Specialization

 

     I had an email from a reader this morning who asked a question I don’t usually get, although I’m sorta surprised I don’t get it.  Odd as it might be, come to think of it, I don’t remember a time that I’ve ever received this question.  The question was: “Should I specialize on a lift or a bodypart sometimes or should I just follow a basic, overall mass-building program?”  Although the reader was solely interested in hypertrophy, the same question could be asked by strength athletes.

     My answer was, “well, it depends.”  But, on the whole, yes, you should specialize.  And then you shouldn’t.

     If you’re new to training, or if you haven’t built any appreciable strength or muscle mass (depending on your goals) then, no, you shouldn’t specialize.  Specialization should occur when you have a weak point, whether it’s a “cosmetic” weak point for a bodybuilder or a strength weak point for a lifter.  If you’re after both strength and muscle mass, then you may need to specialize at some point for either of the above reasons.

     When I started reading bodybuilding magazines in the mid to late ‘80s, it seemed as if most of the articles were on specialization, and it was usually worded, “How to bring up a weak body part,” or something like that.  To be honest, even though there is more information around right now—and sometimes much better information—it’s often hard to find because of all the crazy-ass voices crying out in the wilderness of fitness, strength, longevity, and bodybuilding, and so it’s hard to know what, and what not, to believe. But back then, you only had the monthly bodybuilding magazines.  If you were serious about bodybuilding, strength training, or both, then that’s how you got your information.  (That’s right, young folk, there wasn’t even something called the internet.)  And although there was some information that probably didn’t really pertain to the average lifter, a lot of the bodypart specialization articles were really good.

     A few weeks ago, for instance, I wrote a “Classical Bodybuilding” piece on Don “The Ripper” Ross’s mass-gaining routine for stubborn calves.  It was something I used in the early ‘90s to bring up my own stubborn calves.  Before trying that program, I didn’t think my calves would ever grow.  The problem was that I had never really, truly specialized on them.  But then I did.  And they grew.

     But don’t think that this just applies to competitive bodybuilders or bodybuilders that follow a “bro split” or anything like that.  No, it also applies to the average lifter who just wants to add overall mass, and has failed to do so with more conventional approaches.  The book “Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks” is a squat specialization program, because ever since the ‘30s and J.C. Hise, bodybuilders discovered that one sure-fire method for gaining unheard of muscle mass was to specialize in high-rep squats.  It worked then, and it works just as well now 90 years later.

     Bradley J. Steiner—who wasn’t exactly known as a fan of split workouts and pro bodybuilding, to say the least—wrote the following program in a 1970 Muscular Development as an antidote for those lifters who were having a hard time gaining muscle mass.  Keep in mind that the following is not really a leg specialization routine but a mass-building routine using leg training as its means of hypertrophy specialization.  Here it is:

1) Light swingbell, kettlebell, dumbbell swings between the legs. 1 x 20. 

2) Parallel squat. 3 x 15, followed by

3) Light breathing pullovers. 3 x 20 (1 set following each set of squats).

4) "Hack" squat. 4 x 8.

5) Front squat. 2 x 15, followed by

6) Light breathing pullovers. 2 x 20 (1 set following each set of squats). 

7) Straddle-lift exercise. 3 x 12.

8) Light breathing pullovers. 1 x 20. 

     Honest, if I was to do it, I would add a lift or two for the upper body.  Replace one of the sets of pullovers with an overhead press or a bench movement of some sort, and replace the straddle-lift with a set of chins, power cleans, or deadlifts.  But the overall premise of Steiner’s bulk-building program makes perfect sense.  (Note: it’s obvious, as well, that kettlebells aren’t exactly a new trend considering the year Steiner wrote that.)

     Sometimes specialization might actually involve not specializing in something.  I’ve always had a large and muscular back.  It’s the one bodypart that would always be muscular and defined on me even if I stopped training completely.  If I wanted a more proportional physique when I was younger, then I would often have to stop training my back altogether (and cut back on my chest and leg training) and then focus on training my shoulders, arms, and calves.  A lot of guys have the opposite problem.  They should really stop training arms altogether, and focus more on big, bang-for-your-buck movements.  In fact, a lot of modern gym-goers would probably do well to cease training the front of their body altogether (with the exception of quads), and instead spend 6 to 8 weeks concentrating on the rear of the body.  Six weeks of power cleans, snatches, deadlifts, stiff-legged deadlifts, shrugs, chins, and an assortment of squats ought to do the trick.

     If you’re a powerlifter, then you need to spend some time specializing on your lift that needs the most help.  My squat and deadlift were always very good, but my bench press really lagged behind.  I always needed to spend at least a couple months out of the year focused on doing more upper body work and bench press work.  But at powerlifting meets, I would often win because a lot of guys had good bench presses, whereas they needed to specialize on their squats and deadlifts.  I remember one meet where I was out-benched by over 200 pounds(!), but I still won the competition because I could out-squat and out-deadlift the other lifter by over 150 pounds on each of those lifts.  That guy needed to spend a few months specializing on his squat and pulls.

     Sometimes you need to specialize in an aspect of training.  If you’ve been bodybuilding for the last two years, for instance, maybe it’s time to focus on strength for 2 months and forget all about hypertrophy.  Have you been on a constant bulk for the past year?  How about 6 weeks of fasting and high-rep workouts to burn bodyfat?  If you’re an athlete, then the same applies.  Spend some time on an aspect of your training where you’re the weakest.

     If you wanted to be systematic about the whole thing, you could do 6 weeks of conventional training, then follow it up with 6 weeks of specialization training, whatever that specialization might be.