My personal Journey With FT

[nougatcroc]

Hello everyone,
After reading the ebook on FT, I decided to experiment with this methodology for my training in the upcoming year.
I’m writing this thread to document my journey as a personal update and to provide a useful reference for others.
Given the vast amount of information and the unconventional structure compared to traditional training programs, I decided to create an introductory macrocycle. This approach allows me to add just one new element per week, helping me better understand the various components of FT.
I structured the blast phase as follows:

• Week 1 (Tier 1): Choose one triplet of exercises, and test pump sets and MR sets.
  
• Week 2 (Tier 2): Add ZigZag sets and figure out how to select exercises as the number of sets increases.
  
• Week 3 (Tier 3): Introduce supersets in pump sets and test a high-volume week.
  
• Week 4 (Tier 2): Add three triplets of exercises and include stretching.
  
• Week 5 (Tier 3): Follow the original FT program (in this week, I noticed a few small mistakes I was making in executing the ZigZag sets at Tier 3).
  
• Week 6: Test a cruise week.
  
  

I’m currently in week 5. The program is varied, and I’m enjoying it (something I had been struggling with in training lately). Being used to high-volume work, it feels like I’m doing less, but by the end of the day, I notice that my back, chest, and legs are properly stimulated. I feel tired, my muscles have worked, and I’m progressing in terms of load.
However, my arms—my weak point—seem harder to activate and stimulate as they should.

In line with what I read in the FT ebook, I decided to apply the following modifications for the second blast phase:

1. Move arm training, particularly biceps, to the start of the session.
   
2. Begin with a higher Tier for 3 weeks, and potentially use the Turbo version for biceps and triceps.
   
3. Include some heavy compound movements that engage the biceps more (e.g., adding neutral-grip chin-ups to my next triplet for back exercises).
   
4. Consider increasing overall volume for arms if the above adjustments don’t yield results, using this as a last resort
   

[Scott Stevenson]

Nougatroc!

Thanks for posting this.  

You might also check the FAQ here on the board in this subforum r.e. arm training.  I intentionally wanted to be sure that arms were NOT overly stimulated, as when / if one develops tendonitis there, back, chest and shoulder training would / could suffer and/or need to be modified.

In short, making those pump sets absolutely treacherous and focusing on doing the same with the stretches (as tolerable) will help with the arm stimulus.  

Another suggestion I came up with the other day for someone in a similar predicament would be to include occlusion stretches for bi's and tri's after upper body loading sets (Day 2, bi stretch after back and the back stretch; triceps stretch after Chest and shoulders and those stretches ) and/or even adding occlusion stretches for Triceps on Day 3 and biceps on Day 4, perhaps after a short easy warm-up set to be sure tendon's warmed up and pliable.  A maximal effort  lasting 90seconds, being sure to adjust the stretch (subtle changes in shoulder rotation, how the body is positioned) as needed to ensure you're spreading the isometric tension through the muscle bellies, can be a considerable stimulus, that adds very little time wise to your training.

-S

[nougatcroc]

Nougatroc!

Thanks for posting this.  

You might also check the FAQ here on the board in this subforum r.e. arm training.  I intentionally wanted to be sure that arms were NOT overly stimulated, as when / if one develops tendonitis there, back, chest and shoulder training would / could suffer and/or need to be modified.

In short, making those pump sets absolutely treacherous and focusing on doing the same with the stretches (as tolerable) will help with the arm stimulus.  

Another suggestion I came up with the other day for someone in a similar predicament would be to include occlusion stretches for bi's and tri's after upper body loading sets (Day 2, bi stretch after back and the back stretch; triceps stretch after Chest and shoulders and those stretches ) and/or even adding occlusion stretches for Triceps on Day 3 and biceps on Day 4, perhaps after a short easy warm-up set to be sure tendon's warmed up and pliable.  A maximal effort  lasting 90seconds, being sure to adjust the stretch (subtle changes in shoulder rotation, how the body is positioned) as needed to ensure you're spreading the isometric tension through the muscle bellies, can be a considerable stimulus, that adds very little time wise to your training.

-S

Thank you, Scott, for sharing some of these valuable tips with me. I’ll gradually implement them into my workouts!