Training

"Obey the principles without being bound by them."
- Bruce Lee

The goal of the following principles is not to give you a set of training rules to follow, but to give you guidelines that I have found will provide consistent and predictable results.

It is important that these principles are used as a unit, which in other words means that you should not implement one part of this while ignoring others - these principles belong together.

Of course, you may decide that you need to adapt some (or all) of these principles to suit you, your situation and your preferred training style. That's perfectly fine - these principles are all elastic and can be modified somewhat. Speaking of training style, I want to point out that these are my principles for bodybuilding training - not athletic training, not fitness training, and not functional training, but bodybuilding training.

Therefore, those who will benefit most from these principles are those who want to compete in a bodybuilding or figure training competition, or who want to look like they could compete in such a competition. In principle, however, anyone who trains can benefit from understanding the logic behind these principles. Even if you don't want to compete in bodybuilding competitions, I encourage you to read on and adapt these principles accordingly. Without further ado, here are the first 5 bodybuilding training principles that I have found have helped me tremendously and I hope they will help you too. The next 6 principles will follow in the second part of this article series.

1 - Train each muscle group once a week

Depending on which circles you move in, this principle may sound obvious, stupid or even lazy.

In competitive bodybuilding circles, training each muscle group once a week is more common than any other training split. Even those who don't train each muscle group once every seven days tend to train each muscle group about once every five days. If you're like me, you're willing to train as often as necessary to get the best results. When you combine this willingness to train with the human tendency to think that more is better, it's easy to see how we could easily end up training each muscle group twice, or even three times or more per week.

The problem with increased training frequency, however, is that it can easily lead to inadequate recovery. We should not forget that the whole purpose of training is to reap the benefits that come from recovering from these training sessions. Training is basically the process of an infinite sequence of stimulation-recovery-stimulation-recovery and so on. However, if you are hungry for progress then it can be tempting to eat from the plate of stimulation too frequently.

A common question regarding training is "When should I re-train a muscle group?" The vague but honest answer is, "as soon as you've recovered from your last training session."

So how long does it take to recover from a training session?

Recovery time depends on a number of variables including - but not limited to - the volume and intensity of the training session as a whole. The way I see it, the more damage you inflict on a muscle during a given training session, the longer it will take to recover. It's a bit like sunbathing - if you have red skin afterwards, then you need to stay out of the sun for a while to allow your skin to recover and repair.

If, on the other hand, you have only been in the sun for a few minutes in the afternoon and have not developed any redness, then you can go back in the sun the next day without fear of putting too much strain on your skin or overstretching your body's ability to regenerate.

Trial and error

Over the last two decades, I have kept a detailed training diary most of the time. I started this simply to find out what works for me and what does not. One of the variables I kept changing was training frequency. I wanted to find the right balance between training frequency and recovery that would allow me to maximize adaptations aka results.

I have found that I can train each muscle group once every 5 days and make progress, but that progress seems to stall after a few months. However, if I train each muscle group once every 7 days, I can progress almost indefinitely.

One thing we tend to forget is that even if recovery only takes a few days, a significant amount of time is needed to see a de-training effect. Around day 5 after the last training session, a muscle has adapted and supercompensation has taken place, but this does not mean that it will start to atrophy the next day. It takes a while for this to happen - and certainly longer than I had initially thought.

And that's exactly what makes seven days the ideal period - this period is almost always long enough for sufficient regeneration, but at the same time not long enough to allow atrophy.

Even though I regularly came back to the idea of training each muscle group every 5 days, this always seemed to backfire and result in insufficient recovery. On the other hand, training all muscle groups once a week seems to be a foolproof recipe for continuous progress. After observing this over and over again, I finally accepted that I should build my programs around training all muscle groups once a week and it works wonderfully!

Note: The fact that training once a week per muscle group is optimal is based on an implementation of the rest of the principles described below. If you train differently, that is perfectly fine. If this is the case, these principles will still be applicable - you just need to adapt them to fit your situation. Just keep in mind that it's better to under-train than to over-train.

