Do you consider yourself a fitness enthusiast? If so, you must have heard about Ian King and his trilogy book series "GET BUFFED!". It is an accumulation of his personal experiences from the gym by training himself and others. It is this documented experiences that are unique, in my opinion. And he was a gym rat, just like us, so we looked more deeply into his work. 

Back in the days, where the internet was slow (I am not that old that I could talk about times without the internet), it was hard to find excellent books on performance training and programming. Furthermore, there was not much interest for strength & conditioning training among coaches and fitness professionals as we know it today and strength & conditioning gyms were hard to find. Anyways, we all had to start somewhere, and the first author I was able to find online was Ian King. His trilogy book series BIGGER, STRONGER, LEANER caught my attention. Why? First of all, every book is structured in a great order. Starting with adaptation phase, then hypertrophy, maximum strength and at the end, power. Secondly, because of the title. Who doesn't want to get bigger, stronger and leaner, right? 

Ian was also one of the first authors, who started writing about the tempo of lifting. Yes, I know, tempo lifting was known before him, and Charles Poliquin popularized and completed it (adding one more figure on top of the lift), but he was one of the first who put it in the book and advocated the importance of tempo. 

As mentioned earlier, each book is divided into four phases. We will start with the first one, the adaptation phase, which is meant for, well, adapting to the stress that is to follow. There are a few ways to play with the intensity of training: 

· Reps completed in each set

· Weight lifted 

· % of 1RM lifted

· Rest during sets or exercises

· Range of motion

· Time under tension

· TEMPO of lifting

Before reading Bigger, Faster, Leaner, I knew only basics about training, which I have learned from Coaches I could find and available material online at that time. But, to be honest, I didn't catch anything about tempo. Tempo means how fast you move through each lift/movement phase; eccentric, static and concentric. There are three numbers (now there are four, but we will also get to that part) we use. I will never forget the sentence from his first of the three books, where he explained the numbers: 

· 3-0-1 

· Or 4-2-4

· Or 2-0-X

· 1-X-X

· X-X-X

The first number is the eccentric phase, the phase of lowering the weight, or the phase, where "origin" and "insertion" of a muscle are moving apart from each other. 

Second number is the static hold in the stretched position, and the third is the concentric phase, or lifting the weight. So, as Ian explained in his book: 

· If you see 3-0-1 it means 3 seconds down, no rest at bottom and one second up

· If you see 4-2-4, it means 4 seconds down, 2-second hold in stretched position, 4 seconds up

· If you see 2-0-X, it means 2 seconds down, no rest (bounce) at the bottom and explode up

· If you see 1-X-Xm it means 1 second down, bounce at bottom position and explode up

· And, lastly, if you see XXX… well, you are on the wrong web page :)

Another thing that was interesting in Ian's programming was the wide variety of equipment selection and movement variability. From different barbells, dumbbells to kettlebells, and narrow to wide grip, bilateral to unilateral stance, arched or neutral back, pronated to supinated etc. With all those variables, the plan became very interesting for some, but too complicated for others. 

Our goal at Younix is to introduce you to the strength & conditioning training as a whole and make it as simple as possible for you to implement it in your fitness routine. We want to help you realize that strength & conditioning methodology is not only about moving heavyweights or performing movements at high intensity all the time. It's also about movement quality, mind-muscle connection, training your mind, active recovery, structured programming and understanding methods for different means. With that being said, let's dig deeper into Ian's last book: GET BUFFED 3 -Get Totally Buffed! Challenge accepted!

In this book, there are five main programs: 

1. The Bodybuilding Program
2. The Strength Training Program
3. The Explosive Power Program
4. The Powerlifting Program
5. The Olympic Lifting Program
   

We will focus on the first three, because we want to build a solid all-around Athlete, and we will leave sport-specific material to sport-specific coaches. 

The Bodybuilding Program: size through maximal strength‍

Every Program is divided into four stages. A stage means four different workouts, and you go through each phase two times. That means two weeks, and then you change the phase. The first time you go through a phase is a set up for the second week, because in the first week you will not know what weight you can handle in each set of every exercise. The second time you go through that phase, you will know exactly how much weight to put on the bar or dumbbell to pick.

‍
Stage 1 Overview 

Abdominal part is performed first in this stage, which is the only stage performed in this way. The reason for that is because for some, this will be a comeback program, and it is important to activate core muscles before lifting something heavy. The 6/1/6/1 method will be dominant in this stage. In this method the first six reps are being used for the second set of 6, and the first set of 1 is potentiation for the second set of 1. For those exercises we will use the percentage of 1RM to determinate the intensity. For assistance work, we will use the RPE scale.

