If you want a high intensity functional bodybuilding hybrid program, and aren’t scared of hard work, then this is the program for you. This 12 week program is designed to build muscle mass, as well at total body strength. It is very high volume, and is best for experienced athletes. I’ve also included an optional WOD for functional fitness athletes, as well as much, much more. Keep reading for all the details.
If you’ve read any of my other functional training programs previously, you know I tend to specialize in functional fitness and muscle building programs. In fact, of all the programs I’ve written in the decade or so I’ve been coaching functional fitness athletes, my functional bodybuilding hybrid programs are by far my most popular.
These programs use movements, rep schemes, and rest periods that are scientifically based, and confirmed by my years of personal experience as a coach. This 12 week program is designed to build muscle mass for all types of functional athletes.
Each session in this program includes a specific warm up with movements that are designed to prime your body for the specific training session. As you’ll see, this program is quite varied. Some days there are lighter weights with high workout volume. Other days you’ll be lifting very heavy loads. Here’s a quick overview of the program.
12 Week Advanced Functional Bodybuilding Hybrid Program
- 5 Days per week focusing on entire body compound lifts
- Details like percentage of max, rest periods, and specific warm ups are included in the coaching notes
- Can be done in a well appointed home gym or commercial gym
- Each session can be done in one or two workouts per day
- Ideal for intermediate and advanced athletes with at least a year of hard training in the gym
- You will have access to my proprietary nutrition calculator, body fat calc, and nutrition guide
- All body parts trained at least twice per week
- All energy systems developed
- Two rest days per week
Just like my other premium programs, this one is based off of one of my successful free programs. This program is derived from my 12 Week Free Bodybuilding Program; however, I’ve included much more information in the premium version.
I’m often asked for custom programing, and to be perfectly honest, I don’t do that very much for a good reason. It’s very expensive for athletes, and it takes a lot of my time to write a quality hybrid training protocol. This is why I’ve created my premium programs. They allow me to include all the information I would normally use to coach my athletes one on one, at one tenth the price.
To better understand why this program works so well, we first need to discuss the best aspects of a functional bodybuilding program. After that we’ll review a few sessions of the program, so you can see what you’re getting for your money.
The 3 Mechanisms of Building Muscle
While research is ever evolving, aiming to give a clear picture of the mechanisms of hypertrophy training, it’s clear that there are three primary drivers of muscle gain. In no particular order they are: mechanical tension, muscle damage, and metabolic stress. These three mechanisms explain why this program is different than more traditional bodybuilding programs.
Understanding these principles also allows me a lot of flexibility in my style of training. I use a wide variety of techniques like: high reps, partial reps, max effort sets, and other techniques to influence these mechanisms of hypertrophy. Ultimately this allows greater control to achieve our goals.
Mechanical Tension
Mechanical tension is the easiest mechanism to understand. Your muscles fiber and nerves can accurately measure the amount of tension that they experience. While you must experience some mechanical tension in the form of heavy weight, you don’t need to lift your rep max all day. That’s impossible, and wouldn’t work very well.
Muscle Damage
One of the biggest drivers of hypertrophy is muscle damage. This is caused when the cells in your muscle fibers are damaged as a result of lifting weights, especially higher reps of light weight. This is one of the main reasons you experience soreness in specific muscle groups. Naturally, these damaged cells signal your body to repair them.
It’s important to point out that being sore is an indication that the program is working, but it isn’t sufficient alone. After all, it’s super easy to make someone very sore, but it’s very difficult to write a program that allows you to build the correct amount of soreness over weeks and months. That takes time, and experience.
Metabolic Stress
The most under appreciated driver of muscle growth is metabolic stress. This is the biggest difference between standard bodybuilding programs and a research backed full-body workout program (like mine). I’ve included specific programming, that will help your body build up metabolic stress and their by-products. This is often accomplished by higher reps.
These by-products also signal your body to build more muscle tissue, to mitigate metabolic stress in the future. I’ve used some timed sets, as well as supersets to increase these metabolic by products. Ultimately this is one of the key ingredients to my functional bodybuilding hybrid training protocols.
