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OK, I am planning on running a lengthy bulk starting on May 13th(pre-work stuff and famine starting tomorrow to allow a full 3 days off before hitting it hard).

I am going to be running a program called MI40 by Ben Pakulski. He is a pro bodybuilder that finished 4th in the Arnold Classic and also has a kinesiology degree. I am expecting to learn quite a bit from this program that I can apply to subsequent BP runs. Its a 40 day program and upon finishing that I will be running multiple custom BP runs until February or so when I will start cutting again.

Main things I took away from this program after reading it and watching the videos:

-Method is 40 second sets, 40 second rest periods between sets, and 40 minute workouts. 40 day program of 40 exercises. No true off days. Lift 5 days per week and train each body part twice every 10 days. "Off" days consist of 20 minutes of HIIT cardio in specific and increasing sprint/rest patterns for the 6 weeks.

-Muscles do not know weight, only torque and he says there are ways to greatly increase torque on the muscle using less weight, which will get better results and put less stress on joints. Calls this method an "intention".

-Shows proper form for every lift via videos and coaching with other lifters. Basically tells you a lot of what you are doing lifting wise is wrong. After watching the videos and listening to him, I would have to agree. Very humbling experience to be honest. He is a complete stickler for form. Says to never compromise form for more weight.

-Believes in a 5 second rep that continuously keeps tension on the muscle(time under tension). 1 second positive, 0 second pause at top, 4 second negative, 0 second pause at bottom. No momentum, same speed throughout the rep, no jerky motions.

-Believes in taking muscles through full range of motion in every workout, not necessarily each exercise. Wants muscles to reach their longest and shortest points possible while under tension. Achieves this by consciously contracting the antagonist muscle at one end of rep(ie, if doing bicep curls, when you get to the bottom, you contract your tricep).

-Believes in Neurological Overload Sets(NOS sets) aka DropSets at the end of most sets. Says that is where most muscle growth occurs.

-Extremely detailed supplement advice, dietary advice and timing of everything.

-Carbs eaten only around workout window to maximize effectiveness and minimize chance of fat storage(carbs and fat are never eaten together), protein only or protein and fats are eaten at other times.

-very specific regarding how to maximize hormonal effectiveness

Says to only run this program a maximum of twice a year due to how intense it is, so I will be running BP runs around it but hoping to take a lot of knowledge from here and apply it to future runs. The proper lifting techniques and form was worth its weight in gold to me as well as some of his advice. The guy knows his stuff.

Can't wait to get started and will let be posting detailed logs including weight/bodyfat and measurements every week on Sunday.

Sounds good, I was looking into that program less than a month ago but decided to hold off, will defo be following your progress and if all gos well I may have to buy it.

How do you feel about the HITT on "off" days? I was thinking over training may catch up with me.

Best of luck on your run!

tufluk wrote:Sounds good, I was looking into that program less than a month ago but decided to hold off, will defo be following your progress and if all gos well I may have to buy it.

How do you feel about the HITT on "off" days? I was thinking over training may catch up with me.

Best of luck on your run!

I am hoping with Synthagen in my corner I will be OK

Seriously though, I can understand why you can only run this for 40 days...

Sounds awesome! Good luck Matter! I know you can handle anything you take on.

I saw some pics of Ben from his last 2 competitions. He's on fire right now. But, I think he should do less competitions and focus on one big one.

OK, Day 1 Primer completed(well almost) and I have to say it wasn't fun at all. Weight was light, but high reps and 5 second count for really got some burning involved...1 second positive, 4 second negative. Same pace and rate at all times for each rep. Actually ran out of time and ended up being a set short on quite a few exercises...

Instructions for today were as follows:

*Choose a weight that allows you to complete the assigned reps easily with PERFECT form. The goal here is to teach your body how to move, NOT to make you sore. Stop WELL short of failure, but take no time between exercises unless otherwise stated.

