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Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Setting Up
3. Techniques for Beastly Gains
4. Arms: Free Tickets to the Gun Show
5. Chest: Pecs of Steel
6. Shoulders: Cannonball Delts
7. Back: Barndoor Lats
8. Legs: Like A Tree Trunk
9. Fat Loss: Abs You Can Grate Cheese Off
10. Bulking: Building Mass Not Fat
11. Supplements: Bullshit & Legit
12. Example Routines

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 Introduction
This book is written for anyone who wants to get stronger and more
muscular. At the time of writing my first book. It is recommended for
both the new lifter and the more advanced lifter. The focus is on
bodybuilding for a natural lifter moreso than powerlifting but general
strength and building muscle/strength concurrently is also discussed.
There will be other books on the topics touched on in this ebook so stay
tuned.

Sincerely,

The Golden Asura

https://thegoldenasura.com

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 Setting Up
Where do I start?
There are many ways to skin a cat. In this section I’ll show you how to
setup and schedule your workout routine. And provide some pointers
on it. I give you four formats: upper/lower, push/pull/legs,
agonist/antagonist and full body. The upper/lower split is more for
strength and hypertrophy ie “powerbuilding”. Push/Pull/Legs and
Agonist/Antagonist are more hypertrophy oriented routines here. Full
body routine is given for those who are more novitiate stage lifters or
strapped for time.

I’m New To Lifting

If you are new to lifting then my suggestion is to keep the isolation work
to a minimum and focus on the big compound lifts: bench, squat,
overhead press and deadlift. I recommend a full body routine and linear
progression approach. My novice routine is at the end of the book in
Chapter 12: “Example Routines". Once you’ve been lifting for 6 months
and cannot make progress adding weight to the bar you can move on to
my intermediate program. A good goal for novice lifters to aim for is a 1
plate overhead press (135 lbs), 2 plate (225lbs) bench, 3 plate (315 lbs)
squat and a 4 plate (405lbs) deadlift. Although many people do not want

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to deadlift or squat – which is entirely fine and I present substitutes
through the book.

Generic Novice Routine Setup:

Monday:
Bench Press 3 x 5
Squat 3 x 5

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday:
Overhead Press 3 x 5
Deadlift 1 x 5

Thursday:
Rest

Friday:
Bench Press 3 x 5
Squat 3 x 5

Saturday & Sunday: Rest

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You alternate bench press with overhead press so if last Monday you
benched then this week you overhead press and you deadlift once a
week. This is the time tested way of building strength and muscle in
novices. Once you reach 5 reps you add 2.5-5lbs in upper body lifts and
5-10lbs in lower body lifts. If you fail to reach 5 reps you retry it next
time and if you still fail you reduce the weight by 10%. Rest between
sets is 2-3 minutes. I discuss examples for your particular goals more in
Chapter 12. So you can skip ahead and take a look if you wish.

I Want to Build Strength & Mass

Everyone wants to be big and everyone wants to be strong. To
accomplish this purpose I suggest an upper/lower split. You have four
days: upperbody strength focus, upperbody hypertrophy focus,
lowerbody strength focus and lowerbody hypertrophy focus. This has
been called powerbuilding.

I Just Want to Be Jacked

If you’ve already built a solid foundation of strength and it isn’t your
primary goal then I suggest doing the push/pull/legs or
agonist/antagonist routines I have constructed in this book. They are 6
days a week routines. PPL or Push/Pull/Legs Routine. Is simple push
days you work all the push muscles ie chest, triceps and shoulders. Pull
days are back and biceps -- the "pulling" muscles. Leg days are simple
you work the legs. The agonist/antagonist split is split up as: Chest/Back,

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Shoulders/Arms and Legs. So the set up will be similar to a push/pull/leg
routine.

Show Me The Routines

Sure you can find them all listed in Chapter 12: “Example Routines".

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 Techniques for
Beastly Gains
Rep Ranges

• 1-5 Strength
• 5-8 Strength & hypertrophy
• 8-15 Mostly for hypertrophy
• 15-20 Mostly for endurance but some hypertrophy
• 20+ Mostly for endurance

Although some studies suggest that very high reps build muscle and strength just
as well. I believe if you are aiming for muscle mass gain to keep it above 5 and
below 20 as a general rule of thumb. And within that I believe you should aim for
10-15 reps for the “sweet spot" in terms of hypertrophy. For strength I would keel
it below 8 reps and above your real 1 rep max (at least 5% above it or as a rule of
thumb your 3 rep max).

You can calculate your 1 rep max by the following method:

First, you pick a weight you can do 8-10 quality reps with then you count the
number of reps you have (# Of Reps).

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Take # Of Reps and multiply it by 0.033. So 0.033 x # Of Reps. Take this number
write it down and add 1 to it. Take that number you get after adding 1 to it and
multiply it by the weight you used.

So the formula is

1 Rep Max (1RM) = ( (0.033 x # Of Reps) + 1 ) x Weight Used

So if I get 225lbs for 5 my estimated 1RM is 262 lbs (approximately).

How Many Sets?

