Strength and Physique

Q: "James, I also read your program called strength training for the police officer. I currently work for ICE/DRO. I don’t know if you had a chance to meet any officers from my agency, but in a nutshell we are the marshals of Immigration & Customs Enforcement. We do work in correctional environments as well as fugitive operations. Could you provide a simple and basic power lifting program to follow?"

Thank you very much and stay safe.

-CB

My Answer: Simple? Basic? You can’t get simpler than the 3-5 Power Periodization program. If you want to adapt this program for powerlifting, then simply substitute the competition lifts (bench press, squat, deadlift) and assistance lifts, but stick to the basic parameters:

Weeks 1 and 2: 5×5, 3 minutes rest, 5 days a week

Week 3: 3×3, 5 minutes rest, 3 days a week

Also, don’t do squats and deadlifts in the same workout. Alternate between the 2 from workout to workout for your legs. Test for your 1RM during Week 4.

Q: “Hello James, I have some diet questions: I am 6′2″ and 280 pounds. I have lost 40 lbs so far that has been from fasting. I started hitting the gym and jogging. I have been reading about Ketone diets. Is this something that you would recommend for me? I am trying to prepare for the Police Academy. Do you have any advice? I would love any feed back. Thanks, keep up all the good work.”

-MV

My Answer: Although ketogenic diets are excellent diets for fat loss, they’re not the greatest diets for athletic training, such as preparing for the police academy. The reason is two-fold:

1) Carbs are the primary fuel source for explosive bursts of energy. Ketones just aren’t that great of a fuel source when it comes to athletics.

2) Carbs are stored in your muscles as glycogen, and glycogen retains a lot of water. This water retention helps with lubrication of your joints, which is helpful when you’re doing PT/DT (physical training, defensive tactics) in the academy.

Nevertheless, a cyclical ketogenic diet can help you lose a lot of fat while retaining muscle. It depends on far off the academy is. If you have more than a month before the academy starts, then try the CKD and lose as much fat as you can. If you’re starting the academy in January 2010, then keep doing what you’re doing that’s working. The academy is not the time to change things up and start experimenting.

Fasting is OK. Old-time bodybuilders have been known to fast from time to time to detoxify their digestive systems from phases of heavy meat eating. But don’t fast for too long, since you’ll lose a lot of muscle mass. Muscle is the engine that burns fuel (fat), and you want to maintain that larger engine to burn more fuel. If you fast for too long, then your body breaks down muscle (a process known as catabolism) and you end up with a slower metabolism because your "engine" is now smaller.

A better way to detoxify your body is to do protein pulsing. This is similar to the Warrior Diet, where you fast throughout the day and eat one large meal for dinner. Instead of fasting throughout the day, however, just eat a lot of salads, fruits, nuts and seeds. Drink coffee in the morning, green tea and water throughout the day. For dinner, eat a regular meal.

In other words, follow a low carb, low calorie vegetarian diet throughout the day, then eat whatever you want (within reason of course) for dinner. This is a far better way to detoxify your body and lose weight in the long run than fasting, because it mitigates hunger to some degree and doesn’t put your body in a catabolic state.

Just a quick update: I have a new article here at Bodybuilding.com, an online reprint of my Planet Muscle article “Power Bodybuilding.” The article addresses training for the entire strength spectrum: explosive power, maximal strength, hypertrophy and strength endurance. Also, Tactics and Strategies is currently unavailable. It’ll be re-released soon with some additional chapters, including a chapter on ab training, which a lot of readers have been asking for.

Hey James,

Kind regards,
Thomas

My Answer: I think everybody, not just ectomorphs, can gain more muscle if they adhere to the principles in the 10-8-6-15 article. This doesn’t mean everybody should follow this particular program all the time. But if you follow the principles of brief but frequent training with one exercise per body part, then you will gain and maintain muscle much better than a split routine with multiple exercises for each body part.

Rest periods are flexible. You rest briefly during density phases where you’re pushing your muscles to the limit. You rest for 3 minutes or longer for decompression phases where you pull back on your training and allow your body to overcompensate and grow.

But the principles of frequent training (hitting each body part directly or indirectly 3 times per week) and focused training (one or two exercises per body part) is at the core of all my programs. The Neo-Classical program has workouts which allow for multiple exercises for each body part, but this is because the Neo-Classical program is meant for advanced bodybuilders.

