RUNE GOON

ANCIENT ENEMY
Strength and Conditioning for Rockheads.
 Copyright © 2020 by Rune Goon

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 Contents

Foreword iv
1 The Basics 1
2 Building Work Capacity 5
3 Program Breakdown 8
4 The Program 18
Question & Answer 22
Sets, Reps, and Percentages 26
Program Cheat Sheet 27
 Foreword

First, I want to say that this entire program has been a work
in progress for about 5 years. It’s a culmination of all the
cookie cutter programs, self made programming, and general
jackassery that I’ve been doing for half a decade.

I want to thank the Iron Circle: Blacksmith Dan, Dave, Green

Stag, Jo/k/er, Primarch, Bucko, Pillar, Oak&Iron, Burial Goods,
Bear, Jared, Warcry, Angry White Guy, Barbarian Overlord,
Permafrost Alpine Rockhead, Pigeman, Sovereign, Lord Hu-
mongous, Lion, Mosha, Kiz, Catseye, Angron, Russ, Zetero,
Warhound, WarShaman, BongGoon, Eggman, Black Void, As-
cetic, Clover, Bittersteel, Vineyard Cannibal, Chresh, and Mlem;
thanks for all your support fellas, I love you guys.

Here’s one more list of names: big shout out to Jim Wendler,
Paul Carter, Dan John, Pavel Tsatsouline, Paul Waggener, John
Meadows, and Josh Bryant for being largely responsible for my
training ideologies and for preaching the good word of simple,
hard training.

Simple does not mean easy. It is the opposite of complex. I

prefer simple hard training that requires less exercises and more
quality on the ones you perform.

iv
Also let it be known: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. So do all this at
your own risk or whatever these disclaimers are supposed to say.
Don’t be an idiot and don’t blame me for your boneheadedness.

v
 1

The Basics

Let’s get some basic stuff out of the way first, starting with
some essential movements and general lingo. Be aware that
this program is not for a specific sport. Its not a powerlifting
program, or olympic lifting program, or bodybuilding program.
Its a Jack of All trades type program. Its for the guy wanting to
get bigger, stronger, and faster; its a grind.

• Squat: maximal knee bend, minimal hip. These movements

train every muscle of the lower body (glutes, quads, ham-
strings). Goblet squats, Front Squats, Back Squats, if it has
a squat in the name it’s probably a squat. These are on a
spectrum (like myself and you, the reader possibly) where
max knee bend is on one end and max hip bend is on the
other. Back squats fall somewhere in the middle, closer to
the knee side; while the Front Squat or Goblet Squat are far
closer to the knee side.
• Hinge: maximal hip bend, minimal knee. These movements
train your posterior chain (upper/lower back, glutes, ham-
strings). Deadlifts, KB swings, Good Mornings, and the

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

Olympic moves are prime examples but like the squat they
all lie along a spectrum. Pure hinges like Romanian deadlifts
(stiff legged) have barely any knee bend.
• Pull: bringing weight TO you; stuff like rows, pullups, and
curls. Pulling is important to train in order to keep your
shoulders healthy and maintain balance between push/pull.
These movements will hit all your back (lats, traps, rhom-
boids) and biceps mostly. I believe you can train pulls almost
every single day without major issues; your upper back and
grip can take a hell of a beating.
• Push: moving weight AWAY from you; moves like Bench,
OHP, Pushups, Triceps exercises, Dips, etc. These moves
will hit your front and side deltoids (shoulders), pectorals
(chest), and triceps.
• Conditioning: you need to do this. It doesn’t have to be
some 60 minute vomit inducing crossfit workout. The
purpose of conditioning here is to build work capacity (the
ability to do more stuff and recover from said stuff). Walking
30-45 minutes a day is a good start for you big boys who
only lift. You’ll be surprised what 2 hours of walking a week
will do to your body and recovery over the span of 8 weeks.

