptations to occur without causing over-use injuries.
Exercise Selection
With this training system you get to use only a “single- shot” (one exercise) each time you train a bodypart. As a result, you’ll break down more muscle tissue and get stronger because you’ve used the most productive exercises over and over. During the first part of the week the “single“most productive exercise will consist of an anchor exercise (for example, decline presses for chest). You’ll need to find 1 exercise (anchor exercise) that out-performs all the rest. By finding that one key exercise you are biomechanically good at, you can perform the exercise with low reps and heavier weights during the second work set in a smooth, rhythmic fashion on a long term basis without damaging the joints and tendons. In return, you’ll reach your ultimate strength limit with that exercise and serious muscle growth will be manifested. A secondary exercise (considered a more un-natural movement for your body type such as the incline press for chest) is too be used the next time the same body part is due to be worked. With this movement you will wait and do your heavy-low rep set last to prevent injury. To recap: You’ll be performing your favorite exercise (key exercise) for chest on day one. You’ll be performing your second favorite exercise (secondary exercise) for chest on the next chest workout. Then, you’ll start all over by going back to the key exercise on the 3rd chest training day and so forth.
* * The more complex you try and make your workouts, the less progress you can expect in return. The body becomes more proficient at doing an exercise, not more resistant in becoming more efficient! Why? Because you will have a better mind to muscle link function and the neuromuscular will adapt by repeating specific exercises over and over again.* * Straight Sets
I am of the belief that all beyond failure training techniques are just an egotistical way to promote a radically different training method. Power-lifters and those who compete in the world’s strongest man competitions are some of the largest men to ever walk on the face of this planet. They obtain their massiveness by utilizing nothing other than “straight sets”. Every training method other than straight sets has fallen short of what I consider optimal for fast, safe, and efficient results. There has never been any evidence to show that any training method regardless of how many bells and whistles it comes equipped with can increase your muscle mass and strength as efficiently as straight sets. Trust me on this one! Who do you think would make the most gains; a guy who does 4 sets of 10 reps using 400 lbs on the vertical leg press machine or the guy who does 1 triple drop set using 400 lbs, 350 lbs, 300 lbs and finally 270 lbs? The obvious answer is the guy who used more weight on all 4 sets. Why? Because straight sets allows you the power to lift a greater weight-load range. With beyond failure techniques such as drop sets, you’re basically breaking down less muscle tissue yet annihilating the nervous system and joints. The same rule applies to rest-pause training as well because with each subsequent set you are using fewer reps with the same amount of weight. A rest-paused set done in the 8-12 rep range will not create the same kind of strength gains that are obtained by using a straight set for 4-6 reps simply because you cannot lift heavy when training near the point of non-stop. Straight sets give you the best of both worlds because it allows you to stay within the bodies recovery limits while building maximum size and strength. Using beyond failure training methods will force you to train with less volume-hence you won’t be able to keep the training volume high enough to experience maximum muscular growth with a 3 day per week training system.
* * There’s a lot to be said for being logically consistent* *
First, not everything that works is good. You can be sincere in what you believe and still be wrong. So far, so good, doesn’t mean you’re not going to have some serious issues with joint and tendon pain later on down the road. All too often a hero on this months muscle magazine turns into a zero a few months down the road because they become injured and can no longer train. Listen carefully, opinions and trends come and go. I get a head ache just thinking about all the high-intensity training techniques such as pre-exhaustion, forced reps, negative reps, partial reps, down the rack, rest-pause, super sets, burns, drop sets, and the list goes on, and on!
Training has to do with adaptation. Both volume and intensity have its limitations. For e.g.; If you perform 1 intense set of heavy barbell curls twice a week, the neural pathways will eventually adjust themselves by getting stronger so they can handle an even heavier weight load next time you train. Yes, the biceps will get stronger, but not necessarily a lot bigger. Stay with me here! When you take advantage of the added strength gains made by using less volume and then co-mingling those added strength gains with additional training volume, you can be assured you will grow bigger muscles! That is how you create a “true progressive overload”! You can use all the fancy beyond failure training methods such as quadruple drop sets and rest-pause for hours on end and never create a true progressive overload because limitless adaptation equals a heavier workload in conjunction with additional volume to breakdown down more muscle tissue, while never going past the point of diminishing returns. Unfortunately, many training programs are based upon creating a progressive over-load while skipping past the most important aspect- producing a true progressive over-load! This is the primary reason periodization techniques don’t work well with most training programs!
Take note that a progressive over-load and a true progressive over-load are not one in the same. Creating a progressive over-load is brought forth by being able to lift more weight using the same form, amount of work sets, and rest periods between sets. A true progressive over-load (a phrase I coined) is also brought forth when you can lift more weight using the same form, and rest periods between sets, but the amount of work sets performed must be greater than what’s required to produce a progressive over-load!
Let me be clear, various training techniques have nothing to do with genetic capablitlies. There is not one single variable that is the total downfall of not being able to gain more muscle size. Forced reps, rest pause, drop sets, etc will all depict some form of muscular hypertrophy. However, a major problem (other than these techniques being less effective at stimulating muscular size-strength and putting more strain on the joints, tendons, and CNS,) is that they take in a very selected group of principles and apply them. The theory of combining all different training techniques to increase muscle hypertrophy is shortsighting the way the human body repsonds. If genetics dictated the needs for a different training style, then some could use rest-pause or drop-sets and get bigger/stronger than what they could obtain with straight sets, and we know this is not the case! Time has proven that the gentically superior will respond better to all forms of training methods when compared to the genetic inferior. Simply changing the way you create damage by employing various beyond failure training methods does not alter the fact that overtraining of the CNS and joints/tendons will out pace muscular damage. So, it all boils down to finding that one training method that’s not only the most effective for all genetic types, but the safest. It just so happens that straight sets is that one training method. In final, straight sets is the superior training style that out does all the rest when periodized properly!
