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hey all,
has anyone got a routine for my girlfriend for weight loss she wants to involve weights wats the correct rep set range for weight loss plus keeping toned ??
Thanks, will
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using EliteFitness
I keep nicking things from Iron Addict, as he is one of the most sensible trainers I have found on the net. I love his stuff, and I rate him quite highly.
He wrote this guide for 'hardgainers' which refers to men who are tall and lean, ectomorph body type, and have a hard time putting on muscle.
Really, I think most women can be viewed as 'hardgainers' as we don't have the same hormone profile as men.
I know it is really difficult for women to wrap their brains around this one:
1. CARDIO is not going to give you the body that you want. Most women want to 'tone' (I really dislike that word), which means either maintaining or building your muscles. We lose muscle much more rapidly than men, so even maintaining it can be challenging.
2. You can train like a man, and you won't look like one.
I think a lot of the BBing mags have done women NO favours by mostly showing steroid enhanced women in competition condition. This is an extreme and does not apply to most women. These women are also being featured as they are the genetically elite when it comes to bodybuilding and putting on muscle. Trust me, this is fewer than 15% of women, and they also use drugs.
While Iron Addict is recommending high reps to a lot of the lads, most women could benefit from doing more lower rep, heavier weight training as well.
3. Sitting on a machine and counting out 3 sets of 12 reps (or whatever sets and reps you do) is usually a waste of time. There has to be an intensity to training that will have you making very un-ladylike sounds, pulling very unattractive faces that leaves you on your butt.
Don't worry if you look less than pretty in the gym, you will make up for it later with how great you look in a bikini.
4. Don't be afraid to push/pull heavy weights, and focus on increasing the weights. If you have been doing the same routine with the same weights for several months, you are missing all the benefits of weight training/bodybuilding.
5. You also have to EAT well to have a body. It is all about the training and diet, and any drugs may make about 5-10 % of the difference.
This is a LONG read but really worth it.
Here is a portion of a training manual was am working on. It is unfinished and the nutrition sections are not attached but it is pretty good reading anyway and a way to burn some time. It was written years ago and some of the sections do not 100% reflect my current views as they were written years ago, but its still pretty close.
The material is primarily aimed at hardgainers, but is also the type of training that works wonders for a very large segment of the training populas.
The Voice of Reason
How did we get so lost?
Note: This information is geared towards genetically typical trainees not using steroids. It also works extremely well for gear users off cycle, and the VAST MAJORITY of people while on, although most people can increase the volume and frequency somewhat while on cycle. It is a given that anabolic steroid use increases the threshold point at which overtraining occurs and gear users can USUALLY tolerate more training without overtraining. Even while on gear the single biggest reason people do not grow is due to the fact they overtrain.
What follows is excerpts and a compilation of articles I have written for Hardgainer magazine. Most of this information was also on a web site I produced geared toward hardgaining trainees. The web site is now closed but I am sharing this info for the board reader’s benefit. Don’t dismiss this information because you use steroids. It could have more impact than anything you have read if you take its advice to heart.
Iron Addict
Weight training is a truly unique pastime, in that for an activity as popular as it is, there is an EXTREME OVERABUNDANCE of information that is ENTIRELY UNSUITABLE FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF THOSE THAT PARTICIPATE. It would be almost acceptable if the information given in the popular books and periodicals clearly stated that the information contained within them was only appropriate for those that are genetically gifted at building muscle tissue and in many cases also using massive amounts of steroids. This fact is never (or rarely) mentioned. It would also make the situation better if there were popular publications catering to alternative techniques suitable for the masses. Unfortunately this is not the case.
The publishers go with what sells, and since the public is mistakenly under the assumption that those with the biggest muscles must know the most about how to build an awesome physique the problem propagates itself. The training information in the popular books and magazines works spectacularly well FOR THE GENETIC WONDERS (usually using steroids also) that garner all the publicity. What these methods don't do is deliver the results for the masses (yes, you and me).
For the VAST majority of trainees that make little or no progress it is their training methods that are responsible for the lack of progress. What you say? You train just like everyone else in the gym, even the huge guys that out-lift three of the typical trainees. The fact of the matter is that the popular training methods that have created most of the world class physiques DO NOT WORK FOR THE AVERAGE TRAINEE.
Look around you in the gym and you see countless members slaving away week after week, year after year and for all their effort barely look like they workout at all. And often those that do look like they train are usually stuck at the same weight, lifting the same poundage’s, for months, sometimes years on end. I once read a pretty good definition of insanity, "doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result". If your training is not working for you now, how is supposed to "magically" start working one day?
Before you just go to the routine section and look at the suggested routines and decide that they can't possibly work, wait until you have read everything before making your decision as to whether this style of training will work. Let me give you an example of why it's important to get all the facts before making a decision. If I promised you $5 million dollars to jump out of an airplane without a parachute, would you do it? If you quickly answered "no" you lost an easy $5 million. You see, the plane I was asking you to jump from was parked on the ground.
Don't lose again by "jumping" to conclusion about the concepts you are about to read. Please read everything before making any judgments.
A letter out of time
This letter was written in 1992 to the Editor and Publisher of Hardgainer, Stuart McRobert. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of being exposed to his writings or having read his wonderful bi-monthly publication "Hardgainer", Stuart is the person I credit with showing myself and countless others the real-deal on productive weight training.
He has had over 300 articles published in almost every major weight training magazine and has had ongoing columns in IronMan and MuscleMedia 2000. Never heard of him, or saw his articles and skipped over them because a major title winner didn’t write them? Well you did yourself a huge disservice. I too had skipped over his articles for a long time before I was exposed to the basic training techniques that fill the pages of Hardgainer. What is a Hardgainer? A simple yet fairly precise definition would be the vast majority of the weight training populace. Do you go to the gym and experience great gains on almost any type of training program you try? Do you watch those around you in the gym make huge gains (drug free) on a consistent basis. Well, welcome to reality land. While you can’t change your genetic make-up, you can apply a training methodology that will allow you to reach your genetic potential.
Below is part of my story:
Stuart,
I am not a very experienced writer but I'm experienced in what does, and does not work for me. And pretty well versed in training principles that work for the average person, thanks to Hardgainer, Super Squats, and Brawn. I have trained off and on since age 14, I'm 31 now and most of the time I gained next to nothing. The only time before 1991 that I made meaningful progress was a period of about a year and a half when I was in the Army and trained very inconsistently. I was trying to do a full-body workout three days a week. Due to my inconsistency I ended up training once every 5-10 days, at best I trained twice a week. This was just what I needed! I made some great gains and did what most do, I got excited and started training more often, and increased my work-load. Of course this killed my progress. With no progress I lost desire.
Every couple of years I would repeat this process. I would become interested in training, make gains when first starting, increase the load, and sure as night turns to day, all progress would cease as would my desire to train. I was like many people are, a virtual warehouse of knowledge about every aspect of training except that which would work for me. It wasn't until 1990 that I decided I would begin training again and would find methods that would work for me. This time I had decided I would continue no matter what. I was starting to feel as though my youth was slipping away (well of course it was, but now it was really starting to feel like it). I had learned a lot about persistence through other areas of my life and I realized I finally had the maturity to persist, no matter what. I started training again. I was once again wasting my time, but not for long.
