Well, I'm in. It was a lot to digest, so please feel free to critique the heck out of what I'm doing. I'm gonna try to go by the book on this program, and see what it does for me.
Today is Day 1 of famine. Specifically, I'm going to do a Warrior-style diet, with 2-300 preworkout calories from fruit. I'm also going to follow the 3 workout protocol listed in the BP.
For feast, after establishing my 1RM, I'm going to try the German Loading Pattern #1 using Squat and Bench as my PR zones. For the 12 workouts, I'll hit the gym MWF, alternating PR zones each workout. That'll put me through the loading pattern in four weeks.
After each PR zone workout, I'll throw in two EDT blocks per day. More details about the EDT blocks will come later, as I'm trying to follow the "don't look too far ahead approach". I'm sure they will be modified as well, once I start.
For cruise, I'm thinking something like Madcow's 5x5.
As far as supplementation during feast goes, I picked up the BP stack from askmass. I think I'll try the Adaptogen N on my first run, and the Kre on my second run, just to get a feel for the pros and cons of each.
I don't know if I'll be dedicated enough to keep a full log, but I will try. At the very least, I'll share before and afters, thoughts along the way, etc.
Elephino's first BP run.
Famine: Day 1 is in the bag. I'm sitting at 300 calories so far today, all preworkout. To make matters worse, I'm only a week out of a cut from 182 to 170 @ about 10% BF. Can't wait for a bigass dinner.
Edit: I came in right at 1300 calories, but I had more protein than I probably should have. Will correct this trend tomorrow.
As prescribed, workout:
* Full squats: 195lbs - 6,6,5.
-super-setted with-
* BB Rows: 155 - 6,6,6.
* Standing BB Curls: 70 - 6
* Preacher Curls: 60 - 6
* Incline DB Curls: 30 - 6
Squats were weak as all hell today. I lost a little strength during my cut, but lost a lot more when I took a week off for being sick at the end. This is my second leg day since, so I expect them to leap up soon. I hope.
Only four more days till food...
Edit: I came in right at 1300 calories, but I had more protein than I probably should have. Will correct this trend tomorrow.
As prescribed, workout:
* Full squats: 195lbs - 6,6,5.
-super-setted with-
* BB Rows: 155 - 6,6,6.
* Standing BB Curls: 70 - 6
* Preacher Curls: 60 - 6
* Incline DB Curls: 30 - 6
Squats were weak as all hell today. I lost a little strength during my cut, but lost a lot more when I took a week off for being sick at the end. This is my second leg day since, so I expect them to leap up soon. I hope.
Only four more days till food...
OK man, now hear me out on this.... If you feel sick/off or just not right - discontinue. I know "famine" isn't a great term per se but you should be eating enough fruits, veggies and other fiberous carbs to fuel these workouts.
Otherwise, looks great. During your week off, did you eat normal/maintenance? Just curious..
Otherwise, looks great. During your week off, did you eat normal/maintenance? Just curious..
I hear you, Rob. I'm a big "listen to my body" kinda guy, and I won't be afraid to change the course if something feels wrong.RobRegish wrote:OK man, now hear me out on this.... If you feel sick/off or just not right - discontinue. I know "famine" isn't a great term per se but you should be eating enough fruits, veggies and other fiberous carbs to fuel these workouts.
To be honest, I don't really mind not eating. I know most people are exactly the opposite, but I like feeling lean and mean better than full and bloated.
During my week off, I ate whatever the heck I wanted to. For the first time in a year, I threw a bodybuilding diet out the window, ate whatever I was craving whenever I was craving it.RobRegish wrote: Otherwise, looks great. During your week off, did you eat normal/maintenance? Just curious..
I think that put me somewhere right at or maybe slightly below maintenance. My weight stayed the same, even given Thanksgiving gorging.
Just a little background, for those of you with long attention spans 
I haven't always been this skinny and weak.
