MY JAMIE LEWIS EXPERIENCE PART 2: "FEAST, FAMINE AND FEROCITY" AND THE RESULTS

 Readers, part 1 of this got released a while back, so for a refresher, be sure to re-visit here

https://mythicalstrength.blogspot.com/2023/05/my-jamie-lewis-experience-part-1-apex.html

Now onto part 2!

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CHANGE 2: “FEAST, FAMINE AND FEROCITY”

I had no idea when I bought this that it was literally going to change my life. I now get chills seeing it.

It was practically kismet when Jamie released the Feast, Famine and Ferocity e-book, itself a re-packaging and update of an article series he’s previously released on his website.  I’ll do a review of the book package itself sometime in the future, but a quick summary is it’s a 50 page e-book where half of it is dedicated to the aforementioned program series of “Famine” and “Feast” while the other half is a republishing of his Bruce Randall article.  The later article IS a fantastic read, and I’d read it many times beforehand, but it’s worth appreciating that it’s really more a 30 page e-book in this regard.  That said, much like I wrote about in my review of Ben Pollack’s “Think Big”, a short e-book where every page is gold is SO much more valuable than 300 pages of fluff, and Jamie’s book definitely achieves that standard.

I genuinely had no intention of changing programs when I bought the book: I just am such a fan of Jamie that when he sells stuff I buy it so I can give him support.  However, upon reading it, I new my fate was sealed, similarly to the first time I read “Super Squats” and was all keyed up to begin my 6 weeks on that program once the book was done.  The primary draw was the fact that the “Famine” diet was VERY similar to the Apex Predator modification I was currently following.  The primary difference is that Famine has NO solid meals whatsoever: all shakes.  I wasn’t about to do THAT, but I did permit myself a few “all shakes” days in the 2 weeks that I followed the program, primarily because my schedule would permit for that…which meant, specifically, my wife would be out of town and I wouldn’t be missing any meals with her.  If she’s around, I’m not going to skip a meal with her to have a shake.  Sorry: priorities.

Seriously: don't be this person

I’ll then go on to say that, when I finished the entire book, I thought “Yeah, Famine fits, but this diet has been going so well that I’m not gonna do ‘Feast’.  I’ll do Famine and then something else”.

Yeah: that fell quickly to the wayside.  Jamie’s programming was so solid that I couldn’t wait to see it all the way through.  So with that, allow me to discuss both programs in a broad scale before going on to discuss each in detail.

THE PROGRAMS IN GENERAL

"Chaos is the plan: the plan"

I’m drawn to Jamie’s programming primarily because he doesn’t rely much on percentages and he encourages experimentation.  His programming is far more ideas and structures than an actual set routine, and the focus is on effort.  What was even more awesome about both Feast and Famine was that Jamie offers a 3-4 day variant and a 5-6 day variant of both programs, so there’s a LOT of flexibility there.  Those 3-4 day variants are LOADED to make it all work out, so, amazingly, I found myself drawn to the 5-6 day variants instead.  Since I get up early to train, I’m able to train 5 days a week without issue and didn’t need to cut down to 3-4 days, despite the fact I’ve written about the value of lifting weights 3-4 days a week to put on size.  It helps that, at this point in my training, putting on size wasn’t the concern: I had Super Squats for that.  For now, the goal was simply to experience the training and see what happened.

**AWESOME ELEMENTS OF FAMINE AND FEAST PROGRAMS**

Because combining 2 awesome things can often result in exponential awesomeness rather than linear

