Cliff Wilson/Core Nutritionals Improvement Time!

[pureintensity]

Some awesome knowledge being dropped in here. Thanks, it is appreciated!

Glad to help!

Remember when you said you were gonna stay on top of this?!

JK man, hope you're killing it, I'm sure you are!

Haha! I'm back at it man! Sorry for falling off. Contest season is winding down so I should have a lot more time now.

[pureintensity]

Cliff I ended up testing out your peak week approach last week, and let me just say THANKS for the insight and knowledge on it! Worked out fantastic for not being in completely shredded condition, and went well timing wise. I took a modest approach to play things safe and hope I can duplicate it again at my show this weekend. Pics are in my journal if you want to see my macros/how it went!

Just checked out the pics man, looks like you nailed it! Great work! Just out of curiosity, how much did you end up loading on?

[TheLiftLife]

Congrats on your clients success's!
and thanks for the answer on my previous question.

[GruntAndGroan]

"This training style is very flexible and can be adjusted quite a bit to suit your needs."

Hi Cliff,
Haha. I've been doing your plan now and I'm starting on the 10-15 block and following your article to the "T".
I just printed out and hit the deck running. Not sure I want to "invent my own version". It's killing me, but my assumptions were/are that it will get me more size. They told me at the last contest I needed "more size"! Yeah, well, I'm sure to get some doing your workout. I'm usually done in 2 hours, a little more.

I guess I should take a week off. Haven't done that in about 1.5 years. heh
I'm also making sure that I fail on last rep of every set. On Power Days I didn't read your hieroglyphics correctly and ended up doing about 4-6 1 rep maxes at the end of each Power exercise.

Talk about getting to eat more carbs et al! Thank you very much.

Am I gaining? A resounding affirmative. My baseline increase that I have some to expect on all other plans is about 2 reps or 5-10 lbs a week. Heck, on yours, I'm doing that every 3 days! Don't get me wrong, no superman here. Gandhi goes anabolic!

I was the skinniest guy with the most body fat (10%) at the 2 NANBF contests I entered in October / November. "More size"! I was told. Well, here's to giving it a fighting try. Just can't let go of doing it as your wrote it, no mods. . . at least until someone tells me which of my 3 big ones need fine tuning: chest, legs, back.

[GruntAndGroan]

Ok, on second thought after reading this thread I have started splitting my Power Day into 2. One for the trifecta and the other for the body items that need work. Ala Vanguard1965. The rest of the time I will do as written, day after day. sigh

[pureintensity]

I'm back!!! I have been off the forums for a few months now but I am getting back into logging here. I have still been training hard and actually been making some really great improvements, especially in the strength department.

Just this week decided I would start filming some of my training sessions. Here are some of the highlights from Monday's workout. I was pretty happy with this but it could still be better.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuwwnABuHAA

I had a max test about 2 weeks ago and the numbers were almost all PR's for me. Here are the two vids from my FB page as I have not put them on Youtube. If I am not already friends with some of you just feel free to shoot me a friend request or follow me there.

http://www.********.com/photo.php?v=...type=2&theater

http://www.********.com/photo.php?v=...type=2&theater


Current macros are as follows:

P- 275
C- 455
F- 85

I am doing zero cardio and feeling overall really good. I will be posting more on here as I go and keeping updated with vids every week or two. Just looking forward to continuing the progress I have been making these past several months.

[ebomb55]

Good to have ya back posting Cliff! Looking strong in the vids.

[pureintensity]

Good to have ya back posting Cliff! Looking strong in the vids.

Thanks man! Glad to be back!

[pureintensity]

Well, I just got back from a power day on my program. I had to lower the numbers a bit this week on my deadlift and squats as I had been stuck the last two weeks. It will take me about 5 weeks to build them back up and attempt to set some new records. Here is my session from tonight.

Deadlifts:
5x370
5x370
3x415
3x415
1x465
4x463

Hammer Strength Lying Bench Press:
5x180
5x180
3x310
3x210
1x235
4x235

Squats:
5x295
3x335
1x385

I reduced volume on the squats since legs are my best body part. I also finished up with a few accessory moves.

DB Bench Press- 6x 80 3 sets

DB Lateral- 6x30 4 sets

[jaredmus]

welcome back to the boards, much stronger then before may I add

[pureintensity]

welcome back to the boards, much stronger then before may I add

It's definitely nice not being in a kcal deficit anymore. lol. Strength starts to come back easy.

