Tri Phase Progressive Training

I trial tested this routine along w/a few other AL board members before Twin Peak finished the article on it.

So yeah,I'd be interested in reading your log.Dunno how valuable my feedback would be though as I fucked my back up while doing deads around 6 weeks into it so I had to drop it.

I would be interested in your log burton.

J

As would I. TBH even if there isnt that much interest do it anyway, an internet log is a great way of tracking progress and there is always someone who can guide you through any problems/dilemmas youmight have. The praise from your peers after hitting a goal of some sort is nice aswell.

Fair enough then. I'll start tonight with some basic info like measurments, goals, current state, all that happy fun shit, plus my workout from tonight. I'll see if I have some pictures on my computer that are semi recent, and if I do I'll post them too. I'd figure that I'll start wtih tonight, since i Dont wanna post 2 and a half weeks back. So with that in mind, I'll be in stage one, volume loading, third week, I'm at 6 sets/exercise.

Current Stats:

Body Weight: 237
Body Fat (estimate): 18.35% (43.5 lb)
LBM: 193.5 lb

Note about this: I dont have calipers, so I use the old army method of Neck, Waist, Height, Weight formula for progress. So far, I've come down from 25.6 % from their estimate while maintaining all but 3.8 pounds of lean mass. I use this for progress, nothing more, as it's consistent.

Goals: To hit 210, which if I keep my current lbm puts me around 8 percent bf if I recall correctly before engaging in clean bulking. Hope to do this by feb/march of next year.

Diet: Carb Cycling, non modified, as you can modify it for the TPPT lifting regimen.

A little history: I used to be hella fat, probably clinically obese 3 years ago or so, weighing in at around 315 pounds with what I"d guess to be 30-35 percent bf. Due to this, my one major problem I have is that I cant seem to get rid of a slight case of bitch tits (as compared to what it used to be, still bad in my view though), as well as loose skin on my stomach that doesnt seem to want to tighten up. I feel as if I've got a solid frame, just need to get past having a layer of fat covering everything that I"m currently working on.

Enough about my miniature novel: my workout goes like such tonight:

Like I said, I'm at 6 sets/exercise.

Lat Pulldowns:

9 x 90
9 x 100
9 x 110
9 x 120
8 x 130
8 x 140

Lying Leg Curls:

9 x 80
9 x 80
9 x 90
9 x 90
7 x 100
6 x 100

Barbell Rows:

9 x 135
9 x 135
9 x 135
7 x 155
6 x 155
6 x 155

Barbell Shrugs: (I do relatively low weight on these and focus on proper form).

9 x 185
9 x 185
9 x 185
9 x 185
9 x 185
9 x 185

Barbell (EZ) Curls: (Have to use EZ bar due to wrist problems)

9 x 80
9 x 85
9 x 90
8 x 95
7 x 100
6 x 105

Seated Calf Raises: No standing machine at my gym

9 x 160
9 x 160
9 x 180
9 x 180
9 x 200
8 x 200

Hammer Curls: 2 arm with DB

9 x 30s
8 x 30s
8 x 30s
8 x 30s
7 x 30s
6 x 30s

I look forward to it.

Posted by: @Twin Peak

I look forward to it.

Just the man I have a question for. You say in your writeups that by the end of each section you should be pretty overtrained if I recall correctly. Should it be an issue of concern if you're not feeling too drained. I know for a fact that right now, I still feel pretty good after these almost 3 weeks. However, I will admit that this week has been significantly harder on me than anything I've ever done as I normally only do 3-4 sets/exercise. Could this fact be why I"m still not feeling too drained yet, as the first 2 weeks never really pushed me too far out of my comfort zone? I would imagine that next week is gonna be rough with 49 and 56 sets crammed in about 75 mintues or so.

I know that these issues will have variation among different individuals, I"m just looking for a ballpark idea. I just wanna make sure that if I'm doing this, I wanna push myself hard enough.

Talk to me after you finish week 4.

Burton, TP's training should push you well past your limits. If it dooesn't, you need to increase the weights you are using and/or descrease the rest times.

My thoughts on weight selection during the Volume Phase is to start with a weight that you can do 7-9 reps, and leave only 1 rep in the hole (i.e. stay just 1-rep short of failure). And keep with that weight for as many sets as you can, but not going below 6 reps. And try to stay only 1-rep shy of failure for every set. Although, there were some sets where I reached failure in the 6-9 rep range, while using the same weight as the previous set.

Regarding weight selection, you should also try to practice progression from 1 work-out to the next. For example: say with your EZ curls. If you started with 9 reps of 80, 1st the weight selection here should be only 1-rep shy of failure. So if your 10-rep max is over 80 lbs., you should have started with a greater weight, IMO. And for the next work-out, you should start your 1st set with a higher weight selection, at least 85 lbs. i.e. "progressive" over-load. Also IMO, you should use your initial sets as your lower rep and higher weight sets, and pyramid down as you have to in subsequent sets.

