Since last week's post below on Instagram, I've been getting inundated with questions about how to build muscle…including how I've been eating, supplements I'm currently taking, my workout program and more!
So I figured I'd put together a quick and dirty post to give the basics of my entire protocol. I hope this is helpful! You can feel free to leave your questions, comments, and feedback below the post!
How To Build Muscle: Ben Greenfield's Top 6 Workouts:
My weight training workouts are actually pretty simple. I find that from a cognitive fatigue standpoint and my hefty amounts of family time, work and travel, I can really only handle a maximum of about six different workout “options”—three for when I'm at home and three for travel. I do three such workouts per week, typically with 48 hours between, and my workouts take somewhere in the range of 50-60 minutes.
There's actually some evidence that hitting a muscle over and over again with similar exercise, movements, sets, and reps can actually be very good for muscle hypertrophy. If my goal were purely metabolic stimuli, I'd use quite a few additional workouts, but I keep things relatively simple for hypertrophy.
Home Muscle Building Workout 1: Basic Full Body Protocol
First, I perform a warm-up for about 5 minutes, preferably with a gymnastics routine, Animal Flow, a Core Foundation routine, or anything else that dynamically prepares the body for movement and elevates the heart rate. I usually finish my warm-up with a quick set of 100 jumping jacks or 30 burpees.
Next, I choose one exercise from the “Strength” list below:
- Upper Body Push (1)
- Lower Body Push (1)
- Upper Body Pull (1)
- Lower Body Pull (1)
- Full Body Move (1)
Then I pair each of the exercises above with one exercise from the “Core/Mobility” list you'll see shortly below.
Gradually adding weight and decreasing repetitions or maintaining repetitions with each strength set (if do-able with good form), I complete 6-10 repetitions of the first Strength exercise (e.g. Upper Body Push) in a slow, controlled fashion. Next, I complete 10-20 repetitions of a Core/Mobility movement of choice (for active recovery), preferably choosing a Core/Mobility movement that does not exhaust or work the same muscles that I used during my strength set.
Then I go straight back to the Strength set, do another set and follow it up with the same Core/Mobility exercise for active recovery. I continue this scenario until I have completed 3-5 sets for both the Strength move and the Core/Mobility move and then move on to the next movement category (e.g. Upper Body Pull). I then continue until I have finished all movement categories (one Upper Body Push, one Lower Body Push, one Upper Body Pull, one Lower Body Pull, and one Full Body Move).
After this workout, I jump into my cold pool for about 2 minutes to cool my body without staying in long enough (e.g. closer to the 10-minute range) to shut down any type of anabolic response to the workout.
Strength Exercises:
Upper Body Push:
- Barbell or Dumbbell Bench Press
- Incline Barbell or Dumbbell Bench Press
- Standing Overhead Press
- Standing Cable Press
- Loaded Pushup (with Weighted Vest, or Super Slow with bodyweight)
Upper Body Pull:
- Bent Barbell or Dumbbell Row
- Weighted Pull-up or Super Slow Pull-Up
- Weighted or Super Slow Horizontal Pull-Up
- Fast Single Arm Cable or Dumbbell Row
- Lat Pulldowns
- Seated Row
Lower Body Push:
- Barbell Squat
- Goblet Squat
- Front Squat
- Single-Leg Squat
- Front Lunge
- Reverse Lunge
- Barbell or Dumbbell Step-Ups
Lower Body Pull:
Full Body Move (This list is not exhaustive, and there may be others that you like.):
- ManMakers
- Turkish Get-Up
- Bear Complex (power clean, front squat, push press, back squat, and second push press):
- Deadlift to Overhead Press
- Overhead Squat
Core/Mobility Exercises:
- Torso Twists
- Cat/Cow
- Birddogs (opposite arm/leg extension)
- Yoga Sun Salutation Series
- Banded Side to Side Walks
- Mountain Climbers
- Foam Rolling
- Bridging
- Banded Side Walks
- Lunging Mobility Exercises
- More ideas here.
This entire protocol takes me about 60 minutes.
Home Muscle Building Workout 2: NEUBIE Electrostimulation Full Body Workout
You can listen to my podcast about this extremely powerful Russian DC E-stim NEUBIE unit here. Garrett, the designer of the NEUBIE, was kind enough to create two separate full body options for me. Each of these workouts takes me about 40-45 minutes, and I typically begin or finish with some kind of high-intensity set on the Air Assault bike (usually a Tabata set of 20 seconds hard/10 seconds easy, 8x through). I only do this type of workout once every two weeks or so because it makes me very sore.