[The Solution]

Good to see you back Cliff

[pureintensity]

I'm headed out to train right now and will post updates later, but before I left I wanted to share a new article I just had publish yesterday about the varying forms of creatine and what the current research says about each of them. I compared creatine mono, hydrochloride, nitrate, malate, Kre Alkalyn, and ethyl ester. Hopefully some of you find it useful.

http://www.fitoverfat.com/creatine/

[pureintensity]

Good to see you back Cliff

Great to be back Bob! Hope all is well with you man!

[GruntAndGroan]

Can you give examples of how many complete Block Periodization cycles (begin to end) your Pro winners have gone through? Sorry, kinda real general question but I believe it leaves some openings for you to expound on. Just wondering.

I am on 2nd time through 8-10 and seeing major progess even though I took 1.5 months off for medical and skiing reasons between cycles. If you said 1 year or 2 years I wouldn't doubt it.

[pureintensity]

Can you give examples of how many complete Block Periodization cycles (begin to end) your Pro winners have gone through? Sorry, kinda real general question but I believe it leaves some openings for you to expound on. Just wondering.

I am on 2nd time through 8-10 and seeing major progess even though I took 1.5 months off for medical and skiing reasons between cycles. If you said 1 year or 2 years I wouldn't doubt it.

Glad to hear you are making great progress on it! It varies pretty greatly as I utilize quite a few different training methodologies for my clients. PBP is definitely my go to though as I can easily adjust it to suit my clients needs. I can up with this plan about 2 years ago and I have some clients that have been running it almost the entire 2 years with great progress and making sure they periodize the intensity appropriately and subbing in exercises as needed. However, with other clients that I have they tend to get bored running the same plan for very long so I will switch them out to keep things fresh for them from a mental aspect. This is very important.

To answer your question, there is really no limit to how many times you can run a full cycles back to back as long as you are still seeing progress and find it interesting. If you start to get bored or you are just stalling out then I would suggest switching for a while.

[jpfaherty]

Good read on the creatine bud!

[GruntAndGroan]

Thanks for replying to my question.

I have yet to not advance weekly on any plan I've stayed with. Bored never is a problem because I always bring a book along and I do good with any plan once I settle in and kinda know how long it's going to take in the day.
If all the variables are in place, I usually add a couple reps or 5-10 lbs every week. I love trying to beat that animal that I was the week before. There again, still scrawny dude compared to most on this forum. Only worried about my own progress.

I was doing too much whole workout days for each arm side (bicep & tricep).
My coach/friend/IT team member told me I was doing a Vanilla workout after my 1st 2 contests and he directed me towards your PBP workout. That is when I realized I was skirting around the main compounds, deadlifts and squats for the last 3 years. "Arms don't win contests" he told me. Judges told me I "need more size". Well, bring it on. I need to do some photos and get an expert eye on what I exactly need to work on to get "balanced". I have a NANBF expert going to review my visuals in a couple weeks. (remember now, I'm competing in the 60+ category. All I gotta do is wait for the guy next to me to pass out trying to do low squats and one rep deadlifts haha)

Not to ramble on and crowd out more deserving forum members (I notice you attract some heavy hitters). Whenever I stalled on someone else's plan, I just added a set. That seemed to work and get my POP going the next week.

You really drove the idea home for me that if I'm lacking in some part, to do more sets. Who would have thunk? That you can actually make one side or one part grow with more volume or sets or whatever you call it! Did I say thank you? Thank you!

I am no stranger to the concept of Periodization and how fast and slow twitch muscles are both used in hypertrophy. But your PBP plan is much more palatable than other plans. They usually have you doing one rep range for months at a time. It seems like 9 workouts in each range is much more psycologically attractive and digestable.

[pureintensity]

So I had a pretty solid training session last night. Here is what I did.

Deadlifts:

5x435 3 sets

Incline DB Row:

7x55's
7x60's
6x65's

Hammer Mach. Row:

7x180 3 sets

Lat Pulldown

7x140
7x160
7x180

Underhand lat pulldown:

6x180 2 sets

One arm cable row (2 second pause at top):

5x100 3 sets

DB Skullcrushers:

7x40
7x45
5x50

DB Kickback:

7x30
7x35
5x45

Also, it occurred to me that I never listed the current supplements that I'm taking. Here is the list.

Core Alpha
Core Hard
Core Fury
Multivitamin
Whey protein
Core MRP
Core ABC
Core Flex
Creatine Monohydrate
Core Pro
Fish Oil

Until next time!

[pureintensity]

Good read on the creatine bud!

Thanks bud!

Thanks for replying to my question.

