Whole Body Workouts

"How many sets per body part is recommended if you are doing a total body workout? I usually do compound movements (e.g. I do a total of 18 to 20 sets of chest excerises for the week)."

W. Williams


My Answer: It depends on a number of things. For one thing, how many other body parts are you including in these full body workouts? If you go with the bodybuilding standard, then you have 8-9 body parts in which to hit:

Chest
Back
Shoulders
Biceps
Triceps
Quadriceps
Hamstrings
Calves
Abs

That doesn't leave you with very many sets per body part. Two to three sets per muscle group is really all you can do. This is perfectly fine for beginners and older lifters. But for those who've been in the Iron Game for awhile, 2-3 straight sets doesn't do much. There is a way to get around the low set total and add some needed volume. I go over this in my article Supercharging H.I.T. an excerpt from Neo-Classical Bodybuilding.

But if you're not a bodybuilder and don't care to hit all of the above mentioned muscle groups, then I suggest an abbreviated strength program. This program will hit each muscle group directly or indirectly through compound movements. Since you have fewer exercises, you'll have time to add more sets to each movement:

Bench press (chest, triceps)- 5 sets
Medium grip chinups (back, biceps, abs)- 5 sets
Standing military press (shoulders, triceps)- 5 sets
Squats (quads, hamstrings)- 5 sets

Bodybuilding programs tend to be body part based, while abbreviated programs tend to be movement based. If you alternate between these 2 types of programs, then you'll better progress than if you stay on just one program.

New Article: Super High Tension Muscle

Just heads up: I have 2 articles in the latest issue of Planet Muscle. One is on the concept of "controlled overtraining" and how to use it makes continuous gains in size and muscle.

The other article is called "Super High Tension Muscle." Regardless of whether you have low T or high T, regardless of diet, muscular TENSION is the primary catalyst for size and tone. If you do not have muscular tension in your exercises, then you will not grow. This article goes several exericses that produce high amounts of muscular tension.

Pick up the latest issue of Planet Muscle the next time you're at the bookstore.

Targeting the Deltoids, Minimizing the Traps

I've read your article about shoulder workouts as well as many others, and I have a question. I really appreciate if you can spare some time to answer it.

I heard from almost everywhere that you can get wider shoulders by working out. I have a very slim body (56 kg, 172 cm tall, 24 year old male) and very narrow shoulders. The width of my shoulders is only two times of the width of my head (1/2). I checked this ratio by measuring photos of a man with broad shoulders, and this ratio is usually 1/3.

I know it has a lot to do with genetics, but how much exactly can you add to your shoulder size by workout? Someone told me that you can add 2 centimeters to each side at a total of 4cm maximum. Even if that's true, by working out my deltoids I will also work my trapezius muscles as well, even if I don't want to. And the growth of the trapezius makes your shoulders look narrow, because it gives your shoulders an angle to the ground rather than being nearly parallel to the ground.

I also don't want to lose my neck, because of the growth of the trapezius makes you look shorter. So is it worth it to work on the deltoids? Is there any exercise that will eliminate the trapezius while working the deltoids? What is the maximum width you can add to your shoulders by working out?

I've been working out for half a year really hard. So if you can help me to finally put my fears away about deltoids and trapezius, I will give them the workout they have been craving for.

Thank you very much in advance for all your help.

Best wishes
- Faruk


My Answer: Any shoulder work will invariably hit the trapezius to some degree. Stressing that area is unavoidable when you do upper body work. But what you can do is to perform exercises that stress the deltoids more and the traps less.

Avoid direct trap work, such as shrugs and narrow grip upright rows. Avoid exercises where the traps are stabilizers, such as deadlifts, barbell rows, T-bar rows and rack pulls.

Include direct work on the deltoids, such as lateral raises and wide grip upright rows. As long as you perform these exercises correctly (no shrugging of the traps), then you should be able to hit the delts with minimal emphasis on the trapezius muscles.

An exercise I suggest you include is the lean away lateral, since it minimizes trap involvement and stresses the medial delt more:

Microcycling

Hello. I just saw your blog, which I found very impressive. Very good articles that help people reach out their goals. I read the Hypertrophy routine, and I noticed you wrote that cycling reps within a week is much better than within 2 weeks. We should do like 15 reps on Monday, 10 reps on Wednesday and 8 reps on Friday.