Next let’s go over the basic 2 week wave for the big 4. You MUST
use a training max for these percentages, simply take 90% of
your one rep max. Always err on the lighter side, and if you do
any extracurricular activities like BJJ or a field sport make your
training max even lower, maybe 80-85%. Remember: ALWAYS
ROUND DOWN.

***

2
 THE BASICS

This will be in the back of the book under “Sets, Reps, and
Percentages” for quick glances.

Week 1: Volume week (25 total reps)

Set 1: 5 reps at 65%
Set 2: 5 reps at 75%
Set 3: 5 reps at 85%
Set 4: 5 reps at 70%
Set 5: 5 reps at 70%

Week 2: Intensity week (15 total reps)

Set 1: 5 reps at 80%
Set 2: 4 reps at 85%
Set 3: 3 reps at 90%
Set 4: 2 reps at 95%
Set 5: 1 reps at 100%

Week 3: Add 5lbs (2.5kg) and repeat Week 1

Keep this cycle until Week 9 then Deload

Week 9: Deload (25 total reps)

Perform 5×5 at 50% of Week 8 weight

For some of the main lifts there are recommended variations

(like using a log bar for Strict Press or Front Squat instead of
Back Squat), if you wanna switch it up run at least a 4 week cycle
or more before switching to another. If this is the case use your
deload to “feel out” what your training max should be with the
new variation.

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

All MAIN lift variations must be BILATERAL exercises! Mean-

ing that they must use a bar that is loaded on both sides and
requires both hands to be on the same. Dumbbells will not work
for this program’s main exercises. Log bars, trap bars, buffalo
bars, axles, swiss bars, SSBs… all these are fine. This sounds
dumb but I know I’ll be asked this.

DO NOT skip your 70% back off sets. They are essential to build
up volume in that lift and get you used to handling the movement
for reps. In the Q&A I’ll offer a respite for your spine if your back
is dying from all the deadlifting/snatching/cleaning reps.

Reps and weight for the assistance movements should be varied.

Perform at least 2 sets on your exercises that ask for a 20-50
reps, personally I like sets between 5-10 on these if you are
feeling good. The 50-100 rep sets can be done as one nonstop
set if you want some added intensity, but I prefer to split it into
sets of 10 to 20 reps with very little rest. The program is 3 on
and 1 day off but you can always take an extra day off here and
there if you’re feeling beat the hell up. Listen to your body but
also don’t be a weenie.

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 2

Building Work Capacity

This is the cool fun way I get dudes into conditioning. Some dude
older and a lot stronger than me said that strength should not be
divorced from health or something like that, and I totally agree.
What good is being big and strong if you get tired tieing your
shoes? If you do some type of field sport like rugby, american
football, or rest-of-the-world football then just keep doing your
sport.

Likewise with martial arts; if you are rolling 4 days a week you
probably don’t need extra conditioning work. Just go on a walk
or two a week just to get your blood pumping and call it good.
But if you’re just a lifter type then listen up.

Like I said before, you don’t have to slaughter yourself when

you condition. I truly believe in loaded carrying as the ultimate
work capacity builder. Setting a timer for 7 to 15 minutes and
just walking around with something heavy sounds stupid but
it’ll get you strong in a weird way that can only be described as
“farm strong”. But remember this isn’t your strength work, it’s

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

the conditioning portion of S&C. If you prefer a more standard

cardio type conditioning then boy howdy do I have a simple plan
for you.

Satan’s Stroll (aka Running)

Here’s a little running program I wrote down ages ago. If you
can walk for 30 minutes straight and not be tired then you can
start with Phase 1. Be real with yourself, if you haven’t ran in
your whole life or running is a distant memory from your glory
days in the military or on the field: please just do more walking
first. If you are relatively fit and want to run here is the plan

Phase 1
Perform each 3 times per week before moving into the next
phase. This will build a nice base of road work culmination in
one hour of running per week.