* * Just because something has been shown to work doesn't mean it’s the best way* Avoiding absolute failure
Powerlifter’s and those who compete in the strongest man/woman competitions have learned the value of preventing injuries and nervous system destruction by not training to all out failure and not using multiple exercises for each body part. Taking less away from the body allows it to recuperate faster, meaning the overcompensation process (where strength and growth occurs) can conclude sooner and with consistency. Using excessive body english to reach absolute muscular failure (the point you can no longer budge a weight), especially with heavy work loads, creates great demand on the tendons, joints, and nervous system.
Your goal as a bodybuilder should be to increase the weight on the bar through Progressive Overload and train with great intensity, not training to the point where someone has to pull the barbell off your chest on the last rep. To achieve such you must have a specific intent of stopping 1 repetition shy of total 100% intensity with each work set! Every now and then you might to slip up and hit absolute gut busting failure (defined as bad failure) but your goal is to push until you can’t get another high quality rep (defined as good failure). Stopping 1 rep shy of absolute gut bursting failure is still considered brutal training.
Your goal as a bodybuilder is not to avoid training to failure; it’s to avoid training to the wrong kind of failure. The ideal situation is to reach as close to muscular failure as possible, but in a way that will induce maximum stimulus to the muscle fibers without causing injury or impairing the Central Nervous System. I call this good failure because it is the absolute best way to train for maximum size.
* * I’ve experimented with absolute failure training and was very un-satisfied with the results. After making the switch to stopping a rep shy of absolute gut bursting failure on every work set, everyone’s results, including my own, have been nothing short of miraculous in comparison.* * Anabolic Cycles
It’s very common for fast acting anabolic/androgenic steroids to be used by the drug enhanced bodybuilder for 6 weeks at a time. After gaining mass-strength for 6 weeks they take 2 weeks off (prime the body for future growth) and begin another 6 week mass cycle of different steroids or more of the same. Top level bodybuilders do not run long steroid cycles and then go off the drugs for lengthy periods of time. Doing so would keep them in a viscous cycle of making gains then losing most of the gains they worked so hard to obtain. This is very important to understand because the same rule applies to natural bodybuilders using legal anabolic agents like creatine and amino acids in various forms.
Top level competitive bodybuilders who are chemically enhanced make much better gains and keep more of their gains by doing long drawn out cycles. In fact, most never go off all the drugs. Their base drugs usually consist of a slow acting testosterone and/or a slow acting anabolic. These top level competitors run these drugs as their base throughout the whole duration of the off-season. In order to free more testosterone during a 6 week mass phase they generally add a fast acting oral steroid and/or a fast acting ester of the injectable version and run it along with the base at a high dose. Some even opt to throw in a different slow acting ester than what’s used for the base. Upon completion of a 6 week mass cycle, they drop all the drugs for a 2 week period in exception to the base. This is done in order to prime the body so they can make additional gains by going back to the same drugs or changing over to different drugs altogether for another 6 weeks. They also drastically reduce training volume during the 2 week period when fewer drugs are used. You might ask "Why would they reduce their dosages for two weeks as opposed to continuing"? It’s because at that point their body will become desensitized to the powerful drugs and their receptors will be fully saturated. If you steroid users stay on fast acting drugs past the 6 week point and continued with the same protocol, you begin doing more harm than good because SHGB levels will begin elevating and cortisol levels will increase-hence gains come to a screeching halt. Drugs like insulin are often added during a 6 week mass phase while growth hormone is usually run as a base throughout most of the year. A positive nitrogen balance is a primary anabolic indicator of an anabolic agent and this will dissipate if the dosages are not continually increased or cycled properly.
The same dosage of synthetic testosterone starts losing it’s effectiveness after having been active in the body for only 6 weeks. The same rule applies to anabolic agent like creatine that can be purchased over-the–counter by natural bodybuilders. People who administer a slow acting testosterone begin having an increase in libido during their 3rd week of administering the drug. The majority of their gains are made during week 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. A decrease in libido occurs after 8 weeks into the cycle. What this means is they have already begun to enter a catabolic state after having the drug peaking in their system for 6 weeks. Your goal should be to use enough legal anabolics and/or anabolic/androgenic steroids to stimulate your receptors so muscle and strength gains can be achieved while avoiding over-saturated receptors. Receptor down regulation, which is a decrease in the amount of a steroid being utilized by a cell, will begin to occur in about 6 weeks whether a person is natural or drug enhanced.
Slingshot Pyramiding
I have found Slingshot Pyramiding to be the best way to increase both strength and muscular size. Warming up the right way and starting out with a medium rep set 1 rep shy of absolute failure before performing a heavy low rep set with key movements allows you to take a much bigger jump in weight during a low rep set without becoming injured. For example: Decline bench press- 1st warm up set 135lbs-12 reps, 2nd warm up set 175lbs-6 reps, 3rd warm up set 175 lbs-6 reps, 1st work set 250 lbs for 8 reps (“PREP SET” stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). 2nd work set/heavy-set 350 lbs-4 reps to good failure)-“wait an extra minute before performing this 2 work set”, 3rd work set 275 for 8 to good failure, 4th work set for 12 reps to good failure.