Exceptions

Possible exceptions to this rule include calves, abs and back. For whatever reason, calves and abs recover faster than other muscle groups. If this is the case, then it's safe to say that you can - and ideally should - train calves and abs twice a week. However, the beauty is that if you want to keep things simple and only train these two muscle groups once a week like all other muscles, you should still see progress - but it won't be quite as fast as with a twice-weekly ab and calf training approach. As for the fact that the back also seems to be an exception, I don't think this is because it recovers faster from training, but because it can tolerate a higher total training volume.

My explanation for this has to do with the fact that the "back" is a collection of muscle groups to which the training stimulus is divided. Basically, to say that we train the "back" is about as idiotic as saying that we train the "front". With this in mind, and considering the way most traditional approaches approach back training, it could be considered a standard to train the back twice a week, where the back can be divided into upper back (trapezius, rhomboids) and lower back (latissimus, back extensors) to minimize overlap of training stimulus.

The other possible exception is muscle groups that lag behind the rest of the body in their development. Training a muscle group several times a week can be a good strategy to advance this muscle group in its development. Be careful here, however, as this approach can quickly backfire. When in doubt, keep things simple and don't worry too much. Train each muscle group once a week and you will make good, steady progress. It's basically a no-brainer.

2 - Use 3 to 4 exercises per muscle group

As I said before, it is crucial to find the right balance between training volume, training intensity and training frequency. This principle, in combination with the next one, helps to control the volume component of the recovery equation. Although there are times when it makes sense to perform only one or two exercises per muscle group - and occasionally five or more - you can't go wrong if you apply the KISS principle (keep it super simple) to the number of exercises per muscle group by simply performing 3 to 4 exercises. Performing 3 to 4 exercises allows you enough variety during each training session to ensure that a given muscle is stimulated in a number of different ways - both through different exercises and through different repetition schemes and rest intervals.

I would definitely recommend moving towards 3 exercises for biceps and triceps and 4 exercises for the back, especially if you only train it fully once a week in a training session. It should be noted at this point that the legs are not a muscle group but a group of muscles. The quadriceps are just as much a muscle group as the hamstrings and calves. So don't cheat yourself by only doing 3 to 4 exercises for the entire lower body or you'll end up looking like a big muscular guy riding a stork.

To look like a competitive bodybuilder, you will generally need 3 to 4 exercises for the quadriceps and about 3 exercises each for the hamstrings and calves. This may sound like a lot - especially after performing the first half of the leg workout - but this is the type of work you'll need to perform on a regular basis to move up into the competitive bodybuilder range.

3 - Perform 3 work sets per exercise

Many people quantify the volume of their training sessions by the total number of sets. This doesn't make much sense in my view and here's why. Let's go back to our sunbathing analogy. Let's say we want to quantify the "volume" of a tanning session. An obvious way to do this - and undoubtedly the easiest - is to simply use the total number of minutes you've spent outdoors.

The problem with this quantification, however, is that the time you spend in the shade should not count, as the amount of stress the skin is exposed to in the shade is minimal. Similarly, the time you spend in the sun in the early morning or late afternoon, when the intensity of UV rays is much lower than during midday, should not count.

Are you following me? If so, then you will probably agree that the best way to quantify the volume of sun exposure is to record the number of minutes you spent in direct sunlight between 9am and 3pm.

Of course, you could refine this further, but this approach is a good compromise between simple and accurate - far more accurate than simply looking at the number of minutes you spent outdoors. The same goes for training volume. We should not consider warm-up sets as part of our training volume as they do not significantly challenge our recovery abilities. Instead, we should only count the work sets.

For the record: I define a working set as a set performed to near the point where you can no longer perform another repetition with good form. Basically, this means performing the set to concentric failure or finishing it 1 to 2 reps before reaching muscle failure. Anything less intense is considered a warm-up set for later work sets.

4 Perform a power or strength exercise for each muscle group

Since we are talking about a bodybuilding program, I will refer to training muscle groups instead of training "movement patterns". However, these two terms are usually interchangeable. The goal of a bodybuilding training program is to improve your body development and not necessarily to get stronger. However, training for power and strength should still be a cornerstone of your bodybuilding training program. If you train for power, which basically means being able to do more work in a shorter period of time, then your muscles will develop an improved ability to activate or recruit more muscle fibers at once (also known as neuromuscular efficiency).