Studies have shown that the number of sets for both strength and hypertrophy
should be 3. So the majority of the sets I have people doing will be 3. Except in
some cases for the deadlift I use 1 x 5. For novice lifters deadlifting too frequently
and too much can burn out the nervous system and cause injuries.

Progressive Overload

There are three main ways I suggest people progress on lifts. To increase the
number of reps they do (or sets), adding weight to the bar or exercise, and
reducing the rest time. Keep in mind for adding number of reps I do not
recommend doing more than 20 reps unless you are aiming to build primarily
endurance. And you know the caveat about number of sets above (german
volume training however has 10 sets and some programs have more than 3 sets –
it can still work sometimes rules are broken). And resting less than 10s between
sets will eventually just build endurance as well. When working with lighter

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weights you should rest 1 to 1.5 mins and heavy weights 2-3 minutes. So that’ll
give you an idea.

Compounds vs Isolation Work

The compound lifts use multiple muscle groups like the bench press, overhead
press, squat and deadlift. Isolation exercises such as bicep curls, chest flyes, etc
only work (primarily) one muscle group. And they should be kept more to a
minimum and used as a way to bring up lagging muscle groups. Focusing entirely
on isolation work is not really a great idea and for a novice it’s a downright stupid
idea. Too much isolation work can cause reverse progress, stalling or just a waste
of time.

Rest-Pause Training

Rest-Pause is an advanced technique that has been used to build strength and
hypertrophy. If you have ever heard of “breathing squats" or the supersquat
routine you’ve encountered them. Someone takes a squat they can do for 10 reps
does 10 and instead of racking the bar takes a few deep breaths does a few more
reps until 20 total reps are reached. Rest a maximum of 30 seconds and a
minimum 15 seconds. You can potentially count your breaths between sets.

Rest-Pause Training for Strength

I would keep a rep range of 11 to 15 reps if aiming for strength.

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I’ll explain this using a hypothetical scenario. Let’s say someone wants to bench
315 lbs for 10 reps but they can only manage 5. No matter what they do they are
stuck at that level.

So rest-pause training can help them burst through this strength plateau. They
will bench 315 for a total of 10 reps and rest 15s between sets. Until they are able
to do 10 reps fully.

Ex:

315 lbs x 5 reps

Rest 15s

315 lbs x 3 reps

Rest 15s

315 lbs x 2 reps

Cons: the con here is that going to failure too often can really fatigue and burn
someone out especially on a bigger lift. I do not recommend doing rest-pause
training for deadlifts or barbell rows.

Rest-Pause Training for Hypertrophy

This is for when you want to bring up a lagging muscle group. It works really well
for the arm muscles (biceps and triceps). People have used it for squats and
studies have shown it can build hypertrophy particularly in the lower body.

I would pick a rep range of 20-30 reps. Some people like to go to 100 total.

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To progress the weights you can add weight when you reach your total reps or if
you reach your reps in 2 sets instead of 3 sets you can add weight as well.

Reverse Pyramid Training

This less of a technique and more of a model to progress weight. Studies have
found no benefits of reverse pyramid training over traditional pyramid or straight
sets. Basically your first set is your heaviest set and your last set is your lightest.

Example:

Set 1: 4-6 Reps

Set 2: 8-10 Reps

Set 3: 10+ Reps

Usually you reduce the weight 10-15% between sets but that tells you were you
should be aiming. If you get 6 reps or better on your first set you add weight next
time.

Supersets

A superset is doing one exercise then without rest doing another exercise. I
recommend structuring supersets with opposing muscle groups. Chest and back
(ie bench press with chin ups), biceps and triceps (curls then immediately do
skullcrushers), etc. This is an advanced bodybuilding technique and Arnold
Schwarzenegger and other old school bodybuilders seemed to employ it quite a
bit.

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 Pre-Exhaust Sets

This is performing an isolation exercise before immediately doing a compound lift.

So for example you can do tricep extensions then bench press or chest flyes then
bench press. It can be used to build strength and endurance on a lift. And to shock
a muscle group into growth.

Circuits/Giant Sets

This is doing every exercise back to back without rest. Very similar to a crossfit
type workout. So you can do bench press then curls then squats without rest
between exercises.

Old School Bodybuilding Techniques

Drop sets/stripping the weight: drop sets are similar to reverse pyramid training.
You start off heavy, do your set, immediately lower the weight and rep it out
again repeat until you are with a too lightweight or back to the bar.

Running the Rack: for a dumbbell exercise you do your set, use a lighter dumbbell
and repeat until your either going too light or literally used all the dumbbells
under the weight.

Techniques Not Recommended

• Forced Reps – using a partner to help you lift a weight you can’t
lift is just not effective and can be dangerous.

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• Negative Reps – another thing I do not recommend. It has no
benefit and can cause injury or overtraining. Can be effective
for chin ups and pull ups. That’s it in my opinion.
• Cheat reps and partial reps – again this often boils down to ego
lifting and can cause injuries. Do not do it.

