The Squat and Grow Big Program

A Hybrid High-Frequency Regimen for Natural Mass-Building

     I have long been a fan of high-frequency training (HFT) and other methods of lifting that go against the stream of most modern training.  This is especially true of strictly muscle-building methods.  Perhaps it’s hubris on my part to think that I know better than bodybuilders lifting in today’s gyms, but I think there are better methods for the natural bodybuilder than what is currently used by the vast majority of lifters (at least in the West—bodybuilders in East Europe are another story).

     Infrequent training simply isn’t a good method for the majority of lifters if their goal is to gain muscle mass.  And by “majority” I mean natural lifters.  Steroids change the equation—and change it big time.  Anabolic steroid use is often cited as the reason why bodybuilders from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and early ‘90s (before Dorian Yates came onto the scene) were able to train with a lot of volume and a lot of frequency.  And, yeah, sure, steroids do allow you to do more work and recover quicker.  But here’s the other side of it: they also allow you to train very infrequently and never leave the “anabolic state” initiated by a good workout.  This means that, for steroid users, a really high-volume, high-intensity program—“intensity” here is used as it is by bodybuilders, as how much effort is exerted in a single set—done infrequently might just be the best form of training to utilize.  I would argue that it’s the reason for the current mass monsters—“mutants” might be a better word—that occupy today’s (unhealthy) pro bodybuilding scene.

     A lot of natural bodybuilders—and the bodybuilding websites or magazines that promote natural bodybuilding—wouldn’t agree with the above paragraph.  It all comes down to the belief that natural bodybuilders need less training, not more, than the steroid user.  But I believe that kind of thought is short-sighted and one-dimensional.  If steroids had never been invented, or had never come onto the bodybuilding scene, I have a very good feeling that natural bodybuilders—which would be all bodybuilders, in this case—would train quite a bit different today than how they currently train.  Full-body workouts would largely be the norm, and bodybuilders would take their time to build up the conditioning and work capacity to do ever greater work.  They would then switch over to some form of split training whenever their full-body sessions became too long.  Of course, they would probably also have learned that it is good to occasionally do less voluminous workouts, and so they would probably do some form of periodization where they split their training cycles between full-body workouts, high-volume splits, and lower-frequency, multi-bodypart split programs.

     And yet, what if there was a way for the natural bodybuilder to take advantage of the lessons learned from the modern-day, steroid-using mass monster and his high-volume, high-intensity, low-frequency workout programs?  The program I’m going to present here is my answer to that question.

     When a natural bodybuilder attempts to follow the training split of the average steroid user—high-volume, high-intensity, and low-frequency—they end up, oxymoronic as it may sound, both overtraining and undertraining at the same time.  Because of the high-volume coupled with the high-intensity they have to take off too long between sessions, thus, they end up falling “out” of the anabolic state initiated by the workout.  But if there was a way for the natural bodybuilder to stay in an anabolic state for the entirety of the training week, then he, theoretically, could train a bodypart infrequently and use the high-volume, high-intensity methods of the steroid user.  But how is one to do that without steroids?  The answer is as old-school as they come: three days a week of squatting and lots of food!

     Utilizing this program—and this is the reason I refer to it as a hybrid high-frequency regimen—you will squat on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday you will follow the more typical high-volume, low-frequency workouts of your average steroid user.  You will also be expected, of course, to eat a lot of food and get plenty of protein on a daily basis.  If followed as I have outlined it, then you should be able to pack on a lot of muscle mass, despite being natural.

     First, we’ll discuss training.  Second, we’ll look at nutrition.  If you follow my training advice but not my dietary advice, or vice-versa, this program won’t work.

 

The Squat and Grow Big Training Program

Monday – Wednesday – Friday: Squat Day

     On these days, you will squat and only squat.  Although these workouts will definitely cause your legs to grow, the main purpose of the M-W-F workout is to keep your body in an “anabolic state” and promote continuous growth.  (And, yes, squats are just that good.)

     Here, you will do ramps.  Pick one of the set/rep schemes below at each session.  You may want to stick with the same workout for a week (or two) and then do a different ramp session.  If you’re more advanced, or if you just enjoy constant change, then you can always switch it up from one workout to the next.

The 5-Rep Ramp

     This is the most basic— but don't think that basic means easy.  Start with nothing but the Olympic bar and slowly add weight with each set, always doing 5 reps.  Stop once you "miss" 5 reps.  

     Take your time in getting up to the 5-rep max.  You may end up doing 10 to 15 sets—the more the better. Do not simply do 2 or 3 sets before reaching your 5-rep max.  They’re called "ramps" for a reason.

