FT Questions....

[Cerberus777]

This question is especially deserving of the very specific answer, "It depends..."



If you're working on a specific weakness, then using specific exercises (that are "pre-set" in that you use the more often than others) will be a good call. If you're lacking quad sweep, then you'll be using somersault squats, close-low foot placement leg presses and maybe even smith sissy squats.

OVerall, though, variety is a good thing for putting on size in general, as the activation patterns will differ, ensuring you're not spreading the stimulus love all about the muscle(s) you're training.

Simple example: Doing ONLY incline pressing would be a good way to bring up a weak upper chest, but not the best way for overall chest (pec) development.

-S

That makes sense, I think in my situation, as long as the chest and back exercise choices have a long range of motion and I make sure to do stiff leg variations. My weakness are covered....But overall mass is the primary goal at this time.

[Con]

In the book there is a template for the "family man" a 3 day plan.
However it states "upper body focus".
How would a "lower body focus" or "balanced between upper and lower" template look like?

I am thinking about using the 3 day program when I start up in 3 weeks.
This allows me to spend 4 days in a caloric minus and should combat any possible fat gains from having the larger calorie intakes on training days.
However, my legs are weaker than my upper so this template may not be ideal.

Thanks.

[Scott Stevenson]

In the book there is a template for the "family man" a 3 day plan.
However it states "upper body focus".
How would a "lower body focus" or "balanced between upper and lower" template look like?

I am thinking about using the 3 day program when I start up in 3 weeks.
This allows me to spend 4 days in a caloric minus and should combat any possible fat gains from having the larger calorie intakes on training days.
However, my legs are weaker than my upper so this template may not be ideal.

Thanks.

Con,

The main difference is in the Day 3, which is a full Body MR based workout, with progressively more volume (MR's) for upper body muscles as the Volume (Tier) increases. You can see in Day 3, reading from Tier I to III that there is an increase in Volume for upper body only.

To make a 3 day for the lower body, you'd just favor higher volume (more MR's) for the legs in the higher volume Tiers.

As long as training intensity is maintained, you can maintain gains pretty easily, so a baseline upper body set up (like Voluem Tier I in the Family Man Plan) would likely suffice.

You could potentially simply change the Lower body in your version (if you have the time to get this done in one workout) to look similar to what you see for the Day 3 (lower body ) Volume Tiers. Something more like what you see for the TURBO version would be best, simply b/c if you were to try to do BASIC Day 3 (all lower body volume on that day) and then ADD to that the upper body sets, this would be a recipe for disaster (simply too much, IMO).

-S

[Con]

Con,

The main difference is in the Day 3, which is a full Body MR based workout, with progressively more volume (MR's) for upper body muscles as the Volume (Tier) increases. You can see in Day 3, reading from Tier I to III that there is an increase in Volume for upper body only.

To make a 3 day for the lower body, you'd just favor higher volume (more MR's) for the legs in the higher volume Tiers.

As long as training intensity is maintained, you can maintain gains pretty easily, so a baseline upper body set up (like Voluem Tier I in the Family Man Plan) would likely suffice.

You could potentially simply change the Lower body in your version (if you have the time to get this done in one workout) to look similar to what you see for the Day 3 (lower body ) Volume Tiers. Something more like what you see for the TURBO version would be best, simply b/c if you were to try to do BASIC Day 3 (all lower body volume on that day) and then ADD to that the upper body sets, this would be a recipe for disaster (simply too much, IMO).

-S

Perfect this makes sense.
I just want to be as true as possible to your training plan so I can completely immerse my self into it.

Does it make sense to do it this way?
4 fat loss days combined with the 3 higher caloric training days.
OR
Stick to the 4 day program and only have 3 dieting days.

Perhaps 4 days training with a lower surplus would be more effective than 3 days with a higher surplus on those days. This is what I am undecided about....

Regarding time to train that is not a problem.

[Scott Stevenson]

Perfect this makes sense.
I just want to be as true as possible to your training plan so I can completely immerse my self into it.

Does it make sense to do it this way?
4 fat loss days combined with the 3 higher caloric training days.
OR
Stick to the 4 day program and only have 3 dieting days.

Perhaps 4 days training with a lower surplus would be more effective than 3 days with a higher surplus on those days. This is what I am undecided about....

Regarding time to train that is not a problem.

I think, in a post-contest situation where you're adding back calories, the more often you can couple a training stimulus with the nutrients needed to sustain muscle growth, the better off you'll be.

If we just consider the MR days as a three day part of the week, we're considering two scenarios:

3 day / week program: Only 1 of these 3 days you train. The other two you'd be keeping kcal low to prevent fat gain. (I think you're considering the ASC next year, right?... Classic BB'ing?...)

Regular FT (4days / week): Two of those 3 days at the end of the week you'd be training. You've got the metabolic expenditure of the training and the EPOC (which seems to be high) twice as often (and probably bleeding into that third day when your'e not training). So, you can take the same or perhaps a bit more workload and spread it over those two days (vs. a single monster workout in the 3day / week scenario) and keep kcal higher more days of the week.


In the 3 day / week program, you're focused on simply trying to keep fat gains at bay (more low cal days), whereas with the regular FT you can focus a bit more on growth. When leaner / dieted down, it's typically easier a smart move to spread a give workload out over more training session for most folks, too (e.g., take a 4 day / week program, shorten training sessions and train more times / week).