I received a free copy of Super Squats with a subscription to IronMan. I did a shortened version of the routine twice a week and life has never been the same! It was during this time period that I started to notice the Hardgainer department in IronMan. Things really started to click for me. After only 1 issue I sent for my copy of "Brawn" and between the three, a whole new training world had opened up for me. At last, training methods that plainly stated they were for the average person that had problems making gains. This was a real revelation for me as everything I had read in the past basically said, do this, and this, and the result would be that. Of course they all said you had to make sure you gave all body-parts equal attention or soon some body-parts would grow out of proportion and wreak your symmetry.
Give me a break, I'd have killed to have some big out of proportioned muscles. Even one would have been great! Needless to say, almost every bit of so called training information I had read since 1977 was worthless.
By the way it wasn't the six day a week 20 sets a body-part, or even the four day a week twelve sets a body-part routine that was responsible for my failure to make gains all those years. For the most part I used a three-day a week total body routine. I had from the beginning sought out information on training so I could train effectively and not waste my time. What a joke! I at least knew I was a beginner (a look in the mirror could confirm this any time) and should train like one. Almost all the glossy magazines had a beginner’s column in them and they all wanted you to train three days a week until you put on some size. And if you read the articles by the champs they often stated beginners should do a three-day a week routine before working their way up to the type of routine they were doing. In fact I still have my copy of Education of a Bodybuilder by Arnold. Once again the beginner’s section said three days a week, and after all Arnold should know.
I guess you probably know what I think about three day a week full body routines after all these years. What a terrible shame this kind of program has been so universally promoted. It's almost as bad as the high volume train every day of the week garbage. No average person has a chance on this type of routine. Train your whole body hard then, one days rest then do it again? Come on!
I also tried a few other routines throughout the years, I think everybody from this time period gave Mike Mentzer’s theories a try. I know I did, at least I didn't lose too much time with this as even I knew something was wrong when I dreaded the next training session, started getting injured, and worst of all started losing weight fast. I could hardly afford to lose any weight being 6"1 155lbs at age 19 when Mentzer was at the height of his popularity.
Like you and so many others, I lost what could have been my most productive training years because of a lack of proper information. For some reason in my area (northern California) I had never seen a copy of Peary Raders IronMan or any other magazine or book that had a message of reason. All I had to go by were the glossy magazine/catalogues full of useless B.S. and a few books written by big names that didn't have anything to do with reality, or at least the reality of training a Hardgainer.
Since finding my way I have made more progress than I would have thought possible. I have come to realize that most people fall somewhere between hardgainer and extreme hardgainer not further up the scale.
I believe anyone that has to limit their training to two-three times a week, can only train body-parts/lifts once a week, has to do a very limited amount of movements for one or two sets at most, and has to watch their nutrition/rest habits very carefully to make gains would be classified as a Hardgainer. Well, the above statement describes me perfectly. In spite of all these limitations my progress has been great. I owe this to finding the right training information and applying it correctly.
Does any of this sound familiar to you? Please read on. The answer to your training problems lay ahead. Since the proceeding was written in 1992 I have learned a lot more about effective training and have trained many who had genetics ranging anywhere from excellent to those you looked at and thought, "have you really lifted weights before". During this time I have NEVER had Hardgainer style training fail. Transform yourself from a "before, to an after".
The Genetic Factor
While the big names may know a whole lot about what is required to build their physiques to EXTREME levels they more often than not know ALMOST NOTHING about the requirements of those less genetically inclined to add muscle tissue. What is almost never mentioned is that in addition to having been blessed with out of this world genetics they also use massive amounts of steroids and other growth enhancing drugs. That this type of training is the type responsible for the top name physiques is of little relevance for the typical trainee trying to add bodyweight and strength. In fact, it is about as opposed as day and night for those that have difficulty getting big, here is why:
More is not better
The average competitive bodybuilder does anywhere from 9 sets on the low end to 20-25 sets per body-part. Why so many? And if 20 sets are good why not do 40 sets and double the results? The reason is many, if not most have tried this approach and found out it led to over training. It wasn’t because growth wasn’t stimulated during the course of the workout, it was, but because so much of the body’s resources are being used to merely recover from the workout nothing is left for additional growth. In fact, in MOST cases the trainee will actually become progressively smaller and weaker on such a schedule. If the sheer volume of training were the factor responsible for weight training success the workouts would need to become progressively longer until the only factor that would limit ones growth would be the availability of gym time. This is clearly not the case as the top names are usually paid to train and have no other responsibilities, yet they do their two or three hour routines and get out of the gym.
Frequency
It goes to reason that if doing too high a volume of training leads to over training, that training to frequently will also hamper growth. If training four days a week produces good gains why not train twice a day 7 days a week? Once again, this has been tried by many and positive results were not achieved. Once you come to grips with the fact that OVER TRAINING IS THE BIGGEST POSSIBLE MISTAKE YOU CAN MAKE, AND IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MORE BODYBUILDING FAILURES THAN ALL OTHER FACTORS COMBINED, you are on your way to becoming "all you can be", to quote the popular Army slogan. Once you adjust your training volume and frequency to the correct levels you will have done more to increase your ability to gain than any thing else short of taking growth-enhancing drugs and I assume you are not taking that route.
The Growth Factor
So we know that sheer volume of training is not the factor responsible for growth, what is? Simple, increase your strength significantly and muscle size will go up accordingly. This simple concept is left out on most articles in the glossy magazines. Why? It should be included in bold print capitols in every article printed. There should be a statement such as; IF YOU ARE NOT USING PROGRESSIVELY HEAVIER POUNDAGE'S IN ALL YOUR LIFTS ON A CONSISTENT BASIS EVERY OTHER DETAIL IS IRRELEVANT. SEEK TO GET STRONGER AND SIZE WILL FOLLOW!
How to unlock your potential
The key to getting stronger on a consistent basis is finding the correct volume and frequency of training YOUR BODY can handle and then always training well within these confines. This is so simple it is almost laughable, yet so few ever really consistently apply it, even after being exposed to proper training techniques. The most common reasons for not staying the course are always finding a reason (excuse) to add exercises, and being swayed too easily by others.
Going into a commercial gym and watching others train, and often times even being told by others that; "you can’t possibly gain on a routine like that", and "that’s not the way so and so trains" more often than not leads the trainee to add exercises and training days to the routine to the extent that the growth process is short circuited. Don’t be another failure that gives up on lifting because it doesn't work!
The REAL Requirements
From reading the above, the uninitiated trainee is probably beginning to get the picture that Hardgainer style training consists of training less frequently, and doing less sets per body-part to ovoid what they now understand to be the reason for their lack of progress—over training. The uninitiated are probably thinking something like great, I’ll cut back to three days a week instead of four and only do eight sets per body-part instead of sixteen. Then WHAM—instant buff! This volume and frequency will still lead to frustration and stagnation.
What few are willing to grasp is just how severe heavy lifting is to the body. Not only must localized (in the muscle trained) recovery occur before growth will take place, but systemic recovery (the body as a whole) must occur also. Once recovery has occurred guess what? You are still no stronger than before the workout took place—adaptation (growth) only occurs after your body has fully recovered. Only after both of these events have occurred has the muscle grown bigger.