NEUBIE Workout 1:
NEUBIE Workout 2:
Home Muscle Building Workout 3: “Garage” Strongman Workout
My third muscle building workout is probably the most functional and usually takes place in my driveway or garage. It is simply a mashup of “strongman” style exercises using a half-filled keg, a mace, a sandbag, medicine ball slams, kettlebells, monkey bars, a tire, etc. I try to include some running with this workout to keep my obstacle course racing fitness tuned.
- Warm-up run up and down the driveway (approx 200 yards total) or Air Assault bike 2 min
- Complete as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) circuit of the following for 45-60 minutes:
- Medicine ball thrusters
- Keg carry 50 feet
- Medicine ball slams
- Sandbag clean and jerk
- Tire/mace slams
- Monkey bars to failure
- 4 heavy tire flips
- Down and up the driveway again or Air Assault bike
- 1-minute plank for “recovery”
One handy book for learning this type of workout approach is Zach Evenesh's The Encyclopedia of Underground Strength and Conditioning
Travel Muscle Building Workout 1: Body Weight Training To Failure
The nice thing is that, based on good research by Brad Schoenfeld, you can still build muscle with lightweight or bodyweight training, provided that you complete each set to absolute failure with a maximum amount of time under tension. So I can still build muscle when I'm, say, in my hotel room and have only my body weight or elastic bands.
Here's my routine.
- 2-minutes:
- 1-minute each:
- suspension strap pull-ups
- suspension strap push-ups
- jumping jacks
- elastic band squat-to-overhead presses
- sitting down on the floor and standing up as many times as possible
- elastic band upright rows
- suspension strap lunges for each leg
- mountain climbers
Repeat as an AMRAP for 45-60 minutes (I include the burpee warm-up each round for an added challenge) with minimal rest. You can also use blood flow restriction bands around your arms and legs for an amplified growth hormone response and even a bigger muscle-building effect, which I often do.
Travel Muscle Building Workout 2: Hotel or Health Club Full Body Workout
I'm at a hotel or have access to a gym, is to perform back-to-back “supersets” for each body part, with each superset followed by two minutes of cardio performed as hard as possible. For example:
- 2 minutes on a cardio machine such as an elliptical trainer, bike, rowing machine, or stairmill.
- Chest press to failure (8 to 15 reps)
- Row to failure (8 to 15 reps)
- 2 minutes on a cardio machine
- Squat or leg press to failure (8-15 reps)
- Deadlift or leg curl to failure (8-15 reps)
- 2 minutes of cardio
- Shoulder press to failure (8-15 reps)
- Pull-down to failure (8-15 reps)
- 2 minutes of cardio
- Core exercise #1 of choice to failure (e.g., side plank rotations)
- Core exercise #2 of choice to failure (e.g., low back extensions)
Repeat 4 to 5 times through with minimal rest.
Travel Muscle Building Workout 3: X3 Bar
X3 Bar 10 minute workout (this workout is for when time is tight). You can read or listen to the full details on the X3 Bar here, and if you get a bar it includes a handy quick cheat sheet with demos of each exercise below. If I have more time available, I'll do this routine 2-3x through.
- Chest Press
- Squat
- Overhead Press
- Deadlift
- Row
- Squat To Overhead Press
- Curl
- Tricep Pushdown
Other than these workouts, I include the following basic movement protocols:
- at least 30 min/day walking/hiking for low-level aerobic fat loss without much muscle catabolism
- 60-90 minute hike on weekends
- family tennis for an hour on Sundays
- 30 min Clearlight infrared sauna 3-4x/week, always followed by a 5-minute cold soak
- 10-15 minutes foam rolling and mobility work each morning
My Muscle Building Diet
I'm largely following a “bastardized” version of the carnivore diet, which you can listen to full details about in this podcast. My total dietary intake is about 5000 calories per day, even on recovery days, approximately 30-40% protein, 30-40% fat and 20-30% carbs and is comprised of the following:
- Primarily organ meats and fish, mostly in the form of ribeye, liver, heart, braunschweiger, headcheese, bratwurst, sardines, anchovies, herring, mackerel, salmon and some amounts but not much of poultry. I do plenty of orders from USWellnessMeats for this (code GREENFIELD saves 15%), and also Wild Planet for canned fish. I typically dress up my meat with mayonnaise and sauces from Primal Kitchen (code BEN saves 10%).
