These are the principles of training that I believe in. At some point in your training career you must take a stand for what you believe and stand firm. Over the past 20-plus years, the following principles have stood the test of time, and I believe they can make any program successful:

• Start Too Light
• Progress Slow
• Set Personal Records (PR’s)
• Use Multi-Joint Exercises

Must have a working knowledge of the 5/3/1 Training Program and the Beyond 5/3/1 Training Program.

Since the original 5/3/1 book came out, I’ve been working to improve the program. The program was originally written for selfish reasons. I wanted a simple and easy program to follow, a program that held true to the principles in which I believed. Most importantly, I wanted a program that I was excited to actually use.

I question whether many programs written by "authorities" have even been used, either by themselves or anyone else. These programs exist simply to waste paper, space, and time. But when you have your own body on the line, you tend to put a lot more effort, time, and care into designing a program. I’m sure that at some point I'll be forced to use test subjects for my research, but until then I will burn this body of mine until I cannot stand.

The changes and tweaks in this book represent years of training, research, injuries, and mistakes. Hell, there's even a new program – Beyond 5/3/1. When I first wrote the original program in 2008, I had no idea that I'd be able to expand the program into what it is today. After 25+ years of training and writing programs, I still have that burning desire to create something new, unique, and awesome. When you lose that, you lose life.

The principles of the 5/3/1 program kept me grounded. I made sure that every variation stayed true to these principles: emphasize big, multi-joint movements, start light, progress slow, and set personal records. The tweaks in Beyond 5/3/1 all stay true to these principles – the changes just involve the programming.

All the programs and improvements in the book have one goal: to help you lift more weight. There are changes to the program with intensity (Joker Sets and the Beyond 5/3/1 program for example), volume (see some of the variations of the Boring But Big and First Set Last) and changes to the overall program (Spinal Tap, 75/85, and Advanced 5/3/1).

If you're interested in fitness and want to get toned, this is not the book for you. This is a book designed for real lifters that want to push their own training and their PR’s up to the next level.

When Tim Patterson first asked me to try the Plazma™ protocol, I was skeptical. I know John Meadows uses it and swears by it, which is usually good enough for me. But the stories I kept hearing about Plazma™ seemed "too good," and I simply wasn't convinced. I had to see it work for me.

Now that I've been using the stuff for several months, there's no doubt left in my mind. The Plazma™ protocol is amazing! And anything that allows me to train harder and reach my goals quicker is worth its weight in gold to me. In fact, I've worked with Biotest to help determine the best supplementation for my own training.

Here's a typical training day and how I take the supplements from Biotest:

There are three things that I noticed when using Plazma™ and Mag-10®:

First, you'll no longer experience much, if any, soreness from your training. I even went off Plazma™ and trained without it to see if I would notice a difference, and I did.

There's no doubt in my mind that Plazma allows you to train without getting sore. I even had my wife try the protocol to see if she noticed a difference. She had the same experience as I did.

The second thing that we both noticed is Plazma™ allowed us both to train longer. This was especially apparent when we did Prowler work.

Lastly, Plazma™ and Mag-10® help your muscles recover, not your joints. For many of us who train heavy, joint soreness is the determining factor in your training. So be careful, because Plazma™ and Mag-10® will tell your muscles one thing but your joints will tell you another. You'll have to remember that it doesn't give you license to do more. Use it to do what you usually do, but only BETTER. In other words, use Plazma™ and Mag-10® to bring what you're currently doing to a higher level.