To get Bullmastiff FREE: 👉👉👉empire-barbell.com/full-library-of-free-video-pdfs/ For more programming breakdowns 👉👉👉 amzn.to/3d1pexd Have big training goals and don't know the next move? Reach out to me for a consultation! 👉 DM me on Insta: @Bromarama 👉 or email: bromley@empire-barbell.com
My favorite program. It really helped me in my journey so far of S/B/D/P PR's of 200/142.5/235/90 Kg's. Came back to it to for another run starting yesterday, age 51.
Hey Bromley, leaving a little review, just completed my 2nd full run of Bullmastiff as written on the Base Strenght book (36 weeks in total, almost the whole year!). All in kg. My starting 1RM was a bit lower because of lockdowns and I never really followed a program, but the amrap sets quickly added weight to the bar. I've started with a 130 Squat, 80 bench, 160 deadlift and 56 ohp, and finished up the first run with a 190 squat, 114 (x2) bench, 230 deadlift and 76 (x3) ohp. And now in the end of my 2nd run I've got a 210 squat, 120 bench, 250 deadlift and 80 (x2) ohp. Only tweaked some variations of main lifts because of gym restrictions and changed some accessories on the 2nd run. Thanks for the great program, I'll run it again in the future for sure, now I'm gonna do a bodybuilding program and focus on a cut for a few months.
@@johnwayne947 Cool. I'm probably starting Bullmastiff next week, although I only have a garage gym so a bit unsure about some of the bb accessories. (I'm not investing in a leg press 😅)
@@Schlook it's my dream to have a garage gym hahah, here where I live it's so expensive, I can pay like 12 years of a gym membership just buying a decent squat rack, a barbell and 250kg in plates lol. I'd probably do something like a bulgarian split squat instead of the leg press.
@@johnwayne947 Well, its not super cheap here either, but I think the value that you get is huge. Also if you have a partner who also likes to train you quickly get more value for it. Plates are the most expensive, so try to keep your eyes open for discount iron plates. Thats what I did and one day I got lucky and got like 190kg plates for around 4-500 euro.
I love that you've carved your niche through more intermediate/advanced training principles. Such a niche demands more long-form content, but you've been consistently uploading 30+ minute videos, which ain't easy. Very grateful for the content Alex, so thank you. Especially when UA-cam is inundated with a SHIT-TON of beginner knowledge of "just do your 5's eat for your goals, and you'll see success, hurr durr!" Keep it up, comrade. 😉 Much love.
I’d love a complete bullmastiff book. This program has skyrocketed my strength and size over 9 weeks. I’m not even in peak phase and I’m still hitting PRs almost every session (amrap pr). Bench is slower for sure, but now I’ll be tweaking it like you’ve sugggedted!
out of curiosity (because i'm thinking of running this starting month) how many cycles of the base phase did you do before going into the peak phase and how did you make that transition? i haven't really seen an explanation of that
28:00 - 28:25. This is why I follow Alex. Because he's honest, (as far as I know). Any other UA-camr would've taken this opportunity to blow their program out of proportion like it's the best thing since sliced bread. Outlier's do not a good program make and it's nice to hear that acknowledged. Definitely want to try this one out.
I still refer to Base Strength quite often. I ran your M/R/S program for 12 weeks. It was great. Made some solid gains and learned a lot. Might get into the BM this fall. 🤘🏼
Thanks for this program, been enjoying it a lot for the last few weeks and seeing you release it for free makes me so excited to hear about other people's success with it!
Because you asked for feedback, I'll give my thoughts. I got through the first wave in the peak phase, but because of personal circumstances (including an awful cold) I had to take a break from lifting for about a month and it didn't make sense to go back to it as I had lost all my momentum. I was having really awesome success with my squat and deadlift while on a cut, I think I lost around 5 lbs bodyweight while going from 315 on squat to 345+ and 365 on deadlift to 405+. If I had finished out the program, I feel like I could have gotten to a 365lb squat and a 425 lb deadlift. Bench and OHP had gains, but they were fairly limited (possibly due to the lack of frequency/volume, but I'm sure trying to do this on a cut didn't help either). As far as what I liked, volumizing is an awesome form of progression and I'm making it the core of my training right now. You can't not get stronger from 5x12 front squats. I like how the program is laid out generally, I used the peak strength template where I did my main movement and my variation for the alternative lift on the same day, which I think let me go harder overall. I also think the exercise selection is good, I loved BtN press, front squats, pause squats, and SLDLs. I mixed it up with the bench variations because my weakness is off my chest in particular. As for things I would tweak if I ran it again, I would probably limit the number of AMRAPs somehow. I found it really mentally tough to do an AMRAP every training day for 18 weeks, knowing that I couldn't phone it in because the progression was based on them. For the peak phase I started to set a goal weight for the top end of each wave that I worked up to (e.g. wanting to squat 315x3 at the end of the first wave) and so I think I would keep the AMRAPs for the base phase and switch to percentage increases in the peak phase. I also found that I totally outpaced the progression because I got so much stronger (feature, not a bug). Keeping my original training maxes meant the first week in the peak phase would have been really, really light. I think adjusting between phases is a good idea. I added a deload between the phases as well which was definitely needed. Overall, I absolutely loved the program, learned a lot from it, and I'm keeping a lot of the principles and lessons in mind as I design my training moving forward. Thanks for all your content!
I used Baby Bully to come back from disc surgery and then went all the way thru the regular Bullmastiff base and peak. It was amazing to come back stronger and bigger than ever. I love nothing more than a barn burner final plus set of squats
Been having great results with Bullmastiff despite cramming the program into a suboptimal period of my life (super busy and stressed with university): I just finished the volume phase, and have now been surpassing main lift set PR:s within workouts that include much greater volume than I've ever done before (doing 6x4 with weights I previously did for 2x3 etc) in everything but the squat, which is slowly coming back from a knee rehab, and even that is progressing really well. I've never been a huge guy or aimed to be one (still doing bouldering etc), but I wanted to allow my body to gain some size for this, and have put on 10 pounds during the first 9 weeks, and don't even feel uncomfortably fluffy, now sitting at 210 pounds or so. Super stoked to see what the peak phase will bring! Thanks for putting this out, Alex - it's been a lot of fun both for me and my training buddy, we've been working through the program side by side and had a blast.
I would pay so much money for a full bullmastiff book. And also a 70’s powerlifter book! In fact, I’d be interested in books focused on all the base strength programs!
I finished this program a week ago. This is THE best program for anyone trying to get their numbers up on compound lifts. I’m 19yr old 140lbs bw. Started lifting last June. Before the program my bench was 155lbs, squat 205lbs, deadlift 235lbs, ohp 115lbs. I only took 2 rest days because of my high recovery rate because I’m still new to gym. After the program bench went up to 210lbs, squat 300lbs, deadlift 385lbs, ohp 155. I was in shock when I did my pr’s.
I definitely have fallen into the "hyper specific" and have focused solely on SBD in singles, doubles, and triples over the past 3 months. Definitely excited to run this program.
I read base and peak strength. I think they are the best lifting books I’ve ever seen. Bromley is the GOAT of communicating how to lift to get gains. I’m gonna try to run through all his programs at some point because they all look really well crafted. Thank you so much!!
My review of Bullmastiff (just finished week 7) 1rm I based the program off: Squat; 240kg Bench: 140kg Deadlift: 220kg After my top 6x4 on squat, did a pretty comfortable 220kg X 4 and 240kg (my max) X 3. Very pleased and had more in the tank Benched 120kg X 8 on the AMRAP of 6x4, hit 140kg X 3 for a 2 ct pause. Deadlift feeling shit because of the fatigue I suspect. Hitting all reps and sets somewhat easily. Very keen to keep going
My favorite program. It really helped me in my journey so far of S/B/D/P PR's of 200/142.5/235/90 Kg's. Came back to it to for another run starting yesterday, age 51.
Finally gonna around to running this program. I'll be customizing it slightly, and benching twice per week as a main lift, while using OHP as an accessory lift. I'm a smaller dude, and I know from experience that my bench requires lots of volume and accessory work to progress. Ran Candito's 6 week program this summer and by bench absolutely exploded.
Just finished the 3 base blocks, not gonna do the peaking block but results have been amazing. Got my squat from 150 to ~200, bench from 90 to ~100, and deadlifts from 180 to ~210. Genuinely the best program for squats, at least for me, I guess I am a hyper responder of the intense volume you would get from squats in this program. Would recommend this program to anyone, maybe a little more bench volume and on the final block I stuck to 5 sets instead of moving to 6. Also would use 70% as the starting week 1, 75% for block 2 week 1 and 80% for block 3 week 1. 👍
I just finished week 8, and it's the biggest strength gains i have ever seen in myself. I have added 100 lbs to my deadlift and 50 lbs to my squat and bench.