Of course, this will also make you stronger, but it will also do something that is of greater interest to us bodybuilders.

Improved neuromuscular efficiency means that you will recruit more muscle fibers for a given exercise. This equates to more hypertrophy, as only muscle fibers that are stimulated and challenged will adapt (by getting bigger). It is possible to increase the percentage of muscle fibers recruited by 10% in a reasonable amount of time and you can imagine the huge benefits of this! For this reason, 3 sets of 5 repetitions (3 x 5) barbell shoulder presses, for example, will make the 3 x 8 - 12 repetitions dumbbell shoulder presses of your workout more effective. Note: Sets performed with the intention of increasing power are an exception to the work set rule. Power training sets are not performed to muscle failure. To be considered a work set, a power training set should be performed to the point where the maximum repetition rate decreases significantly.

Unlike power sets, which are about moving the weight quickly, strength sets are about moving as much weight as possible regardless of speed. Training for strength has similar benefits to power training, including the recruitment of more muscle fibers. The effects are also similar, making other exercises more effective. However, we should not forget that strength training on its own also promotes muscle hypertrophy - particularly the increase in muscle fiber size via the build-up of new actin and myosin filaments.

Although the overall hypertrophy effect of heavy sets with low repetitions (~1 to 5) may not be as strong as sets with more time under tension, the hypertrophy achieved through strength training results in visually denser looking muscles. Even if you don't care about your athletic ability, performing one strength or power exercise per muscle group will do wonders for the appearance of your body.

5 - Perform one strength/hypertrophy exercise for each muscle group

When I say strength/hypertrophy exercise, I'm talking about an exercise and set/repetition scheme that has a hybrid goal in mind - an increase in strength and an increase in hypertrophy.

As mentioned earlier, performing low repetition sets (~1 to 5 reps) is great for increasing strength and when performed with less resistance and higher speed, low repetition sets are great for increasing power.

However, the problem with these sets is that they do not maximally stimulate hypertrophy. This is best achieved through a longer time under tension to generate a little more metabolic stress on the muscle.

Therefore, if the goal of a set is to stimulate improvements in strength and hypertrophy, it is best to use sets of 8 to 10 repetitions. This will still allow you to use a relatively heavy weight to address the strength component of the hybrid goal, while keeping the weight light enough to perform enough repetitions to increase the time under tension. For the record, sets with reps between 6 and 12 will also fulfill these conditions, keeping in mind that if you end up performing most of your sets with 6 reps, you will likely compromise your hypertrophy. On the other hand, too much time in the 12-rep range will compromise the strength component.

Without a doubt, you will benefit enormously from spending plenty of time training in the 8 to 10 repetition range! I would go as far as to say that this is crucial if you want to develop a combination of mass, strength and even endurance. The fact is that I have seen many professional bodybuilders train almost exclusively in this repetition range. While we certainly shouldn't blindly copy what professionals do (as many of them have great bodies not because of the way they train, but in spite of the way they train), this illustrates how elegantly simple effective training can be. It doesn't have to be complicated. Variety in training is key, but if you ever have to choose a repetition range to train in, then you should choose the 8 to 10 repetition range.

Final words - for now

Start thinking about how these 5 principles apply to your own training.

In the second part of this article, I'll cover the final 6 bodybuilding training principles - including the one that I think is by far the most important principle - one that applies to everyone regardless of training style and goals.

Here's a quick summary:

1. Big strong glutes are what most women want. But for women, heavy leg training doesn't automatically lead to a better developed butt.
2. If your quadriceps are huge but your butt is flat, then you should dedicate one training day a week to your glutes.
3. A "butt day" will not only improve your glutes, but will also improve your overall appearance, as well as your performance on heavy basic exercises.

The rise of a powerful female body

There is an uprising happening right now. Women are rebelling against the fashion magazines. "Scrawny" is no longer the goal - especially when it is associated with a weak, sick and fragile appearance. Thigh gaps and a barely there bottom? No thanks.