* Both programs feature a day Jamie refers to as “Dealer’s Choice”, which is as it sounds: do what you want.  For Famine, it’s up to 90 minutes.  For Feast, there’s no set time and Jamie even permits you to make it a day off if needed (which, despite all the increased cals, you may still need: I’ll detail that more later).  Either way is brilliant, and I think EVERY program needs this.  Trainees are stupid.  I’m including myself in there.  Trainees will ALWAYS sneak stupid crap into a program.  Pet lifts (curls, of course), stupid human tricks and gimmicks, “weak areas”, etc.   Trainees will inevitably wreck a program because they’ll change it up too much to fit in all this extra stuff that they end up reducing the effectiveness or flat our violating the intent, turning accumulation into intensification or GPP.  By having ONE day of the program where you just do what you want, you can get it all out of your system and then get back on program.  It’s the “cheat meal” of training.  During Famine, I’d throw in ALL that extra stuff I was doing before: Poundstone curls, lateral raise deathsets, belt squats, Kroc Rows, mat pull ROM progression, etc.  During Feast, my schedule was nuttier, so I often would just continue the ROM progression cycle and, if I had time, throw in some conditioning work and call it good.  But in both cases: my program compliance was MUCH stronger compared to programs I’d run in the past.

* Daily physical requirements/daily work.  Prior to starting up the program, I had my own daily work, which was: 50 chins, 50 dips, 50 pull aparts, 40 reverse hypers, 30 GHRs, 20 standing ab wheels, and often some neck work.  I’d get this done no matter what.  Jamie prescribes a daily 2 mile walk, outside, no matter what, along with 300 squats and 300 push ups.  I balked when I first saw that…and, in turn, loved that I had a new challenge in front of me.  And yeah: the first 2 days, I was SORE AS HELL, but upon adapting, I saw some AMAZING results.  The push ups and squats have honestly been transformative, as I’m seeing veins all over my quads and shoulders, but honestly, that daily 2 mile walk outside has probably been one of the most positive things I’ve ever done for myself.  It’s a chance to clear my head, get in some vitamin D, and bring back some health into my life.  Having it be a daily requirement and forcing myself to come up with ways to fit the walk into my day has been awesome, and my dog is appreciating all the time outside as well, and it’s gotten me to break out my weight vest again to add in even more resistance opportunities.  And that 2 mile walk has become a mere minimum, as I find myself becoming “activity seeking”, and will often get in 2 miles unweighted walking and then an extra 1-2 miles with a weight vest on as well. 

* On the daily work, Jamie is adamant that “this is not part of your workout-it is part of being a human being”.  I appreciate the sentiment there.  Being able to move your body through space is huge.  That said, I was big on making the push ups and squats INTO a workout when possible.  Toward the end, my go to was to use Tabata intervals of 20 seconds on/10 seconds off and do squats during the 20 second and push ups during the 10.  I’d settle on 20 squats per round and 15 push ups, getting me 300 squats in 15 rounds, and then I’d do the remaining push ups as fast as possible.  Keeping to those Tabata intervals makes this a pretty solid conditioning hit and only takes about 9 minutes to knock out.  Typically, I’d do this after the workout on weekdays, and on weekends I took to accomplishing it literally as soon as my feet would hit the floor in the morning.  I HATE working out, still do, and getting this done ASAP was pretty big for me.  Sometimes, though, I’d get cute and start incorporating push ups and squats into a larger conditioning paradigm, like in a circuit with swings, or GHRs, or chins, etc.  But, either way, I always met these goals.

**DEVIATIONS I MADE TO BOTH PROGRAMS**

Yeah, none of this with Jamie

* Jamie encourages experimentation, so game on.

* Jamie slots that “Dealer’s choice” toward the middle of the week with both programs, but for my work schedule it worked better to put it on Fridays/Weekends.  In the case of Famine, his middle of the week workout is either a day off or a 30 minute bodyweight conditioning circuit, which fit MUCH better with my weekend schedule, so putting that on Sat/Sun and Dealer’s choice on Friday allowed me to get in a 60+ minute dealer’s choice workout, which got in a lot of work.  In the case of Feast, there are 5 loaded days of training that worked much better for M-F for me, and then dealer’s choice on weekends allowed me to get anywhere from a 4-60 minute workout, depending on what my choice was as the dealer.  