The Neo-Classical program also has a hybrid design with regards to frequency. In other words, it is a combination of a full body routine and a split routine. I devote a whole chapter to this hybrid design in Strength and Physique Volume One.

With regard to diet, I prefer to pay attention to macronutrient profiles as opposed to calorie intake. You should still follow bulking and cutting phases, but during your bulking phase follow a macronutrient profile of 33% protein, 33% carbs and 33% fat or something close to this ratio.

During your cutting phase, follow 60% fat, 30% protein and 10% carbs. Those carbs should be from primarily greens. So to sum up, follow a higher calorie Zone diet to bulk for a couple weeks, then follow an Atkins diet for a couple of weeks.

A great service to use that’s free is Fit Day. It allows you to analyze your diet and observe both your calorie intake and your macronutrient profile.

"I am a police officer in a small town and I am starting your strength training for the law enforcement warrior program. My goal I would like to achieve out of this program is to better my appearance in uniform. I would like to gain muscle and lose fat. I am 28 yrs old approximately 5′ 8″ and 145lbs with a relatively high metabolism. Only until recently have I began to gain fat weight around my mid section.

“As a cop you realize that I don’t have the opportunity to eat where and when I please and usually I just bite and swallow my food. My question I would like to ask is, what would you suggest as a nutritional program for this type of workout?

“I do work day shift which gives me the opportunity to eat breakfast around 9:00am and then I eat lunch anywhere between 11:30 and 1:30. I then come home and eat again around 5:00 to 7:00pm.

“We have a Dairy Queen, Pizza buffet, Subway, Chinese restaurant, and a soul food dinner in the town I work in. I normally eat one of the above and rarely if ever bring my food from home. On a cops salary I do not have the money to buy all those fancy meals and usually I don’t know how to make or cook them if I did have the money.

“Do you know of a relatively cheap easy meal plan for dummies that would allow me to eat nutritiously for this workout that I am starting to do?”

Thank you for your time and patience,

Detective Wilkes Fraser
Wrightsville Police Department

My Answer: Oh it’s tough being a lawman going from case to case, lead to lead and eating when you can. When aspects of your life are not under your control, such as diet and time, then you really don’t have control over the outcome with regards to your physique. So I strongly suggest you learn how to cook or at least pack cold meals. That way you control what you eat.

With you at 5′8″ 145 lbs. with some midsection fat, I’d say you’re heading toward the skinny/fat look. Essentially you’re an ectomorph with some belly fat, which is a result of physical and mental stress (duh! you’re a cop) and poor diet. You can’t control the stress you get, only how you react to it.

What you can control is your diet, so I suggest you eliminate as many white carbs from your diet as possible. That means no sugar, bread, pastas, fries, potatoes, rice, alcohol, etc. Your body is producing a lot of cortisol due to the stress, so you’re not able metabolize carbs very well, which is why it’s being dumped as fat around your midsection.

Of course, given your list of restaurants, easier said than done. For breakfast, have eggs in any form. Bacon and sausage are fine, but no cereal, hash browns or toast. Coffee (no sugar) is fine.

For lunch, eat a protein portion with a vegetable portion, but no starchy carbs, no soft drinks. So if you eat at the Chinese restaurant or soul food place, meat and veggies would be fine, but rice, noodles and corn bread would not. Dinner: same thing.

Be sure to drink lots of water throughout the day to alleviate the detrimental effects of cortisol on your health. Strength and Physique V1 has a chapter on diet, so be sure to look into that.

"I am following your Shotgun program, and after 6 weeks I’m in love with it. I do really like the template, and the possibility to choose exercises for the troubleshooting days.

"However I have a question about the shotgun movement of the third day, the bench press. I found that even if I lift a lot less with the dumbbell bench press (52 lbs) than the barbell bench press (132 lbs), my pecs are much more sore the next day with dumbbells.

"Is the dumbbell bench press intense enough to be a shotgun movement? Can it help increase strength (and eventually mass) as much as barbell? I’m working with the format 6×3. Thanks in advance for your input."