What modern female exercisers strive for are stronger, better developed glutes and muscular legs. But there is a problem.

Heavy leg training does not automatically lead to better glutes. For many women, performing the ever-popular multi-joint exercises (squats, deadlifts, lunges) only leads to more muscular legs, as they train the quadriceps, lower back and hamstrings without doing much for the glutes. The gluteus-leg ratio of these women is disproportionate because their quadriceps take over and hypertrophy through their lower body training. It's not muscular legs, but under-trained glutes that are the real problem.

We have learned this lesson. Some people can use excellent form and a lot of weight on squats, lunges and deadlifts without their glutes being maximally involved in these exercises the way they are with other exercises that receive less attention. Even the most disciplined strength athletes can give their all on the squat rack and still fail to maximally activate their glutes. As a result, they will continue to build up their legs while their glutes remain soft and thin. How can this happen?

When squats don't hit the spot

All the catchy motivational slogans about the so-called squat butt are misleading in a way. Why? Because our bodies - anatomically and biomechanically - are different. And these differences cause us to rely on different muscle groups - even when we use excellent exercise execution form.

Some women simply can't build an impressive squat butt. Instead, they build up their thighs. You could be one of these women if you...

1. have the predisposition to build big thighs.
2. don't feel much activation in your glutes during your lower body workouts.
3. wonder why your butt looks flat despite all the squats and deadlifts.

This combination of under-trained glutes and very well-toned legs is common among women.

The butt to leg ratio: what you shouldn't do

I am a "quadzilla". In the past, this has bothered me. Back then, I thought muscular legs weren't attractive. But I learned an important lesson. To reduce the size of my muscular legs, I replaced my lower body training with weights with long-distance running. After a year, running took its toll, muscle loss and a couple of debilitating injuries brought me back to iron. I learned to like the muscular quadriceps that came with it, but my glutes were still lagging behind in their development.

Then when I signed up for a figure class competition, my coach made me stop lower body training completely because my legs were too muscular. So my legs had gone from big to small to big and everything in between. And even though my butt hadn't changed significantly, the experience taught me that thinner legs don't necessarily mean toned legs. Thinner legs can be flabby and prone to injury. Thin can still be flabby.

By going back and forth, I found my ideal point and this wasn't about making my legs shrink. It was more about balancing them out with a better butt. The solution wasn't to atrophy my large, metabolically costly quadriceps and leg flexors. The solution was to get my glutes to grow.

How to prevent a pancake butt

So if you're prone to building more muscular legs, the answer isn't to stop doing lower body workouts, or to only train with little pink lady dumbbells. The answer is to aggressively train your glutes. A butt day is in order: a glute-specific workout where your hamstrings and quadriceps are nowhere near as challenged as your glutes. Prioritize your glutes. As a result, they will grow - and getting them to grow will improve the look of your whole body - not just the part below the belt.

A plea for a butt day

People who train for aesthetic reasons usually focus on one or two muscle groups during a training session, but why aren't the glutes one of those muscle groups? Well-developed glutes are crucial for competitive athletes and they look phenomenal on non-competitive athletes too. Is it because the glutes are often difficult to isolate? Well, think about this: the lateral shoulder muscles are trained on shoulder day and the posterior shoulder muscles are trained on back day and yet many bodybuilders have a separate shoulder muscle day. Last time I checked, the glutes were bigger than the shoulders. This is another reason to train the glutes on their own - even if you will inevitably train other muscle groups as part of the process. You might be thinking, "Why should I isolate the glutes when I'll get more back metabolically from my workout if I train the entire lower body?"

Three reasons:

1. If you train with weights 5 to 6 days a week, then a butt day is worth the investment because it will help activate your glutes when you train your entire lower body with multi-joint exercises.
2. The larger the muscle group you train, the more challenging the training session will be. The muscles of your glutes are large and if your glutes are dormant, you're wasting a lot of time doing exercises that could be more effective if they worked your glutes as well.
3. Your glutes are central to your overall appearance - quite literally. A butt day will help eliminate your gluteal fold by lifting your glutes.