Most people short circuit the growth process by training before full recovery and adaptation has occurred. That’s why they find themselves doing the same weight workout after workout. Here is what happens: they do so many sets the body is in a state of constant depletion, then before their poor beat-up body has even had a chance to recuperate from the last work out the body is hammered again. True, different body-parts are worked, but the systemic depletion is only made worse. Your body is chronically over-trained and growth does not occur.
The solution to the problem of over training is shocking to most trainees who have only been exposed to the training techniques of the "champions". Be that as may, your only hope of developing a good physique is to ensure you ALWAYS train within your body’s ability to recuperate between workouts. How will you know if you are recuperating adequately? Simple, you will be able to add weight or reps workout to workout. There may be days when you are feeling down and the energy level is just not there, but days like this should be the RARE exception not the rule. How much weight should be added?
One-half to two pounds on the smaller movements such as military presses or curls and one to five pounds for the big movements like squats and deadlifts. Not enough you say? Assuming the trainee bench presses one day a week and is able to add but one pound to the bar each workout. Also assuming a couple of weeks were missed due to illness or other commitments, this still amasses a 50 pound increase in bench press ability. Do even this small increase over two consecutive years and the trainee that was previously "stuck" at 185 x 6 is now doing 285 x 6 and has a better bench than almost all the other members in the gym. Of course not all progress will be linear and there will be times when the trainee will have to cut back the poundage's for a time in order to let the body fully recuperate.
But there will also be times when the increases are much higher than the suggested increments. In fact, if you are new to hardgainer style training 5 pounds a week for small movements and 5-10 pounds a week for the big movements may be attainable—and body-weight may skyrocket also. Most trainees (if truly training within their limits) will add from 10 to 30 pounds during the first three months. Please keep in mind that the 30-pound figure is not the norm, but 10-20 pound body-weight increases are.
Small Gains are Sustainable
Once you are past the beginner stage, or the beginning three or four months of training correctly, it’s time to start looking at training for the long haul. By that I mean structuring your routine inside and outside the gym to ensure that all the requirements of growth are being met. One of the key ingredients of the growth recipe is ensuring that you do not try to add weight to the bar faster than your body is actually building strength. Adding weight to the bar by loosening your form and speeding up your rep speed does nothing but stoke your ego, and set you up for injury.
Your Potential
Sorry to say this, but for the vast majority of you reading this you are not going to be the next Arnold, Dorian Yates, or Ronnie Coleman. The chances are, if you are reading this you are reading out of the desperation of trying everything and getting little or no results. I can’t and won’t promise that hardgainer style training will make you the next Mr. anything, or even make you the biggest guy in your gym. What I will promise you is that these techniques, applied with passion and persistence will deliver results that will astound you.
Your Goals
While no one can define your strength training goals for you some basic guidelines are necessary to ensure you achieve them.
1. If your reading this and are thinking: I don’t want to be some huge guy who scares people because of his sheer size and can’t even scratch his own back. Keep this in mind; you can only do one of three things to a muscle. A) Make it smaller/weaker through improper/no training. B) Keep it the same size through improper training or deciding you are as big/strong as you want to be. C) Make it bigger through proper training. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TONING A MUSCLE. If you ever reach a point where you are satisfied with your size and strength you can easily maintain that condition by ensuring you never increase the poundage you are using. How many of you are really worried about getting too big/strong?
2. Trying get a big chest and arms while neglecting to work hard on the big muscle groups, i.e., legs/back is a surefire formula for failure for Hardgainers.
3. If you want to be big and impressive by any standards (other than competition oriented bodybuilders) you had better fix your sights on aiming high on the poundage’s used in your training.
I will quote Stuart McRobert’s guidelines for strength based on the average 5’9 190 pound successful Hardgainer: bench 300, squat 400, deadlift 500.
I am thinking/researching about this one to see if there are any averages for women
You should allow 10% leeway high or low, and take into consideration body type, as some will be natural squatters and others will be far better at deadlifting. Some may also (if educated) substitute the parallel bar dip for the bench press if they are not structurally suited to bench press. Although the dip doesn’t get anywhere near the recognition the bench press does, it actually works more muscle than the bench. Lighter or heavier bodyweight lifters will need to adjust their goals accordingly.
If these figures seem out of reach take heart, they seemed an impossibility to me also when first exposed to them after reading Stuart’s first book; Brawn. That I reached these goals within approximately 2-1/2 years seemed like a dream to me. My transformation physically was equally startling. I went from an experienced (so I thought) trainee with years of training under my belt that had reached the pinnacle of 175 pounds at 6’1 to a 235 pound trainee experienced in what really works. I eventually hit 270, but to hold 270 it takes TONS of gear and thats not where I am at currently. 235 at 8% is where I try to stay most of the time these days
4. If you are trying to trim down and get bigger at the same time you are asking your body to make a very difficult task almost impossible. Either lose the excess fat before trying to get big or plan on losing it after you have added some serious size first. And if you are happy with your body-fat level don’t be afraid to let some fat come along when adding muscle. Trying to get big and stay very lean is a task difficult for even the genetically elite, and next to impossible for the hardgainer.
How Hard to Train
Doing a limited routing that has the trainee properly regulating the volume and frequency of their routine will still fail if the critical growth factor of intensity is ignored. Many people train with the intensity of an old lady knitting. This usually occurs because of either pure laziness, or the trainee is so accustomed to doing endless sets to ensure "complete development" that they only train half-heartedly out of pure survival instinct. You cannot do set after set at high levels of intensity. You can train hard, or you can train for long periods, but you cannot do both. And since we know that doing set after set (even at low intensity levels) will lead to over training the choice becomes clear. Train as hard as possible, as briefly as possible, and get out of the gym.
How hard is hard as possible, and can you train too hard? This too is an easy question to answer. If you take all your sets (after warm-ups) to failure, you will have done everything necessary to achieve growth stimulation. Failure is defined as ceasing the set when it is impossible to get another rep without breaking form. Do not contort your body and cheat the weight up any way possible in attempt to get another rep. As long as you are pushing like your life depended on it to attempt the last rep you have achieved your goal. Forced reps, negatives, and other beyond failure techniques are not needed and usually are the fast track to burn-out for Hardgainers. Do not train to failure on deadlifts! Leave the last rep in you. Just make sure you truly are right next to the limit when ceasing the set, not many reps away.
Most trainees, even when tasked to train to complete failure come up many reps short, especially on the "big" exercises. Why? Because it hurts. I will not go as far as saying that progress cannot be made without training to failure because the truth is that all training methods work—for some people. Unfortunately in order to fully stimulate growth in as few sets as possible and get out of the gym training brutally hard is a requirement. The alternative is to do more sets to make up for the lack of intensity. This is rarely a good idea for the Hardgainer. Train hard or stay home, sorry!
The Path to Excellence
In order for you to achieve all that your genetic endowment will allow you must understand and APPLY the following guidelines on a consistent basis until you have achieved your physical potential or are as big as you care to be.
The "Driver"
Please read the following carefully, the need to include a heavy full body movement in your routine is crucial to your lifting success!
