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Fortitude Training by Scott Walter Stevenson, PhD © 2014 by Scott Walter Stevenson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifcally granted by the publisher or author. All trademarks are the exclusive property of Integrative Bodybuilding, LLC. Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within. Books may be purchased by contacting the author / publisher at:

www.integrativebodybuilding.com Cover Design: Scott W. Stevenson Interior Design: Scott W. Stevenson Publisher: Scott W. Stevenson Model: Scott W. Stevenson ISBN: 978-0-9904718-0-6 Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2014910050 1) Bodybuilding 2) Nutrition 3) Exercise 4) Muscle Growth First Edition (Electronic Version)

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DEDICATION

To Dr. Gary A. “Doc” Dudley, PhD For inspiring me to make the complex simple and do what I love, “even if it’s diggin’ ditches.”

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Fortitude Training – Earn it! Chapter 2 – A view from the Ivory Tower: The Science of Fortitude Training Chapter 3 – Fortitude Training Program Outline Chapter 4 – Fortitude Training: Feeding the Machine Chapter 5 – Frequently Asked Questions Chapter 6: Resources – Videos and Articles Appendices Training Logs References Hyperindex of Terms

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PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you for purchasing my book!

You now possess all that’s needed to

understand and execute one of the most effective, scientifcally-based, and extraordinarily fexible bodybuilding training systems known to me. Fortitude Training (FT) is derived from over three decades of my experience and education as a bodybuilder, exercise scientist, personal trainer, online coach and author.

FT blends time-tested, effective

bodybuilding training and dietary strategies with my own science-guided personal experiences. It is my gift to you and bodybuilding, an endeavor I love. Over the past two years, behind-the-scenes testing with my clients (and myself) has refned FT’s effectiveness for off-season muscle growth and dieting for bodybuilding and physique competition. However you choose to use it, the Fortitude Training System can be adapted to your recovery ability, physique goals, equipment availability, and lifestyle factors like your weekly training and travel schedule. By coupling brutal, but intelligent training, with sound, recovery-focused nutrition and supplementation, Fortitude Training is an easy win for anyone willing to execute it fully.

This book

contains whys and the practical hows of doing so. A special thanks goes out to former and current clients and friends who trusted me and had the (intestinal) fortitude to give this program a go, even in its developmental stages. Fortitude Training will be centralized online at my website and discussion board: www.IntegrativeBodybuilding.com Please feel free to visit the Fortitude Training forums for follow-up questions, to communicate with fellow Fortitude trainees and/or to hire me personally to guide you with Fortitude Training. Yours in Health and Strength, Scott Walter Stevenson, PhD ©Scott W. Stevenson

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DISCLAIMER (1)

Introduction

(2)

Credit

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No advice

(4)

No representations or warranties

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Limitations and exclusions of liability

(6)

Exceptions

(7)

Severability

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Law and jurisdiction

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Our details

This disclaimer governs the use of this ebook. [By using this ebook, you accept this disclaimer in full. / We will ask you to agree to this disclaimer before you can access the ebook.] This disclaimer was created using an SEQ Legal template. The ebook contains information about bodybuilding and physical exercise. The information is not advice, and should not be treated as such. You must not rely on the information in the ebook as an alternative to medical advice from an appropriately qualifed professional. If you have any specifc questions about any matter you should consult an appropriately qualifed medical professional. If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition you should seek immediate medical attention. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information in the ebook. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law and subject to section 6 below, we exclude all representations, warranties, undertakings and guarantees relating to the ebook. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing paragraph, we do not represent, warrant, undertake or guarantee: • that the information in the ebook is correct, accurate, complete or non-misleading; • that the use of the guidance in the ebook will lead to any particular outcome or result; The limitations and exclusions of liability set out in this section and elsewhere in this disclaimer: are subject to section 6 below; and govern all liabilities arising under the disclaimer or in relation to the ebook, including liabilities arising in contract, in tort (including negligence) and for breach of statutory duty. We will not be liable to you in respect of any losses arising out of any event or events beyond our reasonable control. We will not be liable to you in respect of any business losses, including without limitation loss of or damage to profts, income, revenue, use, production, anticipated savings, business, contracts, commercial opportunities or goodwill. We will not be liable to you in respect of any loss or corruption of any data, database or software. We will not be liable to you in respect of any special, indirect or consequential loss or damage. Nothing in this disclaimer shall: limit or exclude our liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence; limit or exclude our liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; limit any of our liabilities in any way that is not permitted under applicable law; or exclude any of our liabilities that may not be excluded under applicable law. If a section of this disclaimer is determined by any court or other competent authority to be unlawful and/or unenforceable, the other sections of this disclaimer continue in effect. If any unlawful and/or unenforceable section would be lawful or enforceable if part of it were deleted, that part will be deemed to be deleted, and the rest of the section will continue in effect. This disclaimer will be governed by and construed in accordance with law in the United States of America, and any disputes relating to this disclaimer will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the United States of America. In this disclaimer, "we" means (and "us" and "our" refer to) Scott Walter Stevenson (1212 East Caracas Street; Tampa, Florida 33603; USA or any future addresses, temporary or permanent).