This was one of the programs I really wanted to try, but didn’t for some reason. I’m currently using top set+back off set approach and I’m getting really amazing results. I don’t feel beat because of fatigue over multiple sets, but I can really keep the effort high on the first set that’s allowing me to improve. But someday I would love to try this program!
@@ccat9354 I don’t do top singles then back offs. Top set for the rep range, like right now, I’m in my 8s phase, so the top set is RPE7/8/9 and last 1-2 weeks have been RPE9s, but I’m still making progress
Great programme. All 1rm are up. The % helps you find the weight. Got a little bigger in general but been on heavy bulk. Thanks Alex for awesome free programme. Will buy his other programme next.
I'm starting bullmastif this monday. I did 9 weeks of 70s Powerlifter, Added massive amount on the barbell. But I'm novice so I don't jive with low rep work(Also adhd). 18 weeks is tad too much. Bull Mastif looks awesome. I'm excited to start it. One thing I noticed with 70s Powerlifter was that my grip was failing too often, and I added spinal decompressions and Amrep sets. Have my email Chief.
Hey, Bromley! My numbers stopped going up after I got my newbie gains so I decided to do a long bulk and run this program. I put on more weight than I meant to but my strength improved a lot. I’m 6’6” and went from 235 lbs to 255lbs. Bench- 240 to 270 Squat- 250 to 315 DL- 400 to 450 OHP- 160 to 175 I want to compete in strongman and want my overhead press to go up but it didn’t improve as fast as the others. I would be interested to hear what you have to say about that if you have time. Also, I added a load of muscle and look much stronger. I thoroughly enjoyed this program and may run it again in the future. Thanks a lot!
Overhead press is really difficult to improve on. I would start overhead pressing 3x a week. Also for strongman you need to be in shape. With your bodyweight and strength levels I'm guessing you carry a lot of fat. You need to cut and get below 18% body fat
A simple variation would also be to just skip OHP and just do bench on the second day with the base number but without the autoregulation. 4 sets of 6, 5 sets of 5, 6 sets of 4 and so on with an amrap on the last set with the prescribed percentage of 65, 70, 75% etc without the autoregulation. So Autoregulate the bench on day one during the wave as "normal" but not on day 2. That would essentially double your volume. That's how i'm going to run my next Bullmastiff cycle, but for the OHP, not the bench though :D
This is such a good video for me. I was about to choose between Bullmastiff or 70s Powerlifter for my next bulk. I happened to choose 70s Powerlifter, just did the first squat day (ouch, love the one-day-go-hard). I've not seen many reviews about it on reddit or anywhere, I'd love to hear more about it.
Ran this up till the first wave of the peaking (stopped at the 3 rep maxes) and got great results. Only difference i made were picking variations and accessories that worked for me. My end results below were all done in attempt for new 3RMs. Bench 80kg 1RM--> 90kg 4RM Squat 117.5kg 1RM--> 130kg 3RM. (140kg 1RM tested this a week or two after the 3RM test) Deads 127.5kg 3RM--> 140kg 6RM. OHP 55kg 1RM--> 62.5kg 3RM. BW: 74-74kg to 80-81kg. I'd say the biggest achievement here was programming it so well that i managed to almost fully heal my elbow tendonitis, a wonky right shoulder and weak QL muscles. By the end of it, im pain free for the most part barring the light ache that comes from the elbows that comes now n then.
Im starting to train again after a year and a half off The method of progression is appealing a lot in this template. Im going to try this program like this Upper A Bench 4x6+ DB shoulder press 3/4/5x12 DB flies 2/3/4x15 Barbell curl x Tricep pushdown 2/3/4x15 Rear delt rows 2/3/4x15 Neck curl Upper B OHP 4x6+ DB bench 3/4/5x12 Barbell front raise 3/4/5x12 BTN press 3/4/5x15 Rear delt x side delts 2/3/4x15 Neck curl Lower A Box squat 4x6+ Trap bar deadlift 3/4/5x12 Leg press 3/4/5x12 DB rows 3/4/5x12 Lat pulldown 3/4/5x12 Abs Lower B Deadlift 4x6+ Front squat 3/4/5x12 Rack pull 3/4/5x12 Chest supported row 3/4/5x12 Lat pulldown 3/4/5x12 Abs
My tweaks are pretty big, during the base phase I’ve added two extra days per microcycle. Once extra upper day, one extra lower. The upper day is long pause bench, same weight as the main bench progression, with less reps, with weighted dips as a developmental variation. The extra lower day a farmers walk and single leg day. I am doing a volume/speed/weight set up for my farmers. Volume is just a set weight with a time limit, and I progress by trying to walk further, or add more weight. I have a minimal distance so that I can’t add to much weight. The speed is just 15m emom, with ascending weight. I time my walks and when they fall under 10 seconds I drop the weight back one and do 5 more runs. The weight week is obvious, just work up to a max carry for 10m, and when I can’t make the distance I stop. After the farmers I do SSB split squats following the bullmastif set up as a main lift, and glute bodybuilding work. I also don’t do any of the prescribed back work, and instead superset all my back work with my bench/overhead variations. It’s just a better use of time. I do a 3,4,5x5 on explosive bent rows as a deadlift warmup. This is a huge amount of work, and my micros don’t actually take a week, usually more like 8-9 days. I don’t mind this as it stretches out the developmental stage and the auto regulated top sets kind of show how my recovery is going, so with my new baby it’s easier to keep up week to week. My goal is to build a very broad base going to the peak phase, where the farmers will be dropped, or maybe cut right back and added to the deadlift day. The peak phase will be a little more condensed. Why am I doing this? The main reason is I really wanted to push my farmers.
Hey thanks Alex! I'm real happy to see this since I've been working Bullmastiff for the last 12 weeks for my squat and had really positive results. I just finished the first wave of the peak phase last weekend and figured I would check in with you and the empire community for any advice I can get. So far my biggest pay off was week 11 during the peak phase/wave one (3x3+) where I was able to hit 450 lbs for 8 reps. Week 12 I hit 475lbs for 3 reps (for the 1x3+) week but was hoping to hit at least one or two more. I feel great during base work, but I'm always worried I'm not doing enough during the peak phase, so figured I would just check in on that one. Basically asking: after all the volume for the 9 weeks of base work, just curious where to not get complacent during peak waves. Also just want to say this is seriously one of the best lifting channels on youtube. Thanks so much for all the great content!
I'm on the last week of bull mastiff and I have to say I love the format, it's my favorite program by far. I didn't make very big gains but I think I fucked up by using 90% of my 1rm. Strongly considering trying it again and starting with my true 1rm
How high were your amraps? It should really sort itself out pretty fast if you start too low. Eg 65%@4x6+ with a 90% training max becomes 58%. Let’s say you can get 20 reps with 65%, and instead you do 25. The auto regulation bumps you up to 77% from the extra reps. If you had stayed at 65%, it would have been 79%. After a few iterations during wave 1 it would get you where you need to be automatically. Now I’m just guessing these numbers so they would maybe work a little different but you catch my drift. It’s likely other factors that screwed your up.
Let’s try a more extreme example. Pick 50% as a training max, do 40 reps with it. Next week you will be at 36+32.5=68.5% right back where you started. Or maybe your shitty at reps and gas out easy. Get 10 on your hard set, and learn that it’s too light but you can’t get anymore. Congrats bro you found a major weakness. Over the few iterations of one cycle it will still bump you up, and if it’s dead easy I don’t see why you wouldn’t just keep running the progression for another few weeks without resetting u til you started struggling to get a set of 10. Even if it took till week 9, that’s a great improvement in your max set of 10
My brother and I are currently running Bullmastiff and we are really enjoying it. My overhead press has improved the most. Great video and thank you for writing the program!
I am going to blast this starting in october going back on a bulk, I'll update my results at the end. starting stats: 85kg, 186cm, 10 months into lifting, 21yo; -bench 110; -squat 150x3; -dead 210 beltless/220 with belt; -ohp 70; My absolute goals rn are 200 squat and bw ohp for reps, CYA in february.
