MODOK How Do You Train?

Training Bodybuilding
81

pumped340, I don’t mean this to be a personal affront at all, but are you sure that you have a realistic sense of how much fat you actually put on? I feel like I’ve read your posts all over the BBB threads and such where you talk endlessly about how easily you put on fat, but your avatar does not look like an individual who puts on a lot of fat…I guess I just don’t get it.

MODOK, I just wanted to thank you for all of your contributions to this board, especially as it relates to how to approach lifting in terms of intensity. As I see folks like C_C and ProfX cease posting, just wanted to express my appreciation of the information you’ve provided on these forums. I’m still a beginner, but I’m definitely amazed with the results I’ve gotten with BBB, and I’m about to start incorporating carb-up weekends per your AD experience.

82

MODOK, do you buy new clothes for the offseason vs “on season” lol. I’ve had to update the old wardrobe since I stated lifting! I’m also 6’2 which makes shopping that much harder.

83

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
MODOK, I just wanted to thank you for all of your contributions to this board, especially as it relates to how to approach lifting in terms of intensity. As I see folks like C_C and ProfX cease posting, just wanted to express my appreciation of the information you’ve provided on these forums. I’m still a beginner, but I’m definitely amazed with the results I’ve gotten with BBB, and I’m about to start incorporating carb-up weekends per your AD experience. [/quote]

I’ll second that. I don’t post much, (if I did it would probably be loads of annoying questions as I’m a beginner too) but you are one of those guys whose posts I look forward to reading (as well as certain other guys). I appreciate your efforts.

84

[quote]Merv77 wrote:

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
MODOK, I just wanted to thank you for all of your contributions to this board, especially as it relates to how to approach lifting in terms of intensity. As I see folks like C_C and ProfX cease posting, just wanted to express my appreciation of the information you’ve provided on these forums. I’m still a beginner, but I’m definitely amazed with the results I’ve gotten with BBB, and I’m about to start incorporating carb-up weekends per your AD experience. [/quote]

I’ll second that. I don’t post much, (if I did it would probably be loads of annoying questions as I’m a beginner too) but you are one of those guys whose posts I look forward to reading (as well as certain other guys). I appreciate your efforts. [/quote]

x3

but on another note, ever think about giving BBB another go?

85

Speaking of BBB, MOKOK, whats the best way to hit thighs during ramp 2? Right now I’m splitting them into a seperate quad & ham movement (6 day split). During ramp 2, I have to hit them EVERY day, I can’t fathom keeping that up. Should I just do a single movement like leg press instead of doing legpress AND SLDL on same day?

86

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
your avatar does not look like an individual who puts on a lot of fat…I guess I just don’t get it.
[/quote]
That’s not him, that’s a pro BB whose name eludes me right now

87

[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
Speaking of BBB, MOKOK, whats the best way to hit thighs during ramp 2? Right now I’m splitting them into a seperate quad & ham movement (6 day split). During ramp 2, I have to hit them EVERY day, I can’t fathom keeping that up. Should I just do a single movement like leg press instead of doing legpress AND SLDL on same day?[/quote]

I’m doing Ramp2 right now, and maybe MODOK can use what I’m doing as a “Whoa, don’t do that!” or “Do that!”

During Ramp1, I was doing Back Squats and then either a ham or quad movement every thigh day.

Right now on Ramp2, I’m alternating Back Squats and Hack Squats, with either a ham or quad movement every day. I try to do spinal loading exercises on the Back Squats day and then have Hack Squats paired with a leg exercise that doesn’t involve spinal loading.

Does it seem insane? Yes. I walk to the gym wondering how I’m going to do it some mornings this week, but when I get in there and get in game-time mode, I get under the bar and just forget about what I did yesterday. But that’s the whole point during this Ramp. My legs have been continually sore this week, but I’m still increasing in strength. I feel like Ramp2 is dependent upon eating. If you’re not eating heroic amounts of food, you’re going to turn to dust.

EDIT: just thought that I’d mention also that BBB has really worked well for my squatting–first week could only do 235x7, while now I hit 280x11 and am going to do 300 for my sets of 8-10 tomorrow. Not huge weights, but the increase has been satisfying.

