THE IMPOSSIBLE QUEST……try going back to basics

After recent, fevered debates on my internet discussion forum, I deem this the perfect time to finally put to bed the ultimate myth of “The best way to train is…”

Back in the early days of Body building, scientific and in some sense practical knowledge was extremely limited, thus early practioners of the iron game didn’t really have any solid information on training theories and methods. Quite simply, if the body builders around at the time trained in a certain way, this was how every eager beginner also trained.

It provides great interest to me when trawling back through the history pages to see how training practises have changed throughout the years. In the beginning the big names used a mixture of the Olympic lifts (clean, press etc..) along with more Body builder-orientated movements and often trained the whole body within one workout, perhaps even repeating the workout 3-4 times per week. In today’s society, the Body building mainstream would laugh at this approach, citing the much-abused term “over training” as a direct reason for training each body part only once per week, at times even less.

Before the introduction of anabolic steroids into the Body building arena, many of the top names possessed vast amounts of muscle by following what today’s “experts” would deem a ridiculous training program. There were no 12 sets per body part or more, few if any so-called “intensifying” techniques as drop-sets, forced reps or strip sets. In fact the early Body builders simply lifted…and lifted heavy.

My own personal training has recently come full circle and thus rekindled my interest in the more “basic” aspects of earl-day Body building. Throughout my 8 years training as a Body builder I have tried everything, heavy duty, Hard gainer, high volume, high intensity, training each body part every 7 days, every 10 days and finally reverted to my present routine, which mirrors my very first (and most productive) year of training. The fact that Body builders in the 50’s and 60’s built huge amounts of muscle mass without drugs, supplements and any real idea of how to “eat like a Body builder” seems to have escaped many modern-day guru’s and therefore escaped the notice of those beginning on the Body building trail.

The fact that there exists so many superb Body building physiques throughout the years, who have built their muscle mass using vastly differing training regimes, should tell even the most staunch protagonist that “the perfect training routine” does not and will never exist.

Whilst many “guru’s” have a training system to sell, I don’t, which is why the advice I attempt to give, is unbiased and simply based upon personal experience and knowledge.

Back to basics- The upper/lower split!

If you are growing stale of your present training regime, or simply become fed up skipping from one system to another, try the upper/lower approach. It’s simple, flexible and involves the basic exercises that are required for progressions in size and strength.

Day 1- Upper Body.

A1- Flat Bench press.

Rest 90 seconds

A2- Weighted pull-ups or pulldowns.

Perform each set for a rep range of 6-8 reps in an alternating style. Perform exercise A1, rest 90 seconds then perform a set of exercise A2, rset 90 seconds and repeat the cycle. Do this for 3-4 sets of each, then move onto the next set of alternates.

B1- Incline Dumbell press

Rest 90 seconds

B2- T-Bar rows.

Again using an alternating style, perform 2-3 sets of each exercise, aiming for 8-12 reps. By raising the reps slightly you are ensuring full recruitment of the varying muscle fiber types.

C Seated dumbbell shoulder press- Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps, resting 90 seconds between each set

D1- Standing barbell curls

Rest 30 seconds

D2- Skull crushers.

After this pair of alternates the workout is finished. Bearing in mind that I work on a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday split, each body part is being worked every 4-5 days, yet with minimal sets. This way I can still adequately recover, yet do not wait so long that recovery has long since past and digression has set in, a point worth thinking about guys.

The lower would follow the upper workout:

A1- Front squats

Rest 2 mins

A2- Barbell good mornings.

In an alternating method perform 4 sets of 6 reps.

B1- Hack squats

Rest 1 minute

B2- Dumbell or machine lying leg curl

Alternate this pair of exercises and use sets of 8-12 reps for 2-3 sets.

We work our abdominals and calves on separate days, as the workload on each upper or lower day can be quite stressful.

Another method we regularly use is to pick two workouts for the upper half and two for the lower half. The first workout would be all low reps (4-8 reps) whilst the second workout would be all high reps (10-15 reps). This way we get variation and hit the full array of growth fibers.

Anyway, if you are currently in a rut, change your approach, ditch the 1 body part per workout trained every seven day approach and increase your frequency and workload, if you are like me it will truly transform your training and progression.

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