Topic of the Week: What program gave you the best results?

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In all your years of training what has been the most productive training program you've used and why? Most muscle gained? Most fat loss?
 
BloodManor

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Wender 5/3/1 I gained solid mass and numbers went up but it was boring

Arnold’s blueprint was amazing but it hurt like hell. Those 30 rep sets are brutal but felt like I gained nicely on it.
 
EMPIREMIND

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The best program I used was designed by the guy who used to train me. He incorporated concepts from dc training, mountaindog and some 100 rep sets here and there. For the most part we did push pull legs, arms and then doubled back on whatever muscle group we wanted to bring up. I exploded during this time, and was able to eat a ton of food while staying lean and getting very strong.

In more recent years I think I would have to go with either fortitude training or mountaindog gamma bomb. These programs have allowed me to really add some quality size and have enough volume that with a deficit I can really drop fat with or stay lean and not have to overdo cardio. They also incorporate progressive overload and strentgh work.

For a while i did a program by Christian Theobald for arms. This was a very successful 6weeks. He incorporated a lot of compound movements but also focused on arm development. I think this really helped me break a plateau in arm size.
 

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For me it was a combination of power rack training very heavily with partials with traditional Power building. I kept most of my sets at either singles for maybe 5x1 then some pump work or straight up volume days of 5×3 and then 3×5 with a burnout set afterwards. It worked very well.
 
jtmass

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PHAT by Layne Norton. Now, I am starting with DC hoping to see some good improvements.
 
BarryScott

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Starting Strength advanced novice phase, HLM.
 
jswain34

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Both of the RTS project momentum programs i have done. The RTS generalized intermediate program to follow that. Then i will throw some love to 5/3/1 as thats what i followed for the first 2 years i started m training (read: not just "lifting weights").
 
BloodManor

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PHAT by Layne Norton. Now, I am starting with DC hoping to see some good improvements.
Phat treated me very well.

This thread made me change it up again to blueprint mass and damn am i exhausted. Forgot how challenging it is
 
Old Witch

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Wender 5/3/1 I gained solid mass and numbers went up but it was boring

Arnold’s blueprint was amazing but it hurt like hell. Those 30 rep sets are brutal but felt like I gained nicely on it.
Arnold’s programs are absolutely grueling. But not boring. And I found them to be very productive 10 and 20 years ago. I haven’t tried the new blueprint ones.

John Meadows’ Gamma Bomb is really fantastic.

I like programming my own routines now though based on things I learned from Arnold and John Meadows mainly.
 

costelum

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i had my best resultsat 19 years with 3 days a week monday , wenstay , friay day 1 cest arms day 2 legs abdomen day 3 back deldoids , 4 days off ... to recover entire sistem cns .. not only muscle ... this was 100 natural , maybe on steroids you can do more ...
 
BloodManor

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Arnold’s programs are absolutely grueling. But not boring. And I found them to be very productive 10 and 20 years ago. I haven’t tried the new blueprint ones.

John Meadows’ Gamma Bomb is really fantastic.

I like programming my own routines now though based on things I learned from Arnold and John Meadows mainly.
I usually do my own program and usual modifications to built programs to fit my needs. But starting with 30 reps on many movements give me the most insane pumps and next day I still feel full as ****
 

Resolve10

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Lifting heavy enough and always trying to progress on primarily compound exercises, no “program”.

Not neglecting cardiovascular training.

Not buying into preconceived notions of limits, pushing boundaries based on how I am recovering.

Full body or upper/lower and high frequency as opposed to a typical bro split.
 

NGtrains

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Big beyond belief made all my lifts shoot up, packed on mass, and made me insanely vascular literally everywhere.
 
jtmass

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This is a great thread! Quite a few programs that people can follow once they get bored of regular ones.
 
jtmass

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Don’t give up on DC training bro!
Not at all.. I have just started my experience with DC. So many good programs and I’d like to note them down and read about it when I get the time.
 
GreenMachineX

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Powerbuilding 3x5 on all the big lifts for cutting or bulking. I’ll never go back to anything else (unless injured).
 
booneman77

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PHAT has been my go-to for years but I just finished my first Creeping Death 2.0 (mountaindog) run and absolutely loved it... the style and volume suits me very well both from an enjoyment and style perspective.

For cutting, just actually getting out and doing my cardio is the big ticket ha... my lifting is always the priority but cardio makes the cut happen
 
nightshift

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20 rep squat program. Old school and brutal. Was in my 30's the first time and ran it for 6 weeks. Gained 10 lbs and got strong as hell. Look it up if you are not familiar. It will definitely add some mass and test your will.
 

jmero2

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I love the old powerbuilding programs from Shawn Phillips, I also ran his vst program until about 5 months ago. I'm kinda digging Mentzer's heavy duty now.
 
SMS

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Mon- Lower (main front+mix)
Tue- Push-
Thurs- lower(main back+mix)
Fri- Pull

4x week,

optionals:
- metabolic workouts added 1-2 days x week
- 5th day: sat- fullbody

Great body recomp! not typical boring
 
TheMovement

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Honestly in terms of sheer strength gained and body fat lost.... Layne Nortons PH3. Im talking huge gains all around the board on lifts. Definitely not one I recommend often only because of the difficulty but hands down the best program Ive ran.
 

DeadliftsE3D

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Far more people need to give a program like this a shot.
First program I ever tried, as a noob, and the one im using to return to lifting. Provides a fantastic foundation to serve a range of goals.
 
Mzakif

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Wender 5/3/1 I gained solid mass and numbers went up but it was boring

Arnold’s blueprint was amazing but it hurt like hell. Those 30 rep sets are brutal but felt like I gained nicely on it.
Same here about wendler also nSuns but this one we’re extremely boring and deadlift based template was an overkill

numbers and strength was way beyond my imagination and that what made me keep going through these long workout and pain

However it was hard to cut on both that’s why I dropped them for summer cut.