88

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:

[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
Speaking of BBB, MOKOK, whats the best way to hit thighs during ramp 2? Right now I’m splitting them into a seperate quad & ham movement (6 day split). During ramp 2, I have to hit them EVERY day, I can’t fathom keeping that up. Should I just do a single movement like leg press instead of doing legpress AND SLDL on same day?[/quote]

I’m doing Ramp2 right now, and maybe MODOK can use what I’m doing as a “Whoa, don’t do that!” or “Do that!”

During Ramp1, I was doing Back Squats and then either a ham or quad movement every thigh day.

Right now on Ramp2, I’m alternating Back Squats and Hack Squats, with either a ham or quad movement every day. I try to do spinal loading exercises on the Back Squats day and then have Hack Squats paired with a leg exercise that doesn’t involve spinal loading.

Does it seem insane? Yes. I walk to the gym wondering how I’m going to do it some mornings this week, but when I get in there and get in game-time mode, I get under the bar and just forget about what I did yesterday. But that’s the whole point during this Ramp. My legs have been continually sore this week, but I’m still increasing in strength. I feel like Ramp2 is dependent upon eating. If you’re not eating heroic amounts of food, you’re going to turn to dust.

EDIT: just thought that I’d mention also that BBB has really worked well for my squatting–first week could only do 235x7, while now I hit 280x11 and am going to do 300 for my sets of 8-10 tomorrow. Not huge weights, but the increase has been satisfying. [/quote]

Thanks for that info. Also, I know MODOK was a fan of the AD on this program. I was on the AD for a while, but transitioned off and added in more carbs while doing BBB. More of a 40/40/20 split, but more important is making sure your eating enough to repair.

89

[quote]aspengc8 wrote:

Thanks for that info. Also, I know MODOK was a fan of the AD on this program. I was on the AD for a while, but transitioned off and added in more carbs while doing BBB. More of a 40/40/20 split, but more important is making sure your eating enough to repair.
[/quote]

Ha, I’m doing my first carb up day tomorrow. I had basically been doing the AD without the carb days for the past month or so. I’ve been making good gains, but I want to give the actual AD a shot.

Eating enough to repair is huge, but here’s one other thing I would say about Ramp2 (only one week in, mind you): even if you feel like “How in the hell am I going to go in there and squat today,” just be able to get there and flip the switch. My brain will tell me that I probably shouldn’t be squatting tomorrow, but when I enter the gym tomorrow morning all of that stuff goes out the window and I’m like Ray Lewis at the Superbowl, haha!

In other words, the key to BBB is training with absolute intensity every day. That’s a lot harder to do when you’re basically doing full body workouts every day. I also will fully admit that I do feel that my upper body lifts may be suffering somewhat from the amount of energy I’m putting into my leg development.

90

MODOK, here’s a related question about BBB that I haven’t yet read the answer to:

After finishing BBB, it says to settle on a previous Ramp and do that one. My understanding is that each of these ramps test one or more inputs of strength training out of frequency, volume, and rest. I like Ramp2 because it is ultimately going to push me on all three fronts (I literally at this point can’t imagine doing week three). It seems like the most sensible of the Ramps in terms of achieving what the ramps set out to do–namely, eventually create a state of overtraining.

On the other hand, the supergrowth phase SG1 seems to be the most sensible on that front. The whole point of SG is to back off a bit on the rest and volume so that the body can supercompensate. SG2 seems relatively intense for this process to occur.

I’m going to run the program all the way through first, but I was just curious as to what your thoughts are on mixing and matching ramps and supergrowths, along with what you found to be the most effective after running it all the way through.

91

[quote]plateau wrote:

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
your avatar does not look like an individual who puts on a lot of fat…I guess I just don’t get it.
[/quote]
That’s not him, that’s a pro BB whose name eludes me right now[/quote]

frank mcgrath i believe

92

MODOK, do you feel the 6 day BBB routine is more beneficial than the 4 day? I have the time for the 6 day, and am starting ramp 2 tomorrow. Just curious on your thoughts of 6 vs 4 day.