The typical hardgainer can forget about making big gains throughout the body until they get the thigh/back musculature growing. Think about it this way, if your body is not very efficient at growing muscle tissue and your current routine is like that of most trainees, (what I call the double B’s, bench and biceps) how much of a demand have you placed on your body to become more efficient at growing? Working chest, delts, tri’s, and biceps works approximately 10% of your overall lean body mass. Working hard on deadlift’s (bent legged, Trap Bar, or sumo) or squatting (not necessarily at the same time) works more like 70% of your musculature at once and sends a STRONG message to your body to GET BETTER AT GROWING NOW! Because the demands on your metabolism are so great when doing these movements the results are also great. But like anything worthwhile in life it comes at a price: brutally hard work done consistently with ever increasing poundage’s.
The original "recipe" for success for those that were previously unable to register significant gains in size and strength was the 20 rep squatting routine with one set (after warm-ups) to failure done along with a handful of other basic exercises, no fluff, just brutally demanding hard work done infrequently with an emphasis on heavy eating. If you have never done high rep squatting or deadlifting with limit poundage's you will no doubt be amazed at how difficult they are. They will probably be the most demanding things you have ever done inside or outside of the gym. They will for sure be the most productive thing you've ever done in the gym.
Twenty Rep squats are not done by putting a light-weight on the bar and doing twenty quick reps and racking the bar. They are done by using a weight that the trainee will have to almost kill himself to get 15 reps with. By rep 10 or so you will be breathing like a horse and gasping for your breath. You will fight to get the 15 reps, then instead of racking the bar you keep it on your shoulders and rest/breath long enough to get the next rep, and the next, then the next. You will have to fight every fiber in your body telling you to dump the bar. But you persist and make it to rep 20. Rep 21 should be impossible should you have attempted it. If you are able to do another set after this one you weren’t trying hard enough. For this reason I always do high rep squats (or deadlifts) as the last movement in the routine. Try them and see why!
Many times I have trained people who swore they worked like animals in the gym and had them on the floor gasping like fish out of water, unable to continue with any additional work after one limit set of squats. These were people that swore they trained as hard as possible and were sure the proposed workout could not possibly be able to stimulate growth in so few sets. By the way these were usually people that were previously unable to add bodyweight and went on to become quite big and strong by applying Hardgainer techniques to their training.
The Heritage
High rep squatting has a history going back to the early days of the Iron Game. For a detailed history and training program promoting high rep squatting I suggest you purchase the book "Super Squats" by Randall Strossen. While the main routine contained in this book will prove to be too much for most Hardgainers, the abbreviated routine given is excellent (contained in this manual, see description) for those needing to cut back to the bare bones in able to gain. This routine was promoted by Peary Radar (IronMan Magazines previous Editor/Publisher) as a surefire routine for those unable to gain on even the basic 20 rep squatting routine consisting of squats, barbell curls, bench presses, rows, and military presses. Peary championed the 20 rep squatting routine for years during his time as publisher of IronMan.
Unfortunately his voice was drowned out by the Weiders "champion" routines. His magazine also did not have the exposure of the Weider publications at the time. When IronMan was procured by the current owners the newer formula (big names, long routines) was ushered in and the tradition of basic training with heavy squats as the core of the routine was almost lost to future generations. Were it not for Stuart McRobert, Randall Strossen and a handful of others that had learned this most productive method of training and promoted it to all that would listen.
The Deadlift
While there has been more exposure given to the squat in bodybuilding circles than deadlifting it is time this changed. For many trainees, especially the long limbed type that Hardgainers tend to be, the deadlift may be the single most productive movement that can be done. Even surpassing the mighty squat that has become famous for making strongmen out of people that previously could not make significant gains. I strongly recommend some type of deadlifting in everyone’s routine (physical limitations not withstanding). Not only will you have gone a long ways towards achieving your physical potential, you will also help yourself avoid lower back injuries.
How could that be? You have been told that deadlifts will wreak your back. Consider that most lower back injuries occur when someone (weight trainees included) with little lower back strength bends over to pick up something relatively light and something "lets go". Building a strong lower back through deadlifting will go along way towards insuring you don’t have the same thing happen to you. As long as structural weaknesses are not preexisting, you maintain perfect form while deadlifting (this applies to ALL exercises), and if you are new to deadlifting, you start VERY light and build up your poundage's slowly while perfecting your form, you should be able to never be injured by deadlifting. Almost all weight-training injuries are preventable.
Trap Bar Deadlift
I could write pages praising the advantages of the Trap Bar and it’s value in assisting the trainee to reach their physical potential. This piece of equipment, when used correctly has the ability to transform physiques. Muscles worked when using this movement are thighs, hamstrings, glutes, lower back, upper back (lats, mid back, traps), forearms, and abs/obliques. In other words, the same muscles used a when performing the bent legged deadlift. So what makes the Trap Bar so special, and makes it a superior movement to the strait bar deadlift? Simple, works the same muscles as the conventional deadlift while making it a safer movement by avoiding undue stress to the lower back and providing more stress to the thighs. Because it reduces the need for extreme technical proficiency as required during the strait bar deadlift most trainees are able to push harder and move more weight. The sum total is a super productive movement that works approximately 70% of your lean body mass relatively safely. To top it off, this piece of equipment sells for under $200.00 U.S. dollars.
Performance of the movement is relatively simple, stand inside the bar and hold onto the two parallel handles. Keeping your lower back slightly arched and your head up push down into the floor with your feet trying to keep the weight on your heels. Do not round the lower back, and do not take the movement to absolute failure (stop one rep short), and you can rest assured you will have sent a strong signal to your body to grow
If finances allow, this is a must purchase item for the home gym trainees. Unfortunately most gyms do not have a Trap Bar. If possible talk your gym owner into purchasing one, or allowing you to purchase one and deduct the price from your membership. After using my Trap Bar only one time, my brother purchased his own and carried it in the trunk of his car to the gym on leg/back day. This option should not be overlooked.
Are the high reps the only way to go?
Many of you are probably wondering if the high reps for squats and deadlifts are really necessary to achieve big gains in size and strength. The answer to that question is absolutely not. They just happen to be the most efficient and safest way (assuming your form doesn’t deteriorate to get all your reps) for most trainees. They also provide a big-time stimulus to the cardio-vascular system at the same time you are weight training.
Sets of between 5 and 20 reps all work very well as long as the intensity level is high. You will make great progress on any rep scheme as long as all other training factors are in proper place. Besides if you’ve ever done them you know that they are almost as hard mentally as physically. Your body and mind will both need some well deserved rest after a hard 20 rep (15 reps works almost as well) squat or deadlift cycle. Rotate between whatever rep schemes work best for you. But everyone should take the time to devout at least 8-16 weeks to a 20 rep squat or deadlift routine. You may find out a lot about your mental character as well as your physical potential. Will you dump the bar at rep 16 because it HURTS SO BAD, even though if you really tried, you could have gotten all your reps? Don’t be surprised, this is what most do when faced with the challenge. Do you really want to be like most people?
What if you can’t squat or deadlift?
