salads are always assuming that you are using Olive Oil and Vinegar. I don't really recommend other dressings for obvious reasons (poor nutritional value and too much sodium/artificials/etc)

first off, what multi V did you get? most of the time you'll want to take a "one a day" twice a day...one morning and one evening.


as far as fish oil goes...you need to take 2-3x with every meal that doesn't have adequate good fats....example....chicken/broccoli meal would require it....whereas salmon and green beans would not.

On average, I take approx 12-16 fish oil pills per day, in addition to a ton of good fats in my food

Hey there.


1. first off, why are you interested in the zig zag approach? just want to try something new? or do you have specific goals in mind?

2. Secondly...the 6 day split with cardio (primarily for cutting and volume enhancing/maintaining) is pretty basic and effective...please read the bottom of this post for the plan.

3. Thirdly, don't count reps when you are doing breakdowns and failure sets....the goal is muscular failure...and when you count reps you shortchange your potential. Just simply do as many reps as you can with a specific % of weight. Example, for set 1, you WILL count reps because its a warmup (usually 30% of max vs 15 reps). After that, set 2 should be close to 80% of max for as many reps until failure, then take 20% off and keep going, then another 20% off of that and so forth until you get all the way back down to virtually what you started with.


4. VPX zero impact bars are my absolute favorite for quick meals on bulking when a full food meal is not available. They taste amazing, have ZERO soy protein, and are made entirely of good stuff (no artificials or other garbage) They are worth it in my opinion, definitely.



Ok and now for your 6 days split for cutting and volume enhancement/maintenance:


Mon - chest/bis + cardio
tues - back/tris + cardio
weds - legs/shoulders + cardio
thurs - chest/bis + cardio
fri - back/tris + cardio
sat - legs/shoulders + cardio
sun - CARDIO ONLY

Each exercise will be performed in the way of 5 total sets....1st set being a warmup set, 2nd set jumping to 80% of weight and then failure, drop 20% off of that and go until failure, drop 20% off that and go till failure, and drop a final 20% off and go until failure for a total of 5 sets. Take no more than 12-15 seconds rest between sets....the less rest the better. Do plenty of FORCED REPS...negatives....and breakdowns. You are working until total muscular destruction.

Mon - Flat Bench, Incline Bench, Decline Bench, DB Flies, Preacher Curls, Seated Hammer Curls, EZ bar 21's

Tues - wide grip Lat pulldowns, cable rows, bent over BB rows, T-bar rows, skullcrushers, cable tricep pulldowns, and DB kickbacks

Weds - Squats, Laying leg curls, DB lunges, Leg Extensions, Standing Calf Raises, DB Front and Lat Raises (3 sets of each), DB shrugs, seated arnold presses, behind-the-head military press.

Thurs - incline DB press, flat bench DB press, DB pullovers, Cable flies 21's, Standing DB curls, High Cable curls, Olympic bar curls (standing)

Fri - Good Mornings, close grip lat pulldowns, DB lawnmower rows, Cable Rope Pulls, Close-Grip Dips, Cable Kickbacks, DB Tricep Extensions (seated)

Sat - Hack Squats, Seated Leg Curls, Leg Press, Donkey Calf Raises, Seated DB shoulder press, Straight-Arm cable pulldowns (Dickersons), BB shrugs

Sun - CARDIO ONLY

Every day, do 20 mins of HIIT cardio BEFORE hitting the strength training, then follow up with another 20 mins of HIIT post-strength training.

you can do either treadmill, eliptical, or stationary bike (alternating these is fine)....or you can swim/jog/bike also using HIIT format.


just make sure to do a total of 40 mins (20 pre and 20 post) of HIIT.



for sunday - do 1 hour of cardio in two 30 min intervals, also HIIT in style.



This plan is primarily for a solid cut with maximized muscle volume saving

just wanted to ask your opinion, cause when i look at the split you got hear i dont see enough muscle regeneration and i see a mad potential for overtraining.... you do chest / bis and back triceps so the muscles never have time to recover and then you go right into it again a day later.... the reason i ask this question is from any book ive read on bodybuilding or any type of magazine they all recomend a 48 hour gap between using that same muscle a second time. Opinion?

the zigzag diet interests me for several reasons.

