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4 Week Powerbuilding Program
HOW TO USE THIS PROGRAM
What we have given you guys for free are the first 4 weeks of a much larger 16 week powerbuilding program. A lot of you guys wanted to see how to set up proper training to maximize size and strength...this is it! The first 4 weeks will give you guys a solid indication of how you should train and is a good sample of the fully fleshed out 16 week program (https://kizentraining.com/p/powerbuilding-16-week).
This program represents what we believe to be the ideal combination of getting stronger, as well as putting on more muscle. This program is incredibly intuitive and easy to follow. It is a 6x per week program. Do the prescribed workouts every day, eat the calories we calculate for you and at the end of the 16 weeks, you will be stronger and bigger. This guide is designed to give you greater insight into the methodology of this program. I'll try not to bore you and keep this guide as brief as possible. I'll explain what is truly important for becoming stronger/building more muscle and what doesn't really matter. We believe this program is unique as instead of just adding in a little more volume into a traditional powerlifting program, we will be doing something called concurrent training. Training like a bodybuilder on some days and like a powerlifter on others.
A successful run of this 16 week program should result in several pounds of quality muscle gained and a good amount put on your powerlifting total.
NOT GIFTED BUT I'M A HARDWORKER
This program only requires one from you for it to work: dedication. Put in the effort, stay consistent and reap the rewards. If you can do this over the next 16 weeks, you WILL become stronger AND bigger. This is because we base the principles of this program on sound science and experience. The program isn't just “what worked for us”. It's what will work for EVERYONE. There is a big difference.
You see, often the most popular programs become that way because the author is well known. The problem with this is that what worked for one person (and a person likely blessed with good genetics) isn't a good indicator of what would work for the majority of the population.
Learn from us, become better than us (just don't Sith style assassinate us after) and learn the proper way of lifting.
THE LAW OF AESTHETICS
So why is there is so much bad advice out there when it comes to building muscle? I call it the law of aesthetics.
It's simple. Some people have better genetics than others. There are some people that can do 3x10 on the bench all day and make incredible gains with their size and strength. The people that experience this easy progress are more likely to keep lifting (as they are getting a higher return on their lifting). They naturally get bigger easier, stay with it longer and thus become the swole guys at the gym.
As a result of being on top of the totem pole at the gym, casual gym goers look up to them for advice. After all, they are the most jacked people at the gym. The big problem is that they don't know HOW they got that big (genetics). If the majority of people followed their advice, they would end up with mediocre results. What works for the elite won't work for the casual lifter. As a result, following Johnny Upperbody at the gym is a sure way of not looking like Jonny Upperbody.
Instead you need to seek out information that has been proven with evidence to work for a broad spectrum of people. Information that has the theoritical framework as well as the real life results of a multitude of lifters. This is our goal.
I WANT IT ALL
Let's face it, every one of us wants it ALL. What do I mean? We don't just want to be muscular. We don't just want to be strong. We don't just want to be lean. We want it ALL. And at the same time. And we wanted it all yesterday.
Well I got some bad news for you.
I'm not a fucking wizard so I can't give you all three of those things at once. What I can do however is give you two things at once: size and strength. Hey, as Meatloaf said, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
It's actually a little trickier than you might think. You see to maximize your strength, you need to be rather specific with what you do. This means largely training the movements you want to excel at. Lots of squats, bench and deadlifts. Not much room for anything else. This leaves little room for the volume or diversity of movements necessary to build a well balanced physique.
On the other hand, bodybuilders are often chasing the pump too much to focus on a structured, periodized program containing percentages and a clear progression. The pump is everything.
So you have these two opposite sides with seemingly different goals. One wants to lift heavy shit. The other wants to look like a Greek statue in the flesh. How exactly do you combine both of these goals at the same time then?
By training them in the same week but NOT in the same session.
STRENGTH VS HYPERTROPHY TRAINING
Supersetx DB shoulder press-x wide gripPulldown-x
Supersetx Cable row-x Cable tricep pushdown-x db lateral raise-x
Supersetx Db french press-x Hammer curl-x
Some people call this concurrent training (which actually refers to strength and muscular endurance) but we prefer to call it something else: smart training. This subtle difference will produce big results over a long period of time.