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 Arms: Free Tickets
to the Gun Show
Flex a ‘cep bro
A lot of people want big arms and particularly big biceps. The secret to
getting big arms is building big triceps. The best training technique
for building big arms are high reps with low rest between sets in my
opinion. Supersets, drop sets and rest-pause training will all build your
arms.

Best Tricep Exercises

• Close-grip Bench Press
• Lying Tricep Extensions (Skullcrushers)
• Overhead Tricep Extensions
• Tricep Pressdowns/Pushdowns

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 Best Bicep Exercises
• EZ Bar Preacher Curls
• Incline Curls
• Hammer Curls
• Concentration Curls

Best Routine for Arms

If your biceps and triceps are lagging then I recommend you superset EZ Bar
Preacher Curls (or Concentration Curls) with Skullcrushers and you superset
incline curls with tricep pressdowns. I recommend you do them in drop set
manner as discussed above. Do arms at the end of every workout and on off days
until you build them up.

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 Chest: Pecs of Steel
Best Exercises for Chest

• Bench Press
• Incline Dumbbell Press
• Flyes
• Pullovers

Firstly, the best and absolute best exercise for the chest is the Bench Press. The
dumbbell bench can activate more chest muscles than the barbell version. The
incline dumbbell press will focus on the upper chest and activate it more than the
barbell version as well. If you want to focus more on chest on the bench press
you can use a slightly wider grip. If your chest is really lagging then you can do
close grip bench press for triceps as it will work the chest as well. Pull overs are a
secret exercise of the old school bodybuilders which were once in fact called
“squats for the chest”. Low cable crossovers, pec dec, and flyes will help hit the
chest from different angles and bring it up. Avoid decline or lower chest work it
can create a more “female breast" like look. If you do not have a bench for
whatever reason you can do it on the floor and it’ll hit the same muscles.

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 Fixing Gyno or Man Tits
1. Losing Bodyfat
First thing you have to do is cut and start losing bodyfat. Even in cases were
it’s mostly female breast tissue fat will make your chest saggy or look
worse. And you cannot say you have true “gyno" until you cut to a
sufficient level of bodyfat.

2. Building Muscle
Avoid lower chest work like decline bench. Do flat bench press, close grip
bench for triceps as it adds extra chest work in, ensure you are doing
overhead presses as it’ll help build upper chest to take away the sag, do
incine dumbbell presses and either incline dumbbell flyes, low cable
crossovers or pec dec in addition to this. At home you can regular pushups
and diamond pushups for extra chest work.

3. Medical Treatment
Sometimes the issue is hormonal. Studies have shown both raloxifene and
nolvadex can fully reduce and reverse gyno overtime. Nolvadex is safer and
more available than raloxifene.

The protocol for nolvadex is 20mg/day for 6-12 weeks. Some people
continue it for 6 months. Since its relatively safe you can take it for this
period of time.

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The protocol for raloxifene is 30mg daily until it is fully reversed. It may be
more effective than nolvadex but I recommend you supplement it with
calcium and vitamin D.

Surgery may be an option but it is rather expensive.

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 Shoulders: Cannonball
Delts
Best Exercises for Shoulders:

• Overhead Press
• Lateral Raises
• Seated Dumbbell Shrugs
• Arnold Press

You notice there is no front raises, upright rows, and behind the neck barbell
press mentioned. The front raises are totally useless because they build front
delts and most people get enough front delt work with the bench press. I do not
recommend behind the neck presses or seated barbell pressing because they can
cause injuries and be dangerous. Upright rows I feel that shrugs and lateral raises
do the job that they do and instead of doing them you should do v-pulls with
dumbbells.

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The overhead press is an excellent lift. A lot of people do not lift it from the floor
but in the rack. However, the clean and press I find to be an excellent power and
strength exercise. Standing shoulder presses vs seated shoulder presses have a bit
of difference between them. I would place the standing dumbbell or barbell press
as more of a strength and power exercise than the seated dumbbell press.
However, both build muscle and strength. The standing press requires more
stability and generally (and I find in my own experience) you can press more
standing than seated. Also standing you can activate more of the biceps and
triceps.

I chose the seated dumbbell shrugs over the barbell shrug because you can isolate
the trap muscles more in a seated position with dumbbells than standing with the
barbell. Shrugs with the trapbar or with two dumbbells standing may be
appropriate. However this is the favored exercise.

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Back: Barndoor Lats
Best Exercises for Back:

• Deadlift
• Pull Ups/Chin Ups
• Barbell Rows
• One Arm Row

The Elephant in the Room

Some people do not want to deadlift and that is perfectly fine however I do
recommend that they do some hamstring and lower back work like reverse
hyperextensions, bridges (which given is more like a stretch), and glute ham
raises. If your lower back is giving you problems from deadlifting then it can
be your form but it can also suggest a weak core. So I would recommend
reverse hyperextensions and weighted situps. Good mornings do get
recommended but they can further cause problems. Romanian deadlifts I
find to be a particularly useful deadlift accessory and helps with lower back
problems. You can also deadlift with the trapbar instead of the regular bar

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because that was it’s whole purpose. Although it is a bit of a quad dominant
exercise so some hamstring work via glute ham raises maybe needed.