5-3-2 Ramp

     Start with just the Olympic bar and do ramps of 5 reps until you reach a really hard, but not necessarily all-out, set.  At that point, start doing ramps of 3s until you hit a really hard triple.  Then, switch over to sets of 2 reps until you hit your max double.

3-2-1 Ramp

Perform sets of 3 reps, ramping up until you reach a weight where 3 reps is damn near impossible.  At this point, add weight and do sets of 2 until 2 reps seems impossible.  Then begin doing singles until you miss a rep.

5-4-3-2-1 Ramp

This is the most intense of the ramps.  Work up in sets of 5 until you can only get 4 reps; continue with 4 until you can only get 3 reps, and so on until you miss for 1 rep.

 

Tuesday: Chest and Shoulders

Flat Bench Presses: 5 sets of 6-8 reps.  Do a few progressively heavier warmup sets of 8 reps, then load the bar with what you would typically do for one very hard set of 10 reps.  Do 5 sets of 6 to 8 reps with that weight.  Once are capable of doing 8 reps on all 5 sets, add weight at the next chest workout.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses: 5 sets of 6-8 reps.  Same methodology as the bench presses.

Incline Dumbbell Flyes: 4 sets of 12-15 reps.  For this movement, after warmups, select a weight where you know that 20 reps would be tough for one all-out set.  Do 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps with that weight.  Once you manage 15 reps on all 4 sets, add weight at the next workout.

Dips: 4 sets of max reps.  Do these with your bodyweight, doing as many reps as you can on each set.  If you are strong enough to get at least 15 reps on all 4 sets, start doing weighted dips.

Military Presses: 5 sets of 6-8 reps.  Use strict form and the same methodology as the bench presses and incline DB presses.

Dumbbell Side Laterals: 5 sets of 12-15 reps.  Select a weight, after warmups, where 1 set of 20 reps would be extremely hard.  Use that weight on all 5 sets.  If you manage 15 reps on all sets, add weight at next session.

Behind-the-Neck Presses: 5 sets of 12-15 reps.  Same methodology as the lateral raises.

 

Thursday: Back

Deadlifts: 5 sets of 3-5 reps.  Deadlifts are best performed for 5 reps or under.  Do a few progressively heavier warmups, then load the bar with a weight where 7 to 8 reps would be really tough.  Once you can get 5 sets of 5 reps with that poundage, add weight at the next session.

High Pulls: 5 sets of 3-5 reps.  Same methodology as the deadlifts.

Wide-Grip Chins: 4 sets of 6-8 reps.  Do these with your bodyweight.  Once you can get 4 sets of 8 reps with ease, start adding weight via a weight belt.

One-Arm Dumbbell Rows: 4 sets of 6-8 reps.  Use a weight on all sets where 10 reps would be really tough for one all-out set.  If you get 8 reps on al 4 sets, add weight at next workout.

Barbell Shrugs: 4 sets of 6-8 reps.  Same methodology as the rows.

 

Saturday: Arms

Barbell Curls: 5 sets of 6-8 reps. Do a few warmup sets of 8 reps, then load the bar with what you would typically do for one tough set of 10 reps.  Do 5 sets of 6 to 8 reps with that weight.  If you manage 8 reps on all 5 sets, add weight at the next arm workout.

Skull Crushers: 5 sets of 6-8 reps. Same methodology as the curls.

Standing Alternate Dumbbell Curls: 5 sets of 6-8 reps (each arm). Same methodology as the first two movements.

Cable Pushdowns: 5 sets of 10-12 reps.  Select a weight where 12 reps is really tough.  Once you can get 12 reps on all 5 sets, add weight at next session.  You might notice that this is the first non-free weight movement of the entire program.  When training with cables, bands, or machines, you can push each set a little harder, as it’s much easier to recover from bands, cables, and the like than it is free weights, be they dumbbells or barbells.

Cable Curls: 5 sets of 10-12 reps.  Same methodology as the pushdowns.

Reverse-Grip Cable Pushdowns: 5 sets of 10-12 reps.

Concentration Curls: 5 sets of 10-12 reps (each arm).  Use the same technique as the previous movements.  Get a deep stretch at the bottom and really contract your biceps hard at the top.

Dumbbell Kickbacks: 5 sets of 10-12 reps (each arm).  Here, do one arm at a time.  Occasionally, you see bodybuilders do both arms at once, but I want you to concentrate on getting a deep stretch at the bottom of the movement and a hard contraction at the top, and that’s best done with just one dumbbell at a time.

 

Tips and Pointers for the Program:

·         If you want, feel free to do some additional abdominal and calf work on some of the training days.  You could do one or two sets of a movement for each muscle group on the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday workouts or you could treat these muscles the same way you do the others and simply work each one hard for 3 to 4 exercises on one of those training days.  If you take the latter approach, then Saturday would probably be the best day to do voluminous calf and ab training.