• Week 1: 1 min on / 4 mins off×4

• Week 2: 2 mins on / 3 mins off×4
• Week 3: 3 mins on / 2 mins off×4
• Week 4: 4 mins on / 1 min off×4
• Week 5: 6 mins on / 4 mins off×2
• Week 6: 7 mins on / 3 mins off×2
• Week 7: 8 mins on / 2 mins off×2
• Week 8: 9 mins on / 1 min off×2
• Week 9: 20 minute nonstop run

Phase 2
In this phase we will keep 2 of the 20 minute runs and add in
an additional style of running.

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 BUILDING WORK CAPACITY

• Extensive: 30-45 minutes

The extensive run can simply be a longer run or a ruck hike with
additional weight.

• Intensive: 500 yards/meters

The intensive run will be sprint work. Break the 500 up into
different distances such as 10 sets of 50, or 5 sets of 100,
whatever you prefer. These are ALL OUT SPRINTS.

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 3

Program Breakdown

I’ll break this down day by day and then at the end show it all
together. The first thing you want to do is a general warm up.
This is just getting your body warm and breaking an easy sweat.
Walk on an incline, do a little jog, jump rope, whatever it takes.

After that you need to move into your specific warm ups. For
your powerlifting days these will be light working sets.
For example: your first working set is 100kg or 225lbs, you will
start with the bar for 10 to 30 reps, then add a plate (45lbs or
20kg per side) do 5 reps, add a half (25lbs or 10kg per side) do 5
reps, then maybe hit your first working weight for a single rep.

Obviously you will have more warm up sets the higher your
working weight is, so don’t take your time, this is to get warm
and pattern the movement.

For your Olympic days, I would get a lot of reps in with just the
bar, so for a snatch day I would do a little complex of high pulls,
hang snatches, and overhead squats for about 10 reps apiece, then

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 PROGRAM BREAKDOWN

add weight for triples or doubles like the powerlifting days.

Day 1: Squat Day

A) Back Squat: High bar or low bar really don’t care how you do
it. Put a bar on your body and squat, there is no substitute for
this move. If you do martial arts that are very strenuous on your
lower back and are seriously devoted to that sport, it would be
alright to sub back squats for front squats. Front squats put less
pressure on your lower back, but your weak link then becomes
your upper back. For martial artists this isn’t so bad since you
types seem to always be over flexed (shoulders forward), and
it’ll provide some much needed upper back stability. This will
be a percentage based exercise. This is quite obviously a squat.

B) Stiff Leg Dead: This is an assistance hinge movement. The

variations can be any movement where you hold the bar in your
hands and push your hips back; so RDLs and SLDLs are the best.
Snatch grip, sumo stance, or even using dumbbells are all viable
variations. These will hit your whole posterior chain with an
emphasis on your lower body.

C) Braced Row: Really any rowing variation that takes the stress
off of your lower back. One arm rows, seal rows, Meadow’s rows,
barbells, dumbbells, machines, anything you got will work as
long as you’re pulling and keeping the load light on your lower
back. This is a horizontal pull that mostly hits your lats and
rhomboids.

D) Ab Circuit: this will be 4 exercises that hit every part of your

core.

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

1. Ab Brace: I use the ab wheel here but anything that’s

isometrics and bracing your midsection like planks
2. Leg Raise: Hanging leg raises are the gold standard here
but reverse crunches or even lying leg raises can be used.
3. Side Twist: Oblique movements like Russian twists, pallof
presses, or even side bends.
4. TVA Vacuum: this is a very under utilized exercise that de-
velops the transverse abdominis. From really any position
try to pull your belly button to your spine with empty lungs.

Day 2: Press Day

A) Strict Press: Overhead pressing without leg drive. Again

there’s really no substitute for this exercise, although you could
run this with a different bar (axle or log comes to mind). This will
be a percentage based exercise. This is a vertical push movement
that works your front/side delts, upper chest, and triceps.

