Including this for Rob and whoever else it applies to/interests.
How easy/hard you found workouts 1-5 of Feast and most importantly your frequency schedule during that time/whether you used EDT blocks as part thereof:
I'll comment on Famine first. It was definitely a tough 5 days and Famine was Mon-Fri for me. I still go to school (college freshman next year) so when my friends saw that I wasn't eating anything but fruits and vegetables at school they thought I was crazy and stupid. They all know how serious I am about working out but it was entertaining to tell them about the Blueprint and all of them thought it was completely ridiculous.
Honestly, through Famine I thought I lost all my strength and power and I was really concerned until I talked it through with Rob and found out that all of it was normal. As an example of strength decline, on the second workout of Famine I remember not even being able to pull out Incline Barbell Bench for ONE set of 8 at 135 when I used to be doing THREE sets of 8 at 155-165. It was embarrassing almost going to the gym and lifting way way less than I was capable of but I made it through Famine and Feast is where all the results were at.
STRENGTH REBOUND-
Probably what most people are wondering about. I was expecting a full rebound by Workout 1 of Feast so I ate a ton for the 3 days during the transition between Famine and Feast, but nonetheless my body couldn't recuperate that fast and my lifts were still really low.
My Bench Press on workout 1 was 185x8 if I remember correctly and that was just about max effort. Right now my max is at 250 except I'll address that later.
Strength Rebound came in around Workout 3-4 and my strength returned to normal. I have been keeping Rob updated my entire run through nolinksplease.com PM'ing and as an example in workout 3 I hit 235x3 (third with a slight spot) on Bench Press, when my previous max was around 245. The farther you move into Feast the better your body will feel and strength will come back naturally, so no worries.
Workout 5 (Maxing) was difficult for me on the Bench Press except I am still trying to address if I have form issues or not. My max increased MAYBE 5 pounds from before, and I'm sure there was a slight strength increase but nothing to boast about.
Squat Max increased to 290 from a previous 225x4 at most, I used to be deathly afraid of 2 plates which seems almost impossible except I do have numbers to prove it.
Frequency and EDT-
I maintained a 1 on 2 off frequency during the first five workouts of Feast, as 1 on 1 off was not enough recovery for me and I could still feel DOMS all throughout my body the second day. Transitioning between workout 4 and 5 I took 3 days off in order to be fully rested for a 1 RM effort.
Even though not stated in Rob's Ebook but on these forums, I inserted EDT blocks for both Workouts 1-5 and GLP Workouts 1-6.
Workouts 1-5 looked like this:
-Bench Press following the guidelines stated on number of reps (preceeded by several warmup sets)
-EDT Block consisting of EITHER T-bar rows and Incline Dumbbell Press OR Barbell Curls and Skullcrushers. I alternated these two EDT blocks every other day so I could be hitting all my muscle groups
-Squat following the guidelines stated on number of reps
-EDT Block consisting of Deadlifts/Leg Sled (NOTE: This became absolutely BRUTAL to me in the end and I don't recommend it as much because 6 sets of deadlifts at 6/6/5/5/3/3 after a set of heavy Squats and Bench Press doesn't make your body very happy)
Some info as to diet used, scale weight gained/re-gained:
My Feast diet wasn't anything special, just normally how I eat. I told Rob I'd be attempting the Blueprint on a cut except I have been neglecting cardio for awhile and relied solely on heavy weights to keep me in shape (it's worked pretty well so far to say the least). My weight has stayed relatively the same throughout, I started Famine at around 180, dropped to 174-175 after Famine, and hovered back around 180 all throughout Feast. Right now I am 178-179 when I weigh myself in the morning.
I'm still a student and I'll be moving out for college this summer so my food is basically what my parents prepare, but I try to get them to make me food every now and then like chicken breasts, sweet potatoes, etc.
The preworkout or breakfast shake I've been using for awhile is-
8-10 oz of nonfat milk
1-1.5 scoops of chocolate XF Whey
1/2 cup of oats
1 frozen banana
2 tbsp of peanut butter (ONLY in breakfast shake, not preworkout)
It tastes amazing and has all the complex carbs and protein I need.
Supplements I used through Feast-
XF ICE/RPG IBCCA for Aminos (BCAAS and EAAS)
Presurge Unleashed
Myonova Cytofuse + XF Whey (Postworkout)
Gaspari Anavite
NOW Ultra Omega-3
XF 2.0 (Casein blend)
E-BOL
Bioforge ProMax (I added this halfway through Feast when it was first released, and have been using it ever since. And yes I am still 18 years old)
Frequency of GLP workouts and any detail you can provide:
My GLP Workouts maintained a consistent 1 on 1 off pattern, which was plenty of rest because the workouts alternated between Bench and Squat. (So if you Benched on Monday, you wouldn't again till Friday anyways with a 1 on 1 off)
The only difference between GLP and Workouts 1-5 was the volume load on compound lifts. Instead of doing 1 heavy set for Bench or Squat, the progressive load made it into 6 sets starting with a warmup and getting pretty heavy.
