I hit a wall after training pretty much non stop since August '05. Thus, I’m taking an unloading week (I should’ve done this a long time ago). I had been using my own training programs, all of which had strong points and weak points. Anyway, I started looking into new programs and found ABBH here by Chad Waterbury. I don’t consider myself a beginner, but the more I read on T-Nation, the more i realize that the “learning process” is truly never ending. ABBH almost seems too easy, but seeing all the positive feedback, it got me real curious. What kind of experiences have you guys had with it, and how would you rate the program in terms of applicability to athletics, strength, size and experience level?
ABBH is definitely not “easy.” The workouts are shorter, yes, but you are busting your ass the entire time, as the rest periods are very short.
I made great gains with ABBH I & II and if you want to hear how someone else did, check out AG1’s thread “Just started ABBH I today.” Pretty impressive stuff.
Ive been doing it and YES It will work! Both strength and size gains.
abbh 1 is simple but not easy (dj props).
make a point of reading the whole thread following the article. it’s worth the time and chock-full of action-packed questions and answers starring Chad W. himself, and featuring special guest star and Chad wannabe/understudy dan fouts who is mighty imformative, despite being a bit more than slightly effeminate.
be cautious, however, if you choose to wade into ag1’s thread. some have never returned.
[quote]swivel wrote:
be cautious, however, if you choose to wade into ag1’s thread. some have never returned.[/quote]
Tell me about it.
[quote]BIGRAGOO wrote:
swivel wrote:
be cautious, however, if you choose to wade into ag1’s thread. some have never returned.
Tell me about it.[/quote]
perv!
I’ve been perusing both the ABBH for the past couple days, and now with all the positive feedback, im definately excited as hell. Man, you weren’t lying about the black hole that is AG1’s thread :). I plan on starting ABBH monday with the Deadlift (2nd Thigh/ab/calves) day as day 1. Is this ok to do? I am assuming that the program must be closely followed as far as exercises, rep ranges and tempo are concerned, but doesnt necessarily need to start on the specified “Day 1” in the article.
first of all, Rams suck. 207 more days till CU whips up on them, again.
with that out of the way;
ABBH I and II are both great places to start if you’re not used to doing multiple full body sessions per week.
If you really want to take advantage of them though, you really do need to EAT A TON. They are wonderful programs, but if you cheat your nutrition, your cheating your gains.
as one of them smart writers on this site (Berardi?) once said, “If you’re not eating, you’re not growing.”
Acutally ABBH is Upper and Lower body sessions.
And yes, it is a good program.
I put on about 10lbs with no increase in bf with noticeable leg development. The front squats are awesome, but humbling at 5x10.
CU Aero- Thanks for the input! But alas, I only have 1 thing to say: 70-3.
I loved one and two and am starting a new CW program next week. I loved the giant sets and lack of boring single joint movements. I also felt it was more ‘athletic’ than what I was used to doing…i.e. the chins, dips etc. Makes your gym time fly by…
Good Luck!! AG
[quote]CU AeroStallion wrote:
ABBH I and II are both great places to start if you’re not used to doing multiple full body sessions per week.
If you really want to take advantage of them though, you really do need to EAT A TON. They are wonderful programs, but if you cheat your nutrition, your cheating your gains.
[/quote]
I just finished ABBH 1 and loved it. It did kick my ass.
True statement about the food. I wasn’t eating enough carbs my first week and I felt it. Once I got that to a better level, the progress came along nicely.
Those 5x10s will hurt more than you think.
Where the fuck are the shoulder exercises
[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
I made great gains with ABBH I & II and if you want to hear how someone else did, check out AG1’s thread “Just started ABBH I today.” Pretty impressive stuff.[/quote]
I’m interested in reading AG1’s ABBH thread but although I’ve done a search I can’t seem to find it anywhere.
I’m not online at home at the moment so don’t have ages to search sorry, does anyone have the link to it please.
Cheers
I’m currently on Week 3 of ABBH1 and I absolutely love it. The low reps, high sets is perfect for me.
But please note that Waterbury is a sadistic bastard. And the 5x10 Deadlift day is an absolute killer.
And if you ever read this post Mr. Waterbury, I mean “sadistic bastard” in the kindest possible way! haha
[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
Where the fuck are the shoulder exercises[/quote]
Read the article. There is a reason why Chad didn’t prescribe any (as well as direct arm work - but he did write an option for that).
I believe he says that shoulders are hit enough by bench and rows.
[quote]csuson wrote:
I hit a wall after training pretty much non stop since August '05. Thus, I’m taking an unloading week (I should’ve done this a long time ago). I had been using my own training programs, all of which had strong points and weak points. Anyway, I started looking into new programs and found ABBH here by Chad Waterbury.
I don’t consider myself a beginner, but the more I read on T-Nation, the more i realize that the “learning process” is truly never ending. ABBH almost seems too easy, but seeing all the positive feedback, it got me real curious. What kind of experiences have you guys had with it, and how would you rate the program in terms of applicability to athletics, strength, size and experience level?
[/quote]
I have done both ABBH I and II at some point in my training. Both of them were killer and I may or may not use them again as I cycle through workouts.
I will warn you, however, ABBH I’s lack of direct shoulder work was a problem for me. Everything grew at a faster rate than my shoulders and I wasn’t entirely pleased with the result. I highly recommend incorporating some overhead pressing if you go about doing ABBH I.