@@hayden4988 hi, so i ened up with 190 sq, 120 bench, 230dl, 85 ohp at the weight of 91kg. I am going for a short february cut and then i am going to run this programme a 2nd time with slightly modified upper that is more foccused on benching. overall i am very glad with how its ended up
Base strength and the Bible are the best books ever written. Read it so many times. I know understand so many aspects of programming. My favorite literally was the 70s one. But but for variety I tried most. And even made my own program specifically to increase my bench max without joint pain. Probably already done but I used a bench chart of my goal max and how many reps at different weights would get you there slowly raising the weight with less reps. The cool part was I would do the number of reps at a lighter weight that eventually equal to my goal max and instead of just adding weight each week I would stay at that weight and each week add an additional set at that weight. The novel stimulus was the increasing adding a set each week for 3 weeks rather than just adding more weight and would move up the scale to a new weight and reps that would calculate to what my 1 rep max would eventually be. It took a while but I stayed healthy and blew my 1 reps max out of the water for not rushing. The adding set volume with the adding weight every 3 weeks did the trick for me.
How should I adjust the weights as I move from Week 3 to Week 4? If my 1RM increased by 20lbs in the first 3 weeks, will we continue according to that number or will I go back to my 1RM at the beginning of the program?
Hello Guys, Do you know which Bullmastiff is canon the PDF version or the Bootcamp one? Bootcamp's Bullmastiff has one more Variation movement in the Peak phase Main DL - SQ Variation - DL Vartiation. Where as PDF one has DL - SQ Variation - Accessory (SQ/DL days for example).
I used to do your bullmastiff program but recently switched off of it and got lazy in the gym a few months ago when I started focusing on martial arts (recovery was suffering heavily especially on pressing days) Would love to see a program dedicated to athletes (focusing more on athletic capacity and general power output while being able to recover for the sport itself)
Just started Bullmastiff this week. Excited to see how it treats me. Also, this video feels like a response to my comment from last week. Or it's just a coincidence and I'm being self-centered.
I loved this program. My numbers went: Squat: 310x1 -> 275x6 Bench: 200x1 -> 175x8 Dead: 360x1 -> 330x6 Press: 115x1 -> 105x8 But more than anything, it is the program that I made me grow the most of the ones I've run so far.
Program looks awesome. Can’t wait to run it after my meet. Quick question on Supp/developmental lifts. Can you switch them after each wave or just stick to one for the 3 waves. Then switch in the peak phase?
I have a question. You perform AMRAPs at a rep range for 4 weeks, on the last week you might not or won’t get any extra reps. Do you use that performance, plug it in a 1rm calculator or do you just run the program entirely and then see your progress?
This is the only strength program I have ever wanted to follow. This is a program for people who don't want 13 inch Candido arms. There are a few of these weirdos at my gym. They pretend to be proud of the fact that they have no arms and can deadlift 700 pounds. PS. You are killing it Bromley! I have been here pretty much since you started, and let me say that you have evolved from being a boring intellectual ball of muscle, into a smart yet entertaining ball of muscle.
Thanks for the great program. I’m currently halfway through the peak phase on my first go through and this is the strongest I’ve ever been. Do you recommend adjusting your training max after finishing the base phase before starting the peak? I really underestimated my squat and deadlift maxes to start the program. Ended hitting my old maxes for about 10 reps on both lifts at the end of peak wave 1. A big part of this was I was able to overcome a decade-long nagging back issue after reading your bracing e-book my dead and squat numbers took off like I never would’ve imagined during the base phase. FYI I’m 29 years old, 188 lbs. currently and started the program with 270 squat, 240 bench, 330 dead and 125 OHP @180lbs BW.
@@AlexanderBromley i really wish you would consider using a different group platform....there are so many good ones available. facebook is finished...only the grandma's and gym doods :)are using it...everyone else has moved on
Find a weight that you can do for somewhere between 12 and 15 reps while staying 2-3 reps from failure and increase weight once you can do 15 reps. So let's you do 100 lbs for 3x13 reps. Next week you would try to do 3x14 or even 1x14 and 2x13. Once you're able to do all 3 sets for 15 reps then you would go up to 110 lbs and do 3x12 and work your way back up to 3x15. However, in this program, for most exercises you are increasing the number of sets each week so you might not be able to do more reps, that's okay just try not to go down in reps. If you ever do start going in reps then it's probably time to deload
Im on the first wave of the base phase right now and I’m loving the program. My question is if I stop after the first wave to run through the first week of Alberto Nunez’s Upper lower split program with my wife to get her started on that, and then resume Bullmastiff the next week. will it be detrimental to my results? She’s a pretty new lifter and I would need to show her a lot of the exercises. Thank you so much for the awesome content your channel has helped and inspired me greatly.
Hello Alexander, first of all thank you very much for your high quality content and always honest and smart point of view. I have downloaded the app and trying to run your program. Wit it I have the same issue as with pretty much any other out there: i am only able to workout twice a week. No way around that. What would be the best approach in your opinion? Just spread it across the available days, making it 24 weeks i strad of 12, or are there any other better ways to modify it or tweak it? Thanks again and all the best. Andre
Good video as always.. I just have 1 question.. Do we do an 1rm test after week 9 to determine the percentages to start the second cycle at week 1, or is it automatically determined?
Hi alexader . I started making the bullmastiff program on Boostcamp. I can not do front squat and floor press. What can I do instead ? Thanks for program ❤
Considering trying Bull mastiff as it’s pretty much what I’ve done as a power builder anyway for the last 12 or so years. Only issue is I have a new son and can really only dedicate 2 full days to training. What I’ve pretty much been doing is bench/ohp plus accessories triceps/delts/lats/ upper back one day then squats (high bar) / deadlifts on the 2nd with accessories so I’m wondering if I can run the program on a two day split similar to how I’ve been doing my own programming. I’ll admit my lower days haven’t been what they used to after a work injury took a solid 3 years off heavy lower work and mostly did maintenance work. If I start the program I’ll be starting with a 455 bench/ 495 deadlift and 455ish squat like I said after a back injury I haven’t gone super heavy but it’s finally feeling solid again. In my late 20s I had a 600lb deadlift and a 560 something squat. I’d like to get back to those numbers. I’ve maintained my 455 bench into my late 30s now. I’m fine if it doesn’t see huge increases but I’m excited to see what I can do with real load on my back again
I noticed the program is slightly different here and in your Base Strength e-book. In the e-book the percentages in the main lift are 70, 75 and 80% instead of 65, 70 and 75, but in contrast the amount of sets stays constant at 4 in each wave instead of building up to 5 and 6. Also there's no accessories on wave 3. Which version should I do? Edit: I guess you explained it in the video that you adjusted the percentages down slightly from Base Strength.
I've got a question about progression in Bullmastiff. I am an early intermediate lifter, maybe even late novice. My lifts have been excelling quickly since I started lifting about 9 months ago (I've had some minor previous experience). If I wanted to progress faster on this program, could I instead add the extra reps in percent of 1 rm to my 1 rm used to calculate my training loads, and then maintain this increase throughout the longevity of the program instead of resetting each wave? Let me know if this doesn't make sense. Thanks!
Going to try a sort of Bullmastiff BBB (Big but Boring) Where my accessories are mostly just a close variation of the Main or Developmental lifts for more volume. Will be challenging managing fatigue, and I lean into taking some weight off rather than missing reps. Bald Omni Man recommends taking 8% off the bar to keep RPE stable on later sets. Thoughts?
Hey Alex, is it just me or the bullmastiff split version on base strenght looks a little bit different? For example, the variation for each lift is done in the same day of the lift itself. Which one should we do?
Thanks for the free program! gonna run it in a few weeks. Only have one question, am i suppose to do the same developmental exercise for 9 weeks in a row during base phase and then a different one for 9 more weeks during peak phase? cheers!
