PHYSIQUE BUILDING

RAW DYNAMIC STRENGTH

 PHYSIQUE BUILDING | ACTIVE RECOVERY + M1

PHYSIQUE BUILDING
RAW DYNAMIC STRENGTH | ACTIVE RECOVERY EXPLAINED

So what exactly is Active Recovery and what does it have to do with

Physique Building?

First lets understand recovery and its role in muscle-building and performance.

Too many times I see people at the gym, or even athletes, who don’t take ANY
time off from intensity in their sport….they just don’t let off if the gas.

So what happens? Exactly that, they run out of gas…get injured, fry their Central
Nervous Systems and maybe even put themselves out for a month or two..or
three. All for what? All for the sake of squeezing out as many ‘gains’ as they can.
Greedy for gains? Depends how you look at it.

Strategic? Absolutely not.

Ambitious? Yes….but its not the best way to go about ‘getting the most’ out of
your training.

I too was once a ‘victim’ of OTS (over training syndrome). Time and time again I
thought it was just my mind playing games with me, telling me I needed to
“toughen up” and ‘continue on!! ’.

Reading all of these ‘be a wolf - lion - tiger -(enter whatever ferocious animal
here_____) and ‘JUST KEEP GOING!!!’...

So many people take these motivational quotes out of context, like my former
self, and fail to realize that we are actually humans, not these motivational
quote-animals, and need time to recover from our constant beatings we incur in
the gym and in life (heck…even tiger and lions spend most of their time ‘recover-
ing’, lazying around).

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 PHYSIQUE BUILDING | ACTIVE RECOVERY + M1

PHYSIQUE BUILDING
RAW DYNAMIC STRENGTH | ACTIVE RECOVERY EXPLAINED

With that said, let off of the gas from time to time.

Do this strategically.

You’ll note that in Pillars of Success I go in little detail with what active recov-
ery is.

Active recovery is essentially the way you’ll be taking a ‘deload’ from your pro-
gram.

It’s Week 5. Its you letting off of the gas for a week. Not totally letting off, just
letting off by about 50-60%.

I’ll describe in detail below (I give an practical explanation in M2 at the end of

each “coaches notes section”).

So what kind of recovery is there since we’ll be incorporating this into the training
programs?

There’s passive recovery, and there’s active recovery.

Passive recovery is as it sounds. I usually don’t recommend this if you’re going to

be getting the most out of your training. When you undertake passive recovery,
you completely let off of the gas for about a week, or however you decide to
‘deload’ , rest and recover.

By undertaking a total passive recovery, you may notice that when you get back
into the rhythm, your strength will have suffered slightly, and the momentum to
get back to where you were won’t be as smooth.

What is active recovery? By undertaking active recovery like how I describe in

the M1 training program, you’ll maintain your strength while transitioning into
your next training block smoothly.

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PHYSIQUE BUILDING
RAW DYNAMIC STRENGTH | ACTIVE RECOVERY EXPLAINED

Active recovery is as it sounds, too.

It’s still training and being active in such a way that promotes recovery but at a
significantly less intensity level. Active recovery reduces the lactic-acid build up in
your muscles, which minimizes soreness, discomfort and catabolic effects.

Lots of scientific literature has pointed to lower lactate concentrations and RPE
(rating of perceived exertion) after active recovery than after short periods of
passion recovery.

Incorporated stretching, foam rolling, and cutting all intensity down to 50% of
what your normal intensity is and cutting all total reps by 50% of a designated
lift.

So when you’re in the gym and undergoing your deload week, it may look like
you don’t even lift, because the weight will be substantially less (it will be about
50% of your normal working weight for that exercise). This is where you train
your ego too by not letting it get the best of you. Trust the process….plus, you’ll
be dying to get back to the normal weights by the end of the deload.

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PHYSIQUE BUILDING
RAW DYNAMIC STRENGTH | MESOCYCLE 1

Coaches notes for Days 1 & 2

Use around 60-65 percent of your perceived one rep max on bicep curls and dips.
Please dont try to attempt a one rep max on bicep curls and dips. Use a conser-
vative estimate for this first week as we will be increasing sets and weight over
the course of this cycle.

Remember failure begins when you can no longer technically execute the weight
properly.

No bouncing on calves. Fully stretch at the bottom and fully contract at the top.
Lower the weight if need be. No one cares how much you can calf press. Drop
your ego

After the 4th week, take a 1-week deload.

During this deload week, drop the weight for each exercise by 60% and the
total volume by 50% (4 sets of 8 becomes 2 sets of 8)

Repeat the 4-week split after the 1 week deload.

