My OTS BBB Setup

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

I have read all the threads on BBB plus the e-book and I am going to start my own 18 week program on 11-28-11. I will be doing the pre-condition week on 11-21-11, as to get my weights somewhat set up for the program. I will be sharing my progress through this thread. I was wanting some advice as to if my setup and meal plan looked ok or not. Modok, and C_C, STB, DH could you lend your thoughts as well as anyone else on these topics, thanks…

I have been lifting off and on for roughly 8 years, however no lifting what so ever for the last 7 months due to work and what not…

Starting Statistics

Male
6’ 2"
166lbs
Chest 38"
Arms 11"
Hips 34"
Waist 34"
Thighs 21"
Calves 14"
Forearms 11"
Shoulders 46"
Neck 15"

Program Overview:

Listed Below is my Exercise Routine for Ramp 1 & Level 1 SuperGrowth Phase 1. 6 Weeks Total

I will be doing the 4 day program

Monday
Chest-DB Decline Press
Back-BB Row
Bicep-EZ Bar Curl
Calf-Standing Calf Raise

Tuesday
Delts-Lateral Cable Raise
Tricep-Skull Crushers with EZ Bar
Hams-Leg Curls on Powertec
Thighs-BB Squats
Abs-Hanging Pikes, AB Roller, Hanging Knee Raise

Wed
Off Day from Weights, I will do a light swim or run during my schedule w/o time slot

Thursday
Chest-Incline BB Bench
Delts-Seated DB Press
Back-Lat Pulldown on Powertec
Thighs-Leg Press
Calfs-Seated Calf Raise
Bicep-EZ Bar Reverse Grip Curls
Triceps-Overhead V Bar Extension on Cable Machine

Friday
Thighs-BB Squats
Chest-BB Flat Bench Press
Hams-Straight Leg Deadlifts in Power Rack
Delts-Powertec Seated Military Press
Back-Floor Row on Powertec
Calf-Standing Calf Raise
Tricep-V Bar Press Down on Cable Machine (Palms Down)
Bicep-BB Curl

Nutritional Overview

#1 8:45 A.M.
Berry Booster Shake includes:
1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein
�½ Cup Frozen Strawberries
�½ Cup Frozen Blueberries
1 Banana
1Cup Water
Mix all together
Multivitamin

Calories 300 Fat 3 Protein 26 Carbs 18 Sodium 65mg

#2 9:30 A.M.
3 Egg Whites
2 Whole Eggs
1 Scoop Chocolate Protein mixed within 1 serving of Oatmeal
1 Slice of 100% WW Bread

Calories 581 Fat 16 Protein 60 Carbs 51 Sodium 475mg

#3 11 A.M. (Pre-W/O Meal)
1 Scoop of Whey Protein w/8oz of Skim Milk

Calories 220 Fat 2 Protein 34 Carbs 14 Sodium 185mg

W/O Between 11:30 A.M. & 12:30 P.M.

#4 12:45 P.M. (Post W/O Meal)
1 Scoop of Serious Mass by ON w/12oz of Skim Milk

Calories 745 Fat 2 Protein 37 Carbs 143 Sodium 395mg

#5 2:30 P.M.
1 Can of Albacore with 1Tbsp of Relish & 1 Tbsp of Light Mayo
2 Slices of 100% WW bread
8oz of Skim Milk

Calories 440 Fat 6 Protein 44 Carbs 56 Sodium 855mg

#6 4:30 P.M.
1 tsp of Flax Oil
2 Tbsp of Jif Creamy All Natural PB

Calories 235 Fat 21 Protein 7 Carbs 8 Sodium 80mg

#7 6:30 P.M.
8oz of Chicken, Fish, or Lean Red Meat
�½ Cup of Brown Rice or 1 Sweet Potato
1 Cup of Frozen Vegetables

Calories 410 Fat 7 Protein 50 Carbs 40 Sodium 200mg

#8 9:00 P.M.
�½ Cup of Cottage Cheese
2 Tbsp of Jif Creamy All Natural PB
8oz of Skim Milk

Calories 350 Fat 16 Protein 27 Carbs 25 Sodium 670mg

#9 10:45 P.M.
1 Scoop of Serious Mass by ON w/12oz of Skim Milk

Calories 745 Fat 2 Protein 37 Carbs 143 Sodium 395mg

Total Daily Caloric Intake

Calories 4026 Fat 75 Protein 322 Carbs 498 Sodium 3320mg

Notes
Meal Plan is based on needing a starting calorie intake of 4000, 166lbs x 25 calories per lb of bodyweight. Protein intake should be closer to 250, 166 x 1.5, but this starting # will suffice. Carbohydrates should be total estimated protein intake x 2 is roughly 500. Fat intake should be 30% of estimated protein intake, so 250 x .30 is roughly 75grams. I always watch my sodium intake and try to keep it under control, so the 3320 is acceptable.