My workouts for GLP looked like this-
Bench Day
6 sets of Bench Press according to GLP
EDT of either Tbar Row and Incline Dumbbell Press OR Barbell Curls and Skullcrushers
Static holds on Decline Bench (only did these for 2-3 workouts, realized I couldn't hold that much weight due to end of workout fatigue)
Squat Day
6 sets of Squats according to GLP
EDT of Deadlifts and Leg Sled (this is where I eventually cut down. 6 sets of Squats followed by 6 sets of Deadlifts SUPERSETTED with Leg Sled completely destroyed my body and most likely central nervous system after every workout. It was brutal to say the least) By workout 4 of GLP I eventually took out the Leg Sled and stuck only with Deadlifts
Results from GLP:
My max Bench after Workouts 1-5 was 245 (might've had slight slight help during the lift, but I can't remember) so we can assume 240-245. During GLP workout 6 I tried maxing 255 except I failed halfway up when I was telling my spotter not to touch the bar, so my new max is 250-255 without a doubt. Not a big leap or the 105% as stated, but it works.
Deadlifts and Squats are where my PR's SHINE.
At the beginning of Feast I was Squatting 225x3-4 reps and Deadlifting 225x3-4 most likely as well. At the end of workouts 1-5 my new Squat max was 290 but I didn't check for Deadlifts.
After GLP my new Squat max is 315 and I pulled off 335x3 on Deadlifts yesterday at the very end of my workout after a previous 3-4 sets of Deadlifts. YES you are reading that correctly and NO I am not shitting you, my core lifts actually did increase that much.
Side note for results-
Incline Dumbbell Press increased from using 65's and 70's top for EDT's to using 75's right off the bat. I always switch to 80's for the last 2-3 sets too. Only thing I'm disappointed about is a lack of a good increase on Barbell Bench Press.
I will be moving in Bill Starr's Advanced 5x5 for the Cruising phase after 2-3 days of rest and I already have the template laid out.
I feel like I just wrote a book and I hope it's actually worth reading, I'm looking forward to your feedback Rob and everyone else who is interested in reading this!
Jonathan
Jcw330's Results through Feast
Wow, I very much APPRECIATE the effort you put into that. These guys here do to so thanks for acknowledging guys... It's stuff like this that defines Learn/Share/Grow.
The one thing I keyed on was this:
"My Feast diet wasn't anything special, just normally how I eat. I told Rob I'd be attempting the Blueprint on a cut except I have been neglecting cardio for awhile and relied solely on heavy weights to keep me in shape (it's worked pretty well so far to say the least). My weight has stayed relatively the same throughout, I started Famine at around 180, dropped to 174-175 after Famine, and hovered back around 180 all throughout Feast. Right now I am 178-179 when I weigh myself in the morning."
Explains perfectly the lack of bodyweight gains and progress on bench yet also the explosive strength seen on squats/deadlifts. Bench is more sensitive to bodyweight gains vs. squats and deadlifts. I wish I could tell you why, but you see it while dieting all the time... upperbody strength is the first to go.
The key for you will be this: Calories.
If you attempt this again you should rotate calories as follows:
First 3 weeks of Feast: 125% of maintenance on training days, 100% non
Next weeks of Feast: 100% of maintenance on both training/non training days
Final 2 weeks of Feast: 100% on training days and 70% on non-training day.
I think you're going to like what you see...
And I would have given anything to see the look on your buddies faces when you added 100 F'in POUNDS TO YOUR DEADLIFT in 7 weeks!
New BP record
The one thing I keyed on was this:
"My Feast diet wasn't anything special, just normally how I eat. I told Rob I'd be attempting the Blueprint on a cut except I have been neglecting cardio for awhile and relied solely on heavy weights to keep me in shape (it's worked pretty well so far to say the least). My weight has stayed relatively the same throughout, I started Famine at around 180, dropped to 174-175 after Famine, and hovered back around 180 all throughout Feast. Right now I am 178-179 when I weigh myself in the morning."
Explains perfectly the lack of bodyweight gains and progress on bench yet also the explosive strength seen on squats/deadlifts. Bench is more sensitive to bodyweight gains vs. squats and deadlifts. I wish I could tell you why, but you see it while dieting all the time... upperbody strength is the first to go.
The key for you will be this: Calories.
If you attempt this again you should rotate calories as follows:
First 3 weeks of Feast: 125% of maintenance on training days, 100% non
Next weeks of Feast: 100% of maintenance on both training/non training days
Final 2 weeks of Feast: 100% on training days and 70% on non-training day.
I think you're going to like what you see...
And I would have given anything to see the look on your buddies faces when you added 100 F'in POUNDS TO YOUR DEADLIFT in 7 weeks!New BP record
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dracotdrgn
- Posts: 349
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:05 pm
- Location: Tacoma, Washington
Good right up, not too long, I read it through. If you put numbers to it you really did get (or really close to) 105% of your bench. 240 + 5% =252. But sweet squat and DL. 
Compared to my rebounds I'd say you came back pretty fast. Other than that everything here makes sense and sounds like another successful run man. Good job.
Compared to my rebounds I'd say you came back pretty fast. Other than that everything here makes sense and sounds like another successful run man. Good job.