In late 2007, I contracted a tick-borne illness called Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. It was ugly and nasty, and went undiagnosed for six months (I didn't have the rash). It took a full year to recover. The whole time, I thought I was falling apart and I didn't know why.
In the meantime, the disease, the drugs I was taking for the disease, and the drinking I was doing because I thought the disease was all in my head all combined to obliterate my pancreas. I had a bout of acute pancreatitis in the last part of 08.
In March of 09, I caught my high school sweetheart and wife cheating on me with a "friend" of mine. While I couldn't exactly blame her, given all my health problems, I called it quits and moved on.
By November of 09, illness, stress, and a generally poor lifestyle had taken their tole. I was 6' tall, 152 lbs.
The day after this picture was taken, a friend of mine told me I looked like a concentration camp victim. That hit pretty hard.
I haven't always been this skinny and weak.
In late 2007, I contracted a tick-borne illness called Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. It was ugly and nasty, and went undiagnosed for six months (I didn't have the rash). It took a full year to recover. The whole time, I thought I was falling apart and I didn't know why.
In the meantime, the disease, the drugs I was taking for the disease, and the drinking I was doing because I thought the disease was all in my head all combined to obliterate my pancreas. I had a bout of acute pancreatitis in the last part of 08.
In March of 09, I caught my high school sweetheart and wife cheating on me with a "friend" of mine. While I couldn't exactly blame her, given all my health problems, I called it quits and moved on.
By November of 09, illness, stress, and a generally poor lifestyle had taken their tole. I was 6' tall, 152 lbs.
The day after this picture was taken, a friend of mine told me I looked like a concentration camp victim. That hit pretty hard.
So I started eating whatever I could get my hands on and doing Rippetoe's Starting Strength. I dirty bulked all the way through September of this year before I even gave a thought to a macro. I ended up this summer at about 184, but probably 15% BF.
Still... Better.
So I cleaned up my diet and this is when the routine-hopping started. I didn't want to keep perma-bulking, because I felt like the bulks stalled out after a while and started to become fat.
And no matter what routine I chose, it felt like I was either doing too much, or doing too little, and I wasn't making progress anymore. I got frustrated and decided to cut down to see what I had gained.
Still... Better.
So I cleaned up my diet and this is when the routine-hopping started. I didn't want to keep perma-bulking, because I felt like the bulks stalled out after a while and started to become fat.
And no matter what routine I chose, it felt like I was either doing too much, or doing too little, and I wasn't making progress anymore. I got frustrated and decided to cut down to see what I had gained.
Well, it turned out that what I had gained was more fat than I had thought. At the end of my cut, I was sitting at about 172.
So now, here I sit after 13 months of hard work. From 152 to 172.
But, truth be told, I'm stalled out and feeling WAY too skinny. I feel like I'm just starting. Like the whole last year has just gotten me to skinny.
So I started looking for a program that will kick my ass, put on some nice lean muscle, and avoid the perma bulk trap. And that's when I found BP.
So, wish me luck, forgive me when I make mistakes, and please, give me as much advice and constructive criticism as you can think of. I'll take all the help I can get.
So now, here I sit after 13 months of hard work. From 152 to 172.
But, truth be told, I'm stalled out and feeling WAY too skinny. I feel like I'm just starting. Like the whole last year has just gotten me to skinny.
So I started looking for a program that will kick my ass, put on some nice lean muscle, and avoid the perma bulk trap. And that's when I found BP.
So, wish me luck, forgive me when I make mistakes, and please, give me as much advice and constructive criticism as you can think of. I'll take all the help I can get.
Thanks, man. It took a year to claw back to a starting point. Now it's time to go for another 20DV8 wrote:Looks like you've made one hell of a recovery! Good to see you back in good health after all that you went through.
...and yeah, you were skinny!!! LOL. +20 lbs looks a ton healthier. I'm sure BP will help you reach your goals though.
