Hany Rambod’s FST-7 Big and Ripped Program (Review)

Ever wanted to be coached by one of the greatest coaches to ever walk the earth? Yeah, me too. Although, doing 7 sets with extreme stretching isn’t exactly what I call a fun time…

For Hany Rambod, a renowned bodybuilding coach, this is supposedly the perfect way to train. But is it really, though?

About the Creator – Hany Rambod

If you follow bodybuilding, you probably know who Hany is. If you don’t, I’ll forgive you and introduce him accordingly.

Hany is simply one of the best bodybuilding coaches on the planet – period. But what makes him one of the best?

Well, his nickname “the Pro creator” should already give you an idea of what’s up. Hany is a professional bodybuilding coach that has helped several athletes toward the peaks of their careers – and a total of 10 Olympia titles.

Hany is probably more famous for coaching three particular competitors, namely Jay Cutler, Phil Heath, and Jeremy Buendia – some pretty big names. Plus, he coached most of his athletes with his own designed training plans.

He has the ability to do this because he graduated with a degree in Biology with an emphasis in Neurophysiology. Hany also competed for several years himself, and this gives him the ideal combination of walk the walk and talk the talk.

Hany is most famous for his FST-7 (Fascia Stretch Training) style that he designed himself.

Hany Rambod’s FST-7 Big and Ripped Program Overview

As the name suggests, the overarching goal of the FST-7 Big and Ripped Program is to help you build size and shred at the same time – a tall order if you ask me. Seeing as there are only 8 weeks, the first 4 is about size, and the last 4 are about shredding.

Typical bodybuilder approach, even if it is quite short.

• Fitness level: Advanced
• Duration: 8 weeks
• Workouts per week: 5 workouts per week
• Average workout duration: 60 – 90 minutes
• Equipment needed: Full gym
• Goal: Build muscle

One thing that’s pretty apparent from the get-go is that this plan isn’t for everyone. FST is incredibly hard, it’s brutal, and it hurts – trusts me, I know because I’ve tried it. FST incorporates something not a lot of people do, and even fewer know about – stretching.

Extreme stretching is essentially just putting the muscle in a lengthened position to get the deepest and most painful stretch you can imagine.

But why would you even want to do that?!

FST-7 Big & Ripped Program Details

As mentioned before, the plan is not for beginners. Hany has worked this very plan through professional athletes, and most struggle, partly because the volume is so high and mostly because of that damn stretching!

How Will FST-7 Stretching Help?!

The stretching idea wasn’t initially created by Hany. In fact, extreme stretching dates back many years prior and was also popularized by Dante Trudel in his DC training. If it sounds familiar, you may also recognize it from attempting Kris Gethin’s 8-week and 12-week training programs.

FST-7 – on the other hand – takes it to the extreme. See, normal stretching would have you stretch a muscle, which is different from flexing. Hany wants you to flex the muscle you just worked out. This is, honestly, brutal. And it gets significantly worse.

Let’s take a look at the very first leg day.

After doing 16 sets (of which 8 were leg press and back squats), you’re going to go for a stroll down hack squat lane. Seven sets, and every time you rest between sets, you’re going to have to flex those quads.

If this seems like a madman approach, that’s because it is. You’re going to be doing 45 sets in total on leg day. Of course, this is an absurd amount of work, and if you’re even remotely going to be pushing yourself for heavier weights, you’re going to suffer.

Does FST-7 even work? Well, there are no clinical studies on this very particular training style. There are also not a lot of studies on stretching or extreme flexing during training.

That said, there could be the following benefits to this style of training:

• Better mind-muscle connection: Flexing an already pumped muscle will certainly help you “feel” the muscle with greater efficiency, which could lead to better gains in the long term.
• Better blood flow: Flexing a muscle is literally just pushing blood into that area so you could see better blood flow leading to better recovery and growth.
• Better hormone release: Hany claims you can increase your testosterone and growth hormone release from this style of training. I have not seen evidence of this.