Every 2 weeks I will monitor progress and adjust caloric intake by bumping or lowering. Grocery bill should run about $70 per week, I want to try and get this down closer to $55 if possible.

Comments or suggestions?

2

Not really my bag, but the key is not the specific diet so much as MONITORING snd STICKING to your numbers in calories etc. in other words, while some diets may work better for you than others–and there is no real way to say which work the best other than trial and error–they will all work to a signifcant degree provided you actually record and hit your calorie numbers EVERY DAY.

That being said, you are tall and skinny. You were almost surely born and grew up this way. Following a lower carb diet is probably not for you. You will put the carbs to good use provided you eat clean carb sources and not junk or processed crap.

3

I ran one full cycle of BBB this past spring. I was running the 6x/week, but here are my thoughts on your 4 day setup:

Setup/other 23 hours of the day:

You are skinny as hell and haven’t been lifting in a while. You need to eat a lot of food. A lot. A LOT! If you decide to do the anabolic diet or something like that, wait a few months before doing so. You need to just build a base of mass first before you start doing exotic shit to your diet. Starting BBB and going on a strange diet with a body like yours is a recipe for disaster. Just make sure you’re eating plenty of protein (lots of meats, low fat dairy, etc) and eating vegetables.

In other words, just don’t make the diet too complicated starting out. Eat good, wholesome foods and A LOT OF THEM.

Your setup:

Day One:
Looks good

Day Two:
Nix the cable pressdowns. There are two money exercises for BBB triceps: CGBP and Weighted Dips. Given your current fitness level, start with CGBP on the high rep day and start using Weighted Dips on your Power days when you have built up enough strength for it.

Day Three:
Switch lat pulldown for weighted pullups whenever you’ve built up the strength for it. C.f. the exercise selection part of the book–moving your body through space.

Bicep: I would recommend doing something more targeted/isolation than weighted chins.

Day Four:
First, why not do this on Saturday?

Instead of BB Row, I would suggest doing a neutral grip row. You already have one day of BB rows at the front end.

Delts: Don’t do seated military press–do standing BB press.

4

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:

You are skinny as hell and haven’t been lifting in a while. You need to eat a lot of food. A lot. A LOT! If you decide to do the anabolic diet or something like that, wait a few months before doing so. You need to just build a base of mass first before you start doing exotic shit to your diet. Starting BBB and going on a strange diet with a body like yours is a recipe for disaster. Just make sure you’re eating plenty of protein (lots of meats, low fat dairy, etc) and eating vegetables.

In other words, just don’t make the diet too complicated starting out. Eat good, wholesome foods and A LOT OF THEM.

Your setup:

Day One:
Looks good

Day Two:
Nix the cable pressdowns. There are two money exercises for BBB triceps: CGBP and Weighted Dips. Given your current fitness level, start with CGBP on the high rep day and start using Weighted Dips on your Power days when you have built up enough strength for it.

Day Three:
Switch lat pulldown for weighted pullups whenever you’ve built up the strength for it. C.f. the exercise selection part of the book–moving your body through space.

Bicep: I would recommend doing something more targeted/isolation than weighted chins.

Day Four:
First, why not do this on Saturday?

Instead of BB Row, I would suggest doing a neutral grip row. You already have one day of BB rows at the front end.

Delts: Don’t do seated military press–do standing BB press.[/quote]

^this.

only thing i would change the3’s suggestions are doing standing military. I’d just be cautious with your lower back after doing squats on the same day and since they’re going to be at the end of a workout week. Seated high incline smith presses hit the delts really well, and if not then trad. MP with DB or BB not on a machine.

5

Another thing to think about is whether this is the right time for you to be doing BBB.

Here’s my story with BBB at this point: I ran the whole thing this spring, loved it. After moving, starting a new job for the summer that consumed all my time, and learning a new city, I ended up taking 3 months away from lifting and started back in August.

