Big Beyond Belief - Routine Explanation

I'm loosely following the "Big Beyond Belief" bodybuilding routine over the next 6 weeks.  I might go 12 if things go great.

BBB originally came out in the early 90s.  It was pretty groundbreaking for the day because it modeled bodybuilding after Bulgarian high frequency training.  Lots of guys had great results and got big and strong.  There are three versions: 4x a week; 6x a week; and 12x a week (2 a day).  6x a week is the most popular so that is what I'm doing.

BBB is essentially a 6 week mesocycle divided into 3 week microcycles (technically the entire BBB program is an 18 week macrocycle, but some of the routine gets pretty fucking bizarre past 6 weeks).  The first 3 weeks, called "ramps," place an emphasis on endurance and building huge amounts of volume and thus huge amounts of fatigue.  The second 3 weeks are a little more strength and power oriented, but it is still bodybuilding.  The second 3 weeks are where the growth is supposed to occur.  For the two people  that actually read my blog, you might notice that this sounds a lot like Mike T's RTS system.  This program is just on the far end of the hypertrophy spectrum, while RTS is all about strength/powerlifting.

The first ramp phase is like this:

Week 1: 120 seconds rest, 3 sets per bodypart
Day 1 - Endurance 13-15 reps
Day 2 - Endurance 13-15 reps
Day 3 - Strength 10-12 reps
Day 4 - Strength 10-12 reps
Day 5 - Power 8-10 reps
Day 6 - Power 8-10 reps

Week 2: 90 seconds rest, 4 sets per bodypart
Reps stay the same

Week 3: 60 seconds rest, 5 sets per bodypart
Reps stay the same.

Decreasing rest periods while increasing total sets week to week is what really makes this killer.  This is the sort of routine I would write up on napkin while sitting on an airplane with nothing else to do. But follow something brutal like this to the T, and who knows, you just might become Big Beyond Belief.

Weeks 4-6 are similar to weeks 1-3 in that intra week reps cascade down from high to low, but overall the reps are lower, rest periods stay at 180 seconds, and only 3 sets per bodypart are performed all three weeks.   Essentially, the dual-factor theory of periodization is at play here.  Leo Costas (BBB writer) managed to come up with a pretty sound routine. On the other hand, he also outlined pretty shitty exercise selection.  There is a huge and very informative thread on BBB over at t-nation.  Some experienced guys talk about how Costas stole all of these ideas and then printed them, not really having a fucking clue what was going on.  This makes sense after reading the book. Nevertheless, it is generally a sound program with some very nice components that you don't see in other modern bodybuilding routines.

Weeks 4-6 you both recover from the massive fatigue generated in week 1-3 fatigue, and  simultaneously gain strength.  The single factor theory would say you have to completely recover from fatigue and allow super-compensation to take hold for an increase in performance.  But single factor is overly simplistic and probably wrong. Even in a beginner, fatigue is always accumulating if you are working out 3x a week with any sort of intensity.

For the most part I ignored the prescribed bodypart split.  This split emphasizes the lifts I care about and is slightly strength biased.

Monday:  Deadlift, Leg Press, Decline Abs, Calves
Tuesday: Bench, Bent Row, Seated Military, Curls/Rear Delts
Wednesday:  KB Swings, Sled Pushes, Waiter Walks, Calves
Thursday:  Pushups, Chins, Dips, TRX Rows
Friday: Deadlift, Leg Press, Decline Abs, Calves
Saturday: Bench, Bent Row, Seated Military, Cable Row, Curls

So Monday lines up with Friday, and Tuesday lines up with Saturday.  Because Leo Costas is mentally challenged, he never explained whether  you are supposed to vary your exercises everyday or use the same ones.  It makes sense to take advantage of the descending reps throughout the week and train some of the same movements.   I'm using Wednesday/Thursday as low intensity recovery days, but I'll still get a lot of reps with the bodyweight type exercises I've chosen.  I briefly considered throwing in single leg work somewhere, but I seriously cannot imagine doing 5 sets of 15 bulgarian split squats.  No thanks.

More to come, but for now its time for bed.