Jacked Intellectual
This is a hypertrophy specific plan, which uses a phasic approach to build mass and strength over time.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
This is specifically for advanced intermediates or advanced lifters, and would specifically suit an 18 week chunk of a growth phase or improvement/offseason.
The program at it’s heart is a 5 day routine:
The days are split into a Push, Pull, Legs, Upper and finally another Leg day
You will hit each body part twice a week
Volume would be considered moderate; it is the high end of my own personal recommendations
You will utilise a variety of loading ranges and reps for each muscle
The main concept in play here is the markers of progression concept, where you will primarily use 5 exercises to judge if overall progress is being made
We will use a phasic approach to training, where each phase potentiates the next
Markers of progression
This routine will utilise my 'markers of progression' concept. Which is that you will judge progress mostly via performance increases on those exercises. I see value in this because it simplifies the process, and it also allows you to focus more on execution and ‘mind muscle connection’ with other exercises. Getting obsessed with performance and 'plus ones' on everything to the exclusion of form and control is an easy trap to fall into. So let's just do away with that altogether. The five markers of progression which are periodised in a phasic approach are your performance markers. So push progression hard there, with everything else focus more on control and execution and go up in weight when you feel you're able to. Does that make sense? Progression is still super important! But you'll push progression more aggressively with the markers of progression, and allow the other work to come up when you are in full control and it all feels good.
Exercise selection
For the markers of progression, you want to pick 5 exercises which fit the following criteria, because you're going to be sticking with these for 18-19 weeks. So the first criteria is that the lifts emphasise muscles you're interested in growing. The most common example here is an Incline Bench over a standard flat variant. You might also pick a very quad focused knee flexion marker of progression such as the Hack Squat. The second criteria is that you need to be able to perform this lift safely. If you have a chronic lower back ache which you need to baby a little, maybe let's not go with a heavy hip hinge. Perhaps use a Glute Drive or a strictly performed hamstring bias RDL. You get the idea. Make sure the lift is safe, loadable and targets an area you want to build. Pretty simple stuff.
Now when it comes to exercise selection for everything else, it's a little simpler. Just pick exercises you connect well with. Don't get overly focused on hitting things from different angles, or emphasising the stretch just pick a core group of exercises you connect with. You can switch these around every 6 weeks if you really want to but I wouldn't recommend it.
Phase potentiation
This is one of the core principles of the routine. This a VERY old concept, it's nothing complicated so don't get intimidated or put off. All it means is that each phase makes the next phase more productive. In my experience if you move from a period of hard work on higher reps down to lower reps, you typically get a very nice boost and burst of progress. That doesn't always work the other way around, but it certainly works going down to lower reps. So we're going to take advantage of that across these three phases.
Read more details about the program in the guide below.
Coaching enquiries: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15_F8NS9vWIZUGlPXv-jGeFO9vVCyEKUFTmwuJo3RHlA/edit
Consultations: https://fazlifts.co.uk/products/in-depth-one-off-diet-training-lifestyle-consultation
eBooks: https://fazlifts.co.uk/collections/e-books
All the best,
Coach Faz
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
- LevelIntermediate, Advanced
- GoalBodybuilding
- EquipmentFull Gym
- Program Length19 weeks
- Days Per Week5 days
- Time Per Workout60 minutes
ON THE BOOSTCAMP APP
Fazlifts Jacked Intellectual Program Guide
This is specifically for advanced intermediates or advanced lifters, and would specifically suit an 18 week chunk of a growth phase or improvement/offseason.
The program at it’s heart is a 5 day routine:
The days are split into a Push, Pull, Legs, Upper and finally another Leg day
You will hit each body part twice a week
Volume would be considered moderate; it is the high end of my own personal recommendations
You will utilise a variety of loading ranges and reps for each muscle
The main concept in play here is the markers of progression concept, where you will primarily use 5 exercises to judge if overall progress is being made
We will use a phasic approach to training, where each phase potentiates the next
Markers of progression
This routine will utilise my 'markers of progression' concept. Which is that you will judge progress mostly via performance increases on those exercises. I see value in this because it simplifies the process, and it also allows you to focus more on execution and ‘mind muscle connection’ with other exercises. Getting obsessed with performance and 'plus ones' on everything to the exclusion of form and control is an easy trap to fall into. So let's just do away with that altogether. The five markers of progression which are periodised in a phasic approach are your performance markers. So push progression hard there, with everything else focus more on control and execution and go up in weight when you feel you're able to. Does that make sense? Progression is still super important! But you'll push progression more aggressively with the markers of progression, and allow the other work to come up when you are in full control and it all feels good.
Exercise selection
For the markers of progression, you want to pick 5 exercises which fit the following criteria, because you're going to be sticking with these for 18-19 weeks. So the first criteria is that the lifts emphasise muscles you're interested in growing. The most common example here is an Incline Bench over a standard flat variant. You might also pick a very quad focused knee flexion marker of progression such as the Hack Squat. The second criteria is that you need to be able to perform this lift safely. If you have a chronic lower back ache which you need to baby a little, maybe let's not go with a heavy hip hinge. Perhaps use a Glute Drive or a strictly performed hamstring bias RDL. You get the idea. Make sure the lift is safe, loadable and targets an area you want to build. Pretty simple stuff.
Now when it comes to exercise selection for everything else, it's a little simpler. Just pick exercises you connect well with. Don't get overly focused on hitting things from different angles, or emphasising the stretch just pick a core group of exercises you connect with. You can switch these around every 6 weeks if you really want to but I wouldn't recommend it.