- Small amounts of root vegetables such as yams and sweet potatoes, always steamed or mashed, along with canned pumpkin and sweet potato purees, preferably skipping the skin of these compounds and any excess fiber. I save nearly all my carbohydrates for the very end of the day, at which point I consume about 150-200g of carbohydrates. Occasional white rice too.
- Homemade fermented yogurt made from coconut milk and L. Reuteri strain probiotic as described with full instructions here.
- Raw, organic honey as a sweetener, especially with dinner. Often served on top of the tubers.
- For desserts, egg yolk/collagen/coconut milk ice cream described on my Instagram post here
- Small, anti-oxidant rich, low sugar berries such as blueberries, lingonberries, bilberries, and blackberries. Usually, these are sprinkled on top of my egg-yolk keto ice cream above.
- Bitter and tannin-rich teas and organic Kion coffee throughout the day. I often blend my coffee with cinnamon, MiCacao, sea salt, and stevia, but not many other added fats or calories.
- Lots of Kettle & Fire organic bone broth (code GREENFIELD for 10% off), typically one to two boxes per day served as my beverage with meals or especially as a nightly cocktail alternative since alcohol can blunt muscle-building significantly. I usually add sea salt to my bone broth.
- An occasional nightly glass of organic red wine such as FitVine (code GREENFIELD10 for 10% off) or Dry Farms (click here to try a bottle for a penny) or gin with bitters on ice with a squeeze of lemon (3-4 days/week).
- Small amounts of easy-to-digest skinless seeds and nuts or nut butter (mostly walnuts and cashews). These are usually sprinkled on the purees or served beside the meat.
- Nutrient-dense vegetable powders that offer plenty of phytonutrients without excess roughage and fiber. I mostly use Dr. Thomas Cowan’s heirloom vegetable powders (and Kuaui Organic Farmacy blends (code GREENFIELD saves 10% ). These get sprinkled liberally on all meals.
- 12-16 hour daily intermittent fast to ensure that mTor pathways aren’t excessively activated
- Consumption of my friend Dr. Joseph Mercola’s “autophagy tea” before my nightly fast to also limit mTor activation and increase autophagy:
- 1 tsp Pau d’ Arco powdered tea
- ½ tsp hydroxycitrate and garcinia (HCA/Garcinia powder)
- ½ tsp quercetin powder
- ½ tsp glycine powder
- ½ tsp chamomile powder
- Lakanto monk fruit sweetener to taste
Sample Breakfast
A large serving of coconut yogurt with cashew or walnut butter and a cup of Kettle & Fire bone broth (code GREENFIELD for 10% off). A small amount of raw honey drizzled on top or sometimes small handful blueberries.
Sample Lunch
One USWellnessMeats (code GREENFIELD saves 15%) bratwurst with several slices braunschweiger or head cheese along with a can of Wild Planet sardines. Half can of pumpkin puree on the side. Plenty of the spices listed above. Box of bone broth (code GREENFIELD for 10% off) for a beverage.
Dessert After Lunch
Keto ice cream (another option is my mix here):
- 6 egg yolks
- 4 scoops Thorne Mediclear SGS (chocolate flavor)
- 8 droppers-full Omica Organics vanilla stevia
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 can BPA-Free full-fat coconut milk
Sample Dinner
One 20 oz ribeye steak (code GREENFIELD saves 15%) with a can of sweet potato puree drenched in olive oil and nut butter.
Dessert After Dinner
Same as lunch, but often sprinkle berries or raw honey on top for nighttime carbs. Another cup of bone broth (code GREENFIELD for 10% off) or glass of wine (code GREENFIELD10 for 10% off).
Sample Power Coffee
I'll sometimes add extra calories to my organic coffee if I want more calories after breakfast. A typical mix for me is a heaping tablespoon of ghee or coconut oil blended with organic coffee, cinnamon, stevia, sea salt, and MiCacao.
Supplements
- 2 capsules Kion Lean before dinner to control blood sugar from evening feed.
- 2 capsules Thorne Biogest before each main meal of the day to assist digestion.
- 20-40g Kion Aminos per day, usually mid-morning or mid-afternoon on empty stomach. This is probably the most potent supplement in my muscle building arsenal.
- 2 scoops Colostrum per day for added growth hormone.
- 2 Kion Omega in the morning.