I’ll take a look at Arnold blueprint never thought of it

did u lose allot of strength on Arnold’s blueprint?
 
Mzakif

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The best program I used was designed by the guy who used to train me. He incorporated concepts from dc training, mountaindog and some 100 rep sets here and there. For the most part we did push pull legs, arms and then doubled back on whatever muscle group we wanted to bring up. I exploded during this time, and was able to eat a ton of food while staying lean and getting very strong.

In more recent years I think I would have to go with either fortitude training or mountaindog gamma bomb. These programs have allowed me to really add some quality size and have enough volume that with a deficit I can really drop fat with or stay lean and not have to overdo cardio. They also incorporate progressive overload and strentgh work.

For a while i did a program by Christian Theobald for arms. This was a very successful 6weeks. He incorporated a lot of compound movements but also focused on arm development. I think this really helped me break a plateau in arm size.
What is that program u did for arms??
 
Mzakif

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Lifting heavy enough and always trying to progress on primarily compound exercises, no “program”.

Not neglecting cardiovascular training.

Not buying into preconceived notions of limits, pushing boundaries based on how I am recovering.

Full body or upper/lower and high frequency as opposed to a typical bro split.
Been on upper lower 6 days a week with intermittent fasting for a month now I look way better leaner but weights declines and I’m not losing and more fat I think I should increase my calories a-bit for a while as cut 1000 calories Ana been on too low carb most of the time
 
Mzakif

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This is a great thread! Quite a few programs that people can follow once they get bored of regular ones.
Totally agree learned allot from all these first few posts and heard about several programs for 1st time

Awesome idea
 
EMPIREMIND

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Iirc I did this twice, I took two weeks between to pull back from my arms and focus more on compound lifts and legs, then ran it again. I really enjoyed these workouts
 
Mzakif

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Iirc I did this twice, I took two weeks between to pull back from my arms and focus more on compound lifts and legs, then ran it again. I really enjoyed these workouts
Did u incorporate it with other body parts as I can see that if done exactly as he prescribed you will ignore everything else
 
EMPIREMIND

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Did u incorporate it with other body parts as I can see that if done exactly as he prescribed you will ignore everything else
I ran it exactly like that. It’s a four week program for bigger arms, you can’t do everything at once. I wanted to bring my arms up and that’s exactly what happened for me. I did all sets at an rpe of 8-10 so this program was challenging. The first day and first exercise, deadlifts for four sets, then the last set a drop set that was brutal. The thing that I liked about this program was it used a lot of compound lifts but focused on arms. deadlifts squats, lunges, over head press, bench press, pull ups, dips. What is it lacking?
 
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Steezy

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Starting Strength made me the most strongest out of 5/3/1, nsuns, 5x5! It was the first program to help me get to a 365lb squat and a 450lb deadlift at 180lb!! Best peaking program for a lift was with smolov jr finally benched 255lb!
 
Mzakif

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I ran it exactly like that. It’s a four week program for bigger arms, you can’t do everything at once. I wanted to bring my arms up and that’s exactly what happened for me. I did all sets at an rpe of 8-10 so this program was challenging. The first day and first exercise, deadlifts for four sets, then the last set a drop set that was brutal. The thing that I liked about this program was it used a lot of compound lifts but focused on arms. deadlifts squats, lunges, over head press, bench press, pull ups, dips. What is it lacking?
The rest of muscle groups volume definitely less generally but got your point and I’ll try it soon
 

Resolve10

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The rest of muscle groups volume definitely less generally but got your point and I’ll try it soon
Typically that’s the best approach to build a lagging muscle or when you want to focus on something, blast it with more volume but cut that from other areas so that overall recovery remains.
 
Godstrength

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Layne Norton PHAT training. Progressive, balanced between strength and reps and hit every body part 2x per week and still get 2 rest days.
 
EMPIREMIND

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You will see
The rest of muscle groups volume definitely less generally but got your point and I’ll try it soon
For me the biggest area I found it lacked in was side delts. so You could always throw in some side laterals here and there. I don’t think that would be unreasonable
 
BloodManor

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Same here about wendler also nSuns but this one we’re extremely boring and deadlift based template was an overkill

numbers and strength was way beyond my imagination and that what made me keep going through these long workout and pain

However it was hard to cut on both that’s why I dropped them for summer cut.

I’ll take a look at Arnold blueprint never thought of it

did u lose allot of strength on Arnold’s blueprint?
I did lose some strength but gained mass. At 40 I can care less about strength
 
Chados

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2 times a week each muscle, high fat low carb. That's my diet year round and i find it to be the best way of staying lean.
 
hairygrandpa

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For fat loss:
Water fast 6 days, followed by ketogenic diet, followed by intermittent fasting.
For building muscles:
Intuitive training (no plan). High volume, moderate weights with one week x month heavy weights.
Instead of progressive overload, I use TUT and RP sets, fiddling more with timing of reps than upping weights.
 
Cheeky Monkey

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Are there some programs that work better based on one's age? Like if you're between 15-25 years old, certain programs will work better or are more suited for you compared to say someone 35 and above?
 
Methylated

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Bro splitting with pyramid sets. 10/8/6 with increasing weight. Hasn’t stopped working for me yet.
 
PowerHouse555

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5x5 and just lifting heavy...aka maxing out for singles
 
booneman77

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Are there some programs that work better based on one's age? Like if you're between 15-25 years old, certain programs will work better or are more suited for you compared to say someone 35 and above?
The only thing I would say is that the younger you are the more volume and intensity you can handle together. So a harder/more time intensive program is likely better for someone in their 20s vs 40s where recovery and such is on the downhill
 

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