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Hey fellow Blueprint warriors, DaGymWarrior here. I purchased BP last week and have been exploring this forum for the past couple of weeks. Time for a brief introduction…

I am a husband and father of two young children, and an engineer by trade… so time (to workout and sleep) are big challenges. I’ve been working out / lifting weights for well over half of my life (I’m right behind Rob in age, so, you do the math), starting in high school for football. However, most of that time was spent misguided by mainstream magazines, trying to follow the routines of genetically gifted and chemically “enhanced” professional bodybuilders. Not until recently… say in the last few years… have I had some decent progress in programs like Max-OT and P/RR/S. And, it’s not until the last year that I’ve consistently followed a strict diet… to the point where I could actually see some of the muscle I’ve built. And although cutting down to the lowest BF% of my life revealed a six-pack and muscle separation… it also revealed the glaring deficiencies in my physique.

My goals in utilizing the BP, is to:
1. Dramatically increase muscle size of my entire physique, but especially in my legs, shoulders and arms… without gaining significant body fat in the bulking process.
2. In the long run, get leaner while maintaining all/most of the muscle mass gained.
3. Do the above two in the most efficient way possible (my time and energy are extremely valuable to me and my family.)
4. Improve my health, energy and overall quality of life.

I know I was supposed to wait a week before starting BP, but I jumped in anyway.
Here’s a recap of my Famine workouts:

10/1/11 – Workout 1
Squat/Cable Rows
245x5/250x6, 245x5/250x6, 245x5/250x5
Pendlay BB Rows/Pull-ups
205x5/8, 205x4/8, 185x6/5
BB Curls
135x5
Incline DB Curls
45x6
Bent-over BB Curls
85x8
Time: 38 minutes

10/3/11 – Workout 2
Bench/Seated DB Militaries (SDBM)
225x10/75s x 8
Incline Bench/SDBM
185x7/70s x 5
Decline Bench/SDBM
185x6/60s x 8
Decline Close-grip Bench
155x10
Lying Tricep Extensions
90x10
Pressdowns
70x12, 70x10
Hanging Leg Raises to Vertical
3 sets of 10
Decline Crunches
10, 8, 10
Time: 29 minutes

10/5/11 - Workout 3
Squats/Cable Rows
135x10/160x15, 135x12/160x15, 135x12/160x12, 135x12/160x12, 135x12/160x12
Pendaly BB Rows/Pull-ups
135x10/8, 135x8/5,135x8/4 (I was intending to do 5 sets, but I was exhausted and gassing)
BB Curls
85x13
Incline DB Curls
30s x 10
Preacher Curls
40x12
DB Hammer Curls
35s x 10
Cable Curls
100x12
Time: 34 minutes
This workout kicked my ass majorly. Definitely not used to 30 second rest intervals. My lungs were the limiting factor here… GASSING.

Diet hovered at around 1,400 calories for all except the last day... I started Feasting at dinner. Kept protein very low (which was very strange for me... and those around me).

I should have taken detailed stats before starting Famine. However, I do know I was 170.0 lbs (at 5’8”)… and my resting heart rate (RHR) is usually around 58-60 bpm.

Here are my stats, taken yesterday, at day 5 of Famine:
Weight: 164.0
RHR: 74
Waist: 30-3/4, Hips: 37
Neck: 15-1/4, Shoulders: 47-1/2, Chest: 41
Arm: 14 (15-1/2 flexed), Forearm: 11-1/2
Thigh: 21-1/4
Calf: 14

I am amazed at how much weight I dropped in 5 days. I always thought the water weight loss was due to dropping the carbs. I guess it's mainly just due to the caloric deficit. I did drink about 1 to 1.5 gallons a day which probably added to the weight loss. I did lose a lot of size in my arms, legs... heck, everywhere. I'm attributing that to the low protein? Well Rob, I hope you know what you're doing because I need a rebound here!

Welcome to the forum! Looks like you have set the stage for a pretty good run..
Don't worry about the temporary weight/muscle loss from famine...I think I gained about 12 to 15 pounds within 2 weeks from the start of feast, and you will likely be back in no time...

Are you following the stock 3.0 workout? For the first time I would highly recommend it as Rob constructed a masterpiece. My advice would be to not underestimate the amount of weight you can lift in the static holds..it will be significantly more than your 1RM most likely. You will also likely be able to add a lot of weight each successive time doing it...


Good luck looking forward to reading your log! Any questions be sure to ask and one of us will be happy to help!

I am an engineer too, I am getting married tomorrow and I have a 3 months daughter. I understand your point of not having as much time as you would like to train

Welcome!

bigpelo wrote:I am an engineer too, I am getting married tomorrow and I have a 3 months daughter. I understand your point of not having as much time as you would like to train

Welcome!

Congratulations BigPelo!!!

Emphasis, on "BIG"

Thanks matter2003 and bigpelo. I'm hoping my journal/log can come close to measuring up to both of yours. I've been checking both of your posts and they are extremely helpful and chock full of gems. I appreciate the detail and reflections, and the detail you both go into (workouts and diet, as well as personal experiences). Thanks for blazing the path for the rest of us.

Just received the BP 3.0 docs from Rob. WOW, I have a lot of reading to do this weekend. The Tracker excel files are AWESOME. Those alone are worth the price of BP.