I Can’t Do A Chin up/Pull up

Some people argue that chin ups work biceps more and pull ups work lats
more but in the context of bodybuilding both are acceptable. People who
cannot do a single chin up usually need to cut down a bit on their weight.
They can build up to being able to do them by using the Lat Pulldown
machine, negative reps and the assisted chin up machine.

If you really really do not want to do chin ups or pull ups then the Lat
Pulldown done with a wide grip is acceptable.

Rows
I do not recommend people do Yates Rows. It can cause a bicep tear. I
recommend they do either bent over barbell rows or pendlay rows. If you
get lower back problems from them for some reason or want to switch it up
then the one arm dumbbell row can be a perfect substitute. The bent over
dumbbell row is fine in and of itself as well. The lats should squeeze
together as if there is a pencil in the middle of your back. Again if you do
not want to barbell or dumbbell movements on these you can do the
seated cable row. One thing I want to say is make sure you balance rows
with vertical pulls to avoid muscular imbalances. Chest supported rows and
the barbell row can help build a big bench.

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 Legs: Like A Tree Trunk
Best Leg Exercises

• Squat
• Behind the Back Deadlift or Hack Squat
• Romanian Deadlift

The King of All Barbell Exercises

The squat is often hailed as the king of the barbell exercises. Something that turns
boys into men. Although kept up to an almost mythical status the squat is still a
fairly decent exercise. There is the barbell back squat (both the low bar and high
bar version), the front squat, and the zercher squat. I recommend if you are
interested in strength training primarily to focus on the low bar back squat .
However, if you are primarily into making muscle gains to do the zercher or front
squat as it will work the quads more.

I Don’t Want to Squat

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Unlike other people I will not tell you, you have to squat. You can also do
dumbbell lunges, dumbbell step ups, dumbbell squats and so on to work legs.
However for those who do not want to squat and have gym access I recommend
the leg curl and the leg press machines. And I also recommend they do hill sprints.

If you don’t want to do those there is the dumbbell exercises listed and the hack
squat.

Behind the Back Deadlift/Barbell Hack Squat

This is a great quad builder and accessory lift. If you do not want to barbell sauat
and do not like the other options for building quads this is an excellent option for
you as well.

Calves
Calves often get neglected however I do not think you need all sorts of calf
exercises to build them. Hill sprints, and calf raises are enough. Squats alone will
not build super big calves sometimes. Big quads and small calves looks comical.

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 Fat Loss: Abs You Can
Grate Cheese Off
Diet
Most people nowadays are obese or overweight. So a huge majority of people out
there want to lose weight. The thing is there is no shortcut or hack to it.

If you are serious about losing weight the first thing you do is stop eating
processed/refined sugar, foods made with a lot of refined salt and fast foods.

Even without reading the rest of this chapter if you cut out fast foods and sugar
you will lose fat. You do not need to take in massive amounts of protein on a cut.
You can still just take in 1 gram of protein per lbs in bodyweight and preserve
muscle. However, unless you are juicing you’ll lose fat but some muscle as well.
Which is why I recommend a slow cut (500 fewer calories).

Calories In/Calories Out

If you just look at basic weight loss yes it’s all about what calories you take in and
how many you burn. So on any weight loss diet you want to consume about 500
calories less than you are consuming now.

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The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of energy (calories) your body
needs while resting. This accounts for about 60 to 70 percent of calories burned in
a day. In general, men have a higher BMR than women. One of the most accurate
methods of estimating your basal metabolic rate is the Harris-Benedict formula:

Adult male: 66 + (6.3 x body weight in lbs.) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age
in years) = BMR. Adult female: 655 + (4.3 x weight in lbs.) + (4.7 x height in inches)
- (4.7 x age in years) = BMR

So once you have your BMR to find your caloric needs for the day:

• Multiply it by 1.2 if you do next to no physical activity

• Multiply it by 1.375 if you are lightly active
• Multiply it by 1.55 if you are moderately active
• Multiply it by 1.725 if you are very active
• Multiply it by 1.9 if you are very active and have a physical job

Once you have this value subtract 500 from it. That’s how many calories to
consume.

Intermittent Fasting
I find counting calories can be time consuming and obsessive compulsive to a
degree. So one quick way to cut down on calories is to do intermittent fasting.
Fasting is healthy and people can live for 30 days or more without food. In times
where you have to either cheat on your diet or not eat I’d recommend just not
eating. You won’t die.

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There are a few ways to do intermittent fasting. 16 hours fasted with 8 hours of
feeding allocated (basically eat two meals a day). 18 hours fasted and 6 hours not
fasted. 20 hours fasted and 4 hours free to eat. 21 hours fasted and 1 hour oof
eating allowed(where you can basically binge eat away but not healthy in my
opinion). The other options are basically one meal a day. It can be hard to fit all
your nutrients in one big meal but two meals isn’t so bad.

Intermittent fasting works because you are cutting out snacks and liquid calories
(black coffee is fine but not sugary drinks like soda). It’s a guaranteed way to
automatically cut back on the calories for you.

