The last 15 lbs...leaning out

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ExercisePhysio

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I decided to take one personal training client while I'm in school. He has given me permission to photograph and log his training regimen so that I can use it as an online example.

It's handy because he goes to law school with me; I see him in the gym often enough and also see his rather sorry excuse for a workout routine. He offered to hire me for the duration of the year and so I agreed.

We are setting up the routine over the next two days: He's 32, 5'9, 175 lbs.
I'll post before pictures once he sends some to me. The goal is two-fold:

a) to lean out 10-12 lbs of fat so that when he starts bulking he keeps a good shape.
b) to commence with that bulking at an ideal pace, naturally.

I have a pretty good idea what someone at his age with training should do, but I'm going to be using him as a bit of a test guinea pig for a new training protocol. He is a good test candidate because of his discipline; I know he will accurately self-report his eating and exercise.

The general goal is to maximize muscle gain through a workout schedule that emphasizes unique stimuli.

To do this we will vary:

a) the load (6 rep average vs. 12 rep average)
b) intensity (alternate failure with strong exertion)
c) the exercises (4 alternate groups of exercises for each body part)

Combine this with progressive resistance for each unique combination on a 72 hour stimulus schedule (to allow, hopefully, optimum muscle anabolism). Obviously these periods involve 16 different combinations (4x2x2)...which will comprise a macro-cycle of 48 days + rest blocks. In between these periods will be fatigue rest blocks to minimize over-training.

The first macro-cycle will involve leaning out (hopefully finished by the end of it) and then two bulking cycles.

More to come (along with some more simplistic explanations)

Michael
 
b) intensity (alternate failure with strong exertion)
Click to expand...

Would you mind fleshing this out a bit, just for my curiosity?

Do you mean that one session, you're gonna ask him to hit 11 out of the 10 he could do (the 11th is an assisted rep), and then the next time he enters the weight room, ask him to hit a solid 9 out of 10?
 
So how often will he be hitting failure? What's your goal with the failure training?
 
Failure for this does not mean forced reps. I've never been convinced through research or empirically that it makes any difference whatsoever.

I'm going to list out the entire workout program here.

I train at failure at first to determine how many reps a client is capable of to formulate 'strong exertion' tables. Because the loads are different this has to be done twice. And it has to be done with every exercise set. The general idea around strong exertion is to limit fatigue and muscle soreness and to minimize catabolic activity.

After these are set, there are no periods of failure until the next re-evaluation point (at the end of the cycle), due to increases in the client's strength.

As an example: Bench press to failure results in 225 x 10,8,7,5. Strong exertion is 80%, so that next workout would be 225 x 6 (4 times).

He just sent me pictures, so I'll be posting them in a few secs.

Michael
 
There we go. Minimal leg development, some ab work and some chest work. This is just to give you an idea.

Actually his biceps aren't bad (if you were to see them) but his triceps (as usual) are seriously lacking. Surprisingly decent delt work. Back is pretty weak.

The routine and diet to follow!

Michael
 
Should be really easy to put leg muscle on him. Build some delts / traps, and artificially inflate his size. I'm a firm believer in the fact that a man could have 30 inch arms, but if he has p#ssy traps/delts, he's going to look tiny.
 
I'm going to measure him tonight after we go over the plan. Which I'm still finalizing as we speak!
Click to expand...
tickle him between the legs before you do it. He can probably get an extra half inch off of that alone
 
Update: Should have the exercise plan updated and finalized soon...I'm super enthusiastic about this regimen.

Now school is getting absolutely insane; I'm just hoping we both push through while final exams come up. That and people keep on dumping their legal services case files on me. I've come to the conclusion that Alberta is the DUI capital of the world!

Michael
 
This is it in a nutshell:

Workout Introduction


This exercise program is built around the following premises:
1) That eccentric training (stretching the muscle out) is essential to maximizing hypertrophy because the body responds differently to this stimulus and/or it fatigues different Type II muscle fibers (see #3)
2) That 70-85% of your 1RM brings about maximum recruitment of muscle fibers for concentric exercise, which is for most exercises 6-10 repetitions.
3) That exercise variety (and a variety ofangles) are the key to fatiguing all the recruited motor units, which is a key component to muscle growth.
4) That progressive overload can be offset by exercise variety, resulting in less incremental weight increases, allowing gains to be prolonged over the long-term.
5) Eccentric exercise is more damaging to muscle fibers due to stretching and thus it's volume and frequency must be limited.
6) That eccentric exercise recruits more muscle fibers beyond 85% 1RM, and that eccentric exercise should ideally be beyond your 100% 1RM if you have a spotter. If not, use gravity (chin ups) or one arm for as many eccentric exercises as possible (one arm dumbbell concentration curls) so that you can use the other arm to increase the negative load.
9) That compound movements are not essential to preferential muscle development. That's why you notice no deadlifts, good mornings, etc. I have no issue with them in other workout programs, but I had to limit volume somewhere.
10) I'm not completely satisfied with the Abs/Chest portion of this workout. I think the back/bicep portion is the best component (I worked on it the longest).
Nutrition

1) Protein after every workout, which is the largest window for muscle anabolism (and isn't specific to one muscle, which is why there are no rest days).
2) Protein that is spaced out 5-6 times a day isn't wasted, minimum 20 g max 40 g per meal.
3) That carb/protein is beneficial within an hour before you workout (30-60 minutes) to provide energy to tax the muscle fibers and also to prevent muscle catabolism.