Regards,
Guillaume

My Answer- Yes the dumbbell press performed in a 6×3 format would qualify as a Shotgun movement. Even though you are using less weight on the dumbbell bench press as opposed to the barbell bench press, the dumbbell version is superior for hypertrophy for 2 reasons:

1) There is a greater range of motion with the dumbbell bench press. Whereas the movement stops at the bottom of the bench press when the barbell touches your chest, the weights will go past your chest in the dumbbell version. This will give you a greater stretch in the pecs, and stretching a muscle under high tension (i.e. heavy weight) will induce greater muscular size.

2) Dumbbell movements require greater stabilization from the muscles being worked. In other words, your chest, triceps and stabilizer muscles have to work much harder to move heavy dumbbells in a straight line as opposed to a barbell.

In general, heavy dumbbell movements are superior to barbell movements for hypertrophy for the upper body.

"Hey James, I recently tried your bulking for ectomorph program and managed to put size on everywhere except for my arms which failed to grow. Do you suggest I include more direct arm work or cut back on the amount I’m doing already: 4 sets biceps + 4 sets triceps, 3x a week?”

Thanks,
Dan

My Answer: You can still do the pyramid program, but for the arms, substitute the Direct Assault arm specialization program. Done properly this will give you some big guns. Your workouts for the week will look like this:

Monday:

A) Squats- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 3 minutes rest.

*The next 2 exercises are an “antagonistic superset.” Perform a bench press, then rest 90 seconds. Perform pulldowns, then rest 90 seconds before going back to bench presses. Repeat for desired repetitions.

B1) Bench press- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest.
B2) Pulldowns- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest.

C)Laterals- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 2 minutes rest.

D1) Preacher Curls (6 sets) 6 reps, 90 seconds rest
You can use any variation of the preacher curl. Variations include the straight barbell preacher curl, one arm dumbbell preacher curls or reverse grip EZ-bar preacher curls

D2) Lying flat bench triceps extensions with an EZ curl bar (6 sets) 6 reps, 90 seconds rest

Wednesday:

A) Squats- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 3 minutes rest.

*The next 2 exercises are an “antagonistic superset.” Perform a bench press, then rest 90 seconds. Perform pulldowns, then rest 90 seconds before going back to bench presses. Repeat for desired repetitions.

B1) Bench press- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest.
B2) Pulldowns- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest.

C)Laterals- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 2 minutes rest.

D1) Lying to seated dumbbell curls (3 sets) 13-15 reps, no rest
-Perform 6-8 reps of lying flat bench dumbbell curls, then sit up and perform alternating seated dumbbell curls

D2) Feet Elevated Pushups (3 sets) 13-15 reps, 60 seconds rest

Friday:

A) Squats- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 3 minutes rest.

*The next 2 exercises are an “antagonistic superset.” Perform a bench press, then rest 90 seconds. Perform pulldowns, then rest 90 seconds before going back to bench presses. Repeat for desired repetitions.

B1) Bench press- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest.
B2) Pulldowns- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 90 seconds rest.

C)Laterals- 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, 15 reps; 2 minutes rest.

Saturday:

A) Hammer curls (10 sets) 4 reps, 60 seconds rest
B) Seated overhead half press in power rack (10 sets) 4 reps, 60 seconds rest

“Hi, I have a few questions to ask you: I was trying to figure out what to do to become a cop. I am also trying to figure out what kinda workout I need, so I can get in to good shape.”

-Freddie Ricci

My Answer: I have no idea what your background is physically or lifestyle-wise. Obviously, you should have your life in order before you apply as a peace officer. No outstanding debts, no criminal history, no character flaws.

Now with regards to workouts, I have no idea what to tell you, because you haven’t provided me with your physical background. Everybody starts from a different baseline, so prescibing a universal workout for cops is not something that I do. Nevertheless, check out my article on Strength Training for Cops and my blog posts on the topic. These will give you some direction where you can start asking more specific questions on how to be a cop.

"Hey James, I love your blog. I’m a 33 year old ectomorph whose been lifting off and on for 15 years or so. I’ve found that the normal two bodyparts a workout doesn’t seem to work for me. I make progress slowly. However, I recently purchased a powerbar for pull-ups, pushups and dips, along with a mini bench and 50 lb. dumbells. I’ve been on a Pull-up, Pushup, dip, press (with dumbells) 3 sets each for a month now, and I see good progress.

