THINK BIG

POWERBUILDING METHOD FOR SIZE & STRENGTH

 EVERYBODY
WANNA BE A
BODYBUILDER
AND LIFT HEAVY
WEIGHT
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably but who wants just one of those? Most
struggled at least a little bit finding a people want to be big and strong and
program that really suits you. None of lean, and with so many goals, it often
them really cover all the bases -- some seems impossible to even know where
look good for getting really strong, or to start.
gaining lean muscle, or getting ripped,
 I’ve got good news: you can work towards getting stron-
ger, gaining muscle, and losing fat, all at the same time.
It’s not easy. Most programs only focus on one thing at
a time because it’s very difficult to do otherwise. But it’s
not impossible, either. The secret is all in how you use
the right training strategies and eat the right things at the
right times to support those training strategies. Obviously,
it takes careful planning and sometimes, it requires sacri-
fices, like pushing yourself through a hard training session
when you’re exhausted, and saving the pizza for a cheat

IT’S TIME meal. And it requires that you learn a lot about your body
and how it works.

TO START EFFICIENCY IS KEY

If you’ve seen a professional powerlifter or bodybuilder
train, you know their sessions can take upwards of 2, even

THINKING
3 hours at a time. It’s not possible to combine all that work
into a single session -- but it’s also not necessary. Instead,
by focusing on the components of training and diet that
produce the most “bang for the buck,” you can develop a

BIG ton of size and strength without spending your life in the
gym.

Finally, keep in mind that I can’t give you self-discipline or

motivation -- that comes with practice. I can help you to
learn how to train to reach your goals. That takes practice,
too, but this book will make the process a lot faster and a
lot easier.

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 3

 This book is structured a bit differently than most ebooks
that just give you a simple program to follow. That’s be-
cause everyone is different! Especially when it comes to
building muscle, the diet and training strategies you’ll have
to employ to reach your full potential will very likely be dif-
ferent than the ones I use, or the ones anyone else uses.
Don’t worry: there is a detailed, 16-week program for build-
ing size and strength included with Think Big. It’s in the
spreadsheet that came with this book, and I encourage you
to glance over it before you read any further. In fact, you
could probably just jump right into training without read-
ing the book, but I think you’ll be much better off under-
standing some of the principles behind the program. In
particular, you’ll have many opportunities to choose which
exercises you’d like to perform, and this book will help you
choose appropriately. It will also explain the best style of
training to use for different types of exercises, and how to
structure your diet to support your training.
surplus to gain muscle, getting good nutrition around your
workout, and so on. I’ve also included a diet template in
the spreadsheet that might help you get started, but unlike
the training program, the diet is just a guide. It won’t work
for everyone, you’ll definitely need to adjust it to fit your
body and your lifestyle, and if you’re an outlier who needs
an outrageously high or low number of calories to grow,
the spreadsheet numbers might be way off base. Still, for
most people, it’s a starting point.
That’s all the info you should need to dive in. Good luck,
train hard, and Think Strong!
Ben

And man, when it comes to diet -- everyone is so different

that it’s very hard to make recommendations that apply
to everyone. One 200-pound guy might need four, five,
even 6,000 calories to grow; another guy with the same
size and structure might only need 2500. In fact, even the
same person can have different caloric requirements dur-
ing different times in his life, based on training age, activity
levels, metabolism, and a whole host of other complicat-
ing factors. And that’s just calories! We’ve got to consider
macros, too: some people respond well to high-carb diets,
others don’t. The same goes for fat and protein.

So it’s complicated. Still, I’ve tried to focus on the points

that do apply to (almost) everyone: eating a small caloric

4
 THE SECRET TO GETTING BIG AND STRONG
Let’s explore this idea of efficiency a little more.
Strength training has come a long way since the days
of legends like Eugen Sandow and even John Grimek.
Modern powerlifting protocols often call for scarily
complex systems of sets, reps, and percentages; top-
level bodybuilders use similarly rigorous schedules
for the amount and even timing of the foods they eat.
Those programs are highly specialized: they’re de-
signed to maximize one’s performance on the platform
or appearance on stage.

CHAPTER 1
BUILDING STRENTH & MUSCLE

5
On the other hand, I know a lot of pro powerlifters who laugh at the idea of counting macros; and if you flip open a
bodybuilding magazine, most of the training programs list exercises, sets, and reps -- but that’s about it. Plenty of great
bodybuilders have never heard of programming principles like using RPEs and couldn’t guess at their 1RMs. Those things
just aren’t important to how they look on stage.

Sports today require this kind of laser-like focus, because they’re so competitive. Look at the difference between Phil
Heath and some random guy who’s been training for a few years: there’s no comparison. It’s the same thing if you com-
pare the numbers of a top powerlifter to a casual gym-goer. The size and symmetry of a Phil Heath and the strength of a
Yury Belkin don’t happen accidentally: they’re the result of a very careful, narrowly-defined plan and years of consistency
(not to mention one-in-a-billion genetics).

THE PARETO PRINCIPLE:

FOCUS ON WHAT WORKS
Ever heard of the 80-20 rule? In academic circles, it’s called
the Pareto Principle, and it says, basically, that 80% of your
results are going to come from 20% of your work. When
it comes to getting big and strong, that means that 80%
of your muscle and strength are coming from 20% of the
things you do at the gym: squats, bench presses, and
deadlifts. All the other curls, pushdowns, rows, ab circuits,
handstand tricks -- all that other stuff only adds up to 20%
of your gains.
This is fantastic news if you want to get really big and really
strong, really quickly. Go take a look at a picture of Heath
or a video of Belkin lifting, and imagine 80% of that. Now
put them together. Not bad, huh? The secret to getting
there -- or somewhere close -- is just finding the right
20% to really invest yourself in. So many people fail to
reach their goals because they waste enormous amounts
of time on the things that don’t matter, and gloss over the
things that do.
In Think Big, the goal is to maximize size and strength, and
that balance requires efficiency. So, as much as possible,
we’ll spend our efforts on that 20% that will produce big
results. We’ll touch on a little from the remaining 80%, but
the emphasis is always on bang for the training and diet
buck.
BUILDING MUSCLE
The rest of this chapter explains some of the theory behind
that 20% -- in other words, it’s getting at why we’re invest-

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 6

 ing our time and energy the way we are. Honestly, it’s not
MACRONUTRIENT BREAKDOWN
strictly necessary to read this chapter to be able to use the
If you’re not already familiar with them, you’ve probably at
program and follow the diet effectively, but I do think it’s
least heard about macros: the carbs, protein, and fats (and
worthwhile. The better you understand the reasoning be-
alcohol) that make up the caloric content of food. “Macros”
hind what you’re doing, the better you’re able to respond
is short for “macronutrients,” but food also has micronu-
skillfully when life gets in the way of your plan.
trients, like vitamins and minerals, that affect your body
as well.
Still with me? Good. Then let’s get into some diet basics.

For the most part, we’re only concerned about macronu-

How many times have you heard the skinny guy at your
trients. Micronutrients become important when you’re at
gym complain about how he just can’t gain weight, no mat-
the elite level of powerlifting or bodybuilding and need to
ter how much he eats? It’s a common problem -- but most
cut significant amounts of water weight or prepare to get
of the time, the problem is between the ears. Everyone
on stage. Otherwise, they don’t matter too much (with the
can eat enough to gain weight. The trick is eating to gain
exception of sodium, which we’ll talk about later).
quality weight: lots of muscle and not a lot of fat.

Most strength athletes are most concerned with how

Unfortunately, nobody really agrees on the best way to
much protein they consume. Protein is very important:
do that. Fad diets, gimmicks, supplements, and science
it’s the raw material your body uses to build muscle, so if
all promise to be the secret answer, but the truth is that
you don’t have enough of it, you won’t grow. But there’s
everyone is different, and so there’s no one secret for ev-
a catch: most lifters stress about how much total protein
eryone. That’s why, in Think Big we’ll take a more wholistic
they’re getting, without worrying about when they’re get-
approach: it’s not flashy, but it will help you get big enough,
ting it. If the body’s not actively working to build muscle,
strong enough, and to learn enough about your body to
then having an overload of protein won’t help. True, eat-
find your secret.

7
MACRONUTRIENT RATIOS: BREAKING THEM DOWN
There are no “right” and “wrong” diets -- just diets that work and those that don’t. That’s why there’s such a broad range
of macros listed in the table below.

kcal per gram g per kg BW % of total cals

zz Carbohydrates (protein sparing, energy for training) 4 3-5 33-50%

zz Protein (muscle building) 4 2-3 20-33%

zz Fats (hormone production, essential function) 9 varies 20-33%

ing a ton of protein helps maximize the chances that your
body will have it when it’s needed, but it also increases the
chances of adding unnecessary bodyfat. In Chapter 2, we’ll
take a closer look about how to time protein intake for
maximum efficiency.
When it comes to the debate between carbohydrates and
fats, the most outspoken voices usually favor an extreme
stance: either a high-carb or cyclical carb diet; or a strictly
low-carb or ketogenic approach. Here’s the deal: both can
work. The most important aspect of weight loss or weight
gain is total caloric intake, and that can be managed using
any macronutrient approach. However, some people tend
to feel better with a moderate- or high-carb intake; and
others feel better on a higher-fat diet.
You need both to gain muscle. Fats help the body per-
form several important functions, including tissue growth
and hormone production. Carbohydrates are your body’s
most important energy source. They provide the fuel you
need for the intense training in this program, they refill
glycogen stores, making your muscles feel fuller and work
better; and they are protein-sparing, meaning that if your
body has carbs, it won’t use proteins as a source of energy
-- leaving that protein to maintain or build muscle.
The Think Big diet follows a balanced approach to macros:
we won’t restrict carbs, protein, or fats. If your goal is to
step on a bodybuilding stage, this might not be the right
approach for you, but for someone who wants get big and
get strong, this type of balance is absolutely crucial. The
combination of volume and intensity in the training pro-
gram means that, if you’re following a restricted diet, you’ll
probably start to drag early on in your daily workouts, and
we don’t want that.
MACRONUTRIENT RATIOS
We’re taking a balanced approach, but your macronutri-
ent ratios still matter. If you’re eating too little protein, for
example, your body won’t have the raw material needed
to build muscle when it’s ready. But eat too much, and
your body won’t have a good use for it -- so it’ll get stored
as body fat. The same is true when it comes to carbohy-