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CHAPTER 1: FORTITUDE TRAINING – EARN IT! “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” -Napoleon Hill(1) Is Fortitude Training (FT) For You? The name is not an accident: Fortitude Training is not easy, but few things worth having are. Fortitude Training (FT) is for the advanced, “hungry” bodybuilder. It’s for the motivated trainee who not only wants to realize his/her ultimate muscular potential, but also has, by nature or years of nurturing, the fortitude to regularly test and surpass previous limits in the gym. However, the FT trainee also should be intimately attuned to when those limits are being approached, both physically and mentally, both in the moment of an intense set, during a workout, over the course of weeks and months of training.

A key feature of FT is applying your own common sense, experience and

intuition so you can customize and optimize FT for you.

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What is Fortitude Training? Fortitude Training is a training system, including a dietary and nutritional supplementation approach, a template so to speak, strategically coupled to the rigorous resistance training program. Each aspect can be tailored to focus on gaining muscle mass or losing fat, in the context of biochemical inter-individuality (“we’re all a bit different”). The stress of training (frequency, volume, periodization scheme) and dietary and supplementation approach can be modifed as needed. This book gives my suggestions, which, again, should be integrated with your own training experiences and know-how. What about the Training Itself? To match the stimulus with your recovery abilities, FT offers two Versions of this high-frequency resistance training program that target major muscle groups either three times (Basic Version) or four times per week (Turbo Version). Each Version has three Volume Tiers (Tiers I, II and III) which vary the number of sets (and sometime type of sets) for each muscle group. FT is structured to ensured progressive overload (heavy “Loading Sets,” a mainstay of getting bigger and stronger) within a system that varies the growth stimulus by including high repetition (“Pump Set”) and discontinuous sets (“Muscle Rounds”), as well as intensive stretching. These training variations keep the workouts fresh, injury-free, and customizable. Perhaps most importantly, the different Set Types of FT are intended to synergize, all within one bodybuilding training regime, several different aspects of the resistance exercise stimulus that can foster muscle growth.

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Is there a Fortitude Diet or Supplement Regimen? Training-induced adaptations require recovery: Rest, diet, supplementation and a plethora of other life-style related factors.

This e-book isn’t focused on tailoring a

specifc diet and supplement regimen to ft the your situation (pre-contest or off-season, personal history with or preferred diets, supplementation practices, or other specifc goals). I do however, address the basic scenarios common to all bodybuilders: Muscle gain and fat loss.

In my opinion, biochemical inter-individuality really calls for

personalized attention when it comes to diet and supplementation. [This is a fancy way of saying we’re all different, from the way in which we process foods(2) or handle caloric excess(3) or defciency(4), to the metabolism of foreign chemicals such as toxins and drugs(5).] However, I would be remiss if I didn’t outline some core nutritional strategies I think are tremendously effective in optimizing FT effectiveness. Must everyone using ©Scott W. Stevenson

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FT employ the tactics I outline here? Certainly not: If it ain’t broke, don’t fx it. Keep using the dietary and supplementation approaches that work for you. However, if some (or all) of what I outline makes sense and perhaps furthers your bodybuilding progress, then my mission has been accomplished.

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CHAPTER 2 – A VIEW FROM THE IVORY TOWER: THE SCIENCE OF FORTITUDE TRAINING “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. He is considered successful in our day who gets more out of life than he puts in. But a man of value will give more than he receives.” -Albert Einstein(6)

Like many budding bodybuilders, I learned the “hard way” during my early training years (the late 80’s and early 90’s in my case) that my zeal and vigor (and perhaps a bit of brainwashing from overconsumption of lay bodybuilding magazines) could lead to excessive training. In other words, my learning curve on the “more is not always better” concept was not very steep.

