I’m just curious…
Is ABBH supposed to be such a short-time program? I mean, each session takes at tops 25 minutes…
Or am I just missing something?
I’ve done the exercises listed, and with 60 seconds of rest between sets… (I.e. Bench press, 60 sec, Barbell row, 60 sec, bench press, 60 sec… And so on)
Am I supposed to add exercises or what?
Thanks…
Yes, ABBH looks like a 30 minutes, one day on,an day off program with only the exercises listed in CW’s paper. In day 1,9,17 you train only chest and back with 3,4,5 reps each set respectively. I believe that you have to readjust your 1 RMs,as you become stronger, to use progressively heavier weights. In this way the last weeks of the program, even only 30 minutes, become quite hard. An advice from Chad Waterbury concerning your question would be greatly appreciated.
I’m doing ABBH at the moment and really enjoying it. The high sets/low reps training really suits me and I’m enjoying the “get in, get it done, get out” nature of the short sessions.
A guy I know has LOADS of training experience and is used to an incredible volume of training.
He started ABBH 3 weeks ago because of the positive reports.
It’s taken him up to now to get his head around the concept of not beasting himself to death every workout.
Although - he’s really not feeling it, perhaps because he’s used to such a high volume.
He’s going to finish ABBH v1 and then switch over to OVT I think…
Bull
luca - it’s interesting that you suggest re-adjusting your 1RM on the way through…
The program is split into four workouts essentially and for each one you do 3 volume progressing sessions, then 3 load progressing sessions. (or vice versa)
essentially I figured that after session 24 you’d pick some different exercises, test your (new) 1RM and go through it again.
when you stop making gains, you switch…
testing your 1RM is a session in itself…
no?
Bull
StrongLikeBull,I apologize because I was not clear concerning the 1 RM “readjustment”. I don’t mean to test 1 RM performance in a separate training session that is not included in ABBH. There are conversion charts for upper and lower body from 1 to 20 reps. Let’s assume that in day 1 I use 100 lbs for chest for 3 reps. In day 9, to perform 4 reps, I should use, using the charts at the same level of strength, a lower weight. In day 17, for 5 reps, again a lower weight. Instead of doing this I may consider that after day1 I have become stronger (for example 105 lbs for 3 reps). Therefore in day 9,using the charts, I will calculate a higher weight for 4 reps and so on. In this way at the end of ABBH my calculated 1RM
will be higher. Anyway, 30 minutes of ABBH with big weights are hard.
Some of the days take longer than 25-30 minutes. On the low rep lower body day you are doing 10 x 3, 4, or 5 with 3 different exercises (30 total sets) so just the 60 second rest periods add up to 30 minutes. Then add in the time of doing the sets and you are probably at 45 minutes.
One of the most painful for me was the shortest day, of 5 x 10 pullups and dips.
Aww, now this is why I like T-mag, and these forums… I get answers, that does not include swearing, BS, or other simialarities… As I’ve seen on other forums… And most of the persons on this forum are nice as well, so far, all.
Thanks alot for your help. 
Luca - Thanks for the clarification
I think the answer is that we’ve interpreted the program in a different way.
for example, flat barbell bench -
I had a session to determine my 1RM.
Then I started ABBH.
for session 1 I do 10 sets of 3 reps at 80% of that 1RM value.
next time around I do 10 sets of 4 reps using the same weight as the previous week
the following week it’s 10 sets of 5 reps using the same weight.
Then I flip over to doing 5x10 with 60% of the original 1RM value, then 65% then 70%.
I figured this way gives me three sessions of volume increase, and then 3 sessions of load increase…
I guess how you’re doing it is to recalculate the 1RM for each session taking into account the increased volume?..
…I’d like to learn how you do it and the benefits of doing it this way - if you could explain further?
rasmns - I presume you did weighted chins, dips to acheive the 60,65,70% goals?
what about pikes, were they weighted? 
(I’ve substituted reverse curl in for pike cause I’m too much of a big lump to do a hanging pike
I’m missing something here - how are your workouts so short?
in ABBH 2.0 one should try to increase the load from session to session right? I tried this week and i failed utterly and completely and went to failure ;/
#> in ABBH 2.0 one should try to
#> increase the load from session
#> to session right?
yup, so says Chad in a forum posting…
You’ve got it. The sessions are very short, but they should be demanding up to a certain point. Most people are more than happy that the deadlift day is so short.
If you feel the need to perform more sets, add in the arm option.
StrongLikeBull - yes add weight if needed to reach the 60, 65, and 70% of 1RM. For me, I didn’t need to add weight for pullups, but I did for dips.
I also did the arm routines on my chest/back days because I seem to respond better with direct work.
StronglikeBull,
“I figured this way gives me three sessions of volume increase, and then 3 sessions of load increase…”
I’m sure you’re correct.
What about:
Three sessions of volume increase. At this point consider a New1RM = Initial1RM + 5%. Then 3 sessions of load increase.
Anyway to transform a combination of weight/reps into another one, I use the charts by Dave Maurice & Rich Rydin (Mc Robert’s book “Beyond Brawn”).
One more question about ABBH 1.0.
What is everyone using for loading on the 10x3 sets? I know the program calls for 80%. However, in another post, Chad suggested using 5RM for these. My thinking is to use 85%, which is just shy of 5RM. I know that the volume eventually builds to 10x5, and normally, doing 10x5 @ 85% would suck. However, after doing 10x3 and 10x4, by the time you reach the 10x5 days, you should have built up enough strength to be able to handle the 85% load. Worst case scenario is that when I reach the 10x5 sets I’ll need to reduce the load to 80%, and I haven’t lost anything since that was how the plan was originally written.
Any thoughts?
MiketheBear,
I like your thinking, but you’re much better off to err on the lighter side initially.
Trainees who kept the load constant seemed to receive a better hypertrophy response compared to those who tried to push the load on each day. Even if the 10x3 day seems relatively easy, but the time you perform 10x5, it won’t be.
80% of 1RM; 85% of 1RM; and 5RM are all gross estimates. None of these recommendations can be completely accurate since the perfect load for ABBH varies with each trainee based on muscle fiber ratios, training experience, and previous training routines.
Chad - Thanks for your response. I will take your advice.