B) Alt Bench: I like benching twice a week so I’ll do a lighter

variation at some point. Focus on bench variations, partial
presses, or dumbbell work; floor press, close grip bench, board
press, incline, dumbbell bench press can all work here. Find
something that doesn’t blow your pec tendon or rotator cuff and
get some moderately heavy reps in. This is a horizontal push
exercise that should be used to address possible weaknesses
with your pressing. Weak off your chest? Dumbbell bench or
pause bench. Weak at the midpoint? Incline or floor press. Weak
at the lockout? Close grip or board press.

C) Biceps Curl: Gunz bay-bee. Do a curl, I don’t care what kind,

I’m sure you know more than I could possibly list. I like barbell

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 PROGRAM BREAKDOWN

curls and hammer curls. This is isolation work for your biceps.

D) Cuff Circuit: These 4 moves are to undo all the pressing

movements we did on this day.
So with your forehead resting on a bench or lying facedown
on a slight incline:

1. Y Raise: Make like the Village People and make a Y with

your arms.
2. T Raise: Just a regular rear delt raise out to the sides.
3. W Raise: Imagine you’re doing a face pull. Pointing your
thumbs towards your back.
4. L Raise: good ol’ external rotation. With high wide elbows,
arms bent at 90 degrees; rotate your arms till the weight is
by your ears.

Day 3: Clean Day

A1) Power Clean: I don’t really care what variation of the clean
you do here: high pulls, hang cleans, full cleans, power cleans,
whatever you prefer.
All I want to see is good triple extension and development of
power.

You’ll notice there is a number 1 by the A here, that means you’ll

superset this with the next exercise.

There is no percentage here, you want to find that goldilocks

weight (just right) to perform all 6-10 sets. This is a combination
of both hinge and pull and possibly a squat if you are catching
the bar low.

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

Now, if doing barbell clean variations aren’t your thing, dumb-

bell or kettlebell cleans are totally fine but you need to increase
the rep range to around 10 reps per set, alternating between the
left and right arm (so 1 set of 10 reps on the left side, do your
push, 1 set of 10 reps on the right side, do your push, and that’s
2 sets). So if you do this one armed variation you will be doing a
minimum of 3 sets per arm.

A2) Bodyweight Push: Any calisthenic pushing move you want

to get better at.

I personally prefer dips or push ups but handstands or planche

practice would work here if that’s what you’re into. I’m no
gymnast but if you like that stuff, by all means get some sub
max sets in here.
Things start to get a little hairy when I talk about this part. The
reps per set is totally up to you but they need to be sub maximal,
somewhere around 50-60% of your rep max. So if you can do
20 or so dips before you die, shoot for sets of 8-10 reps. This is
very self explanatory, it’s a push.

B) Neck Work: Just a simple neck curl and neck extension would
work best here. Use a neck harness if you’d like or just manual
resistance with your own hands. It’s just a little neck work, don’t
overthink it.

C) Ab Circuit: You’d best get comfortable with this giant set

because it happens more.

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 PROGRAM BREAKDOWN

Day 4: Rest Day

Don’t skimp on this day. Take an active rest.

Go for a long walk, play a sport, stretch, roll out, do something

to get your blood flowing. If you’re feeling real spry maybe get in
2-3 sets of grip or cuff work, that’s completely optional though.
This is a good day for building work capacity. People are made
to move, remember that.

Day 5: Deadli Day

A) Deadlift: This is really the only main lift that could be varied
at any noticeable level. Sumo or Conventional are two more
standard moves I would reccomend. You can do Rack Pull, Deficit
Deads, or even Axle Bar Deads if you have access. The trap bar
could work as well, as long as you keep your hips at the same level
each week (lower hips = more legs, higher hips = more back).
Like the front vs back squat situation, I would say sumo might
be more beneficial for the majority of martial artists simply
because it’s less stress on your lower back than the conventional
deadlift, that’s just my personal opinion do what you like.

This will be a percentage based exercise. This is a hinge.

