It was a number of years ago when I first started to take pro-active measures towards my health and fitness. The years haven't necessarily been fruitful as I've went back and forth between routines trying to find my way but the efforts and knowledge gained has stayed with me.
When I was younger I was somewhat obsessed with putting on mass since I am not exactly the biggest in terms of height and weight. This led to some form of body dysmorphia when I was in my best shape to date. I believe the insecurities I had at the time moulded the perception I had of myself and always caused me to be looking for more.
At the current time I am less interested in adding mass to my frame for the purposes of looking good. My motivation these days is more centred around gaining strength and mobility so I can be in peak shape for my occupation.
I still need to bulk up my figure for the benefit of increased strength but I am following a specific routine which I discovered some years ago. The routine is to be followed until I am at my desired weight and it's somewhat uncommon in the world of fitness. It's called Occams Protocol.
I'd learned about Occams Protocol from a book called 4-hour Body by Tim Ferriss. The book shares a number of techniques and discoveries by Tim which he has learned from various athletes and influences, methods that are uncommon and yield interesting results in their respective time frames.
The basis of Occams Protocol is to increase resting time between workouts to allow our recovery systems to grow alongside the increased muscle gained.
You will exercise less frequently as you increase strength and size, as you can often increase muscle mass well over 100% before reaching a genetic ceiling, but your recovery abilities might only improve 20-30% through enzymatic and immune system upregulation (increased plasma glutamine production etc.) ~ Tim Ferriss from The 4 Hour-Body
The workouts themselves aren't what you would expect as they are consisting of only two or three compound exercises per workout for a total of two workouts (A and B). My A workout consists of a shoulder press, bench press and a bent-over row, and my B workout consists of squats and deadlifts.
Instead of your typical weightlifting repetitions, the movements for exercises follow a 5/5 cadence rule (five seconds up and five seconds down) for a single set with the aim being to lift for seven or more repetitions until you cannot physically go anymore. The exception being that lower body exercises in workout B are for ten repetitions or more.
Doing this stimulates local and systemic growth mechanisms in the body and creates a larger growth hormone response when a longer time under tension is carried out by the lower body.
The workouts begin with two days in between and then increase by a day after two of each workout are completed or if you reach your strength plateau, in which case another day should be added.
Of course there is one more factor that plays the most important part in the process. Eating. I have a somewhat structured diet while I am undergoing the routine but believe I am still lacking the necessary amount of food needed to see greater results.
I'm not too concerned about this though as I can add in another meal without any issues if I am not seeing the changes I want to see over time.
Consistency is the most important thing along with a few other factors which are shared in the book.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the next step will be after I reach my desired weight from Occams Protocol. I will be planning to start a routine for something that will focus more on big strength gains alongside improved flexibility and mobility.
I will most likely be re-reading Tim's chapter called: Effortless Superhuman.