More weight can be used during the low rep set (4 to 6 reps) when utilizing the Slingshot Pyramiding Scheme. I’ve had multitudes of trainees obtain a new personal record on key movements the first time using this pyramiding scheme and they continue doing so because they are doing it right for the first time in their life! If you tried doing the heaviest set during the first work set, the muscles would not be pumped sufficiently to contract at full force-hence the chance of being injured would be greater. On the other hand, if you wait until the third or last work set to go heavy, it will decreases performance due to excess fatigue-hence increase your chance for injury. You’ve got to do the heaviest work set when the muscle is at its strongest! The advantage is catching the body off guard! I call this Slingshot Pyramiding because it “hurls” a burst of intensity to the muscles during the “heaviest work-set” on the key movements for each bodypart. The best way to surprise the muscles on the final work set when using key movements during the “anabolic blast” is with an intense burn out set composed of higher reps (12-15). These will completely fatigue the stronger regions of the muscle and in return
activate some of the more stubborn dormant muscle fibers.
The next time you train that muscle you would switch over to an isolation exercise (or another compound movement. No prep set is needed because the heaviest work set is performed last. Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a low rep set to good failure to break down the muscle group in its entirety. Secondary exercises are considered a more un-natural movement and this is the reason for doing the lowest rep set last when not as much weight can be lifted. This will help preserve the joints and tendons.
Every advanced power-lifter I have worked with soon realizes they must hit their heaviest set on key movements before the neural muscular pathways weaken yet while they have some pump in the muscle. This is important because when a muscle is fresh, ATP (the chemical responsible for energy and contraction) and stored glycogen in the muscle are at their highest. That's when you can really lift some heavy weight loads. Stopping 1 rep shy of good failure on the first work set will keep the CNS strong and will awaken and optimize the firing of neural pathways for the heaviest work set to follow. I call this the “prep set” and it’s far more fatiguing than a warm up set. You must never train to good failure during the prep set or it will exhaust the CNS before the heaviest set. One prep set must be done prior to the heaviest set in order to optimize the firing of the neuro-pathways so more weight can be lifted. And you’ll need to wait an additional minute or so before going to your heaviest work set (set # 2). Power-lifters are known for doing a prep set and then waiting around 5 minutes or more before doing their heaviest set to increase weight load range and workload capacity. You’ll be required to wait around 4 minutes as a bodybuilder before doing your heaviest set on compound movements and 3 minutes for main isolation exercises for body parts such as the arms. Then go back to 3 minutes between sets for the rest of the compound lifts and 2 minutes for isolation movements.
Using more than 3 warm-up sets for any cold body part (for i.e. chest and quads) will hurt your performance. If you need more than 3 warm up sets your doing something wrong (for i.e.; ego lifting). If a muscle group is completely cold, you should always start using 1 high rep warm-up set of 12-15 reps followed by 1 to 2 heavier warm-up sets using only 6 reps. If you fail to warm up properly you won’t be able to bring enough blood flow (pump) into the muscles before performing the heaviest set even though you’ve done a PREP SET and this will increase the risk of getting injured. In addition, a muscle that is not warmed up sufficiently will contract and stretch with less efficiency and this means less muscle fiber stimulation.
On the other hand, if you over exert yourself during the warm up sets by using more than one high rep set or using too much weight, you will become to fatigued to produce the desired training effect during the work sets. Warm ups are designed to bring blood flow into the muscle not break down muscle tissue or exert yourself. Using too much weight during warm-ups sets or pushing too much intensity is a huge mistake being made by many bodybuilders and it’s really hurting their ability to increase weight load range and workload capacity. A moderately pumped muscle responds better to heavier workloads and it takes a non-fatiguing high rep set followed by one or two moderate low rep sets to make this happen if the muscle is completely cold. Anytime you do not feel adequately warmed following a high and a low rep warm up set, you’ll need to add an additional low rep warm up set using the same amount of weight used in the second set. Adding more weight to the third set would produce too much fatigue and would do nothing to further prepare the joints for the heavy workload to come.
One low rep set is usually sufficient for the deltoids because they are to be trained directly after chest. When training bicep after lats, a warm up set is generally not needed before proceeding to the work sets. If you feel the need to use more warm-ups set for the delts or biceps because it’s an area that’s been injured in the past, you can use a total of 2 low rep sets of 6 repetitions. In these particular cases, you would need to shun high reps during the warm up because of the fatigue already present from training the chest and lats. This rule applies to every body part. Performing countless warm-up sets for a body part that’s already filled with blood is counter productive and only wasting valuable gym time. It’s not mandatory to work your way up the ladder within each rep-scheme. Stay in the designated rep-range the best you can and add weight when applicable. If for some reason you are not able to use a particular rep-range due to joint pain, simply work in a rep-range where no pain is experienced.
A 60 second rest should be used between warm-up sets. Upon completion of the warm up sets wait about 2 minutes before starting the first work set or prep set depending on the phase (no prep set is needed during the anabolic prime only the blast and cruise). Rest about 3 minutes between each work set when utilizing compound movements and about 2 minutes between isolation movements. With compound movements, smoothly explode the weight faster with full power after completing approximately one fourth of the complete repetition. It should take you about a second and a half to complete the positive stroke when performing heavy compound movements. With isolation movements, you should wait and move the weight faster at about the half way point of the repetition. With full-stretch exercises the muscle and tendons are easily damaged with sudden burst at the beginning of the movement. With isolation movements the positive stroke should take you around 1 ½ to 2 seconds to complete. The controlled negative should be around 2 seconds for both categories of exercises. The positive stroke should be somewhat explosive yet controlled to the point it’s working the muscles to the fullest extent. Moving the weight too slow (for i.e. a 4 second negative or 3 second positive) won’t allow you to use enough weight to fully break down the type 2 muscle fibers due to lactic acid build-up. Always make sure and use a brief pause before beginning each positive stroke to prevent injury and increase muscle fiber stimulation. As you approach the end of a work set, you’ll need to increase the explosiveness within each repetition (not speed of the repetition itself) as your muscle begin to fatigue and build up lactic acid. This is what constitutes impeccable form!