If you're a figure class athlete, remember that glute development is often the difference between winning and losing in bikini and figure class competitions. The judges will notice a gluteal fold that looks like a double chin. Diet is part of this, but you'll also need dedicated glute training to bring home the win.

Precautions

A glute day is not for every woman

If you're a beginner or your training with weights is limited to three days a week, then spending time in the gym on a glute-specific training day isn't ideal. You'll achieve more with full body workouts that challenge multiple muscle groups. Even if you are a competitive level strength and power athlete, a butt day may not be a good investment. However, you should remember that even male powerlifters use glute-specific exercises if their glutes are the weak link in the chain.

7 tips and techniques for building your glutes

1 - Make your butt day instinctive

The goal is to maximize your glutes - not your entire lower body. So if you're doing a glute-intensive exercise, pumping a ton of blood to that area, and then can no longer build a mind-muscle connection with your glutes, then stop the workout or move on to a finishing exercise, HIIT or ab workout.

If you were to continue training your lower body in this situation, then you would simply go through the motions of your leg exercises and rely on your quadriceps or hamstrings.

2 - Feeling the muscles working is key

Start your butt day with several sets of hip thrusts (back on bench) or glute bridges (performed without a bench). Pause at the highest point of the movement until you feel a very strong contraction in your glutes. Play with the speed. A slow eccentric movement (negative repetition) can help you to feel your muscles working. Foot placement plays a role, so adjust the position of your feet until you feel your muscles at their best. Make sure no repetition is wasted. Your goal is to pump blood into your butt so that it feels numb, tight and pumped up after the workout. If you feel the tension primarily in your hamstrings, then adjust your form.

3 - Pretend the numbers don't matter

The purpose of your butt day is not to set personal bests. Think of butt day as bodybuilding - not powerlifting. Remember that hypertrophy training is about feeling your muscles work - not about moving a certain weight from point A to point B. Control the weight. Try to feel every second you spend with your hips under the bar. The weight on the bar is only there to make the work harder. It's not there to show off.

4 - Pretend the volume doesn't matter

Women tend to think that if you don't have 15 exercises on your agenda, you won't accomplish anything. Forget that attitude. Effective workouts don't mean breathlessly moving from one exercise to the next. When it comes to the glutes, simple workouts can work wonders. One or two extremely effective glute exercises might be all you need.

Note: If your glutes aren't numb and tight after the first exercise and you can still build a good mind-muscle connection with them, then do a few more glute-specific exercises. But if you've worked your glutes so hard during the first exercise that they'll be useless for all other exercises, then stop there. An effective glute-focused workout can be as short as 15 to 20 minutes and consist of just one killer exercise.

5 - Recruit your glutes first on leg day

On your other lower body day (the leg-focused day), start with something glute-intensive. Bodybuilders often use this technique when they are trying to build a specific muscle group. They train what they want to build the most first. However, don't try to completely destroy your glutes - just pump some blood into those muscles. Remind your body how it feels to activate these muscles before you start the other multi-joint exercises.

6 - Control your gluteal fold

You'll be surprised how quickly the shape of your glutes and the area directly underneath will change. By building up your gluteal muscles, this area will be better supplied with blood, making fat mobilization possible. Your trainer has probably told you that targeted fat loss in a specific area is a myth, right? Well, it won't seem that way if you learn to activate your glutes and really challenge them on butt day.

7 - Throw away your scales

If you're trying to change the shape of your body by building muscle in key areas, then mirrors, pictures and trainers are far better than scales when it comes to measuring your progress. You're trying to build your butt - not lose it.

Butt Day Basics

Hip thrusts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8nFGuY77CE) and/or glute bridges

Perform 4 to 8 sets of 6 to 20 repetitions. Start with a lighter, more manageable weight and then increase as you decrease reps if necessary. Move your brain to your butt. Spend some time doing these exercises. Don't think about what other exercises you will do afterwards. Getting the most out of your first glute exercises may leave you unable to do more afterwards.

Play with your set and repetition scheme to find out what works best to activate your glutes. You could start with a lighter weight with 10 to 15 reps and then reduce the reps as you increase the weight. Or you could do 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions. This is your opportunity to really feel the activation of your glutes and feel the burn in those muscles Light sets and bodyweight only sets are not a waste of time. You can use these to warm up and then move on to heavier stuff.

