I’m here, let’s get the questions started!
CW,
I’ve had tremendous success with your programs from July - January (SFM, ABBH, TTT, Lift Fast). However, after having many bad things happen from Feb - now, I had lost a lot of strength and some size.
Since I’m currently unemployed and helping take care of my dad while he finishes with chemo and radiation, I’ve finally motivated myself to get my life on track. I started doing two-a-day training last week. I am doing your 10x3 program (Backward Training) for my morning workouts and a Renegade program for my evening workouts.
My goal is to of course get stronger, bigger and leaner at the same time. Obviously, diet is the key to my progress, and that is dialed in quite well now. My question to you is, can you give me some suggestions on two-a-day training (based on what I’m doing or what I SHOULD be doing) and what I should do once I can no longer do two-a-days (I will hopefully have a job within the next few weeks).
By the way, I’ve had my best success with ABBH and SFM. The others were so-so for me.
Thanks big dog! Appreciate all the articles and info.
Chad, I am an athlete first and foremost and am planning to increase my max strength as a big priority from now and until after the summer. I really like the look of your programmes and was wondering what are your ideas on someone wanting to increase max strength as a priority but also wanting to put on maybe 5-10 pounds of muscle also over the next 16 weeks or so.
Would you suggest cycling your strength focused mesocycle with a hypertrophy based programme or just to go straight for something like triple total training? I have no off season either unfortunately so can realistically only weight train 3 times a week.
Oh yeah, I train at home. I have the following equipment just in case you give me a recommended workout:
Power Rack with chin bar
Flat Bench
Barbell and 400+ pounds in weights
A few light dumbbells (<25lbs)
36 and 53lb kbells
Jump rope
Dragging sled
EZ Curl Bar
Swiss balls
Thanks again!
Lets say that you have 30 minutes a day tops, and a pair of 15lb and 40lb DB’s. What would you do to do something? I am in school, work fulltime, teach at church, and have a wife and kids. I know I can sqeeze in something, but sometimes I look at the DB’s and wonder what I should do.
Thanks, J-dog
You used to play basketball i heard. What exercises do you think are most often neglected in basketball players? What kind set/rep schemes would you use most often, 10x3 or something else? What kind of energy work do you recommend?
Thanx for your time
andrewjones
Hi Chad,
A few weeks from now the British under 23 olypmic lifting champion (or something like that) is planning to do some kind of weekend crash course for about 5 or 6 people teaching the olympic lifts. The head trainer in my gym is a good knowledgeable guy - he put my name forward and asked me if I would be interested. He estimated that it would cost about 60 pounds.
Does it sound like a worthwhile idea? I’m not sure if I could get to grips with the techniques in such a short space of time - would it be worth the money?
Thanks for hanging around Chad, it’s great to have you on the forums!
hey Dr.Waterbury, I’d first like to say thanks for all the info and for joining tonight.
My question is about your abbh program [or any of your programs for that matter]. Through a series of tests I’ve found that I am predominately fast twitch, probably the prototype “easy-hardgainer” that coach thib speaks of, meaning that I’ve lost any strength and/or weight I’ve gained when doing anything over 8 reps [i usually tick to 6-and under].
I’m really interested in your abbh program [a few of your programs really]but was wondering how and if to modify it to fit my needs. I’ve been doing a 5x5 program for awhile and when i venture into something else i lose strength and muscle and go right back to it. my current maxes are:
bench:235x5 squat:305x3 powerclean:215x5
weighted chins:+60x5 I never really do deadlifts [maybe 3-4times a year] but last i checked [about a month ago] i got 315 for a fairly smooth 5.
I’m 5’9 and 168lbs with about 10%bf. i get 5-6 meals a day and no less then 3,200 cals. Thank you again for any and all help.
Flash
Chad,
First I wanna say thanks for all the great contributions. I’ve done well on your programs and have recommended them to my friends, who’ve also had great success.
My father is in the military and has asked me to devise a program using weight training that will improve his PFT scores. He is basically looking for endurance gains and any strength gains and hypertrophy will be icing on the cake. I also have a friend who will be leaving for boot camp soon, and I’d like to take this opportunity to help him get ready.
Obviously, endurance will be key to doing well on the PFT. I think a good approach would be to weight train 3 times per week, full body workouts. Which should allow for alot of distance running on off days. Also, taking one full day off per week.