Some individuals like to do one 24 hour fast a week or one 48 hour fast in a week.
Without bordering on the anorexic this is one way to do it.

When you have your feeding window (which amounts to one or two meals) you
do not splurge all out but eat as you normally would.

Low Carb vs Low Fat

The keto or low carb diet is all the craze nowadays and a few years back it was
low far. The thing is these diets work because they remove calories for you based
on macronutrients. Keto I think has been a time tested diet for fat loss. Basically
using fat as fuel instead of carbs. And a lot of people nowadays consume way too
much processed sugar and foods and the keto diet helps eliminate this.

I am also a bit of a fan of the paleo diet. Which also works for fat loss quite well
because it cuts out the grains, the legumes, sugar and processed foods, and limits
fruit and diary intake while maximizing green leafy vegetables and meats. Grains
and modern diet stems from 10,000 years onwards. The introduction of grains in

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the human diet and sugar is relatively new. And the typical American diet didn’t
really happen until the 70s. Refined sugar and corn syrups are as bad for you (if
not worse) than alcohol.

The macronutrients for a keto diet is basically 60% fat, 35% protein and 5%
carbohydrates. The protein must be taken in with high fat or else it can cause an
imbalance in the body that can be bad for you.

People who workout a lot and stay on keto may find it hard to get the energy to
workout even when they are in ketosis and operating on ketones. To fix this you
can consume a small amount of carbs before working out or during the workout
(think gummy bears). Or you can have a weekend where you eat carbs. Keto can
be hard to bulk on because it reduces the insulin growth factor carbs have and
can also lower testosterone (dieting can in general lower testosterone levels).
However keto diets have been shown as quite healthy to diabetics and epilepsy
patients. The other option is a low fat diet (notice in either case we do not reduce
protein because low protein intake will result in poor muscle growth).

These diets again primarily work because they reduce caloric intake.

Cardio
Again no one wants to do cardio. There are debates on what is the best method
of doing cardio or when to do it. Some people stand by doing fasted cardio, some
people stand by HIIT cardio (high intensity interval training) to metabolize fat and
still others prefer the long drags of 40-60 minutes a week of jogging, biking etc.
Either way you slice and dice it if you don’t do cardio you’ll have a harder time

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losing weight, cardio is good for you and healthy, and cardio speeds up weight
loss.

I really suggest picking something you like doing for cardio be it biking or playing
sports and doing it for 30 mins at least 3 days a week. Do it longer or have more
sessions for faster weight loss.

I recommend doing cardio in the morning and then lifting in the evening. You can
also do it the other way around or do cardio on your rest days. People say “cardio
kills gains" but its really only in situations where they burn more calories than
they consume while expecting to gain weight or strength.

I Just Want Abs

Abs are built in the kitchen and if you want the eye popping 3D abs you may need
to do steroids or have good genetics. You cannot spot reduce fat. I also want to
mention a lot of people are skinny but flabby. In that situation they need to focus
on building muscle first then when they have built an appropriate amount of
muscle cut. And to keep the calories around maintenance.

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Bulking: Building Mass
Not Fat
Eat Big To Get Big
This is basically simple knowledge. You have to consume more calories
than you are taking in (again I recommend slow bulking so 500 extra) to
build mass. Bulk to your goal weight then cut.

GOMAD or Gallon of Milk A Day

I know this one is promoted to basically everyone but I only recommend
it for people who are very severely underweight and have serious,
serious problems gaining mass. A normal regular guy who just wants to
get a bit bigger will get fat on this. Especially if he is drinking whole milk.

Bulking With No Appetite

Someone will no or a low appetite should and will take in their calories
more through a liquid means. I recommend a mass gaining shake of ice
cream, whey protein, raw eggs and milk blended together. Which you

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can drink 2-3 x a day as needed. GOMAD or doing half GOMAD is a good
option as well.

Eating Dirty
I do not recommend bulking up on bad foods like hamburgers, pizzas,
etc. Pro bodybuilders do it sure but it’s not very healthy and they are on
steroids and HGH so they do not gain fat and they actually need the
calories due to how much muscle mass they have. If you have a lot of
muscle mass you can metabolize fat and burn it off easier. I’d keep it at
least 80% clean calories and 20% dirty. Just for health reasons and
because at the end of your bulk you don’t want to be a keg. This is why I
think slow cutting and slow bulking is best for natural lifters to begin
with. Whenever I’ve bulked fast and dirty I’ve turned into a fat pig and
whenever I cut fast I’ve turned into a stickman.

Cheap Bulking
Cutting saves you money due to the decrease in calories you need. But
bulking can be expensive. I recommend getting a wholesale membership
like Costco. Beef and pasta is a great bulk meal. So is Kraft dinner and
hamburger meat/ground beef or Kraft dinner and tuna fish. You can also
replace kraft dinner with ramen noodles which are even cheaper.