Butt day options

Skip these if your glutes already feel tight and pumped up after performing the essential exercises.

• Butt blaster machine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmM_cvqVwJs) - or any other glute-focused exercise
• Deadlift - any version that increases the time under tension on your glutes
• Hyperextensions
• Cable Pull Through (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8MqFoDnCoY)

Butt Day HIIT Options

• Kettlebell swings
• Stepper
• Working with the weight sled
• Sprints

Perform these exercises depending on what your overall goal is. A short HIIT training session can easily be done at the end of the butt day.

Organize your week

There should be two or three non lower body days between your butt day and your leg day.

For example, my butt day is Tuesday and my leg day is Friday. Here's a rough example of what my training looks like:

• Monday: HIIT
• Tuesday: butt day
• Wednesday: Chest, shoulders (light)
• Thursday: Back HIIT
• Friday: legs
• Saturday: Shoulders (heavy)
• Sunday: back

If I need a training-free day, I go for a walk instead of following the plan. I don't plan my training-free days, but take them spontaneously when I feel I need them.

The benefits of a butt day last all week long. And nothing says "she's working out" like a well-toned butt.

By Dani Shugart

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/flat-butt-fix

More is better

As a former bouncer, I've met a lot of eccentric individuals in my life. I think anyone could say this about themselves, but those who have spent most of their lives as bouncers are somewhat abnormal.

I can also say with a clear conscience that some of the bouncers I've worked with have given me some of the best (and the worst) advice I've ever heard.

One of these memorable truths came from a Chicago bouncer. He said "Fighting is not cool. Remember that two wrong things don't make a right thing. That's why you should always hit them three times." This advice was quite useful on two or three occasions, but if I'm honest, I'm glad those days are long gone.

Since I now spend my time writing articles, I figured it was time to develop my own maxims.

A well thought out program is useful, but general rules and philosophies will help the reader more than any collection of sentences and repetitions. So what is my maxim? It is this:

If your goal is hypertrophy (gains in muscle mass) at the fastest rate possible, then the more often you train a muscle group, the better.

I've said this on a few occasions, but I doubt most readers have made a conscientious attempt to understand or apply the veracity of this. But in fact, a properly periodized, high-frequency training plan will produce the fastest hypertrophy by far.

What high frequency training means

The term "high frequency" is very vague. For some, it would probably mean that they should increase their frequency of training each muscle group to three times a week. For others, high frequency training would mean nothing less than training each muscle group twice a day, 6 days a week.

Well, both groups are right, as everything in life (and training) is relative. If you only trained each muscle group once every 5 to 7 days, then training each muscle group three times a week would generate a remarkable stimulus for hypertrophy.

For those who are currently already training each muscle group for 3 to 4 workouts per week, I would advise focusing on multiple daily workouts.

Where am I going with all this talk? These points are part of an effort to help you understand how complex this topic is, as I have thousands of exercisers (i.e. thousands of fitness levels) to serve. In fact, the Perfect 10 program is nothing less than an extraordinary undertaking. Before we get to the parameters, however, let me first explain the genesis of this program.

The Cirque du Soleil factor

For me as a physiologist, 2001 was a very influential year in my life. This was the year I first attended the Cirque du Soleil show entitled Mystere. This show opened my mind to accepting training methodologies that I would never have considered before. And it eventually led to many of my most effective training programs - training programs that I have never written about until now.

I had heard about this show through several of my clients, but never would have guessed what I would see there. For those who aren't familiar with these circus shows, let me mention that they are some of the most exhilarating, inspiring and breathtaking displays of physical prowess you'll ever see. Not only do these athletes have exceptional strength and agility, but they also have some of the most exceptionally developed bodies you will ever see.

As I watched the show, I thought about their training program. I wondered how these guys had built such proportionally enormous latissimus, shoulder and upper arm muscles. Was it a Mentzer-influenced program? Well, since their program consisted of 12 shows a week, I could easily dismiss that answer.

