By JASON PEGG
For the accessory work, pair two exercises and alternate between them for the prescribed number of sets.
For example, on squat day: alternate between leg curls and pulldowns until you have all 60 reps for both exercises, and then you can move on to the next two exercises. The training sessions should not exceed 90 minutes per session—75 minutes is better. Work hard. The main point of this block is to ensure that you can recover from the training sessions in the next block.
Transmutation Block
• Week 10 is a deload week. If you’re feeling beat down, take the week off.
• Use the highest percentage listed for the last two work sets on the main lift.
• Complete recoveries between sets on the main lifts.
• Bench work is in shirt. Squat work is suit and briefs, straps down. DL work is straps up if conven-tional, down if pulling sumo.
• RPE of 8 is 3-4 reps left in the tank
• RPE of 8.5 is 2-3 reps left in the tank
• RPE of 9 is 1 rep left in the tank
• 90% of the strength gains in the cycle will come from this block.
Weeks Out Main Lift Percentage Volume of Main Lift Volume of Supplemental Lifts
Volume of Accessory Work
DELOAD 60 (raw) 12 20 (10 reps/set)
9 70-72-75 (straps down/shirt)
20 (3-4 reps/set) 22-25 (RPE 8) 30 (10 reps/set) 8 77-80-82 (straps
down/shirt)
16 (3 reps/set) 18-22 (RPE 8.5) 30 (10 reps/set) 7 84-87-89 (straps
down/shirt)
10 (2 reps/set) 14-18 (RPE 9) 20-30 (10 reps/set)
The supplemental work is what you would do for accessory work in a more standard-type template: floor presses, board presses, block pulls, safety bar box squats, etc. On the main bench day, you will do one Supplemental lift, and then you will do the accessory work. On the squat day, you will do the main work, a supplemental exercise for the deadlift, and then one for the squat. It would look like this: squat/block pull/
low box SSB squat. The accessory work in this block is two exercises each session, in the same alternating fashion.
Realization Block
• Week 6 is a deload week. Do the work if you can. If not, stay home. Easy.
• Squat work is briefs/suit, straps up and with knee wraps.
• Bench work is shirted.
• Deadlift work is straps up.
Weeks Out Percentage of Main Lift Volume of Main Lift Volume of Specialized Preparatory Lifts
(Accessory)
DELOAD 80 (raw) 6 30 (10-15 reps)
5 92 (gear) 6 (1-2 reps/set) 8-20 (8-10 reps)
4 95 (gear) 4 (1-2 reps/set) 8-20 (8-10 reps)
3 97-100 (gear) 2 (1 rep/set) 8-10 (8-10 reps)
2 90 Opener 1 8-10 (8-10 reps)
1 65 (raw)
Accessory work is one exercise for one or two sets, depending on the week. Pick something important but don’t hammer it.
Weeks out
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
14 Squat Bench (low) Lower (sq
or dl)
Cardio (60 min)
Bench (high)
13 Squat Bench (low) Lower (sq
or dl)
Cardio (60 min)
Bench (high)
12 Squat Bench (low) Lower (sq
or dl)
Cardio (60min)
Bench (high)
11 Squat Bench (low) Lower (sq
or dl)
Cardio (60min)
Bench (high)
10 Deload Deload Deload Deload Deload
9 Squat and
8 Squat and
Bigify (Verb): The act of becoming very jacked and/or swoll.
I have always been good at manipulating my weight. Whether it was cutting for wrestling (before I knew how to diet) or moving my weight up to an all-time high of 312 pounds, I have been able to make it happen. Now, there are those out there who say that they are “hard gainers,” but I say they are just “non-committers.” I say this because I’ve never seen an overweight/obese person who had trouble gaining weight, and he/she isn’t even trying. The following diet is what I used to push my weight up to an all-time high, and if you follow it, you will see new size gains as well.
Now, most diet “gurus” out there prescribe to one philosophy or another. It may be a high carb plan or one that focuses on high fats. It may even push for no fats… just whatever doctrine they have deemed as the best for everyone. For me, there is no “one best way” to eat but rather an “every person has an optimal way that he/she should eat.” For example, Dave Tate is a carb guy and does very well with a lot of carbs. I, on the other hand, cannot eat many carbs without becoming extremely sluggish, and I will actually loose mass. So, although the following diet worked extremely well for me, it may not be the best diet for you if you need to consume a different food source. With that said, you can’t know what is best for you until you actually stick to a diet and see what kind of results you get. That is why I say that “hard gainers” are just “non-committers,”
because I believe everyone can find a way to eat that will make them jacked.
This diet plan is based on cycling nutrients that I believe are essential to keeping your body growing. Your body is very smart and adapts to whatever nutrient profile you feed it. Therefore, you have to always keep it guessing. If not, it will adapt and you will stop growing, or worse yet… shrink. I started using a form of nutrient cycling over ten years ago—after I noticed that the guys who were “hard gainers” said they were very strict with their food plans and never cheated. On the other hand, those guys who were really jacked would eat shitty meals on a pretty regular basis; however, most of the time they ate plenty of protein and other good foods. That’s when I began telling these “hard gainers” to eat shitty food… and they would look at me like I was crazy. They would say that they didn’t want to get fat, but I would remind them that they had been at the same weight for five years, despite hard training and dieting. Some listened and grew; others didn’t and stayed the same or got smaller. In this diet there will be four “Base” diet days, two “High Carb” days, and one “Fat Load” day. You want to put your high carb days on your hardest training days. When I did this diet, my high carb days coincided with my leg days, but you can choose according to what days you feel are your hardest.
Some of the food choices in this diet may seem odd, especially the amount of oil, but just drink it. It will put size on you. If you think you can’t stomach drinking 1/4 cup of oil, then stop reading because you just don’t have the commitment to “Bigify.” For the meat choices, I recommend eating grass fed beef and wild salmon, but your budget dictates what you can afford. So, it’s better in my book to get eight ounces of regular beef over two ounces of organic beef if you have a limited budget. I also recommend organic cream, milk, butter, and vegetables, but again what is best and what you can afford may be two different things. I didn’t put bacon on the menu, but feel free to add as much man-making bacon to the breakfast as you want (except on high carb days) so long as you get the other foods in. Bacon with no nitrates is preferred. On the high carb day, I have cereal listed because I love crappy breakfast cereals like cinnamon toast crunch and peanut butter captain crunch. You don’t have to use cereal for your carb source as much as I like to, but make sure to substitute relatively the same amount of carbs with another source that you enjoy.
Supplement wise, I used all Biotest supplements for my training protocol. I also used Mag-10 and leucine between meals. Don’t get caught up too much in the times I have listed; they are just a rough estimate. You need to eat every two to three hours. When there is a big gap between meals, you need to supplement with