B) Wtd. Chinup: Look I do not care how you drag yourself over
the bar but you will bring your chin over a bar 30-50 times on
this day.
If you can add weight, do it.

If you have a hard time with pull ups then do 30 negatives or

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

whatever it takes. If none of these things appeal to you (they

should) then Lat Pulldowns are the last ditch effort to get in your
vertical pulling. Any grip you prefer is fine. Verticle pulling like
this emphasises the lats and biceps.

C) Bent Row: Much like the Braced Row on Squat day, this is
another horizontal pulling movement. But unlike Squat day’s
row, this row is done free form. Barbell rows, T bar rows, Yates
Row, even Seated Cable Row, anything that is a row that you
have to use your lower back to stabilize. Movements like these
tend to hit the lats, rhomboids, and traps.

D) Ab Circuit: That’s right, more fucking abs.

Day 6: Bench Day

A) Bench Press: This is your big percentage based horizontal

pressing movement. I don’t really care about your grip here but
make it wider than Press Day’s Alt Bench, if you used a close
grip. Be sure to bring your shoulders down and back (put them
in your pockets) when you bench, I see so many people ruin
their rotator cuffs by pressing with unpacked shoulders. Some
viable alternatives would be any big full range of motion barbell
press. Incline, close grip, regular flat bench, and even reverse
grip bench if you feel up to it (and have a spotter so you don’t
smash your skull).

B) Wtd. Dip: This is a vertical (?) push, maybe? No one really

knows but what we do know is that dips are cool and really smash
your chest and triceps. If they are something that hurts your
shoulders, try to find a way to do loaded push ups or if all else

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 PROGRAM BREAKDOWN

fails a seated overhead press would be fine as well. I’m not a

huge fan of Bench Dips (the kind you do between two benches)
but if you like them, this is where they go. Just make sure you
are getting something here that works the front delts or chest
and the triceps

C) Tri Extend: This is just a simple triceps isolation movement.

Pushdowns, French Press, Skullcrushers, or PJR Pullovers are
all good moves for this exercise. Tailor this movement to where
you are weak in your pressing. French presses and PJR pullovers
will help your overhead pressing, while skulls and JM presses
help your benching; pushdowns offer a good middle ground and
I use them mostly for elbow health.

D) Grip Circuit: You know my love for grip training. We have 2

separate grip workouts that focus on opposing groups and how
they work in the great sport of arm wrestling. So we have a Hook
and a Roll.

Hook:

• A1) Supination: turning your hand from palm down to palm

up. Imagine trying to bring your pinkie finger to the sky.
• A2) Pinching: holding weight between your fingers and
thumb like a cheeseburger grip. They make cool blocks for
this but you can just pinch 2 weight plates.
• B1) Sinking: a small motion where you bring your pinkie
finger towards your forearm. I use bands in a pushdown
position, and just flex at the wrist.
• B2) Flexion: Wrist curling is a prime example. Bringing
your palm closer to your forearm.

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

Roll:

• A1) Pronation: turning your hand from palm up to palm

down. Imagine trying to bring your thumb to the sky.
• A2) Crushing: Apple crushing type grip. Forearm grippers
are a good way to train this, as are any type of thick grip
work.
• B1) Rising: the opposite of sinking, bringing your thumb
closer to your forearm. A hammer curl only at the wrist
works well.
• B2) Extension: the reverse wrist curl. Bringing your knuck-
les closer to your forearm.

Day 7: Snatch Day

A1) Snatch: Much like the clean you’ll need to find a goldilocks
weight for all 6-10 sets. Some possible variations can be
hang snatches, muscle snatches, snatch grip high pulls, snatch
heaves, or even just overhead squats. Again much like the clean,
you can do this with dumbbells or kettlebells but bump the reps
up to 10 reps and get 3-5 sets of 10 reps per arm alternating with
your pull for a superset. This is an everything move: a hinge, a
squat, a pull, and a stabilizer for the push. REMEMBER: Clean
and Snatch days are meant to be lighter with one or two heavier
sets focusing on force production OR moderately heavy squat
days (Clean = Front Squat, Snatch = Overhead Squat).