Returns you get for your efforts
You get the most returns for your efforts with the first 3 sets for any given body part. Regardless of how many different exercises you perform for a given bodypart the ability to generate intensity is reduced considerably by the time you finish set # 4. Considerably less and less muscle tissue will be broken down with each consecutive set there after. After that point, the curve starts to taper off but 6 sets still provides gains. After 6 sets the curve continues to slope down and you will obtain even less results for your efforts! This must be taken into consideration when trying to gain size-strength!
Powerlifting is not power-bodybuilding and if you want to truly be good at either you will do well to remember this. A proper bodybuilding strategy emphasizes continually getting stronger on both key and secondary movements that agree with your biomechanical make-up by utilizing some lower reps (4-6) with straight sets. If you fail to reach your ultimate strength levels as a bodybuilder using these exercises, you will not be able to get near your full genetic potential in muscle size. My definition of Power-Bodybuilding is using one heavy set in the 4-6 rep-ranges for compound movements and a heavy set for isolation movements in the 6-8 rep range.
When you break down muscle fibers with heavier weight loads, they eventually have to repair and make themselves stronger so that they can withstand even more pressure the next time around. When doing a set of over head presses, which rep range do you think results in the absolute most growth? Obviously, the heaviest set in which you can get between 4-6 reps because it's that rep-range that results in the most fiber activation and fiber damage. However, 1 heavy set per exercise is all the body can withstand without exhausting all the neurotransmitters in the nerves so that now they have trouble telling the muscles how to contract.
Beginning of 8 week Training Cycle
2 WEEK ANABOLIC PRIME
You begin by intentionally creating a controlled catabolic state over a 2 week time span in order to down-regulate anabolic hormones and receptor sites for androgens. During this time you perform very low volume and add aerobic work (15-45 minutes of low to moderate intensity below 80% VO2 max after each training session when glucose levels are low. You’ll be surprised to see how much adipose your body will expel within this brief two week window while all the gains made during the prior 6 week mass phase remain in tact. The phase entails letting the sympathetic system (used during weight training) rejuvenate while the parasympathetic system (used during aerobics) helps put the body is a controlled catabolic state. In addition, it gives the joints/tendons a needed break so they can be prepared for another 6 weeks of heavy training. The secret here is to use “strategic de-conditioning” to make the muscle more responsive to the stimulus of weight training, thus making the muscle respond similar to when you first began lifting weights before entering the blasting phase. The strength gains made during this very low volume phase will not become manifested until you enter the “anabolic blasting” phase. You will be amazed at how fast you can gain muscle mass-strength after an “anabolic prime”.
A lot of people think dieting down of any kind makes you shrink, but the right kind of dieting in the off-season will actually help you gain muscle mass-strength. When a prime is performed properly over a brief 2 week window, no muscle mass will be lost. In order to make forward progress you have to take a small step back in body weight composed of bodyfat and water weight (not muscle) in order to go forward. You must never take a step back in muscle weight because this would create a viscous cycle of gaining muscle then turning right around and losing much of muscle you gained. All too often bodybuilders tend to equate body weight loss with muscle loss and those two are not one in the same when done with caution. You will be in what’s considered a “controlled catabolic state” during the prime and this is not the same thing as being in an “uncontrolled catabolic state” where you are losing muscle mass-strength.
* * The lesson to learn here is it takes a controlled catabolic environment to create an anabolic environment.* *
Fast acting supplements such as creatine or fast acting anabolic steroids cannot be used during the 2 week prime. The only supplement allowed during this period is a “base”. For natural bodybuilders the “base” will consist of hydro whey mixed with a healthy fat like natural peanut butter or flax seed. The “base” for the chemically enhanced bodybuilder will consist of only slow acting esters such as Testosterone Enanthate, Deca, and/or Equipoise. You’ll need to eat every 3 hours dictating the need for 5-6 meals per day depending on how much you sleep. Protein intake remains at around 1.25 grams per pound of bodyweight while carb calories are decreased slightly in order to obtain a 2-3 pound weight loss over the entire 2 week period. You must determine how much water weight you lose when coming off the anabolic supplements and add that into the equation. You simply can’t lose too much bodyfat weight at any given time or you’ll sacrifice muscle and make it hard on the endocrine system.
Healthy fats are always to be used in conjunction with hydro whey protein when priming/cutting to slow down absorption and prevent catabolism. If you are unable to do aerobics during the “anabolic prime” simply drop carb and fat calories with about equal measures so a fat loss of 2-3 pounds occurs over a 2 week time span. Effort is put into consuming lean proteins, healthy fats and slow burning carbs (including breakfast and post workout) to enhance hormonal sensitivity and harden the musculature. Two weeks is all that’s needed to produce a reaction to the majority of hormonal actions in the body. After a 2-week prime, you have now created an environment for extraordinary muscle-strength gains.
You must prime the body to improve insulin resistance so you can enter a mass phase and put on more muscle weight as opposed to more fat weight. The definition of Insulin resistance consists of 2 different things. 1) Muscle cell resistance is when the muscle building hormone-insulin can no longer reach the muscles. Therefore, it won’t be able to drive amino acids and glucose into the cells. This means you will appear flat and not be able to build a substantial amount of tissue. 2) Fat cell insulin resistance means insulin can’t aid with nutrient storage in fat cells and the insulin will not be able to slow down the breakdown of fat.
