The Arttu Winter 2013 Strength Cycle

I'm following Arttu's strength cycle to the letter, doing no other work in the gym. I'll go in the gym, do the menu, and get out to rest/recover. The only other things I'll do myself is mobilise before, stretch after, eat clean and sleep well. I've no idea what he has in store, and that's the best way if I'm going to follow blindly. All I know is that we'll do it until Christmas, then test maxes again.

Pre Cycle (3 weeks)
Before we start focusing on increasing strength, I want to know your strength goals, where are you looking to be at and what kind of weights you wanna be throwing up? Also what is your biggest weakness (as in what is your weakest lift)?

Let's spend the next few weeks finding your PR's on all the big lifts and movements.

Back squat, front squat, deadlift, clean, snatch, OHS, press, bench, weighted dips and chins. I want these spread in to a span of 2 weeks or even 3 weeks, I want you to wake up in the morning and have the feeling that today I can lift some heavy sh*t! You have to be physically and mentally ready when hitting your 1 rep maxes. Once we find your 1 rep maxes then will start to focus on increasing those numbers and attacking your weaker points. The way I want you to divide them (whatever day you start on): Day 1: Back squat Day 2: Snatch Day 3: Clean Day 4: Deadlift & Bench Day 5: OHS Day 6: Press Day 7: Front squat Day 8: Weighted chins and dips This does not mean to go 8 days straight I want you to have at least 1 rest day in between. Result

Day 1: Back squat 110kg Day 2: Snatch 73kg Day 3: Clean 92kg Day 4: Deadlift 145kg & Bench 88kg Day 5: OHS 95kg Day 6: Press 62kg Day 7: Front squat 92kg Day 8: Weighted pull-up 26kg and weighted dip 40kg

Week 1
Plan is to take the 1RM numbers found in the 3 week pre-cycle and work on building lifts at 85% of that. Increasing numbers until 10 reps at 85% of pre-cycle 1RM is accomplished.

Irrelevant to the strength goal, but so as not to lose all cardiovascular ability. There will be short, 4-8min met-cons thrown in.

Day 1: 3 Pos Clean 70%/75%/78%/78%, 3-3-3-3 Jerk 3-3-3 FS
Day 2: Hang Pwr Snatch 55%/65%/75%, Snatch Pull 80/85/90, OHS 3x5, Snatch Press 4x5
Day 3: Clean 55%/65/75/85, Spl Jrk 75/80/85, Clean Dead 80/85/90, HPwr clean 5x10
Day 4: 20 min met-con

Week 2

Day 1: Hng Sq Snatch 65%~85%, Hang Sq Clean, BS 80%~90%
Day 2: Pwr CL/FS 65~85%, Clean Dead 5x3, Spl Jrk 65~85%
Day 3: Pwr Sn+3OHS 55~65%, Cl Hi Pull 3x2, Sn Pu-press 3x3, BS 90% 1x5

Week 3

Day 1: Sn Pull + Sn Hi Pull + Pwr Sn 55~65%, Pwr Sn x2x4, Sn Dead 3x3, BS 70~90%x2
Day 2: Long Met-con
Day 3: Cl+2 jerk 65~75%, FS 85% 2x5, Good Mornings 30%(BS) 8x4
Day 4: Long Met-con
Day 5: Pwr Sn 75% 1x8, Pwr Cl 75% 1x8, OHS 65~75% 3x4, Bent O Rows 40%(dead) 4x4

Week 4 - deload week
Plan this week is to not go above 55% of maxes and to do all eccentric movements fast. fast out of the hole, fast bar movement off shoulders etc.
Day 1: Push Press 55%, Met-con Day 2: 3 Pos clean 55%, Push Jerk 55%, FS 55%, Met-con Day 3: 3 Pos snatch 55%, Snatch Pull 55%, OHS 55%

Donnie Shankle Seminar Lifting

Day 1: Snatch 69kg Day 2: Clean & Jerk 83kg PR

Week 5

Day 1: Snatch, C&J, back extensions 5x10 Day 2: Snatch, OHS 1RM, Good Morning 4x10 Day 3: Snatch, C&J, BS, Snatch Dead


UPDATE

It was a massive undertaking to write all exercises and weights and sets on here as well as on my BTWB page.