Was it the amazing level of training intensity with a primary focus on eccentric muscle actions? After all, numerous scientific studies on muscle building have shown that the eccentric phase of training (the negative or lowering portion of the exercise) leads to the most muscle damage and therefore the most perceived muscle growth. No, this could not be the case, as such training methods would have resulted in a state of stiffness, muscle soreness and poor athletic performance (during the recovery phase).

Instead, they must have found an optimal point in their training parameters that allowed them to induce a stimulus sufficient for muscle growth without burning out their skeletal and neural systems. Based on what nearly every strength coach, fitness writer and bodybuilding magazine recommended, such a training program just didn't seem possible.

Hmmm, it seemed like I had stumbled upon a puzzle with a few pieces missing.

My accidental happy experience

After the show, I went back to my hotel room and decided to go to the bar for a nightcap (I usually stick to ZMA, but I was in Vegas after all). The bartender started a conservation by saying "What did you do tonight?" I told him I was at the Cirque show and he replied "These two perform amazing acrobatic tricks together, don't they? They are brothers and they are neighbors of mine."

He told me that they spend most of the day practicing the Cirque routines. He told me on this subject "yes, I often look out my window and see them in their backyard perfecting their routines for hours." Oh man, I thought, these guys had two of the most amazing bodies I had ever seen and they were practicing at an incredibly high frequency - a frequency I had never read about from any of the "experts".

I got maybe three hours of sleep that night. I couldn't stop wondering how these athletes had built up their capacity to withstand such a training frequency. Then I thought about how it must be genetic predispositions, performance-enhancing drugs or a combination of both. But that line of thinking changed when I thought about my own experiences.

I thought about the soccer players I had met and the calf development they exhibited. Then I thought about the mechanics I'd befriended over the years in my hometown - all of whom had massive and defined forearms. I also reminisced about the times when I had made the fastest and most extensive hypertrophy gains in a given muscle group.

In college, I spent summers working for an apartment complex and one of my primary duties was pulling mattresses up and down the stairs. I did this for hours on end throughout the week. I built up 2.5 inches of arm circumference in 3 weeks doing this "mattress work". I have never built up 2.5 centimeters of arm circumference in such a short time with any of my training programs.

Voila! The answer to my puzzle must be hidden behind the high frequency training parameters that weren't destroying my muscles on a daily basis. I couldn't wait to get back to Tucson and start my own experiments.

6 Precautions

Well, that was four years ago and I have to say it took so long to find an answer. Why so long? Here's why:

1. hypertrophy training dogma

First of all, the stubbornness of the strength training community is quite strong. Because of this, some of my "non-paying" clientele did not follow my high-frequency training parameters precisely as I described them. Therefore, I had to discard my data on numerous occasions.

2. persistence in training

This goes hand in hand with point 1, you need to be persistent with high frequency training plans to reap the benefits. One or two weeks of high frequency training will not give you the results you want. The idea behind high frequency training is to build up your work capacity and specific muscle fitness to the level the system has yet to reach.

3. a lack of recovery support

Stretching and ice massage are imperative during the initial phases of high frequency training. Those who did not follow my recovery modalities often burned out within a few weeks. However, those who used stretching and ice massage as recommended built muscle faster than ever before.

4. a lack of personal ingenuity

The Perfect 10 training plan requires the use of numerous exercise variations. Since it is not possible for me to personally train thousands of readers, some ingenuity is necessary. You need to understand that even the slightest change in hand position, foot position, the use of one-arm exercises and switching from dumbbells to a barbell on any given exercise is enough to make it a "different exercise".

5. overzealous exercisers

For some, too much just doesn't seem to be enough. A few of the people I trained with grabbed the ball and ran way over the target zone on the very first run. In other words, they tried to do too much too fast and burned out.

6. limited training time

Obviously, high-frequency training is only ideal for those who can follow such a training plan. If you are one of those people who can only manage to find time for 2 to 3 training sessions per week, then this program is not for you. This is not to say that we should all quit our jobs, but high frequency training does require some lifestyle changes. This is a bitter pill for many recreational athletes to swallow.

After we get through these precautions, I will give you a program that will induce hypertrophy at a higher rate than you have ever experienced. But please follow my entire description exactly. If you are sloppy on even one element, you will suffer - trust me.