- 4 tablets BPC-157 oral peptide from Dr. Seeds for muscle recovery.
- 3 Kion Flex at night for muscle recovery.
- Tesamorelin injectable growth hormone peptide – 2mg per day 5 days/week
- 2x/weekly self-administered vitamin cocktail push IV from Dr. Craig Koniver for recovery.
- Weekly NAD patch from NAD injection clinic for recovery.
- Nighttime CBD oil at 60-100 grams (lately I've been using the brand Element Health Supply CBD because it's so concentrated but warning: it's extremely powerful stuff – a lower potency alternative is Thorne Hemp or BioCBD (code BEN10 will save you 10%))
- 4 capsules Dr. Kirk Parsley's Sleep Remedy (code BEN10 for 10% off) pre-sleep when traveling
Finally, I kicked this whole thing off with this stem cell procedure with Dr. Chen, which likely also helped and would be something I consider to fall into the biohacking/supplement category.
Summary
OK, those are the biggies! As you can see, it's not that complex. You just need to be very, very consistent. Aside from the occasional handful of polenta fries with my ribeye steak or a taste of my wife's sourdough bread here and there, I have no major cheat days or days on which I skip movements.
Sure, there's a few extra recoveries or mitochondrial supporting “biohacks” I throw in, but I don't think they're 100% necessary and are actually kind of expensive. Namely the big ones:
- Pulsecenters PEMF table for home recovery and Flexpulse for travel recovery
- Joovv light each morning to enhance collagen synthesis and testosterone
- Water and Wellness Hydrogen water morning and evening to enhance recovery
- LiveO2 hyperbaric oxygen during some of my Tabata sets
Again, these are nice-to-have, but in my opinion not really necessary to gain significant amounts of functional muscle while maintaining high-end cardiovascular fitness and keeping any fat gain to a minimum, which is really the focus of my entire protocol.
Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for me about this muscle building protocol? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!
111 Responses
Thanks for this Ben. Great stuff! One question: I couldn’t find do you stretch after working out? If so, do you recommend before or after the quick cold shower/immersion? Cheers.
Hi Ben any reason you are not eating eggs as part of your weekly meals? Thanks
Hi Ben,
Just a quick question regarding protein here, previously you had recommended 0.7g per lb body weight to gain lean muscle. With this diet it looks significantly higher.
Would you say more protein Than 0.7/lb is beneficial for muscle growth?
Thanks
Hey Ben,
Doing transcendental meditation before and after my workout is a must for me.
70 years old and still goin strong…love all this good info and very grateful for your posts.
Hi Ben,
Just wondering how many Basic Full Body Protocol workouts you would complete in a week?
Hi, Ben! I respect your opinion much more than most anyone else’s when it comes to supplements. Would you mind giving me your honest point-blank feedback on Shakeology please? What protien powder would you most highly recommend? Thank you so much!
Hey brother. Incredible post. Protein at 30-40% of 5000 calories is around 375-500 grams/day. Any comments on this in regards to muscle mass/longevity/difference of glycine-rich cuts vs. muscle meat/plant vs. meat sources/mTor etc.?
Thanks for the post
Was wondering Ben’s answer on this also. Any word?
I’ve been playing around a bit with intermittent fasting. It’s challenging to exercise early in the morning and not break my fast. I noticed in your meal plan that you have a breakfast, lunch, and dinner. How do you squeeze all these meals in and still fast 12-16 hours? Also, will I be able to strength train and build muscle if I wait to eat 6-8 hours after a morning workout?
Fasting for 12-16 hours still leaves plenty of room for all of these meals. The 8 hours you're sleeping are included in this fasting window. Also, not sure where it says to wait 6-8 hours after a morning workout to eat? If you need help with this, I do personalized coaching. Just go to https://BenGreenfieldFitness.com/coaching
It doesn’t say to wait 6-8 hours, but I stop eating just before 8pm each night which takes me until 12pm the following day to hit 16 hours. This is where I’m stuck.
Any chance you might have a moment to expand on how you reach 5,000 calories each day. I’d love to see a sample menu for just a few days. I’d find it difficult to eat a 20oz steak every night for dinner.
It's all written out in the article. If you're interested in a personalized nutrition plan, just go to https://BenGreenfieldFitness.com/coaching
Not concerned with nitrogen balance/toxicity with the 30-40% protein levels?