Back/Shoulders/Biceps:

Seated Supported Machine Row: 90 x 15/55 x 15 x 15 x15
Seated Side Laterals: 5DB x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20
Standing BB Curl: 30BB x 15 x 15 x 15 x 15
3 MIN REST
One-Arm DB Row: 20DB x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20(1 set short)
Reverse Pec Fly: 25 x 15 x 15 x 15(1 set short)
Machine Side Lateral Raises: 20 x 12 x 12 x 12(1 set short)
Two-Arm Machine Curl: 35 x 12 x 12 x 12(1 set short)
3 MIN REST
Seated Cable Row: 55 x 15 x 15 x 15(1 set short)
Seated DB Front Raise: 10DB x 15/7.5DB x 15(1 set short)
One-Arm Cable Curl(facing away): 10 x 20 x 20(1 set short)

I can already tell this is going to be rough...doing the slower reps and adhering to strict form made even lighter weights a LOT tougher than normal...

tomorrow I have Chest/Triceps, same deal...light weight, attention to form

This morning was Chest/Triceps with the same instructions as yesterday.

Flat Barbell Bench Press: 45 x 12/65 x 12/95 x 12/115 x 12
Machine Pec Fly: 40 x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20
3 MIN REST
45 Degree Incline DB Press: 20DB x 15 x 15 x 15 x 15 x 15
30 Degree Incline DB Fly: 15DB x 15 x 15 x 15
3 MIN REST
Tricep Pressdown: 15 x 15/20 x 12/25 x 10/35 x 15-30 x 5-25 x 5-20 x 5-15 x 5
1 MIN REST
Reverse Grip Tri Pressdown: 15 x 15 x 15 x 15 x 15
Incline Lying Tri Ext("skullcrusher"): 25 x 20 x 20 x 20

-Flat Barbell press was done with "intention", which means you are trying to press hands together while doing the movement on the bar, which creates serious tension on the pecs...

-Tricep pressdown was a killer and included a NOS set(drop set) at the end. Form caused even this light weight to be extremely tough and the muscle felt like it was going to explode by the end of these sets.

-"skullcrushers" didn't have arms going straight up, had them finishing slightly back towards the wall, which keeps constant tension on the triceps...very fatiguing even with that light weight

My triceps are so shot after this that 12 hours later, when I stand at a counter and put my arms down the muscles are still shaking and quivering uncontrollably, like someone is shooting jolts of electricity through them. I can only imagine what is going to happen when I increase the weight and do 8 reps...

keep it up man, just got hold of MI40 from being 50/50 about it for around two months. glad I did.

Will be running it soon so keen to pick up on points you found hard/different.
are you taking in any alkalising drinks and are you sticking to one of his meal plans?

thanks.

tufluk wrote:keep it up man, just got hold of MI40 from being 50/50 about it for around two months. glad I did.

Will be running it soon so keen to pick up on points you found hard/different.
are you taking in any alkalising drinks and are you sticking to one of his meal plans?

thanks.

Imho, the videos are pure gold showing proper form and can 100% be transferred to the BP afterwards. I mean the info in there is worth it just by itself without anything else.

I am taking a jarrow organic greens powder. Got 2 of them, so its a 60 day supply. Be very careful with green powders as a lot of them contain licorice root, which has a devastating effect on Testosterone. Devastating might be understating it...it completely can obliterate testosterone, even in small doses, so be sure to stay away from it in any form. Meal plan wise, I will follow the recommendations for caloric breakdown, macro and timing but not the actual meals.

Today was the first famine day...was supposed to lift today and be off tomorrow, but due to time constraints(gym opens at 7am Saturday and I have to be to work at 8:30am, and am off tomorrow), I switched days around.

Didn't work out today, basically ate some toast with butter, a few apples, a couple of wheat tortilla wraps, a few pickles and veggies, about 2 cups of brown rice with some asparagus and some popcorn. Very little protein, about 1600 cals...

Got my Back in Black 5 Faces of Fear T-Shirt today in the mail too! Really like it, will have to post a pic of me in it!

Tomorrow I have workout 3 of the primer, consisting of Quads, Calves and Hams....

Famine Day 2:

Still feeling OK, triceps still sore after 3 days, I cannot believe it.
Today I had Quads/Hams/Calves and it was a doozy.

Set A:
Lying Leg Curls:30 x 12 x 12/40 x 12 x 12 x 12
Squats: 45 x 20/115 x 20/75 x 20 x 20
Standing Calf Raise: 165 x 15 x 15 x 15
3 MIN REST

-Quads were nearly spasming from doing them his way and the last 2 sets were brutal. 4 second negative under control while contracting quads and trying to shove feet outward, then exploding up while still contracting and pushing outward. Did Olympic Bar squats for first time in a while, and quads felt completely swollen afterwards...going to be doing Olympic Bar squats with this program rather than V-Squat.