Started 2 weeks ago and I’m absolutely loving it. Will update here. Everything is in kgs. I weigh 110kgs currently. Weight fluctuates a lot as I train MMA & BJJ & Latin dances. I gain and lose around 2 to 3 kgs per week and I’m 188 cm tall at 24 years old. Started with: Squat: 165 (maybe more, I’ve done 150x5 before) Bench: 115 Deadlift: 170-180 (I don’t know my real max as I never deadlift, so I wrote 180, I think I’m around there). OHP: 80kgs I’ll update the amrap sets of each exercise here each week ====================== ====== Wave 1 ========= ====================== Week 1: Squat: 105 x 13 Bench: 75 x 7 Deadlift: 120 x 10 OHP: 50 x 12 Week 2: Squat: 117.5 x 14 Bench: 77.5 x 8 Deadlift: 130 x 10 OHP: 55 x 10 Week 3: Squat: 130 x 6 (hardest day by far, everything felt heavy even 100 kgs rdl felt heavy, my max rdl is 180 kgs x 5) Bench: 80x12 (best day so far, bench felt very light and is moving very good compared to previous weeks) Deadlift: 140x6 (my erectors were very sore and I started with front squats which fatigued my legs a lot) OHP: 60x6 (feel like bench, deadlift and ohp are progressing faster than squats) 2 weeks pause ====================== ====== Wave 2 ========= ====================== Week 1 (surprised I didn’t lost any strength after a 2 weeks pause) Squat: 115 x 10 Bench: 80 x 11 Deadlift: 125 x 10 OHP: 55x10 Week 2 Squat: 125 x 7 Bench: 85 x 10 Deadlift: 135 x 9 OHP: 60 x 10 Week 3 Squat: 130 x 5 (best day I’ve ever had in the gym despite not feeling motivated in the beginning of the workout) Bench: 90 x 7 Deadlift: 140 x 7 OHP: 65 x 7 ====================== ====== Wave 3 ========= ====================== Week 1 squat: 125 x 7 bench: 85 x 12 deadlift: 135 x 9 ohp: 60 x 12 (Doubled my all time PR today: 80 kgs x 2) Was supposed to start W2 but too many people so I decided to try some PRs instead Bench pr: 125 kgs (10kgs improvement) OHP pr: 80 kgs x 3 Week 2 Deadlift: 145 x 10 Bench: 95 x 7 Combined Day 1 & 4 together and I was sick but did good Squat: 130 x 7 OHP: 65 x 7 Week 3 Deadlift: 155 x 5 Bench: 100 x 5 Squat: 135 x 4 Ohp: 70 x 4 End of the base phase, very excited to start the peak phase. I was able to squat 150 x 5 today and 140 kgs felt light so I did 6 easy reps before trying the 150. Hopefully at the end of the program I can squat 185-195 kgs ====================== ====== Peak Wave 1 ===== ====================== 1 week deload Week 1 Squat: 130 x 9 (RPE 7.5, everything felt light) Bench: 90 x 10 Deadlift: 145 x 12 (Im 100% sure that I could’ve done 20 reps but I was very very tired as I did 180 x 5 which was very easy then 200kgs x 2 reps before doing my sets) OHP: 65 x 6 Week 2 Squat: 140 x 7 (PR) OHP: 70 x 7 (new PR: 90 kgs x 1 / RPE 9.5) Bench: 100 x 6 (PR) Deadlift: 180 x 6 (PR) Week 3 Squat: 155 x 3 (PR) Bench: 105 x 4 (PR) Deadlift: 190 x 4 (PR) OHP: 75 x 5 (PR)
@@EduardOncescu1227 for the amrap sets you do as many reps as you can. If for instance for a week you were suppose to do 100kgs x 4 reps and on your amrap sets you do 100kgs x 6 reps. Next week, you’ll add (6-4=2) 2% of your max to the 100kgs
@@imhassane Oh alright so let’s say I add 5% on my 1RM through the amrap. Next week’s I have to keep going up and up, till I don’t exceed the amrap anymore. Does this progression system also go into the peaking phase?
You mention replacing the developmental OHP lift with a developmental bench lift if your focus is bench. Would you suggest the same lift (like close-grip bench) twice a week or two separate lifts (like close-grip and feet up) once a week?
Huh. I made my own program late 2022 and the split is almost the same (I hit back on all days, different parts and angles). The progression is the difference tho, simple double progression for me.
I was thinking about doing a Jugger naut 16 week block. Would you recommend bull mastiff over this I really enjoy your approach to training with volumization built in. Or are juggernaut still similar enough? Great channel man! 🤩🤩
Hey Coach, is there an upper limit to how much of a jump you would let someone make? Lets say someone gets 22 reps on week one. That would take them up to 81% on week 2. Would you go with it, or cap them at say a 10% jump for week 2. Also, Would you make any adjustments to their “70%” reset going into week 4?
In base strength you included additional accessory pressing exercises, but in peak strength it only says tris/bis on upper body day. Did you make a conscious decision to remove that additional work?
Hey Al, quick question: I don't have access to anything but a rack & a barbell. Was wondering if it was fine to use RDL & Front Squat as both my lower body accessory, and my Dev DL/Squat. I'd alternate between doing them as a Developmental & Accessory in line with the program.
Skip to 14:30. Between 14:30 and 16:00 of the video as he answers the question. Essentially the requirment of the deload comes from experience. The volume drops at the start of each wave maybe enough for some lifters to remove the need for a dedicated deload.
I'm planning to run the Baby Bully program to restart my barbell training from a few years ago. Should I do the Baby Bully until stalling, before moving to the regular Bullmastiff ?
Hi Alex just found out your channels via UA-cam recommended me recently and this program bootcamp and bullmastiff, i just started program today. Can i ask a question if I add upright row on this program what day should i add, thanks alot.
I tried it after my first dieting cycle when I started maintenance phase before the next. I failed hard. First week was ok, after that I had to decrease training weight on the assistance lift to get to those 12/15 reps per set. I was soar every day. I though, maybe this program got me in deficit, but no. My weight was consistent all the weeks (I did 3). After that I just change to another program with higher frequency and intensity and lower volume for the next dieting cycle. Decided that for me (slow gainer, 63 kg atm, male, 34 yo) this is unbearable in my current conditions. Shall try it after all this f***ing dieting down.
Question about the amrap does it stay the same every week? Like if I do 10 reps and I up the weight in the working set do I go back to the original weight to do the amrap? That's how it's coming up on the app
I want to run bullmastiff as a 6 day split while benching 3x a week So I would be replacing the OHP with a bench session and then adding another one at some point throughout the week Was thinking Bench session on the first leg day So it would be: Legs (squat and bench) Pull (deadlift) Push (bench) Legs (squat) Push (bench) Pull (deadlift) I’m planning on doing a single with around Rpe 7 then back off for some hypertrophy work on the day I’m not doing Bullmastiff built in progression The other bench day I would do pure hypertrophy work or do an incline press etc. Please lmk how I could do this Thank you
I did a cycle inspired by you base strength book. My strength gain after the first 4 week cycle was very pleasing. Even on bench made 6kg increase. But during my second cycle i couldn't sustain the strength. My strength went down (according to the RPE rating). The same weight of first week where i did RPE7 on my top set i nealy failed on in the third week (RPE9,5). I think it is due to high fatigue but why didn't it happen in the last cycle where i did the same. I have a deload next week, i am curious to see my performance when the fatigue goes down.
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My favorite program. It really helped me in my journey so far of S/B/D/P PR's of 200/142.5/235/90 Kg's. Came back to it to for another run starting yesterday, age 51.
Nice work! What were your PR’s before running the program?
@@blackrhino44 Thank you, I didn't keep direct track of that. They are listed in the description of the PR attempts on my channel iirc though.
Hey Bromley, leaving a little review, just completed my 2nd full run of Bullmastiff as written on the Base Strenght book (36 weeks in total, almost the whole year!). All in kg. My starting 1RM was a bit lower because of lockdowns and I never really followed a program, but the amrap sets quickly added weight to the bar. I've started with a 130 Squat, 80 bench, 160 deadlift and 56 ohp, and finished up the first run with a 190 squat, 114 (x2) bench, 230 deadlift and 76 (x3) ohp. And now in the end of my 2nd run I've got a 210 squat, 120 bench, 250 deadlift and 80 (x2) ohp. Only tweaked some variations of main lifts because of gym restrictions and changed some accessories on the 2nd run. Thanks for the great program, I'll run it again in the future for sure, now I'm gonna do a bodybuilding program and focus on a cut for a few months.
Awesome work. May I ask your age and weight?
@@Schlook Sure, 28 years, 6"2' and around 250 lbs right now.
@@johnwayne947 Cool. I'm probably starting Bullmastiff next week, although I only have a garage gym so a bit unsure about some of the bb accessories. (I'm not investing in a leg press 😅)
@@Schlook it's my dream to have a garage gym hahah, here where I live it's so expensive, I can pay like 12 years of a gym membership just buying a decent squat rack, a barbell and 250kg in plates lol. I'd probably do something like a bulgarian split squat instead of the leg press.
@@johnwayne947 Well, its not super cheap here either, but I think the value that you get is huge. Also if you have a partner who also likes to train you quickly get more value for it. Plates are the most expensive, so try to keep your eyes open for discount iron plates. Thats what I did and one day I got lucky and got like 190kg plates for around 4-500 euro.