A2) BW Pull: You really only have 2 options here, some kind
of pull up or an inverted row (ring row). You could also do
some kind of gymnastics practice like levers but that’s pretty
advanced stuff. Again just do half of your max reps here, it’s 10

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 PROGRAM BREAKDOWN

sets maximum so you’ll be feeling it on set 4 or 5 I guarantee.

B) Neck Work: we have been over this, pay attention.

C) Ab Circuit: Yes really. Your core can never be too strong.

Day 8: Rest Day

This bears repeating: DON’T SKIMP ON THIS DAY. Take an

active rest. Go for a long walk, play a sport, stretch, roll out,
do something to get your blood flowing. If you’re feeling real
spry maybe get in 2-3 sets of grip or cuff work, that’s completely
optional though. This is a good day for building work capacity.
People are made to move, remember that.

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 4

The Program

Rep ranges for circuits are listed below this section.

Day 1: Squat Day

• Back Squat: 5 sets at percentage

• Stiff Leg Dead: 20-50 reps
• Braced Row: 50-100 reps
• Ab Circuit: 2-3 sets

Day 2: Press Day

• Strict Press: 5 sets at percentage

• Alt Bench: 20-50 reps
• Biceps Curl: 50-100 reps
• Cuff Circuit: 3-5 sets

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 THE PROGRAM

Day 3: Clean Day

• Clean: 6-10×3 BB OR 6-10×10 KB/DB

- Superset with -

• BW Push: 6-10×50% of Max Reps

• Neck Work: 2-3 sets
• Ab Circuit: 2-3 sets

Day 4: Rest Day

• Condition/Stretch/Grip/Cuff/etc.

Day 5: Deadli Day

• Deadlift: 5 sets at percentage

• Wtd. Chin: 20-50 reps
• Bent Row: 50-100 reps
• Ab Circuit: 2-3 sets

Day 6: Bench Day

• Bench Press: 5 sets at percentage

• Wtd. Dip: 20-50 reps
• Tri Extend: 50-100 reps
• Grip Circuit: 3-5 sets

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

Day 7: Snatch Day

• Snatch: 6-10×3 BB OR 6-10×10 KB/DB

- Superset with -

• BW Pull: 6-10 × 50% of Max Reps

• Neck Work: 2-3 sets
• Ab Circuit: 2-3 sets

Day 8: Rest Day

• Condition/Stretch/Grip/Cuff/etc.

***

Ab Circuit

• Active Brace: 10-20 reps per set

• Leg Raise: 10-20 reps per set
• Side Twist: 20-40 reps per set
• TVA Vacuum: Max Hold per set

Grip Circuit (Hook)

• A1) Supination: 10-20 reps per set

• A2) Pinch: 10-30 seconds per set
• B1) Sinking: 10-20 reps per set

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 THE PROGRAM

• B2) Flexion: 10-20 reps per set

Grip Circuit (Roll)

• A1) Pronation: 10-20 reps per set

• A2) Crush: 10-30 seconds per set
• B1) Rising: 10-20 reps per set
• B2) Extension: 10-20 reps per set

Cuff Circuit

• Y Raise: 10-20 reps per set

• T Raise: 10-20 reps per set
• W Raise: 10-20 reps per set
• L Raise: 10-20 reps per set

Neck Work

• Front & Rear: 20-50 reps per set

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 Ques on & Answer

Q: “Can I do this in shorter cycles?”

A: Sure, as long as it’s in groups of twos and your getting your
Volume and Intensity phases. I would prefer if you ran your
choice of lifts for at least 4 weeks total plus one deload.

Q: “I want to Squat more.”