All together this cycle lasted for 3 weeks pre-cycle and then 13 weeks, here are the results.

Results

Back squat 114kg Snatch 74kg Clean 97kg Deadlift 145kg & Bench 88kg OHS 101kg Press 62kg Front squat 102kg Weighted pull-up 26kg and weighted dip 38kg

Gains

Back squat 4kg Snatch 1kg Clean 5kg Deadlift untested & Bench untested OHS 6kg Press -3kg Front squat 10kg Weighted pull-up untested and weighted dip -2kg

Protein in easy to Use Packets

Which one is the healthiest?

Labrada Nutrition, Carb Watchers Lean Body Hi- Protein Meal Replacement Shake 

Price per packet: $2.683
Protein per packet: 40g
Carbs per packet: 12g
Fat per packet: 4.5g
Price per gram of protein: $0.067

Strawberry Ice Cream: LeanPro (cross flow micro ultrafiltered whey protein isolate, cross flow micro ultrafiltered whey protein concentrate, soy protein isolate [non-GMO]), natural & artificial flavors, EFA Plex (sunflower oil, creamer [high oleic sunflower oil, corn syrup solids, sodium caseinate, mono- and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, soy lecithin, tocopherols], MCT oil, flaxseed oil, borage oil), Fiber Plex (polydextrose, Fibersol 2 Fiber, cellulose gum, oat flour, rice bran), vitamin & mineral blend (di-calcium phosphate, magnesium oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin E acetate, niacinamide, electrolytic iron, zinc oxide, d-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, copper gluconate, riboflavin, vitamin A acetate, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid, potassium iodide, cyanocobalamin), beet juice powder, salt, sucralose, acesulfame potassium. Allergen Information: Contains milk, soy.

Conclusion: Contains too much sh*te.

EAS, Myoplex Original Shake Mix

Price per packet: $2.339

Protein per packet: 42g
Carbs per packet: 22g
Fat per packet: 4.5g
Price per gram of protein: $0.056

Whey protein concentrate, calcium caseinate, corn maltodextrin, milk protein isolate, dairy creamer (sunflower oil, sodium caseinate, mono- and diglycerides, potassium phosphate, soy lecithin, tocopherols), oat fiber, natural and artificial flavor, calcium phosphate, vitamin and mineral blend (magnesium oxide, dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate, ascorbic acid, niacinamide, ferrous fumarate, zinc oxide, calcium pantothenate, manganese gluconate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, copper sulfate, boron proteinate, riboflavin, thiamine hydrochloride, vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, biotin, chromium citrate, potassium iodide, molybdenum amino acid chelate, selenium amino acid chelate, cyanocobalamin), potassium phosphate, medium chain triglycerides, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, xanthan gum, carrageenan, acesulfame potassium, whey protein isolate, potassium citrate, sucralose, l-glutamine, taurine, egg albumin, sodium phosphate and beta-carotene. Contains milk, soy and egg ingredients.

Conclusion: Not buying the oats and n6 oils.

22 Days Plant Protein Power

Price per packet: $3.60
Protein per packet: 22g
Carbs per packet: 9g
Fat per packet: 1.5g
Price per gram of protein: $0.164

Organic whole grain brown rice protein, organic natural flavor, organic guar gum, sea salt, organic stevia leaf extract.

Conclusion: Too expensive and I'm not read up on rice protein. Nothing against rice but I like animals.

Vibrant Health, PureGreen Protein, Version 2.0

Price per packet: $2.776
Protein per packet: 20g
Carbs per packet: 4g
Fat per packet: 1.6g
Price per gram of protein: $0.139

no ingredients listed

Conclusion: Can't choose this one because the ingredients weren't listed. Sorry Vibrant health.

Tera's Whey, Organic Whey Protein

Price per packet: $2.865

Protein per packet: 21g

Carbs per packet: 4g

Fat per packet: 1.5g

Price per gram of protein: $0.136

Organic dairy whey protein concentrate, organic vanilla, organic stevia leaf extract, organic soy lecithin.

Gluten free, rBGH free, non GMO

Packaged in a plant that handles, stores, and processes dairy, egg, soy, and wheat.