I have yet to not advance weekly on any plan I've stayed with. Bored never is a problem because I always bring a book along and I do good with any plan once I settle in and kinda know how long it's going to take in the day.
If all the variables are in place, I usually add a couple reps or 5-10 lbs every week. I love trying to beat that animal that I was the week before. There again, still scrawny dude compared to most on this forum. Only worried about my own progress.

I was doing too much whole workout days for each arm side (bicep & tricep).
My coach/friend/IT team member told me I was doing a Vanilla workout after my 1st 2 contests and he directed me towards your PBP workout. That is when I realized I was skirting around the main compounds, deadlifts and squats for the last 3 years. "Arms don't win contests" he told me. Judges told me I "need more size". Well, bring it on. I need to do some photos and get an expert eye on what I exactly need to work on to get "balanced". I have a NANBF expert going to review my visuals in a couple weeks. (remember now, I'm competing in the 60+ category. All I gotta do is wait for the guy next to me to pass out trying to do low squats and one rep deadlifts haha)

Not to ramble on and crowd out more deserving forum members (I notice you attract some heavy hitters). Whenever I stalled on someone else's plan, I just added a set. That seemed to work and get my POP going the next week.

You really drove the idea home for me that if I'm lacking in some part, to do more sets. Who would have thunk? That you can actually make one side or one part grow with more volume or sets or whatever you call it! Did I say thank you? Thank you!

I am no stranger to the concept of Periodization and how fast and slow twitch muscles are both used in hypertrophy. But your PBP plan is much more palatable than other plans. They usually have you doing one rep range for months at a time. It seems like 9 workouts in each range is much more psycologically attractive and digestable.

I am extremely glad to hear you are making progress and are finding the plan helpful man. Plus much respect for still killing it in your 60's. That is awesome! When is the next show?

Also, never feel like you can't ask a question. I am more than happy to help.

[GruntAndGroan]

Thanks Cliff. You are one of the few gurus that makes sense.

I plan to continue with PBP through 3 cycles, decide in June if it did anything,
and if so, then aim for the NANBF/IFPA Q in Elk River Minnesota.
That is on October 18, 2014. In the far off corners of the gym I hear tales of a "Mr Natural Olympia" with a 60+ category and a 70+ category. This is in November I hear. Long term goal is November 2015 should I gain "size".

However, I've never really prepped correctly. I also believe I went into the second contest with about half as many carbs on the back end as I could have. Super flat both times. . .. . .maybe. Maybe just scrawny!
And thanks for all your knowledge.

[GruntAndGroan]

Hi Cliff,
I noticed "teardrop" muscle mentioned somewhere up above. I understand which one this is, one of the quads on the inside and right above the knee, no?
My understanding is seated kicks machine and lunges work this muscle. Am I correct? Do you use anything else?

[pureintensity]

Hi Cliff,
I noticed "teardrop" muscle mentioned somewhere up above. I understand which one this is, one of the quads on the inside and right above the knee, no?
My understanding is seated kicks machine and lunges work this muscle. Am I correct? Do you use anything else?

The "teardrop" muscle is called the vastus medialis and you are correct about its location. For the most part you are not going to be able to isolate one portion of the quads more so than the other. You should be able to get a little extra stimulation through moves like lunges, split squats, leg extensions with the toes pointed out (to complete extension), and step downs. However, if this area is truly underdeveloped you would likely notice knee pain and wobbly knees in the bottom portion of your squat. If this is not the case then my advice is that continuing to squat deep will help quite a bit to not only bring up your vastus medialis but also the rest of your quadriceps.

[pureintensity]

I had my power day tonight and things went pretty well. I was able to lift with a young bodybuilder at my gym names Brandon Wadas. This kid has a great future ahead of him. He is rehabbing a hamstring injury at the moment so he had to pull up on deads just a bit but he was absolutely smoking the bench press. Anyway, here was my lift below. I did shoot some video that I will have up tomorrow once I put it together. I got some of Brandon's lifts as well.

Deadlifts:

5x375
5x375
3x430
3x430
1x485
4x485 (PR for 4 reps)

Lying Hammer Chest Press Machine:

5x185
5x185
3x210
3x210
1x240
5x240

Squats:

5x295
5x295
3x340
3x340
1x385
4x385 (4 rep PR)

Decline Bench Press

6x215
6x216
6x215

Machine Row

6x100
6x100
6x120

I was hoping to work in a bit of biceps work tonight but I have been nursing a sore elbow which is almost better so I decided to pull back a bit. Better safe than sorry. I should be back to more complete, heavy biceps training in just a few days.