Perfect 10 Training Guidelines

1. choose 1 to 2 muscle groups that you want to improve the most.

If you start with a high-frequency training plan, overtraining will constantly knock on your door. Therefore, it is not necessary to bombard your entire body with such training parameters. Most people have a few muscle groups that are lagging behind in their development. If you are one of those who want to improve everything, then this program is not for you and you should choose a different hypertrophy program. This program is for those who need to progress underdeveloped muscle groups as quickly as possible.

2. perform a different exercise for each training session of the week.

There are countless different exercises for each muscle group, so following this rule shouldn't be too difficult. Let's take chest exercises as an example. If you're trying to improve your chest development, there are hundreds of exercise variations when you consider all the different angles between 30 degree reverse incline bench and 45 degree incline bench, all the variations of arm and hand positions (underhand grip, parallel grip...) and variations with dumbbells, barbells and on the cable pulley.

Make the effort to draw up a comprehensive list of all possible exercises that your available equipment allows. Both basic exercises and isolation exercises are suitable for this program. The more variations and options you have, the greater your success will be.

3. don't worry about the tempo of your muscle actions and don't emphasize the negative part of the movement

Considering the amount of sets and workouts you will be doing each week, you should take this rule very seriously. Just train as fast as possible while maintaining perfect form and a controlled negative portion of the repetitions. An eccentric movement that lasts longer than two seconds is excessive during this program. We are not trying to destroy the muscles, but we are trying to provide sufficient stimulus for muscle growth without causing unnecessary strain.

4. perform stretches and ice massages after the corresponding training sessions indicated in the plan.

There are a myriad of different stretching methods, but only static stretches are used in this program. Each stretching session should consist of four static stretches of the trained muscle group. Hold the muscle in the stretched position for 30 seconds and then pause for 30 seconds before repeating three times. It's as simple as that.

Ice massages should be performed with a Cryocup or a paper cup filled with ice. Use a Cryocup or paper cup for each side of the body. Once the cup is empty, perform the same technique on the other side of the body, using long, deep strokes and applying baby oil or olive oil to your skin to avoid hypothermia. Perform the ice massage during the first two hours after your training session.

5. learn to train through the soreness.

Sore muscles will be your new best friend, so learn to love them. This program will create continuous muscle soreness (at least) for the first few weeks. Slowly but surely this soreness will subside over time. This is a good thing! But you have to understand that you have to force your muscles to train more often. All those dogmas about irregular training will be overridden by your new found high frequency karma.

6. train the rest of your body as usual

You don't have to change the training for the rest of your body. In other words, you can continue to train the other muscle groups as usual. If you use the Perfect 10 training for chest and triceps, you simply remove these muscle groups from your existing training program. Think of Perfect 10 as an extension of the program you are currently following (the term turbocharger would probably be more accurate).

The program

Here's what you've been waiting for! You were probably wondering why this program is called Perfect 10 Training. That's because (surprise surprise) I'm going to describe a program that trains your lagging muscle groups for 10 workouts per week! Think of this program as the antithesis of the mythical Colorado Experiment.

Pull the Zippo out of your pocket and get ready to light the stick of muscle dynamite.

Week 1

Addendum to weeks 1 to 4: Do this program for one or two muscle groups. Choose one exercise for each of these muscle groups each day. Stretch after each training session.

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Supplement for weeks 5 to 8: Perform this program for one or 2 muscle groups. Choose one exercise for each of these muscle groups every day. There must be at least 6 hours between the morning and afternoon/evening training sessions. Stretch after each training session. Perform an ice massage at the specified times.

* This set should only be performed to concentric failure.

Week 6

* This set should only be performed to concentric failure.

Week 7

* This set should only be performed to concentric failure.

Week 8

During this week, the selected muscle groups are not trained at all.

Week 9

Once you have completed week 9, you are officially a High Frequency Protégé! If you follow the program exactly as described and if you avoid muscle failure (except for the days indicated), you will have helped bring about a new revolution in hypertrophy training.

By Chad Waterbury | 08/16/05

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/perfect-10-training