T Nation

Arnold's Agonist-Antagonist Training

#1

From this article: https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/arnolds-agonist-antagonist-training

I came up with this…

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The only modifications I made were:
Chest/Back day:
-Set A: kind of pyramid set instead of the same number of reps for each
-Set B: keep the weight the same and drop reps rather than keep reps the same and drop weight
Legs day:
-Set A: instead of quad isolation, I swapped for lateral lunges to add some frontal plane movement. Instead of ham isolation, I swapped for calves since mine suck.
-Set D: added core work to this session

That’s it, really.

Does this seem well rounded enough?

I decided to give this a try as the program I’m doing now has a little more volume each day than this, but it’s a 6-day per week program versus 4 here, and honestly 6 days per week is wearing me out, even with pre, peri, and post-workout nutrition. So, I thought I’d make something that had more time off and fewer sets and reps per day so that I could get more sleep each week (I get up at 5 to lift but don’t need to be up until 6:30-6:45 if I don’t). I figure I can alternate the programs back and forth as desired.

#2

It looks pretty good. The change I would make is on the chest/back day I would swap out the wide grip t-bars for a chest supported row with the elbow trajectory coming back high and in line with the rear delts. T-bars do a good job of smashing the lower lats so choosing a second rowing movement that really pounds the upperback hard is a better option.

#3

Thanks, Paul! Will do!

#4

Hey Paul, in your above recommendation, I think I may have already been programming what you were suggesting. I use this attachment on my bar…3727-new_large
Obviously, it’s turned the other way around…
The only difference is that it’s not a chest-supported row as I train in my garage and while I can do a chest supported row with a barbell, I can’t get my elbows back as far as I can when I use this attachment and position my hands on the outer grips. So, this’ll work?
And the narrow grip t-bar row is done with the narrow handles on that attachment. Those, too, let me get my elbows back much further than just gripping the bar itself.

#5

The issue is, it’s still a bit redundant. It’s not just about how far the elbows come back (which is important) but the trajectory of them in relation to the body itself. The lower they are, the more the lower lats come into play…and the higher they are the more the upper back comes into play. Just pay attention to elbow trajectory as well.

#6

Ahh. Got it. Thanks again, Paul!