Plague of Strength

First off, I’d like to state unequivocally that I don’t want any “drink the Kool-Aid” style Gym Jones/Crossfit shit going on with C&P, nor do I want you guys to become like the thousands of Rippetoe marks populating the internet these days. C&P is open-source, fuckers, so treat it like you would anything that’s open source. Use it, love it, and make any mods you want to it- without mods, we’d not have Counterstrike, or half the cool shit on Firefox. I’m not Bill Gates, and this shit isn’t Microsoft.

That stated, I had a guy approach me a couple of months back with the following email.

“I am leaving on a big beach vacation at the beginning of September. That means I have about 90 days to get ripped. Here’s a little about me. I’m 28, Asian, 5’10” and 158 lbs. According to my Omron Fat Loss Monitor, I’m at 11% body fat (which seems a bit high for me, but whatever). I’m in pretty good shape now, pretty lean and have a 6-pack. My current workout routine is 3-4 days of lifting each week (1 hour sessions) and 3 days of basketball (for cardio). My goal is look as close to Bruce Lee (ripped to shreds) as possible.

What do you think I should do for workouts? I am on a very basic routine now. 3 day split (Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Back/Biceps, and Legs). I do about 12 sets per muscle group and 8-10 reps (this is before I read your blog). I am thinking of switching to a heavy routine, keeping the 3 day split, but going for about 10 sets, 1-5 reps each. Also, what are your thoughts about cardio? You don’t seem to be a fan of it, so should I cut it out of my workout? Or should I consider morning cardio on an empty stomach? I just saw your HIIT post so I won’t bother asking about it, lol.

For my diet, I currently eat whatever I want as my genes have helped fend out any significant fat gain. But I’m no longer 18 so I want to change this as well. I was thinking that I need to consume at a caloric deficit since I’m looking to cut. I am thinking about 50% protein, 35% fat (all the unsaturated fat from olive oils, nuts, etc.) and 15% carbs (limited to basically what’s in fruit, veggies, and shakes/bars). Should I be consuming at a deficit or so I need to eat more?”

He wasn’t sure if ChAoS and PAIN would get it done for him, but was willing to give it a try. I let him know that if he hooked me up with some pics, updated me periodically, and hit me with stats, I’d help him out for free. This poor fucker sent me a diet that showed that he was going to go basically paleo, but at a ridiculous caloric restriction, and only eat 1600 Kcals a day. That, of course, didn’t sit right with me. Thus, I encouraged him to increase his total daily meals to more than 6 per day (6 is the BARE MINIMUM I would ever recommend), clued him into the awesomeness that are Oh Yeah and Supreme Protein bars as mini-meals, and advised him to add some cheat meals to his diet. We did some tweaking to his diet, and then worked on his lifting routine, which amounted to a 6 day a week plan that included no cardio whatsoever, and no sets over three reps, with the exception of his bodyweight exercise days. As he didn’t have any specific bodypart goals, I focused his workout on traps and shoulders, and then we tweaked his diet further over the course of the 72 days he had until his vacation in the Bahamas, for which he was training. The results speak for themselves.

Kenny wasn’t a slob to begin with. He’d been training some, and it showed.

Kenny’s Day 1 Pics
. Face is obscured to protect the guilty.

From June 12th to July 17th, Kenny gained 4 lbs, going from 159lbs to 163lbs, and got way fucking stronger than he had been, but hilariously, did not find his improvements impressive. His July 13th weights and reps are the first, and the ones in parentheses are his previous bests.

• Squat: Sets of 4 reps @ 225 (Sets of 2 reps at 185)
• Bench: Sets of 2 @ 225 (Sets of 4 reps @ 185)
• Push press: Sets of 2 @ 115 (Sets of 4 @ 95)
• Deadlift: Sets of 1 @ 245 (Sets of 4 reps @ 185)
• Barbell rows: Sets of 3 @ 155 (Sets of 3 @ 135)

By week 8, Kenny was hitting the following numbers:

• Squat: Sets of 5 @ 225
• Bench: 1-2 @ 225. He then changed to incline, since he plateaued and could do doubles @ 205 on the Incline.
• Push press: Sets of 2 @ 115 and switched to the Behind the Back Push Presses ( which we said were “FUCKING AWESOME.” and did sets of 2-3 @ 135.
• Deadlift: Sets of 5 @ 275.
• Barbell rows: Dropped to include High Pulls instead. Sets of 3-4 @ 135.Shrugs – He started doing these in week 8, and worked from 275×4 to 325×1 that week.

Finally, 71 days after he started the program..
After (Aug 22, 71 days):

Fucking Sick.

• 166lbs
• ~5% body fat
• Squats: Sets of 4 reps @ 275lbs (He’s pretty sure he can do more, but he’s scared he’s going to blow out his back and knees. He won’t.)
• Bench: Sets of 2 reps @ 245
• Push press (back): Sets of 5 @ 145
• Deadlift: Sets of 5 reps @ 275
• High Pulls: Sets of 5 @ 155
• Shrugs: Sets of 3 @ 315

Thus, on the big three, Kenny made huge increases (in his lifts in 10 weeks, and dropped his bodyfat by a couple of percent, all while gaining 7 lbs!
Think P90X is the shit? Well, according to Kenny, for body recomposition, there’s nothing like a little C&P.

“The best things about all of this are the reactions I’ve gotten from people and how I feel. Never, in my 10 years of working out, have I gotten comments like these:

“I’ve never seen a polo shirt look better on anyone” – Said by a friend’s girlfriend to a friend of mine (so not to me directly)
“Holy shit dude, did you put on like 20 lbs of muscle this summer? Did you just lift everyday?” – Said by a friend
“Dude, you are looking jacked” – Said by one of my best friends who is in ridiculous shape
“Wow, you really bulked up over the summer” – Friend
Countless comments about my “hard body”, “washboard abs”, “muscles on muscles” from lots of women.
Lots of “you look great, have you been working out?” comments”

This is what ChAoS and PAIN does. It might not be pretty, and it might not be nice, but it fucking works, because brutal is good, and more brutal is even better. So, my hooligans, show ’em what the fuck is up at your gym, and show the rest of us as well. If you start using C&P, send me your info and I’ll blog about it. Spread the love!

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