Program Example

Day 1: 

Warm-up: 

• 5 – 10 minute easy cardio, with increasing intensity 

Priority stretching: 

• Mobility 
• PNF if needed for tight muscles

Core: 

• Janda Sit-Up 2 x 10 reps 
• Russian Twist 2x 15 reps per side

Control Drills: 

• Superman 2 x 10 reps
• Single leg hip bridge 2 x 5 reps per side
  

Workout: 

A. BARBELL DEADLIFT 

-      10 reps @50% 1RM

-      8 reps @60% 1RM

-      6 reps @70% 1RM

-      6 reps @75% 1RM

-      1 rep @90% 1RM

-      6 reps @80% 1RM

-      1 rep @95% 1RM

B. BARBELL ROMANIAN DEADLIFT

-      2 x 8 reps @ 8 RPE

C. BARBELL GOOD MORNING

-      2 x 12 reps @ 7 RPE

D. 1-LEG DL (could be a barbell, a dumbbell or a kettlebell)

-      1 x 20 per leg @8 RPE

Day 2: 

Warm-up: 

• 5 – 10 minute easy cardio, with increasing intensity 

Priority stretching: 

• Mobility 
• PNF if needed for tight muscles

Core: 

• Reverse Crunch 2 x 10
• Side-lying trunk and leg raise 2 x 10 preside

Control Drills: 

• Scarecrow 2 x 10 reps
• Face Pull 2 x 5 reps per side

Workout: 

A. BARBELL PRESS

-      10 reps @50% 1RM

-      8 reps @60% 1RM

-      6 reps @70% 1RM

-      6 reps @75% 1RM

-      1 rep @90% 1RM

-      6 reps @80% 1RM

-      1 rep @95% 1RM

B. EZ BAR PULL OVER (bent arms)

-      10 reps @50% 1RM

-      8 reps @60% 1RM

-      6 reps @70% 1RM

-      6 reps @75% 1RM

-      1 rep @90% 1RM

-      6 reps @80% 1RM

-      1 rep @95% 1RM

C. SEATED DB SHOULDER PRESS

-      3 x 8 @ 8 RPE 

D. EZ BAR REVERSE BICEPS CURL

-      3 x 8 @ 8 RPE

Day 3: 

Warm-up: 

• 5 – 10 minute easy cardio, with increasing intensity 

Priority stretching: 

• Mobility 
• PNF if needed for tight muscles

Core: 

• Hanging Leg raises 2 x 10
• Side plank 2 x 30s pre side

Control Drills: 

• Easy Squat Jump 2 x 10 reps
• Squat Hold 2 x 30s 

Workout: 

A. BARBELL BACK SQUAT

-      10 reps @50% 1RM

-      8 reps @60% 1RM

-      6 reps @70% 1RM

-      6 reps @75% 1RM

-      1 rep @90% 1RM

-      6 reps @80% 1RM

-      1 rep @95% 1RM

B. BARBELL FRONT SQUAT 

-      3 x 10 reps @ 7RPE

C. BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT (could be a barbell, a dumbbell or a kettlebell)

-      1 x max reps per leg @ 8 RPE

D. STANDING SINGLE LEG CALVES

-      1 x max reps per leg @ 8 RPE

Day 4: 

Warm-up: 

• 5 – 10 minute easy cardio, with increasing intensity 

Priority stretching: 

• Mobility 
• PNF if needed for tight muscles

Core: 

• Dead Bug  2 x 30s
• Side Bend 2 x 10 preside

Control Drills: 

• Seated external rotation 2 x 10 reps per side
• Scapular Push Up

Workout: 

A. BARBELL BENT OVER ROW

-      10 reps @50% 1RM

-      8 reps @60% 1RM

-      6 reps @70% 1RM

-      6 reps @75% 1RM

-      1 rep @90% 1RM

-      6 reps @80% 1RM

-      1 rep @95% 1RM

B. BARBELL BENCH PRESS

-      10 reps @50% 1RM

-      8 reps @60% 1RM

-      6 reps @70% 1RM

-      6 reps @75% 1RM

-      1 rep @90% 1RM

-      6 reps @80% 1RM

-      1 rep @95% 1RM

C. KETTLEBELL ROW

-      3 x 8 per side @ 8 RPE

D. REVERSE GRIP BENCH PRESS ON LOW INCLINE BENCH

-      3 x 8 @ 8 RPE

‍