So, I'd go with regular old FT, but I do think you can make the other way work, too. Personally, I'm for whatever works best for you, and you may find that having a couple days off in a row is a godsend, too.

-S

[Con]

I think, in a post-contest situation where you're adding back calories, the more often you can couple a training stimulus with the nutrients needed to sustain muscle growth, the better off you'll be.

If we just consider the MR days as a three day part of the week, we're considering two scenarios:

3 day / week program: Only 1 of these 3 days you train. The other two you'd be keeping kcal low to prevent fat gain. (I think you're considering the ASC next year, right?... Classic BB'ing?...)

Regular FT (4days / week): Two of those 3 days at the end of the week you'd be training. You've got the metabolic expenditure of the training and the EPOC (which seems to be high) twice as often (and probably bleeding into that third day when your'e not training). So, you can take the same or perhaps a bit more workload and spread it over those two days (vs. a single monster workout in the 3day / week scenario) and keep kcal higher more days of the week.


In the 3 day / week program, you're focused on simply trying to keep fat gains at bay (more low cal days), whereas with the regular FT you can focus a bit more on growth. When leaner / dieted down, it's typically easier a smart move to spread a give workload out over more training session for most folks, too (e.g., take a 4 day / week program, shorten training sessions and train more times / week).

So, I'd go with regular old FT, but I do think you can make the other way work, too. Personally, I'm for whatever works best for you, and you may find that having a couple days off in a row is a godsend, too.

-S

Yes the AC is a potential goal assuming I can get feeling "normal" again without gaining a ton of weight. The big goal is to stay leaner while regaining muscle tissue. As I have been much bigger in the past (215lb on stage albeit not shredded) I feel like following an exact plan I can gain some quality muscle without losing a ton of condition over time.

I will go with the 4 day because I do love to train and the additional EPOC advantage makes sense to me.

Last time I did FT I did the loading/pump days on Mon/Tue and muscle rounds on Thur/Fri. Perhaps this time I will put the loading days on Mon/Wed and do muscle rounds Fri/Sat allowing the loading days extra recovery.

Thank you, I think I am on the right track now.

[Scott Stevenson]

Yes the AC is a potential goal assuming I can get feeling "normal" again without gaining a ton of weight. The big goal is to stay leaner while regaining muscle tissue. As I have been much bigger in the past (215lb on stage albeit not shredded) I feel like following an exact plan I can gain some quality muscle without losing a ton of condition over time.

I will go with the 4 day because I do love to train and the additional EPOC advantage makes sense to me.

Last time I did FT I did the loading/pump days on Mon/Tue and muscle rounds on Thur/Fri. Perhaps this time I will put the loading days on Mon/Wed and do muscle rounds Fri/Sat allowing the loading days extra recovery.

Thank you, I think I am on the right track now.

You're welcome!

I figured you'd like to train more often, too.

If you do the ASC, I'm looking forward to it - I think you could do really well!

-S

[bmm5530]

I just started the program today and am currently just doing the basic version, tier 1 to get used to the volume and see how things go the first week.

I just had a question about the stretches and wondered when I should do them. After day 1, I stretched after loading sets of leg extensions, ham curls, squats, and calf raises. Then when I went on to the pump sets with supersets of chest/back, shoulders/abs, and bis/tris I wasn't sure if I should stretch after completing the muscle group and also when I should. If i am supposed to stretch would I stretch after completing bis and then do my 1 set of tris or stretch both bis and tris after completing the superset for them?

Thank you for the help!

Ben

[Scott Stevenson]

I just started the program today and am currently just doing the basic version, tier 1 to get used to the volume and see how things go the first week.

I just had a question about the stretches and wondered when I should do them. After day 1, I stretched after loading sets of leg extensions, ham curls, squats, and calf raises. Then when I went on to the pump sets with supersets of chest/back, shoulders/abs, and bis/tris I wasn't sure if I should stretch after completing the muscle group and also when I should. If i am supposed to stretch would I stretch after completing bis and then do my 1 set of tris or stretch both bis and tris after completing the superset for them?

Thank you for the help!

Ben

Hey Ben,

You'll not be able to stretch during a superset (e..g, Pump sets) or rest between sets when zig-zagging. There's simply not enough time.

You want to stretch when the muscle is engorged with blood, especially for occlusion stretches and also during Extreme stretches. (Flexibity stretches will probably benefit too, as increased connective tissue temperature increases pliability.)

You'll see starting around page 89 of the book that the stretch comes just after training a muscle group (or set or muscle groups if coupled for pump sets). Basically, you'll stretch after doing all the training for a given muscle group for that day.

-S

[tWoBrO]

I have some limitations regarding training thighs. Lack of exercises options at my gym, lack of weigh in the gym, lack of good knees, etc.

Can i grow successfully doing only pump sets for thighs?

Really din't want to change the program, but i'm not really sure how can i do load sets for thighs.


Can't go heavy on squats because of my knees and hips. If my knees go over my toes I got hurt for weeks. I can't stop that from happening because i don't have much flexibility on my hips. This can be trained, so I have some room here.

Can't go heavy on leg press because there's no enough weigh at the gym. Knees don't hurt because i can place my feet properly and they don't go over my toes.

Can't go heavy on hip barbell squats because i only have a dip belt and that shit cuts the inside of my legs when going heavy. Buying a hip belt is an option, but it costs over 200€ here in Europe. The one Dr Scott uses.


So, can't really do load sets properly in this exercises for diferent reasons. Can do pump sets on all of them. MRs it's somewhere in between.