Graduate school exposed me to exercise

training science, and communion with a few powerlifters and other fellow plateheads along the way made it clear that strong and big go together like meat and potatoes. When I started competitive bodybuilding in late 90’s and early 2000’s, I was therefore using a more progressive overload-inspired approach. Trial and error made clear that I could push my limits in the gym, training progressively and aggressively, for only about 6-8 weeks before I needed to take a step back (or “deload”). When I came across Doggcrapp Training (DC Training; developed by Dante Trudel, owner of True Nutrition www.truenutrition.com) circa 2001, it was no surprise then that I immediately connected with Dante’s concepts of “heavy slag iron” and a simplifed “blast and cruise” kind of periodization (which he’d derived empirically as well).

Dante and I were on the same

page and he was reading aloud to the internet community. People were listening.

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More recently, as an over 40 bodybuilder with 30+ years of accumulated “wear and tear” in the gym, I was searching for ways to improve my physique without sacrifcing longevity in the endeavor I so very love. In other words, I was paying more attention to the fact that I was no longer an invincible 20-something year-old and that, with the strength I’d gained over the years, injury potential was worth keeping an eye on. My successes with increasing training frequency and stimulus variety, which has also proven for me to be a way to avoid chronic overuse injury in part, led me to Leo Costa’s Titan Training(7). Costa’s regime required an even higher training frequency than DC training, and utilized of both “straight” set training, as well as “Muscle Rounds,” a form of discontinuous or “cluster” set(8), somewhat similar to a DC “rest-pause” set. Unfortunately, the manner in which I interpreted and applied Costa’s program (without explicit directions from him on set execution details like training loads and when / if to achieve muscular failure) did not pan out well for me. I had hoped to “overreach” and

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“rebound” using Titan Training, but instead, by not dialing back my training per my instincts, actually truly overtrained(9, 10) for the frst time ever.

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FORTITUDE TRAINING: BLENDING RESEARCH AND REAL TRAINING The time it took to recover from overtraining was a blessing in disguise. The progress I made initially refocused me on the value of training frequency, and blending a variety of stimuli (e.g., heavy and light sets, as well as discontinuous rep sets) to exploit different mechanisms of muscle growth. Reality also dictates that some form of antiovertraining measures, especially periodization, be in place. Ideally, though, a state of overreaching, coupled with a strategic taper, can be employed to harvest maximal adaptation from one’s training efforts. These pieces of the training puzzle, as well as the dietary and supplementation strategies that I have found (empirically and in the research literature) to be most effective to foster an anabolic and anti-catabolic milieu intérieur started coming together: Fortitude Training was conceived.

Major Resistance Training Stimuli that Encourage Muscle Growth

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Training Stimuli: Load, Metabolic Stress, Muscle Damage & Stretch “Specifcity” is a basic principle of exercise training: The adaptation is specifc to the imposed stimulus (or demand)(11-14). In other words, you’ll get better at what you do repeatedly because of particular, task-specifc adaptation of the underlying systems (neurological, muscular, etc.). For an athlete, this dictates how you train. A powerlifter obviously trains specifcally to lift maximal loads in the Big 3 (squat, bench press AND deadlift), using allowed equipment, with regulation depth, etc. A sprinter works on sprint speed for her competitive distance. A volleyball player trains for jumping ability, agility and sport-specifc skill profciency. Specifcity of training makes sense logically and this training principle pans out pretty well in the research literature(12). For the bodybuilder, the closest thing to “training specifcally” to more muscle mass might be to train for a “pump” in the gym (or simply practicing posing, of course). The “functional” outcome of bodybuilding training is becoming more muscular, not running faster, jumping higher, being stronger or some combination thereof. However, as it turns out, in the trenches trial and error, plus a little help from science, reveals that there are multiple training stimuli, call them “modes” of resistance exercise, that are “specifc” for the singular outcome of making muscle grow. Just as a strength/power athlete might employ a conjugate principle to construct a training regime based on components of athletic performance development (strength, speed, power)(15), or feld / court athlete (think soccer, basketball, etc.) might employ “metabolic specifcity of training” based on bioenergetic systems stressed during a sport (phosphocreatine, anaerobic glycolysis, etc.)(16), a bodybuilding training system can vary training load (and loading pattern) to stimulate hypertrophy in different ways(17). Fortitude Training exploits what we know about the mechanistic underpinnings of muscle enlargement(18) by incorporating different kinds of sets (Loading Sets, Pump

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Sets and Muscle Rounds), as well as stretching techniques to generate a growth stimulus. These are the building blocks of the FT bodybuilding system.

