"Greyskull LP" by Johnny Pain

• Flexibility is everything in terms of training.
• Ego will get you nowhere if you allow it to serve as your navigator.
• The mechanics of training and diet are responsible for twenty percent of the total picture. The other eighty percent is the mental component.
• The concept of linear progression, adding a small amount of weight to the bar or object being lifted each time one is exposed to the stimulus, is certainly nothing new and has certainly proven its value in strength development for a very long time.
• Just accept that you should squeeze as much out of the traditional linear progression concept before needing to use more sophisticated and complex methods to continue to make progress in strength or muscle growth.
• The best program in the world is useless to a trainee the minute they find it boring.
• The problem with the conventional method of resetting is that so much time is spent treading over territory that has already been conquered.
• Bar weight isn’t the only variable used to drive adaption.
• The more opportunities for individual stress/recovery/adaption (read: strength and muscle gain) cycles, the greater the potential for growth and strength development.
• The most intense and grueling bench press workout you will ever have will not severely inhibit your ability to either squat or deadlift, while the reverse certainly is not true.
• An observable phenomena with demographics that use certain other linear progression models that feature the squat first is a relatively disproportionate level of development seen in the lower body, vs. the upper body, musculature.
• All the lifts with the exception of the deadlift are performed for three total working sets. The first two working sets are of five repetitions. The third set is taken to failure.
• The deadlift differs from the other lifts in both that it is only performed once per week in this program, and also in that it requires one hard working set. The single set used with the deadlift is similar to the final set in the other lifts.
• It is important not to attempt to make greater increases in weight than one can successfully recover from and return to the next session stronger.
• Simply put working to failure, or close to it, with progressively heavier loads is going to make for a great deal of strength and muscular development.
• Standard increases from workout to workout for the lifts are as follows: squat & deadlift 5 pounds, press & bench press 2.5 pounds.
• The Greyskull reset weight is 90% of the previous working weight rounded down to the nearest 5 pound increment.
• It should be the intention of the lifter to beat or at least tie the previous workout’s rep max sets with the new, heavier weight each time they hit the gym.
• The belief that bar weight is the only variable that can be adjusted is extremely limiting.
• The Basic Program:
• Day 1:
• press: 2x5, 1x5+
• squat: 2x5, 1x5+
• Day 2:
• bench press: 2x5, 1x5+
• deadlift: 1x5+
• Alternate training days every other day, with a two day break at some point during the week.
• Training two days per week is perfectly acceptable.
• It is important to remember that there are things in life infinitely more important than lifting weights.
• Standard extensions to the basic program: weighted chin-ups, curls, weighted neck-extensions.
• Adding additional exercises can help you accomplish certain specific tasks more efficiently, but you’ll never go wrong by sticking to the base program by itself should you so desire.
• Don’t do volume for the sake of doing volume.
• I am of the opinion that a curl should be performed with every bit as much attention, focus, and intensity as a squat.
• Typical rep ranges by exercise:
• curl variants: 2x10-12
• neck extensions: 4x25+
• row variants: 2x6-8
• chin/pull-up variants (weighted): 2x6-8
• olympic lifts: 5-6 singles
• direct abdominal exercises: 2x10-12
• direct calf exercises: 1x15-20 (slow & painful)
• forearm exercises: 2x12-20
• pullovers: 2x8-10
• dips (weighted): 2x6-8
• cable arm movements: 2x10-12
• The frequency method is a very effective technique for building muscular endurance as well as strength and size. It involves doing multiple sets, never to failure, throughout the day each day of the week (taking one day completely off) and accumulating a ton of volume over the course of the week/month.
• It is no secret that I loathe volume training when it comes to lifting weights, but with bodyweight exercises, volume is the only way to go.
• Bodyweight exercises like chin-ups and push-ups in high volume are an excellent tool for upper body development.
• It [bodyweight training] can be used to layer in more work towards the goal of strength and muscular development without taking away from the weight training, and in fact acting synergistically with it, to produce an even better result.
• As long as you are doing a little more than last week you are doing it right.
• Each time the number of reps per set is increased, back up the number of sets per day by one or two.
• The ladder method is our weapon of choice when the trainee cannot use the frequency method to its full potential due to scheduling reasons such as being stuck in an office with no access to a chinning bar all day.
• A common mistake is to confuse the ladder method with the more conventional idea of doing a pyramid.
• The ladder method is greatly preferred over the pyramid idea since it allows for better recovery during performance.
• The important thing here is that, like the frequency method, the top set of the ladder is not yet at the point where the last rep is extremely difficult. The idea here is accumulating a day’s worth of volume in a short period of time; therefore the sets need to be relatively easy in order to make it through the ladder.
• A solid goal to strive for with chin-up ladders is five ladders of five reps.