As for the weight training part, I’m thinking 2 endurance training days and 1 max. strength day per week. All of these being full body workouts.
Do you have any recommendations for a layout like this? Or, is this just stupid and I need to re think it altogether?
Sorry this question isn’t specific but I’m trying to incorporate your ideas (which might save you some work) and use this opportunity for recommendations.
Thanks!
[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
CW,
I’ve had tremendous success with your programs from July - January (SFM, ABBH, TTT, Lift Fast). However, after having many bad things happen from Feb - now, I had lost a lot of strength and some size.
Since I’m currently unemployed and helping take care of my dad while he finishes with chemo and radiation, I’ve finally motivated myself to get my life on track. I started doing two-a-day training last week. I am doing your 10x3 program (Backward Training) for my morning workouts and a Renegade program for my evening workouts.
My goal is to of course get stronger, bigger and leaner at the same time. Obviously, diet is the key to my progress, and that is dialed in quite well now. My question to you is, can you give me some suggestions on two-a-day training (based on what I’m doing or what I SHOULD be doing) and what I should do once I can no longer do two-a-days (I will hopefully have a job within the next few weeks).
By the way, I’ve had my best success with ABBH and SFM. The others were so-so for me.
Thanks big dog! Appreciate all the articles and info.[/quote]
Based upon the interactions I’ve had with you, it appears that you respond especially well to low-rep, high-load parameters. Therefore, your efforts should be geared toward such parameters. For 2x/day training, here’s what I would recommend for you:
AM Workout: 6x3 with a 5-6RM
Wait 6-8 hours
PM Workout: 3x12 with a 14-15RM
The above parameters will work well for you since you’re returning to training after a lay-off. 10x3 with RT would be excessive at this point. Follow the above for 2 weeks, then add one set to each method (7x3, 4x12). Wait another 2 weeks and add another set to each method. From that point, you can start adding in more high intensity variations for the PM workout e.g., rest/pause, drop sets, etc. But, you must first build up your work capacity. In any case, keep intensity in check during the AM workout.
I’ve always wondered if I could substitute flat bench for slide pushups in the ABBH workout. My only concern is if would be enough overload for the triceps.
[quote]ConorM wrote:
Chad, I am an athlete first and foremost and am planning to increase my max strength as a big priority from now and until after the summer. I really like the look of your programmes and was wondering what are your ideas on someone wanting to increase max strength as a priority but also wanting to put on maybe 5-10 pounds of muscle also over the next 16 weeks or so.
Would you suggest cycling your strength focused mesocycle with a hypertrophy based programme or just to go straight for something like triple total training? I have no off season either unfortunately so can realistically only weight train 3 times a week.[/quote]
ABBH
TTT
SFM
WM
CW, you say your always look at new studies and new material so what do you use for reference? Any books your particularly fond of?
CW
In your opinion, what is the best way to train to compete in Strongman Competitions? I asked this question before to Mike Robertson and he gave me some ideas and recommendations that I used with great results.
I’m currently following a modified Westside template utilizing an upper body / lower body split. I typically train upper body on Monday, Lower body on Thursday, and then do some events or olympic lifting (or both) on Saturday. On Week 1 I train max effort, Week 2 dynamic effort, and on Week 3 I do endurance. I may toss in some sled dragging during the week if I feel like it.
I tend to respond really well to your routines and just wanted your input as well.
Thanks to all of the T-Nation contributors for taking the time to answer everyone’s questions. If anybody else has anything they would like to add, please do.
[quote]J-dog77 wrote:
Lets say that you have 30 minutes a day tops, and a pair of 15lb and 40lb DB’s. What would you do to do something? I am in school, work fulltime, teach at church, and have a wife and kids. I know I can sqeeze in something, but sometimes I look at the DB’s and wonder what I should do.
Thanks, J-dog
[/quote]
This question is damn-near impossible to effectively answer, but I’ll give you some tips.
Since you have minimal equipment and time, you should utilize higher-rep protocols. Specifically, pre-exhaustion techniques are a viable option. Perform high rep sets of: DB tricep extensions, side raises, front raises, rear delt raises, and shoulder presses. Keep your rest periods short and push intensity to high levels. After these exercises, immediately start performing push-ups for as many reps as possible. In addition, find a place to perform pull-ups and perform as many as possible.