A: If you’re not into the Clean and Snatch days switch them
out for Front Squats and Overhead Squats (respectively). Alter-
natively, if you like the Clean and Snatch day then just drop into
a Squat on the catch of the lift. Pretty easy fix.

Q: “Where is all the arm work?”

A: Have you ever felt the religious ecstasy of 100 nonstop
barbell curls? Do that and tell me you don’t have gunslinger
arms the next day. With all the bigger lifts you’re getting a load
of arm work, the curls and extends are just a little icing on the
cake.

Q: “Why so much back work?”

A: Having a big ass back is as cool as it is intimidating. Your
back is your workhorse.

Q: “Why no specific sets?”

A: Because I like the variable nature of choosing how

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 QUESTION & ANSWER

light/heavy you wanna go. Say for your Alt Bench you go heavy
one day with 6 sets of 5 reps. Next week your kinda hurting
so you do 3 sets of 10 to get a little pump going and the blood
flowing. It’s for self regulation.

Q: “What if I add in —-”

A: Wait. Stop it. If you add an arm day or a row day or anything
that wasn’t covered here or speaking to me personally, then you
aren’t doing Ancient Enemy.

Q: “Where do I put in Mace or Club work?”

A: Short Answer, off days. Long answer: if you know your
limitations you can do some during your warm up to get your
shoulders loose and, if you’re up to it, more after the workout
is done. I actually think mace work is huge for thoracic spine
mobility so if you want to get better positions for the Olympic
lifts or even the strict press, get some swinging in.

Q: “No calf work?”

A: Nope. Never do calves really. If that’s something you really
wanna do then tack a set or two DC method style onto the end of
your Clean and Snatch days.

Q: “How do bench press?”

A: Sweet summer child, I couldn’t possibly write How To’s
better than a YouTube video could teach you. Go to some big
name channels and look up their exercise indexes (Westside,
EliteFTS, CalStrength, ect.)

Q: “I don’t like Lift X.”

A: Tough shit. Unless you are physically incapable of the

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

movement, do it. If you are mentally incapable of the movement,

learn it. I offered a load of other variations that you could do.

Q:“My body is ruined because I fight on the regular, can I rest

more?”
A: Yes. Absolutely. If you need an unscheduled rest day TAKE
IT. I know the feeling of rolling real hard or playing on the pitch
then having to squat the next day. It’s a shitty feeling and your
workout will probably reflect that. So take a rest (active recovery)
day, but never rest more than 3 days in a row.

Q: “I hurt my back/elbow/knee/penis”
A: Again, I’m not a doctor but what helps me when I get a little
tweak is The Starr Recovery Protocol. Please know the difference
in hurt and injured. Use the ABCs of Injury:
A
Bone is sticking out
Call an ambulance

Q: “What diet should I follow?”

A: Look, diet is all about what is sustainable for you personally.
If you wanna lose weight eat less, if you wanna gain weight eat
more. I try to eat two big meals a day and a smaller snack, that
works for me. If you track your macros just hit an easy 33/33/33
(protein/carbs/fat), that seems to be a decent split. Really just
cut out the CRAP (carbonated drinks, refined sugar, artificial
foods, processed foods), I think that’s the best path.

Q: “What can I do if my back is dying from all the pulling?”

A: Reduce your pulling volume. I am personally keeping my
deadlift volume pretty low and getting my reps in from my clean

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 QUESTION & ANSWER

and snatch days. The deadlift to me is more of a display of

strength rather than a builder of strength. Singles and triples
should serve you well here. My low volume deadlifts look like
this:
Week 1: Volume Deadlift week (15 total reps)
Set 1: 3 reps at 65%
Set 2: 3 reps at 75%
Set 3: 3 reps at 85%
Set 4: 3 reps at 70%
Set 5: 3 reps at 70%

Week 2: Intensity week (9 total reps)

Set 1: 1 reps at 80%
Set 2: 1 reps at 85%
Set 3: 1 reps at 90%
Set 4: 1 reps at 95%
Set 5: 1 reps at 100%

Q: “What if I fail a set?”