I spent about two months reconditioning–getting back to a 2x bodyweight deadlift and some other benchmarks for myself. This involved very high frequency and pretty high volume–I was essentially doing TBT most days, but I held off on seriously squatting for the first month or so.

Right now, I’m prepping for a winter bulk. I’m basically following the BBB 2-way bodypart split for the 6x/week program and slowly gaining weight back. Once I hit a certain strength level (probably around mid-Dec), I’m going to switch to BBB for the winter bulk.

I’m not saying you should necessarily do the same, but you might think about doing something similar. Just jumping back into BBB doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, imo.

6

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
I ran one full cycle of BBB this past spring. I was running the 6x/week, but here are my thoughts on your 4 day setup:

Setup/other 23 hours of the day:

You are skinny as hell and haven’t been lifting in a while. You need to eat a lot of food. A lot. A LOT! If you decide to do the anabolic diet or something like that, wait a few months before doing so. You need to just build a base of mass first before you start doing exotic shit to your diet. Starting BBB and going on a strange diet with a body like yours is a recipe for disaster. Just make sure you’re eating plenty of protein (lots of meats, low fat dairy, etc) and eating vegetables.

In other words, just don’t make the diet too complicated starting out. Eat good, wholesome foods and A LOT OF THEM.

Your setup:

Day One:
Looks good

Day Two:
Nix the cable pressdowns. There are two money exercises for BBB triceps: CGBP and Weighted Dips. Given your current fitness level, start with CGBP on the high rep day and start using Weighted Dips on your Power days when you have built up enough strength for it.

Day Three:
Switch lat pulldown for weighted pullups whenever you’ve built up the strength for it. C.f. the exercise selection part of the book–moving your body through space.

Bicep: I would recommend doing something more targeted/isolation than weighted chins.

Day Four:
First, why not do this on Saturday?

Instead of BB Row, I would suggest doing a neutral grip row. You already have one day of BB rows at the front end.

Delts: Don’t do seated military press–do standing BB press.[/quote]

3 Thanks for the response, as for some of your comments…
I have switched a couple of exercises above based on your insight, I will however be leaving in the seated military press on my powertec due to the fact I workout in my basement ceiling is not high enough to do standing press, otherwise I would, also if I do seated press in my power rack it puts undue stress on my shoulder joints thus the powertec is good for me.

Also weighted pullups seem to put my right shoulder in an vulnerable position, which is why I have opted for the lat pulldowns. As for a saturday w/o I considered this just to get a little more rest in between training sessions, however I am not 100% sure I would be able to fit it in due to family obligations. So that is why I went with the M, T, TH, F setup so that I will get 100% of my w/o’s in.

As for my meal plan you are correct that I need to eat a ton of clean food, the reason I was considering the Anabolic diet is that in most of the BBB threads I have read it was probably the most talked about diet regarding BBB. With that being said after reading your comments I think with my current weight and all I will be constructing a higher carb meal plan. I anticipate posting it later today, so any comments would be appreciated.

7

What does your diet look like right now? I don’t know that I would advocate “high carbs”–honestly, I just advocate making a non-drastic change to your diet. If you haven’t done the AD before, your body will take some serious time adjusting.

My primary concern with you jumping into BBB is that I think you’d be better served doing higher volume to reintegrate yourself into resistance training and reconditioning for your body. BBB is three to five balls-out sets of one exercise per body part and limits rest periods. You might be better served getting back into it with something like KoB’s “Do this Routine” for a month or two. Or following the BBB split but doing, say, a 5x5 on it with a couple of supplemental exercises added to your workouts.

As far as your schedule, would Sunday/Monday/Wednesday/Friday work? You really need to separate days three and four if at all possible.

8

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
Another thing to think about is whether this is the right time for you to be doing BBB.

Here’s my story with BBB at this point: I ran the whole thing this spring, loved it. After moving, starting a new job for the summer that consumed all my time, and learning a new city, I ended up taking 3 months away from lifting and started back in August.

I spent about two months reconditioning–getting back to a 2x bodyweight deadlift and some other benchmarks for myself. This involved very high frequency and pretty high volume–I was essentially doing TBT most days, but I held off on seriously squatting for the first month or so.

Right now, I’m prepping for a winter bulk. I’m basically following the BBB 2-way bodypart split for the 6x/week program and slowly gaining weight back. Once I hit a certain strength level (probably around mid-Dec), I’m going to switch to BBB for the winter bulk.