* I made sure to run a full week of both programs exactly as written out, to include rest times, exercise order, etc.  In doing so, many of my workouts ran into the 80+ minute mark, which became a bit cumbersome with my schedule, but I wanted to understand how the training “felt” before I mucked with it.  Once I had that baseline established, I broke out the giant sets, short rest times, etc: all those tricks I’ve used in the past to get in more volume in less time.  I still made sure to bring the intensity, but wherever I could find logical pairings and groupings, I’d throw them in.  The 5xAMRAP hanging leg raises that happen EVERY training day are a quick kill, and much of the arm work could work in with other stuff.  Sometimes, though, it’d become something incredibly brutal, like bouncing between heavy shrugs and squats during Feast (more on that later).

* You’ll note I did NOT write about additional conditioning work, extra workouts, etc etc.  Jamie really “fixed” my compulsion here.  I’d be done with the training…and I’d trained “enough”.  This was really pretty huge for me.

*”FAMINE” SPECIFIC OBSERVATIONS/DEVIATIONS*

In case you need supplemental reading

* With Jamie’s permission, I took full workout footage of all my training sessions of Famine AND Feast, so I’ll post those if you want to see the whole thing in action.

* I made a few deviations from the programming, more out of equipment limitations.  I don’t have a leg extension or leg curl machine.  For extensions, I could use my reverse hyper, sit on top of it, hook my feet through the straps and do extensions.  That worked well.  Turning around to do curls that way?  Not as great.   I stuck with it through Famine, since it’s only 2 weeks, before eventually just going with GHRs during Feast, and when I return to Famine, that’s where I’ll go.

* My cable set up is pretty janky, so for cable rows I went with landmine t-bar rows instead.  I also don’t have a machine shoulder press, but I rigged up a VERY awesome Viking press set-up with bands that was clutch (you’ll see it on the video).

* Strongman implements regularly featured, because they’re awesome.  I also was making extensive use of the SSB, because I was still pretty broken from Super Squats.

* I didn’t follow the diet 100%, but I met the spirit of it.  LOTS of caffeine, shakes made up the majority of my nutrition, calories were low.  I trained fasted as well.  

*”FEAST” SPECIFIC OBSERVATIONS/DEVIATIONS*

This photo needs a trigger warning for excellence

* Here’s the “FEAST” playlist

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfcuGAffLlSf-y7VAbGZ3TVKoE1T5OycC

* I underwent a MAJOR nutritional pivot during Feast, and it’s been one of the most positive things I’ve done for myself in a long time.  I absolutely didn’t meet Jamie’s prescription as far as calories goes, primarily because I’m not going to count calories.  In addition, the shakes were still regular features because they went a long way toward streamlining my life.  HOWEVER, for my solid meals: I went carnivore.  I’d been wanting to try out a carnivore diet for a few years now, after listening first to Shawn Baker and then Paul Saladino and a few other carnivore influencers talk to the approach (and constantly hearing Mark Bell beat the drum for it).  This also matches up a bit more directly with how Jamie laid out the “Apex Predator Diet”, as the solid meals were all meat.  I honestly just wasn’t in a good place psychologically to undertake it, but this protocol was VERY freeing in that regard, so I went full steam ahead…and it’s been amazing.  I’ll probably just have to make it another blog post (a continuation of the overhaul series), but I’m only eating meat, eggs and cheese/dairy, and I attribute that to some of the AMAZING results I’ve gotten (will sum that up at the end).  I still opt for high quality sources (grassfed beef/dairy when possible, pasture raise eggs, etc), and I’m still using supplements to fill in gaps (Superfood, Flameout, several others), but the Feast has been a carnivore Feast.  Conan approved!  

* After the first week of Anderson squats, I used a larger ROM and started using bands.  That was the right call.  My hip and knee were STILL messed up from Super Squats, and heavy loading was killing them.  The bands allowed me to keep the bar weight low, but the intensity was THROUGH THE ROOF.  Try breaking a dead weight off of chains when it’s banded in place.  It takes EFFORT!  And you can NOT quit once you start. 

* Rather than do 5x10-15 leg curls, I did GHRs.  But along with that, I did them with my push ups and squats, turning it into a circuit workout.  I worked up to a final workout of 15 rounds of 15 GHRs, 20 squats, 15 push ups, then got in the remaining 75 push ups to get my 300, then went for a max set of GHRs.  It was a LOT of GHRs. 