Focus on Training Load: Give Me Strength, Give Me Size Muscle strength and size are associated: A bigger muscle is a stronger one, generally speaking.

Admittedly, there is some variability there, as well(19), as

demonstrated by those who have gym strength that defes muscular size, as well impressive bodybuilders who look much stronger than they are. Nonetheless, training with high loads turns on muscle growth(20-23), and the greater the load (the heavier you 16

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lift), the stronger the signal and resultant growth(24, 25). Putting this to work in the gym typically means using between 60 - 90% of a one repetition maximum (1RM or a the maximal weight you can lift for a single rep) in order to gain strength(26), with ~75%90% 1RM being the rep range that seems to optimize muscle growth in particular(27, 28). [For your information, loads of 60%, 80% and 90% of 1RM translate respectively into sets of about 20-30, 9-12 and 4-5 rep, taken to muscular failure when using compound exercises like the bench press, squat, etc(29).] Of course, heavy singles are vital part of training for the strength sports of powerlifting and Olympic lifting, but are used with reservation(26) and not employed in Fortitude Training. Some Finer Points of Getting Stronger (to get Bigger) So, we’ve established the (perhaps obvious) association between gaining strength (strength training) and gaining muscle (bodybuilding training). Beyond this, some of the “fner points” of intensity (load)-based progressive overload training are worthy of mention, if you want to get as muscularly large as possible. • Should I train to failure?... • What’s a good rep range and should you just stick with the same rep range?... • Is there a best rate of progression or should I just wing it?... Muscular Failure Means Growth Success? Training to momentary muscular failure, i.e., performing as many reps as possible (with a given form and rep tempo) in a given set, seems like the obvious choice when it comes to metabolic stress and motor unit activation, and thus strength and size gains(27, 30). Research suggests that for a trainee who, for instance, were only focused on bench pressing(31) or biceps curls(32) (and I doubt this pertains to you if you’re reading this), going all out on all your sets may mean greater strength development. At the other end ©Scott W. Stevenson

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of the effort spectrum, beginners can pile up “easy” reps by cutting sets short (doing half as many reps but twice as many sets) and still make decent strength gains(33). Nonetheless, “just getting the reps in” may still impair strength gain during lower bodyonly training(33), and this likely means that the trained muscle won’t grow as well, either(34). Now, when training the whole body in a complete (more stressful) program, a different story emerges. Stopping sets short of failure may generate equivalent strength gains (which many powerlifters, who rarely take sets to failure or “miss” lifts have known for decades), and avoid unwanted hormonal changes (e.g., elevated cortisol, reduced testosterone)(30), that may lead down the path of overtraining(35, 36).

Because Fortitude Training trains the entire body several times each week, Loading Sets in FT are not all taken to failure. What’s the Best Rep Range for Optmal Muscle Growth? Even though higher loads, i.e., those approaching 100% a 1RM may be more conducive for strength gains (per the specifcity of training principle(37)), dozens of studies suggest optimal muscle fber hypertrophy occurs around ~75-90% 1RM(28). This training intensity range matches reasonably well with the 70-85% 1RM range found when whole muscle size is used to measure muscle growth(27). As noted above, 80% of a 1 repetition maximum translates to a load that can lifted for about 10 reps, if a set is taken to failure(29). Generally speaking, research suggests the type II muscle fbers have greater potential for growth the type I fbers(38-40), but a program employing heavy and frequent training to failure (e.g., 3 sets of 6-10reps to failure, 3 times per week) may elicit equivalent growth in both (I and II) major fber types(41). Bodybuilders typically have type I and type II fber that are about the same size, unlike powerlifters and weightlifters 18

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whose type II fbers are nearly 50% larger on average. This is probably because they train with higher relative loads (above 80%1RM) and much less volume(28). [Of note here is that many studies of bodybuilders have turned up muscle fbers of “normal” size (equivalent to that of untrained control subjects).

This fnding suggests that muscle

growth in humans may be in part due to an increase in fber number (hyperplasia)(4244).]

F T Loading Sets are typically within the 6-12 rep range, approximating the load a good deal of scientifc research suggests is optimal for stimulating muscle growth. Why Not Just Train Heavy? A long held supposition, based on the majority of research examining upper body muscle activation, is that nearly all motor units are activated at loads of ~80-85% of a maximal effort (or an even lesser percentage for small muscles in the hand) and that force increases or is maintained during fatiguing exercise mainly by increasing the fring frequency of the active motor units (creating a summation effect on force)(45-48). However, recent evidence suggests that efforts up to 95% of maximal may be needed to call upon all the fbers in lower body muscles (e.g., the soleus, one of the calf muscles) (49, 50).