I’m not saying you should necessarily do the same, but you might think about doing something similar. Just jumping back into BBB doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, imo. [/quote]

Again thanks for your insight, After careful consideration and much lurking and what not I have decided the 4 day BBB would most likely give me the most strength and lean muscle gains. Since I haven’t lifted for some time now, I think this program will be a great balance between intensity and just the right amount of time off from the gym. I am going to start with 1 week of the BBB pre-conditioning program to acclimate my body back into the weight room, then I anticipate starting my 18 week journey.

Also now is a great time for me personally to undertake such a massive program I will have a few months off to totally focus on training, proper nutrition, etc…

A little history about my prior training experience:
As stated I have been lifting for roughly 8 years now. I started shortly after I went through a divorce, it was my way of getting rid of stress. At first I started to drink alot but realized quickly that wasn’t going to accomplish anything. Then I heard about Body for Life, and thus my road in weights started. I was finishing up college at the time and had a limited budget so I bought a db set that only went up to 40lbs and a simple bench all for about $60.

When I first started my bodyweight was 150lbs and the db’s I had purchased were more than enough weight. However after eating good and lifting on a regular basis I made some solid gains. At my highest bodyweight I was 190lbs and pretty lean looking.

I am by nature a pretty athletic guy so at this point I started doing triathlons, the sprint ones, which consist normally of a 750M swim, 13 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. Slowly but surely my weight gains were taken off and I was lifting less and less due to the triathlon training and just no energy for weight training…

I have wanted to get back into weights and came across BBB and it has really excited me to the point where I feel like I did when I first started lifting. Just writing this has increased my adrenaline, lol…

Sorry for the long winded post.

9

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
What does your diet look like right now? I don’t know that I would advocate “high carbs”–honestly, I just advocate making a non-drastic change to your diet. If you haven’t done the AD before, your body will take some serious time adjusting.

My primary concern with you jumping into BBB is that I think you’d be better served doing higher volume to reintegrate yourself into resistance training and reconditioning for your body. BBB is three to five balls-out sets of one exercise per body part and limits rest periods. You might be better served getting back into it with something like KoB’s “Do this Routine” for a month or two. Or following the BBB split but doing, say, a 5x5 on it with a couple of supplemental exercises added to your workouts.

As for my current diet, it is lacking to say the least due to laziness and just getting settled back home. It is a couple healthy meals, quality protein, slow digesting carbs, healthy fats but also too much processed food mixed in. I will have a much clearer picture of my meal plan for you today at some point. I also agree with the AD being somewhat of a shocker to my system.

Yes, BBB is intense which is a serious draw for me, I feel as if my body adapts well to such challenges, I know however there will be many mental and physical hurdles throughout the journey. Which to be honest excites me. As for splitting up day 3 & 4 I am leaning more and more to your reasoning. Just need to really think which split would work…

As far as your schedule, would Sunday/Monday/Wednesday/Friday work? You really need to separate days three and four if at all possible.[/quote]

10

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to read to book from cover to cover before you move a muscle (pun intended). Do not use the BBB threads as a substitute. All of advice given there is made on the assumption that you’ve read the book.

There is no reason to add rest days in between sessions on the 4x a week template. In fact, Leo Costa specifically tells you not to.

The book also offers a choice between a high-carb diet plan and the AD. Biggest mistake people make with BBB is to make changes before “living it a little”.

11

[quote]roybot wrote:

There is no reason to add rest days in between sessions on the 4x a week template. In fact, Leo Costa specifically tells you not to.
[/quote]

Can you tell me where that is in the book? I didn’t remember ever seeing that, and I went back and looked and couldn’t find it. Moreover, that lies in direct contradiction to the notion that every body part should be stimulated within 72 hours at a minimum. If you look at the 4 day/week structure, it’s pretty clearly framed for days 1 and 2 to be consecutive, with days 3 and 4 (total body days) separated.

12

And OP: I stand by recommending doing something other than BBB for a few months (e.g. 5/3/1, do this routine instead of that dumb one, etc). Start BBB after you’ve gotten to, say, 185 or so. 6’2" and 165lbs is just very little to work with for a bodybuilding routine.

I say this knowing exactly what you mean about BBB being exciting and stuff when you’re about to start out on it. I’m just saying to give it a couple months (and about 15 lbs, which should come on fast) before you start.