* * I coined the phrase “Slingshot Insulin Cycling” - alternating back and forth using a 6 weeks on/2 weeks off basis between a diet consisting of fast/slow burning carbs, saturated/un-saturated fats, fast/slow burning proteins to a diet consisting of slow burning carbs, slow burning proteins and un-saturated fats. Insulin resistance will be greatly improved with “Slingshot Insulin Cycling”! And the weight loss experienced during the anabolic prime will greatly improve insulin sensitivity and allow you to enter back into the mass phase experiencing leaner muscle gains. * * 4 WEEK ANABOLIC BLAST
After a 2 week “anabolic prime”, muscle increases are maximized by proceeding into a 4 week “blasting phase” when androgen receptor sites are up-regulated and every anabolic hormone in the body is at its peak. During this highly anabolic state, training volume and weight load capacity are increased in order to break down additional muscle tissue while all forms of aerobics are ceased. Extra calories must be consumed in the form of more carbs and fats while daily protein intake remains at around 1.25 grams of protein per pound of body weight. You increase calories in accordance to how much muscular weight you want to gain. Continue eating 5-6 meals per day. Fast acting anabolic supplements such as creatine are added during this phase for natural bodybuilders. The chemically enhanced bodybuilder would add fast acting drugs such as Insulin, D-bol and/or Trenbolone. The combinations are endless!
During this 4 week “anabolic blast” you want to try and consume around 1 gram of fat for every 1.5 grams of carbohydrates. This means if you ingest 200 grams of carbs you’ll want to try and get in about 150 grams of fat. It may sound like a lot of fat grams to some of you, but this is the best kept nutritional secret for making leaner muscle mass gains and increasing strength! It has been exciting for me as a professional trainer to watch physical transformations by those who have never utilized higher amounts of calories through healthy fats such as olive oil and omega 3-6s. When bodybuilder’s consume the same total calories per day as they had been prior to switching over to a higher fat intake, they not only lose bodyfat, they also are able to increase both muscle mass and strength. I’m here to tell you, healthy dietary fats makes a huge difference in how many calories you can consume without getting fat! It’s the same scenario as having to bump up essential fatty acids in order to see improvements in body composition when dieting down for a competition. This is simple to explain. Since essential fatty acids do not elicit an insulin response like carbs and protein, less of those calories will be stored as adipose tissue. Healthy fats such as fatty fish, olive oil, flax seed oil, peanut oil, nuts and natural peanut butter/butter like Smart Balance are great for gaining muscular weight. Whole eggs contain a mixture of both saturated fats and omega 3’s. You can consume as many whole Omega-3 eggs as you desire since most of the saturated fat has been replaced with Heart Healthy Omega-3 Fats. Many healthy fats can be added to your protein shakes, oatmeal, put on salads, and put on top of baked foods such as chicken to increase the body’s production of an anabolic
substance called prostaglandins and to increase testosterone levels. Most love baked fish or chicken in olive oil. Get creative! Healthy fats spare the burning of glycogen allowing less carbs to be eaten and making the carbs you eat go a further distance before being burned for fuel. They also accelerate the formation of new glycogen by stimulating the receptors on the muscles to draw carbs into the muscle. Healthy fats not only help burn off body fat they are anabolic and are used as a fuel source to spare protein.
It’s only when carbohydrate intake is very low for your particular body type that you have to worry about the body using amino acids as a fuel source. If you have a very physical job or play sports then you can bump up the carb intake as needed. Consuming a slightly higher ratio of carbohydrate grams than fat grams offers better gains and faster recovery. There is absolutely no question about this. Carbs provide the energy necessary for intense workouts more efficiently than fats and protein and are necessary for amino acids to work. You want to be holding a little water in the off-season. When carbs
replenish glycogen in the muscles, it makes them more anabolic. Consuming too many carbs during a mass phase will definitely result in bloating and unwanted fatty deposits. A serious problem with most weight lifters off-season diets is they consume way too many calories through the ingestion of carbs and begin to look like “Sumo Joe”. This is because their bodies are never called upon to use the stored bodyfat for energy. If you consume carbs in excess you are going to under-feed your body with protein and fats needed for maximum protein synthesis. When your glycogen deposits are already full, excess carbs will be turned into unattractive bodyfat!
In the off-season you’ll need to have less concern of gaining some additional body fat. You cannot build muscle during the 6 week mass phase without accumulating some adipose. If you attempt to stay lean year-round, you will sabotage your efforts in becoming as muscular as humanly possible. If you want more muscle size you cannot be constantly worrying about body fat levels. If you are a bodybuilder trying to put on pure lean muscle without any added body fat, you are going to have very small gains! It’s okay to have that smooth look in the off- season because your body needs that time to grow from eating higher calorie foods in order to pack on muscle size. The top pro and amateur bodybuilders do not look in contest shape all year long as some of you may have been led to believe. The pictures you see in the muscle magazines are taken the day after a contest after they have dieted down hard for many weeks. Understand here that muscle is much harder to build than fat. I also want you to understand it’s easier to lose fat than muscle because muscle is rather easy to maintain while dieting off body fat. All too often people have a hard time comprehending the fact that when they can gain 4 pounds of muscle and 2 pounds of bodyfat during a 6-week mass phase they’re actually becoming leaner. Obviously if you gain 4 pounds of bodyfat and only a half pound of muscle your losing leanness, but even if you gain 4 pounds of muscle and 4 pounds of bodyfat you still come out even-hence you’ll have more muscle mass than ever before. After the priming phase you will keep the muscle and lose fat-hence improve your lean body mass to bodyfat ratio even further!
