#TheProgram Preface
We’ve never been ones to mock “resolutioners”. There is no more powerful force in the world than an individual with intent. Every great thing that ever happened in all of human history began with a decision from a resolute person. As the page turns on the calendar year, cast aside the opinions of naysayers and focus only on the positive productivity of creating your best self, one well-intended day at a time. This the #TheProgram. Day one of the rest of your life… If you so choose.
On #TheProgram, the goal is to maximize progress in minimal time. As such, you need to train more often, which is not necessarily the same concept as training more. We will increase intensity and increase frequency, while increasing calories. So we will do our best to decrease volume. As is the case with all the most ballistic and productive training programs, you will do less to gain more. I’d argue that you will do more with less, in less time. Heavy Duty, DoggCrapp, Positions of Flexion and all the rest, prioritize training harder but more briefly. I’m suggesting we train harder, more briefly, more often. Why? Because I love to train, I live to train. And at this point in my life, I train as much for my mind, soul, emotions and creative intellect as I do for my body. So let’s get in the gym seven days a week, for a month, do what we need to do quickly and with fewer sets than usual and get the fuck outta there.
Studies indicate that natural testosterone, GH and the cascade of associated anabolic hormone output maxes out at around 45 minutes. Anecdotally, it is probably no coincidence that’s right around the time the mindwanders and the pump begins to dissipate. I’m arguing to make that 45 minutes your target window. And within that time period, focus on training the intended muscle group (and accessories) in the most thorough and efficient manner as possible. Get in. Get out. And feed the machine. No selfies, no texting, no emails. Just you and the iron sparring for 3/4 of an hour. 
The first cycle of #TheProgram will run in the month of January, for 34 full days and nights of training… An annual period of time which we have affectionately named the “Resolution Revolution”. Running a full five weeks from Tuesday, January 1st to Sunday, February 3rd, we will push each other to grow through thirty-four templated sessions. As with #TheGCode books, this is not dogma. Not by the book, word-for-word, set-for-set workouts you must follow to the letter. Instead, these are suggestions made for you from the perspective of one dude and his friends, who have dedicated their lives to the iron. The magic is in the mentality. The spirit of #TheProgram matters more than the protocol itself. But by all means, feel free to adhere to the prescribed system and follow along.
45 minutes of struggle and strain. 7 days a week. For five weeks. Eating more, but better. Talking less. Gaining greatly. And setting the tone for the future. if that sounds good to you, let’s get to work.
No idea in #TheProgram is completely original. So as Big Daddy Kane beget Biggie beget Joey Bada$$, my influences in nearly a quarter century of lifting weights are too many to name.
From Mentzer to Meadows… Weider, Charles Glass, Dante and Dorian… Vince Gironda to Vinny Galanti and unsung gurus like Greg Long, Coach Stan Liskowski, Henri Skiba, Gary Kamil and Big Al Fortney, I have humbly learned from them all. So sitting down at odd hours to bang out my own rough and rogue “training system” is little more than an homage to everyone who paid dues by paving the road upon which I now travel.
I have created 29 of these sessions based on personal preference and life experience, with your bonus Saturday session coming from one of my friends–GCode athletes who have achieved on high levels in their chosen disciplines, and have cooked up their own special workout for you, in order to keep life interesting and to throw a splash of hot sauce on your gains. Take these suggestions and make of them what you will… Run with them, looking back only to see how far you’ve come. Make no apologies for your desire to do better and be more. This is #TheProgram. Our intentions are clear.