Hey Ben,
I was about to do a “brain phase” of Dr. Pompa’s True Cellular Detox, which I’ve done in the past, but was thinking it might be better to do after a month of this muscle gain protocol rather than during.
Do you think a different training protocol would be better for the detox or do you think it’s fine to do both at the same time?
Was there a reason you chose a surplus of ~1800 calories vs what you used to eat? Obviously a surplus is necessary for growth, but that is a substantial jump.
Like the person below seems to have alluded to, would a caloric surplus of that magnitude be advisable for someone who doesn’t use Tesamorelin and is interested in gaining muscle without body fat?
I have a very high metabolism, so I need more calories to support significant growth. Different people will have different specific needs.
Hi Ben – What’s the benefit of having all of your carbs in the evening vs. morning when you would be more insulin sensitive?
Thanks!
As long as you're keeping your blood glucose fluctuations minimized outside of the refeed, there's not a huge difference… Personally, I do my refeed in the evening because I typically do my more intense training in the evening, after having consumed little to no carbs throughout the day. This helps refuel my body, regulate hormones, and help recover for the next day.
Hi Ben,
Would you still perform your carb refeed in the evening on non-training days? Also, as a side question, what is your reasoning for not including carb sources such as oats that seem to make it much easier to get your carbs in than sweet potato?
Thanks!
I typically still do, but not totally necessary as long as you feel you're recovering fully. However, I would suggest lowering the number of grams you consume on non-training days. Oats are a solid source as well, but I highly recommend organic and soaking them can help with digestibility. Personally, I prefer a delicious sweet potato mash…
Thanks Ben! One other side question. A couple years ago, I somehow aggravated the nerve in my right bicep, so now anytime I perform any curling exercises, my bicep will get progressively weaker, taking a good amount of time to heal again. I’ve combated this by building my biceps through pulling exercises like pull-ups or any other pulling exercise that doesn’t involve supinating my forearm. I am thinking about getting a recovery tool to help my bicep recover faster. My question is whether a tool like an EMS device or JOOVV light would help heal this problem?
EMS would have a more robust effect. Highly recommend you check out this podcast as well: http://bit.ly/2QqOU75
Do you think your results would be close to the same without using Tesamorelin?
I think it has an impact, but can still have great results without it.
Will CBD show up in a drug test?
Typically no, but some brands have a higher THC content then others, so do your research. ProjectCBD.org has a ton of great info.
Hey Ben – When do you do your fasting?
I'm doing a 12-16hr intermittent fast most days… Typically more towards the 12 hour mark while I'm in the muscle building phase to ensure plenty of time to meet nutritional needs.
Would you suggest doing your “basic full body routine” 3x a week? If so, would it be okay to swim and run on your days in between?
Yes it's fine, but you should be wary of overtraining.
Hey Ben,
Do you yourself ever complete the basic full body routine 3x per week?
WTF Tesamorelin am I figuring this out wrong? A 2 mg peptide bottle means you take a full bottle a day? That’s expensive a F, no?
I wonder how much it helps with keeping fat gain to almost zero also
Hey Ben, I have my Ipamorelin vials ready to be reconstituted but my pharmacist says I need a script for bacteriostatic water. A quick google search tells me it can only be purchased by a licensed physician. Haha! So, now what?
Check this out: http://bit.ly/2VVfxq3
If you have muscle to lose and still want to gain muscle, what would be your recommendation regarding how to tweak this, or what article or other resource would you point to for a suggested approach?
You want to simultaneously gain and lose muscle?
Sorry, lose fat and gain muscle!
The above protocol would be effective, but here's another great resource on losing fat the right way: http://bit.ly/2W1mq9i
Fasting Schedule throughout muscle growth program?
Anywhere from 12-16 hours, but typically more towards 12 to make sure there's time for adequate intake.
Ben, what time of day are you usually working out? Should one be worried about the antioxidants in autophagy tea reducing the free radicals needed for muscle growth? Or are you taking this tea on rest days while carb-loading at dinner and stimulating anabolism on workout days?
Do the tea at least a couple hours pre or post workout… I usually do strength workouts in the afternoon.
Ben you need to give a cool marketable name for your protocol like John Kiefer calls similar protocol as Carb Back Loading.
I usually do my intense workouts in the afternoon a couple hours before dinner… Here's a good resource: http://bit.ly/2VYmzu7
Ben,
Are you certain on “4 tablets BPC-157” ?
The dosage on the site recommends 2 tablets.