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Despite any disadvantages related to activation strategies, with enough volume [number of sets(51, 52)], pure low load training (~20-35 reps per set) can actually induce muscle growth(53, 54) equivalent to that of high intensity training [~10 reps / set(55)]. The important feature of note here is that, as fatigue ensues and sets are taken to failure, any and all motor units that can be actively called upon, will be(56-59). In other words, heavy loads activate more motor units than lighter loads at the start of a set, but this difference in activation strategy is minimized when effort is maximal at the end of a set taken to failure.

Fortitude Training includes high effort, lower load training to stimulate hypertrophy.

FT Pump Sets are in the 20-30 rep range and

Muscle Rounds typically employ a load equivalent to a 15RM, but permit ~22-26 repetitions total (with one failure point). Indeed, variety is the spice of training and the research supports this when it comes to choosing training loads. In those who are already resistance-trained athletes 20

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(past the initial neurologically dominated strength gains(60)), using undulating periodization, where loads (and thus rep ranges) are changed on a daily basis (e.g., each workout) have been found more effective than traditional periodization (weekly or longer periods of training within the same rep range) for increasing strength(61). But even weekly variation / undulation the training loads may not introduce enough variety to further strength gains(62), especially if there is minimal variation in the exercises used in training(17). On the other hand, a “non-linear” periodized scheme, where high volume / low load sessions are alternated with high intensity load / low volume sessions in the same week is more effective than keeping the rep ranges the same, workout after workout (no periodization), or a more typical weekly (“linear”) periodization scheme where repetitions / set decrease as loads increase(63).

As a strategy to further training adaptations, the different Set Types used in Fortitude Training create a weekly undulating periodization scheme in terms of load, loading pattern and exercise selection. Pick Your Own Poison – Rate of Progression In addition to the variety that undulating periodization adds to progressive overload, leaving it up to the lifter to self-monitor progression (called “autoregulation”) is another strategy that may further foster strength gains(64).

This is what gym rat

bodybuilders have done for years, and how programs like DC Training “program” progression. Frankly, it’s just sensible to have some built in internally-derived governor of the rate of progression, to allow for outside infuences that can affect training capacity on a given day. Additionally, “all out” training, each and every day can be excessive and counter progress. Research suggests lifting with just about 85% of the maximum training volume you can tolerate may be best for making strength gains(65), as well. ©Scott W. Stevenson

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Thus, Fortitude Training varies the loading schemes and exercise selection on a workout by workout, but also puts a governor on training stress: •

Loading Sets [“Heavy” sets of 6 - 12 reps, but not all sets are taken to failure].

•

Muscle Rounds [6 sets of 4 reps clustered together with very brief rest intervals, with only one failure point].

•

Pump sets [continuous, metabolically demanding high rep (15-30 reps), with load, rep range of motion, etc. varied according to how the lifter feels].

•

Three Stretch Types [just after training a given muscle (group)] chosen intuitively by the lifter, that involve high external loading (DC Training style Extreme Stretch), voluntary isometric contractions (Occlusion Stretch) or a fexibility (injury prevention) goal (Flexibility Stretch).

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For the above you, the bodybuilder, pick the loads and intensity of effort. Additionally, the different Volume Tiers provide a basic structure for adjusting training volume to match recovery ability.

As you can see, Fortitude Training is highly customizable to

prevent overtraining, but a training Log Book (as well as a scale and mirror) ensure accountability for progress.

Fortitude Training leaves training load progression and volume to the trainee (autoregulation), as well as the duration of the “Blast” Period during which progressive overload is the focus. “Volume Training:” Load AND Metabolic Stress (Light Weight, Baby?) Even if I’ve already convinced you of the notion that gaining strength is paramount to gaining muscle size, you’ve likely confronted an observational paradox I alluded to above: Larger lifters tend to be stronger but the strongest lifters (powerlifters, Olympic lifters, strongmen, etc.) are not universally (or even typically) as muscular as the best, and often weaker, bodybuilders. Scanning the spectrum of competitors focused in lifting heavy iron, it’s clear that strength is not an absolute end-all-be-all of muscle size. ©Scott W. Stevenson

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Science supports variability in this regard(19). There must be other other mechanisms for producing muscle growth beyond simply lifting heavier and heavier weights. Volume: You Got to Do enough “Volume training” advocates, meaning most bodybuilders over the years(66, 67), know that training with higher volume (many sets, typically with rest intervals