-Never did Hamstring Curls this way before---chest up, pelvis shoved into the pad until glutes contract...have to use lighter weight

Set B:
Seated Leg Curl(Hamstring): 20 x 15 x 15 x 15 x 15
Walking Lunges: BW x 15 x 15 x 15 x 15
Leg Extension: 45 x 20 x 20 x 15/25 x 15 x 15
3 MIN REST

-Quads felt like they were going to explode on leg extension...squeeze legs inward and push them together while doing the motion(in video he puts a water bottle between them and has the person squeeze it, I didn't have mine today so I improvised)...could barely walk after those... so embarrassing

Set C:
Seated Calve Raise: 115 x 20/75 x 20 x 18
Stiff Leg DL: 45 x 15 x 15 x 15
One Leg-Leg Press: 80 x 10 x 15

-achilles tendon was burning from doing calf raises so I had to stop at 18 on last set...

-never done 1 leg leg press before, and it was not fun even with no weights on it, just pushing the sled...

Already can tell my body is going to be aching tomorrow and sore...it is really crazy how such little weight can be this challenging....

Going to be posting my supplement stack I am taking with this run, and it is a lengthy one. After thinking about what he is recommending, I decided to basically go "100% in" with his recommendations. Reason being is it is his program and I do not want to short-change myself or results by not doing things 100% the way he is telling me to. Same thing when I run the BP. I do things exactly the way Rob tells me to. Its only fair.

Morning:
Jarrow Greens Mixture
Dymatiz Flud Super Amino 4800(4.8 g)
Vitamin C(1000 mg)
Siberian Ginseng(400 mg)
R-ALA(300 mg)
Chromium Polynicotinate(200 mcg)
Cinnamon(1/2 teaspoon or 500 g)
Bitter Melon Full Spectrum Extract(450 g)
Vitamin B Complex
Milk Thistle/Dandelion/Yellow Dock
Pure T2(1 ml---thyroid support)

Afternoon:
Fish Oil(1200 mg)
Pine Bark Extract(Pycnogenol)
Vitamin D(2000 IU)
Fish Oil(1200 mg)
Garlic Oil Extract
DIM

Pre-Workout:
IsaTestGF
Vitamin C(1000 mg)
Siberian Ginseng(400 mg)
Holy Basil(450 mg)
Zinc(50 mg)
ALCAR(2 g)
TwinLab ProBiotic
AAKG(6 g)
Synthagen(7 caps)
Glutamine(13 g)
Resveratrol(250 mg)
Bitter Melon Full Spectrum Extract(450 mg)
Kre-Alkalyn
Pure T2(1 ml---thyroid support)

Intra-Workout(start drinking 30 mins into workout):
6oz Tart Cherry Juice(24 g carbs)
Dymatize Flud(29 g carbs, totaling 53 g carbs)
Glutamine(13 g)
Synthagen(4 caps opened and contents dumped into intra-workout mix)

Post-Workout:
R-ALA(300 mg)
Chromium Polynicotinate(200 mcg)
Cinnamon(1/2 teaspoon---500 mg)
Leucine(3 g)
Synthagen(3 caps)
Vitamin C(1000 mg)
Glycine(2 g)
MultiLife MultiVitamin(2 caps)
Whey Protein(53 g)
Zinc(50 mg)
Kre Alkalyn

Before Bed:
Evening Primrose Oil(4 g)
Vitamin C(1000 mg)
Holy Basil(450 mg)
Fish Oil(1200 mg)
Zinc(50 mg)
DIM
Dymatize Super Amino 4800(4.8 g)

Got everything pre-packaged for 1 week in preparation for next Sunday, which took almost 2 hours between labeling and measuring and packaging. Probably will cut it in half for next week, but I think this is the way to go instead of trying to remember all this stuff each day...

Its a lot of stuff, but I am hoping it will be worth it....

You got any place left in your food closet for food?

sweet jesus I think you have more supps than me.

I could be wrong.... but that list is EXTENSIVE. I don't think I could follow a regimen like that for long lol

beefcake66 wrote:sweet jesus I think you have more supps than me.

I could be wrong.... but that list is EXTENSIVE. I don't think I could follow a regimen like that for long lol

Yeah it is, but the workouts are even more intensive and everything is focused on recovery and building while controlling fat gain...also a few of those are to deal with ppyroluria related issued(B6,zinc,EPO,Pine Bark)

Can't wait to start for real on Sunday...