There’s also a BPC+ listed, now. Bonus protection perhaps…
-Jon
I take 4 tablets, but I would suggest starting with the recommended dosage… The BPC+ is the same thing at a higher dosage.
Hey Ben!
I’m curious why you go into a cold pool after the workout. I know you say to reduce body temperature, but why do you want to do that post exercise? I currently take a hot shower post exercise due to benefits I had heard related to doing that, and sprinkle in some cold or contrast showers throughout the day. Please let me know.
Thank you!
Jordan
Dr. Jay and I discuss it in this podcast: http://bit.ly/2VYmzu7
Hey Ben,
Any tips on how to make liver more convenient and palatable? I love the health benefits but it can be a bit much to eat it sauteed in butter with onions and garlic all the time. Jerky perhaps?
I make liver and beef meatballs. I throw in the freezer and can just grab one for that liver punch!
Good idea!
Check out the organ sausages at US Wellness Meats: http://bit.ly/2PW3H9L
Thanks for sharing Ben! Always quality material and very helpful. Greetings from Mexico :)
Ben, where do isometric and dynamic exercises fall into the mix if at all? Is your cadence super slow and to failure on these?
Great post Ben!! Any ideas on a reliable source where I can buy tesamorelin?
Thanks!
I recommend posting this to the Kion Community. It’s a completely free online community of like-minded people who both have advice and are seeking advice. Facebook.com/groups/GetKion/
Hi Ben,
How would a cyclical ketogenic diet work with consuming carbs primarily in the first 4 hours of day compare to what you do?
Also, confirm for please, shouldn’t the only thing required for muscle building be a nitrogen positive balance, not a caloric surplus? Speaking simply here, but I would appreciate any feedback.
It's a little more in line with natural hormone cycles and circadian patterns to consume toward evening, but as long as you aren't having regular glucose spikes throughout the day should be fine
Hey Ben,
Any long-term concern with NAD patches or NR & Resveratrol supplements?
It's a good idea to support yourself with methyl precursors such as dark leafy greens, organ meats and magnesium.
Hi Ben great article, I don’t have access to tesamorelin would MK 677 be a suitable alternative? Thanks
I am a newbie to weightlifting, i am fat and would like to start lifting weights, am i going to do all of the training you mentioned in the newbie section? What if i can’t do some training?
Furthermore, should i wear a weightlifting glove? what do you think about the Trideer workout glove?
This best work glove review has it as number 5
Congratulations on your decision To start incorporating weightlifting as a way of living a healthier life. I just wanted to point out, the “Neubie section,” Is for use with the Nuefit (https://www.neu.fit/) electro-stimulation device. Unless you have access to one, you should stick with the routines in section one. And, remember that consistency is key. Most people newer to weightlifting make the mistake of changing up their routine frequently. You only need a few compound movements, such as the ones mentioned in this article, to produce real, long-lasting results. Good luck.
Hey man, great write up, thank you for posting this!
2 questions:
1) Have you noticed any negatives by reducing the amount of green vegetables in your diet and focusing more on root vegetables?
2) To what degree would you attribute the negligible fat gain to using Tesamorelin? Is it a substantial tool for mitigating fat gain for you?
Thanks
Is there a benefit to using something like MiCacao instead of just using cacao powder?
Tastier.
I see you’ve taken inspiration from gymansticbodies foundation workouts with the strength pairing with the mobility, would I be correct on this? I noticed very rapid progress when I dove deep into GST for a year.
Lots of snake oil
In the past did you follow Dr Doug mcguff body by science one set to failure? Has your opinion/evidence changed your view on his style of training and his explanation around why you should only do 1 set to failure once a week for each major body part?
That's not enough for significant muscle building IMO
Thanks for the post. Simplified and easy to follow. Would this program work if I was to play basketball 2-3 times a week during the off days? I usually play for 30-60 mins consisting brief spurts of intense action. At 5’10, 160 lbs, It’s always been hard for me to gain..Thanks Ben.
Hi, so you train fully body 3 times per week? And you choose 1 of these 3 workouts based on accessibility etc?
Thanks!
yep
What about vegan protein powder? Or are there some cons?
So you’re no longer using any of the “stacks” from Vaxxen Labs?
Are you still doing the morning Big Ass Smoothies?
I haven't been recently, and have noticed improvements with digestion/bowel movements.
nope
Hi. How do you eat the liver? Raw?
So that means your eating 375-500 grams of protein.
Isn’t that like really bad for longevity?