Insulin spikes through hyperinsulinemia should be kept to only 2 per day and at peak times for everyone in order to stay leaner and have steadier energy levels. Providing the body with 2 daily cholesterol/amino acid/insulin/calorie spikes from foods like whole milk, eggs yolks and red meat increases testosterone levels will enhance gains in both size-strength. Saturated fat is a natural precursor to testosterone. Additional calories should be consumed throughout the day (depending on your metabolism), especially during the 2 most catabolic periods of the day (breakfast and post workout) in order to minimize fat gains caused by insulin, cholesterol, amino acid, and calorie spikes. On non-training days the second “anabolic meal” can be eaten at any time that’s convenient for you-“my preference is dinner”. If you created very high insulin levels and consumed just as many calories during the 3-4 smaller meals, less would end up in muscle stores to promote recovery and more of those calories would be stored as fat- hence body composition would get worse over time. When you consume more calories and spike insulin, cholesterol, and amino acids during breakfast and after exercise, more calories will be absorbed and go towards muscle recovery and growth as opposed to being stored as fat. This means body composition will improve! And the body's metabolism revs up more efficiently after a somewhat "dirty meal” than after a “clean meal” when eaten during catabolic periods and/or only twice per day. That said, the bulk of your dietary fat and carb intake should still come in the form of healthy fats like raw nuts/oils and carbs ranging on the lower end of the glycemic index scale such as steel cut oats.
* * Total calories determined how much weight you will lose or gain, but macronutrient ratios determines how much muscle you will lose or gain while making those calorie adjustments. * *
During the post workout period and during breakfast you are trying to achieve a strong and prolonged insulin response so that the muscles can begin taking up nutrients once again on an extended basis. You will need to take supplements such as hydro whey and creatine along with a small amount of high insulin carbs in liquid form about 10-30 minutes before each of the 2 big anabolic meals. You will have to experiment to see which dosages work best for your metabolism. If you are calorie sensitive you’ll need to eat fewer saturated fats and high glycemic carbs to slow down hyperinsulinemia during the 2 daily insulin spikes. Slow burning carbs and healthy fats should still be added to the 2 anabolic meals. And your 3-4 smaller meals should be composed mostly of slow burning carbs, healthy fats, and protein. More carb grams than fat grams should be eaten during the two anabolic periods (including supplements/fast acting liquid carbs) where as more fat grams than carb grams should be ingested during the 3-4 smaller meals. At the end of the day you should be averaging about 1.5 carbs for every gram of fat ingested.
* *After only two weeks of eating a diet composed of more fast burning sugar carbs (no additional calories required), insulin levels can raise about 40 percent! It’s no surprise that high glycemic carbs play an important role in building additional muscle mass. By consuming additional high glycemic index carbs and saturated fats during the 6 week mass phase, you will tip the anabolic/catabolic scale in your favor and this will result in anabolism.
Just as important is the additional protein intake needed during these two “anabolic meals” because the extra insulin can increase body fat. When a lot of protein is consumed it stimulates glucagon hormones to release some of those carbohydrates being stored in the liver. Larger quantities of amino acids are more efficiently stored when insulin output is high. This insulin spike can be created through food and/or insulin injection. It’s widely known that some bodybuilders use insulin shots (Humulin-R) before breakfast and post-workout along with consuming supraphysiological amounts of protein to promote massive muscle growth. The extra insulin pushes more amino acids into the muscle cells while reducing SHBG and cortisol levels. Lowering SHBG levels will free up testosterone so muscle growth can occur at a rapid rate. The best time to make this happen is during the 2 anabolic meals when catabolism is rearing its ugly head. On non-training days and weekends you will still need to take supplements along with two hyperinsulinemia meals per day because you are still growing.
* * By periodically creating hyperinsulinemia you will actually increases insulin sensitivity through over-adaptation.* *
Consuming around 1.25 grams of protein per pound of body weight on a daily basis is a very important part of the diet for all bodybuilder to consider. After meeting your protein deductible of 1.25 grams of protein per pound of body weight, simply consume about 1.5 grams of carbs for every 1 gram of fat. During breakfast and the post workout meal it’s okay to consume upwards of 100 grams of protein (including hydro whey shake) because the body is in a very receptive state. Consuming more protein twice per day encourages the body to make extra digestive enzymes to increase the absorption of all meals.
Those of you with a slower metabolism will not need more daily protein than someone with a faster metabolism. However, those of you with a slower metabolism will need to eat a higher ratio of protein. For instance, those of you with a very fast metabolism may have to consume a diet where protein makes up only 25% of your daily calories after having met the protein deductible. Where as those of you with a very slow metabolism may need to consume a daily diet that is made up of roughly 50% of your daily calories after having met the 1.25 gram protein deductible. How could this be? Those of you with fast metabolism need more carb and fat calories to accompany your 1.25 grams of protein per pound of body weight because a fast metabolism burns off carb and fat calories faster than someone with a slower metabolism. This means those of you with a fast metabolism will need the same 1.25 grams of protein per pound of body weight as a person with a slower metabolism but your protein ratios will be lower over all because you’ll need more carb and fat calories to keep protein from being used for fuel. Obviously, those of you with a slow metabolism will require fewer carb and fat calories in order to protect protein stores from being burned up and used for fuel because your slower metabolism will not burn carb and fat calories as rapidly as someone with a fast metabolism. Depending on how well you metabolize carbohydrates, this will dictate how many grams of fats you require with those carbs.