SUPPLEMENTS
Supplements are absolutely not necessary for building muscle. I really want to stress this. They can assist you but you can get amazing results without them. There are several hundred ingredients used in supplements marketed as being effective. However the vast majority have not been proven to be useful (no evidence to support using them). Most are an absolute waste of time and money.
There are a few supplements that have benefits as it relates to keeping your performance in the gym. These would be Creatine, Citrulline Malate, Caffeine and Beta Alanine. I'll go over each briefly.
- Caffeine [200mg] - Caffeine is probably the most well studied stimulant. It is found in tea, coffee and many other sources. Caffeine doesn't give your more “energy” but what it does is convince your brain that you aren't tired. It inhibits your adenosine receptors from receiving adenosine (which causes sedation and relaxation. With 200mg of caffeine you should notice yourself being more mentally alert and focused in the weight room. While higher amounts of caffeine (500mg and above) have been shown to lead to acute strength increases, there are a few reasons would recommend 200mg as opposed to higher doses. The first is that it is generally recommended to consume no more than 400mg on average per day. Most individuals already consume some form of caffeine in the day. Secondly you can become accustomed to caffeine over time so continuously supplementing with higher doses is not a good idea.
Bottom line is that caffeine will allow you to be more focused & alert in the gym.
- Creatine [5g] - Creatine is probably the most well researched supplement with several hundred studies examining it. Creatine is produced in the body & found in nature (but in inadequate amounts for lifting). In the body it is a source of energy that helps regenerate your adenosine triphosphate (ATP) stores. ATP is a type of energy system used for rapid muscle contractions like lifting weights.
Bottom line is that creatine assists in you getting bigger & stronger by essentially allowing you to work harder. It'll help you do a little more work in the gym.
There are many different types of creatine and manufacturers of creatine but I recommend the most well researched & effective, creatine monohydrate.
- Citrulline Malate 2:1 [8g] - Citruline Malate is an amino acid which has benefited from more research recently. When consumed, citrulline is converted into arginine within your kidneys. Citrulline has been shown to help reduce fatigue. It helps increase your overall training volume (by increasing ATP production and efficiency of your ATP usage). It has also been shown to help decrease muscle soreness by being a potential buffering agent for your body. Lastly it can help with getting a pump by increasing your plasma argnine levels. This is important because increased arginine in your blood leads to more nitric oxide. This in turn leads to improved vasclular health aka bigger pumps. While not only cosmetic, a pump means there is restricted blood flow to a muscle. Restricted blood flow leads to more local growth factors (increased protein synthesis).
Bottom line is that citrulline malate assists in reducing training fatigue (letting you do more work), decreases next day soreness & increases the pump you get. Combine all of this together and it will lead to more hypertophy.
- Beta Alanine [4g] - I'm going to be perfectly honest here, I think beta alanine is only beneficial to small percentage of people. In fact I made a video stating that I don't recommend it for the general population. So why talk about it? For fat loss it might have a few minor benefits.
So what's the deal with beta alanine? When ingested it turns into carnosine and acts as an acide buffer. It protects from exercise induced lactic acid. It has been shown to help increase muscular endurance (a 2.85% increase) when exercising for 60- seconds. In other words when you are doing very high rep work (probably in the range of 20 or more) it might let you squeeze out another rep or two. There is evidence to support that incorporating higher rep ranges (20+) can help with hypertrophy. It can also be relevant for your HIIT sessions, allowing you to last a little bit longer.
Again to be clear, a consistent sound diet, proper training and cardiovascular work will comprise 98-99% of your results. For those looking to really maximize everything, the above mentioned supplements can assist you.