Also, ordered a bunch of sups from MASS and nolinksplease.com. Some KA, AN, Multilife, Alkalife, Greens, Karbolyn, creatine, etc. I was going to try my first round without KA and AN, but I'm thinking of at least using KA to start, and then dosing AN in during the 2nd half of Feast.

Currently on 2nd (of 3 days) of Feasting with no workouts. Soooo good eating big.

Lastly, congrats Bigpelo on getting married!

KA is amazing...imagine having your best lifting day every day and thar pretty much sums up what it does...

FEAST PHASE
Workout 1 (10/08/11)
Decline Bench Static Holds
Warm-ups: Full-range: 45x10, 95x8, 135x5 ; Static: 225, 315, 365
Working sets: 415 - 15sec , 415 - 15sec
EDT Block 1: Weighted Dips / Dumbbell Rows
135x5 / 110x6 ; 135x5 / 110x6 ; 135x5 / 110x6
135x6 / 110x10
EDT Block 2: Incline DB Curls / Overhead Tricep Extensions
45s x 6 / 80x10, 45s x 5 / 100x5, 45s x 5 / 100x5
45s x 6 / 95x6, 45s x 6 / 95x6
Time: 63 min

This was my first experience with static holds and EDT. I had no spot so holding 415 on the decline bench (not in power rack) was kinda scary. I felt a little awkward piling on the plates, and I could feel people watching me. It felt even more awkward when I did the static hold and then racked the weight without doing a "rep". I've never seen anyone in the gym do a static hold and (until recently) was not aware of the benefits. However, my rear delts and traps are still sore so I believe they are effective.

I'm not unfamiliar with doing work in the 4-6 rep range... nor am I unfamiliar with doing supersets. However, doing supersets with heavy weights... and with 4-6 sets at that... it was quite a workout. I'm sure it was a shock to my body. This workout was very intense.

Chest, and to some extent arms, are my strong points as far as strength is concerned. It will be interesting to see how I handle static holds and EDT blocks with my weakpoint.... legs. Ugh. I can already feel the pain.

Do u have a smith machine where you workout? I would never attempt statics outside of a power rack or smith machine where u have a safety catch just in case...you should be able to easily add 50-75 lbs next time or maybe more if you are holding it for 15 secs...ideally you want to aim for 5 secs, but that would be hard to do outside a power rack or smith machine...

Your front delts and upper arms will explode from doing those...

Keep in mind when you are lifting heavy with your legs you are having a much more anabolic effect on your body than the upper body exercises since the glutes,quads and hams are large muscle groups compared to chest,shoulders,bis and tris...
It will release a lot more growth hormone and testosterone than upper body workouts and will actually help grow your upper body more as well due to the large hormone release...hope that helps put a smile on your face that the pain(yeah there are some times where you can barely walk for 3 days) is not in vain...

Thanks matter. I found a separate decline bench that I can use in the power rack or smith machine. Do you have a preference between the two?

On another note, got my KA and AN on Saturday! Started using midday on Saturday.

FEAST PHASE
Workout 2 (10/11/11)
Top Range Rack Pull Static Holds
WU: 135, 225, 315, 405, 495, 545
1) 595x12sec 2) 645x7sec
Squats/Lying Hamstring Curls
1) 225x6 / 120x6 2) 225x6 / 120x6
3) 245x5 / 120x6 4) 245x5 / 120x6
5) 245x5 / 120x5 6) 245x6 / 120x4
Romanian Deadlifts
1) 225x10 2) 225x10
Seated Calf Raise Static Holds
1) 215x6sec 2) 215x6sec
Cable Crunches / Hyperextensions
1) 100x6 / 45x6 2) 100x6 / 45x6
3) 100x8 / 70x6 4) 100x8 / 70x6
5) 100x8 / 70x6 6) 100x10 / 70x8
Decline Crunches
1) 10
TIME: 87 minutes

Whoa, that was intense. Started feeling loopy after the 60 minute mark. Still waiting for the Karbolyn to come in the mail, so only had BCAAs mixed with whey protein intra-workout. I'm hoping the Formula will help me during these long, intense Feast workouts. Still assessing weights for these workouts, especially the static holds. Cable Crunches were hard to do without someone holding me down to keep the weight from lifting my knees off of the ground. Next time I'll substitute weighted decline crunches.

DaGymWarrior wrote:Thanks matter. I found a separate decline bench that I can use in the power rack or smith machine. Do you have a preference between the two?

On another note, got my KA and AN on Saturday! Started using midday on Saturday.

I find the smith machine works the front delts more while the power rack works the triceps more....one thing to note is DO NOT try and turn the smith machine off the bar, just press up...with that type of weight you could easily tear a pec or worse trying to rotate the bar...

I love KA...the feeling of being an anabolic beast in the gym is like no othee...

Excellent tip, matter. I might have tried to turn the bar on the smith machine (don't have much experience on the smith). Appreciate it!

Great work here man! Lookin' good...

Nutrition Macros:
Tuesday (10/11) - Workout Day
Calories:2,879 Protein:280 Carbs:249 Fat:67

Wednesday (10/12)
Calories: 2,492 Protein:247 Carbs:131 Fat:102

Thursday (10/13)
Calories: 2,561 Protein:262 Carbs:95 Fat:119

Weight has been hovering around 169-170 in the morning (it was 164 after Famine). Gained back all of the weight lost during Famine. I'll check the rest of my measurements this weekend.