* * I’ve used this strategy with extreme success in all somatotypes who wanted to improve lean muscle size, reduce body fat, and improve their level of performance.* * 2 WEEK ANABOLIC CRUISE
Adaptation begins to set in after the 4 week “blasting phase” and then a 2 week “cruising phase” must be taken to allow the muscle-strength gains to become fully realized and also give the body time to ensure the gains are permanent. Avoiding overtraining is one of the hardest things for an over-enthusiastic lifter to do. Over-training doesn't necessarily mean that you have trained too much. It can also mean that you have trained for too long using the same training phase! During this 2 week period the only thing you’ll do differently as compared to the 4 week blasting phase is drop weight training volume so both strength and muscle gains can become fully manifested. Diet and supplement dosages will remain unchanged and all forms of aerobics must still be avoided.
Following the 2 week “anabolic cruise” a sudden drop in anabolic agents will need to be made at the start of the prime in order to create a controlled catabolic state and set the body up for making future gains. You must Prime/Blast/Cruise back and forth all year long if you want to obtain the best results. Priming, blasting and cruising is mandatory all year long so progression and recovery can continually be made over months and years to come. The bigger your muscles become by following these 3 anabolic training cycles, the more receptors they create. I refer to this entire 8 week macro-cycle as Slingshot Periodization. These legal anabolic cycles mimic the anabolic steroid cycles being used by many top level professional bodybuilders behind the scenes, making it the absolute best periodization plan in existence. In fact, the drug enhanced bodybuilders have to train this way as well in order to maximize gains.
The 3 day split based routine
The sample routine below consists of this 3 days per week split based routine (MWF) with weekends off. The exercises illustrated below are only “sample exercises” I’ve found to be very productive. You’ll need to find the exercises that work best for body and insert them into the program. The safest way to train the abdominals without hurting the lower back is with very high rep using only your bodyweight. Training the abdominals is optional because heavy compound movements do a very good job at building up that particular region. Low reps equal 4-6 reps for all compound movement and 6-8 for all isolation movements. Medium rep sets equal 8-10 reps for both compound and isolation movements. High rep sets equal 12-15 reps for both compound and isolation exercises.
The lower back is a very delicate area and should only be trained once every 8 days on this program. The spinal erectors can be easily over-trained and working them with dead-lifts can over-train the legs if not done right. When over-training of the lower back occurs the erectors tire and back injuries run rampant. If you train the lower-back and then turn around 2 days later and do squats, you will have trouble because your lower back will still be in recovery. And since the legs are strongly involved doing dead-lifts, training the lower back with dead-lifts after squats won’t work. You simply cannot do dead-lifts in good form or use enough weight after doing squats. It’s imperative to train the lower back with 2 sets of dead-lifts before training the legs with a secondary movement. This will increase your overall-power and keep you from having to do any warm-up sets for the legs. It’s extremely important to train each bodypart in the order I have them listed. The leg and back workouts will maintain some cardio conditioning for the priming phase. If you splurge on your diet or miss a training session (and it will happen from time to time) just get back on the wagon and keeping on moving. Do not neglect to do warm-ups for each muscle group as I have described.
Training split for “Anabolic Prime”
(Week 1-beginning of the 2 week “anabolic prime”)
Day 1: Monday (6 sets total)
1) Chest: The 15 degree barbell decline press. Work set # 1 is a high rep set too good failure. (1 set)
2) Shoulders: Over-head dumbbell presses. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
3) Triceps: Lying tricep extensions. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
4) Lat width: Medium grip pull-ups. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
5) Biceps: Seated incline dumbbell curls on a 45 degree incline. Work set #1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
6) Brachialis/Outer forearms: Hammer curls. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
Day 2: Wednesday (6 sets)
1) Calves: The standing calf raise machine. Work set #1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
2) Lat thickness: Rows. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
3) Traps: Dumbbell shrugs. Work set # 1 is a high rep set too good failure. (1 set)
4) Quads: Squats. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
5) Hams: Leg curls. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
6) Abdominals (optional): Reverse crunches. Work set # 1 is a very high rep set using bodyweight only. (1 set)
Day 3: Friday (6 sets).
1) Chest: The 15 degree Incline bench press. Work set # 1 is a high rep set too good failure. (1 set)
2) Shoulders: Leaning uni-lateral medial deltoid laterals on a about a 45 degree incline bench. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
3) Triceps: Uni-lateral machine press downs. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
4) Lat width: Close grip pull-downs. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure.
5) Biceps: Unilateral inverted preacher curls. Work set # 1 is a high rep set too good failure. (1 set)
6) Brachialis/Outer forearms: Reverse curls. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
(Week 2-last week of anabolic prime)
Day 4: Monday (7 sets).
1) Calves: The seated calf raise machine. Work set #1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
2) Over-all back thickness/legs: Dead-lifts. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure.
3) Hams: Stiff-legged dead lifts. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
4) Lat thickness: Supported T-bar Rows. Work set # 1 is a high set to good failure. (1 set)
5) Traps: Barbell shrugs. Work set # 1 is a high rep set too good failure. (1 set)
6) Quads: Leg press. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
7) Abdominals (optional): Standard crunches. Work set # 1 is a very high rep set using bodyweight only. (1 set)
Day 5: Wednesday (6 sets).
1) Chest: The 15 degree barbell decline press. Work set # 1 is a high rep set too good failure. (1 set)
2) Shoulders: Over-head dumbbell presses. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
3) Triceps: Lying tricep extensions. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
4) Lat width: Medium grip pull-ups. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
5) Biceps: Seated incline dumbbell curls on a 45 degree incline. Work set #1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
6) Brachialis/Outer forearms: Hammer curls. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
Day 6: Friday (6 sets)-“last day of anabolic prime”.
1) Calves: The standing calf raise machine. Work set #1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
2) Lat thickness: Rows. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
3) Traps: Dumbbell shrugs. Work set # 1 is a high rep set too good failure. (1 set)
4) Quads: Squats. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
5) Hams: Leg curls. Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
6) Abdominals (optional): Reverse crunches. Work set # 1 is a very high rep set using bodyweight only. (1 set)
Training split for “Anabolic Blast”
(Week 3-start of the 4 week “anabolic blast”)
Day 7: Monday (21 sets).