Let me first start off by saying that there are very few of you out there that legitimately can’t either squat or deadlift, especially using the Trap Bar. I will also go out on a limb and state that most readers will have many excuses why they can’t and also add that many HAVE NEVER EVEN TRIED TO DEADLIFT.
Most trainees will have at least tried squatting and after realizing the tremendous effort required to squat heavy weights decided leg extensions and maybe a couple of half effort sets of whatever leg training apparatus is handiest and easiest will suffice on leg day. The thought being….well, after all, we don’t want to use up all that energy that would be best applied to endless sets of curls. This is the road to nowhere! Get competent instruction on how too properly squat and deadlift. I highly recommend the book "The Insiders Tell-All Handbook on Weight-Training Technique" even if expert coaching is available. You may need to work on your flexibility to become a more proficient squatter. If this is the case invest the time needed on a proper flexibility routine performed twice a week. This will pay off big dividends once you are able to squat correctly and will go a long way towards making you more injury proof.
Safety Squats
For those of you that are not familiar with this bar (probably the majority of readers) it is a bar with a padded yoke that has the weight-bearing portion of the bar angled forward. This moves the center of gravity forward and in conjunction with the padded protrusions of this strangely shaped bar allows "hands free" squatting. This allows the hands to be used to hold onto a squat or power rack and stabilize the upper torso. In fact proper use of this bar will allow almost any trainee to squat in any position from a "lean forward" powerlifting style to an actual "lean back" position, something that is impossible with a regular bar.
The Tall Hardgainers Curse
A common complaint of many tall Hardgainers is the amount of forward lean necessary to stabilize the bar makes the squat a great hip and back movement while leaving the legs only moderately worked. The Safety Squat Bar has the potential to mitigate these factors and provide a first class leg workout with minimal knee and back stress. With the Safety Squat Bar I am able to squat upright and move my stance in, my legs and hips get hammered while my back is only moderately worked.
I have trained a tall (6’3") novice who due to extreme inflexibility and body mechanics could not get much past the half squat position without his heels coming off the ground and almost falling down forward. He was so tight he had difficulty bending down to pick up a standard Olympic bar with 45lb plates loaded, yet with the safety squat bar he was able to find a pain free squat position with this bar and squat to almost parallel.
Performance
Here’s how it works. The bar is loaded (preferably in a power rack, although a squat rack will suffice) and the trainee dips under the bar and removes it from the rack. Because of the padded lateral stabilizer bars and the forward cant of the bar it stays in place on the traps/shoulders without assistance of the hands, the hands are used to hold onto the power rack. Special handles that attach to the rack are included with the bar, but it works fine just using the posts of the rack for support. By using the hands/arms to stabilize your torso you will find you are able to maintain a very upright position while squatting thus allowing your legs to take the brunt of the work.
Stance width and foot angle are only limited by what is comfortable and safe. The one reservation I have about the use of this bar is the extreme flexibility of positions that one is able to use. If you set up in an unnatural position and attempt to use heavy weights you are asking for trouble. It is possible to use positions with this bar that will put extreme stress on the knees, don’t do this! Common sense should tell you when you’re about to put yourself in harms way. Find a comfortable stance and position that is an improvement of your normal squatting position and work with that.
One of the variables to keep in mind is foot placement relative to the rack posts you are holding onto. The closer you place your feet to the posts the more upright your torso will be. Setting up well back of the uprights will have you leaning forward more and will put more pressure on the back.
Most trainees will find they can use much more weight with the Safety Squat Bar than they can with a regular bar. The factors involved that makes this possible are the ability to find a natural "strong" posture and stance, and the ability to use the arms to pull past the sticking point. The use of the arms can be a help or a hindrance dependent on how they are used. If one always uses arm strength to pull through the difficult portion of the lift, little will be gained and the sticking point will only be made worse. However if arm use is kept to a minimum and used only during the last very tough reps of a set, one is able to really up the intensity and get in some very productive reps that would be impossible otherwise.
The Safety Squat Bar has been advertised in Powerlifting USA for some time now.
I’m confident once enough trainees give the Safety Squat Bar a try it will become a very popular piece of equipment, especially with tall Hardgainers who have suffered under the squat bar for many years. It has many advantages unique to machines, yet has the flexibility of free weights.
Leg Press
If you can find a leg press that doesn’t put your knees in peril by providing to great of a range of motion, and doesn’t place undue stress on the lower back or potentially "crush you" by having the weight carriage come down to far when failure/fatigue is reached you will get good results as long as you are able to push like your life depended on it.
However you need to keep in mind that the leg press should be used as a last resort if all efforts to squat and deadlift productively have failed. You will have to expect decreased results, but if the choice is leg press or no heavy leg-work at all the choice is easy.
That being said, I think the leg press is a valuable piece of equipment for all trainees. In fact I think enough of it to have purchased my own. Why own a piece of equipment I truly believe to be inferior to the squat and deadlift? For me the reason is to be able to continue with leg work during times when my lower back needs a rest from continual heavy squats and deadlifts, or when just needing a change of pace. I also use it when training someone who cannot squat or deadlift due to prior injury or physical limitations. It can be a refreshing break from squats and deadlifts, but not a substitute.
DO NOT USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO NOT SQUAT OR DEADLIFT. Used by those that can use them safely bent-legged deadlifts and squats are the most productive movements you can do, bar-none. If they are done in a fashion that leads to injury they are also a liability. Learn to do these movements correctly and learn to savor the satisfaction of knowing you have done what is needed to stimulate big gains throughout the body.
Squat Machines
There are many other machines that approximate the squat in body mechanics that will allow those that may be otherwise unable to perform free weights squats to get in a good workout.
"Volume, Frequency, and "Overlap"
Here is part of my experience learning how to properly modulate training volume, frequency, and exercise overlap to find what worked best for me. And while we are all different in our ability to recover from workouts the following formula has been the most successful for almost every hardgainer I have trained.
It was during the course of a heavy 20 rep squat routine cycle that I hit the wall after only four weeks of maximum poundage training having taken three weeks to build up to a weight where rep 20 seemed like a "fight for life". I decided to cut back to squatting once a week and see how I did on this new frequency.
I was hard to mentally make the change as even many hardgainer routines are designed around twice a week squatting. Fortunately every once in a while common sense prevails, and the right choice is made. Immediately after going to once a week squatting my poundage progression took off! It was only after going to once a week that I started to notice that many respected authorities recommended squatting once a week. Why hadn't I noticed this before?
I then decided I would try training all my lifts once a week to see if this was also the answer to upper body progression. I made the change and have never looked back! The results were immediate and consistent, which brings up a point that cannot be stated strongly enough, if you are training effectively within your ability to recuperate you should be seeing progress in the form of strength increases from workout to workout. This should be either weight or rep increases. These don't have to be (and should not be) big increases. A one-repetition increase with the same form is significant. One half or one pound increases for small movements and one to three pounds on big movements is about right for most trainees. Early on in a cycle you can add five pounds a week to big movements but this rate of increase is not sustainable.
What is the correct frequency and training volume? You will have to find out for yourself, but if you always err on the side of doing less instead of more your training will be more productive. Everyone can gain on abbreviated routines (and very abbreviated routines) but once you start training outside your ability to recuperate real progress stops.