My question is how do I progressively load? Isn't the mesocycle longer than it would normally be? I would really appreciate some help here. Thanks for the time.

Best regards,
Paulo


My Answer: Paulo, I'm not sure what's your question. In the Hypertrophy Training for Ectomorphs program, you pyramid the weight in one workout. I don't recommend periodizing the reps throughout the week in that program.

You can certainly create a program where you do 15 reps on Monday, 10 reps on Wednesday and 8 reps on Friday. Periodization of the repetitions throughout the course of a week is a great way to add variety in your workouts. Plus it maximizes your muscle growth, because you're hitting a variety of muscle fibers.

By the way, a mesocycle lasts several weeks to a few months. A microcycle lasts 1-4 weeks.

New Article: Evolution of the Set System

Just wanted to give a heads up on a new article of mine at Bodybuilding.com. It's an excerpt from Tactics and Strategies. Check it out when you get a chance:

Evolution of the Set System

By the way I want to say thank you to those who've bought my books. If you bought them through Amazon, then take the time to write review. I'd greatly appreciate!

Scivation's Bulking for Ectomorphs

I've been following your hypertrophy training for the ectomorph program for a few weeks now and have made very good gains from it. I was thinking of using Scivation's Bulking for Ectomorphs routine after this one. I would like your opinion on whether this would be suitable to follow your hypertrophy training routine?


Load Phase (4-8 Weeks)


Push A- Monday

Bench Press 3 X 4-8
Military Press 3 X 4-8
Close Grip Bench 3 X 4-8
Squats 3 X 4-8
Seated Calf Raise 3 X 4-8


Pull A- Tuesday

Bent Over Row 3 X 4-8
Lat-Pulldown 3 X 4-8
DB Shrug 3 X 4-8
DB Curl 3 X 4-8
Stiff Leg Deadlift 3 X 4-8


Push B- Thursday

Incline DB Press 3 X 4-8
DB Shoulder Press 3 X 4-8
Skull Crusher 3 X 4-8
Leg Press 3 X 4-8
Leg Press Calf Raise 3 X 4-8


Pull B- Friday

Deadlift (Full or Rack) 3 X 4-8
Pull-Up 3 X 4-8
Barbell Shrug 3 X 4-8
Barbell Curl 3 X 4-8
Lying Leg Curl 3 X 4-8

***This workout could also be done:

Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat or Sun.


Thanks a lot,
Dan


My Answer: Yes Dan, that would be perfectly fine as a follow-up program.

Maximizing Back Width

I was reading over your back article. Great information. If you don't mind, I just have a question: How many inches can I add to the width of my back? Me and my coworker are competing. His waist is a 29, mine is a 32. Our back and shoulder width are the same. I don't think mine will get any smaller, and I want to create a better V-shape appearance than he has. How much do you think I can add to my back in 3 months?

Thanks so much for all the help.

- Justin



My Answer- Well it's always hard to say how many inches you'll gain, because it'll depend on a lot of different factors: genetics, training, discipline, diet, etc. I can't tell you if you'll win. I can only tell you how to win.

Now you say you and your coworker are "competing." Does this mean you guys are entering a bodybuilding competition, or are you guys competing against each other? If you're competing against each other, then how are you guys deciding the winner? If you're using a tape measure, then it's important to realize that you are not going to show an increase in width if you measure from shoulder to shoulder. You can't increase the width of your skeletal structure.

But if you're actually measuring width of the lats when they are flexed, then any of those shock techniques from the back article will widen your back and maximize your V-taper.

Quality over Quantity

For one of my bicep workouts I would usually do 5 to 6 bicep execrcises. But a friend told me I am overtraining and I should do 3 may be 4 bicep excrcises. But I recently cut down to 3 sometimes 4 biceps excercises. What do you suggest?


My Answer: Listen to your friend and cut down on the number of exercises for your biceps. There is no reason to do more than 3 exercises for that tiny muscle group. In fact, you can fully develop the biceps with just 2 exercises, if you know how to target the different heads of the biceps area with minimal exercise overlap. Virtually every muscle can be fully developed with just two exercises. Strength and Physique, Volume One has a chart designating areas of a muscle group to be developed and exercises that target those areas.