Hello, I just read your anti-bodybuilding program, and I’m goig to give it a try.
I know you don’t prescribe direct work for arms, but what about the delts, especially the sides?
thanks
You will get more than enough anterior/medial/posterior delt work on this program. Give it a try, you will see.
Chad, your workout looks great and in some ways shares some of the same ideas as HST. IE don’t train to failure and workout more often. I was just curious what your thoughts on HST are and also in your opinion what about HST do you like the least and that you would do differently? Since you seem to aggree on some of the same principals it would be great to know about your take on the program and where your ideas differ?
Thanks
Chad, on a side note to the original question, but regarding your “anti-bodybuilding article”, can you give us a guide WRT tempo? I would guess something like 501? Please correct me. Thanks, SRS
Be glad you’re not on fire right now…
A 501 tempo is a little on the slow side. I would recommend something closer to a 301 or 201 tempo. Good luck.
Dan,
I would prefer not to comment on the HST program. There are principles in his program that I agree with, and some that I don’t. But I will say this, I agree with more parts of the HST program than I disagree with. When someone designs a program, whether it be Me, Bryan, John or anyone else. Don’t look to change the variables - do the program precisely as it was designed. I feel many individuals don’t make adequate progress on certain programs because they start messing with the variables. The best strength coaches have a reason for every set, rep, and exercise in their plans. Changing the parameters of a program that was well thought out is kind of like going into a 5 star restaurant and telling the chef to cook his signature dish with different ingredients. It just isn’t the same. So stick to the original parameters of a program. Hope this helps. Give my program a trial run - it works great.
Chad, Thanks for the feedback. I will definitely give your program a shot. I have decided to run at least 2 full HST cycles and then I think I will try your program. The things I like about HST are in your program too (but other things are not) so i am looking forward to it.
Chad- Fe questions. Could you do back squats instead of front? When doing chins do you reccomend supine or pronated grip? Also, besides dips, are there any other vertical chest exercises? Thanks.
As stated in the article, my sample exercises are just that - samples. You can plug in any exercise you want for leg day. Just be sure to include a quad dominant on one day and a hip dominant on the other. Depending on how you execute the squat, it could fall on either day. Chin-ups are with a supinated grip, Pull-ups are with a pronated or semi-supinated grip. I prefer chins with this program since it greatly involves the biceps. Another vertical plane pressing movement would be incline bench presses with a >45 degree angle. Military presses would also work well. Good Luck!
Chad,
I plan on giving your program a try too. A couple questions for you. Horizontal plane movements are trained for 10 sets of 3 reps @ 80%, while vertical plane movements are trained for only 5 sets of 10 reps @ 60% troughout the program. Why do you feel that the horizontal movements require twice as many sets and heavier weights than the vertical movements do? Also on the 10 set days do you recommend sticking to just one exercise for the whole 10 sets or would splitting it up into 5 sets each of 2 different exercises be ok? Thanks for an interesting looking program.
Your questions are definitely valid. I appreciate you noticing the fact that each plane has its own method. I wrote the t-mag version that wat for one reason - simplicity. TC and I had a discussion about this exact topic. When I train my clients with this method I rotate the plane/method continuously which allows the program to be executed for 8 weeks without any decrease in progress. But I figured if I got into all those variables in the article it would confuse the hell out of people. Anyway, I recommend you stick to the program precisely as I wrote it. Use only one compound exercise for all the sets on each day. I don’t know if it has been corrected yet but there is a mistake in the online version - Day 7 should read: Thighs 10, Calves 10, Abs 10. Good Luck!