Is it legal? Will the fitness secret service from YouTube and BodyBuilding.com come and take you away?

That’s what I’m tossing out here. I had laid out in my MAP that I was going to do Barbell Medicine’s The Bridge followed by Barbell Medicine’s GPP with Hypertrophy Focus. Both cost money and are pretty complicated with RPE and phases.

After seeing my lean frame emerge from cutting, I’d like to lean bulk - slowly and consistently add dense, lean muscle while trimming away at the remaining fat. Kinobody’s Greek God Program has caught my attention (hard to not get your attention the way he markets on YouTube). I was going to purchase it, but I had a hard time seeing what’s even in the program. I dislike the “buy it so you can find out what’s in it” approach.

Over the past year, I’ve gleaned a number of what I think to be keys to lifting and eating. My realization that I’m tossing out there for discussion is that all of the programs online are just well-marketed and packaged keys to lifting and eating. None of them have a silver-bullet secret to unlock success for you. The success stories to the programs are due to people finally being consistent and following the keys. Most importantly, these programs lock the success stories into a nutrition program.

And that’s probably the biggest key - dialed in, razor sharp, bulls eye nutrition. If you a novice or early intermediate, nutrition accounts for 80% of your results.

So, why not take the keys and design my own program to suit my needs and goals? My needs are to #1 - suit my equipment setup (I have a home gym), #2 - suit my specific hypertrophy goals (lean bulk, grow shoulders and biceps), #3 - suit my specific strength goals (increase 5RM in back squat, deadlift, bench press).

My program is an A/B split done three times a week and then swapped the following week. There’s a “C” workout that gets done on Sundays.

This is significantly more volume than I’m used to with SSLP. I run 7-9 sets right now and really drag out my rests. I don’t have much pep in my step when I work out now and rarely work up a sweat. This will double the sets.

On paper, I should be able to accomplish these workouts in 60 minutes. So, in practice I should be able to get it done in 75 to 90 minutes. But it’s going to require sticking to rest times and moving along.

A (15 sets) - Strength

Back Squat - 5x5 Pull-ups - 4x6 Bench Press/Overhead Press - 5x5 Deadlift - 1x5

B (15 sets) - Hypertrophy

Back Squat - 3x8 Pull-ups, assisted - 4x12 Barbell Row - 4x10 Over-head Press/Bench Press - 4 x10

C (15 sets) - Power and Accessory

Power clean - 5x3 DB Curls - 4x12 DB Side Raise - 3x12 DB Lateral Raise - 3x12

Other Notes

Pull before Push. I’ve done push before pull for years. Switch it to focus on the back.

Pull-ups - Weighted when I can do 6 BW

BP and OHP get swapped every week. Week #1 is power for BP and hypertrophy for OHP. Week #2 it switches.

Eat maintenance on lifting days, 300 calorie deficit on non-lifting days. Further tweak to reflect my activity level during the day by adding 200 calories for a hard day. Some days I sit at the desk for 8 hours. Other days I’m working hard physically for 12-15 (climbing ladders, manual labor, in and out of a driver’s seat).

Intermittent Fast. Eat two big meals a day aiming for a 40P/40F/20C macro split. Focus on beef, chicken, potatoes and beans. Minimize bread and wheat pasta. Eliminate sugar and sweets other than the very occasional cheat.

Progressive overload. Add weight (2-5 lb) or reps every time.

Accessory work is on there to grow my shoulders and my biceps.

I’m looking for suggestions and comments to improve this plan.