When To Bulk/Cut

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If most of your mass is fat then I don’t recommend you bulk. Most of us
know if we are obese or overweight. If you feel you look fat, have a gut,
people call you fat and you generally feel unhealthy then it’s probably
time to lose weight. You don’t need to put on anymore. If you are an
average guy and you haven’t been lifting for two years but aren’t obese
or overweight then I wouldn’t recommend cutting just yet until you
reach a solid foundation. You may not need to necessarily bulk but you
need to build muscle mass before you cut if you aren’t fat. If you are
“skinnyfat" I think this is particularly true. For a skinnyfat guy I would
recommend just 200 calories extra and for an average guy maybe 300.
For a really skinny guy I’d recommend 500 extra. For a very underweight
guy then maybe 600-1000 extra.

If you haven’t built sufficient muscle mass I do not recommend cutting

until you do and when you do I recommend you do it slowly. Unless you
are obese, really flabby or overweight.

Sometimes the answer is simply eating cleaner, doing a little more

cardio and cutting out bad foods like sugar or severely reducing it.

Cardio and Bulking

If you are doing a lot of cardio and want to bulk up you will probably
need to eat more than just 500 calories extra. It can be prudent to
calculate your caloric needs (see the Fat Loss section). It is possible to
bulk and do cardio. It’s all a simple matter of consuming more calories.

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 Supplements: Bullshit
& Legit
Whey Protein
Protein is a legitimate and one of the few legitimate supplements. However, the
amount they recommend you consume is off usually. More protein means more
sales. You can also get all your protein from animal and dairy sources but if you
cannot do so then that’s where protein shakes come in. The whole purpose if a
nutritional supplement is just that. The recommended protein intake whether you
are bulking or cutting (according to studies) is 1 gram per lbs of lean bodyweight.
So if you are 200 lbs then the rule of thumb is to consume 200 grams of protein
daily. More technically if you 200 lbs and 15% bodyfat to consume 170 grams of
protein. I recommend you buy your protein wholesale online. There is no magic to
which protein to pick. Protein is protein. Whether its strawberry banana favor,
plain or sold by (insert pro bodybuilder here).

Ephedrine
Ephedrine is a controversial one because often it gets used in recipes for meth. So
it’s not always available over the counter or readily sold. But it works great as a

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thermogenic agent and appetite suppressive. If you cannot get ephedrine then
pseudoephedrine can also function in this purpose ie sinus medicine. Just take a
good look at the ingredients because you may consume a toxic dose of another
ingredient in using it. So I recommend pure Ephedrine HCl if you can get jt.

Caffeine
Likewise caffeine is a legitimate supplement for energy and boosting metabolism.
Most fat loss or diet pills are caffeine or ephedrine mix. A lot of preworkouts are
mostly caffeine as well.

ECA Stack
The ECA stack is ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin. It is a fat loss stack. It can be
unhealthy for you and risky so I do not recommend it for everyone. The aspirin
can be removed as some people cannot tolerate it. I recommend cycling on and
off this stack, avoiding high intensity cardio on it and drinking plenty of water and
avoiding other sources of caffeine such as teas, coffees and energy drinks. You
will work up (slowly) to consuming 25 mg of ephedrine, 200 mg of caffeine and 8p
mg of aspirin 1-3 x daily.

Creatine

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Creatine actually works but it won’t give you steroid like results. In the first week
you take 20 grams of creatine 4-5x daily, then the following weeks 3-5g a day
post-workout is fine do this up for 6 weeks then cycle off creatine for 2-4 weeks.
Although some people say it’s safe to use creatine for as long as 5 years without a
break.

Steroids/SARMs/Pro-Hormones
These obviously all work better than supplements you can find in a store. Steroids
work better than SARMs or pro-hormones and could be safer in the long run.
These will not be discussed in this e-book.

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Example Routines
Novice Routines

3 Days A Week

Workout A:
Bench Press 3x5
Squat 3x5
Barbell Row 3x5
EZ Bar Preacher Curl (or Hammer Curl) 3 x 8
Skullcrushers (Lying Tricep Extensions) 3 x 8

Workout B:
Overhead Press 3x5
Squat 3x5
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 Weighted Chin up 3x5
EZ Bar Preacher Curl (or Hammer Curl) 3 x 8
Skullcrushers (Lying Tricep Extensions) 3 x 8

Workout C:
Bench Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5
Barbell Row 3x5
EZ Bar Preacher Curl (or Hammer Curl) 3 x 8
Skullcrushers (Lying Tricep Extensions) 3 x 8

Workout D:
Overhead Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5
Weighted Chin up 3x5
EZ Bar Preacher Curl (or Hammer Curl) 3 x 8

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Skullcrushers (Lying Tricep Extensions) 3 x 8

Note: if you do not want to squat (although I

recommend it) you can do the Leg Press
machine and Leg Curls. Although the rep
range for the Leg Press will be 3x5 I
recommend 3x8-12 for the Leg Curl. If you
do not want to do the regular deadlift I
recommend doing the trapbar deadlift. It is
hard to build the posterior chain and
hamstrings without the deadlift.

If you cannot/do not want to do chin ups

then you can do Lat Pulldowns instead at
the same rep range. Likewise instead of the
barbell row you can do the one arm

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dumbbell row or the seated cable row. I
discuss exercise selection in the prior
chapters.