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 8

 On the other end of the spectrum, you have those that
claim 2 or even 3 grams of protein per pound of body-
weight is necessary. That’s roughly 4-6 grams per kilo,
or 750% more than the studies recommended. Very few
people will respond well to such an extremely high pro-
tein intake. The ideal amount is somewhere in the middle;
more progressive researchers suggest that 1-1.5 grams of
protein per pound of bodyweight (2-3 grams per kilo) is
ideal for those looking to add gain amounts of muscle and
strength. That’s the number we’ll use.
Thankfully, the studies regarding carbohydrate intake are
much clearer. They show, pretty convincingly, that 3-5
grams of carbs per kilo of bodyweight is ideal for mus-
cular growth. Now, that’s obviously a pretty big range: if
you weigh 100 kilos, for example (about 220 pounds), you
could be eating anywhere from 300 to 500 grams of carbo-
hydrates per day.
“IF YOU WANT TO LOOK
MUSCULAR AND BE STRONG,
YOU NEED TO EAT RIGHT
AND TRAIN SMART.”
9
This is where fats come in. We’ll adjust your carbohydrate
and fat intake so that we meet the following goals:
• Your total number of calories slightly exceeds
your baseline (to provide extra nutrition needed for
muscle growth)
• Your carb intake falls in the 3-5 grams per kilo of
bodyweight range
• Your fat intake makes up at least 20% but no more
than 33% of your total caloric intake. Twenty percent
is about the minimum necessary to see the benefits
of fats that we discussed earlier, but this wiggle room
gives us the flexibility to make sure you’re also getting
the necessary amount of carbohydrates.
Don’t worry if this nutrition stuff sounds complicated --
we’ll cover all of this in much more detail in Chapter 2.
BUILDING STRENGTH The good news is, after the alarm phase passes, your body
“supercompensates” for the stress you put it through, and
When it comes to building muscle, nutrition is king, but if
you end up stronger than before the workout! Your next
you want to look muscular and be strong, you’ll need to eat
workout should be during the supercompensation phase,
right and train smart. Periodization is the key to strength.
so that you can take advantage of that extra strength. (It
Periodization guides every effective strength-training pro-
doesn’t last forever — if you stop stressing your body, you’ll
gram. In fact, the “discovery” of periodization by Soviet sci-
end up right back where you started. That’s undertraining.
entist Lev Pavlovich Matveyev in the 1960s revolutionized
training for nearly every sport. If you want to succeed as a
All of this occurs in the short term — after one stressful
lifter, you must understand at least the basics of periodiza-
event, like a workout or a competition. Periodization ex-
tion.
plains how the whole thing works in the long term, and it’s
a little different. Our long term goal is to string together as
Basically, periodization describes how the body reacts to
many workouts in the supercompensation phase as pos-
the stress of training in the medium- to long-term. (Re-
sible. To do that, we have to essentially repeat two things,
member, stress refers to progressive overload: lifting more
over and over again:
weight than you did last time.) It’s built on a theory called
general adaptation syndrome.
1. Stress the body with progressive overload
2. Give the body enough time (but not too much
Here’s the jist of it: when you train with progressive over-
time) to recover from that stress
load, your body freaks out a little. You might feel sore,
tired, or sleepy for a day after lifting heavy or even for a
There’s one problem with that. If you’ve ever tried to, for
week or more after competing — that’s the alarm phase.
example, add five pounds to your 10-rep squat PR every
During the alarm phase, your body is weaker than it was
week, you know that (unless you’re just beginning) you
before you trained. If you push too hard during this phase,
can’t keep it up for very long before you only get 9 reps in
you make things worse. Your body can’t recover, and you
a set, or even just 7 or 8. Say your 10-rep squat PR is 250
start down the road to overtraining. This is why, when you
pounds. Maybe you push yourself really hard and manage
have a bad workout, it’s important to back off and not keep
255x10. And the next week you do the same thing and get
pushing yourself even harder. Even though it might make
260x10! But then on the third week, even though you gave
you feel better mentally to persevere, it’s only going to hurt
it 100%, you can only squeak out 265x9. And that’s su-
your progress. (Keep in mind that, as a beginner, some-
per frustrating, so the next week after that you go for 270
time it’s tough to distinguish being in the alarm phase from
anyway and this time only get 7 reps. Now you’re really
just “not feeling it” on a particular day. In the latter situa-
pissed off so the following week you try 275, even though
tion, you do need to push through. This is where having a
your body isn’t having it, and you only get 3. Now you’re
coach is helpful!)
so discouraged you just say fuck it and decide to take up

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bodybuilding or video games instead.

Here’s the secret to strength: Matveyev explained that,

with regard to stress on the body, there should be an in-
verse relationship between volume (the number of reps
you do in a workout) and intensity (the percentage of your
one-rep max that you use). So, like we saw with the squat
example, as you add more weight and get closer to your
one-rep max, you can perform fewer reps. But if you stay
within a given level of volume for a while, when you de-
crease that level of volume, you’ll be able to lift at a higher
intensity than you would have otherwise.

So imagine that instead of trying to start out your program

at 255x10, you started light, with 225 for 3 sets of 10. And
the next week you did 230 for 3x10, and then 235 for 3x10,
and then the next week you got 240 for 2 sets of 10 and
one set of 8. And instead of getting discouraged, you took
that as a cue to drop the volume a bit, and up the intensity.
The next week maybe you do 255 for 4 sets of 5, and then
260 for 4 sets of 5, all the way up to 275 for maybe 3 sets of
5 and one set of 3. But look at what happened — instead
of only doing 7 reps with 275, you did 18! And instead of
getting frustrated, you’ve built momentum, and you keep
it up. You go to 285 for 3 sets of 3, and then 290, and
then 295, and then 300. Now you’re doing nearly the same
number of reps with 300 (9 reps) as you could do with one
set of 250 when you started out three months ago. And if
and when you decide to test your 1 rep squat max, it will be
a lot higher than if you had kept banging your head against
the wall trying to just add weight every week.

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 11

 THE PHASES OF PERIODIZATION Finally, in the peaking phase, you prime your body to per-
form at its maximum. This phase is generally shorter, prob-
There’s another catch: you can’t just choose your levels of
ably 4 weeks, and you won’t be building as much strength
volume and intensity at random. The next section will get
or muscle as in the other two phases. Your two goals here
into choosing your volume and intensity in more detail, but
are to practice keeping good form and building confidence
for now, let’s look at the four broad categories of levels:
using near-max weights, and giving your body enough rest
hypertrophy, strength, peaking, and rest (these are often
so that you can be sure you’re in that supercompensation
called a whole lot of crazy names like “transmutation,” “re-
sweet spot leading up to your meet. The peaking phases
alization,” “explogasm,” etc., but I like these ones better.)
uses more than 90% of your 1RM for fewer than 10 reps.
Each phase lasts roughly 4-8 weeks, depending on your
goals and schedule, except for the rest phase (1-2 weeks).
Technically, the rest phase is optional, but it’s a good idea
to take a week or two off to give your mind and body a
In the hypertrophy phase, the primary goal is to build mus-
short break after a big competition or even just a very
cle. If you have more muscle, you can lift heavier weights!
stressful training cycle (if you choose not to compete). Do
If you’re already very muscular and don’t want to move up
something different, like crosstraining, or even just rest
a weight class, you’ll probably spend less time in the hyper-
completely.
trophy phase, but it still has benefits: you give your body
and mind a break from very heavy weights, and you can
UNDULATING PERIODIZATION
use that break to address imbalances or technique flaws.
Some studies have shown that there are advantages to
In the hypertrophy phase, you’ll use roughly 55-75% of
combining multiple phases of periodization in a single
your 1RM for 12-30 total repetitions.
week -- for instance, training for hypertrophy one day and
for strength the next. For the typical person, this type of
In the strength phase, the goal is to build strength. Ob-
setup is very demanding, because the overall volume and
viously, that’s always the goal, and we’re still building
intensity still need to progress in the same fashion as with
strength in the other phases, too -- just like we’re building
“standard” periodization; and because it requires a fairly
muscle in the other phases. But generally it’s a little easier
high training frequency to work successfully (more on that
to add weight to your lifts when you’re using less volume
later).
than in the hypertrophy phase, and working at a lower in-
tensity than in the peaking phase. There’s some other stuff
When it comes to getting big and strong, though, there
going on here, too: you’ll start to benefit from nervous sys-
are definitely benefits that come from training with light-
tem adaptation, and you’ll have a chance to continue prac-
er weights and higher reps throughout an entire training
ticing any technique changes you made in the hypertrophy
cycle, not just in the hypertrophy phase. So the Think Big
phase before dealing with very heavy loads. This phase
program incorporates some of the concepts of undulating
typically uses 75-90% of your 1RM for 10-20 total reps.
periodization, in the form of assistance and supplemental

12
sets. You can read more about those in Chapter 3. For
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
now, just know that, while periodization seems very simple
The rest of the book discusses in more detail exactly how
on the surface, there are nuances (things that fall in the
these theories can come together in a simple, brutally ef-
80% effort/20% results range) that can be useful, so we’ll
fective training and diet methodology that produces ex-
take advantage of a few of them.
traordinary results. In Chapter 2, we’ll cover the principles
of the Think Big diet, and how to choose which foods to eat,
FREQUENCY
when, and how much -- as well as a few tips and tricks to
Volume and intensity form the cornerstone of periodiza-
take your physique to the next level. Chapter 3 explains
tion, but frequency -- the number of times you perform
the Think Big training program, and how we’ll progress on
a lift or train a bodypart in a given week -- can affect your
the heavy lifts without neglecting any of the smaller muscle
progress, even when everything else is equal. This might
groups, like the arms and shoulders. And, since nothing
seem a little confusing at first, but basically, doing 3 sets of
is ever entirely straightforward, Chapter 4 contains some
10, twice a week, is usually better than doing 6 sets of 10
strategies for overcoming the plateaus that can keep you
once a week. Put a little more simply: you’re more likely
from achieving your goals.
to gain more strength and build more muscle by training
more often.
Again, if you’re not all that interested in why the method
works, feel free to skip to the end and check out the actual
By now, it should be no surprise that the secret lies in
program and meal plan. You can always jump right in, but
finding balance between training more often and not of-
in my opinion, you’ll be able to train and eat more effec-
ten enough. If more were always better, the biggest and
tively if you take the time to read on.
strongest people in the world would train 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. Obviously, that’s not the case: everyone has
a limited ability to recover, and once that limit is exceeded,
training does more harm than good.

There’s no easy way to find your ideal frequency for train-

ing, especially because -- like with volume and intensity
-- it often changes over time. However, for many people,
training the upper body twice per week and the lower body
twice per week is a good place to start. In fact, that’s where
we’ll start for Think Big, but in this program, we’ll change up
the training frequency over time to keep the gains coming.