93

[quote]aspengc8 wrote:
MODOK, do you feel the 6 day BBB routine is more beneficial than the 4 day? I have the time for the 6 day, and am starting ramp 2 tomorrow. Just curious on your thoughts of 6 vs 4 day.[/quote]

Ha, this is making me want to start a BBB III thread. In general, I wish there would have been more discussion of Ramp2 in the previous two threads. It seems like most people just do Ramp1 over and over without trying 2 or 3.

94

Modok, while running the 6 day BBB split do you think its ok on the one off day a week to eat less then the other six days, im eating 4000 cals a day currently and its tough to get all that food down, having to eat less on my only day off would provide a nice break, like maybe eating 2500-3000 cals in stead of 4000 on my off day?

95

[quote]MODOK wrote:

[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
Modok, while running the 6 day BBB split do you think its ok on the one off day a week to eat less then the other six days, im eating 4000 cals a day currently and its tough to get all that food down, having to eat less on my only day off would provide a nice break, like maybe eating 2500-3000 cals in stead of 4000 on my off day?[/quote]

That is fine IF you are continuing to gain weight and get stronger.[/quote]

Just finished week 1 (ive actually ran this before, never went past ramp 1 with super growth though, wanna try and do the whole thing this time) and i feel pretty strong (not near as sore as the first time i tried it) so hopefully what im doing will work

96

Modok,

Since this is a very popular thread, can we have an update what you are currently doing in the gym? Has it changed from the upper/lower split with your hybrid 531 version? If possible, an example of what you did this week so far or last week? Can never get enough of picking your brain.

Thanks

97

ever think about running another BBB cycle? if you’re gonna be training 6x a week, why not?

98

MODOK, I have three questions about your views on cutting:

  1. From that diet you posted earlier, is it the case that you only use the AD when bulking, then when cutting you seem to go with a more balanced macro profile?

  2. When you were doing BBB, I assume that you always switched to a different routine when cutting…? Thing is, I could imagine cutting with BBB as long as you stayed on Ramp1. Also, how (if at all) do your rep ranges vary when cutting vis-a-vis when bulking?

  3. Regarding training frequency while cutting, do you think one would be better served lifting 4 days a week than 6 per week when cutting? My thinking was as follows: if you do 4 days/week with three off days of some form of extended cardio, you would be able to cut calories more substantially on the non-lifting days without having the increased risk of injury that is a staple of lifting when in a caloric deficit.

Perhaps that last point is just some sort of stupid bro-science. Either way, I’d be happy to hear more about how your training during a cut differs from when you’re on a bulk.

99

Modok, in addition to “The 3 commandments” questions; I see that you hit your bodyparts with the “money” exercises: I really didn’t see any rear delt direct exercises, side delt exerices, etc…
Week 1
Bench
65% x 5
75% x 5
85% x AMAP
Work set #2 x 10-12 reps
Work set # 3 x 13-15 reps

Back
DB rows
warm up x 2
all out set of 25 ( increase weight when you reach 25 )

Wide Pull ups
Rest pause x 3 AMAP

Dips

5-10-15

Alt DB Curls
3 x 12-15

Pushdowns or the like

3 x 12-15

Hammer Curls

3 x 12-15

Legs

Safety Squat Bar

65%
75%
85% AMAP

Hack Squat

weight x 10-12
weight x 13-15

Stiff leg deads

5-10-15

abs and shit

Military

65%
75%
85%
wt x 10-12
wt x 13-15

Neutral pull ups

5-10-15 (amap)

Incline Bench

straight sets 3 x whatever

c-g board press

5-10-15

two exercises of curls

3 sets

pushdown or the like

3 sets

Deads

65%
75%
85%

rack pull
5-10-15
(these are nice)

g-h raise
Amap

Leg press

5-10-15

BB shrugs

straight sets

abs, etc.

If you have lagging rear delts or other muscles, what do you do?

Thanks,
Scott

100

MODOK, I’ve been using a more blanced approach diet to BBB. Its more of a 40/30/30 split, protein always 350+. I used to use the AD, and was thinking about going back to it. I love my carbs though. Do you feel the AD is a better match for BBB than tradional 40/30/30? I actually eat AD style on the 1 day off from the gym, carbs only from green veggies.