Other Notes
Reps are included first in front of the number of sets. 10/4 signifies 10 reps of 4. One rep maximums must be figured out first before this rep range will work. The rep ranges provided are based on 75% of 1RM (1 rep max). If this number is hit, the set ends. If you can't hit it, then progress to failure. If the number of reps falls below 6, adjust the weight accordingly to hit the rep range, and ignore the 1RM. Sit-ups and calves aren't designed around this principle. This workout was designed for someone where they had reasonable access to said equipment.

The exercise regimen is:

Day one: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Day two: Legs
Day three: Back/Biceps

Michael
 
Chest/Triceps/Shoulders Day


Chest: Worked every 3rd day for a total of 8 sessions comprising 24 days. Weight increases come at the end of session 3 (for exercises in session 1-6), with the pattern being as follows:

Chest Non-Eccentric/Chest Non-Eccentric/Eccentric/Repeat/Chest + Tri Variety Day/Bench Press Variety Day

Session 1: Wide Grip Bench Press 10/4 + Cable Crossover Flys 10/4
Session 2: Dumbbell Bench Press 10/4 + Decline Bench Press 10/4 + Peck Deck Flys 10/3
Session 3: parallel bar dips failure/4 (chest angled in, eccentric) + Dumbbell Flys 5/5 (eccentric)
Session 4-6 Repeat
Session 7: Parallel Bar Dips (chest angled straight) failure/4 + Close Grip Bench Press failure/4
Session 8: Wide Grip Bench Press 10/6

Basically sessions 1-2 and 4-5 are just a way of varying the workout. Session 7 just adds variety and session 8 is a light day of just some bench practice.

Shoulders: Worked every 3rd day for 8 sessions totalling 24 days, following chest. Weight is to be increased every 12 days, with the pattern being as follows:

Shoulders Non-Eccentric / Shouders (Complete) Non-Eccentric/Shoulders Eccentric/Shoulders Non-Eccentric

Session 1: Seated Dumbbell Raises 10/4 + Front Dumbbell Raises 10/4
Session 2: Front Dumbbell Raises 10/3 + Side Dumbbell Raises 10/3 + Bentover Lateral Raises 10/3
Session 3: Seated Dumbbell Raise 5/5 + Front Dumbbell Raises 8/4
Session 4: Incline Machine Press 8/3 + Nautilus Raises 10/4 (or Machine) + Pec Deck Rear Laterals 10/4

Session 3 includes a heavy eccentric portion, and a lot of pushing down on the front raise to allow for a heavy amount of eccentric loading. Note incline machine press is a chest exercise also.

Triceps: Worked every 3rd day, following shoulders, weight increased at the end of session 3 and session 8 for the applicable exercises, with the pattern being as follows:

Long Head of Tricep Non-Eccentric/Short Head of Tricep Non-Eccentric/Eccentric/Repeat/Day Off/Hybrid

Session 1: Reverse Rope Extension 10/4 + Lying Dumbbell Extension 10/4
Session 2: Forehead Tricep Extension 10/4 + Rope PushDown 10/4
Session 3: Forehead Tricep Extension 5/5 + Tricep Machine 5/5
Session 4-6: Repeat
Session 7: Off
Session 8: Dumbbell Tricep Extensions (Eccentric) 5/5 + Tricep Dumbbell Kickbacks 10/4

The goal here is to maintain as much stretch as possible during the long head days.
 
Leg Day

Leg Day: Every 3 days, with 6 different exercises split over 8 sessions for a total of 24 days. Workloads are increased every 12 days. The pattern is as follows:

Quad Non-Eccentric1/Quad Eccentric1/Ham Non-Eccentric1/Ham Eccentric1/Quad Non-Eccentric 2/Quad Eccentric1/Ham Non-Eccentric2/Ham Eccentric1

The reason why the eccentric days are the same is that squats simply work better for eccentric exercise. Ideally increases in weight should bring about failure and then failure is mitigated throughout the next two weeks.

SHR/NS/LPL/LPH days involve 2 sets with full range of motion (first) and then 2 sets with limited range of motion. This is to fatigue recruited muscle fibers that aren't being challenged at positions where the muscles are strongest (generally in the middle of the exercise).