Workout Schedule:
Monday – Workout A (next Monday B)
Tuesday – Rest
Wednesday – Workout D (next Wednesday
C)
Thursday – Rest
Friday – Workout A (next Friday workout B)
Saturday & Sunday – Rest

The following week instead of doing

workout A you do workout B and instead of
workout D you do workout C. The reason is

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you alternate the overhead press and the
bench press. You also only deadlift once a
week as a novice because the deadlift is a
very taxing lift.

So Week 1: A X D X A X X and Week 2: B X C

X B X X. Week 3 has same schedule as week
1 and week 4 the same schedule as week 2.

You can workout on any days you like as

long as there is one full day of rest between
workouts and there are 3 workouts a week.
Anymore can be overtraining as a novice.

Progression: progression is linear which

means when you get 5 reps on the bench or

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overhead press you add 2.5-5lbs. And for
the squat and deadlift 5-10lbs.

Failing reps: if this workout for example you

get 3 reps instead of 5 you retry it with the
same weight next workout. If you fail it
again then next time you will reduce the
weight by 10%.

Plateauing: if you get stuck at a certain

weight for a long time then you can move on
to another routine for more advanced lifters
or you can go for higher reps instead. When
you reached a rep goal (say 10) on a certain
lift you add weight to the bar then and see if
you break your plateau.

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 2 Days A Week

The workouts will stay the same as above.

However the scheduling is just different.

Workout Schedule:
Monday – Workout A (next Monday B)
Tuesday – Rest
Wednesday – Workout D (next Wednesday
C)
Thursday – Rest
Friday – Rest
Saturday & Sunday – Rest

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 Upper/Lower Routines

Advanced Powerbuilding

Workout A: Upper Strength

Bench Press 3 x 3-5RM*
Seated Dumbbell Press 3 x 8-12
Barbell Row 3 x 6-8
Skullcrushers 3 x 8-12
EZ Bar Preacher Curls 3 x 8-12

Note: Week 1 you work up to your 3 rep

max, Week 2 you work up to your 4 rep
max, Week 3 work up to your 5 rep max
and in Week 4 you deload (take 80% of

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your 5 rep max) and do 3 light sets of 5.
This is to manage the fatigue of the lift.
If you want you can rotate the bench
press with a similar lift such as the
incline bench press, dumbbell bench
press, floor press or board press after 4
weeks. This can be useful if you are
plateauing but it is an advanced
technique.

Workout B: Upper Hypertrophy

Bench Press or Bench Press Variation 3 x
8-12
Lateral Raises 5 x 10
Incline Flyes 5 x 10
Incline Curls 5 x 10

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 Tricep Pressdowns 5 x 10
Chin ups 50 total reps

Workout C: Lower Strength

Squat 3 x 5 or Deadlift 1 x 5
Glute Ham Raises 5 x 10
Reverse Hypers 5 x 10
Weighted Situps 5 x 10

Note: Do not deadlift heavy and squat

heavy in the same workout. Week 1 you
work up to your 3 rep max, Week 2 you
work up to your 4 rep max, Week 3 work
up to your 5 rep max and in Week 4 you
deload (take 80% of your 5 rep max) and
do 3 light sets of 5. This is to manage the

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fatigue of the lift. If you want you can
rotate with a similar lift such as the box
squat, trapbar deadlift, rackpull or sumo
deadlift after 4 weeks. This can be
useful if you are plateauing but it is an
advanced technique.

Workout D: Lower Hypertrophy

Leg Press 3 x 8-12
Leg Curl 3 x 8-12
Hamstring Curls 3 x 8-12
Calf Raises 100 Total

Important Note: you can deadlift on

lower hypertrophy day if you really want
to deadlift at least once a week and then
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squat on lower strength day. Although I
do not recommend it as it can go into
overtraining.

Schedule (4 Days A Week):

Monday: A
Tuesday: B
Wednesday: C
Thursday: D
Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Off

Schedule (3 Days A Week):

Monday: A
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: C (next week D – alternate
every week)

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Thursday: Rest
Friday: B
Saturday & Sunday: Rest

Intermediate Powerbuilding

Workout A: Upper Strength

Bench Press 3 x 5
Overhead Press 3 x 5
Barbell Row 3 x 6-8
Skullcrushers 3 x 8-12
EZ Bar Preacher Curls 3 x 8-12

Workout B: Upper Hypertrophy

Incline Dumbbell Press 3 x 8-12
Lateral Raises 4 x 10-12

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 Incline Flyes 4 x 10-12
Incline Curls 4 x 10-12
Tricep Pressdowns 4 x 10-12
Chin ups 50 total reps

Workout C: Lower Strength

Squat or Deadlift Variant 3 x 3-5
Glute Ham Raises 5 x 10
Reverse Hypers 5 x 10
Weighted Situps 5 x 10

Note: Do not deadlift heavy and squat

heavy in the same workout.

Workout D: Lower Hypertrophy

Leg Press 3 x 8-12

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 Leg Curl 3 x 8-12
Hamstring Curls 3 x 8-12
Calf Raises 100 Total

Important Note: you can deadlift on

lower hypertrophy day if you really want
to deadlift at least once a week and then
squat on lower strength day. Although I
do not recommend it as it can go into
overtraining.