Conclusion: Cleanest, endorsed by Jeremy Goldstrich

Garden of Life, RAW Protein, Beyond Organic Protein Formula

Price per packet: $1.92

Protein per packet: 17g

Carbs per packet: 3g

Fat per packet: N/A

Price per gram of protein: $0.113

Brewer's yeast (saccharomyces cerevisiae), lactobacillus bulgaricus, natto.

Contains (fermented) soy.

Contains no filler ingredients, artificial colors or preservatives

Conclusion: Where is the protein coming from? Yeast?

Now Foods, Sports, Whey Protein Isolate

Price per packet: $1.91
Protein per packet: 23g
Carbs per packet: 3g
Fat per packet: 1g
Price per gram of protein: $0.083

Microfiltered whey protein isolate (providing ß-lactoglobulin, a-lactalbumin, immunoglobulins and glycomacro peptides), natural flavors, creamer powder, organic turbinado sugar, betterstevia [organic stevia extract (stevia rebaudiana) (leaf)], sea salt, xanthan gum, purified stevia extract (stevia rebaudiana) (leaf) and soy lecithin (<1 font="">

Contains milk and soy.

Conclusion: Very cheap and ingredients look as solid as it gets.

Champion Nutrition, Ultramet

Price per packet: $2.795
Protein per packet: 41g
Carbs per packet: 20g
Fat per packet: 4g
Price per gram of protein: $0.0682

Peptol EX (proprietary blend consisting of: whey protein isolate, calcium caseinate, milk protein isolate, potassium caseinate, egg albumen, whey protein concentrate, whole milk powder, sodium caseinate, L-glutamine, taurine, and calcium alpha-ketoglutarate), maltodextrin, natural and artificial flavoring, fructose, vitamin-mineral blend consisting of: (dicalcium phosphate, magnesium oxide, potassium phosphate, potassium citrate, choline bitartrate, potassium chloride, vitamin E acetate, ascorbic acid, ferrous fumarate, beta-carotene, boron proteinate, biotin, niacinamide, zinc oxide, manganese gluconate, vitamin A palmitate, calcium pantothenate, molybdenum amino acid chelate, copper gluconate, folic acid, vitamin D3, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, chromium polynicotinate, selenium amino acid chelate, potassium iodide, cyanocobalamin), canola oil, salt, soy lecithin, xanthan gum, cellulose gum, aspartame*, CitriMax (garcinia cambogia extract), medium-chain triglycerides, carrageenan, bromelain, borage oil, acesulfame-potassium, mono- and diglycerides.

Contains milk, egg, and soy. *Phenylketonurics: This product contains phenylalanine.

Allergy Warning: Produced in a facility that processes milk, egg, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, soybeans, wheat, and crustacean shellfish derivatives.

Conclusion: Currently buying cos all flavours taste great and 42g protein. Changing because it contains fructose, canola, soy and traces of other crap.

Jarrow Formulas, 100% Natural Whey Protein

Price per packet: $1.573
Protein per packet: 17g
Carbs per packet: 6g
Fat per packet: 1g
Price per gram of protein: $0.0925

100% Ultra-filtered Whey Protein from milk, fructose, natural flavor, lecithin (from soy), guar gum, Fibersol-2 (resistant maltodextrin), and lo han guo (momordica grosvenorii).

Contains: Milk and soy.

No wheat, no gluten, no egg, no fish/shellfish, no peanuts\tree nuts.

Contains NO artificial flavors or artificial sweeteners.

This product contains no added L-Tryptophan.

Conclusion: Trying to get away from fructose.

Jay Robb, Egg White Protein

Price per packet: $2.49
Protein per packet: 24g
Carbs per packet: 4g
Fat per packet: 0g
Price per gram of protein: $0.1037

Egg albumin, xylitol, natural flavor, xanthan gum, lecithin, stevia, citric acid, and red beet powder.

(Allergen Information) Contains: Eggs and soy (lecithin). This product is manufactured in a facility that processes other products which may contain soy, dairy, wheat, tree nuts, shellfish, fish, peanuts, and eggs, and may contain traces of all of the above.

Jay Robb Egg White Protein contains None of the following ingredients:

• No MSG
• No Acesulfame-K
• No Artificial Flavors
• No Artificial Sweeteners
• No Artificial Colors
• No Aspartame
• No Sucralose

Conclusion: Egg protein is interesting. Could try a box of this to find out.