Introduction This book is intended to give the reader an inside look at what it is like to train at Greyskull. The program presented follows a hypothetical male trainee through twelve grueling weeks designed to elicit a greater level of strength, conditioning, and all-around toughness. This is by no means a default representation of the training conducted here, but rather a snapshot of some of the methods that we employ.y. Undertaking this program for twelve weeks will certainly produce for you a very favorable set of results. I’m frequently asked what to do once one is done with the Greyskull LP (the basic program presented in my book “The Greyskull LP: Second Edition). While the GSLP is almost infinitely flexible and adaptable, programs like the one presented in this book are still commonplace for trainees who have been at it a bit longer. This program takes a holistic approach to strength and conditioning. My “layering” method is used full bore here, combining strength training with weights, high intensity conditioning, track sprinting, running, and “homework”; smaller sessions designed to be completed daily at the end of the day. The elements compliment each other, and strike a perfect balance in terms of maximizing the amount of work that can be asked of you over the course of a week, and not overtraining you. The demands here are high. The result is aa strong, capable, aesthetically pleasing body that will help you equally attract smoking hot females, and demolish their boyfriends that are unhappy with you for stealing their girl. It’s not your fault, remember that. Before we begin, let’s take a look at the major components of this program. I’ll be gone for the day by the time you get through it, so I will catch you next time. Enjoy the program, Gladiator! strengthvillain.com 22 ©©2012 Villain Publishing The Strength-Training Component Each week of this program has a backbone of three strength training days. There are no frills here. The movements are simple, basic exercises that are proven to produce results when trained hard. There is an understanding here that the trainee has undergone a more basic strength development program along the lines of “The Greyskull LP” prior to taking on this program. As a result, this program is admittedly less focused on pure strength development through weight raining, and more focused on the development of a more complete level of fitness through the synergistic effects of the various training modalities used. That said, the weight training presented here, though not as “sexy” as you may find in other books or programs, is still the balls. The program is divided into two six-week phases. There is a notable programming shift in the strength training portions that occurs at the sixth week. The important thing to remember is that progress is ever occurring, and that all workouts should be logged so that progress can be tracked. strengthvillain.com 33 ©©2012 Villain Publishing The High Intensity Conditioning Component Each week in this program has three days, which are dedicated to conditioning. Two of those days are made up of the sprint and run components, while the other day is a high intensity day using a variety of exercises, movements and implements. These days are made up of workouts that use bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, barbells, kettlebell, and sandbags. Each session is designed to compliment the strength-training portion of the program and elicit a nasty level of overall conditioning. There is definitely a “gut check” element to these workouts as well, which has an overall mental and physical “hardening” effect. Leave nothing in the tank on these days; milk every drop of progress that you can out of these grueling sessions. strengthvillain.com 44 ©©2012 Villain Publishing The Sprint Component Each week in this program features a sprint day as the first dedicated conditioning session. The benefits of sprinting are numerous and include an increase in overall conditioning, as well as a favorable effect on body composition. The sessions are designed to be completed at a track. I expect you to hit the track rain or shine, and give these sessions your all. Each session sees you sprinting for a total of eight hundred meters for the day, though they are broken down into four different workouts that rotate throughout the program. •• 100m x 8 •• 200m x 4 •• 400m x 2 •• 800m x 1 Record your times for each session. You should be improving your times on the efforts each time you hit the track. Make sure that you conduct a thorough warm-up before sprinting each session. Some basic, static stretches like you did in high school gym class will do the trick, when combined with a few progressively faster warm-up runs. strengthvillain.com 55 ©©2012 Villain Publishing The Running Component In addition to the sprint component, there is a longer distance run element in this program as well. The long(er) runs here are designed to develop overall conditioning in a synergistic manner with the other methods, and also build mental toughness (particularly the sessions with a weight vest). These runs can be completed on a track, or on a road route measured out in advance. The three distances that I have you running here are: •• One Mile •• Two Miles •• Three Miles In the early weeks of the program, you complete the runs with no additional weight. As the weeks go on I begin to prescribe the addition of a twenty- pound weight vest for certain sessions. Treat these runs as seriously as you treat the weight training sessions and you will reap the rewards of this vital piece of the Gladiator puzzle. strengthvillain.com 66 ©©2012 Villain Publishing The Homework Like the first stage in this series, this book features daily assignment or “homework” as I call them. These are short workouts to be completed each day in a progressive manner. This is part of the “layering” approach that I use in designing programs. This allows more total work to be done over the course of the week, and makes for significant progress when layered over the main sessions. The homework sessions should be completed later in the day, preferably at nighttime. I highly recommend performing them at roughly the same time each day to encourage habit formation, which will set you up for success in the long term. Understand that you will be accomplishing more with your homework assignments alone than most will in a twelve-week period of training. One could do just these short workouts and make tremendous progress in that time. The homework in this program is broken down into two basic sessions (A/B), and consists of four components. I’ve detailed each of them here: Push-Up Progression This is completed on the “A” days. The sets, reps, and variation of the push- up to be used for the day are spelled out in the day’s description. These are completed for a set number of reps, with the intention being to reduce the amount of sets required to complete the requisite number for the day. The six variants used in this method are: •• The Elevated Push-Up •• The Close Grip Push-Up •• The Elevated Close Grip Push-Up And then each of the three variants listed while wearing a twenty-pound weight vest. strengthvillain.com 77 ©©2012 Villain Publishing The Elevated Push-Up This is performed just like a normal push-up; hands outside the chest, chest to the floor while keeping the torso rigid and the head up. The only difference is that the feet are elevated on a bench or another object of similar height. The Elevated Push-Up strengthvillain.com 88 ©©2012 Villain Publishing The Close Grip Push-Up Touch your thumbs together as shown to get the spacing right. The Close Grip Push-Up strengthvillain.com 99 ©©2012 Villain Publishing The Elevated Close Grip Push-Up This one is just like the elevated push-up with the exception that the hands are spaced close enough for the thumbs to touch. Keep your torso rigid, head up, and touch your chest tot the ground at the bottom of the rep. The Elevated Close Grip Push-Up strengthvillain.com 1010 ©©2012 Villain Publishing The Burpee Challenge Progression This one you should be familiar with if you have been following my stuff for a while. The idea here is to complete a number of burpees, keeping to a one rep per three seconds or less pace. Building up your ability to do so will allow you to reach the gold standard of one hundred reps in five minutes. You’re at stud level once you can knock that out. The burpees are performed on the “A” days after the push-up workout for the day. Begin with three sets unless you are doing twenty-five or more per set within seventy-five seconds. Once you can hit sets of twenty-five and maintain pace, switch to two sets per workout. When you can do two sets of sixty per session while keeping time, drop to one single set. Once you’ve reached seventy-five reps, switch to using a five-minute clock, and busting out as many reps as you can. When you reach the elusive one hundred-rep mark, celebrate. Congratulate yourself. Then strap on a twenty-pound weight vest, and begin the process again Melee Minton style. For the “A” days you’ll see “Burpee Challenge Progression” listed as part of the homework. Follow along from whatever point you are along this journey.