Author: threephaseworkout

  • Who I am

    My name is Quaid Ricks and I am a full-time engineer, coming up on 8 years now. That’s a funny realization for me. See, 8 years is the total amount of time that I went to school and worked full-time to become an engineer. A lot can happen in 16 years. For me, I gained and lost 40 lbs. I didn’t workout for 10 whole years. I have had highs and lows like everyone else.

    The year is 2007 and I obsessed with football. At only 5’8″ tall I am not the greatest to ever step on the field. I have this invincible mentality and a drive. Getting stronger in the weight room is my only shot. Taking a hit becomes a skill and enjoyment. Till one day, a Tuesday of all days, I am maxing how the clean and jerk. My memory has inflated the lift to over two hundred pounds. In fact, it might have been. At 165 lbs I was relatively the strongest in the gym. That means proportionally to the heavier guys I was lifting more, not a flex, just showing that what happened this day was inevitable. Bringing the weight down I felt something pop. My rhomboid couldn’t take the abuse. Junior in high school and my football career is over. I still ran track and did well in that but taking those hits became too difficult.

    Fast forward to 2018 and I haven’t been inside a gym since. I am 198 lbs of no muscle.

    This is a typical story. Most people have one and I think we should normalize that. What happened? Who cares. I was working full-time so I could have employee insurance. I needed insurance the day I turned 18, and I was going to become the greatest engineer the world has ever seen.

    Undoubtable confidence took a lot longer to fade.

    Here I was, in my career and I didn’t recognize myself in the mirror. This is body dysmorphia. I have shown myself. (Note, I am new to blogs, I will figure out how to load pictures here soon). I needed a radical change to my diet and to start hitting the gym again, but I was working 53 hour weeks. Life didn’t just magically get easier. In ways it got harder.

    So I developed a new way to workout. That’s where Three Phase Workout began. A desperate man who wanted to get back to his high school peak. I guess the truth comes out. My goal, and I remember setting this but do NOT recommend it. My goal was veins in my arms and a resting six pack. Oh, but also to get those only exercising 3 hours a week. There was a moment in 2020 when that goal was achieved. I just looked down and I am happy to say the veins are still in my arms.

    For me, its not just about the workout plan. There has been a whole radical transformation. Maybe I can help other people radically transform also. Who am I? I am a full-time engineer trying to help others radically transform their lives.

  • What is a 3PW

    This is a topic that I will explain time and time again. Understanding this is important because I am trying to convey the complications of being busy and having gym goals.

    I think that a majority of people claim to be to busy to go to the gym. If you have found yourself on this page that is certainly something that the search engine saw. A Three Phase Workout might just be the solution for you. Other posts will go into the science but this is just a generalization.

    If you have ever heard of a “superset” than you can probably figure out what a 3PW is. Generally speaking a Three Phase Workout is where you select three different exercises. Label them “A” “B” & “C” and follow the pattern:
    A
    A
    B
    C
    A
    B
    C
    B
    C

    Comparing that to a superset where you select two exercises labeled “A” & “B” follows the pattern:
    A
    B
    A
    B
    A
    B

    Expanding up the normal superset you can add a third exercise:
    A
    B
    C
    A
    B
    C
    A
    B
    C

    There is a subtle difference with a Three Phase Workout compared to the triple set above. Identify that difference by seeing that in the first example there is an “A” followed by another “A” exercise. Typically a 3PW goes just a bit further in practice where “A” is a compound lift while “B” & “C” are isolation moves.

    Let me give you a real example. Lets select “Bench Press” (compound lifts are multi-joint moves), “Biceps Curls” & “Lateral Raise” (both examples of isolation moves working only a single joint). Set up as a Three Phase Workout this would look like:
    Bench
    Bench
    Biceps Curls
    Later Raise
    Bench
    Biceps Curls
    Later Raise
    Biceps Curls
    Later Raise

    If this appears overly complicated there is good reason for it. With the goal being time saving we incorporate the superset. With an understanding that compound lifts typically feel more exhausting we do that as a straight set (performing each set of an exercise back to back before moving on to the next exercise). This ensures that we get as much out of the compound lift as we possibly can. Then we move to the isolation moves. This actually provides more stimulus for those exercises also. The “Biceps Curl” is set number three, and the “Lateral Raise” is set four. In a traditional workout they would be set number four and set number seven, look:
    Bench
    Bench
    Bench
    Biceps Curl
    Biceps Curl
    Biceps Curl
    Lateral Raise
    Lateral Raise
    Lateral Raise

    I will get into the science in many other posts, but for now just use your intuition to think about the lateral raise. It went from set 4 to set 7 just by changing the order. Do you think you will be able to put as much effort into the fourth set or the seventh set?

    Straight sets shown above are encouraged. In fact, often within a busy gym you will be forced to use them, but when that happens keep in mind that for a small increase in stimulus to some of the sets you are sacrificing a good amount of your personal time.

    Experiments have shown (n=1 studies put on by Quaid, the person typing this post) that Three Phase Workouts allow for saving about one minute per set. As written, the program, completes anywhere from 40 – 60 sets a week. That is 40 – 60 minutes of savings a week. That is over 2000 minutes a year. Basically just gave you a whole work week back to your personal life.

    That’s what a Three Phase Workout is and the benefit. You didn’t land on this page because you want to be the next Mr. Olympia. You are hoping that a technique like this exists, and that it actually works. I guess I will just have to convince you in later posts on that second point.

    Thanks for reading.

    — Quaid