Say for example, that you could curl 135 for 9 reps at failure. I would suggest that you start your 1st set at 135 and do 8 reps. And then go for 7 on the 2nd set, and 6 on the 3rd set (just examples here; you really want to get as many reps as possible keeping 1 rep in the hole). And then drop the weight by 10 lbs. to 125 on the 4th set and get say, 8 reps. And then 125 for 7 on set #5, and finish at 125 for 6 reps on the 6th set. This example is how I went about TP's training, having been through 3 cycles of it previously.

And about rest time in-between sets: keep it as short as you possibly can. Under 1 min., 30 secs is decent, 20 secs. is even better. I would do this by alternating exercises. Say for example, with your 1st two exercises: Pull-downs and Leg Curls. Start with your 1st set of Pull-downs (keeping proper weight selection in mind as posted above), and then alternate with your 1st set of Leg Curls. Rest in-between only the amount of time it takes you to get to the next exercise (20 sec. or less hopefully, but it depends on your equipment). And after the 1st set of Leg Curls, do your 2nd set of Pull-downs, and back-and-forth, etc. Keep the rest in-between as short as you possibly can, especially focus on this in the early sets, as I gaurantee that your rest times in-between sets will increase as you progress in your work-out.

To me, this is the essence of TP's training (Volume Phase anyway), to keep your weight slection as high as possible through each and every set, while pushing your endurance and recovery by working as quickly as possible to begin the next set. If you do this, you will certainly be over-training your system by the fourth week. I found myself quite taxed during week 3.

Posted by: @Twin Peak

Talk to me after you finish week 4.

Hes right, you'll be singing a different tune after the 4th week which manages to toss your salad pretty significantly.

A little late on my update from friday. Went home after the gym and didnt have a net connection all weekend so here's my belated update from friday's lift.

1. Squats

8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
7 x 135

2. Leg Extensions

9 x 125
9 x 125
9 x 125
9 x 125
9 x 125
9 x 150

3. Incline Bench

9 x 125
8 x 125
8 x 125
7 x 120
7 x 120
7 x 115

4. Cable Crossovers

9 x 100
8 x 120
8 x 120
7 x 120
7 x 120
7 x 120

5. DB Press (military)

9 x 45s
9 x 45s
9 x 45s
8 x 45s
8 x 45s
7 x 45s

6. Close Grip Bench

8 x 115
8 x 115
7 x 115
7 x 115
6 x 115
6 x 115

7. Tricep Pushdown

9 x 110
8 x 110
8 x 110
7 x 110
7 x 110
6 x 120

A couple of notes about this workout:

1. I supersetted Squats/Leg Ext, Incline Bench/Crossovers and Close Grip/Pushdowns with no breaks between sets except writing it down in the log, so around 5-10 seconds.

2. I took only 20 second breaks between sets on military presses.

My plan here is to up the amount of lifts I do per unit time as was kind of reccomended by you guys. I appreciate the advice and I must admit this workout kicked my ass. I always appreciate solid input and friday was good stuff. Looking forward to this next week.

So, I've been slightly neglectful for the last couple of days in regards to this journal, but I have an explanation, more to come later on that. But anyway, tongiht is gonna be an update extravaganza. Posting monday, tonight and some pictures and such, so 3 posts=3x the sweetness.

First things first, monday:

1. Lat Pulldowns

9 x 90-I think I let my warmups spill into my working sets somehow
8 x 140
8 x 140
7 x 150
6 x 150
6 x 140
6 x 140

2. Leg Curls

9 x 80
9 x 80
9 x 85
8 x 90
8 x 95
7 x 100
6 x 105

3. Barbell Rows

8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
7 x 135
7 x 135
6 x 135

4. Barbell Shrugs

8 x 295
6 x 295
8 x 295
7 x 295
7 x 295
7 x 295
6 x 295

5. Bicep Curls w/EZ Curl Bar

6 x 85
7 x 85
8 x 85
7 x 85
7 x 85
6 x 85
6 x 85

6. Seated Calf Raises

8 x 180
8 x 180
9 x 180
7 x 180
8 x 180
8 x 180
8 x 180

7. Hammer Curls-DB, Two arms

9 x 30s
9 x 30s
8 x 30s
8 x 30s
8 x 30s
8 x 35s
4 x 40s-Uh Oh, Failure, looks like I fucked up

On to my excuse: I got a call from a feamle friend I used to go to school with who was in my area for a work related function and she wanted to "see me". So I met up with her after the gym and needless to say, all went well. Now, I love this site, but you guys cant be expecting me to update my journal as opposed to getting my fuck on, particularly cause I have no game and it's rare that I get the opportunity.