Diet Like a Pro

Because Hany is a full coach, and the latter part of this plan is focused on helping you get shredded, you can expect that a good amount of effort will go into losing fat. This, of course, means we have to be dieting and doing cardio!

The nutrition plans are split just as the training plan is. This is amazing.

You rarely ever see this, and it should be more apparent! Your diet (particularly your macros) should change based on your overarching goal!

When you’re dieting, you probably want to include more protein (to spare muscle), and you wanna make sure your carbs are centered around your workout for the best results.

Let’s see what Hany says:

• 1.75-2.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight
• 1-1.5 grams of carbs per pound of body weight on training days
• 0.5-1 grams of carbs on rest days
• 0.3-0.4 grams of fat per pound of body weight

This is actually a really good protocol. He even mentions a few food ideas you can steal, a sample diet, and links to calculators to help you decide your calorie goal.

As you can expect with a bodybuilder, there are also a lot of supplements that are required. “Required” might not be the ideal word because you aren’t a professional bodybuilder, but there are certainly some that can help, such as whey protein and creatine.

Overall, this is one of, if not the best nutritional plans I have come across in a Bodybuilding.com program. It’s simple, effective, and to the point. Although some may find it boring, dieting can be kind of boring. Better learn how to spice your food!

Anything Else?

Of course!

While FST-7 is focused on stretching, there are still some other things that come with the training plan, such as intensifiers.

The type of intensifiers will differ from phase to phase, however:

There’s also a very logical reason why they differ.

When you’re cutting, your recovery capabilities are significantly worse. This means a few forced reps could literally destroy your next couple of workouts because of skyrocketing cortisol levels.

And if you think that it might be a bit foolish to have intensifiers in a high-volume training plan, I sort of agree with you. When volume is this high, you certainly won’t have the ability to recover from such sets. This could absolutely wreck your recovery.

This is why this plan is designed for high-level individuals. It wasn’t made for gen pop folk like you and me. So, before you decide to indulge in a pro bodybuilder workout plan, remember, that you aren’t a pro bodybuilder.

3 Big & Ripped Program Pros

1. Best of both: This plan has specifically been developed to help you get big and get lean as well. Whether or not both of these are possible in a short time frame is debatable, but giving the benefit of the doubt, it’s a beautiful thought.
2. It’s fun: While it certainly is a brutal workout and plans overall, it’s a lot of fun. The pumps are insane, and you get to have bragging rights with the homies because Hany Rambod is your coach – sort of.
3. Best nutrition plan ever: Again, this program has the best nutrition guidance I have ever seen on a Bodybuilding.com page. Simple, effective, and scientific.

3 Big & Ripped Program Cons

1. Dear lord, it’s hard: I’m not someone who likes the idea of complaining, but wow, this plan will humble you. It’s brutal, and because of that, its biggest problem is itself.
2. It’s too hard: For most individuals who are going to end up following this plan, it simply is way too much volume. 45 sets in one workout are insane! And even pro bodybuilders will struggle to do this.
3. The plan is too short: You cannot rush a cut, and you certainly cannot rush a bulk. This is why this plan might work, but it’s way too short for it to work optimally. You’d want at least 12 weeks per section, not only 4.

FST-7 Big and Ripped – Final Thoughts

This plan is one of those that hold a bit of folklore in the bodybuilding world. We know that there are essentially three factors you can control in the world of lifting: load, volume, and intensity.

In recent years, it’s become extremely apparent that load and intensity are the main driving factors behind building the most amount of lean muscle tissue. That said, this plan does exactly the opposite.

It relies heavily on volume and intensity – heavily.

This simply isn’t sustainable for most, and most people won’t be able to do the massive amount of volume Hany wants them to. This will wreck their recovery and lead them to become unenthusiastic about training.

FST-7 Big and Ripped could work for a select few. It might also be a coincidence that the people that advocate FST-7 are those with the best genetics on the planet.

I have to give credit where credit is due, however. This is still a great plan.

Rating: 3.0 out of 5