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 13

 YOU WANT SIZE, NOT SQUISH.
You’ve probably heard the saying about how body-
building is 80% diet. That’s not quite true -- but diet is
probably the single biggest factor in determining how
you look, assuming you’re following a halfway decent
program. (And if you’re using the Think Big program,
you’ve got training covered way better than that!)

CHAPTER 2
GROWING MUSCLE & STAYING LEAN

14
“LET’S BE HONEST: NO ONE
WANTS TO LOOK FAT.”

Since this book is about powerbuilding, we’ll focus exclusively on gaining size.

DIET IS THE
This is not a weight-loss diet strategy! Let’s be honest, though: no one just
cares about size. No one wants to look big and fat when they could be big and

KEY TO LEAN
shredded. We want quality size: hard, lean, functional muscle with as little fat as
possible. That’s a lot trickier than just getting big, but it’s not impossible. In fact,

GAINS
with a good nutrition strategy and a good training program, it’s almost easy.

FOOD CHOICES But it’s not 80% of the equa-

For most people, choosing the right foods to eat will make a huge impact on tion. You won’t get the size and
your physique -- far more than any macro breakdown, meal plan timing, or strength you want without a
whatever other complicated strategy Internet gurus rave about. combination of diet and training.

Here’s the deal: everyone is different. So unless you’re working closely with a
qualified coach, you can only figure out what balance of macros works for you

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 15

 by experimenting. Deciding you’re going to rock a keto diet, or carb cycle, or whatever only works if your body responds
well to that strategy. And it’s difficult to maintain rigid macro plans when you go out to eat with friends or are traveling.

Other plans, like intermittent fasting and carb backloading, claim that it doesn’t matter what you eat as long as you time
your meals carefully. To an extent, that’s true: total caloric intake does determine weight loss or gain. But in more practi-
cal terms, there are some big problems with strict meal timing. First, it’s almost impossible to accurately estimate your
caloric intake when you’re essentially bingeing every day. Second, if you’re at all concerned about strength, it’s important
to be well fed before and after a workout. Most importantly, who the fuck only wants to eat once a day?

Here’s a better idea: don’t eat like an asshole. That just means choose healthier, less-processed foods that are a bit higher
in protein. Yeah, everyone is different, and some people can get that Greek god physique while pounding chips and guac
at Sunday brunch. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you were that person, chances are, you wouldn’t be read-

DON’T EAT LIKE AN

ASSHOLE.
ing this book right now. On the other hand, smart food choices make it easy to control your caloric intake. As a bonus,
they’re usually lower in the types of fats and additives that can sometimes make you feel sluggish in the gym. Not sure
what the right choices are? No problem. Go check out the appropriate tab in the Think Big spreadsheet, and you’ll see
that you have plenty of options.

From there, it’s just about tracking your changes. Look: I’m not a big fan of counting every calorie you eat and recording
all that data online. If you are, great -- do that. It works. But I don’t have the time or patience for it. I think the easiest
way to track your progress is just by weighing yourself regularly. It’s best to weigh yourself once per week, because daily
fluctuations in water weight can make patterns hard to notice. My weight can fluctuate as much as ten pounds in a day,
and obviously no one can gain ten pounds of muscle or lose ten pounds of fat in so little time.

Body weight isn’t necessarily the best measure of progress, though, because that number doesn’t tell you if you’re achiev-
ing your goals or if you’re actually gaining fat and losing muscle instead. There’s two ways to tackle this problem. One

16
 FEELING A
is to also measure your body composition, either using calipers or a more
advanced (and expensive) method like hydrostatic weighing or DEXA. That

LITTLE OVER-
was you can specifically track muscle gain and fat loss. Unfortunately, body
composition measurements are often inaccurate, and a small discrepancy

WHELMED?
in testing between measurements can be enough to make them practically
worthless.

Don’t stress. It’s a lot to process, and

Again, I like to keep things simple. In addition to the number on the scale, that’s why Think Big includes a fully-
I ask myself two questions: Do I look better in the mirror? And am I getting customizeable spreadsheet to help
stronger? If the answer to both those questions is yes, and the scale’s mov- you design the perfect diet plan to fit
ing in the right direction, I know for sure that I’m making good progress. your needs.

Just follow the instructions in the

GAINING MUSCLE spreadsheet to get a template for a

First things first: it’s important to start gaining muscle at the right time. Sor- high-carb or low-carb diet, set up for

ry, but if you’re already 20% bodyfat, eating to gain more size isn’t going to training and rest days. Be careful! If

make you look better, it’s just going to make you look fat. So, if that’s the you’ve got some crazy caloric re-

case, spend some time cutting down into the 12% range before you worry quirements for growth, you’ll prob-

about getting big. Personally, I prefer to stick around 10%; I feel better a bit ably have to adjust the baseline

leaner and have a better appetite, but this is individual. Go with what makes numbers a bit to fit your body.

you comfortable.

It’s for
Training, too
Throw your 1-rep maxes into the

REMEMBER TO LOOK FOR training tab of the included spread-

THE EASY WINS. sheet, and you’ll get a program preset

to account for your current level of
There’s no reason to stress over
strength. Don’t know your numbers?
perfecting your macro intakes
You can estimate them using the
when you could just eat healthi-
1-rep max calculator available here.
er and make better progress.

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 17

 HOW MUCH TO EAT
Once you’re ready to start gaining, the first step is to figure
out where you are now. If you’re like me, that’s easy. I eat
pretty much the same foods every day -- I don’t get bored
and I don’t have a lot of time to devote to meal prep, so
that works very well for me. Other people prefer lots of
variety, and that’s totally fine, but it will take you a bit lon-
ger to figure out where you’re at. Regardless, here’s how
to start:
1. You need to track your total caloric intake for at
least 3, and preferably 5 days. Sign up for a free ac-
count at a food-tracking website and start logging.
2. Make sure the days you track include both training
and non-training days.
3. At the end of 3-5 days, you should know how
many calories and how many grams of carbs, protein,
and fats you ate each day. Average these (add them up
and divide by the number of days you tracked).
4. Note if you ate more or less on training days com-
pared to off days.
Now, we’re trying to gain weight, so take whatever number
you came up with for total calories, and add 10%. So if you
were eating 2000 calories per day, bump that up to 2200; if
you were eating 4000 before, now you’re at 4400. Simple,
right?
It should be, and if you’re not too concerned about body
composition, you can stop here. Stick with the new, higher-
calorie diet until you stop gaining, then add another 10%,
and so on, until you reach your goals. This is a perfectly
fine method, although it can be improved. If you’re really
set on adding muscle with as little fat as possible, read on.
18
WHAT TO EAT
We’ve already covered the importance of not eating like an
asshole, and that should still be your first step in diet revi-
sion. But there are other, also-important things you can do
to help address common problems.
First, if you have trouble eating enough, chances are, you’re
just not trying hard enough. You might have to force your-
self to eat for a couple of days or even weeks, but if you’re
persistent and careful, you’ll adjust to eating more. Do not
miss meals! Skipping a meal might make you feel better
in the short term, but it will make it that much harder for
your body to get used to eating more. Struggling? Check
out the “tip” in Chapter 4 for a little inspiration.
You can also make things easier on yourself my choosing
more nutrient-dense foods. These are foods that pack lots
of calories into a small volume of food. Easy example: can
you eat more calories in rice cakes or rice? Unless you real-
ly love rice cakes, the answer is obviously rice. One cup of
rice has more calories than an entire package of rice cakes,
so it’s far easier to get calories from the former. Check out
the list of food suggestions in the spreadsheet for more
examples of nutrient-dense choices (sorry, McDonald’s
doesn’t count as nutrient dense).
WHEN TO EAT
When you eat isn’t as important as what you eat, but there
are some easy ways you can minimize fat gain as you add
slabs of muscle. Again, we’re going for efficiency here: if
you’re exhausting yourself by following an overly restric-
tive diet, you won’t have the energy to sink into heavy bar-
bell training.
CIRCA-WORKOUT NUTRITION
What you eat before, during, and after your workout is important because what you eat during those times fuels your
training and is your number-one opportunity for muscle building.

carbs protein fats

zz 1-2 hours before training (a meal that will keep you feeling full) high moderate moderate

zz During training: EAA/carbohydrate mix moderate n/a n/a

zz Immediatley after training: easily digested carbs & protein high moderate very low

zz 1-2 hours after training (another “real” meal) moderate moderate low

Circa-Workout Nutrition
Your first step should be to look at what you’re eating
around you workouts. I recommend trying to eat about
50% of your daily allotment of carbohydrates in the space
from 2 hours before until 2 hours after your workout.
That might seem like a lot at first, but let’s break it down:
1. About 2 hours before you train, have a solid-food
meal that’s roughly 60-70% carbs, 20-30% protein, and
10% fats. My go-to: pancakes, oatmeal, and 2 whole
eggs. Find something that doesn’t sit heavy on your
stomach but will keep you from feeling depleted dur-
ing a 2-hour workout.
2. When you get to the gym, start sipping on essen-
tial amino acids (EAAs) mixed with carbohydrate pow-
der. I recommend Recovery Factor X from Granite Sup-
plements: it’s formulated by IFBB pro bodybuilder and
legendary bodybuilding coach, John Meadows, and has
everything you need for the course of a training ses-
sion. Use 1-2 scoops depending on your size. More on
this in the Supplement section.
3. As soon as you finish your training, slam a protein
shake with 20 grams of quality protein powder and 60-
100 grams of carbs. I actually drink this in the middle
of my workout, as soon as I’ve finished my heavy train-
ing for the day and am about to start on my accessory
work. That way, I’m hungry again by the time I’ve fin-
ished training and can immediately eat again.
4. Within 2 hours of finishing your workout, eat