"I was wondering what you thought about going to the gym and doing an entire body workout: one set each exercise? For example: 10 reps squats, 10 reps bench press, 10 reps lat pulldowns, 10 reps curls, 10 reps close grip presses, 10 reps back rows, 10 deadlifts, etc. Is this overkill 3 days a week? Sorry for the long question, I wanted to give details."

Thanks!
Tay

My Answer: Doing 1 set per exercise three times per week is much better than 3 sets done once a week. You will gain strength quickly the more frequently you train, so what you propose is perfectly fine. This was the way bodybuilders used to train in the very beginning. I go over this history lesson in my book Tactics and Strategies.

In the first quarter of the 20th century, there was no such thing as multiple sets. The training concept of the “set system” hadn’t been invented yet. Everybody did one set per exercise and that was it. A typical bodybuilder’s routine would have consisted of 12 exercises covering the entire body, with only one set per exercise. This full body workout would be performed 3 days a week, every other day.

Despite the limitations of a single set, a wide variety of single set training routines flourished for 40 years prior to the advent of the set system. In my book Tactics and Strategies there’s a chapter that goes over these various single set routines. Single set routines are great for bodybuilders looking to minimize overtraining and yet still develop strength and muscle tone.

Q: "Hey James, how are you doing? I was wondering what would the 10-8-6-15 program look like for a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule? I see that there are 4 different muscle categories of exercises:

A) Squats
B1) Bench Press
B2) Pulldowns
C) Laterals
D1) Incline Dumbell Curls
D2) Close Grip Bench Press

-Musai

My Answer: It’s pretty clear in the article, Musai. The above series of exercises is the workout you perform every time: Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Q: "I just read your article on Pyramid training and the ectomorph. I am a dad that is ‘monitoring’ my son’s workout program. He would probably be what you would call an ectomorph. 5′8", 120lbs, 16yrs old. He is currently working out twice a week with this routine (Monday and Thursday). Doing 8-6-4-10 (70%, 80%, 90%, 60% of his max):

Smith Machine Bench
Tricep "push down" machine
Machine rows
Lat pulldown machine
Curl machine
Shoulder press machine
Squats (seated with free weights)
Leg extension machine
Leg curl machine
Calf raises on the same squat machine
Situps

"Is there anything he is doing wrong or he needs to change? I appreciate your help."

-Dwayne

MyAnswer- Looks fine, but there is one glaring problem with your list of exercises: You have too many of them. 4 sets per exercise with 11 exercises would put you at 44 total sets. Your son would be working out at least 90 minutes to 2 hours. Anything over an hour and 26 sets is overtraining.

Cut some of the exercises out and avoid training redundancy. You’ve chosen all machine exercises, but if your son started out with free weights, then you’d be able to eliminate this redundancy in training. Cut out the leg extensions and leg curls. If your son performs barbell squats, then his thighs should get enough stimulus.

Get rid of the sit-ups for now, as ab work is pretty traumatic for ectomorphs trying to gain muscle and size. Take out the triceps pushdowns and machine curls, since your son’s arms will get enough work from the presses, rows and pulldowns. Your son’s program should look like this:

Smith Machine Bench
Machine rows
Lat pulldown machine
Shoulder press machine
Squats (with free weights)
Calf raises on the same squat machine

My most popular article by far has to be Hypertrophy Training for the Ectomorph. I get emails about this program all the time, so I decided to compile the article and the most frequently asked questions together and offer it as a free 10 page PDF.

If you’re an ectomorph, a newbie or hardgainer, then this program will help you gain a lot of muscle in a simple to follow format. To receive this free PDF, you must subscribe to my email updates for this blog. Simply email me at strengthandphysique@yahoo.com with the words "Subscribe, ectomorph program" in the subject line.

Once you receive this PDF, you may redistribute this article for free to your friends and family or you can attach it as a free bonus gift with other products, as long as you do not alter it in any way.

Just a quick update: I have a new article in the latest issue of Planet Muscle titled "Power Bodybuilding." The articles addresses training for the entire strength spectrum: explosive power, maximal strength, hypertrophy and strength endurance. Pick up the copy at Barnes and Noble when you get a chance.