There was a wonderful article in Hardgainer #29 by Jack Stocks describing his training experiences. Jack found he could only maintain meaningful progression on two movements, and He has to do these movements on different days of the week. Some may be asking, what kind of strength and development can be achieved by such limited training? Well, anyone who read the article knows that Jack is very strong on the movements he does. As far as development goes, I am sure he is not as balanced as someone whose recuperative abilities allow them to do more movements, so what! He has found his limits and trains within them. He is far more successful than those that slave away for months and years on end using puny poundage's with little development anywhere.
Hopefully your tolerance for training volume will allow you to do more movements for more complete development, (if this is what you are trying to achieve) the point is, you need to determine the volume and frequency that works for you and train within these confines. Knowing I am a Hardgainer and will only respond to a limited amount of training, one of the biggest mistakes I have made in the past is trying to find the limits of my ability to recuperate. Gains come at a snails pace when compared to the progress that is possible when training well within your limits. Grasp the last sentence and apply it, NO, REALLY APPLY IT! Don’t keep adding exercises until you are on the edge, or worse yet, over your ability to recuperate.
Before coming to grips regarding proper frequency and duration of training load, the goals often stated in Hardgainer of 300/400/500 bench, squat, and deadlift seemed as though they would be definite, limit lifts for me, when and if I reached them. After applying the techniques contained within these pages these goal, adjusted UP because of my higher bodyweight were achieved.
Had I continued training using the popular methods I am quite certain I may have achieved a 225 pound bench and 275 pound squat, and probably would have never deadlifted. Of course I would have only achieved a physique to match. The worse part is after a time I would no doubt have done what MOST lifters do; quit, because weight-training just did not work for me.
Exercise Overlap
One of the other factors to take into consideration is avoiding as much "overlap" as possible. By overlap, I mean doing movements on different days of the week that directly or indirectly affect a body part. The goal for most trainees should be to hit all body parts/lifts only once a week or less once very advanced or in the cases of extreme Hardgainers. In fact once you are willing (or able if work or family obligations are not a factor) to throw out the notion of following a weekly schedule and train only when YOU ARE FULLY RECOVERED from the prior workout you may find your progress increases many fold.
Many times someone will suggest training body parts once a week and will then go on to outline a routine that has the trainee squatting and deadlifting heavy on different days of the week and doing bench presses for chest on Monday, behind the neck presses for delts on Wednesday, and close grip benches for triceps on Friday.
Take a close look; delts and triceps are hit hard three days a week. Squatting and deadlifting on different days of the week has a long tradition behind it, but for those that use a lot of back in their squats, this ends up putting a lot of stress on the lower back two days a week. That this works for many has little relevance for the Hardgainer struggling to make progress in the big lifts that have the most impact on overall musculature.
If training three days a week, doing all pulling movements on one day, all pressing movements the next session, and leg/lower back work on the third day will pretty well keep overlap to a minimum.
I RARELY recommend any Hardgainer train more than three days a week, but this schedule will work if the person in question has a track record of making fair gains on an expanded routine and is "stuck". FOR MOST TRAINEES A TWO DAY A WEEK (OR EVEN LESS OFTEN) ROUTINE IS THE WAY TO GO.
If you absolutely have to be in the gym three days a week, ensure one of the days is only "accessory" work for abs, calves, neck, and forearms. Break this rule and you will also be breaking your body’s ability to grow. You don’t grow in the gym, you grow when resting between workouts. Ensure you are getting enough rest!
When doing a two-day a week routine any combination that doesn't have the trainee doing redundant work will do just fine. What works best for most is doing all upper body pushing movements on day one, and doing squats or deadlift’s, (or both) on day two. I also recommend including upper back/bicep training on the same day as deadlifts are completed as deadlifts involve the lats tremendously. Anyone having difficulty picturing how deadlifts involve the lats will have to experience it to believe how brutal deads are on the lats and mid-back.
This schedule prevents overlap of upper bodywork and provides a whole week of undisturbed rest for the lower back. Doing squats and deadlifts on the same day works best if only one "work" set after warm-ups are completed. One of these lifts will suffer relative to the poundage's that can be moved if these movements are done on separate days of the week, but it's a good compromise for most people as they should be able to add weight to the bar for both movements, as opposed to when doing the lifts on separate days of the week.
A better option for many, is to focus on only one of the lifts per training cycle, Or as Stuart McRobert has suggested, pair up the squat and stiff legged deadlift for one cycle and rotate with the bent-legged deadlift and leg press combo for the next training period.
Help, I’m Stuck! A Short Course on Intensity Cycling
Of course you will eventually get to a point when repetition or weight increases are no longer possible. What then? There are four basic ways you can get yourself "unstuck". Which method you prefer to use will have something to do with your personality. You will have to experiment to find out what works best for you, but you HAVE TO APPLY ONE OF THESE METHODS IF YOU ARE TO GET TRULY BIG AND STRONG. Do not think you can somehow get around this. To do so is trying to cheat your body out of what it needs to consistently improve.
1. The first tried and true method is to cycle your intensity somewhat the way powerlifters do. To do this you have to be willing to train with light poundage’s at least some of the time to let your body heal and build up training momentum as Stuart calls it. Take a few days off, then when you resume training start out using 65%-85% of your previous best workout poundage's and take from three to eight weeks to work back up to where you were.
Once you have built back up to using your previous best poundage's it's time to get out your small plates and gradually work your way into new poundage territory. Make sure you have a good selection of small plates at your disposal. Not just a pair of 1-1/4's but also some 1/2 and 1/4 pound discs, so you never have to add weight to the bar faster than you can build strength. Rest assured, the more aggressive you are with your poundage increases the shorter your gaining period will be. Be patient, small increases over the long haul are far more productive than continually going stale and having to start over again.
There are many factors that determine how long you will be able to continue gaining after you have surpassed your previous best. If you are truly training well within your ability to recuperate you will find it much easier to keep continued weight increases coming along. As long as you keep the increases small enough you may find you can progress for months at a time before hitting the wall. Although many (myself included) have found that extremely long, slow cycles can become too monotonous and changes are needed to keep one mentally fresh.
What I have found to work best for me and most trainees is to spend three to five weeks building up and then spending six to 12 weeks in new poundage territory. The short building period works for me because if I continue to a point where increases are impossible in all or most movements I find I have to take a very long slow building period to get back up to my past best poundage’s.
You will have to experiment to find out how much to cut back and how long to take to build back up. I found out the hard way that if I cut back too far and take too long to work my way back up it is much harder for me to get to my previous best poundage's. Others have found the opposite to be true, and a long building period is needed to build gaining "momentum." The important thing is once you are training flat out that you are progressive with your poundage’s. If you are not training too much or too frequently you will be able to add weight or reps.
2. The second method is to add rest days between your workouts to allow for recovery and growth to occur. This is an excellent way to ensure the growth process is never short-circuited. As you grow bigger and stronger you may also find this to be the only way you are able to consistently make gains. Why? Because as you continue to add weight to the bar you also increase the demands each workout places on your metabolism.