Schedule (4 Days A Week):

Monday: A
Tuesday: B
Wednesday: C
Thursday: D

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Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Off

Schedule (3 Days A Week):

Monday: A
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: C (next week D – alternate
every week)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: B
Saturday & Sunday: Rest

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 Push/Pull/Leg Routines

Bodybuilding (Hypertrophy Focused

Version):

Push (Chest Focus):

Bench 3 x 8-12
Incline DB Press 3 x 8-12
Incline Flyes or Cable Crossovers 4 x 12-15
Arnold Press 3 x 8-12
Lateral Raises 4 x 12-15
Skullcrushers 3 x 8-12
Tricep Pushdowns 4 x 12-15

Push (Shoulder Focus):

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 Seated DB Press 3 x 8-12
Dumbbell Bench Press 3 x 8-12
Upright Rows 3 x 8-12
Lateral Raises 4 x 12-15
Skullcrushers 3 x 8-12
Tricep Pushdowns 4 x 12-15

Pull (Back Focus):

Deadlift 3 x 3(optional)
One Arm Dumbbell Row (each arm) 3 x 8-12
Weighted Chin Ups 3 x 8-12
Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns 4 x 12-15
Hammer Curls 4 x 12-15
Seated Dumbbell Shrugs 4 x 12-15

Pull (Bicep Focus):

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One Arm Dumbbell Row (each arm) 3 x 8-12
Weighted Chin Ups 3 x 8-12
EZ Bar Preacher Curls 3 x 8-12
Incline Curls 4 x 12-15
Seated Dumbbell Shrugs 4 x 12-15

Legs:
Leg Curl 3 x 12-15*
Hamstring Curls 3 x 12-15
Leg Press 3 x 12-15*
Calf Raises 3 x 20
Weighted Situps 3 x 20
Glute Ham Raises 3 x 20
The barbell squat would be superior

Schedule:

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Monday – Push (Chest Focus)
Tuesday – Pull (Back Focus)
Wednesday – Legs
Thursday – Push (Shoulder Focus)
Friday – Pull (Biceps Focus)
Saturday & Sunday - Rest

For Powerbuilding:

Push (Heavy Bench):

Bench Press 3 x 5
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 x 8-
12
Lateral Raises 3 x 8-12
Skullcrushers 3 x 8-12
Tricep Pushdowns 4 x 12-15

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 Cable Crossovers 4 x 12-15

Push (Heavy Press):

Overhead Press 3 x 5
Dumbbell Bench Press 3 x 8-12
Lateral Raises 3 x 8-12
Skullcrushers 3 x 8-12
Tricep Pushdowns 4 x 12-15
Cable Crossovers 4 x 12-15

Pull:
Deadlift 3 x 3*
One Arm Dumbbell Row (each arm) 3 x
8-12
Weighted Chin Ups 3 x 8-12
EZ Bar Preacher Curls 3 x 8-12

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 Incline Curls 4 x 12-15
Seated Dumbbell Shrugs 4 x 12-15

* Deadlift once a week

Legs:
Squat 3 x 5
Romanian Deadlift 3 x 8-12
Leg Curl or Leg Press 3 x 8-12
Calf Raises 3 x 20
Weighted Situps 3 x 20

Schedule:
Monday – Push (heavy bench)
Tuesday – Pull (w/Deadlift)

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Wednesday – Rest (avoid heavy squats
directly after heavy deadlift)
Thursday – Legs
Friday – Rest
Saturday – Push (heavy press)
Sunday – Pull (no deadlift)

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 Agonist/Antagonist Routines

Chest/Back:

Bench 3 x 8-12

Incline DB Press 3 x 8-12

One Arm DB Row 3 x 8-12

Weighted Chinups 3 x 8-12

Incline Flyes or Cable Crossovers 4 x 12-15

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 Shoulders/Arms:

Seated DB Press 3 x 8-12

Lateral Raises 3 x 8-12

EZ Bar Preacher Curl 3 x 8-12

Skullcrushers 3 x 8-12

Incline Curls 4 x 12-15

Tricep Pushdowns 4 x 12-15

Legs:

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 Squat or Leg Press 3 x 8-12

Romanian Deadlift 3 x 8-12

Leg Curl 3 x 8-12

Weighted Situps 8-12

Calf Raises 3 x 20

Weighted Situps 3 x 20

Schedule:

3 Days A Week
Mon - Chest/Back

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Tues – Off
Weds - Shoulders/Arms
Thurs – Off
Fri – Legs
Sat/Sun – Off

5 Days A Week
Mon - Chest/Back
Tues - Shoulders/Arms
Weds – Legs
Thurs - Chest/Back
Fri - Shoulders/Arms Or Legs (Alternate
every week)
Sat/Sun - Off

6 Days A Week

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Mon - Chest/Back
Tues - Shoulders/Arms
Weds – Legs
Thurs - Chest/Back
Fri - Shoulders/Arms
Sat – Legs
Sun - Off

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