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10/20/Life: The Professional's guide to building strength has gotten even bigger and better
10/20/Life Second Edition
If you like Starting Strength or 5/3/1, you're going to LOVE 10/20/Life!
What is 10/20/Life? 10-and-20 weeks at a time, for a lifetime of positive momentum in training and in LIFE.
This philosophy is a life-long approach for any level of lifter or athlete. Many recreational lifters utilize the protocols in this book to have a better plan in the gym, with no plans to ever compete. On the other hand, many competitive lifters from Beginner to Pro use this approach with great success!
From The Author, Brian Carroll: "With 10/20/Life, my objective is to teach you to get the results you want by coaching yourself-the same way a superior coach would take you through an individualized program in a great gym. We start out with a thorough examination of your weak points because that's how quality coaching works. The idea is to show you what to program, and when, based on your weaknesses in the squat, bench press, and deadlift. This sounds simple, but it's something most people don't even consider, much less put into practice.
From there, the 10/20/Life system takes you through the best injury-preventative warm-up in the industry, followed by a comprehensive layout of coaching cues for each individual lift. From start to finish, you'll learn what to look for and what to do, and you'll learn the reasoning behind all of it. By the time you're finished working your way through these materials, you'll be able to coach yourself, and others, like a pro."
Learn to be your own coach, attack your weaknesses and utilize a proven philosophy that is a guide to permanent success.
This book includes a comprehensive WEAK POINT CHART and WARM-UP INDEX that teach you how to assess your own training and PRESCRIBE THE EXERCISES YOU NEED.
20 YEARS OF RESEARCH AND TRIALS distilled into a program you can actually use!
The plan is an easy five-step process:
1. Choose your schedule. (3 different)
2. Determine your weak points in the main lifts. (use the coaching guide to correct form)
3. Use the Weak Point and Assistance Exercise indexes to custom design your own program. (pick your assistance work as specified in the Weak Point index)
4. Follow the warm-up protocol listed. (4 parts, super easy and custom)
5. Determine your level of readiness, then train according to the system's RPE plan for that day or if you're in precontest, you go off of percentages. (this all depends on where you are in your phase of training)
Just a few of the sizable additions to this "second edition" physical copy:
- New chapter "Deload"
- New chapter "Establishing a baseline"
- New chapter "Speed work"
Other updated features include:
- A reintroduction of the 10/20/Life philosophy and update with AMAZING testimonials - male and female, raw and equipped.
- The 5 main principles of 10/20/Life
- How do you gain a mental edge? Tips to do so
- What 10/20/Life is NOT - putting to rest speculation
- RPE - a different approach
- Nutrition - a closer look with detail
- Coaching cues updated and expanded
- Weak point index updated and expanded
- Combo day updated and modified
- Step-by-step set-up and the pro's and con's of a "wide base bench" vs the "traditional tucked" approach
- New offseason training split "Jumbo Day" for those with little to no time to train or those who can't recover between sessions with a typical split or even the "combo day"
- All new pictures and charts throughout the entire book
- Percentages for pre-contest modified and addressed with suggestions
- Many new exercise and section "breakouts" for explanations of movement, an important note, or simply a summary of the section
- FAQ section with 15 of the most commonly asked questions.
And so much more!
If you like Starting Strength or 5/3/1, you're going to LOVE 10/20/Life!
What is 10/20/Life? 10-and-20 weeks at a time, for a lifetime of positive momentum in training and in LIFE.
This philosophy is a life-long approach for any level of lifter or athlete. Many recreational lifters utilize the protocols in this book to have a better plan in the gym, with no plans to ever compete. On the other hand, many competitive lifters from Beginner to Pro use this approach with great success!
From The Author, Brian Carroll: "With 10/20/Life, my objective is to teach you to get the results you want by coaching yourself-the same way a superior coach would take you through an individualized program in a great gym. We start out with a thorough examination of your weak points because that's how quality coaching works. The idea is to show you what to program, and when, based on your weaknesses in the squat, bench press, and deadlift. This sounds simple, but it's something most people don't even consider, much less put into practice.
From there, the 10/20/Life system takes you through the best injury-preventative warm-up in the industry, followed by a comprehensive layout of coaching cues for each individual lift. From start to finish, you'll learn what to look for and what to do, and you'll learn the reasoning behind all of it. By the time you're finished working your way through these materials, you'll be able to coach yourself, and others, like a pro."
Learn to be your own coach, attack your weaknesses and utilize a proven philosophy that is a guide to permanent success.
This book includes a comprehensive WEAK POINT CHART and WARM-UP INDEX that teach you how to assess your own training and PRESCRIBE THE EXERCISES YOU NEED.
20 YEARS OF RESEARCH AND TRIALS distilled into a program you can actually use!
The plan is an easy five-step process:
1. Choose your schedule. (3 different)
2. Determine your weak points in the main lifts. (use the coaching guide to correct form)
3. Use the Weak Point and Assistance Exercise indexes to custom design your own program. (pick your assistance work as specified in the Weak Point index)
4. Follow the warm-up protocol listed. (4 parts, super easy and custom)
5. Determine your level of readiness, then train according to the system's RPE plan for that day or if you're in precontest, you go off of percentages. (this all depends on where you are in your phase of training)
Just a few of the sizable additions to this "second edition" physical copy:
- New chapter "Deload"
- New chapter "Establishing a baseline"
- New chapter "Speed work"
Other updated features include:
- A reintroduction of the 10/20/Life philosophy and update with AMAZING testimonials - male and female, raw and equipped.