* For benching, week 1 was dead bench, week 2 was dead bench against bands, week 3 was touch and go axle bench, week 4 was pause axle bench with chains.  I ultimately just needed gimmicks to get me through it, but I was getting stronger.

Me and gimmicks?  No way!

* For pressing, I set out with a goal to get all 8 sets done in 8 minutes, using an EMOM style, so I never increased the weight on it.  Different ways to progress.

* For the squats and shrugs day, I rotated between SSB front squats and SSB squats, primarily because, with a deathset at the end, it was good to use the SSB.  SSB front squats are honestly a hidden gem of a movement that I rediscovered, and I’ll need to include it more in the future.  For the shrugs, I did my best to set it up like a hip and thigh lift, but on one set in particularly I REALLY crunched my left quad and had to eventually settle on trap bar shrugs for the final week.  And I think that’s going to be a more permanent solution.  It just works better.

* On that same day, instead of the leg curl work, I would do GHRs while holding a kettlebell in a goblet squat position.  Honestly: this is an AMAZING hamstring workout.  I made my final one particularly tough by doing sets of 3 every 20 seconds, getting in 9 sets total, then the 2 AMRAPS, then dying.

* For pulls, I did a whole bunch of crazy crap, but it always included the trap bar.  High handle one week, ox lift one week (torqued my knee and wanted to keep loading light on the knee), high handle again but with short rests, low handle.  I stuck with trap bar because my “Dealer’s Choice” was deadlift bar ROM pull progression (I started the cycle on Famine and continued it through Feast, which was like a billion IQ move on my part) and I didn’t need to pull heavy with a strap bar twice in a week.  This also made the rows awesome, as I went with trap bar rows, which are what I’ll bring into Famine.  They’re an awesome movement.

**RESULTS**

Christ I'm old to be referencing this...

 

* It’s so rare I do photos, so appreciate this.  This isn’t 6 weeks purely on FFF, but the end of Super Squats and the final week of “Feast”, so about 9 weeks of change. 

 

 

* As far as lift results go, I genuinely hate detailing this stuff, since my training is so wild and difficult to track.  I’m gonna just shotgun some stuff here, but ultimately: I’m the strongest I’ve been in a LONG time while also the leanest.

 

> From week 1 to week 4 of Feast, I went from only being able to do 3 rounds of EMOM 200lb log clean and press for doubles to getting through a full 8 rounds of it.

> From 4 triples of SSB squats w/405 in the first week of Famine to 6 triples of 415 in the third week of Feast

> 4x2x321 axle bench in the first week of Famine, 10x2x301 in week 3 of Feast (with 1 minute rests vs 2+)

 

* But honestly, stuff like this 

is really what I find most impressive as far as results.  That’s an 11+4+3x405+chain mat pull, but the context is: I had been walking around the zoo for 6 hours that day, having only had a Metabolic Drive shake for lunch and then coming home from a solid [carnivore feast https://global.discourse-cdn.com/tnation/original/4X/e/1/d/e1d5ffdf73834fc67487531f81d2d921476cc598.jpeg), and I had 5 minutes before we were going to turn right around and walk the dog (get in my 2 miles).  I threw on some shorts I had on the laundry, warmed up with ONE rep of 155+chains, and then pulled that.  All the daily activity, new stuff I’ve been exposed to, good eating, etc etc has me fully healed and ready to move and act when needed.  I’ve genuinely just never felt more capable and dangerous.

 

**CONCLUSION**

And now I'm even older to reference this...

* Folks, I could legit talk about this protocol any Jamie’s intervention into my life for a LONG time.  It’s honestly hard to cut myself off here (my current write up is 10 pages in length, but I’m trying to chop it down to make it readable for you).  Please ask questions, but, in general: this has become my favorite protocol in 23 years of training.  Everyone needs to run it.  Everyone needs to try Apex Predator.  Everyone needs to buy stuff from Jamie.  Call me a shill: I don’t care.  This has been life changing.