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 19

NEED SUPPS? USE CODE
POLLACK10 FOR 10% OFF
GRANITESUPPLEMENTS.COM
 another solid-food meal that’s moderate in carbohy-
drates, with at least 20-30 grams of protein and mini-
mal fats.
Breaking it down like this will make it easy to get in all the
calories, carbs, and protein you need, and you can easily
adjust the amounts to fit your own macro goals for the day.
Time Between Meals
Conventional bodybuilding knowledge says that you
should have no more than 2-3 hours between meals. This
is a good guideline for most people. However, everyone
is different. Here are some things to keep in mind when
planning your meal timing:
• Your schedule: if you’ve got an extremely busy
schedule, then yeah, you could make time to slam a
protein shake or sneak to the bathroom to eat some
chicken out of a Tupperware container -- but it’s not
absolutely necessary. If it’s more convenient for you
to eat every 4 hours than every 2-3, that’s not a deal-
breaker. Do not let yourself go an entire day without
food, though. Consider 4 hours the upper limit on meal
timing, and if you have any doubt about your ability to
get a meal in during that time, carry a protein shake or
some other easy food source with you during your day.
• Your digestion: if you’re eating larger meals, or if
meals tend to sit in your stomach a while, you might
not want to eat every 2-3 hours because it causes you
to feel uncomfortable. That’s okay -- again, remember
that we’re trying to focus on the 20% that gives the
most gains. In this case, the 20% is eating the right
foods and the right amount of foods; if you feel more
comfortable eating 3-4 meals per day instead of 5-6,
21
you’re better off sticking with what feels right (at least
in this case).
• Your sleep: sleep is extremely important to recov-
ery! If you find that you have difficulty sleeping after a
meal, then adjust your meal timing so that you’re not
eating with an hour or two of bedtime. On the other
hand, if a full stomach helps you sleep, make sure to
allocate some of your calories for the evening.
Carb Frontloading
You might have heard about carb backloading, which is
essentially binging on carbohydrates before bed. Carb
frontloading is different. You’re simply trying to eat all of
your carbs for the day in the earlier hours of the morning
and afternoon, and eating more proteins and fats later at
night. If you train later in the day, that’s no problem: have
carbs with breakfast, and then around your workout as de-
scribed in the previous section.
There are two purposes to carb frontloading. Unlike circa-
workout nutrition, carb frontloading is unlikely to have a
direct and significant impact on body composition or mus-
cle growth. However, it can have pretty substantial indirect
impacts:
First, most people tend to feel a little more energetic when
they’re following a higher-carb diet. Is this always the case?
Of course not. But assuming you’re not following an ex-
tremely low-carb diet -- which would make gaining muscle
practically impossible -- then it makes good sense to eat
the majority of your carbohydrates earlier in the day, when
you tend to be more active.
More importantly, everyone has a finite amount of will-
power. Carb frontloading helps to structure your diet in a
way that reduces the temptation to mindless pound some
cereal or candy late at night, when you’re already exhaust-
ed from daily activities.

Is carb frontloading necessary? Absolutely not. At this

point, we’re dealing with minor changes that can make
some difference, but not huge ones.

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 22

 SUPPLEMENTS
WHERE TO START

Z CREATINE: 10 GRAMS Z ESSENTIAL AMINO Z PROTEIN: IIFYM

PER DAY
Creatine is absolutely essential. It
will help you train harder and recover
faster. Yes, it might cause you to gain
a few pounds of water weight, but
that’s nothing to worry about.
ACIDS: PREWORKOUT
EAAs (together with training and good
circa-workout nutrition) will signal
your body to start building muscle
and provide the raw materials neces-
sary to do so.
Protein isn’t strictly a supplement
in my opinion, but it is a convenient
food source for people on the go.
Don’t rely on it exclusively, though.

OTHER COOL STUFF

Preworkout stimulants, pump enhancers, and intra-workout carbohydrate blends are all valuable additions to your train-
ing and diet. Just be aware of two things: first, supplements will never replace training and diet, and second, there’s a lot
of bullshit out there. Most over-the-counter testosterone boosters, for example, aren’t going to get you any extra muscle
or strength.

23
 CHEAT MEALS And again, remember that a cheat meal is a tool. You
should try to use it to get some extra protein and good
This is the section you were waiting for, right? Cheat meals
calories, so choose accordingly: fresh meats and healthy
are a great tool for building muscle, but it’s important to re-
carbs and fat are your best bets. Ice cream and candy
member that they’re just tools. They’re not excuses to let
probably aren’t going to help your body grow, but hitting
your diet go to shit, and they’re not something you should
up some barbecue or sushi very well might. I’m not say-
incorporate into your plan haphazardly.
ing that you should be super strict here -- that would de-
feat the purpose of using the cheat meal as a physical and
For starters, I’m not a big proponent of regular cheat meals
mental break. But remember the first rule of dieting: don’t
while trying to gain muscle and not in a caloric deficit. It’s
eat like an asshole. That still applies, even when you’re
a different story when you’re trying to lose fat: cheat meals
cheating.
can really help you to maintain your metabolism and keep
up intense training during the later stages of a diet.
Finally, binging until you’re about to burst isn’t healthy or
productive. Eat until you’re satisfied, not until you’re one
Since that’s not the case here, we’ll go by feel for cheat
bite away from a diabetic coma. An easy way to self-mod-
meals. Personally, I like to save my cheat meals for spe-
erate here is to just eat slowly, not shovel food down your
cial occasions or travel, but there are plenty of other good,
throat like you were trying to win Nathan’s Hot-Dog Eating
productive reasons to deviate from your regular foods. If
Contest. But there’s no need to track your calories or mac-
you’re feeling mentally or physically drained from intense
ros when you’re having a cheat meal.
training, for example, cheat meals can be a nice way to re-
gain some enthusiasm. Or if you have weak points that
SUPPLEMENTS
you want to emphasize, plan a cheat meal for the night
Supplementation is one of my favorite and least-favorite
before the training session that you feel needs the most
topics to discuss. You see, I’m a supplement junkie myself
improvement. (So, if your back is weak, take your cheat
-- I practically live on EAAs and preworkout -- but supple-
meal around your back & biceps day.)
ments are just what they sound like. They’re extras. And
yet I know so many people who rely on them as if some
Let the mirror and your measurements guide your fre-
supplement could make up for a bad diet or bad training.
quency: if you’re gaining too much bodyfat for your prefer-
Supplements will never make or break your progress, but
ences, cut back on the number of cheat meals.
they can help, and some (like creatine) can help a whole
lot.
One important caveat: do not use cheat meals as an emo-
tional crutch. This can be tempting for many people, but
The supplement industry is a billions-dollar business, so
it’s important you look for healthier ways to deal with
there’s a lot of bullshit out there, and even choosing a
stress that isn’t imposed by your training.
brand of creatine or protein can seem overwhelming.

24
You’ve probably noticed the ads for Granite Supplements
in this book -- they’re here because Granite is one of the
very few companies I trust for my own supplements, and
so if you are having trouble choosing a brand, you won’t go
wrong with them.
Creatine
If you’re only getting one supplement, it should be cre-
atine. Creatine is proven to safely and effectively increase
strength and weight and is absolutely necessary for a pow-
erlifter. I take 15-20 grams of creatine every day, split up
into two doses to avoid stomach problems. Most studies
suggest that only 5-10 grams of creatine are necessary,
but I have found that a higher intake produces much more
noticeable results. There are many, many different forms
of creatine available, but the “standard,” creatine monohy-
drate, is just as good as any of the fancier variations, and
much less expensive. I don’t cycle creatine.
Essential Amino Acids
Next on the list are essential amino acids. Note that these
are a little bit different than branched-chain amino acids.
Amino acids are the compounds that make up protein; the
three branched-chain amino acids are leucine, isoleucine,
and valine. BCAAs work: leucine in particular signals your
body to produce muscle, so even taking leucine alone --
especially around a workout -- can be beneficial. However,
your body needs more than just leucine and the other
BCAAs for proper functioning and muscle building. In fact,
there are eight essential amino acids that your body can’t
produce on its own -- you have to get them from some ex-
ternal source!
Personally, I supplement with huge amounts of EAAs, be-
cause they work, they taste great and they are very afford-
able. I put 2 scoops of Granite’s Adamantium Aminos into
my intra-workout shake, and sip on another 2-3 scoops
spread out throughout the day. That much isn’t necessary,
although I feel it works well for me. If you want to try EAAs,
though, I do recommend that you make sure to take a dose
that provides at least 6 grams of leucine during your work-
out to see the maximum benefits.
Stimulants
Stimulants are my absolute favorite kind of supplement.
They’re also my least favorite. That’s because stimulants
are a double-edged sword, in more ways than one. You’re
probably familiar with the crash that accompanies most
energy drinks -- and, while that sucks, it’s not such a big
problem. Just choose a product that doesn’t leave you feel-
ing crashed, or make sure to use it after you’ve finished
most of your tasks for the day.
The bigger problem with many stimulants involves their ef-
fect on training. You know this deal, too: you take a double
scoop of preworkout, crush your training session, and are
riding high -- until the next day, when you feel like a train
wreck. Same thing the day after that. In fact, it might be
two or three days until you’re feeling good again, and in the
meantime, your training suffers.
Stimulants don’t directly wreck your training, but they do
make it very difficult to gauge what you’re capable of and
how hard you’re working. As a result, taking too many
stimulants causes many people to overreach in their train-
ing, and to have difficulty recovering in short term. Sus-
tained use can even lead to overtraining.
contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 25
 Pump Enhancers
Another one of my favorites. In the powerlifting world, a
lot of people will tell you that the pump doesn’t matter --
and that’s half true. You can get strong without getting a
huge pump every time you train.
But most guys don’t want to just get strong -- they want
to get big and strong. And the pump is absolutely crucial
for muscle growth. A pump drives blood into the muscles
you’re training, delivering nutrients and helping them ex-
pand. Is it temporary? Sure, in the short term. In the long
term, huge pumps lead to growth. Again, my go-to pump
product comes from Granite Supplements: Arc Reactor’s
ingredients are proven to be safe and effective, plus Arc
Reactor contains just a few stimulants -- enough to get you
going for a good workout, but not so many that you’ll end
up burning out as described above.
Just a side note: even if you’re not training for size, a pump
can still be beneficial. A light pumping workout after a
heavy training day can reduce soreness. And getting a
good pump can help you feel your muscles working better,
and over time help you form a better mind-muscle con-
nection. That mind-muscle connection is crucial in activat-
ing the appropriate muscle groups when you’re perform-
ing heavy compound lifts like the squat, bench press, and
deadlift.
Protein
Protein is last on the list because I don’t really consider
it a supplement -- it’s a food. Protein powders are just a
convenient way to get more protein and more calories in
your diet. They’re extremely helpful if you’re pressed for
time and can’t sit down to eat a meal; or if you have dif-
26
ficulty eating enough food to grow. Are they necessary?
Absolutely not -- again, no supplement is going to make or
break your progress.
I use protein powder sparingly: in my postworkout shake,
and if I’m in a rush. Protein powder isn’t “worse” than
other lean protein sources, like chicken breast, tuna, or
egg whites, but I’d caution you to not rely exclusively upon
protein powders in your diet. They do lack some of the
valuable micronutrients that are present in the other foods
mentioned. Like everything else, it’s all about balance.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Don’t forget: the purpose of all these diet strategies is to
fuel your training and provide enough for recovery and
muscle buidling without eating so much that you also build
a lot of fat. That’s why so much emphasis is placed on
timing carbs around your training session and restricting
carbs at other times; and on using the right supplements
to support your training. Even your cheat meals can be
used as tools to get in better training. At the end of the
day, it’s often hard to get a feel for exactly how well your
diet is working when you’re gaining weight (it’s much easier
when you’re dieting). Training, however, is a much more
obvious metric: if your numbers are going up, you’re doing
the right things.
In the next chapter, we’ll learn how to make sure your
numbers are going up. Read on.
 DIET & TRAINING GO HAND-IN-HAND.
In Chapter 1, I explained the importance of managing
the three primary variables of training: volume, inten-
sity, and frequency. This chapter takes those concepts
and goes a step further, arranging them in a form that
you’re probably more comfortable with: the weekly
split. Instead of just throwing the program in your
face, I break down exactly how the different pieces fit
together (with a few exceptions -- I gotta keep some
secrets for my personal clients).

