This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/weightroom by /u/BetterThanT-1 on 2024-03-23 21:32:13.

Summary

General Gainz Body Building (GGBB) was created by u/gzcl - as you can tell by the name, it’s based on his General Gainz framework, but tailored towards body building goals. You can find the full program structure here. The reason I’ve added “Lite” is that I ran a lighter version of it, to manage my circumstances. More on that later.

Overall - I had a great time.

Background

M28. Started lifting in university, the most structure I ever got at that time was running Stronglifts 5x5 a couple of times. For a beginner like me it was okay, and it didn’t interfere with my primary activity - volleyball team. I continued lifting sporadically during the following years. I was always active, but I wasn’t always lifting weights.

This changed 2 years ago when I started building my home gym. In the beginning, I didn’t really follow any program, just did conditioning style workouts with barbells and dumbbells. Last year in June, following in the footsteps of u/gzcl, I decided to start exercising every day. I’ve maintained this so far, for 291 days, as of writing.

In October, I started the GGBB template, along with my bulk. The reason I ran a “lite” version is because of my life stage: I’ve got a full time job with two kids under 3. It suited my circumstances more to fit a short and focused workout every day, rather than dedicate days to longer sessions.

The Program

GGBB isn’t really a program, it’s a program framework, and I won’t reiterate the structure - Cody’s blogpost is excellent. I did 2 changes. First, I halved the number of supersets in a workout (2 instead of 4), and midway through, I also halved the number of follow up sets (2/3, instead of 4/5/6). This resulted in workouts in the 20-30 min range - exactly what I was after.

The best thing I liked about the GGBB frameworks is that it is truly a long-term programming structure - you can do it consecutively for years, and still have plenty of variety and growth, along with an ever-increasing number of PRs.

I had 4 workouts in a week:

  • Arms
  • Back+legs+abs
  • Chest+biceps
  • Legs+abs

I also had a 5th optional workout for shoulder stuff. I wrote a program critique post in r/gzcl with the exercise selection, feel free to check it out if you’re interested.

The rest of week I did:

  • Easy 5k runs
  • Easy stationary bike rides
  • Conditioning: Humane Burpee, Death by Burpee, Dead by Deadlift, etc.

My goals and constraints:

  • I wanted to grow my arms, chest, back and calves. Upper legs were not a priority, as well as shoulders (from a size point of view) - my shoulders dwarf my arms.
  • I’ve got a home gym, which makes it more accessible to work out every day. However, I don’t have a squat rack or bench rack (yet), so I had a more limited exercise selection.

Results

In terms of physique, which was my primary goal, I put on a decent amount of size. I started out at 85kg and finished at 95kg. I filled out most of my T-shirts. My chest, arms and back grew the most. My legs and glutes also grew substantially, at least a pants size up. I didn’t start the bulk lean, so I definitely have some cutting to do now, but once I’m done, I’ll hopefully be in a better spot than last year.

Can’t really share any significant SBD numbers since I couldn’t do squat/bench and wasn’t chasing strength specifically. I set lots of rep PRs though, particularly in the deadlift, reaching 10x110kg. I tested my DL max after the program, and pulled 147.5kg relatively easily. This was at least 10kg over the latest single I had done years ago. I couldn’t test more - this was all the weight I had on the bar.

Here is where some of my working lifts (2-3 reps left in the tank) started and ended:

Lift Start End
Deadlift 6 @ 80kg 10 @ 110kg
DB flyes 10 @ 12.5kg dumbells 13 @ 20kg dumbells
DB lunges (per leg) 16 @ 17.5kg dumbells 10 @ 22.5kg dumbells + 10kg vest

Who Should Run It?

GGBB as prescribed by Cody? If you want to put on extra size, or develop a lagging body part, or you are interested in trying out Volume Dependent Intensity Progression type program, or you just want to regularly get eye-watering pumps - go for it! I think you will see lots of benefits.

The “Lite”, stripped down and bastardised version I did? Do it if your life circumstances require it. Maybe you have a baby, maybe the only time you have to lift is a 30 min lunch break. You know your situation best. But it is damn sure you won’t be getting the full benefits. This was a trade-off I was okay with. I chose to consistently get 70-80% of the benefits, instead of regularly failing to get 100% and ending up with 0%.

To close off - thank you u/gzcl for an amazing resource, and I hope you can forgive me for mutilating it like I did.