- The 5 main principles of 10/20/Life
- How do you gain a mental edge? Tips to do so
- What 10/20/Life is NOT - putting to rest speculation
- RPE - a different approach
- Nutrition - a closer look with detail
- Coaching cues updated and expanded
- Weak point index updated and expanded
- Combo day updated and modified
- Step-by-step set-up and the pro's and con's of a "wide base bench" vs the "traditional tucked" approach
- New offseason training split "Jumbo Day" for those with little to no time to train or those who can't recover between sessions with a typical split or even the "combo day"
- All new pictures and charts throughout the entire book
- Percentages for pre-contest modified and addressed with suggestions
- Many new exercise and section "breakouts" for explanations of movement, an important note, or simply a summary of the section
- FAQ section with 15 of the most commonly asked questions.
And so much more!
- GenresFitness
156 pages, Paperback
Published January 19, 2017
70 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Brian Carroll
104 books1 followerBrian Carroll, a Master of Arts with Honours in Australian History, freelance writer, specialising in Australian history, economics and politics.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 6, 2022
I'm going to be a little annoying and leave a review because I don't really like the one star review on the book and all the ratings that are non-specific.
First of all, just because a book is short/written in an easy-to-read manner doesn't mean that the information is not worthy of the money or being in a book. "It's a pamphlet"... SO? This book was worth every dollar. People drop hundreds more on trainers that I can squat/deadlift more than. (I can't bench more than anyone, so I'm not bringing it up. Anyway.)
For a clean $26 new, he's giving away A LOT including charts to plan out your 10 week programs.
Some of you self-help junkies would rather read 300 pages of information and do nothing than a neat and tidy manuscript that gets your butt together quickly. There was absolutely no need for this book to be longer. Brian was concise.
Are you a whiner or a powerlifter? Because a whiner will not get very far with Brian Carroll's writing style/philosophy and probably not his program (I'm reviewing the book, not program).
I definitely don't agree with every single "mindset" he represented in the book but it's hard to argue that the training philosophy here "can't" work without trying it. He has the numbers to show he can do what he says.
His program is definitely aligned with what other strength training "more scientific" books say, but instead of breaking down the charts that let's be real, 99% of lifters cannot even understand, he just gives you the program, the mindset behind it and LOTS of great cues for the three main lifts.
Some of this stuff was definitely above me as a non-professional, but if you've been lifting 1-2 years, there's something in here for you and there's nothing in here that's too dangerous to try with that much experience under your Inzer 10mm lifting belt ;)
The main differences here between "conventional" wisdom/how I train: more frequent deloads, accessories that work on form/speed more often rather than just muscle growth, 10 week training cycles, and he obviously has the mindset of a highly competitive athlete which I do not.
He also has a no bullshit attitude towards nutrition and low intensity cardio that a lot of power lifters need to hear through a megaphone.
First of all, just because a book is short/written in an easy-to-read manner doesn't mean that the information is not worthy of the money or being in a book. "It's a pamphlet"... SO? This book was worth every dollar. People drop hundreds more on trainers that I can squat/deadlift more than. (I can't bench more than anyone, so I'm not bringing it up. Anyway.)
For a clean $26 new, he's giving away A LOT including charts to plan out your 10 week programs.
Some of you self-help junkies would rather read 300 pages of information and do nothing than a neat and tidy manuscript that gets your butt together quickly. There was absolutely no need for this book to be longer. Brian was concise.
Are you a whiner or a powerlifter? Because a whiner will not get very far with Brian Carroll's writing style/philosophy and probably not his program (I'm reviewing the book, not program).
I definitely don't agree with every single "mindset" he represented in the book but it's hard to argue that the training philosophy here "can't" work without trying it. He has the numbers to show he can do what he says.
His program is definitely aligned with what other strength training "more scientific" books say, but instead of breaking down the charts that let's be real, 99% of lifters cannot even understand, he just gives you the program, the mindset behind it and LOTS of great cues for the three main lifts.
Some of this stuff was definitely above me as a non-professional, but if you've been lifting 1-2 years, there's something in here for you and there's nothing in here that's too dangerous to try with that much experience under your Inzer 10mm lifting belt ;)
The main differences here between "conventional" wisdom/how I train: more frequent deloads, accessories that work on form/speed more often rather than just muscle growth, 10 week training cycles, and he obviously has the mindset of a highly competitive athlete which I do not.
He also has a no bullshit attitude towards nutrition and low intensity cardio that a lot of power lifters need to hear through a megaphone.
March 13, 2019
This is a great book for training philosophy
I bought this book after I read "The Gift of Injury" and the training philosophy is awesome. Unlike most programs out there today, this book focuses on lifting for the long term, and not going all out for a short time. This book will help you lift for many years to come. The tips and cues in this book are incredible. I definitely recommend this for any lifter who wants to get stronger and lift longer.
I bought this book after I read "The Gift of Injury" and the training philosophy is awesome. Unlike most programs out there today, this book focuses on lifting for the long term, and not going all out for a short time. This book will help you lift for many years to come. The tips and cues in this book are incredible. I definitely recommend this for any lifter who wants to get stronger and lift longer.
May 4, 2023
Practical straight forward advice
The author's voice comes through loud and clear while reading this manual (his disdain for the fitness industry is front and centre). One thing I got out of it was a unique take on visualisation (something I've read about in numerous books but have had lacklustre results with) which is Worth the read alone.
The author's voice comes through loud and clear while reading this manual (his disdain for the fitness industry is front and centre). One thing I got out of it was a unique take on visualisation (something I've read about in numerous books but have had lacklustre results with) which is Worth the read alone.
August 7, 2022
Short book but 90% of that is filled with useless personal stories.
The remaining 10% of the content is not more than a small blog post.
The remaining 10% of the content is not more than a small blog post.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews