High-Frequency Hypertrophy

 

An “Easy” Full-Body Muscle-Building Program

     I have written quite a bit over the past year on high-frequency training.  I have a semi-regular, ongoing series discussing how to use HFT for various goals—general strength, powerlifting, fat loss, and whatnot.  Although I have written some about it—such as this post from last May—I would like to do a few different essays on HFT for hypertrophy.

     The program I’ve designed for this article has its roots in the full-body workout programs of the old-time bodybuilders from the ‘30s and early ‘40s where they used, primarily, full-body workouts performed 3x per week and multiple exercises for a limited number of sets per exercise—often no more than 1 set per movement, sometimes 2 at the most.  In fact, it wasn’t until the likes of Clancy Ross and Leo Stern—who trained with each other in the military—that bodybuilders started utilizing 3 or 4 sets per exercise in the mid ‘40s.  Clancy Ross called this “new” way of training, in fact, the “multi-set system.”

     In many ways, this program is the exact opposite of most programs I have created and written about, whether it’s here on the blog or elsewhere.  If you’ve read much of my work, then you’ll know that I’m a big fan of high-set, low-rep routines using minimal exercises.  If you’re solely in pursuit of strength, or if you’re shooting for a combination of strength and power and muscle mass, then I think that is how you should train pretty much the vast majority of time.  But this program should be great for producing not just hypertrophy, but a very aesthetic physique due to the various exercises that will target not just all of your muscles but all of your muscles from various angles.

     This program would also be great, by the way, if you have been hammering away at the sort of programs I typically recommend, and you’re in need of a break.  This one is so different from my usual programs that it would be a nice and incredibly varied change of pace if you regularly train using my standard programs.

     This regimen has another inspiration, one that may surprise you if you know my general disdain for so-called “high-intensity training.”  And that inspiration is the early Nautilus training of Arthur Jones.  HIT—and Nautilus by extension—is often thought to “work” through training one set of one exercise (per muscle group) to the point of “momentary muscular exhaustion.”  But this simply doesn’t tell the whole story.  (In the words of Paul Harvey, here is the “rest of the story.”)  Early HIT programs involved full-body workouts, frequent training of 3 days a week, high reps, and moving quickly from exercise to exercise.  (This isn’t really the place for it here, but there were more recent examples of this kind of HIT, as well, such as the programs of Ken Leistner.)  Could it be that it wasn’t so much the “intensity” of the sets that produced quick gains in the ‘70s, but perhaps, just perhaps, the return to full-body sessions, minimal sets, compound lifts, and the like that produced the gains for those bodybuilders who tried it?  Especially when the bodybuilders had been utilizing high-volume split routines beforehand?  So what follows here is a program that uses a lot of HIT principles sans, well, the “intensity.”

     With that intro out of the way, here’s the program:

The Full-Body High-Frequency Hypertrophy Regimen

     This program involves a 4-week block of training, repeated again for a total of 8 weeks.  Read the details thoroughly before attempting it.  Do not just gloss over it and think that you understand it.  As Jack Reacher is fond of saying, details matter.  So pay attention to the details.

     This is a 3-days-per-week program, so make sure you train on 3 non-consecutive days each week.  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are the typical days of choice for a lot of lifters, but any other non-consecutive days will work.

     This is an “easy” muscle-building program because you want to make sure that you are not taking any of the sets to failure.  Instead, you will always stop several reps short of muscular failure.  It will build muscle instead by slowly ramping up the volume.  As the volume accumulates over the 8 weeks, your body will accommodate by adding muscle.

Week One:

Barbell squats: 1 set of 12-15 reps.  Do a warm-up set, but nothing hard, and then load the bar with a weight you know you could easily get at least 20 reps with.  You may want to err on the even easier side by selecting a weight you know you could get double the reps of your set if you tried.  Don’t worry if it seems easy.  That’s the point!  I will give you some tips on how and when to increase weight or reps at the end.  Use this same methodology on all of the exercises that follow.

Barbell bench presses: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Double kettlebell cleans: 1 set of 12-15 reps.  I have selected kettlebell cleans because these are better for higher reps.  Although I occasionally have recommended higher reps with barbell cleans, the problem is that your form will often break down before you get to the final reps, and they are harder on your joints, especially your shoulders.  You can substitute dumbbell cleans if you want, since they are also easier on your joints, but I think kettlebells are best for this rep range.

Military presses: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Barbell curls: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Lying barbell extensions (skull crushers): 1 set of 12-15 reps

Standing calf raises: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Incline sit-ups: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Week Two:  For Week Two, you will add an additional exercise for your large muscle groups.

Barbell squats: 1 set of 12-15 reps.  Same methodology as Week One.  If you find this getting easier with each workout, you’re on the right track.

Barbell bench presses: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Front squats: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Incline dumbbell bench presses: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Double kettlebell cleans: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Military presses: 1 set of 12-15 reps

One-arm dumbbell rows: 1 set of 12-15 reps.  Do one set for each arm.

Seated behind-the-neck presses: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Barbell curls: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Lying barbell extensions (skull crushers): 1 set of 12-15 reps

Standing calf raises: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Incline sit-ups: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Week Three: For Week Three, you will add another exercise to your large muscle groups and a 2nd exercise to your smaller ones.

Barbell squats: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Barbell bench presses: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Front squats: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Incline dumbbell bench presses: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Walking lunges (barbell or dumbbell): 1 set of 12-15 reps.  You can also use your bodyweight without the additional barbell or dumbbell if you feel as if you need the recovery.

Flat dumbbell flyes: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Double kettlebell cleans: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Military presses: 1 set of 12-15 reps

One-arm dumbbell rows: 1 set of 12-15 reps.  Do one set for each arm.

Seated behind-the-neck presses: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Wide-grip lat pulldowns: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Side lateral raises (dumbbells): 1 set of 12-15 reps

Barbell curls: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Lying barbell extensions (skull crushers): 1 set of 12-15 reps

Dumbbell curls (standing or seated): 1 set of 12-15 reps

Cable pushdowns: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Standing calf raises: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Incline sit-ups: 1 set of 12-15 reps

Week Four (Active Recovery):

     For this week, return to your Week One workout, but use around half of the weight that you used from your first week.  Yes, this will feel incredibly light and easy and that’s the point.

Tips and Pointers

• Repeat the program without changing anything for weeks 5 through 8.

• Only add weight to an exercise when the previous workout felt too easy.  If you try to push yourself by constantly adding weight, then this program won’t work.  There are some genetically gifted athletes out there, don’t get me wrong, who could handle it, but that’s probably not you.  This program works by the accumulated workouts over the course of the 8 weeks.

• Instead of increasing weight when an exercise feels easy, you can always bump up your reps but keep the weight the same.  If you try this approach, then you should probably be doing around 1 set of 20-25 reps by week 7.

• Rest time between sets will vary depending on your recovery capacity.  This is the reason I never prescribe blanket recommendations for rest times.  Rest until you have not quite recovered your oxygen debt between sets.  This will probably range somewhere between 1 to 2 minutes for the average bodybuilder.

• If you want to continue after 8 weeks, then use the same template for another 8 weeks, but use different exercises (always think same but different when it comes to new movements) or change your rep scheme.

• Since this is a muscle-building program, make sure that you’re consuming plenty of calories on a daily basis and getting enough protein.  I would shoot for at least 20 times your bodyweight in calories daily and at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.

• Get plenty of sleep each night to aid in rest and recovery.

• Don’t do much activity other than the workouts themselves.  A nice leisurely walk on your off days should be about the extent of it.

     As always, if there are any questions, please email me or leave them in the comments section below.  In the coming weeks, I will present a few other training programs for mass gains using high-frequency training.  Until then, good luck and good lifting!