CHAPTER 3
TRAINING FOR SIZE & STRENGTH

27
Remember, the diet in Think Big is one of those pieces. The
nutrition plan and the training program are synergistic. I
mentioned before how difficult it can be to gain size while
following a low-carb diet. It’s even more difficult to do so
while training intensely and with high volume. That’s why
it’s important that you have a meal plan, preferably one
that includes circa-workout nutrition and a good supple-
ment regimen. I’m stressing this point, because if you only
follow the training program or the diet, you’ll still have
good results, but following both together is even better.
And, one more time, if you’re not interested in all the fine
details, feel free to skip ahead and just take a look at the
finished product in the spreadsheet. The truth is, the Think
Big program will work just as well regardless of whether
you understand the principles it’s built on.
THINK BIG: PROGRAM BASICS
First things first: to gain size and strength consistently, you
need to use a periodized protocol along with very carefully-
planned supplemental exercises geared towards hypertro-
phy. If you didn’t follow that sentence, go back and skim
the “building strength” section of Chapter 1, and also the
bit about undulating periodization.
Assuming we’re on the same page, the next step is prepar-
ing to train. Most good strength programs don’t need a
whole lot of fancy equipment to work right. A good rack
and barbell (and plenty of weights) is enough for most of
the exercises used in Think Big, so it’s perfect if you train at
home or don’t care for machines. For yourself, you’ll need
a good, sturdy powerlifting belt. I strongly, strongly recom-
mend that you buy from Pioneer; I’ve used many differ-
ent belts and, without a doubt, theirs are the best money
can buy. Fortunately, they’re competitively priced, as well.
Wrist wraps and either sleeves or wraps to protect your
knees are a good idea, too. That’s all you’ll need to get
started.
You don’t need fancy equipment because the vast majority
of Think Big focuses on the big lifts: basic, compound exer-
cises that you can load up heavily to build massive strength
and add slabs of muscle to your physique. As the next sec-
tion explains, these exercises offer the most bang for the
buck, and they transfer well to other exercises. If you can
bench 500 pounds, you won’t have a problem repping out
some heavy tricep extensions, even if you don’t do them
very often. Same for squats and deadlifts: I built my legs
and back almost exclusively through heavy powerlifting.
Even so, isolation exercises have their place, especially
when you’re looking to get big and strong. Isolation exer-
cises help build a balanced body -- one that’s less vulner-
able to injury -- and to add volume to a program without
significantly impacting recovery. It’s a lot easier on your
body to crank out 100 reps of leg extensions than 100 reps
of squats! Machines often make isolation exercises easier
to perform, but if you don’t have access to any, the major-
ity of them can be done using resistance bands or dumb-
bells for the home gym crowd.
contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 28
 THINK BIG
THE TRAINING SPLIT
SIMPLE IS GOOD
You’re training four days per week. Under no circumstances should you try to add a training day: extra work isn’t benefi-
cial, and will probably lead to overtraining. If you’re one of those people who just has to get in the gym, that’s fine: use
your extra days to do some cardiovascular work and stretch.

EXERCISE SELECTION
In the split below that, except for the primary movements, specific exercises aren’t listed. Instead, you’ll see a
movement type, like “vertical press,” or a bodypart, like “shoulders.” For these slots, you’ll have the opportunity
to rotate exercsies depending on how you feel on any particular day. All of this is explained in more detail in the
rest of this chapter, but at the very least, make sure to check out the Movement Selection page before you start.

DAY 1: SHOULDERS & ARMS

Your focus here is on speed and smoothness. Move the bench sets as fast as possible, and keep the tempo up between
assistance and supplemental movements. This should be a shorter training session.

Purpose Sets Reps Rep Speed

zz Primary Movement: Speed Bench Press Speed 4-8 2-3 Maximal

zz Assistance Movement: Vertical Press Hypertrophy 3-5 5-8 311 Tempo

zz Supplemental: Shoulders Hypertrophy 2-12 10-20+ 311 Tempo

zz Supplemental: Arms Hypertrophy 4-16 10-20+ 311 Tempo

29
DAY 2: LEGS
There’s a reason leg day has a reputation as a killer: it’s a long, gruelling session. We use strength sets on deadlift because
the risk of injury is higher on that movement unless rep speed is controlled.

Purpose Sets Reps Rep Speed

zz Primary Movement: Squat Strength 1-4 1-6 Controlled

zz Assistance Movement: Deadlift Variation Strength 1-4 1-6 Controlled

zz Supplemental: Hamstrings (2 exercises) Hypertrophy 5-20 10-20+ 311 Tempo

zz Supplemental: Abs (1 exercise) Hypertrophy 3-5 10-20+ 311 Tempo

DAY 3: CHEST & TRICEPS

Optimal bench training varies from person to person. If you think you need more volume, you can train the bench varia-
tion slot as a hypertrophy movement, using higher numbers of sets and reps.
Purpose Sets Reps Rep Speed

zz Primary Movement: Bench Press Strength 1-4 1-6 Controlled

zz Assistance Movement: Bench Variation Strength/Hypertrophy 1-5 1-8 Controlled

zz Supplemental: Pecs (2 exercises) Hypertrophy 5-18 10-20+ 311 Tempo

zz Supplemental: Triceps (1 exercise) Hypertrophy 4-16 10-20+ 311 Tempo

DAY 4: BACK & BICEPS

Because deadlifts are so physically and mentally demanding, we start out with speed squats, which should leave you feel-
ing warm but fresh and ready for some heavy pulls.

Purpose Sets Reps Rep Speed

zz Assistance Movement: Speed Squat Variation Speed 4-8 2-3 Maximal

zz Primary Movement: Deadlift Strength 1-4 1-6 Controlled

zz Supplemental: Lats (2 exercises) Hypertrophy 5-20 10-20+ 311 Tempo

zz Supplemental: Biceps (1 exercise) Hypertrophy 4-16 10-20+ 311 Tempo

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 30

 MOVEMENT SELECTION 1. Safety. If you’re performing the lifts safely, that
generally means you’re keeping a tight core and flat
Main Movements: Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift
(or slightly arched, for the bench) back, and that you’re
If you’re looking for size or strength, these three lifts are
avoiding any imbalances (like knee caving on the squat
your base builders -- no exceptions. No other full-body lifts
and deadlift, or elbows shooting out on the bench).
-- and they are full-body lifts, if you’re training heavy and
2. Effectiveness. This generally means that you’re
using good form -- can be loaded as safely and effectively
moving through a full range of motion: squatting to
as these three. If your squat, bench press, and deadlift are
parallel or slightly below, touching your chest on the
increasing you can be 100% confident that you’re getting
bench press and locking out fully, and deadlifting from
stronger. And if they’re going up and you’re eating enough,
the floor. Safety is always most important! If you can’t
too, you can be 100% confident that you’re building quality
move through a full range of motion without pain, then
muscle.
you’re better off with partial lifts. That said, nearly ev-
ery healthy person should be able to move through a
If you’re a competitive powerlifter, you need to perform
full range of motion. If your ego gets hurt, that’s okay
these movements to competition standard. (That stan-
-- don’t squat high or cut your bench short just to load
dard will differ depending on where you compete.) But if
on more weight.
you’re not so worried about competing, and you just want
to get big and strong, the details become a little less impor-
I won’t go through the nuances of technique here. If you
tant. Instead, we’re looking for:
need help, check out the free Exercise Index at EliteFTS.
com -- all the main and assitance movements in Think Big