Q: "I meant to say a while back [that] your third book is great! Very cool workouts that I want to try in the future. Love the article for women as well. Now I can finally get my girlfriend in shape.

“Anyway I just have two questions:

1. For the size and strength workout, you say to alternate between 2 workouts for 5 days a week. So this means Monday, Wednesday, Friday I do Workout #1, and Tuesday, Thursday do Workout #2? And for pull ups, should weight be added? Same question for sternum pull ups during the 3×3 week.

2. I’m wondering if you were thinking about writing a book related to other aspects of bodybuilding? Like the importance of sleep, dietary guidelines for bulking/cutting/etc, supplements and other important topics? I know it sounds like I’m kissing your ass or something but I don’t know: ever since I started working out with your workout regimens I actually made progress. Your workout ideology is smart, and when I have better results doing one exercise per body part as opposed to three or four, it’s hard to trust other trainers’ opinions. So I trust your word, and it would be great to have a book on diet, what foods to eat, etc. I’m sure tons of others would love it as well.

“Well thats all. Hope you do decide to make that book though, haha.”

Thanks,
Craig

My Answer: Glad you like the third volume, Craig. I appreciate the praise. To answer your questions:

1) For the size and strength program, you’ll alternate the 2 workouts for five days, take a 2 day break and continue the alternation for 5 more days. So it will look like this:

Monday- Workout #1
Tuesday- Workout #2
Wednesday- Workout #1
Thursday- Workout #2
Friday- Workout #1
Saturday- Off
Sunday- Off
Monday- Workout #2
Tuesday- Workout #1
Wednesday- Workout #2
Thursday- Workout #1
Friday- Workout #2

For pull-ups and sternum pull-ups, use a weight that allows you to perform the required reps. So if you can perform more than 5 strict full range pull-ups in Weeks 1 and 2, then hang some weight on yourself. If not, then just stick with your bodyweight. Same goes for sternum pull-ups. Simply add or subtract weight as your strength increases or decreases from set to set, workout to workout.

2) With regards to another book on bodybuilding diet, I don’t know if I have the time or inclination for a full blown diet and lifestyle book. I go over diet in Strength and Physique, Volume One, but I know what you’re getting at. A book with recipes and meal plans and dietary philosophy would be helpful to you guys.

I will write a diet and lifestyle article in the future, but for now, let me give you some direction:

- With regards to diet, follow a meat and greens diet to be lean and muscular. It is far more complicated than this, and dieting should be in phases, just like training. I’ll go over this in my article. But for now, if you want to keep it simple, then follow a Paleo Diet.

- With regards to supplementation, it will depend on what your goal is and at what phase of your training and dieting you are on (bulking or cutting): Supplementation for the Academy

- With regards to sleep, this is a no-brainer: Get some sleep! Sleep for as long as you can: 7-9 hours of continuous uninterrupted sleep is good. If you find that you’re sleepy in the afternoon after lunch, then take a nap if you can. If you can’t because you’re at work, then don’t worry about. Save naps for the weekends.

Hi, I have been reading some articles (not all yet) of yours on Bodybuilding.com.    As a fellow Police Officer (just 3 years) I appreciate reading articles regarding police fitness by someone who has been there, done that.  
 
I am currently only lifting weights with minimal cardio right now.    I like the idea of the HIIT cardio, and will do that from now on.
 
My question is regarding training, specifically to martial arts.   I love to train with weights and want to continue to gain mass and functional strength, but I also want skill and training.   I love the idea of doing some MMA training, Muay Thai, etc. but have not enrolled into any programs yet.   I am afraid those courses will be ‘too much’ and ‘unnecessary.’  They will also burn a tremendous amount of calories which will hinder my weight training/gaining mass.   I was thinking more of a Judo or Aikido approach, where the workouts won’t burn your through thousand plus calories everyday.
 
Does this at all make sense?   Do I have this all wrong?  I think I can keep the body going full speed with training Aikido or Judo along with an all out intensive weight training program.  I am having a hard time believing I will be able to maintain an intensive weight program with full time MMA/Muay Thai training.
 
What do you recommend?

Bottom line: Try aikido; see if you like the art and if the instructor is any good.  In my experience, there aren’t very many good aikido instructors around who can teach aikido for real world situations.  If you go with a different martial art, then scale back on the weights.