A: You will eventully fail. When you do, finish whatever sets
you can (even if its just singles) then reset your TM by 10-20lbs
(5-10kg) on your next Volume week.

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 Sets, Reps, and Percentages

Week 1: Volume week (25 total reps)

Set 1: 5 reps at 65%
Set 2: 5 reps at 75%
Set 3: 5 reps at 85%
Set 4: 5 reps at 70%
Set 5: 5 reps at 70%

Week 2: Intensity week (15 total reps)

Set 1: 5 reps at 80%
Set 2: 4 reps at 85%
Set 3: 3 reps at 90%
Set 4: 2 reps at 95%
Set 5: 1 reps at 100%

Week 3: Add 5lbs (2.5kg) and repeat Week 1

Keep this cycle until Week 9 then Deload

Week 9: Deload (25 total reps)

Perform 5×5 at 50% of Week 8 weight

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 Program Cheat Sheet

Day 1: Squat Day

Back Squat: 5 sets at percentage

Stiff Leg Dead: 20-50 reps
Braced Row: 50-100 reps
Ab Circuit: 2-3 sets

• Active Brace: 10-20 reps per set

• Leg Raise: 10-20 reps per set
• Side Twist: 20-40 reps per set
• TVA Vacuum: Max Hold per set

Day 2: Press Day

Strict Press: 5 sets at percentage

Alt Bench: 20-50 reps
Biceps Curl: 50-100 reps
Cuff Circuit: 3-5 sets

• Y Raise: 10-20 reps per set

• T Raise: 10-20 reps per set
• W Raise: 10-20 reps per set
• L Raise: 10-20 reps per set

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

Day 3: Clean Day

Clean: 6-10×3 BB OR 6-10×10 KB/DB

- Superset with -

BW Push: 6-10×50% of Max Reps

Neck Work: 2-3 sets

• Front & Rear: 20-50 reps per set

Ab Circuit: 2-3 sets

• Active Brace: 10-20 reps per set

• Leg Raise: 10-20 reps per set
• Side Twist: 20-40 reps per set
• TVA Vacuum: Max Hold per set

Day 4: Rest Day

• Condition/Stretch/Grip/Cuff/etc.

Day 5: Deadli Day

Deadlift: 5 sets at percentage

Wtd. Chin: 20-50 reps
Bent Row: 50-100 reps
Ab Circuit: 2-3 sets

• Active Brace: 10-20 reps per set

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 PROGRAM CHEAT SHEET

• Leg Raise: 10-20 reps per set

• Side Twist: 20-40 reps per set
• TVA Vacuum: Max Hold per set

Day 6: Bench Day

Bench Press: 5 sets at percentage

Wtd. Dip: 20-50 reps
Tri Extend: 50-100 reps
Grip Circuit: 3-5 sets

Pick one:
(Hook)

• A1) Supination: 10-20 reps per set

• A2) Pinch: 10-30 seconds per set
• B1) Sinking: 10-20 reps per set
• B2) Flexion: 10-20 reps per set

OR
(Roll)

• A1) Pronation: 10-20 reps per set

• A2) Crush: 10-30 seconds per set
• B1) Rising: 10-20 reps per set
• B2) Extension: 10-20 reps per set

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 ANCIENT ENEMY

Day 7: Snatch Day

Snatch: 6-10×3 BB OR 6-10×10 KB/DB

- Superset with -

BW Pull: 6-10 × 50% of Max Reps

Neck Work: 2-3 sets

• Front & Rear: 20-50 reps per set

Ab Circuit: 2-3 sets

• Active Brace: 10-20 reps per set

• Leg Raise: 10-20 reps per set
• Side Twist: 20-40 reps per set
• TVA Vacuum: Max Hold per set

Day 8: Rest Day

• Condition/Stretch/Grip/Cuff/etc.

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