I love that you've carved your niche through more intermediate/advanced training principles. Such a niche demands more long-form content, but you've been consistently uploading 30+ minute videos, which ain't easy. Very grateful for the content Alex, so thank you. Especially when UA-cam is inundated with a SHIT-TON of beginner knowledge of "just do your 5's eat for your goals, and you'll see success, hurr durr!" Keep it up, comrade. 😉 Much love.
Absolutely love the constant output of videos, all with in depth explanation
Glad to hear it!
I’d love a complete bullmastiff book. This program has skyrocketed my strength and size over 9 weeks. I’m not even in peak phase and I’m still hitting PRs almost every session (amrap pr). Bench is slower for sure, but now I’ll be tweaking it like you’ve sugggedted!
out of curiosity (because i'm thinking of running this starting month) how many cycles of the base phase did you do before going into the peak phase and how did you make that transition? i haven't really seen an explanation of that
28:00 - 28:25. This is why I follow Alex. Because he's honest, (as far as I know). Any other UA-camr would've taken this opportunity to blow their program out of proportion like it's the best thing since sliced bread. Outlier's do not a good program make and it's nice to hear that acknowledged. Definitely want to try this one out.
I still refer to Base Strength quite often. I ran your M/R/S program for 12 weeks. It was great. Made some solid gains and learned a lot. Might get into the BM this fall. 🤘🏼
Thanks for this program, been enjoying it a lot for the last few weeks and seeing you release it for free makes me so excited to hear about other people's success with it!
Because you asked for feedback, I'll give my thoughts.
I got through the first wave in the peak phase, but because of personal circumstances (including an awful cold) I had to take a break from lifting for about a month and it didn't make sense to go back to it as I had lost all my momentum. I was having really awesome success with my squat and deadlift while on a cut, I think I lost around 5 lbs bodyweight while going from 315 on squat to 345+ and 365 on deadlift to 405+. If I had finished out the program, I feel like I could have gotten to a 365lb squat and a 425 lb deadlift. Bench and OHP had gains, but they were fairly limited (possibly due to the lack of frequency/volume, but I'm sure trying to do this on a cut didn't help either).
As far as what I liked, volumizing is an awesome form of progression and I'm making it the core of my training right now. You can't not get stronger from 5x12 front squats. I like how the program is laid out generally, I used the peak strength template where I did my main movement and my variation for the alternative lift on the same day, which I think let me go harder overall. I also think the exercise selection is good, I loved BtN press, front squats, pause squats, and SLDLs. I mixed it up with the bench variations because my weakness is off my chest in particular.
As for things I would tweak if I ran it again, I would probably limit the number of AMRAPs somehow. I found it really mentally tough to do an AMRAP every training day for 18 weeks, knowing that I couldn't phone it in because the progression was based on them. For the peak phase I started to set a goal weight for the top end of each wave that I worked up to (e.g. wanting to squat 315x3 at the end of the first wave) and so I think I would keep the AMRAPs for the base phase and switch to percentage increases in the peak phase. I also found that I totally outpaced the progression because I got so much stronger (feature, not a bug). Keeping my original training maxes meant the first week in the peak phase would have been really, really light. I think adjusting between phases is a good idea. I added a deload between the phases as well which was definitely needed.
Overall, I absolutely loved the program, learned a lot from it, and I'm keeping a lot of the principles and lessons in mind as I design my training moving forward. Thanks for all your content!
I used Baby Bully to come back from disc surgery and then went all the way thru the regular Bullmastiff base and peak. It was amazing to come back stronger and bigger than ever.
I love nothing more than a barn burner final plus set of squats
Been having great results with Bullmastiff despite cramming the program into a suboptimal period of my life (super busy and stressed with university):
I just finished the volume phase, and have now been surpassing main lift set PR:s within workouts that include much greater volume than I've ever done before (doing 6x4 with weights I previously did for 2x3 etc) in everything but the squat, which is slowly coming back from a knee rehab, and even that is progressing really well.
I've never been a huge guy or aimed to be one (still doing bouldering etc), but I wanted to allow my body to gain some size for this, and have put on 10 pounds during the first 9 weeks, and don't even feel uncomfortably fluffy, now sitting at 210 pounds or so.
Super stoked to see what the peak phase will bring! Thanks for putting this out, Alex - it's been a lot of fun both for me and my training buddy, we've been working through the program side by side and had a blast.
I would pay so much money for a full bullmastiff book. And also a 70’s powerlifter book! In fact, I’d be interested in books focused on all the base strength programs!
Bullmastiff is a pretty cool program.
Always enlightening to see the mindset and philosophy behind programming and the application of it.
I finished this program a week ago. This is THE best program for anyone trying to get their numbers up on compound lifts. I’m 19yr old 140lbs bw. Started lifting last June. Before the program my bench was 155lbs, squat 205lbs, deadlift 235lbs, ohp 115lbs. I only took 2 rest days because of my high recovery rate because I’m still new to gym. After the program bench went up to 210lbs, squat 300lbs, deadlift 385lbs, ohp 155. I was in shock when I did my pr’s.
I definitely have fallen into the "hyper specific" and have focused solely on SBD in singles, doubles, and triples over the past 3 months. Definitely excited to run this program.
I was planning on running 70s powerlifter a few weeks from now,but this has me wanting to run this. Great video.
I read base and peak strength. I think they are the best lifting books I’ve ever seen. Bromley is the GOAT of communicating how to lift to get gains. I’m gonna try to run through all his programs at some point because they all look really well crafted. Thank you so much!!
My review of Bullmastiff (just finished week 7)
1rm I based the program off:
Squat; 240kg
Bench: 140kg
Deadlift: 220kg
After my top 6x4 on squat, did a pretty comfortable 220kg X 4 and 240kg (my max) X 3. Very pleased and had more in the tank
Benched 120kg X 8 on the AMRAP of 6x4, hit 140kg X 3 for a 2 ct pause.
Deadlift feeling shit because of the fatigue I suspect. Hitting all reps and sets somewhat easily.
Very keen to keep going
My favorite program. It really helped me in my journey so far of S/B/D/P PR's of 200/142.5/235/90 Kg's. Came back to it to for another run starting yesterday, age 51.
Finally gonna around to running this program. I'll be customizing it slightly, and benching twice per week as a main lift, while using OHP as an accessory lift. I'm a smaller dude, and I know from experience that my bench requires lots of volume and accessory work to progress. Ran Candito's 6 week program this summer and by bench absolutely exploded.
Just finished the 3 base blocks, not gonna do the peaking block but results have been amazing. Got my squat from 150 to ~200, bench from 90 to ~100, and deadlifts from 180 to ~210. Genuinely the best program for squats, at least for me, I guess I am a hyper responder of the intense volume you would get from squats in this program. Would recommend this program to anyone, maybe a little more bench volume and on the final block I stuck to 5 sets instead of moving to 6. Also would use 70% as the starting week 1, 75% for block 2 week 1 and 80% for block 3 week 1. 👍
I just finished week 8, and it's the biggest strength gains i have ever seen in myself. I have added 100 lbs to my deadlift and 50 lbs to my squat and bench.
This was one of the programs I really wanted to try, but didn’t for some reason. I’m currently using top set+back off set approach and I’m getting really amazing results. I don’t feel beat because of fatigue over multiple sets, but I can really keep the effort high on the first set that’s allowing me to improve. But someday I would love to try this program!
If what you're doing is working, keep at it!
@@ccat9354 I don’t do top singles then back offs. Top set for the rep range, like right now, I’m in my 8s phase, so the top set is RPE7/8/9 and last 1-2 weeks have been RPE9s, but I’m still making progress
Coming from Greg Nuckols SBS programs I really like the autoregulation with a amrap last set. Worked pretty well for me in the past
Great programme.
All 1rm are up. The % helps you find the weight. Got a little bigger in general but been on heavy bulk.
Thanks Alex for awesome free programme. Will buy his other programme next.
Woah, reviewing your own program! This is like stepping into the matrix! Looking forward to watching this!
Best strength channel for sure.
I'm starting bullmastif this monday. I did 9 weeks of 70s Powerlifter, Added massive amount on the barbell. But I'm novice so I don't jive with low rep work(Also adhd).
18 weeks is tad too much. Bull Mastif looks awesome. I'm excited to start it.
One thing I noticed with 70s Powerlifter was that my grip was failing too often, and I added spinal decompressions and Amrep sets.
Have my email Chief.
Really enjoy the Bullmastiff program - hope the books still in the works
I don't know about other people,but no matter the routine I use,the bench always progresses the slowest
Try ditching the bench for a bit and go ham on weighted dips and OHP. When you get back to the bench you'll spring forward.
