KONG: Savage Size in 12 Weeks

The workout program to add some serious muscle mass

Adding muscle mass as well as strength is the goal of a lot of people, and it is not an overnight process. There is a lot that goes into building muscle such as your diet and nutrition, rest and recovery protocol, supplementation routines, and perhaps the most important aspect, which is your training routine. Now, when it comes to adding size, you are going to need to ditch the one rep maxes and find a program that really helps you get to your goals. One program that stands out is KONG: Savage Size in 12 Weeks, which was written by none other than Alex Bromley. 

Who is Alex Bromley?

KONG: Savage Size in 12 Weeks is a workout program that is designed to add some serious mass within just a 12 week time period. The man who wrote it, Alex Bromley is a 17 year veteran of strength sports. He has competed in over 50 Strongman contests, even placing 5th at 105 kg World's Strongest Man, and 6th at the Arnold World Championships. Alex has worked with hundreds of lifters over the years, from recreational novices to America's Strongest Man winners, and he certainly knows how to do a program. 

Let’s break it down.

KONG Savage Size Overview

KONG Savage Size in 12 Weeks is a free 12-week program designed for novice and intermediate lifters, that can be found right on the Boostcamp app. On the KONG program, you should only be in the gym for 75 minutes a day, five days a week, so you have plenty of time to prioritize your recovery. The KONG program is designed specifically to build savage size in a 12 week, or 3 month period (hence the name). KONG is designed with 3 blocks of 4 week chunks, and each of these 4-week blocks are separated by exercise selection, exercise order, and set and rep progression.

The KONG program is broken down into the following 3 phases:

Week 1-4: Volumizing

Week 5-8: Pyramids

Week 9-12: Reverse Pyramid

Alex Bromley’s Input on KONG

The man that wrote the KONG: Savage Size in 12 Weeks program, Alex Bromley, made a video when he released the program. Though he is a strength athlete, Alex said that a lot of the work in the KONG program resembles that of a bodybuilding training program. He says that even though a lot of the movements in the program are not strength specific, that perhaps that is exactly what some people need to improve their physique and strength. 

Let’s take a look at what each of these blocks looks like, to give you a better idea of what exactly the KONG program is all about.

Volumizing

The first four weeks of KONG is focused strictly on volumizing. It is a 5-day bodybuilding split that hits each body part twice a week. This part of the program will have you hitting your weak points first, like triceps before delts and chest, and Alex went out of his way to put these first. He states that these weak points tend to need very concentrated isolation work, and if you put them at the end of the workout, you are more likely to skip them.

As stated above, this is a volumizing phase, which starts off with just a few sets per exercise with high reps in week 1. You will see some exercises that have you doing 2 set of 15-20 reps. It may seem light, but this rep range is more than likely something that you have not done before, and you will be steadily increasing load over the next 3 weeks. By the end of week 4, you'll be conditioned for high volume training. 

Pyramids

For the next four weeks, you will be focused on pyramids, which Alex states he is a big fan of. Now that your body has been conditioned for high volume training, you'll reap the benefits of all of that work from the previous block by focusing on compound lifts first before accessories.

The compounds will be underload variations, movements such as the close grip bench and stiff leg deadlifts. This forces you to use less weight than the competition variation. The disadvantaged positions force you to train weaknesses in your compounds.

And, you may have guessed it from the name, but the set and rep scheme is in a pyramid. Pyramid sets also force you to use less weight by prioritizing volume and endurance work, establishing a good mind-muscle connection. For the first exercise of each day, you will be doing sets starting at around 12 reps, but by the time you hit the top set you are only doing 3-5 reps with heavier weights. The first exercises are even followed by an all out set of 12, which is borderline training to failure.

On the following exercises on each day, you will be working up to top sets of 8 reps.

Reverse Pyramid

By this point, you have officially made it to the final block of the KONG program. Now that you're primed from the underload variations of the second block, in this block you'll move to overload variations, which prioritizes weight.

In this phase of the KONG program, you'll be doing the reverse pyramid set and rep scheme, which means prioritizing heavy weights for your first set, then lower load with high reps in later sets. For the exercises of each day of this block, the program typically has you working up to a top set of 5 first, then dropping the weight and doing a few sets of 8, then dropping the weight again and doing as many reps as possible (AMRAP). 

KONG Savage Size Wrap Up

Overall, if you are looking to put on some serious muscle mass and strength along with it, the KONG Savage Size in 12 Weeks is a good program to choose. This workout program has you doing exercises that you may not always utilize when you typically train, and it has you following rep schemes that you may not always go with. Although the program somewhat resembles bodybuilding workouts, the KONG Savage Size program may be exactly what you need to improve your physique and strengthen the weak points of your compound lifts, fine tuning your size and strength.

By the time you complete this 12 week program, you'll look like you can scale the Empire State Building from all that savage size that you have added.

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