If you absolutely must keep your workout within a weekday—weekend cycle, the best alternative may be to split your workload into two separate workouts. Then instead of doing the first one Monday, the second on Friday and continuing on this schedule, you would complete Friday’s workout, and then, instead of doing Monday’s workout, you do the workout Wednesday.
The next workout would take place on Monday, the next on Friday. This amounts to training three times every two weeks, or hitting each muscle every 9 days. Not enough? For all of you that read the popular training magazines that cover the routines of the "champions" you no doubt know that while they do LOTS of sets and work out very frequently, many still only train each muscle once every seven days. If once a week works for genetic wonders on huge amounts of steroids do you really think that giving yourself two more days of recovery wont work for you?
The alternative method is to discard the notion of the calendar week and train whenever you are fully recovered. You will have to find out by trial and error how many additional days to add, but it is simple to know when you are regulating your training frequency enough. How to know? You will slowly but surely be adding weight or reps. As long as this is occurring all is well.
FORGET THE NOTION ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT YOU WILL LOSE SIZE IF YOU WAIT MORE THAN 72 HOURS, OR MORE THAN A WEEK, OR WHATEVER PRECONCEIVED NOTION YOU HAVE ABOUT TRAINING FREQUENCY NEEDS. IT SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE. Everyone recovers at different rates, and as you grow stronger time needed to recover from workout increases.
3. Reduce the number of movements or the number of work sets in each workout. This method also works well, the only limitation being that if the trainee is already performing an abbreviated routine there may be little to eliminate. What does have a significant effect, is for those that have always believed that one work set after warm-ups could not possibly stimulate growth is to try the method you previously condemned. You may find yourself mistaken. There is more about one set training below. Just let me tease you by saying it may be the most productive method for many of you willing to give it a fair shake.
4. Change the makeup of your routine. By this I mean change the exercises performed, the rep range, the time you rest between sets, or any combination of the above. Just make sure you don’t substitute isolation movements for compound movements or replace safe movements with those that are bound to injure you eventually. Just make sure the movements you pick are at least somewhat similar to your "core" exercises.
Using myself as an example, my core movements are squats, trap bar deadlifts, pull-ups, dips, and the seated press. When I need a change my substitutes are: safety bar squats, conventional or stiff legged deadlifts, pull-downs, bench or dumbbell bench press, and seated dumbbell presses. By making my alternate exercises so closely related there is transference of gains when switching between routines. This is something that does not always occur when doing dissimilar movements.
Exercises
If you use nothing but the exercises listed below you will have more than enough exercises at your disposal to make you big as you'll ever be and still have enough variety to keep you excited about your workouts. The exercises listed are not only there because they are effective, they are also listed because they are safe performed properly. Including movements like behind the neck presses, behind the neck pull-downs, hack squats, bench presses to the neck, and others too many to name WILL EVENTUALLY INJURE YOU. IF YOU ARE INJURED YOU CANNOT TRAIN, IF YOU CANNOT TRAIN YOU CANNOT GROW.
Machines are fine as long as they do not put you in over-stretched positions or are not suited for your body type. I especially like the "Hammer" line of machines. Machines are fine for a change of pace, and if your gym has a few "favorites" that you are fond of using by all means continue with their use. But you cannot beat free weights for overall size and strength gains.
Select your movements primarily from the "major movements" list. Just be sure to include ab, calves, and grip work to your routine. I made the mistake of neglecting calf work for years because it just didn't interest me. Guess what? When I got good at squatting my thigh size went through the roof, of course I didn't pay a lot of attention to it until I started getting positive comments about my thighs and it was usually followed up with "but how come your calves aren't growing".
Arm Work
Everyone wants big arms, few people have them. The best way for the Hardgainer to focus on their arms is to forget about them. What's that?
Simple, we've already established that over training is the reason for lack of progress, and for best gains the minimum amount of training that can be done and still cover all body-parts will result in the fastest gains.
So how to best accomplish the task? Use compound movements that hit many muscle groups at once. I assure you once you can do chins with your palms facing you with body-weight + 35-60 pounds strapped to your waist for 6-8 reps you will have biceps about as big as their going to get. Once you can dip body-weight + 75-100 pounds for 6-8 reps or do close grip bench presses with 100% of body-weight for 6-8 strict, you will indeed have big triceps. This is the way for a hardgainer to get big arms. The 12 sets for biceps 12 for triceps routines are the fast-track to failure for all but the most gifted.
Compound/Major Movements
Squat, Safety Squat, Leg Press
Deadlift, Trap Bar Deadlift, Sumo Deadlift, Stiff Leg Deadlift
Bench Press, Dumbbell Bench Press, Incline Press, Incline Dumbbell Press, Parallel bar Dip, Close Grip bench Press
Pullup/Chin, Pull-Down, Bent Row, Dumbbell Row, Cable Row
Seated/Military Press, Dumbbell Press
Accessory Movements
Barbell Curl, Dumbbell Curl
Triceps Pushdowns
Calf Raises
Neck Work (Machine or Manual))
Grip Work (various)
Crunch Sit-up, Hanging Leg Raise, Pulley Crunch
L-Fly (for external shoulder rotators)
Number of work sets and warm-ups
Each exercise should be done for one or two work sets and then move on to the next movement. If you are truly training hard and taking the movements to failure there is no reason to do any more work and in fact, it will be counter productive if you do. Before the "work" sets are completed warm-ups MUST be done until YOU are sure that the muscles (and joints) being worked are fully warm and you are able to do your set(s) as hard as possible without injury.
That said, the minimum amount needed is best as it will leave you as strong as possible for your sets and reduce the chance of over training. Remember, as far as your body is concerned all training is a negative as far as depleting your body's reserves. Only when the minimum amount of training possible to stimulate growth occurs will your body be in the maximum state to achieve growth.
Routines,
After reading about H.I.T./Hard-Gainer style training the average reader should understand that the primary reason growth does not occur is because the overtraining threshold has been reached and the body simply cannot tolerate the stress imposed by the workouts and still have ample resources to recover, and then MORE IMPORTANTLY, super-compensate (add additional muscle). Once people truly grasp this concept and see the magic in, they seek to streamline their training and eliminate extra redundant exercises, sets and days spent in the gym. The problem that arises is typically; they STILL do WAY too much and fail to achieve the results they seek.
Being brainwashed into thinking that every aspect of the muscle must be fully stimulated lest you become “un-balanced” makes the average guy do so much that he is an “un-balanced” bag of bones without much muscle. Here is something I have written before that I will state again before I get into the actual routines.
What if, instead of doing so much you never grow, those 3-4 exercises per body-part to ensure “complete development” of all “aspects” of a muscle. What if all you did was:
Squats 400 x 20
Stiff-legged deadlifts 375 x 15
Bench Press 315 x 12
Pull-Up with 100 lbs extra weight x 12
Military Press Body-Weight x 10
Calf-Raise 700 x 15
Weighted Sit-Up 175 x 12
How much bigger would you be than you are now, and what muscle would be under-developed?!?!?!?!?!?
What if that was ALL THE LIFTS YOU ACTUALLY DID ON A WEEK-TO-WEEK BASIS, BUT ACTUALLY DID THAT AMOUNT OF WEIGHT? AND SINCE THAT WAS ALL YOU DID YOU NEVER OVERTRAINED AND YOU WERE ALWAYS ABLE ADD A LITTLE AMOUNT OF WEIGHT TO THE BAR. HOW MUCH FUCKING BIGGER WOULD YOU BE THAN YOU ARE NOW???????