This program is solid. Big props for putting it together
Hey, Bromley! My numbers stopped going up after I got my newbie gains so I decided to do a long bulk and run this program. I put on more weight than I meant to but my strength improved a lot. I’m 6’6” and went from 235 lbs to 255lbs.
Bench- 240 to 270
Squat- 250 to 315
DL- 400 to 450
OHP- 160 to 175
I want to compete in strongman and want my overhead press to go up but it didn’t improve as fast as the others. I would be interested to hear what you have to say about that if you have time. Also, I added a load of muscle and look much stronger. I thoroughly enjoyed this program and may run it again in the future. Thanks a lot!
Overhead press is really difficult to improve on. I would start overhead pressing 3x a week. Also for strongman you need to be in shape. With your bodyweight and strength levels I'm guessing you carry a lot of fat. You need to cut and get below 18% body fat
@@mustang8206 He is 6'6. 255lbs is not fat for his height.
A simple variation would also be to just skip OHP and just do bench on the second day with the base number but without the autoregulation.
4 sets of 6, 5 sets of 5, 6 sets of 4 and so on with an amrap on the last set with the prescribed percentage of 65, 70, 75% etc without the autoregulation.
So Autoregulate the bench on day one during the wave as "normal" but not on day 2. That would essentially double your volume.
That's how i'm going to run my next Bullmastiff cycle, but for the OHP, not the bench though :D
This is such a good video for me. I was about to choose between Bullmastiff or 70s Powerlifter for my next bulk. I happened to choose 70s Powerlifter, just did the first squat day (ouch, love the one-day-go-hard). I've not seen many reviews about it on reddit or anywhere, I'd love to hear more about it.
It’s a huge amount of volume
Ran this up till the first wave of the peaking (stopped at the 3 rep maxes) and got great results. Only difference i made were picking variations and accessories that worked for me. My end results below were all done in attempt for new 3RMs.
Bench 80kg 1RM--> 90kg 4RM
Squat 117.5kg 1RM--> 130kg 3RM. (140kg 1RM tested this a week or two after the 3RM test)
Deads 127.5kg 3RM--> 140kg 6RM.
OHP 55kg 1RM--> 62.5kg 3RM.
BW: 74-74kg to 80-81kg.
I'd say the biggest achievement here was programming it so well that i managed to almost fully heal my elbow tendonitis, a wonky right shoulder and weak QL muscles. By the end of it, im pain free for the most part barring the light ache that comes from the elbows that comes now n then.
@@kavinr9358 hey man, thank you for sharing your experience. I'm hoping to get similar improvements on the big 4
@@MrRyyi No probs bro. All the best!
Love it, gonna run it soon. HOWEVER, I'm renaming it to Mastodon in my logs. Cooler name IMO
I'm running this right now. huge game changer great work out plan
Thx for time stamps
Im starting to train again after a year and a half off
The method of progression is appealing a lot in this template.
Im going to try this program like this
Upper A
Bench 4x6+
DB shoulder press 3/4/5x12
DB flies 2/3/4x15
Barbell curl x Tricep pushdown 2/3/4x15
Rear delt rows 2/3/4x15
Neck curl
Upper B
OHP 4x6+
DB bench 3/4/5x12
Barbell front raise 3/4/5x12
BTN press 3/4/5x15
Rear delt x side delts 2/3/4x15
Neck curl
Lower A
Box squat 4x6+
Trap bar deadlift 3/4/5x12
Leg press 3/4/5x12
DB rows 3/4/5x12
Lat pulldown 3/4/5x12
Abs
Lower B
Deadlift 4x6+
Front squat 3/4/5x12
Rack pull 3/4/5x12
Chest supported row 3/4/5x12
Lat pulldown 3/4/5x12
Abs
My tweaks are pretty big, during the base phase I’ve added two extra days per microcycle.
Once extra upper day, one extra lower.
The upper day is long pause bench, same weight as the main bench progression, with less reps, with weighted dips as a developmental variation.
The extra lower day a farmers walk and single leg day.
I am doing a volume/speed/weight set up for my farmers. Volume is just a set weight with a time limit, and I progress by trying to walk further, or add more weight. I have a minimal distance so that I can’t add to much weight.
The speed is just 15m emom, with ascending weight. I time my walks and when they fall under 10 seconds I drop the weight back one and do 5 more runs.
The weight week is obvious, just work up to a max carry for 10m, and when I can’t make the distance I stop.
After the farmers I do SSB split squats following the bullmastif set up as a main lift, and glute bodybuilding work.
I also don’t do any of the prescribed back work, and instead superset all my back work with my bench/overhead variations. It’s just a better use of time. I do a 3,4,5x5 on explosive bent rows as a deadlift warmup.
This is a huge amount of work, and my micros don’t actually take a week, usually more like 8-9 days. I don’t mind this as it stretches out the developmental stage and the auto regulated top sets kind of show how my recovery is going, so with my new baby it’s easier to keep up week to week. My goal is to build a very broad base going to the peak phase, where the farmers will be dropped, or maybe cut right back and added to the deadlift day. The peak phase will be a little more condensed.
Why am I doing this?
The main reason is I really wanted to push my farmers.
Hey thanks Alex! I'm real happy to see this since I've been working Bullmastiff for the last 12 weeks for my squat and had really positive results. I just finished the first wave of the peak phase last weekend and figured I would check in with you and the empire community for any advice I can get. So far my biggest pay off was week 11 during the peak phase/wave one (3x3+) where I was able to hit 450 lbs for 8 reps. Week 12 I hit 475lbs for 3 reps (for the 1x3+) week but was hoping to hit at least one or two more. I feel great during base work, but I'm always worried I'm not doing enough during the peak phase, so figured I would just check in on that one. Basically asking: after all the volume for the 9 weeks of base work, just curious where to not get complacent during peak waves.
Also just want to say this is seriously one of the best lifting channels on youtube. Thanks so much for all the great content!
Running it now with a 5th day (Second Bench Day) will report back after 9 week.
How'd it go???
Adding sets did the trick for me once adding weight linear progression stopped. Base Strength is good reading.
Thank you! As always very useful information. 👍🏽💪🏽
I'm on the last week of bull mastiff and I have to say I love the format, it's my favorite program by far. I didn't make very big gains but I think I fucked up by using 90% of my 1rm. Strongly considering trying it again and starting with my true 1rm
How high were your amraps? It should really sort itself out pretty fast if you start too low.
Eg 65%@4x6+ with a 90% training max becomes 58%. Let’s say you can get 20 reps with 65%, and instead you do 25.
The auto regulation bumps you up to 77% from the extra reps.
If you had stayed at 65%, it would have been 79%.
After a few iterations during wave 1 it would get you where you need to be automatically.
Now I’m just guessing these numbers so they would maybe work a little different but you catch my drift. It’s likely other factors that screwed your up.
Let’s try a more extreme example.
Pick 50% as a training max, do 40 reps with it.
Next week you will be at 36+32.5=68.5% right back where you started.
Or maybe your shitty at reps and gas out easy.
Get 10 on your hard set, and learn that it’s too light but you can’t get anymore. Congrats bro you found a major weakness.
Over the few iterations of one cycle it will still bump you up, and if it’s dead easy I don’t see why you wouldn’t just keep running the progression for another few weeks without resetting u til you started struggling to get a set of 10. Even if it took till week 9, that’s a great improvement in your max set of 10
My brother and I are currently running Bullmastiff and we are really enjoying it. My overhead press has improved the most.
Great video and thank you for writing the program!
Hey coach, i hope u doing well, i want to thank u for the informative videos.
Bromley is The Programming Master
Should I be increasing the weight on the 3rd week going from the 2nd week's amrap set or does the weight stay the same on weeks 2 and 3?
Just starting at 300 bench , 400 dead , 415 bench. Looking to see where program gets me
I am going to blast this starting in october going back on a bulk, I'll update my results at the end.
starting stats: 85kg, 186cm, 10 months into lifting, 21yo;
-bench 110;
-squat 150x3;
-dead 210 beltless/220 with belt;
-ohp 70;
My absolute goals rn are 200 squat and bw ohp for reps, CYA in february.
hows it goin buddy
@@hayden4988 hi, so i ened up with 190 sq, 120 bench, 230dl, 85 ohp at the weight of 91kg. I am going for a short february cut and then i am going to run this programme a 2nd time with slightly modified upper that is more foccused on benching. overall i am very glad with how its ended up
Base strength and the Bible are the best books ever written. Read it so many times. I know understand so many aspects of programming.
