Pick One Thing and Good Luck
Follow the Program
Program Progression
Diet and Nutrition
Conclusion
By Adam Mundorf
"Great news, You have so many choices. Bad news, you have too many choices." -- Pavel Tsatsouline
Pick One Thing and Good Luck
I was emailing with a high level strength legend and he advised me on my future in strength. He knew about my program hopping dilemma and in his simple wisdom and gave me a simple prescription. A miracle cure to my program hopping : "Pick one thing and good luck." This really resonated with my body, soul and mind. The best results I ever had were when I only had limited options.
One Program + Unwavering Adherence = Results
Follow the Program
Do I or you know better than the author? Most likely we do not. We are not subject matter experts or have the breadth of experience these authors of these books/programs have. Follow the programs as written and you cannot go wrong! Don't begin a program that is not compatible with your lifestyle. You know your daily stressors, schedule and energy demands. A metal worker should not follow the same program as an accountant. Be wise before embarking on the journey.
Program Progression (Beginning on 02/21/2025)
This is the path forward that makes the most sense to me. These programs are by two main authors : Pavel Tsatsouline and Geoff Neupert. These gentlemen are the authors who resonate the most with me and I've gleaned the most knowledge from their work. You will notice two separate categories for the type of program : park bench and bus bench. Park bench programming is a type of program where there are goals but there is more flexibility of scheduling and you stay a while. Bus bench programming is where there is a destination, concrete goals and the scheduling is strict. Behold my path to Muscle and Strength :
- Fighter Pull-Up Program (Park Bench) (Rejuvenation)
- Goal
- 1/2 Bodyweight Chin Up
- Reasoning
- This will give you great upper body strength and muscle.
- This is a rejuvenation style of eating because pull-ups thrive on strength to weight ratio.
- Rite of Passage (Bus Bench) (Hypertrophy)
- Goal
- 1/2 Bodyweight Press
- 200 Snatches in 10 Minutes with 24kg
- Reasoning
- This will build upon your kettlebell foundation and build more strength through the press, chin up, swing and snatch.
- This is a hypertrophy eating style because you will be doing high volume presses and pulls with a stringent schedule.
- Return of the Kettlebell (Bus Bench) (Hypertrophy)
- Goal
- Bodyweight Press with Double Kettlebells
- Long Cycle Clean and Jerk with 32kg
- Goal Dependent on Bodyweight.
- If you're 200 pounds you'll have to put up 20 reps.
- Reasoning
- This will give you a solid hypertrophy and strength plan to build upon your Rite of Passage foundation.
- This is a hypertrophy eating style because this program is meant to pack on mass and is extremely taxing.
- Kettlebell Axe and One Arm Push-ups (Park Bench) (Rejuvenation)
- Goal
- 40 Sets of 6 h2h swings with 48kg
- Turkish Get Up
- Simple and Sinister Style
- Reasoning
- This will build your power with your new found strength and hypertrophy. Kettlebell Axe will give you power and endurance while the one arm push-ups will give you some different pushing power.
- This is a rejuvenation eating style because the kettlebell axe protocol is an endurance protocol meant to increase health and vitality. Hypertrophy isn't a concern with this program.
- Quick and the Dead with Kettlebell Muscle Rotated in 12 Week Blocks (Park Bench and Bus Bench) (Rejuvenation and Hypertrophy)
- Goal
- Keep on Rotating until 32kg is Reached in Kettlebell Muscle.
- Reasoning
- Kettlebell Muscle is a legacy program of hypertrophy. This will allow you to build solid amounts of muscle and q&d will provide you with conditioning/power.
- This is a hypertrophy eating style because kettlebell muscle is a super intense protocol that is specifically meant to pack on muscle. This program is no joke.
- This is also a rejuvenation eating style because quick and the dead is meant for health and vitality. It is meant for power and not hypertrophy specifically.
- Time for Barbell Training (Park Bench and Bus Bench) (Rejuvenation and Hypertrophy)
- Probably something StrongFirst related like Reload or Power to the People. Kettlebells possibly will be included as an accessory.
- Time for Specialization
- One Movement Programs
- Gymnastics
- Ballet
- Etc
- Make Your Own Training System
- If you've completed all the above programs, I'd wager you can make your own training philosophy. You'll have the wisdom and empirical evidence to create your own philosophy.
Diet and Nutrition
I've struggled with diet and nutrition a lot over the years. Having grown up overweight, I have an innate addiction to junk foods but I've pretty much conquered that through abstinence. I can't just eat one! Anywho here is my approach to diet and nutrition, mainly inspired by Ori Hofmekler. Ori Hofmekler created the Warrior Diet and was largely responsible for the popularization of intermittent fasting in the early 2000s. I've corresponded with him often and consider him a mentor of mine.
You'll notice in the above programs there are two separate classification of programs : rejuvenation and hypertrophy. In my opinion these require different eating styles.
Rejuvenation
- Daytime
- Water
- Zero Calorie Caffeine
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Nighttime
- Cup of Whole Milk Yogurt with Honey
- This serves as either a post workout meal or an appetizer to your evening meal. A sweet treat of sorts.
- Salad
- Steamed Vegetables
- Entree
- Three times a week
- Twice a Week
- Peanut Butter Sandwiches with Honey if I want.
- Twice a Week
- Applegate Chicken Nuggets and Rice
Hypertrophy
- Daytime
- Water
- Zero Calorie Caffeine
- Fruit with a Cup of Greek Yogurt every few hours
- Nighttime
- Cup of Whole Milk Yogurt with Honey
- This serves as either a post workout meal or an appetizer to your evening meal. A sweet treat of sorts.
- Salad
- Steamed Vegetables
- Entree
- Three times a week
- Twice a Week
- Peanut Butter Sandwiches with Honey if I want.
- Twice a Week
- Applegate Chicken Nuggets and Rice
So, as you can see the approach is pretty dang simple. You keep it light during the day and heavy at night. This keeps you light on your feet during the day and when the work day is done, you get to go to bed with a full stomach. You digest while you sleep rather than diverting energy to digestion while you're awake. I think this makes perfect sense but of course different strokes for different folks.
Then with the rejuvenation eating style, you consume no protein during the undereating phase. During the hypertrophy eating style, you consume light protein with fruit to get some extra protein and calories in before beginning the evening meal.
You can tell there are no supplements included in this eating style. This is by design because supplements are so dubious and complicate a simple life.
Conclusion
Enjoy being a beginner again. No matter how experienced you are, it never hurts to take a step back and become reacquainted with the fundamentals. Enjoy the process of starting from step one and embrace every roadblock along the way. Mastery takes time. The path will ebb and flow, for success is not a straight line up but a series of peaks/valleys. I will end this blog with a quote from Mark Reifkind :
"If you want to be strong, you must be tough." -- Mark Reifkind