I also thought an extremely high protein intake is not necessary for muscle gain?
Quick question,
What’s wrong with you?
Great article Ben, thanks! Two quick questions. What are you doing on off days and is any off your training fasted?
As you can see written right there…walking, yoga, infrared sauna, etc.
Sorry about that, missed the section on other movement protocols. Question about fasting was whether or not you are training fasted, not whether you fast.
Yes still training fasted some days, but strength workout is typically in the afternoon so not always fasted.
Ben, when am I going to see you on America Ninja Warrior? I don’t know if that is necessarily the type of workout you build for, but I think that could be very fun to watch and a cool challenge to partake upon.
-Ben
Hey ben, love the products and info in this one. I saw gainz following a similar approach after yiu first talked bout it. Im curious if you measuring your boood glucose during this? Just outta curiosity, how did the extra protein along with the increased carbs as well affect it if it did?
Blood glucose has stayed low. Avg 85-90. Protein doesn't affect it that much and the carbs are relatively low Glycemic Index.
Hi! Do you do eat/take anything before you strength train? I’ve been doing IF and keto but I’ve lost muscle and leanness. I read bout Leptins and how keto coffee can help with that (just ordered your coffee for first time!). But does Keto coffee (grass fed butter and MCT) break autophagy gains if you have it during the fasting period?
10-20g Kion aminos.
Ben,
I’m curious to know how this plan would affect a ultra running. Ive dialed down my running from 50m weekly to at most 20m. I want to gain muscle but also be able to go out run a 50k and even a 50m scheduled for July. I’m not out to run fast but to keep the body dialed in for any activity I believe I’ve built up a strong aerobic base and now just want to supplement it. What do you think?
Gaining muscle + ultrarunning is a plan for disaster. Choose one or the other bro.
Hey Ben this awesome thanks so much!
“Gradually adding weight and decreasing repetitions or maintaining repetitions with each strength set ”
How many sets do you do here or are you doing one set and adding weight each following training session?
Thanks
add as you go. As is written right there, 3-5 sets.
Great stuff! For someone who weight trains early a.m. or during my lunch break, would you still recommend a carb re-feed at night vs after the workout?
Ben, I’m curious if you would recommend this style of a modified Carnivore diet. Does it check all the boxes Paul Saladino describes are the benefits from a fully carnivorous diet? (While adding some much needed variety)…
Wow…lift some heavy stuff 2 or 3x per week..eat really clean, move. Hummmm pop a few pills, nothing has really changed in the last 40 years. You’re still very young and you should look good.
Thank you for providing this info. It’s so helpful to have it laid out. Truly grateful for your efforts.
Do you plan on sharing blood work results after this protocol? Would be very interesting to see
What is your average daily caloric burn from workouts? 5000 calories a day intake, I’d be afraid of gaining fat. I Currently average 800 calories a day from workouts alone. I’m assuming you’re much higher.
My metabolic rate is about 3200 and average daily activity burn is about that multiplied by 1.55.
I’m curious as to why your going out of your way to remove fibre from the diet? Am I missing something? Kinda thought that was an important part of healthy eating… I’ve never heard you mention otherwise. Thanks!
Otherwise, great article ????
Try eating 3,000+ calories of whole foods (high calorie and high fiber carbs/avocadoes/nuts) to bulk and you’ll see why. There’s a tradeoff; its satiating and the amount of energy needed to digest 60g+ of fiber can take away from the bulking process. He’s eating higher protein so there’s already a lot of thermic energy expenditure going on.
20 IU tesamorelin 3 days a week..? Did you mean 2 IU???
sorry, meant 2mg
Quick question the website wouldn’t let me ask on a new thread.
1) Is the fiber due to the knowledge/podcast/book of Konstantin Monastyrsky?
2) Are you still taking Thorne creatine 5g daily?
3) Are you still eating Kion Clean Energy Bar?
Thank you for everything you do ????????
I’m also curious of the same questions. Especially 1 and 2. Any chance of a reply?
Thanks for everything you do Ben!
I’m a little confused on tesamorelin – how can it be both helpful for insulin resistance yet potentially produce glucose intolerance and diabetes.
“Tesamorelin is also being evaluated as therapy of insulin resistance**, obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver….Potential, rare adverse events include stimulation of malignant tumor growth, glucose intolerance**, diabetes** and hypersensitivity reactions.”
https://livertox.nih.gov/Tesamorelin.htm