My favorite literally was the 70s one. But but for variety I tried most. And even made my own program specifically to increase my bench max without joint pain.
Probably already done but I used a bench chart of my goal max and how many reps at different weights would get you there slowly raising the weight with less reps. The cool part was I would do the number of reps at a lighter weight that eventually equal to my goal max and instead of just adding weight each week I would stay at that weight and each week add an additional set at that weight. The novel stimulus was the increasing adding a set each week for 3 weeks rather than just adding more weight and would move up the scale to a new weight and reps that would calculate to what my 1 rep max would eventually be. It took a while but I stayed healthy and blew my 1 reps max out of the water for not rushing. The adding set volume with the adding weight every 3 weeks did the trick for me.
looking forward to the book!
How should I adjust the weights as I move from Week 3 to Week 4? If my 1RM increased by 20lbs in the first 3 weeks, will we continue according to that number or will I go back to my 1RM at the beginning of the program?
Hello Guys,
Do you know which Bullmastiff is canon the PDF version or the Bootcamp one?
Bootcamp's Bullmastiff has one more Variation movement in the Peak phase Main DL - SQ Variation - DL Vartiation.
Where as PDF one has DL - SQ Variation - Accessory (SQ/DL days for example).
I used to do your bullmastiff program but recently switched off of it and got lazy in the gym a few months ago when I started focusing on martial arts (recovery was suffering heavily especially on pressing days)
Would love to see a program dedicated to athletes (focusing more on athletic capacity and general power output while being able to recover for the sport itself)
The question is how many isolation/accesory exercises should you do per muscle group?
Just started Bullmastiff this week. Excited to see how it treats me. Also, this video feels like a response to my comment from last week. Or it's just a coincidence and I'm being self-centered.
I loved this program. My numbers went:
Squat: 310x1 -> 275x6
Bench: 200x1 -> 175x8
Dead: 360x1 -> 330x6
Press: 115x1 -> 105x8
But more than anything, it is the program that I made me grow the most of the ones I've run so far.
Program looks awesome. Can’t wait to run it after my meet. Quick question on Supp/developmental lifts. Can you switch them after each wave or just stick to one for the 3 waves. Then switch in the peak phase?
I have a question. You perform AMRAPs at a rep range for 4 weeks, on the last week you might not or won’t get any extra reps. Do you use that performance, plug it in a 1rm calculator or do you just run the program entirely and then see your progress?
Could you do a review of the powerbuilder program?
This is the only strength program I have ever wanted to follow. This is a program for people who don't want 13 inch Candido arms. There are a few of these weirdos at my gym. They pretend to be proud of the fact that they have no arms and can deadlift 700 pounds. PS. You are killing it Bromley! I have been here pretty much since you started, and let me say that you have evolved from being a boring intellectual ball of muscle, into a smart yet entertaining ball of muscle.
5:24 DAMMIT!!!
Seems similar to the kizan infinte off season.
Thanks for the great program. I’m currently halfway through the peak phase on my first go through and this is the strongest I’ve ever been. Do you recommend adjusting your training max after finishing the base phase before starting the peak? I really underestimated my squat and deadlift maxes to start the program. Ended hitting my old maxes for about 10 reps on both lifts at the end of peak wave 1. A big part of this was I was able to overcome a decade-long nagging back issue after reading your bracing e-book my dead and squat numbers took off like I never would’ve imagined during the base phase.
FYI I’m 29 years old, 188 lbs. currently and started the program with 270 squat, 240 bench, 330 dead and 125 OHP @180lbs BW.
Great Video! I totally agree on the Facebook forum. Great group there.
I was so hesitant to start it because I figured it had to turn into a shit-show. Really pleased with the group.
@@AlexanderBromley i really wish you would consider using a different group platform....there are so many good ones available. facebook is finished...only the grandma's and gym doods :)are using it...everyone else has moved on
This is going to sound like a stupid question, but what does it mean when it says 12-15 reps
Find a weight that you can do for somewhere between 12 and 15 reps while staying 2-3 reps from failure and increase weight once you can do 15 reps. So let's you do 100 lbs for 3x13 reps. Next week you would try to do 3x14 or even 1x14 and 2x13. Once you're able to do all 3 sets for 15 reps then you would go up to 110 lbs and do 3x12 and work your way back up to 3x15.
However, in this program, for most exercises you are increasing the number of sets each week so you might not be able to do more reps, that's okay just try not to go down in reps. If you ever do start going in reps then it's probably time to deload
Im on the first wave of the base phase right now and I’m loving the program. My question is if I stop after the first wave to run through the first week of Alberto Nunez’s Upper lower split program with my wife to get her started on that, and then resume Bullmastiff the next week. will it be detrimental to my results? She’s a pretty new lifter and I would need to show her a lot of the exercises. Thank you so much for the awesome content your channel has helped and inspired me greatly.
I credit my gains to you and Brian alsruhe
Hello Alexander, first of all thank you very much for your high quality content and always honest and smart point of view. I have downloaded the app and trying to run your program. Wit it I have the same issue as with pretty much any other out there: i am only able to workout twice a week. No way around that. What would be the best approach in your opinion? Just spread it across the available days, making it 24 weeks i strad of 12, or are there any other better ways to modify it or tweak it? Thanks again and all the best. Andre
i've run this one last year, it was pretty damn good
Good video as always.. I just have 1 question.. Do we do an 1rm test after week 9 to determine the percentages to start the second cycle at week 1, or is it automatically determined?
what's your preferred version. the bullmastif from base strength. Seems to be a little different to all three versions in peak strength?
Hi alexader . I started making the bullmastiff program on Boostcamp. I can not do front squat and floor press. What can I do instead ?
Thanks for program ❤
Bruh there’s literally alternatives to both of them on the app😭😂
Floor press- pause bench
Front squat- pause squat
don't know why all the comments on audio fine for me
Considering trying Bull mastiff as it’s pretty much what I’ve done as a power builder anyway for the last 12 or so years. Only issue is I have a new son and can really only dedicate 2 full days to training. What I’ve pretty much been doing is bench/ohp plus accessories triceps/delts/lats/ upper back one day then squats (high bar) / deadlifts on the 2nd with accessories so I’m wondering if I can run the program on a two day split similar to how I’ve been doing my own programming. I’ll admit my lower days haven’t been what they used to after a work injury took a solid 3 years off heavy lower work and mostly did maintenance work.
If I start the program I’ll be starting with a 455 bench/ 495 deadlift and 455ish squat like I said after a back injury I haven’t gone super heavy but it’s finally feeling solid again. In my late 20s I had a 600lb deadlift and a 560 something squat. I’d like to get back to those numbers. I’ve maintained my 455 bench into my late 30s now. I’m fine if it doesn’t see huge increases but I’m excited to see what I can do with real load on my back again
I noticed the program is slightly different here and in your Base Strength e-book. In the e-book the percentages in the main lift are 70, 75 and 80% instead of 65, 70 and 75, but in contrast the amount of sets stays constant at 4 in each wave instead of building up to 5 and 6. Also there's no accessories on wave 3. Which version should I do?
Edit: I guess you explained it in the video that you adjusted the percentages down slightly from Base Strength.
I've got a question about progression in Bullmastiff.
I am an early intermediate lifter, maybe even late novice. My lifts have been excelling quickly since I started lifting about 9 months ago (I've had some minor previous experience). If I wanted to progress faster on this program, could I instead add the extra reps in percent of 1 rm to my 1 rm used to calculate my training loads, and then maintain this increase throughout the longevity of the program instead of resetting each wave? Let me know if this doesn't make sense. Thanks!
Going to try a sort of Bullmastiff BBB (Big but Boring)
Where my accessories are mostly just a close variation of the Main or Developmental lifts for more volume.
Will be challenging managing fatigue, and I lean into taking some weight off rather than missing reps.
Bald Omni Man recommends taking 8% off the bar to keep RPE stable on later sets.
Thoughts?
"you're not gonna wake up and look like kyriakos grizzly"
The sad and disappointing truth :(
This guy gets it
AHHHHHHHHHHH!
Hey Alex, is it just me or the bullmastiff split version on base strenght looks a little bit different? For example, the variation for each lift is done in the same day of the lift itself. Which one should we do?
This, I need the answer too. Does alternating the variation lift with different movement (Bench&BTN press instead of Bench&CloseGrip) really matter?
Thanks for the free program! gonna run it in a few weeks. Only have one question, am i suppose to do the same developmental exercise for 9 weeks in a row during base phase and then a different one for 9 more weeks during peak phase? cheers!