“FOR SIZE AND STRENGTH,

THE SQUAT, BENCH, AND
DEADLIFT ARE YOUR GO-TOS.
NO EXCEPTIONS.”
31
can be found there.
What about other lifts, like the power clean or overhead
press? Overheads are important for shoulder balance, and
they’re included in Think Big. They’re not listed as a main
movement because for most people, the overhead press
is difficult to load heavily while maintaining good form.
The power clean is not a good strength or size builder for
anyone without experience in Olympic weightlifting. It’s
too difficult to perform properly, and so the typical power
clean resembles some sort of a bastardized reverse curl.
It’s a great way to hurt a shoulder or elbow, but not much
else.
Assistance Movements
The squat, bench press, and deadlift are kings, but some-
times, they’re not enough on their own. First, it’s easy to
get bored just doing the same things all the time. Bore-
dom isn’t necessarily bad, but the best training is fun, and
oftentimes mixing things up is fun. Second, many lifters
have imbalances that create sticking points in the squat,
bench press, and deadlift. For instance, you might be able
to press a heavy weight off your chest, but it gets stuck 2 or
3 inches up. Or maybe you can get a heavy deadlift to your
knees, and then it stalls out a bit.
These kinds of sticking points can exist for a lot of reasons.
Oftentimes, they come from technique that is a little off, or
maybe a lot off. (If you suspect that your technique needs
work, get in touch with a good coach so they can help you
find the right positions for your body!) But other times,
sticking points happen because of differences in bodies --
maybe you have long arms, which will make the deadlift
easier but the bench harder. If you don’t address these
structural issues when you first start training, you’ll de-
velop some muscles more than others, and those relative
weaknesses can really limit your overall strength.
Assistance lifts help fix both problems. There’s an almost
endless number of variations of the squat, bench press,
and deadlift -- just take a look at the exercise index in the
back of this book. Those variations help mix things up, but
they can also help address weaknesses. If you struggle
with your bench press lockout, you can add some board or
pin presses, or close-grip bench presses. If your squat is
weak at the bottom, do some pause squats or box squats.
Finding the right variations that bring up your main lifts is
a key part of getting stronger, but thankfully, you’ll have
plenty of opportunities to try different ones to find which
work best for you.
Supplemental Movements
Not even all the variations of the squat, bench press, and
deadlift can work all the muscles in your body evenly
enough to create a really balanced physique. Besides,
some smaller groups, like the arms, shoulders, and calves,
usually need a huge amount of volume to grow, and doing
a ton of sets of close-grip bench press and overhead press
is a great way to get an overuse injury.
So, instead, we’ll be adding supplemental movements.
These are simple, single-joint isolation exercises that target
the smaller muscle groups, or muscle groups that don’t get
enough work from the rest of your program. They have a
very low risk of injury, because you typically can’t use very
heavy weights for exercises like leg extensions or lateral
raises. Supplemental movements are also your chance to
bro out: if you love reverse-grip preacher curls or thumbs-
contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 32
 up dumbbell extensions, you’ll choose them as two of your
supplemental movements for biceps and triceps.
There are too many possiblities for supplemental move-
ments to list here, but don’t worry. First, there’s an ex-
tensive list of options in the spreadsheet. Second, I’ve in-
cluded some of my own favorite supplemental movements
in Chapter 4. And finally, you can always subscribe to my
YouTube channel here -- it’s constantly updated with new
variations to try.
It’s very, very important to remember that “sets” of
supplemental movements differ from sets of main and
assistance movements. First, when you’re counting sets
of supplemental movements, everything counts -- from
your first warmup set on. Second, you’re using very light
weights and moving very quickly between sets. That’s why
we’re training with so many sets: even as many as 20 sets
of hamstrings or lats shouldn’t take more than half an hour
at most. In fact, all three types of movements should be
peformed differently.
SETS AND REPS
Strength Sets
Strength sets are the meat of Think Big. They use 1-6 reps,
and, depending on what phase of the program you’re in,
1-6 sets. Multiple sets of low or moderate reps are best
for strength for two reasons. First, it’s easier to keep
good form on heavy, compound movements for low- or
moderate-rep sets. On high-rep sets, by rep 8 or 10 or 12,
you’re feeling pretty tired, mistakes start to creep in, and
the chance of injury rises. Second, it’s easier to add weight
to low-rep sets, because you don’t have to deal with the
lactic acid buildup or worry about getting winded halfway
33
through your set.
To help you progress, for the main movements (squat,
bench press, and deadlift), we’ll be using linear periodiza-
tion. As we increase the weights each week, we’ll decrease
the volume. (If you’re wondering why this works, go back
and take another look at Chapter 1.) Sounds simple, right?
By itself, it is -- although there are still nuances in the ex-
act changes of both volume and intensity throughout the
program.
If you’ve used programs based on linear periodization in
the past, you might wonder whether we can create enough
stimulus just by changing volume and intensity.-- especially
if, like most people, you find that you plateau or get bored
pretty quickly without a lot of variation in your workouts.
That’s where the hypertrophy and speed sets come into
play.
When you’re doing strength sets, your goal is to move the
weight as confidently as possible. Don’t worry about your
rep tempo. Just lower the weight under control, and lift it
as explosively as possible. When the weights get heavy, “as
explosively as possible” might be pretty darn slow. That’s
fine -- just make sure you stick with it and don’t give up if
the reps slow down.
Hypertrophy Sets
If strength sets are the meat, hypertrophy is the bread: it
rounds out your program by adding volume to help you
gain muscle and stay balanced. (Remember: balanced
bodies are generally injury-free ones.) We’ll use hyper-
trophy sets for both assistance and supplemental move-
ments.
Hypertrophy sets for assistance movements use 3-5 sets
of 5-8 reps. Remember, assistance movements are the
ones that bring up your weaker muscles to help improve
your main movements. They’re exercises like front squats,
close-grip bench presses, deficit deadlifts, and other close
variations of the main movements. These exercises are
usually pretty tough to do for very high reps, but sets of 5-8
are typically manageable.
Hypertrophy sets for supplemental movements, on the
other hand, use as many as 15 sets of 10-20 reps, or even
more -- sometimes up to 50 or 100 reps (more on super-
high rep workouts in Chapter 4). Supplemental move-
ments are simple, single-joint isolation exercises -- curls,
extensions, and the like -- so there’s little risk of injury
from fatigue when performing them. The very high vol-
ume makes them great muscle builders, though, especially
for those smaller groups like the arms and shoulders that
might not get enough direct stimulations from the other
movements.
When you’re doing sets of supplemental movements,
there’s no need to count reps, or use a progressively heavi-
er weight, or time your rest between sets. Instead, try this:
start with a very light weight, and do reps until you’ve got a
good pump going on -- but stop far short of failure. Then
bump up in weight just a bit, and again, crank out reps
until you feel that you’ve worked the muscle sufficiently.
You’ll notice in the spreadsheet that, most weeks, you have
ranges of supplemental sets listed. In those cases, you can
just go by feel: as long as you’re in the suggested set range,
you’re good.
The high volume of hypertrophy sets serves another
purpose: it allows you to add more variation to the pro-
gram without beating you up so much that you overtrain.
Strength and speed sets are very physically and mentally
demanding, so simply adding more of those would lead to
burnout very quickly. With hypertrophy sets, you can fo-
cus on the mind-muscle connection and get a great pump
while staying fresh.
Unlike strength sets, rep tempo is very important for hy-
pertrophy sets. Lower the weight on a slow 3-count, and
as you do, try to squeeze all the muscles in your body and
keep them tight. Pause for a 1-count at the bottom of the
rep, and then explode up as fast as you can. This increased
time under tension will further increase the overall volume
of your program and really kick your muscle growth into
overdrive.
Rest between sets is important, too. With the main move-
ments, you should take as long as you need between sets
to make sure that you can nail all of your required reps.
But on hypertrophy sets, your training needs to be fast-
paced. Rest only 2-3 minutes between sets of assistance
movements, and as little as possible -- 90 seconds or less
-- between sets of supplemental movements.
Speed Sets
If you’ve read much about powerlifting, you’ve probably
heard of Westside Barbell and dynamic effort training. Ba-
sically, here’s the theory: by moving a light weight as fast
as possible, you can train to be more explosive, which will
eventually allow you to lift heavier weights. Now, Louie
Simmons works with very advanced lifters who use spe-
cialized powerlifting equipment in a very controlled envi-
ronment. Dynamic effort training works great for those
contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 34
 people; for everyone else, it’s a little overrated.

However, speed sets do have some huge benefits, when

they’re used correctly: with moderate weights for low reps
and many sets, and with short rest periods. First, they help
to increase a program’s overall volume without impacting
recovery as much heavier lifting would (go back to Chapter
1 if you need a refresher on why volume is so important
for strength). In fact, speed sets can help you recover from
soreness a day or two after a heavy session. They’re also
the perfect way to practice good technique and build con-
fidence. To take advantage of that, speed sets are usu-
ally used with main movements, but sometimes assistance
movements can work well, too -- it depends on your goals.

Again, tempo is pretty important for speed sets, but unlike

with hypertrophy sets, you’re not trying to increase time
under tension -- you’re trying to move as quickly as pos-
sible while maintaining control over the weight. A 1-0-1
tempo is perfect: take one second to lower the weight un-
der control, and then immediately blast it up as quickly as
you can. Rest 90 seconds between speed sets.

35
 SETS & REPS
In Chapter 1, we touched on the concept of undulating pe-
riodization, and how a little variety could have training ben-
efits. In Think Big, we’ll put some of the concepts behind un-
dulating periodization to work in different set types.

FAST STRONG
SPEED SETS
Speed sets increase the overall vol-
ume of a program without hurting
recovery, can help alleviate soreness,
and are a great opportunity to prac-
tice technique and build confidence
under the bar. Ultimately, this all
translates into more strength and
more size.
STRENGTH SETS
Strength sets are the bread and but-
ter of Think Big. They’re used for the
squat, bench press, and deadlift (and
close variations of those movements),
for fairly low sets and reps. If you’re
going to focus on only one thing in
this program, focus on the strength
sets.
BIG
HYPERTROPHY SETS
Hypertrophy is important, too! The
program uses two types of hypertro-
phy sets: for assistance movements
and for supplemental movements.
Both are designed to give you a sick
pump, increase the program’s over-
all volume, and ultimately result in
insane muscle growth along with
strength.

36
 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Here’s a quick summary of where we’re at so far.

1. The Think Big diet and training programs are synergistic. You can use one without the other, but they’re better
together.

2. Your diet should set you up to have a killer training session, and to recover from that training quickly enough to
build muscle. By paying attention to the foods you eat throughout the rest of the day, and by controlling your carbs
during the rest of the day, you can gain a lot of muscle while minimizing fat.

3. Your training program is based on the three powerlifts: the bench press, squat, and deadlift. It also includes
assistance and supplemental movements to help build muscle and keep your body balanced. Each of these move-
ments can be trained using different styles of sets and reps, so it’s important you really focus throughout your entire
workout.

Those three points are our magic 20% -- the things we pour our effort into to produce huge gains without spending hours
and hours counting calories or grinding out endless sets in the gym. Obviously, there are other details that can help
overcome obstacles. Read on for more.

WAIT... WHERE’S THE PRO-

GRAM?
No, you’re not crazy. The actual program -- with sets, reps, poundages, exercises -- that’s not all laid out in the book, for two rea-
sons. First, what are you going to do with a PDF of your program? You can’t interact with that. Second, I find that it’s much easier,
mentally, to deal with actual loads than percents of a one-rep max. So, the Think Big program, in all its glory, can be found in the
spreadsheet that came with this book. It will allow you to input your 1-rep maxes, calculate your poundages for each training day,
and there’s space for you to record your workouts if you choose. Obviously, you should check that out.

37
 PLATEAUS SUCK.
We’ve all been there -- those times when it seems like
nothing ever changes, and every day in the gym is just
hours of spinning the wheels, hoping something will
click. Or maybe there’s that weight that never seems
to move, no matter how well training seems to be go-
ing: 385 might fly up, maybe for reps, but 405 might as
well be 900.

CHAPTER 4
PLATEAU-BUSTING SECRETS

38
There’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that plateaus never go away, no matter how long you train and no
matter how much strength and muscle you build. The good news is that plateaus can almost always be beaten -- and once
they are, gains often skyrocket. To beat a plateau, you need to experiment. But it’s not enough to throw random solutions
at a problem and hope something sticks. You need a plan to figure out what’s causing your stall, and how you can fix it.

Obviously, that’s easier said than done, especially because plateaus aren’t always physical barriers. In fact, they’re often
mental ones: sticking points created by boredom, fear, or laziness. For that reason, breaking plateaus doesn’t always re-
quire change -- but often change can help to get over a physical or mental block. If you think you’re dealing with a mental
issue, then it’s time for some serious reflection. But if you’re physically struggling, this chapter has some strategies to
help get you unstuck.