Eccentric days are heavier and involve 5 sets. The first 2 sets should be with full motion and the last 3 with a limited motion range. Full motion eccentric reps are very damaging to the muscle fibers, which is why their numbers are limited.

Session 1: SHR/LPH 10/4 + LE 10/3 + Seated Calf 15/4
Session 2: SHR/LPH 5/5 + Donkey Calf 15/4
Session 3: LPH/SHR 10/4 + LC 10/3 + Seated Calf 15/4
Session 4: NS/LPL 5/5 + Donkey Calf 15/4
Session 5: LPL/NS 10/4 + LE 10/3 + Seated Calf 15/4
Session 6: SHR/LPH 5/5 + Donkey Calf 15/4
Session 7: NS/LPL 10/4 + LC 10/3 + Seated Calf 15/4
Session 8: NS/LPL 5/5 + Donkey Calf 15/4

Last set of calf work should be to failure.

Legend

SHR = Smith Machine Squat with heel raised, parallel feet, feet close together.
NS = Normal squat, feet not parallel, more of a staggered stance.
LPL = Leg press with feet low and close together, parallel.
LPH = Leg press with feet high, apart, and angled.
LE = Leg extension
LC = Leg curl
 
Back/Biceps/Abs Day

Back: Every 3 days, with 4 different exercise combinations split over 8 sessions for a total of 24 days. Load/Intensity should be increased every 12 days. The pattern is as follows:

Lower Back Thickness Non-Eccentric/Back Width Eccentric/Upper Back Thickness Non-Eccentric/Back Thickness Eccentric/Repeat

Back work is hard to isolate for eccentric exercise. Thus most eccentric work is built around chin-ups.

Session 1: Seated Rows 10/4 + One Arm Dumbbell Rows 10/4 + Back Extension 10/3
Session 2: Wide Grip Chin-Ups (pull elbows in) 6/5 + Back Lat Pulldowns 10/3 + Back Extension 10/3
Session 3: Lat Pulldowns 10/4 + Bent Over Dumbbell Rows 10/4 + (biceps first) +Dumbell Shrugs 10/4
Session 4: Wide Grip Chin-Ups (elbows back/chest out) 6/5 + (biceps first) + Dumbbell Shrugs 6/5
Sessions 5-8: Repeat

There is no eccentric back extension exercise. Dumbbell shrugs (that come after biceps but before forearm work) have an eccentric day session 4 and 8. Chin ups (session 2/4) are the eccentric portion and the negative motion should be stressed. A weight belt might be needed once you can reach 6 repetitions of 5 with clean form.

Biceps: Every 3 days, with 4 different exercises combinations split over 8 sessions for a total of 24 days. Workload should be increased every 24 days. The pattern is as follows, and follows the back workout.

Short head Non-Eccentric/Short head Eccentric/Long head Non-Eccentric/Long head Eccentric/Repeat

Session 1: Barbell Curls 10/4
Session 2: Concentration Curls 6/4
Session 3: Ez-Curl Bar 10/3 + Dumbell Curls 10/3
Session 4: Hammer Curls 6/4
Session 5-8: Repeat

Eccentric days are done with a slow extended negative rep and a fast concentric curl. Concentric days are done at a regular pace with no extended eccentric portion. Reps 11-12 should lower only to 90 degrees.

Forearms: Every 3 days, with 3 exercises split over 8 sessions. Workload should be increased every 24 days. The pattern is as follows, and coincides with biceps.

Wrist Flexor/Wrist Extensor/Off/Wrist Extensor/Repeat

Session 1: Barbell Wrist Curls 10/3
Session 2: Barbell Reverse Wrist Curls 8/3
Session 3: Nothing
Session 4: Reverse Curls 10/3
Session 5-8: Repeat

The barbell reverse wrist curl day is just a bit heavier as it is specific to the extensor. The reverse curl day coincides with the brachioradialis work of session 4 of the biceps workout.

Abs: Abs are worked every 3 days Eccentric work is included at the end of every ab workout with the last 2 sets (where applicable) rather than spacing the work out. The pattern is as follows:

Upper Abs/Lower Abs/Obliques/Isometric

Session 1: Machine Crunches 6/4 + Weighted Decline Sit-ups (eccentric) 12/4
Session 2: Oblique Crunches (bicycle) failure/3 + Lying Side Oblique Crunches failure/3 + Finger to Heel Oblique touchers failure/2
Session 3: Parallel Bar Leg Raises (full leg extension) failure/4 (eccentric) + Parallel Bar Leg Raises (knee to abs) failure/4
Session 4: Stationary Core Isometric Hold failure /3 + Oblique (elbow + ankle, each side) Isometric Hold failure/3
 
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