13

[quote]The3Commandments wrote:

[quote]roybot wrote:

There is no reason to add rest days in between sessions on the 4x a week template. In fact, Leo Costa specifically tells you not to.
[/quote]

Can you tell me where that is in the book? I didn’t remember ever seeing that, and I went back and looked and couldn’t find it. Moreover, that lies in direct contradiction to the notion that every body part should be stimulated within 72 hours at a minimum. If you look at the 4 day/week structure, it’s pretty clearly framed for days 1 and 2 to be consecutive, with days 3 and 4 (total body days) separated.[/quote]

No , no it doesn’t. A weekend off doesn’t contradict the 72 hour rule. The goal is to build fatigue gradually over three weeks, to prime your body for an even harder fourth week, except you drop the volume instead of increasing it. That’s where the real growth occurs. You don’t make the sessions leading up to supergrowth easier by separating them. That’s the contradiction.

Costa’s Titan Training is an expansion of the 4 x a week program. It condenses each ramp into one week but tells you not to fuck with the M ,T -T ,F pattern, resting on Wednesday and weekends.

Everything is there for a reason - either do the whole thing as written or don’t bother. That includes adding extra days.

14

my 2 cents…

  1. i wouldnt do a pressing movement for triceps (that includes dips)… too much strain on the shoulders especially with flat pressing and other pressing movements as well

playing around with shoulder position and how i bring my arms down, i learned how to use my long head or lateral head on basic rope pulldowns… maybe you can try the same. if not maybe an overhead rope ext to hit the long head

  1. concentration curls dont seem (to me) to be a very good movement for BBB because you cant progress in weight very fast… i like EZ BB curls and EZ rev grip barbell curls a lot

  2. on tuesdays, you dont HAVE TO do super sets for legs… i preferred doing them separately, doing leg curls then the compound movement

  3. always do pressing exercises BEFORE back exercises so you set up is fresh

  4. i would consider dropping some of the BB presses for chest unless you know they work well for you. if you do decide to use some DB exercises, put them on the high rep days

  5. RE: upright rows… IMO just a shitty exercise in general. theyre very rough on the shoulder joint and wear down a certain tendon (cant remember the name) w/o you even realizing/feeling it

  6. dont do weighted chins… use a true iso exercise like BB curls or what ever. despite what any one tells you, YOU NEED DIRECT ARM TRAINN+ING TO BUILD YOUR ARMS

oh and regarding your “diet” dont do anything special. make sure you’re getting at least 1.5g protein per lb body weight and just monitor your calories. if not gaining weight/strength, add more. gaining too much fat, take some cals away

…that’s all :slight_smile:

15

[quote]MAF14 wrote:
my 2 cents…

  1. i wouldnt do a pressing movement for triceps (that includes dips)… too much strain on the shoulders especially with flat pressing and other pressing movements as well

playing around with shoulder position and how i bring my arms down, i learned how to use my long head or lateral head on basic rope pulldowns… maybe you can try the same. if not maybe an overhead rope ext to hit the long head

  1. concentration curls dont seem (to me) to be a very good movement for BBB because you cant progress in weight very fast… i like EZ BB curls and EZ rev grip barbell curls a lot

  2. on tuesdays, you dont HAVE TO do super sets for legs… i preferred doing them separately, doing leg curls then the compound movement

  3. always do pressing exercises BEFORE back exercises so you set up is fresh

  4. i would consider dropping some of the BB presses for chest unless you know they work well for you. if you do decide to use some DB exercises, put them on the high rep days

  5. RE: upright rows… IMO just a shitty exercise in general. theyre very rough on the shoulder joint and wear down a certain tendon (cant remember the name) w/o you even realizing/feeling it

  6. dont do weighted chins… use a true iso exercise like BB curls or what ever. despite what any one tells you, YOU NEED DIRECT ARM TRAINN+ING TO BUILD YOUR ARMS

oh and regarding your “diet” dont do anything special. make sure you’re getting at least 1.5g protein per lb body weight and just monitor your calories. if not gaining weight/strength, add more. gaining too much fat, take some cals away

…that’s all :)[/quote]

Maf14 thanks for your comments.
I have switched a few things based on your thoughts. I have a couple of questions however.

  1. As for Triceps you suggest a rope pulldown, which I put in a v bar pulldown. I was wondering if you don’t like pressing movements what other exercises would you suggest for Thursday and Friday?

  2. Besides BB & EZ bar curls for Biceps what would you suggest over chin ups for my other day?

Thanks

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Here is my setup

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