basic tier 1

[stve75]

Hi,
I have seen Scott and other experienced guys mentioning people should start on tier 1 basic and work up if they can handle it. I come from a high volume program but have too much wool on my back to be a hero and will be starting tier 1 after my deload. In relation to loading phase on tier -1 the book says last compound to failure and iso if safe to do so. I gather I can go H.A.M on all three excercises as I only have one set ? I'm not sure how i would get sufficient stimulus otherwise. Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere.

Does anybody have any other tips for people new to FT ? I appreciate this has a steep learning curve but like we everyone on here I want to get it right and maximize my returns as soon as possible.

Thanks

Steve

[ebado]

Hi,
I have seen Scott and other experienced guys mentioning people should start on tier 1 basic and work up if they can handle it. I come from a high volume program but have too much wool on my back to be a hero and will be starting tier 1 after my deload. In relation to loading phase on tier -1 the book says last compound to failure and iso if safe to do so. I gather I can go H.A.M on all three excercises as I only have one set ? I'm not sure how i would get sufficient stimulus otherwise. Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere.

Does anybody have any other tips for people new to FT ? I appreciate this has a steep learning curve but like we everyone on here I want to get it right and maximize my returns as soon as possible.

Thanks

Steve

Hey man, good call on starting with Tier 1. I'm three weeks into my first blast, coming from a relatively high volume background myself, and am still blasting away on Tier 1 without any plans/need to bump it up. With regards to your question, which three exercises are you referring to? On lower body load, there's one work set a piece for thigh, quad, ham. That's one set of compound (thigh), and quads and hams are iso exercises, so yea, balls out on your work set of each exercise here. On the upper body loading day, you have 4 compound movements (back thickness, back width, chest, delt), so go H.A.M on your work set of each. My advice for starting out is to do everything by the book and as Scott has intended for a while before trying to modify anything.

[stve75]

Hey man, good call on starting with Tier 1. I'm three weeks into my first blast, coming from a relatively high volume background myself, and am still blasting away on Tier 1 without any plans/need to bump it up. With regards to your question, which three exercises are you referring to? On lower body load, there's one work set a piece for thigh, quad, ham. That's one set of compound (thigh), and quads and hams are iso exercises, so yea, balls out on your work set of each exercise here. On the upper body loading day, you have 4 compound movements (back thickness, back width, chest, delt), so go H.A.M on your work set of each. My advice for starting out is to do everything by the book and as Scott has intended for a while before trying to modify anything.

Thanks for the advice. I will be sticking to guidelines, I see it too often folk like to change things it's human nature but there is normally a good reason for it being the way it is.

[Scott Stevenson]

Thanks for the advice. I will be sticking to guidelines, I see it too often folk like to change things it's human nature but there is normally a good reason for it being the way it is.

I'm all for folks changing things as needed, but there is value (as I've noted here quite a few times) in starting from the same place as many others have... There is value in a shared experience and you can learn there program more easily (in just a few workouts) with Tier I.

ebado's experience with is case in point - it's great that he can confirm that staying with the program for a while (at low Volume Tier) can work well for someone with a history of a high volume training.



-Scott

[Popeye150]

I am starting the basic tier I tomorrow with upper body load being day 1. So, for the load it would look like this?

Back lat pulldowns superset with incline DB press.
Rest 1:30
Back cable rows superset with seated DB press.

For the Pump set it would look like this:

Tighs would be squats superset with hamstring curls superset with standing calf raises.

I want to make sure I am interpreting this program the right way.

[Altamir]

I am starting the basic tier I tomorrow with upper body load being day 1. So, for the load it would look like this?

Back lat pulldowns superset with incline DB press.
Rest 1:30
Back cable rows superset with seated DB press.

For the Pump set it would look like this:

Tighs would be squats superset with hamstring curls superset with standing calf raises.

I want to make sure I am interpreting this program the right way.

You've got your loading sets mixed up. No supersets there.

Lat pulldowns
Rest 1:30
Cable Rows
Stretch Back

Incline DB Press
Stretch Pecs

Seated DB Press
Stretch Shoulders

Pump set for legs you have correct. Stretch AFTER the pump set is complete

[Popeye150]

Ok. That was what I was not sure of. So for loading sets on all tiers is basically a few warm up sets of that excise then the specific number of working sets for that body part?

The pump sets and muscle round are supersets/giant sets?

You've got your loading sets mixed up. No supersets there.

Lat pulldowns
Rest 1:30
Cable Rows
Stretch Back

Incline DB Press
Stretch Pecs

Seated DB Press
Stretch Shoulders

Pump set for legs you have correct. Stretch AFTER the pump set is complete

[Scott Stevenson]

Ok. That was what I was not sure of. So for loading sets on all tiers is basically a few warm up sets of that excise then the specific number of working sets for that body part?

The pump sets and muscle round are supersets/giant sets?

The book will clarify, with examples in the table, how MR's are carried out. It should just take you a few minutes to read through it - see the bullet point on "Rest." The section starts on page 94.

-S

[Popeye150]

Ok. I think i got this figured out. For example on Day 3 of basic tier 1 you would do the MR for thighs at 6 sets of 4 reps with breathing between sets. Then rest before starting the pump sets for quads and hams which can or cannot be a superset?

The book will clarify, with examples in the table, how MR's are carried out. It should just take you a few minutes to read through it - see the bullet point on "Rest." The section starts on page 94.

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

Ok. I think i got this figured out. For example on Day 3 of basic tier 1 you would do the MR for thighs at 6 sets of 4 reps with breathing between sets. Then rest before starting the pump sets for quads and hams which can or cannot be a superset?

That above is one of the few exceptions where you would do pump sets on a "Muscle Round day" (Day 3) simply b/c when setting up this lowest volume tier, Pump sets made sense (a bit less stressful than a MR). Otherwise, you're only doing MR's on days 3 and 4 of the program.

(Yes, you'd not need to super set those pump sets on that day, though.)

I'd check out the section in the book on MR's again - I think you might be oversimplifying how a MR is done (it's not just a cluster set of 6 sets of 4).

This vid might help you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZJtRpAHJdo

-S