Have you seen improvements yet ?
Yeah good program. Hard on your body tho. If you got any rusty joints I would decrease volume or weight
Started 2 weeks ago and I’m absolutely loving it. Will update here.
Everything is in kgs.
I weigh 110kgs currently. Weight fluctuates a lot as I train MMA & BJJ & Latin dances. I gain and lose around 2 to 3 kgs per week and I’m 188 cm tall at 24 years old.
Started with:
Squat: 165 (maybe more, I’ve done 150x5 before)
Bench: 115
Deadlift: 170-180 (I don’t know my real max as I never deadlift, so I wrote 180, I think I’m around there).
OHP: 80kgs
I’ll update the amrap sets of each exercise here each week
======================
====== Wave 1 =========
======================
Week 1:
Squat: 105 x 13
Bench: 75 x 7
Deadlift: 120 x 10
OHP: 50 x 12
Week 2:
Squat: 117.5 x 14
Bench: 77.5 x 8
Deadlift: 130 x 10
OHP: 55 x 10
Week 3:
Squat: 130 x 6 (hardest day by far, everything felt heavy even 100 kgs rdl felt heavy, my max rdl is 180 kgs x 5)
Bench: 80x12 (best day so far, bench felt very light and is moving very good compared to previous weeks)
Deadlift: 140x6 (my erectors were very sore and I started with front squats which fatigued my legs a lot)
OHP: 60x6 (feel like bench, deadlift and ohp are progressing faster than squats)
2 weeks pause
======================
====== Wave 2 =========
======================
Week 1 (surprised I didn’t lost any strength after a 2 weeks pause)
Squat: 115 x 10
Bench: 80 x 11
Deadlift: 125 x 10
OHP: 55x10
Week 2
Squat: 125 x 7
Bench: 85 x 10
Deadlift: 135 x 9
OHP: 60 x 10
Week 3
Squat: 130 x 5 (best day I’ve ever had in the gym despite not feeling motivated in the beginning of the workout)
Bench: 90 x 7
Deadlift: 140 x 7
OHP: 65 x 7
======================
====== Wave 3 =========
======================
Week 1
squat: 125 x 7
bench: 85 x 12
deadlift: 135 x 9
ohp: 60 x 12 (Doubled my all time PR today: 80 kgs x 2)
Was supposed to start W2 but too many people so I decided to try some PRs instead
Bench pr: 125 kgs (10kgs improvement)
OHP pr: 80 kgs x 3
Week 2
Deadlift: 145 x 10
Bench: 95 x 7
Combined Day 1 & 4 together and I was sick but did good
Squat: 130 x 7
OHP: 65 x 7
Week 3
Deadlift: 155 x 5
Bench: 100 x 5
Squat: 135 x 4
Ohp: 70 x 4
End of the base phase, very excited to start the peak phase. I was able to squat 150 x 5 today and 140 kgs felt light so I did 6 easy reps before trying the 150. Hopefully at the end of the program I can squat 185-195 kgs
======================
====== Peak Wave 1 =====
======================
1 week deload
Week 1
Squat: 130 x 9 (RPE 7.5, everything felt light)
Bench: 90 x 10
Deadlift: 145 x 12 (Im 100% sure that I could’ve done 20 reps but I was very very tired as I did 180 x 5 which was very easy then 200kgs x 2 reps before doing my sets)
OHP: 65 x 6
Week 2
Squat: 140 x 7 (PR)
OHP: 70 x 7 (new PR: 90 kgs x 1 / RPE 9.5)
Bench: 100 x 6 (PR)
Deadlift: 180 x 6 (PR)
Week 3
Squat: 155 x 3 (PR)
Bench: 105 x 4 (PR)
Deadlift: 190 x 4 (PR)
OHP: 75 x 5 (PR)
nice
Keep on updating
Also I am kinda confused how the amrap progression works
@@EduardOncescu1227 for the amrap sets you do as many reps as you can. If for instance for a week you were suppose to do 100kgs x 4 reps and on your amrap sets you do 100kgs x 6 reps. Next week, you’ll add (6-4=2) 2% of your max to the 100kgs
@@imhassane Oh alright so let’s say I add 5% on my 1RM through the amrap. Next week’s I have to keep going up and up, till I don’t exceed the amrap anymore.
Does this progression system also go into the peaking phase?
You mention replacing the developmental OHP lift with a developmental bench lift if your focus is bench. Would you suggest the same lift (like close-grip bench) twice a week or two separate lifts (like close-grip and feet up) once a week?
Huh. I made my own program late 2022 and the split is almost the same (I hit back on all days, different parts and angles). The progression is the difference tho, simple double progression for me.
I was thinking about doing a Jugger naut 16 week block.
Would you recommend bull mastiff over this I really enjoy your approach to training with volumization built in.
Or are juggernaut still similar enough?
Great channel man! 🤩🤩
Very interested in this
Would you be looking in the future towards having an app developed for people to more easily track and run Bullmastiff for the general population?
Hey Coach, is there an upper limit to how much of a jump you would let someone make?
Lets say someone gets 22 reps on week one. That would take them up to 81% on week 2. Would you go with it, or cap them at say a 10% jump for week 2.
Also, Would you make any adjustments to their “70%” reset going into week 4?
I’ll be honest if someone hits that they have grossly under estimated their 1RM imo
In base strength you included additional accessory pressing exercises, but in peak strength it only says tris/bis on upper body day. Did you make a conscious decision to remove that additional work?
Hey Al, quick question:
I don't have access to anything but a rack & a barbell.
Was wondering if it was fine to use RDL & Front Squat as both my lower body accessory, and my Dev DL/Squat.
I'd alternate between doing them as a Developmental & Accessory in line with the program.
do you place a deload week inbetween the waves during the base phase? is the reduction down to 70% on week 4 enough to continue?
Yeah this is the only thing I find confusing
@@h870 i think you deload after the 9th week, so far im going into my third week and i feel pretty good. i think 9 weeks is possible
Skip to 14:30. Between 14:30 and 16:00 of the video as he answers the question.
Essentially the requirment of the deload comes from experience. The volume drops at the start of each wave maybe enough for some lifters to remove the need for a dedicated deload.
@@jasondavids3895 yah makes sense hit the breaks when your body needs it then ajust the program keeping in mind when you needed a deload last
I'm planning to run the Baby Bully program to restart my barbell training from a few years ago. Should I do the Baby Bully until stalling, before moving to the regular Bullmastiff ?
Hi Alex just found out your channels via UA-cam recommended me recently and this program bootcamp and bullmastiff, i just started program today. Can i ask a question if I add upright row on this program what day should i add, thanks alot.
great video.
I tried it after my first dieting cycle when I started maintenance phase before the next. I failed hard. First week was ok, after that I had to decrease training weight on the assistance lift to get to those 12/15 reps per set. I was soar every day.
I though, maybe this program got me in deficit, but no. My weight was consistent all the weeks (I did 3). After that I just change to another program with higher frequency and intensity and lower volume for the next dieting cycle.
Decided that for me (slow gainer, 63 kg atm, male, 34 yo) this is unbearable in my current conditions. Shall try it after all this f***ing dieting down.
Question about the amrap does it stay the same every week? Like if I do 10 reps and I up the weight in the working set do I go back to the original weight to do the amrap? That's how it's coming up on the app
I want to run bullmastiff as a 6 day split while benching 3x a week
So I would be replacing the OHP with a bench session and then adding another one at some point throughout the week
Was thinking Bench session on the first leg day
So it would be:
Legs (squat and bench)
Pull (deadlift)
Push (bench)
Legs (squat)
Push (bench)
Pull (deadlift)
I’m planning on doing a single with around Rpe 7 then back off for some hypertrophy work on the day I’m not doing Bullmastiff built in progression
The other bench day I would do pure hypertrophy work or do an incline press etc.
Please lmk how I could do this
Thank you
I did a cycle inspired by you base strength book. My strength gain after the first 4 week cycle was very pleasing. Even on bench made 6kg increase. But during my second cycle i couldn't sustain the strength. My strength went down (according to the RPE rating). The same weight of first week where i did RPE7 on my top set i nealy failed on in the third week (RPE9,5). I think it is due to high fatigue but why didn't it happen in the last cycle where i did the same.
I have a deload next week, i am curious to see my performance when the fatigue goes down.
Just a little confusion…every 4th week the weight and sets/reps reset…does this mean you reset back to your original 1RM you started at?
The 1rm you put in at the start stays the same throughout, the amrap only affects the percentage used for the next week.