Now that we’ve covered the basic scientific mechanisms of a good weight training program, let’s see what kind of programming you can expect with this type of training.
12 Week Advanced Functional Bodybuilding Hybrid Program: Example Sessions
This program is five days per week, with a total of 60 sessions. In this section I’m going to show you some sample sessions, and explain some of the reasons why this program works so well. You should expect to spend 60-90 minutes in the gym, depending on if you plan on doing one or two sessions per day.
In this section I will show you session 3 from the first cycle of the program. I will also show you session 48, which is from the final cycle of the program. I think it’s important to show you the contrast between some of my training methods, so you can see what to expect.
Advanced Functional Bodybuilding Session 3
You can see in session 3 that all the movements, as well as sets and reps are listed on the right side. The blocks are color coded which means that green blocks are pressing, and gray blocks are pulling movements. The blue and gray blocks are more or less accessory movements. Check this single session below.
At the very bottom of the right side is the WOD. Recall that this WOD is optional, for those that want a little extra work to maintain their functional fitness conditioning. Because this program has so many lifts, I recommend that the WOD be done in a separate session if that fits in your schedule. It’s also possible to do the WOD on some days and not on others, that’s why it’s optional.
The most important part of this premium program is the coaches notes on the left. This is all the execution info you need to do the program correctly. I’ve include things like percentage of one rep max, as well as rest periods. I’ve also included some scaling options, as well as notes on what to focus on during the lift.
Now that we’ve taken a look at session 3, in the first cycle, let’s take a look at session 48. This will allow us to see some different training methods.
Advanced Functional Bodybuilding Session 48
This session is towards the end of the 12 week program. As a result, you can see a few things are different from session 3. First, most of the movements will rotate between cycles. Exercise rotation is very important for hypertrophy, and building muscle mass. An example of this would be switching front squats for back squats.
Next, you can see that there are supersets, and max rep sets on different functional movements. This allows you to generate more metabolic stress, which drives muscle growth. Don’t be intimidated by this higher volume session, you’ll be ready for it once you get here. The previous cycles will prepare you to take on this monster of a workout.
I’ve also included various options to substitute movements if you don’t have every single piece of equipment for this program. The equipment requirements are pretty low, as I heavily favor compound movements, and free weights.
I’m not scared to program bicep curls, and other isolation movements. It just isn’t possible to fully develop your physique without isolation work. This has the added benefit of building up the supporting musculature for your bigger primary lifts as well.
Get the Premium Program
If you think this is the right functional bodybuilding hybrid program for you, then you can pick up your copy below. If you’re not sure yet, then you can follow this link to the free version of the program. It won’t have all the detail I’ve included in the premium version, but you can try some of the programming to see if you like it.
As you’ll see if you purchase this program, I’ve designed this 12 Week Functional Bodybuilding Hybrid Program to transition nicely into a strength program. In my experience it’s often best to follow up a hypertrophy program with a strength program.
I’ve got two strength focused premium programs. The first is my 9 Week Functional Strength Program. The second is the 9 Week Advanced Functional Strength Program. Follow those links to see which one of those programs is right for you.
Final Thoughts
This program is a lot of work. It will require you to prioritize your recovery, as well as your nutrition. While you don’t need to weigh and measure everything, you do need to eat enough protein and carbs to ensure that you have the energy to continue building muscle.
I’ve included some great resources in the program to help you find the correct macros, and overall caloric intake for your specific needs. If you have any questions or comments then put them below, and I’ll get you an answer. Just think, you’re only a few months away from accomplishing your training goal of building a great physique. Don’t forget to join the email list below, so you don’t miss out any any awesome programs.
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This program is not affiliated with any other company or entity including CrossFit Inc. The program is entirely owned by Tier Three Tactical and we recommend that you exercise under the supervision of a professional coach. It’s also recommended that you seek medical clearance from a licensed medical doctor before starting this program.