Secondly, Tonight:

1. Squats

8 x 155
8 x 155
7 x 165
7 x 175
7 x 175
6 x 175
6 x 175

2. Leg Extensions

9 x 135
9 x 135
8 x 145
8 x 155
8 x 165
7 x 175
6 x 185

3. Incline Bench

9 x 120
8 x 125
7 x 125
6 x 125
8 x 115
7 x 115
7 x 115

4. Cable Crossovers

7 x 120
8 x 120
6 x 120
8 x 30s-See Explanation below
7 x 30s-Again, see explanation below
8 x 100
8 x 100

5. DB Military Press

8 x 50s
6 x 50s
8 x 45s
8 x 45s
7 x 45s
7 x 45s
6 x 45s

6. Close Grip Bench

9 x 115
9 x 115
8 x 115
8 x 115
7 x 115
6 x 115
6 x 115

7. Tricep Pushdowns

9 x 100
9 x 100
8 x 100
8 x 100
9 x 100
7 x 100
8 x 100

About the Crossovers that are fucked up: i had to substitute incline db flyes for these due to the fact this uppity bitch was using the cables. This wouldnt have been an issue otherwise but the fact was that she insisted on doing 30 sets of various shit with no breaks what so ever inbetween. Couple that to the fact that me asking her if I could use it for about 30 seconds seemed to put her off. Fucking yuppie bitch. If there was any justice, I could skullfuck people like that and get away with it.

Oh and by the way, there will be peroidic outbursts of rage in my log updates as I find it an apporpiate place to do my ranting sometimes. Hope none of you mind.

So yeah, I'm gonna complete the hate trick with this post so here goes. I find it to be a good time to post some updates on my progress and shit like my measurements and pictueres as I alluded to earlier. Finally got batteriest for my digital camera. I'm gonna post my current stats beside my stats for when I started cutting seriously back in july or so, so you can see where I"m coming from and where I've been. First things first, stats:

Now:; July:
Height: 6'5"; 6'5"
Weight: 234.5; 261.5
Waist: 36 7/8"; 40 1/2"
Chest: 42 9/16"; 45 1/8"
Bicep: 16 7/16"; 16 7/8"
Forearm: 12 7/16"; 13 1/8"
Quad: 24 15/16"; 27 7/8"
Calf: 16 3/4"; 18 1/4"
Neck: 15 1/2"; 15 1/2"

Body Fat: 18.79%; 24.87%
Fat Mass: 44.07 lb; 65.02 lb
Lean Body Mass: 190.43 lb; 196.48 lb

Actually, I just realized I need some input on pictures for future reference. Can you just attach files from your computer to a post or what? I'm gonna use imageshack for these, so it'll work, but for the future, I'd just like to upload them from my computer instead of having to screw with it. Without further wasted time, here's the imageshack links for the pictures.

Chest and Biceps

Back-Double Biceps

Right Bicep

Calf and Ham

Quad

There you go, my current situation, not horribly pretty, but I"m getting closer everyday to where i wanna be.

You guys remember that salad tossing I was promised by someone in this thread during week 4? Well, let me tell you, it happened tonight with a vengance. I felt really burnt out tonight and almost crashed a couple of times during the workout. Maybe the overtraining has caught up to me, but here we go for the update:

1. Lat Pulldowns

9 x 110
8 x 120
9 x 120
8 x 120
7 x 130
7 x 130
7 x 135
7 x 135

2. Leg Curls

9 x 80
9 x 80
9 x 85
9 x 85
8 x 90
8 x 90
7 x 95
7 x 100

3. Barbell Rows

8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
8 x 135
7 x 135
6 x 135
7 x 135
6 x 135

4. Barbell Shrugs

8 x 285
7 x 355
7 x 305
7 x 285
8 x 295
7 x 285
7 x 285
6 x 285

5. EZ Bar Curls

7 x 95
6 x 95
6 x 90
6 x 85
6 x 85
6 x 85
7 x 85
6 x 85

6. Seated Calf Raises

9 x 180
9 x 180
9 x 180
9 x 180
9 x 180
9 x 180
9 x 180
9 x 180

7. Hammer Curls

7 x 35s
7 x 30s
6 x 30s
6 x 30s
7 x 25s
7 x 25s
7 x 25s
7 x 25s

Exhausted tonight, I managed to do this in about 45 mintues and was very pissed which helped things along. Had a rare day at work where I could do nothing right and I suppose me repressing the anger at work all day helped me kinda lose it in the gym, which was a nice feeling in terms of productivity.