| makale title: |
Chad Waterbury Workout Principals |
| First posted: |
Tue 19 Feb 2008 |
| Description: |
Five Hypertrophy Training Principles You Must Understand
1) Train More Often
First and foremost, you must drop the notion that a muscle group can only be trained once a week. Strongmen from the past didn't train that way and you shouldn't either. The more frequent the growth-stimulating sessions you can have, the better. |
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2) Forget about Time Under Tension
One of the things that really makes me nauseous is the assumption that hypertrophy-inducing sets must last from 40 to 70 seconds (or is it 20 to 90 seconds, or 43.5 to 68.7 seconds?) So that must mean the classic 5 x 5 method doesn't build any muscle since those sets don't last at least 40 seconds. Or maybe I'm just a dumb hillbilly and everyone who uses the 5 x 5 method is actually using a tempo where each rep takes eight seconds? (I don't think so!)
3) There's a Daily Limit to Muscle Stimulation
I can't believe I'm actually going to do this, but I must quote a bodybuilding catch-phrase from the 1980's: stimulate, don't annihilate! There's an absolute limit to the amount of hypertrophy-inducing stimuli you can apply on any given day. That's why those "one day cures" are a huge, stinkin' pile of B.S. I feel sorry for those who actually wasted an entire day attempting such a program.
4) Don't Train to Failure
You must keep the nervous system from becoming overly fatigued if you want to train frequently. Therefore, leave the grunting and screaming to the frat boys who have 13" guns and spend their entire day doing concentration curls and wasting Daddy's money.
5) Train Through Soreness
Initially, you'll probably have constant soreness on this program. That's okay! The soreness will subside once recovery increases and proper adaptation has taken place. Soreness is your body's way of saying, "I need more carbs and protein." So feed your muscles constantly!
1.muscle growth is mainly controlled through caloric intake
even the best hypertrophy program won't build appreciable amounts of muscle if there are insufficient calories. Got it?
2) Set/Rep Volume
As a general rule of thumb for inexperienced trainees, I like to use a set/rep volume in the 24 to 30 range. For example, 8 x 3 or 3 x 8 per body part works well for the lower end of the range. A set/rep scheme of 10 x 3 or 3 x 10 works well for the upper end range. I recommend you start with a volume of around 24 and increase from there if you feel your recovery allows for it. (Just multiply the sets by the reps to get your number.)
3) Training Intensity
The only time you should flirt with failure is on the last rep of the last set for each body part. If you reach failure before that time, decrease the load by 5% for the next workout (using the same method) the following week. If you don’t feel like you're approaching failure on the last rep of the last set, increase the load 5% for the next workout the following week.
4) Method Cycling
The simplest way to alternate training methods (sets and reps) without driving yourself into a frenzy is to simply switch the set/rep scheme for the subsequent workout for the same upper or lower body training day. In other words, if you performed 8 x 3 on day one for upper body, switch to 3 x 8 for the next upper body workout of the week.
5) Antagonist Exercise Selection
Antagonist refers to opposing exercises. In other words, an upper back exercise is an antagonist to a chest exercise, and a biceps exercise is an antagonist to a triceps exercise. When creating a program, I like to use exact antagonist exercises.
What in the hell does that mean, you ask? For example, if you choose the barbell bench press as your chest exercise for your upper body workout, I recommend a rowing movement with the exact same hand spacing/position as the bench press. So if your index fingers are 24 inches apart when bench pressing, the rowing movement should consist of a palms-down hand position with exactly 24 inches between your index fingers.
Another example would be with pull-ups (or pulldowns depending on your strength levels). If you execute a pull-up with your palms semi-supinated (facing each other) and 18 inch spacing hand position, then your antagonist exercise would consist of standing dumbbell shoulder presses with a semi-supinated hand position that's 18 inches apart throughout the movement. Got it? This is actually much simpler than it sounds if you think about it. Just remember to press and pull with the exact same hand positions.
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