The first would be avoiding the monotony of the standard cutting and bulking cycle
Second, in my hypothesis it brings on muscular gains while still, at times, allowing for a caloric deficit which minimizes fat mass gain, should even promote fat loss, though not to the extreme of a weekly cut cycle

Putting on muscle is a priority, and fat loss is just behind it, though if I can successfully do both together, then what the hell, may as well do it

Hey there.

THIS IS NOT FOR MUSCLE GROWTH AND STRENGTH GAINS!

This is a CUTTING ROUTINE which should be performed to cut bodyfat while maintaining muscle VOLUME.


This exercise program works best in conjunction with a ketogenic diet (extremely high fat, moderately high protein, and 0-25g carbs per day). When you do this, plus get enough sleep every night and supplement properly (BCAA/Glutamine/multi/etc) you will see MINIMAL muscle wasting, and retain a thick full muscular feel and look compared to normal cutting routine where muscles can go flat and strength dramatically reduces.

I hope that alleviates any confusion! =)

You should probably try the "Anabolic Diet" to match your proper goals. The reason I say this is because anabolic diet will DEFINITELY increase your strength and muscle volume, while at the same time very slowly reducing bodyfat (approx 1lb per week). In addition, you get 6 days of eating a lot of amazing foods just no carbs...and then a 7th day of eating a lot of carbs and cheat foods.

It must be performed in conjuction with my above workout plan...and also with 8-10 hrs of sleep per night, and proper supplementation (if you need to know what supplementation to go with, let me know and ill draw you up a supplement plan as well).

I just really try to keep people away from zigzag diet...it works for some, but overall I feel that it's not nearly as good as other options for your exact goals.

So let me know if you want to go anabolic or zigzag anyway and I'll draw you up the plan accordingly. I highly recommend the anabolic approach, but it's your choice. let me know!

I think I would like to hear about both of which you speak. My interest in Zig zagging reflects my desire for balanced nutrition

though I would be willing to try this anabolic diet I am just unfamiliar with witholding carbs

Raynor damn i think i might jst have to hire u as personal help

but my sister ( the same one ) wants to do another compatition 112 days from now.

i've always wrote out here workout plans and rep ranges and everything. But this time im not quite sure, should she be doing a cut program still ( full muscular failure ) ? or should she be lifting hvy/strength like for a little while?

iso ur opinion
thanks friend.

This post was edited by TheOak on Jul 5 2010 12:03pm

The zigzag approach will yield fat/water loss during cutting phase, and fat/water gain during the eating phase....heres the problem with zigzag. Unless you are a hardgainer or have a tendency towards rapid fat loss, you will not see a cutting result. Instead you will see the body storing all the excess glycogen from cheat days, and excess glycogen from the 3x carb per day and thus even in a deficit calorie enviroment, fat losses will be sparce because the body still uses glycogen, then muscle, then fat as its energy source.

The reason I recommend the anabolic diet is because it makes the body shift its energy source from glycogen, then muscle, then fat.....to fat first, then muscle, then glycogen.

The reason this is the best approach is simple. You will be eating a diet rich in fats which will support your body's energy levels and sustain them over a greater period of time than carbs (fats are slow digesting and provide more energy per gram than carbs 9cal vs 4cal).

In addition, the goal of cutting is to eliminate BODY FAT....which means during periods of not eating (the 3 hours between meals) or the time at the gym when you are already in ketosis, your body is directly buring bodyfat stores instead of muscle or glycogen. It does this because you have reconditioned it to use fat as energy, and not glycogen or muscle. Your body tissue contains a good amount of fat which can be readily used as energy as a result. HOWEVER, if you do not take in enough fat throughout the day, your body will get confused and start catabolizing muscle for energy instead....so you have to make sure to keep fats as the total priority.


Anyway, with this info in mind...here is a breakdown example:


1. Zigzag pros: a lot of carbs, a lot of cheat days, good bulking results.
2. Zigzag cons: fat loss very difficult for most people (hardgainers and people who have no sensitivity to carbs/sugar will benefit the most), diet gets complicated to follow along with, overall health can suffer (fatigue, laziness, chronic sickness).

1. Anabolic pros: a lot of really good foods, very rapid fat loss with little muscle wasting, ability to build muscle during cutting
2. Anablic cons: no carbs for 6 days a week, initial ketosis phase lasts up to 14 days and feels terrible.


In totality, I really think the anabolic approach is best. But now that we've had a chance to discuss it...what would you rather try to go with?