[The Solution]

Pring on DL's and Squats = Great work man.

[pureintensity]

Hey all! I started up a FB athlete coaches page that I would appreciate if you could give it a like. Here is the link

*****://www.********.com/pages/Cliff-Wilson/259983810704727

This one will be a little different from my personal one because I will be sharing more of my client's progress pics and updating my clients results, etc. Also, I will still post a lot of the random thoughts that I have from time to time. I may actually start posting some here as well. Here is one thought I posted the other day just to give an example.


If you go to any gym there are going to be big, muscular guys and girls. Go to any bodybuilding show and it will be the same. Not far from these muscular individuals you will always find "those" people. Who are "those" people? They are the ones that accuse everyone of being on steroids or using something to cheat to get where they are. I see it all the time with my more gifted clients and even I have even been accused of using on occasion (which to me is completely absurd). Too often when people see someone whose physique they deem to be too good, they will summarily discredit them by saying they are on drugs.

I have always found these individual both funny and sad at the same time. It is funny how they consider themselves to be the authority on what the human body is capable of achieving naturally and what it is not. It is sad because often these accusations will come out of their own insecurity upon seeing someone that has reached a significantly greater level of development than their own.

Here is something to think about before you ever accuse anyone of being on drugs. The genetic variation between individuals is VAST! Each of us has genetic traits that fall within a wide ranging spectrum that is the possibility of human capability and potential. Do you think you are qualified to say where this spectrum begins and ends?

Below is a picture to prove my point. On the top left is me just before my show in 2010, looking pretty small. Very few people would look at me back then and think I was using drugs. Below me is a picture of IFPA Natural World Champion Doug Miller. There are many that look at Doug and think that he is "too big" to be natural and that the look I had back in 2010 is what a "true natural" looks like. I'll admit, there is an extreme gap between our physiques and the differences are startling. Many people would think that this gap in development is simply too great to ever exist naturally.

Now look at the picture on the right. These are NBA players Shaquille O'neal and Earl Boykins. Shaq is 7'1 and Earl is 5'5. That is an extremely large difference in their height. I would venture to say every bit as large as the difference between those individuals with the least potential for muscular growth and those with the largest. These aren't even the tallest and shortest people in the NBA, let alone the world. The only reason tall people are not accused of cheating to get their height is because no method of increasing height exists, but if it did you had better believe that every 7 foot tall person would get accused.

Trust me when I say that there are people that look far worse than Doug Miller and use drugs, there are even people that look worse that myself back in 2010 and use drugs (though not too many, lol). The human body is capable of some AMAZING things naturally so accusing every person that is bigger than yourself of being on something is pretty narrow minded and ignorant actually. Not every person with an incredible physique is on drugs. If you want my advice, stop griping and worrying about who is using and who is not and focus on yourself. Do you think Earl Boykins would have ever made it to the NBA at 5'5 had he done nothing but complain about tall guys all the time? Probably not.

My point with this post is that there is one spectrum of human possibility to keep in mind. On this spectrum haters fall at one end and achievers fall at the other. This one you are not at the mercy of genetics, you can choose to either be an achiever or a hater. The choice is yours.


photo (40).jpg

[pureintensity]

Pring on DL's and Squats = Great work man.

Thanks Bob, the 4th rep on the squats was pretty brutal as you will see when I post the vid, but it came up. lol

[jaredmus]

great post man, and your athlete the 25 year old one thats grainy as hell and diced 3 weeks out SICK job to both of you

[GruntAndGroan]

Does PBP work?

I'm gonna stick with it, as outlined by Cliff, with only some slight scheduling changes.


Saturday is snap-crackle-pop day

Sunday I do Extras (right now until I know better: Decline Chest, Lat Pullover Machine, Sumo squats, Abs, all the legs I do on leg day minus squats)

Monday off sleep late

Tuesday Chest/Triceps

Wednesday Back/Biceps/Traps

Thursday Legs/Shoulders

Friday off sleep late

I think I switched leg day of Cliff's protocol with back day. Hoping I didn't miss something in the logic of legs before back.

PBP is working it looks like.

[pureintensity]

Got some training footage from my power day earlier this week where I trained with 22 year old bodybuilder Brandon Wadas. This guys is a beast and his pause benches with 295 lbs. were impressive. He is nursing a hamstring injury so his deads were little subdued though. I also managed a new squat PR of 4x385 at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djCyQ...9NPLSyaK4ZuikQ