“PLATEAUS CAN BE
BEATEN, AND THEN GAINS
SKYROCKET.”
If you’re following the percentages in the program as
they’re written (and being honest about your 1-rep max-
es!), it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll run into any plateaus un-
less you’re a very advanced athlete -- and if you are a very
advanced athlete, you should already know what you need
to do to improve.
But maybe you’ve just got lousy leverages for a lift, or
maybe you can’t seem to bring up that one lagging muscle
group (for me it’s always arms). If so, read on.
WEAK POINTS
big enough -- are probably the toughest plateau to over-
come. We’re all genetically predispositioned to have
strengths and weaknesses; if you want to be successful at
bodybuilding or powerlifting, you have to strive to find bal-
ance between them.
But you can be strategic about how you find that balance.
Some people take the “more is better” approach and just
train their weak points with more volume, frequency, and
intensity. Sometimes, that’s the right approach, and if you
think you just don’t train your weak points enough, skip to
the next section for some ideas on skillfully working more

Weak points -- whether they’re not strong enough or not volume into your training.

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 39

 Usually, we end up hammering the shit out of weak points,
and they just don’t seem to respond. In this case, there’s
no sense in stubbornness. Instead of persisting with a
high-volume approach that isn’t working, be a little more
creative. Oftentimes, finding that one special exercise that
really nails a weak point in just the right way can make an
enormous difference in your results.
Take me, for example: for a long time, I had frustratingly
small triceps and, as a result, an awful bench press. Then
I trained at the S4 Compound at Elitefts, and everything
changed. That weekend, Mario D’Amico and Bryan Do-
berdruk taught me to use the SSB Yoke Bar to perform JM
presses. I had trained with JM presses before, but they
felt uncomfortable, and I had a tendency to put too much
emphasis on the shoulders and not enough on the triceps.
The Yoke Bar made it easy to stay in the groove and get a
massive tricep pump while moving heavy weight. I started
out with 135; three months later, I was using 315 for reps,
my arms had grown half an inch, and my bench press had
shot up by 20 pounds after refusing to budge for years.
Obviously, I was pretty fucking psyched.
How do you find your Yoke Bar press -- that one perfect
movement to help turn your weaknesses into strengths?
Experience is the only sure answer; the longer you train,
the more knowledge you’ll gather from the people around
you, and the more you’ll know how your body responds to
stimulus. Sadly, there’s no easy answer.
But there are good places to start. Below are a few com-
mon weaknesses and unconventional exercises to help
obliterate them -- try things out, experiment, and above all
else, be persistent. (Note: these are some unconventional
40
exercises and reading a written description might not get
the point across. Soon you’ll be able to view demonstra-
tions of all these exercises and more on my YouTube page
by following this link.) If you’re following the Think Big pro-
gram, you can plug these exercises in to your supplemen-
tal slots.
WEAK ARMS: YOKE BAR JM PRESS
You’ll need an Elitefts Yoke Bar or some other safety squat
bar with removable handles for this one. Take the handles
off and position the bar in a rack at bench-press height,
but in the direction opposite to what you’d use for a squat
(so the pads are pointed towards you). Lie flat on a bench,
and unrack the bar. Lower the handles straight down to-
wards your chest, keeping your shoulder blades retracted
and wrists straight. When the handles reach your chest,
let the bar rotate along its natural path towards your face
until your arms are parallel to the floor. Complete the ex-
ercise by pressing away from your face until your arms are
fully extended.
WEAK ABS: VACUUM
Most descriptions of a vacuum are pretty simple. There’s
two steps: first, exhale forcefully, trying to expel all the
air from your lungs; and then suck in your gut, trying to
pull your navel towards your spine. These descriptions
are pretty lousy because they leave out some hugely im-
portant parts of a proper vacuum. First, while you’re per-
forming the vacuum, you need to contract your abs (or,
more precisely, your rectus abdominis). This makes your
abs stand out while you’re performing the vacuum, for a
more defined look, and it’s a great way to practice activat-
ing your rectus abdominis and your transverse abdominis
at the same time. That’s the secret to a perfect brace for
squatting or deadlifting. Second, we also need to be able
WEAK CHEST: BANDED KETTLEBELL FLYE
to breathe deeply while lifting, and if you just follow the
Grab an Elitefts mini band and hold it behind your back.
two steps above, that’s pretty difficult.
Then grab a pair of light kettlebells, and position yourself
on a flat or decline bench. Hold the kettlebells at arms’
So, instead of just breathing out and sucking in, we need to
length, and keep your core and shoulder blades tight.
add a few steps. First, flex your abs, as if you were prepar-
Slowly lower the bells out to the sides (just as in a normal
ing for a heavy squat or deadlift. Then exhale from your
dumbbell flye) and then drive explosively up, squeezing
diaphragm, keeping your chest high and abs flexed. Final-
your chest as you do. To intensity this exercise, try using
ly, use your abs to pull your navel towards your spine, and
it for very high reps (sets of 30-50) while on a stability ball
try to hold the position while taking shallow chest breaths
(the ball will allow for greater stretch at the bottom).
and keeping your abs flexed. Try to work up to holding this
position for ninety seconds and see how much your brac-
WEAK SHOULDERS: STANDING RACK PRESS
ing improves and your waist tightens up.
Set yourself up with a barbell in a four-post power rack

WEAK BACK: DUFFALO BAR PRONE ROW like the Elitefts 3x3 Rack. Set the pins around the level of
your collarbone, and set the bar across the pins, not in the
You don’t need a Duffalo Bar for this one, but the camber
J-hooks. You’re going to press the bar up, like in a stan-
makes the exercise quite a bit more effective. Next, find a
dard overhead press, and then lower it back down onto the
high bench, with enough clearance under the pad so that
pins, all while keeping it against the front posts of the rack
your arms can hang fully extended. If your gym doesn’t
(you’re using the rack to help stabilize the bar and keep
have a bench high enough, you can try putting a lower
constant tension on your shoulders). If you’re working in a
bench up on plates or blocks to create a little more space.
nice rack, don’t fuck it (or the bar) up. Instead, put towels
Place the bar under the bench; you should just barely be
or a pad around the posts to cushion them.
able to reach the bar when it’s resting on the floor. Grab
a pair of straps -- you’ll need them -- and take a grip wider
WEAK LEGS: SQUAT
than shoulder width.
Sorry -- there’s no way around it, you’ve got to squat. Ever

Now row the bar up towards your chest by driving your el- see a 700-pound squatter with tiny legs? No, you haven’t,

bows up towards the ceiling, keeping your shoulder blades because they don’t exist. You might not need to squat if

and core tight. When the bar reaches the bench, squeeze you have fantastic genetics, but no amount of extensions

your shoulder blades together as tight as you can and hold or leg presses will fix lagging wheels. Get under the bar

for a one-second count. Then slowly lower the bar back to and pay your dues.

the ground, letting it rest on the floor between reps.

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 41

 DUFFALO BAR PRONE
ROW: BUILD A BACK
TO FLY WITH
The camber in the Duffalo bar al-
lows for a little extra range of motion,
which will really torch your upper
back. Be sure to use support to pro-
tect your low back, too.

YOKE BAR JM PRESS:

TARGET THOSE TRIS
My go-to tricep exercise. The Yoke
bar helps you to stay in the groove
and put all the load onto your triceps,
not your shoulders, chest, or joints.
You can perform this for high or low
reps, but more is better for size.

SQUAT: THE SECRET

Z TO BIG LEGS

There’s no way around it: if you

want massive legs and lower-body
strength, you’ve got to shut up and
squat.

42
 LACK OF VOLUME: VOLUMIZING PROTOCOLS lifters like to really load up on the tension from accommo-
dating resistance on squats, bench presses, and deadlifts,
So far, we’ve focused mainly on diet and volume for the
but in my opinion, bands and chains are better used as
bodybuilding portions of the program. When you find that
tools to intensify supplemental exercises. Supplemental
your muscles aren’t growing, food is still the first place to
exercises are pretty easy to recover from, so even kicking
look. But let’s say your diet is on point, and you’re still not
them up a notch won’t mess with your recuperative ability.
making progress. Then we need to go back to the three
variables that primarily influence our strength -- volume,
It’s very easy to use bands for this purpose; almost any
intensity, and frequency -- and try to understand what isn’t
exercise that can be performed with dumbbells or pul-
working.
leys can also be performed with bands. You might need a
little creativity -- as in the banded kettlebell flyes described
Intensity in this program is dictated by percentages, so
above -- but standard exercises, like dumbbell curls or lat-
if you’re hitting your numbers each week, that’s not the
eral raises are straightforward. You can stand on bands or
problem. That leaves volume and frequency (which we’ll
attach them to a rack or machine as an anchor, and then
get to later). Sometimes, you just need to kick things up
rep away.
a notch to get your muscles growing again. That’s where
volumizers come in. These are training strategies that you
POSING
can employ during your supplemental sets to increase
I’m not a big fan of well-known bodybuilding techniques
muscle stimulus -- without spending hours and hours in
like forced reps, drop sets, or even supersets -- much as is
the gym.
the case with accommodating resistance, these techniques
are very demanding and therefore very difficult to recover
ACCOMODATING RESISTANCE (BANDS OR CHAINS)
from.
With most free-weight exercises, there’s an uneven
strength curve: you’re stronger through some parts of
Posing, on the other hand, is very difficult but very easy
the range of motion than through others. Using bands or
to recover from, and helps to improve muscle activation
chains can change that: those tools provide more (or less,
and, when performed between sets, to intensify a training
depending on how they’re used) resistance in the easier (or
session. Performing a set of lat pulldowns and then hold-
harder) spots. This accommodating resistance makes the
ing a lat spread, for example, might leave you gasping for
exercise as a whole much more challenging -- and some-
breath, but results in an insane pump and better overall
times, much more productive.
growth. Posing is a skill that takes time and practice to
perfect; if you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t just try
Now, I’m pretty conservative when it comes to the use of
to approximate poses. Get a good posing coach to show
bands and chains, because “more challenging” almost al-
you the basics first.
ways also means “harder to recover from.” Some power-

43
VOLUMIZING PROTOCOLS
If you just need a little more work to bust through those plateaus, you have a few options. Keep in mind that these strate-
gies can really sap your recovery, so use them carefully.

muscle groups use frequency

zz Accomodating resistance (bands and chains) all, but only on major movements moderate

zz Posing “supersets” all frequency

zz Challenge sets/AMRAPs smaller muscle groups preferred very low

ing sets for only one muscle group per week, and within
CHALLENGE SETS (AMRAPS) that muscle group, during only one set per exercise. For

Very, very rarely, I like incorporating challenge sets into example, let’s say your triceps and shoulders are lagging.

my training. These are often called AMRAP (“as many reps Your triceps workout might look like this:

as possible”) sets, but I dislike that term because, in my 1. Skullcrusher: 3 sets. On your last set, when you

opinion, performing high-rep sets to failure is a terrible cannot complete any more reps, switch to close-grip

idea. Again, it’s just too difficult to recover from. (Noticing presses (using the same bar/weight) to failure.

a theme here? Recovery is paramount. Too many people 2. Pulley pushdown: 2 sets

do too much and wonder why they’re stuck.) 3. Barbell kickback versus mini bands: 1 set to failure
The following week, you could continue to use volumizer

But, occasionally, a challenge set can be useful. A chal- sets for your triceps, or you could switch to shoulders -- but

lenge set should always be the last set of any given exer- never both in the same week.

cise, and you should never rep out -- leave one or (even
better) two reps left in the tank. The physical benefits from
challenge sets are limited, unless you’re typically training
well under your capacity. The mental benefits, however,
can be huge: performing, say, 10 reps with 405 is a huge
confidence boost if you’re planning to attempt 500 later in
your training cycle.
Be warned: even with the caveats explained above, these
are still pretty physically and mentally demanding tech-
niques. Use them sparingly! I recommend using volumiz-
LACK OF FREQUENCY: FEEDER WORKOUTS
Generally, you’re better off upping volume than upping fre-
quency, because you’ve got more leeway with the former.
Look at it this way: you might perform anywhere from 6-16
sets of supplemental work for some muscle groups -- and
that’s after all of your heavy training. Adding a little extra
to a couple of those sets is a much smaller change than go-
ing from training a muscle twice per week to three times.
That’s a 50% increase.