For lower body training, utilize single-leg variations of squats and deadlifts. Do a search for exercise pics. In addition, DB power cleans are an excellent choice.
[quote]andrewjones wrote:
You used to play basketball i heard. What exercises do you think are most often neglected in basketball players? What kind set/rep schemes would you use most often, 10x3 or something else? What kind of energy work do you recommend?
Thanx for your time
andrewjones
[/quote]
Basketball players possess grossly insufficient levels of maximal strength. When I train BB players, I spend ~80% of the time with <5 reps and >85% of 1RM. There’s absolutely no need for higher rep protocols since their endurance training is more than sufficient. Exercises such as: Cleans, Snatches, Squats, Deadlifts, Glute-Ham Raises, Reverse Hypers and Back Extensions are ideal. In other words, BB players with strong posterior chains dominate.
[quote]Breakdown wrote:
Hi Chad,
A few weeks from now the British under 23 olypmic lifting champion (or something like that) is planning to do some kind of weekend crash course for about 5 or 6 people teaching the olympic lifts. The head trainer in my gym is a good knowledgeable guy - he put my name forward and asked me if I would be interested. He estimated that it would cost about 60 pounds.
Does it sound like a worthwhile idea? I’m not sure if I could get to grips with the techniques in such a short space of time - would it be worth the money?
Thanks for hanging around Chad, it’s great to have you on the forums![/quote]
Of course it would be worth the money! Do it.
I originally posted this in the Waterbury Method so I’ll just repost it here since you’re fielding questions.
Chad; I’ve been sticking with the Waterbury program with a few slight variations (eg due to the wrist injury pull ups instead of chin ups; reverse curls instead of regular curls; barbell bench for 4x6 and decline bench for 10x3, plus using a dip belt instead of weights in between my legs and being in a new gym so diff. equip) and the results are fantastic.
I’ll post the actual #s later when I have my workout log in front of me. (But for example; Squats from 225 to 270; dips from 25#s to a very easy 60#s)
I happen to have a question though. In about 4 weeks I live for NY. While there I’ll be a golf caddy and essentially walking anywhere from 5-20 miles a day. Neglecting nutritional factors (which are a huge mess b/c my metabolic rate can fluctuate between 4 and 6k a day with the additional walking); which of your workouts would you reccomend?
Also factor in I’m working 7 days a week and leaving the house between 5:30 and 7 in the morning and am not done until 3-8 pm depending on the day. Thus generally after I while give up on working out.
What would you suggest?
The Big Three maybe?
Or more traditional powerlifting?
Thanks,
Jason
chad,
my question is: am i doing too much volume for the upper back?
i’m currently on a 2-day split routine of upper body/lower body as follows:
mon - upper body (8 x 3 reps)
wed - lower body (6-8 reps)
fri - upper body (6-8 reps)
sat - lower body (8x3 reps)
i like doing deadlifts to work my hamstrings, and develop my back as well- basically, i’m working the upper back every workout.
(all workouts are 45 mins long, with 5 sets for each major body part, never training to failure)
so, is it too much? my goals are to gain size, and strength, in that order.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
hey Dr.Waterbury, I’d first like to say thanks for all the info and for joining tonight.
My question is about your abbh program [or any of your programs for that matter]. Through a series of tests I’ve found that I am predominately fast twitch, probably the prototype “easy-hardgainer” that coach thib speaks of, meaning that I’ve lost any strength and/or weight I’ve gained when doing anything over 8 reps [i usually tick to 6-and under].
I’m really interested in your abbh program [a few of your programs really]but was wondering how and if to modify it to fit my needs. I’ve been doing a 5x5 program for awhile and when i venture into something else i lose strength and muscle and go right back to it. my current maxes are:
bench:235x5 squat:305x3 powerclean:215x5
weighted chins:+60x5 I never really do deadlifts [maybe 3-4times a year] but last i checked [about a month ago] i got 315 for a fairly smooth 5.
I’m 5’9 and 168lbs with about 10%bf. i get 5-6 meals a day and no less then 3,200 cals. Thank you again for any and all help.
Flash[/quote]
If you’re asking whether or not you should perform ABBH, you should! Don’t worry about performing more than 8 reps. The ABBH only prescribes 10 reps for half the program. Fast-twitch dominant trainees respond extremely well to the program, therefore, I’d highly recommend it. Once it’s finished, perform my Strength Focused Mesocycle, followed by the Waterbury Method.