If you’re confused about the breakdown of the program, refer to this:

Week 1:
•Straight bar curls- 60lbs 3x8

Week 2:
•Straight bar curls- 60lbs 4x8

Week 3:
•Straight bar curls- 60lbs 5x8

Week 4:
•Straight bar curls- 60lbs 6x8

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PHYSIQUE BUILDING
RAW DYNAMIC STRENGTH | MESOCYCLE 1

This is just one exercise.

In your workout, you’ll be doing a lot more than just straighter curls, but I
wanted you to get the idea of how you’ll be turning up the volume over the
course of 4 weeks.

Apply this method to the exercises with the symbol for maximal growth.

Choose weight in week 1 that you know you’ll be able to handle during week 4,
since you’ll be doing 6 sets of it. The weight should be manageable in week 1,
not too easy, otherwise we won’t stimulate your muscles as needed.

The ideal goal is to progress linearly, but don't fret if its not always going to be
linear.

We reach plateaus, so tune your variables accordingly. Be sure to include a

deload week after the 3rd, 4th or 5th week of your training cycle, depending on
the intensity of your training and fatigue acquired. If you follow the rest of the
principles in this guide, then you shouldn’t be failing. Your progress should be
steady climbing.

Coaches notes for Days 3 & 4

Be sure that you’re not overly zealous with the deadlifts and close-stance smith
machine squats here. Keep this in mind, the more bar-exercises that you
incorporate in your lifting regimen, the more your CNS will be taxed.

Bar-exercises are extremely beneficial, but at a cost. They will get you fatigued.
Thats why here in Day 3 for the leg portion, I recommend using a smith
machine instead of regular squats since it will take less strain on your body and
joints (CNS too). Overzealous on deadlifts? -Don’t add too much weight or do
too much you can’t handle. This will start to add up in Weeks 3 and 4 when the
total volume of your exercises increases for maximal growth.

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PHYSIQUE BUILDING
RAW DYNAMIC STRENGTH | MESOCYCLE 1

connection throughout the hamstring curl, leg extension and calves.

less of your calves in the movement.

on the arm and other exercises where you need to get 50 total reps. ake sure
you reach up to 1-RIR with each set until you hit 50 reps for the corresponding

RIR means Reps in Reserve

you’ll have to be intuitive enough to know when your next rep will be your last
before you cannot get the weight up anymore.

With dumbbell press and machine rows, you’ll be keeping your reps and sets the
same throughout the 4 weeks. However, do your best to add a small amount of
weight after each week. If you’re doing 50lbs in Week 1 and think you can do
55lbs the next week, then go ahead, but instead of getting 10 reps of
4 sets, you’ll do 9 reps of 4 sets. If in week 3 you want to go up to 60lbs, then
you’ll be doing 8 reps of 10 sets and so forth.

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PHYSIQUE BUILDING
RAW DYNAMIC STRENGTH | MESOCYCLE 1

After the 4th week (completing Day 1-4 four times), take a 1-week deload.

During this deload week, drop the weight for each exercise by 60% and the
total volume by 50% (4 sets of 8 becomes 2 sets of 8)

After the 4th week (completing Day 1-4 four times), take a 1-week deload.
During this deload week, drop the weight for each exercise by 60% and the total
volume by 50% (4 sets of 8 becomes 2 sets of 8)

After your 1 week deload of the second mesocycle you complete, you’ll enter a
resensitizing phase where you’ll be doing M1 again, BUT you will NOT be increasing
in sets, reps or weight. This will be your maintenance mesocycle to let everything
heal up.

It will look like this:

RDS Meso*[4 weeks] - DELOAD[1 week] - RDS Meso[4 weeks] - DELOAD[1
week] - Maintenance Mesocycle (M1, M2 or M3)[2-3 weeks] - DELOAD[1 week]
- RDS Meso[4 weeks]...

If you don’t think you can handle Week 4, or your schedule doesn’t allow you
enough rest, go ahead and repeat Week 3 instead.

Week 4 isn’t for the faint of heart.

*Interchangeable with any 4 week RDS training program.

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PHYSIQUE BUILDING
RAW DYNAMIC STRENGTH | MESOCYCLE 1

DAY 1 & 2

= lifts that you will add an additional set as each week passes.
Example: Straight bar bicep curls on Week 1 Day 1 will be 3 sets by 8 reps. Week 2 of Day 1 will be 4 sets by 8 reps. Week 3, 5 sets of 8 reps, etc.

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PHYSIQUE BUILDING
RAW DYNAMIC STRENGTH | MESOCYCLE 1

DAY 3 & 4

smith machine

= Add 10 reps to the set each week. Week 2, you’ll do 60 total, Week 3, 70 total, etc
Be sure to use weight that you’ll able to handle from Week 1 to Week 4 given
the increase of total sets. Don’t start too heavy, or Week 4 will be extremely

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 PHYSIQUE BUILDING | ACTIVE RECOVERY + M1

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