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 44

 So, to prevent overreaching, we’ll use feeder workouts:
quick sessions with very light weights and high reps to help
pump blood into the muscles and provide a little extra
training stimulus to bust plateaus. Here’s how they work:
• You perform feeder workouts every day at night
before you go to bed (long enough before bed so as to
not disrupt your sleep).
• You perform feeder workouts for 10 days in a row,
and do not use them again for at least 20 days.
• You choose isolation exercises for small bodyp-
arts. Feeder workouts work best for the arms, shoul-
ders, and calves. They are not appropriate for the legs,
chest, or back.
• Each feeder workout, you perform 3 sets of 2-3 ex-
ercises. Each set must be at least 50 reps and no more
than 100 reps. Obviously, this requires the use of an
extremely light weight or resistance band -- probably
no more than 10 pounds.
• Each time you perform a feeder workout, try to
complete more reps than in the previous one.
Again, these are very brutal and should be used sparingly.
I also recommend rotating among different body parts if
more than one group is lagging. For example, you might
perform feeder workouts for arms for 10 days, take 20 days
away from the feeders, and then hit calves for 10 days.

SAMPLE FEEDER WORKOUTS

Remember, only use feeder workouts for 10 days in a row, and only for one muscle group at a time. It’s very easy to over-
reaching using feeder workouts, so again -- be careful.

ARMS DELTS CALVES

Three sets of standing curls using Two sets the following circuit: front Three sets of standing calf raises su-
an Elitefts micro band superset with dumbbell raise, side raise, bent-over perset with three sets of donkey calf
three sets of overhead dumbbell ex- dumbbell raise. raises.
tensions.

45
 So we get outside and he starts talking.
LACK OF FOOD: MAN THE F*%! UP
“I can’t eat enough to gain weight.” “For breakfast you need to eat four of those breakfast sand-
wiches from McDonalds. I don’t care which ones you get, but

This isn’t a plateau, it’s an excuse -- a bullshit excuse. In make sure to get four. Order four hash browns, too. Now grab

fact, one of my biggest pet peeves is hearing someone two packs of mayonnaise and put them on the hash browns

whine about how no matter how much they eat, they don’t and then slip them into the sandwiches. Squish that shit down

gain weight. Look: if you aren’t gaining weight, you don’t and eat. That’s your breakfast.”

want it bad enough. End of story. Sorry, you don’t have

some mysterious genetic condition or alien-like metabo- At this point I’m thinking this guy is nuts. But he’s completely

lism that makes eating enough to gain impossible. I could serious.

go on and on about this point, but really, neither I nor any-

one else could say it better than world-class powerlifter JM “For lunch you’re gonna eat Chinese food. Now I don’t want

Blakely, who explained to Dave Tate his secret to gaining you eating that crappy stuff. You wanna get the stuff with MSG.

weight. Instead of ranting, I’m just going to share Dave’s None of that non-MSG bullshit. I don’t care what you eat but

story here: you have to sit down and eat for at least 45 minutes straight.
You can’t let go of the fork. Eat until your eyes swell up and

There was a time at the Old Westside gym where I couldn’t gain become slits and you start to look like the woman behind the

weight to save my fucking life. counter.”

There was this dude who trained there who could just put on “For dinner you’re gonna order an extra-large pizza with every-

weight like fucking magic. He’d go from 198 to 308 and then thing on it. Literally everything. If you don’t like sardines, don’t

to 275 and back down to 198. And he was never fat. It was put ‘em on, but anything else that you like you have to load it

amazing. on there. After you pay the delivery guy, I want you to take the
pie to your coffee table, open that fucker up, and grab a bottle

I finally asked him one day how he did it. of oil. It can be olive oil, canola oil, whatever. Anything but mo-
tor oil. And I want you to pour that shit over the pie until half

“You mean I never told you the secret to gaining weight? Come of the bottle is gone. Just soak the shit out of it.”

outside and I’ll fill you in.”

“Now before you lay into it, I want you to sit on your couch and

Now remember, we’re at Westside Barbell. And this guy wants just stare at that fucker. I want you to understand that that

to go outside to talk so no one else can hear. Think about that pizza right there is keeping you from your goals.”

for a minute. What the hell is he going to tell me? This must be
some serious shit if we have to go outside, I thought.

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 46

 This guy is in a zen-like state when he’s talking ab
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
out this.
Getting stuck isn’t fun, but as long as you frame a plateaus
as a roadblock not the end of the road, you will eventually
“Now you’re on the clock,” he continues. “After 20 minutes your
get back on track. In fact, plateaus can be great opportuni-
brain is going to tell you you’re full. Don’t listen to that shit. You
ties to learn more about your body and how it responds
have to try and eat as much of the pizza as you can before that
to training.
20-minute mark. Double up pieces if you have to. I’m telling
you now, you’re going to get three or four pieces in and you’re
If you’ve hit a plateau, don’t panic. Instead, first identify the
gonna want to quit. You fucking can’t quit. You have to sit on
cause: do you have a weak point? Are you not training with
that couch until every piece is done.
enough volume or frequency to stimulate growth? Are
you eating enough? Once you’ve identified the underlying
And if you can’t finish it, don’t you ever come back to me and
cause, you can apply the strategies in this chapter. Many
tell me you can’t gain weight. ‘Cause I’m gonna tell you that
times, once you bust through a plateau, you start making
you don’t give a fuck about getting bigger and you don’t care
progress again even faster than you were before.
how much you lift!”

Did I do it? Hell yeah. Started the next day and did it for two
months. Went from 260 pounds to 297 pounds. And I didn’t
get much fatter. One of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my
life, though.

One last point. When many people say they can’t gain
weight, what they really mean is that they struggle to gain
weight without gaining fat, too. That’s another story. If
that’s your real problem, Dave’s approach isn’t right for
you. Instead, you need to do two things. First, mentally
accept the fact that you’re going to have to gain some fat to
gain some muscle; it’s reality for nearly everyone. Second,
go back to Chapter 2 and implement some of the more ad-
vanced strategies there regarding carb timing. Otherwise,
get back in the kitchen.

47
 THANK YOU
FOR YOUR SUPPORT
AND REMEMBER:
THINK STRONG
THINK BIG
I hope that this book has helped you cated, either -- despite what some In-
to feel a little more confident in your- ternet gurus might make it out to be.
self and your plan to excel in whatever With a little planning and a lot of hard
strength sport you choose to pursue, work and consistency, you can accom-
whether that’s powerlifting, body- plish all of your physical culture goals,
building, or both. Building size and and more.
strength isn’t easy, but it’s not compli-
I’m pretty proud of this program; it represents a lot of what
I have learned over the past several years of competing
as a professional powerlifter, and while I have a lot left to
learn and to accomplish, I’ve already achieved more than
I ever even knew I wanted. I truly believe you can do the
same, so please, trust the program and the process, stay
dedicated, and -- as always -- don’t be afraid to reach out if
you need help along the way.

I am so, so grateful to everyone who’s helped me to reach

this point in my training career, where I even have the
knowledge to share. The truth is, I can’t say thank you any
better than I did in Think Strong, so I’ll just say it again:

Staci Ardison has contributed to this project, and to my life,

in ways that I can’t fully describe. I’m so grateful to her for
her trust in and support of me. She has challenged me to
reexamine the way I think about everything — training in-
cluded — and I would not have learned to Think Strong or
be strong without her.

Dominic Morais and Jacob Cloud are by far the two most
influential people in my training, and two of the most influ-
ential people in my life. I can’t overstate all they’ve done for
me with their patience and friendship, and I can’t describe
how supporting it is to know that I can rely on them for ad-
vice — good advice — about anything. And their perspec-
tive on training and technique alone has added more to my
total than anything else; they deserve as much credit for
my lifting success as I do.

Tammy Hudson has done so much to keep my going, and

I have never met another sport massage therapist with as

contact: ben@phdeadlift.com l elitefts.com/author/ben-pollack 49

 much knowledge of the body and how to fix it. Her support and friendship have been just as important to me, and I’m
grateful to have met her.

All of my family at Big Tex Gym and Hyde Park Gym in Austin have pushed me to continually improve, and I am extremely
grateful for that. Everyone talks about how important it is to have a “hardcore” gym environment for motivation, but fewer
recognize how much of a difference it makes when you train with family. Intense training partners can push you to work
harder when you’re not feeling it, but a family can keep you going through the good times and the hard ones.

I’m also grateful to my parents for everything they’ve given to me. I know that it took them a while to come around to
powerlifting, and I appreciate that they were open-minded enough to support me just because lifting is important to me,
even when they maybe didn’t understand why.

I am so excited to be joining the Iron Rebel and Granite Supplements team. Ed Koo and John Meadows embody a lot of
what I hope to become: guys who balance their families, businesses, and training, and yet are still able to excel in all three
areas to an extent greater than most people even dream of. I know I will learn a lot from them, and I can’t wait.

And finally, I’m so proud to be a member of Team EliteFTS. I’m thankful to Dave Tate for giving me this opportunity, to
Sheena Leedham and Andy Hingsbergen for their help in navigating the team processes, and to the entire team for all
of their support and friendship. To live, learn, and pass on really encompasses everything that I want to get out of this
sport, and really out of my entire life, and so it’s incredibly fulfilling to be a part of something bigger than myself, where
everyone can share that vision.

THE END.

50