Phase potentiation
This is one of the core principles of the routine. This a VERY old concept, it's nothing complicated so don't get intimidated or put off. All it means is that each phase makes the next phase more productive. In my experience if you move from a period of hard work on higher reps down to lower reps, you typically get a very nice boost and burst of progress. That doesn't always work the other way around, but it certainly works going down to lower reps. So we're going to take advantage of that across these three phases. For those of you who are familiar with my 8s, 5s, 3s routine you will recognise what I'm doing here. However we are going to stay in a hypertrophy rep range, and since the volume falls into the higher category we need to apply some precaution to intensity.
RIR & Enforced RIR
As usual if volume goes up, intensity typically needs to come down or at least be moderated. I would advise this to be done in one of two ways. The first way is to simply take everything between 1 to 2 RIR. Now if you can do that, then it's very likely a fine protocol. Me personally I find it difficult to stick to an RIR if I have to think about it during the set, it's not enjoyable for me and I find it hard to stop. So the second way I recommend implementing an RIR is to simply do sets across. So where you need to do three working sets you would do them all for the same weight and stop at 8. If you're working hard, then that means your first set of 8 will naturally be around 2 RIR, and you'll have to work a little harder on the second of 8 so it'll naturally fall into the 1 RIR range and the final set should be right around 0 RIR. This will work as long as you time your rest periods, don't take excessive rests or this will make the sets easier. Don't get too hung up on the exact RIR in this second example, I know it's not 100% accurate but remember the overall goal it is simply to introduce some RIR to accommodate the additional volume. That's all it's about. So no need to get all worked up over the exact RIR you might hit on those sets, in my experience if you use a moderate rest period between sets and stick to sets across it will work just fine. So those are your choices, use 1 to 2 RIR or my 'enforced RIR' approach.
Rest periods & varying loading types
Over the course of the week I want you to use a variety of loading types; the heavy work will be taken care of by the five markers of progression and for those sets you should rest 3 minutes for every heavy working set. So that leaves the other stuff to think about, and that is when I feel for hypertrophy you should implement lower rest period, more metabolic type loading. So for everything else you're going to use shorter rest periods and benefit from a different type of loading there. My recommendation is for anything other than the big 5, you will use 2 minute rests for compounds and 1 minute rest for isolation work.
So just to summarise so there is no confusion here:
The markers of progression will always use a 3 minute rest period
All other compounds will use 2 minutes rest periods
All single joint, isolation exercises use 1 minute rest periods.
Transitioning from one block to the next
When it comes to moving reps down for the markers of progression to the next block, it's quite simple. Just add a bit of weight as normal and cap your reps on the first two sets. Simple. Don't add a bunch of weight, just add the smallest increment possible as you normally would. For the other exercises, well I would ideally just recommend continuing progression in the same way as normal. You can switch up the other exercises at this point if you really want, it won't make a huge amount of difference but if I were coaching you I'd probably lean on sticking to the same ones for the next 6 week block.
Diet
Let’s just touch on diet, as I think it’s valuable to touch on a factor which will certainly have the capacity to influence the outcome of this program. In my opinion this program is best run in a growth phase or as part of an improvement/off season. Here are some rough guidelines for how best to set up your diet:
Protein; I personally favour higher protein for bulking. 1g per lb of bodyweight is a minimum starting point, and I go up as high as 1.5g per lb in those who want an edge in performance and progression. This is assuming you are reasonably lean (up to 20% BF) if you are overweight then use cm of height instead of lb of bodyweight. So you might eat between 1 to 1.5g per cm of height. Some of you might be quite upset at this recommendation as it’s higher than you may have heard from your favourite evidence based influencer. However it is my view that while the research is fine, the interpretation of the data is off as it is based on MPS (muscle protein synthesis) and therefore doesn’t account for protein degradation or protein requirements of tissue in the body other than muscle. I also have gotten better results with higher protein, and higher protein recommendations are more inline with what has historically been touted as optimal by the traditional bodybuilding community.
Carbs vs fats; in this area I am a lot more relaxed. Weight training is not a heavily glycotic activity. So as long as you’re eating enough carbs to avoid ketosis and eating enough fats to keep your bloodwork looking good I am happy for you to eat to your preference. I would recommend plenty of fruits, veggies and healthy fats though. A healthy body is a strong one.
Overall caloric surplus and managing a push; I do favour a reasonable 1% or 2lb per month gaining standard. However I will always say that performance in the gym is the deciding factor. If your bodyweight is stagnant and progression is difficult then of course, add food! Stay consistent and you will eventually grow larger and stronger. Conversely though, if your bodyweight is stagnant but your strength is rising, that’s fine! Don’t think you always have to add bodyweight, this is usually a great way to ruin your condition and shorten an offseason. If you manage this correctly you can have a long and productive offseason and stay reasonably lean while doing so.
Cardio; I have all my clients do some form of cardio or stay active. My personal experience as a Coach has shown me that clients who eat more and expend more calories end up with a far better bodyfat to muscle ratio than clients who eat less and expend less even with the same surplus. So do your cardio. Either daily 30 minutes or ensure your steps are in that 8k+ range at least.
A final word from Faz
I hope you all get great gains following this routine. Thank you all for supporting my work. Here are some useful links:
Coaching enquiries: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15_F8NS9vWIZUGlPXv-jGeFO9vVCyEKUFTmwuJo3RHlA/edit
Consultations: https://fazlifts.co.uk/products/in-depth-one-off-diet-training-lifestyle-consultation
eBooks: https://fazlifts.co.uk/collections/e-books
All the best,
Coach Faz