• Rest the amount of time it would take a partner to complete the set you just completed.
• How to train to do a pull-up: slow negatives and progressively heavier v-bar pulldowns.
• Negatives will make a new trainee very sore, so ease into them slowly.
• Bodyweight exercises are a skill, and respond to frequent practice like any other skill (frequency method).
• The push-up is an excellent tool for developing upper body strength and muscle mass.
• An excellent goal for a male trainee with push-ups is completing 100 push-ups in two minutes.
• You should be able to do a no bullshit set of 50 push-ups before training the dip via the frequency method. Attempting it before reaching this point is just less productive.
• In order to instill a habit one must simply perform an action every day for twenty-one days. Three weeks. That’s it. Make yourself do it for three weeks and you own it. The trick is to keep it easy in the initial stages, so that when the activity becomes challenging, it’s already installed as a habit.
• Fact of the matter is, one can lift weights three days per week with intensity, knock out frequency method sets of bodyweight exercises, and perform multiple conditioning sessions per week if they’re smart about it with zero detrimental effects. In order for this to work: the trainee must be eating enough, and the conditioning workouts need to be short and intense.
• 10 minutes is about the maximum amount of time one of your conditioning sessions should last without it being excessive and getting into the territory of shitting on the rest of your training and/or generally beating you up to the point that other aspects of your training cannot be hit with the appropriate amount of intensity to drive progress.
• Initially I recommend two high intensity conditioning sessions to the training week.
• The preferred method for low intensity cardio is fast walking. Yep that simple, and that boring.
• There is no better activity that you can engage in to get you closer to the goal of a strong body with a great body composition than weight training.
• You need to have more recovery days per week than you have training days since it is during the recovery from weight training not during the activity itself that you develop the strength and muscle mass.
• If you’re trying to get leaner, work on layering in the low intensity sessions, walking quickly for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, preferably fasted, first thing in the morning, as many days per week as you can handle.
• Stop eating sugar all together for six days out of the week.
• Villain Challenge 1: 100 burpees in 5 minutes.
• If you set a performance goal that requires the development of a great deal of athleticism, chances are that you are going to look like you posses a great deal of athleticism when you reach your goal.
• Performing 100 burpees in 5 minutes requires you to maintain a one-burped-per-three-second pace. The trick is to gradually increase the number of burpees that you can do while staying on pace.
• In simple terms building strength in a progressive manner using big, compound barbell movements remains king in terms of adding muscle mass to one’s frame.
• Big gains in strength equal big gains in muscle mass when the body is fed accordingly.
• Increased caloric intake, particularly from protein rich foods and quality carbohydrates, is key to adding lean body mass to one’s frame.
• A male trainee eating beef and rice, drinking protein shakes mixed in milk, lifting weights three times per week using the GSLP principles, and using AM walks as his primary conditioning will gain lean body mass.
• When using the GSLP principles for fat loss, as with a mass gain program, the diet and the “plug-ins” are what make the magic happen.
• In order to trim the fat, attention needs to be paid to the diet.
• I have long been a proponent of emphasizing feeding the body for progress, then shoring up any excess caloric intake with activity rather than using a gross restriction of calories.
• Basic diet tips for fat loss:
• drink only calorie-free liquids
• eat protein with every meal
• choose protein sources that are low in fat
• eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day
• use vegetables (preferably raw) to “fill up” on during meals
• read labels and be aware of the calories and macronutrients you’re taking in
• Activity is key with fat loss, plain and simple. Burn up more than you are taking in, and you will lose fat.
• There is no single correct version of the GSLP. There are only backbone principles that form a foundation for which the program is built uniquely for (or by) the individual.
• Women are not hormonally capable of developing man-like muscles. Simply put, unless a female is using steroids, she will not develop a man-like physique.
• It is important to begin with an outcome in mind, and be flexible in approach on the road to seeing it through.
• A stronger trainee always means a stronger one-rep-max.
• There is a lot of money to be made in making things a lot more complicated than need be.
• The single biggest difference between those who do big things and those who do not is that those that do big things do big things.
• No amount of reading, or watching videos on strength training will teach you more about the subject than getting off your ass and actually training.
• Over-analysis of this stuff will get you nowhere.
• Presenting an idea in a sentence is better than a paragraph and represents a much clearer understanding of the information by the communicator.
• The perceived dependence on said people or materials in order to make progress is a significant handicap of the informed trainee.
• Do not breath while a barbell or other strength-training implement is in motion. Abiding by this rule eliminates much of the need for further coaching on breath control.
• It is critical to take a large, full breath prior to performing a movement. Think: “Bigger the movement; bigger the breath”
• It is common, and often times preferable to execute more than one repetition while holding the same breath in the lungs.