Superset-x A1) Close Grip-Pulldown x A2) Skull Crusher-x
Superset x B1) Chest Supported Row- x B2) 1-Arm Cable Tricep Pushdown- x B2) Barbell Curl- x
Day4-
A) Squat-3x5 @70%
B) Close Grip-Bench-3x5 @70%
C) Incline Bench-3 x 5-
D) OHP-3x5 @70%
Day Superset x A1) Barbell Row x A2) Rope Tricep Pushdown- x
Superset x B1) Chinup- 15 (use assistance if needed) B2) Decline Tricep ext- B3) Cable Curl- 15
Day A) Squat-3x7 @55%
B) Pause Squat-3x7 @50%
C) Bench3x7 @ 55%
D) Deadlifts-5x3 @65%
E) Hamstring Curl/GHR-3x7-
F) Planks-3x 45sec
WEEK 2
Day1- Supersetx DB shoulder press-x wide gripPulldown-x
Supersetx Cable row-x Cable tricep pushdown-x db lateral raise-x
Supersetx Db french press-x Hammer curl-x
Day deficit Deadlift-3x10 @57.5%
Squat-3x10 @62.5%
Bench-3x10@ 62.5%
Stiff leg Dl-3x10 @42.5%
Day Superset-x Close grip-pulldown x Skull crusher-x
Superset x Chest supported row- x 1-arm cable tricep pusdown- x barbell curl- x
DAy4-
Cable row-x Cable tricep pushdown-x db lateral raise-x
Supersetx Db french press-x Hammer curl-x
Day deficit Deadlift-3x10 @60%
Squat-3x10 @65%
Bench-3x10@ 65%
Stiff leg Dl-3x10 @45%
Day Superset-x Close grip-pulldown x Skull crusher-x
Superset x Chest supported row- x 1-arm cable tricep pusdown- x barbell curl- x
DAy4- Squat-3x5 @75%
close grip bench-3x5 @75%
Incline bench-3x5-
OHP-3x5 @75%
Day Superset x
barbell row x rope tricep pushdown- x
Superset x Chinup- 15 (use assisted if needed) decline tircep ext- cable curl- 15
Day Squat-3x7 @60%
Pause squat-3x7 @55%
Bench3x7 @ 55%
deadlifts-5x3 @70%
Hamstring curl/GHR-3x7-
Planks-3x 45sec
WEEK 4
Day1- Supersetx DB shoulder press-x wide gripPulldown-x
Supersetx Cable row-x Cable tricep pushdown-x db lateral raise-x
Supersetx Db french press-x Hammer curl-x
Day deficit Deadlift-2x10 @62.5%
Squat-2x10 @67.5%
Bench3x7 @ 57.5%
deadlifts-5x3 @72.5%
Hamstring curl/GHR-3x7-
Planks-3x 45sec —END OF FREE---
QUESTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS ABOUT THE PROGRAM
- You'll notice that the program is six days. We haven't labelled the actual days to give you the freedom to choose when to put these days into your training. I would recommend doing them all in a row.
Monday- Day 1 Tuesday- Day 2 Wednesday- Day 3 Thursday- Day 4 Friday- Day 5 Saturday- Day 6 Sunday- OFF (Netflix & Chill)
- The next possible question is what does RPE stand for? RPE stands for rate of perceived exertion. It is a scale from 1 to 10 that attempts to assess the difficulty of a set. A 10 would be a true absolute max (you could do no more weight). In general you train between an RPE 6-9 for accessory movements. An RPE 9 would let you do only one more rep, with an RPE 8, you would leave 2-3 reps in the tank from your absolute max. So when we say Face Pull @ RPE 8 this means you would do select a weight where you can do the prescribed number of reps (30) while still leaving a few good reps in the tank.
- A superset is when you do one movement like the dumbbell incline, rest between 1- minutes and then move onto the second exercise, the face pull. After you finish the face pull you would rest a few minutes and repeat the superset for the prescribed number of times. If it says 3, that means you would do this superset 3 times.
Here is an example: Superset x Chinup- 15 (use assistance if needed) Decline Tricep ext- Cable Curl- 15
This means you would do 15 chin ups, rest however long you need (likely about 2 minutes), move onto decline tricep extension, do 15 reps, rest another 90 seconds and move onto cable curls and do 15 reps. After doing all three movements, you would rest 3-4 minutes and repeat this giant superset 3 more times (for a total of 4 times).
If your gym is SUPER busy and people would get really annoyed with you taking up a lot of space, you can do them seperately (so 4 sets of chin ups, then 4 sets of decline tricep ext etc).
THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
What you have here is but a small sample of what the full program offers. If you're looking to get serious with your training, we got you covered. Here is what the full program includes.
What Is Included:
- Full 16 Week Periodized Training Program
- Macro Bulking Tracker
- Powerbuilding Complete PDF
- Extensive Exercise Video Library
- Principles of Strength/Hypertrophy Video
- Squat/Bench/Deadlift Tutorial Video (1 hour of content)
If you've liked our free 4 week program, you'll love our full 16 week program. Grab it here:
16 Week Powerbuilding Program https://kizentraining.com/p/powerbuilding-16-week