1) Chest: The 15 degree Incline bench press (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a low rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
2) Shoulders: Leaning uni-lateral medial deltoid laterals on a about a 45 degree incline bench (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a low rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
3) Triceps: Uni-lateral machine press downs (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a low rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
4) Lat width: Close grip pull-downs (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a low rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
5) Biceps: Unilateral inverted preacher curls (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a low rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
6) Brachialis/Outer forearms: Reverse barbell curls (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
Day 8: Wednesday (17 sets).
1) Calves: The seated calf raise machine (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a low rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
2) Over-all back thickness/legs: Dead-lifts (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
3) Hams: Stiff-legged dead lifts (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
4) Lat thickness: Supported T-bar Rows (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a low rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
5) Traps: Barbell shrugs (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
6) Quads: Leg press (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a low rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
7) Abdominals (optional): Standard crunches (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a very high rep set using bodyweight only. (1 set)
Day 9: Friday (21 sets)
Day1) Chest: The 15 degree barbell decline press (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a high rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
2) Shoulders: Over-head dumbbell presses (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a high rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
3) Triceps: Lying tricep extensions (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a high rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
4) Lat width: Medium grip pull-ups. Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a high rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
5) Biceps: Seated incline dumbbell curls on a 45 degree incline (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a high rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
6) Brachialis/Outer forearms: Hammer curls (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep set to good failure. (1 set)
Day 10: Monday (15 sets)
1) Calves: The standing calf raise machine (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a high rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
2) Lat thickness: Barbell Rows (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a high rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
3) Traps: Dumbbell shrugs (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep set too good failure. (1 set)
4) Quads: Squats (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. Work set # 3 is a medium rep set to good failure. Work set # 4 is a high rep set to good failure. (4 sets)
5) Hams: Leg curls (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep set to good failure. (1 set)
6) Abdominals (optional): Reverse crunches (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a very high rep set using bodyweight only. (1 set)
Day 11: Wednesday (Same workout as day 7)
Day 12: Friday (Same workout as day 8)
Day 13: Monday (Same workout as day 9)
Day 14: Wednesday (Same workout as day 10)
Day 15: Friday (Same workout as days 7 and 11)
Day 16: Monday (Same workout as days 8 and 12)
Day 17: Wednesday (Same workout as days 9 and 13)
Day 18: Friday (Same workout as days 10 and 14)-“Last day of anabolic blast”.
Training split for “Anabolic Cruise”
(Week 7-start of the 2 week “anabolic cruise”)
Day 19: Monday (11 sets)
1) Chest: The 15 degree Incline bench press (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
2) Shoulders: Leaning uni-lateral medial deltoid laterals on a about a 45 degree incline bench (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
3) Triceps: Uni-lateral machine press downs (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
4) Lat width: Close grip pull-downs (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
5) Biceps: Unilateral inverted preacher curls (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
6) Brachialis/Outer forearms: Reverse barbell curls (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
Day 20: Wednesday (11 sets)
1) Calves: The seated calf raise machine (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
2) Over-all back thickness/legs: Dead-lifts (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
3) Hams: Stiff-legged dead lifts (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
4) Lat thickness: Supported T-bar Rows (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
5) Traps: Barbell shrugs (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
6) Quads: Leg press (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
7) Abdominals (optional): Standard crunches (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a very high rep set using bodyweight only. (1 set)
DAY 21: Friday (11sets)
Chest: The 15 degree barbell decline press (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
2) Shoulders: Over-head dumbbell presses (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
3) Triceps: Lying tricep extensions (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
4) Lat width: Medium grip pull-ups. Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
5) Biceps: Seated incline dumbbell curls on a 45 degree incline (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
6) Brachialis/Outer forearms: Hammer curls (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep set to good failure. (1 set)
DAY 21: Monday (9 sets).
1) Calves: The standing calf raise machine (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
2) Lat thickness: Barbell Rows (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
3) Traps: Dumbbell shrugs (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep set too good failure. (1 set)
4) Quads: Squats (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
5) Hams: Leg curls (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep set to good failure. (1 set)
6) Abdominals (optional): Reverse crunches (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a very high rep set using bodyweight only. (1 set)
DAY 22: Wednesday (11 sets).
1) Chest: The 15 degree Incline bench press (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
2) Shoulders: Leaning uni-lateral medial deltoid laterals on a about a 45 degree incline bench (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
3) Triceps: Uni-lateral machine press downs (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
4) Lat width: Close grip pull-downs (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
5) Biceps: Unilateral inverted preacher curls (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
6) Brachialis/Outer forearms: Reverse barbell curls (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
DAY 23: Friday (11 sets)-last day of “23 day macrocycle” and the last day of the “anabolic cruise”. Begin anabolic prime on Monday of following week 3 days later.
1) Calves: The seated calf raise machine (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
2) Over-all back thickness/legs: Dead-lifts (key exercise). Work set # 1 is a medium rep “prep set” (stopping 1 rep shy of good failure). Work set # 2 is a low rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
3) Hams: Stiff-legged dead lifts (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
4) Lat thickness: Supported T-bar Rows (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
5) Traps: Barbell shrugs (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a high rep set to good failure. (1 set)
6) Quads: Leg press (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 would be a high rep set to good failure. Work set # 2 would be a medium rep set to good failure. (2 sets)
7) Abdominals (optional): Standard crunches (secondary exercise). Work set # 1 is a very high rep set using bodyweight only. (1 set)