Am I stating that the above lifts are all that should be done by all trainees? Absolutely not, but I am trying to illustrate that you don’t need to do a lot of different lifts to get big all over, and lets face it. Complete development isn’t what most people lack, it’s adequate mass that most folks lack, plain and simple. Some people can truly tolerate no more training than the above lifts and grow. Many can do LOTS more productively but most people on a percentile basis fall at the low end of the recovery scale and should train accordingly.
Let’s dive into some routines and take a look at what productive training for real people is, not the BULLSHIT hype you see in the bodybuilding magazines that ONLY works for genetic marvels doing more growth enhancing pharmaceuticals than you will ever dream of doing.
Here is Peary Radar’s (former publisher of Iron-Man magazine) favorite routine for people that just could not gain on any type of expanded routine. Don’t just dismiss this as an asinine routine that couldn’t provide any tangible results because of its brevity. I have trained a few EXTREME hard-gainers that gained NOTHING until they were put on a routine such as this. And once done, they put on 20 lbs bodyweight in a short amount of time. These were people that had gained NOTHING in years of training the conventional way.
Day one:
Squat
Bench press
Row
This is repeated 3-7 days later depending on recovery.
A more balanced routine for the average person is along the lines of this:
Day one:
Squat
Stiff-legged Deadlift
Pull-up or Pull-down
Barbell Curl
Day Two:
Bench Press or Incline Press
Dip
Military Press
Abs
Training Days are regulated by recovery ability, NOT the calendar. As long as the weights are going up all is well, if not add rest days. For most people a Tuesday/Friday schedule works, but again, if it doesn’t it means you need to insert rest days.
“I Want to Tone, But I Don’t Want to Get Too Big”
(or “Why Weight Training is Important for Women”)
by Sasha Meshkov, MS, CSCS
If you are reading this, you are probably already reaping the benefits of resistance training. If you have not yet begun to incorporate weight training into your exercise program, you may find some of your concerns addressed below.
Common Reservations Many Women Have Regarding Lifting Weights:
Fear: “I don’t want to get too big and look like a guy - or those women in the muscle magazines!”
Reality:
Apart from highly dedicated training and dieting, it takes a substantial amount of pharmaceutical enhancement and cosmetic surgery to achieve that look. Several sessions per week of resistance training alone (even with immaculate nutritional habits) won’t generate extreme muscularity gains for most women.
Fear: “Once I stop exercising, won’t all that muscle turn to fat?”
Reality:
Muscle and fat are chemically different substances. A table won’t turn into a chair without some major structural reorganization. Muscle cannot alter its composition and turn into fat. Muscle can, however, atrophy from lack of use. Excess calories can be stored as fat.
The body can’t “store” fitness; it is designed to move! We don’t say, “Okay, I have breathed enough for a while. I am bored with breathing” and expect our bodies to continue to function for a significant period of time after our last breath! Its no different with resistance training. Exercise, including resistance training (which does not have to consist solely of gym workouts), is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle.
Why would you stop exercising? Ideally, it is fun! If not, find a way to make it enjoyable! Worst case: learn to love it!
Fear: “I don’t want to build; I just want to tone.”
Reality:
A toned muscle is a muscle with significant endurance and strength.
Women have estrogen in much greater abundance than testosterone. Estrogen has an atrophying effect on muscle, whereas testosterone has a hypertrophying effect. For a woman to gain substantial size in most cases, they will have to spend money on more than just a gym membership and a personal trainer...
There is, excluding liposuction, no such thing as “spot reducing.” Just because you have emotional distress over a particular area of your body does not mean that your body will magically recruit fat from that region to fuel whatever exercise you have selected. For example, if you have large fat deposits on your thighs, doing hundreds of side-lying leg lifts won’t necessarily “trim n’tone” your thighs.
Why is Weight Training Essential for Women?
Physiological Benefits of Weight Training:
Increased lean mass
Increased bone density (and resulting decreased risk of osteoporosis)
Increased connective tissue strength
Increased muscular strength
Increased muscular endurance
Increased metabolism
Increased muscle capillarization
Increased physical capacity
Improved muscle balance
Improved posture
Decreased body fat
Decreased risk of injury
Psychological Benefits of Weight Training:
Enhanced kinesthetic awareness
Improved body image
Improved physical appearance
Improved quality of life
Increased confidence
Decreased isolation (much-needed in these “Dilbert “ days of cubicles and computers)
Decreased symptoms of clinical depression
Its fun!
Ideas to Consider:
Since women lose bone mass at a greater rate than men, weight training is especially crucial. Typically, after age 35, women lose 1.2% per year, whereas men lose 0.2% per year. For optimal bone remodeling to occur, significant resistance must be used. Ideally, this means progressing beyond the light weights used in group fitness classes.
Additionally, the increase in lean mass associated with weight training strongly correlates with a faster metabolism. This means that women will burn more calories twenty-four hours a day, not just during or immediately following the exercise sessions. If you consider that a pound of fat contains roughly 3,500 kcals, exercise alone is not the most efficient mechanism to reduce that fat. However, generating significant metabolically active tissue (muscle) will cause an increase in the basal metabolic rate, thus burning off those excess calories more efficiently!
The bigger question is why DON’T more women weight train? Most women are stronger than they might suspect. After all, many women carry babies, kids, groceries, luggage, briefcases, bikes, push lawnmowers, vacuum cleaners, dig up gardens, etc. They are engaging in some resistance training already! All that’s left is learning optimal biomechanics, how to use the equipment and how to train to obtain the results they are after! Plus weight training improves grip strength, so we can open that very important jar of peanut butter by ourselves!
Sasha Meshkov, MS, CSCS is Triple Gold Certified through the American Council on Exercise, and is an NSCA-Certified Personal Trainer. She has a Master’s Degree in Geophysics. Sasha is a Continuing Education Provider for ACE and the NSCA.
She is a longstanding member of the ACE Faculty, and is the Program Director of one of the original programs accredited by ACE to prepare students for the ACE Certification Exams almost a dozen years ago.
Sasha was a member of the ACE Aerobics Instructor Certification Exam Committee, and was a Reviewer for the ACE Aerobics Instructor Manual. She also served as a Reviewer for the National Health Club Association’s Strength, Weight & Cardiovascular Training Certification Manuals.
Sasha owned two fitness studios for nearly a decade, and served as the USA Team Coach for the World Aerobics Championships and as US Head Judge for the National Aerobics Championships. She is an NPC Bodybuilding & Fitness Judge & Emcee.
Sasha started powerlifting in 1995. She competed in the 1997 IPF Worldmaster Powerlifting Championships (9th), the 1997 USPF Senior Nationals (Bronze Medalist in the 60kg) and was the 1996 ADFPA Colorado State Overall Women’s Champion. After an extended post-World’s dessert festival, she recently competed in a whole new weight class at the 1998 USAPL Women’s Nationals (2nd). Back down to her normal weight, she discovered that the monoab is not for her
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