·         On the squat workouts, your poundages should naturally wave up and down.  Do not treat each session as a workout where you have to always beat the previous day’s session.  That mentality will not work on this program.  Some days you will be stronger than others and some days weaker.  That’s perfectly fine.

·         If you have been doing largely infrequent training before starting this program, ease into the frequent squat training.  For your first couple of weeks, you may want to stop several sets shy of hard.  For instance, let’s say that you have a max squat for 5 reps with 315 pounds.  If you do 5-rep ramps, stop your sets around 250 to 275 pounds for the first 2 weeks until you’ve adapted, then you can start to push it.

·         Another possible option on the squat days is to make the Wednesday session a light workout, even once you have adapted to the program.  If you take this route, then use the same set/rep scheme at both the Monday and the Wednesday workout.  If you do 5-rep ramps and hit 315 for your last set on Monday, then only go to 75-80% on the Wednesday workout, which would mean that Wednesday’s top 5-rep set would be no more than 250.

·         On the T-Th-S workouts, you should get a massive pump from the training.  If you don’t get a pump, then your diet is probably “off,” which brings us around to the 2^nd part of this program…

 

The Squat and Grow Big Dietary Plan

     For the diet, I want you to take a page out of John McCallum’s book and consume 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight daily.  You will also need to consume plenty of calories—at least 20 times your bodyweight in calories on a daily basis.  This means if you weigh 200 pounds, you will need 200 grams of protein on a daily basis and 4,000 calories to boot.

     I think, throughout the training year, lifters should cycle the amount of protein they consume daily.  For the most part, you should consume around 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight on a daily basis.  Or, at least, it should average that daily throughout a week.  In other words, if you weigh 150 pounds, and some days you get 120 grams of protein, and other days you get 180, that’s perfectly fine.  Conversely, there are probably times when you should cut down your protein to around .5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight daily.  This gives your body a break from so much protein, and it actually makes the higher protein intake that much more effective for muscle growth when you return to it.  And then, yes, you should spend some training months—when you are absolutely killing it in the gym by using a routine such as this one—consuming 2 grams per pound of bodyweight, or even more, every day.

     In order to get enough calories and protein daily, you will need to eat multiple meals throughout the day—or 3 meals interspersed with 3 protein drinks between each meal.  Don’t try to eat incredibly “clean” or attempt something such as intermittent fasting while on this program.  I like clean eating, and I like intermittent fasting.  If you need to do either of those things then, sorry, this program probably isn’t for you.  This is a program for bodybuilders who want to gain as much muscle as possible in a relatively short time, and to do that you need protein, carbs, and fat.

     All of that doesn’t mean that I want you to eat fast food or to get your calories from other “bad” sources.  You need plenty of meat: chicken, beef, pork, and seafood.  As long as it’s not battered and deep fried, eat as much of any of those foods as you want.  In addition, include plenty of baked potatoes, stewed fruits, eggs, brown rice, thick soups, stews, nuts, natural peanut butter, legumes and beans of various types, and natural grains.

     Track your calories at each meal.  If you know that you won’t be able to consume enough whole foods, take advantage of protein drinks.  Here are some recipes for some homemade protein shakes that will work wonders for you[1]:

Tastebud Tweaker

2 cups raw milk

2 raw eggs

2 tablespoons powdered milk

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons brewer’s yeast

2 frozen bananas

This makes two servings, each containing:

Calories: 460

Protein: 25 grams

Carbs: 65 grams

Fat: 15 grams

 

No-Frills Muscle Maker

8 ounces half-and-half

8 ounces yogurt

3 raw eggs

½ cup dry nonfat milk

½ cup protein powder

This makes two servings, each containing:

Calories: 470

Protein: 38 grams

Carbs: 23 grams

Fat: 24 grams

 

Randal Strossen’s Basic Super Squat Protein Drink

4 cups milk

2 cups powdered milk

¼ cup brewer’s yeast

1 banana

2 tablespoons lecithin

1 tablespoon wheat germ oil

1 large scoop vanilla ice cream

This makes one all-day serving containing:

Calories: 1,890

Protein: 121 grams

Carbs: 209 grams

Fat: 76 grams

Final Thoughts

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     If you’re an intermediate to advanced natural bodybuilder whose progress has stalled or if you’re simply looking for a new program, then give this routine a try.  It requires hard work and dedication, but the results will be well worth it.  In fact, it might just be one of the best mass-building programs out there.

[1] These recipes come from the article “Bulk Builders” by Faith Walker, from the October, ’92 issue of IronMan magazine.