• It [the squat] is without a doubt one of the most effective lifts in terms of building strength and muscle mass, the latter being dependent on other variables necessary for growth being in place.
• Squatting produces results, period.
• A prime example of minutia b.s. impeding one’s progress is the nonsensical belief that a two-inch difference in the placement of the bar on one’s back determines whether or not the movement is effective.
• A well executed, balanced squat can be had by performing the following three tasks simultaneously:
• Push the chest out as hard as you can.
• Push the butt straight back as hard as you can.
• Push the knees out laterally as hard as you can.
• “Chest out; butt out; knees out”
• Inadequate depth in the squat is commonly caused by not pushing the knees out to the sides enough to allow the torso to pass between the legs.
• Less time spent over-analyzing the movement or arguing about it on the internet means more time to squat, get stronger, and build muscle, the purpose of performing the movement in the first place.
• The deadlift, like the squat, should be included in any solid strength-training program.
• The leg position for the deadlift is similar to the leg position for a vertical leap.
• Straps and an alternating-grip are perfectly acceptable for deadlift.
• The process for assuming the correct sumo deadlift deadlift can be summed to most by simply instructing them to “stand like a gorilla.” By this I mean stand with your chest out and your butt low.
• I have a serious love for the rack pull. It has a very powerful feeling to it, and builds size and strength as well as any other lift in the arsenal.
• Performance of the rack pull is extremely simple. In order to do it correctly, place your hands on the bar using an alternate grip, or even better, straps, and apply good deadlift mechanics.
• The biggest issue that I have observed with flat benching, particularly when it is performed to the exclusion of any other bench press movements, is the risk of shoulder injury.
• Tightness is key with the bench press.
• [Bench press] Grip width will vary, but should result with the forearms being perpendicular with the ground when at the bottom of the movement.
• A correct pressing grip will have the forearms oriented perpendicular to both the ground and the bar when viewed from the front.
• The erroneous belief that the bar needs to touch the body [during the press] leads to a loosening of the entire supportive platform.
• The incline bench press has been used in the bodybuilding community for decades. Its ability for building strength and muscle is legendary.
• Bodybuilders prefer the incline (and decline) bench press to the flat due to the dramatic reduction in shoulder injuries seen with the former method.
• The front squat is a very effective tool for building strength, and muscle, particularly in the quads and glutes.
• If the lifter desires to compete in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting, then developing the rack position is a fact of life. If not however, there is no real need to do so in order to reap the benefits of this [power snatch/clean] lift.
• The grip width for the snatch should be wide enough that you can lift your knee under the bar. The bar should sit in the crease of your hip.
• The stance for the snatch is similar to the deadlift, with the toes turned out slightly more.
• Begin the [snatch] lift by squeezing the bar from the floor. When the bar reaches about the middle of your thigh, jump and put the bar up over your head. When done correctly, the bar should hit your belly on the way up, and should not have any sort of arc to its trajectory. Straight up.
• Dropping the bar is in vogue, but still lame. Remember that guys lowered bars with three or four times the weight you are using fifty years ago before rubber bumper plates became the fashion.
• These [weighted pull-ups] are invaluable as a builder of upper back, upper arm, and forearm musculature, as well as being a hell of a tool for developing savage overall upper body strength.
• The most important reason for the use of the chin-up over the pull-up is that often grip is the limiting factor in the pull-up.
• Small victories are the name of the game.
• The weighted chin-up is to be trained linearly and loaded in small increments, just the same as any other weighted exercise.
• Done correctly the Yates row will hammer the lats directly unlike any other movement.
• I choose the v-handle for the pulldown over the other cable attachment options because of the resultant increase in range of motion, and the fact that it is possible to move greater loads than with a wide grip.
• More weight plus more range of motion means more strength and muscle developed.
• When operating from an outcome-based perspective, it is critical that decisions are made in terms of what is going to produce the most significant result.
• Tension is the key in the rowing movements.
• Simply put, if you want an impressive, strong pair of arms, you should probably curl.
• I like the EZ-curl bar because I find that it does not cause the wrist and forearm pain that a straight bar does in many.
• Simply put, for building big cannons, the EZ-curl bar is the balls.
• The top three curl variants are: standing EZ-bar curl, seated alternating dumbbell curl, and EZ-bar drag curl.
• Start light with the neck harness.
• As long as you are using more weight or doing more reps, even if it is by a small margin on either or both, you are doing it right.
• A thick neck is a great insurance policy against injury, and makes you much harder to knock out, which is why it has been used for years by combat athletes like boxers and wrestlers, as well as by football and rugby players.
• Consistency is hands down the most important single variable in getting what you want out of your training.
• Determine what you want first, then reverse engineer the program that is most conducive to getting you there using the plugins noted to add to the base.
• I promise you will get where you want to go if you just keep pushing in that direction with intensity and focus.