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The first thing you'll notice about this book is Jeff's writing style...very informal yet very informative. It's not jammed packed with science lessons - it's easy to read and understand, which is always a plus. The rationale behind the structure of the program rests on 8 "Anabolic Factors," as Jeff refers to them as. I'll briefly go through each one here with regards to how it impacts the effectiveness of the program. This section is right on the money - if you're familiar with overtraining and deloading of the body, you're already familiar with the concept. Basically, the idea is to stress the body until you hit that point near or at overtraining, then back off and let the body recuperate and rebuild. This is a powerful concept and Jeff uses it very effectively in his program, not only with the training program but also by applying this to the dietary considerations of the program (more than in Factor 8 - THAT is probably the most controversial aspect of the whole program).
Factor 2 – Body Part Training Frequency This section is where we'll disagree on. Jeff suggests not training a bodypart more than once a week, in order to allow for full recovery before training it directly again. He does provide a rationale for his argument but experience suggests this once-a-week loading schedule is not a "set in stone" rule. You CAN and should train your bodyparts more frequently, especially if you're using exercises that overlap, e.g. deadlifts and squats both stress similar muscle groups yet you could work deadlifts on a "back" day and squats on a "leg" day and still call it working a bodypart once per week. This is definitely not a make-or-break thing with the program, though. It's not necessarily wrong to train a bodypart just once a week.
Factor 3 – Training Session Length We're totally in agreement in session length - excessively long training sessions tend to be counterproductive.
Factor 4 – Exercise Selection And Form Jeff's program focuses on compound exercises over isolation exercises, which is definitely on par with what we recommend. He has a quote that I really like with regards to the system muscle-building effects of compound vs isolation exercises... “Think of it this way…If your local 9-1-1 OPERATOR received a call about an ISOLATED FIGHT happening in a park and a call about a RIOT happening downtown, which incident do you think she would dispatch assistance to first? Get the picture?”
Factor 5 – Number Of Repetitions And Weight Rep ranges and weight selection is also section we're a bit in disagreement on, though too crazy. Higher rep ranges do have their purpose, though we're more inclined to hit lower rep ranges than what Jeff recommends. Again, it's not necessarily wrong, just different and may actually be more effective for you.
Factor 6 – Repetition Speed Nothing controversial here - good solid recommendations. Again, we're a bit different in this department, believing that instead of specifying a tempo for each rep, you should move the weight as quickly as possible on the concentric portion, without resorting to poor form.
Factor 7 – Rest Cycles Jeff has planned out all the rest periods in the training program and included a good amount of info on recovery outside the gym. By decreasing your rest periods while increasing your workload, you're going to force that hyper-adaptation we metioned earlier.
Factor 8 - Diet HERE is where it gets a bit more controversial. The diet in the "Optimum Anabolics" program is based on periods of eating very low amounts of protein, setting up a rebound similar to when you carb-restrict then carb load. His contention is that by depriving the body of protein, your body is put into an emergency state where testosterone and growth hormone are released by your body in an effort to deal with this situation. Training and not eating much protein definitely WILL cause a reaction in your body! Jeff has mentioned that he has uncovered research supporting the effectiveness of this protein deprivation cycle. Nick Nilsson (our Director of Online Operations and bodybuilding author) actually uses a very short term protein deprivation day in his programs and has seen good results with it. Jeff's protein deprivation is longer term than that but does give you SOME protein during that time (taken post-workout). Could it be effective? There is some logic behind it and it could be worth trying out, to see if it's something that works for you. It might be just what you need to get past a muscle-size plateau. The rest of the dietary program is solidly put together with more conventional recommendations. Good info there. The section on supplements is also nicely done - nothing crazy and the supplements are solid selections.
CONCLUSION: Overall, this is a well-thought-out program that definitely has the potential build some excellent muscle mass. We don't fully agree on every point, but there's nothing in the actual training program that should stop you from trying it out. The general mechanism of action is very effective and well-proven. The dietary portion of the program might throw you off a little bit as it may be tough to wrap your head around the protein-deprivation concept. But definitely read through it and see if it makes sense to you. It could be the shot you need to get your muscle growth moving in the right direction.
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