I've been using his protocol for 3 months now and just started sprints. For the first 2 months I doubled up each week(as he does as his fitness biz) then cut back to 1 time per week. Overall it's easy to maintain this pace and I have definitely seen some gains in overall strength, loss of intramuscular and visceral fat. I've lost 21 lbs in that time but feel ive probably gained 3 or 4 lbs of lean muscle. I'm purely guessing on the lean muscle gain based on some reports I read and supposition. The sprinting kicks my ass but it's pretty quick to bash off 15 minutes of sprints.
I do the big 5 workout. Squats, bench, row, military press, and pull down. I do each to exhaustion and done fairly slowly so momentum plays no part in the movement. I usually do the circuit 2x upping the weight the second time through. It takes me 30 minutes and I don't buy a gym pass because it's cheaper only going 4x /month.
I figured I'll give this six months then decide whether I need more training but so far I can say I'm getting some traction.
Yeah, it is in essence. Mark has lots of variation in this workouts but it's also about high intensity, lift heavy things. I like BBS because it takes so little of my time and I'm not a gym person. I get in there, pump some iron like a madman, then I'm out. I do like getting outside so the walking/hiking part with some sprints works for me. (I really appreciate Mark's site and what he's done to inspire me and so many others. If it weren't for Mark, I never would have started down this road. )
The big 5 is just a starting point which you can tweak to your needs. They give a few alternatives in the book (big 3; adding isolation exercises for athletes, etc.).
ZsZugyl is correct. The big 5 is a starting point and hits all the major muscles. It can be tweaked but I'm staying mostly with his program for now.
I've added sprints because it too is a high intensity training technique that's a bit different than weight training and as an experiment to see if my weight loss would restart. With it, I busted past a plateau and now losing weight again so that's a good start. How it's affecting my weight training is yet to be seen. I'll have more to say on adding this in few weeks.
I haven't read the book yet, but I plan to read it this week. I am wondering if you could answer a question for me? My understanding is the program is pretty anti low intensity cardio. Like you, I'm not a gym guy. I wouldn't say that I hate lifting, but I certainly don't look forward to it. How detrimental to the program would low intensity cardio (jogging 3-4 miles or cycling 20 or so) be a few times a week? I understand it's not ideal, but as an ex marathoner and competitive cyclist, I'm not willing to stop stop doing these things I enjoy. I plan to wear a heart rate monitor and keep the intensity low.
I've been using his protocol for 3 months now and just started sprints. For the first 2 months I doubled up each week(as he does as his fitness biz) then cut back to 1 time per week. Overall it's easy to maintain this pace and I have definitely seen some gains in overall strength, loss of intramuscular and visceral fat. I've lost 21 lbs in that time but feel ive probably gained 3 or 4 lbs of lean muscle. I'm purely guessing on the lean muscle gain based on some reports I read and supposition. The sprinting kicks my ass but it's pretty quick to bash off 15 minutes of sprints.
I do the big 5 workout. Squats, bench, row, military press, and pull down. I do each to exhaustion and done fairly slowly so momentum plays no part in the movement. I usually do the circuit 2x upping the weight the second time through. It takes me 30 minutes and I don't buy a gym pass because it's cheaper only going 4x /month.
I figured I'll give this six months then decide whether I need more training but so far I can say I'm getting some traction.
It sounds a lot like Mark Sisson's workouts.
Yeah, it is in essence. Mark has lots of variation in this workouts but it's also about high intensity, lift heavy things. I like BBS because it takes so little of my time and I'm not a gym person. I get in there, pump some iron like a madman, then I'm out. I do like getting outside so the walking/hiking part with some sprints works for me. (I really appreciate Mark's site and what he's done to inspire me and so many others. If it weren't for Mark, I never would have started down this road. )
thanks. why sprints though? I thought McGuff just reccomends the big 5??
The big 5 is just a starting point which you can tweak to your needs. They give a few alternatives in the book (big 3; adding isolation exercises for athletes, etc.).
ZsZugyl is correct. The big 5 is a starting point and hits all the major muscles. It can be tweaked but I'm staying mostly with his program for now.
I've added sprints because it too is a high intensity training technique that's a bit different than weight training and as an experiment to see if my weight loss would restart. With it, I busted past a plateau and now losing weight again so that's a good start. How it's affecting my weight training is yet to be seen. I'll have more to say on adding this in few weeks.
I haven't read the book yet, but I plan to read it this week. I am wondering if you could answer a question for me? My understanding is the program is pretty anti low intensity cardio. Like you, I'm not a gym guy. I wouldn't say that I hate lifting, but I certainly don't look forward to it. How detrimental to the program would low intensity cardio (jogging 3-4 miles or cycling 20 or so) be a few times a week? I understand it's not ideal, but as an ex marathoner and competitive cyclist, I'm not willing to stop stop doing these things I enjoy. I plan to wear a heart rate monitor and keep the intensity low.