Alright, here’s the deal. I have taken the high frequency system that Waterbury created and have tweaked it because to be perfectly honest, it was weak, extremely weak.
I do think this is his best system, and obviously the one he put the most thought into; however, for someone like me that is used to going balls to the wall in the gym as far as using the heaviest weight and highest reps as often as possible, this workout wasn’t cutting it.
So what i’m going to do is break down each of his phases, 1-5, and explain what i will be doing with it instead. Go ahead and post back feedback because any suggestions would interest me. I will give an example of a workout for each phase from his workout, and then i will show you my modified.
Phase I: Establish Frequency Stimulus
Purpose: To expose the primary muscle groups to four sessions each week with submaximal loads to manage fatigue. This will effectively prime the trainees who’ve only been training each body part 2-3 times per week.
Duration: 2 weeks
Waterbury Workout:
A1 Back Squat (narrow stance)
A2 Bent-over Rows or Seated Cable Rows (palms down grip)
B1 DB Military Press
B2 Lunges
C1 Standing Calf Raises (feet straight ahead)
C2 Incline Bench Press (narrow grip)
Sets: 4
Reps: 6
Rest: 60 seconds between pairings (A1, rest 60s, A2, rest 60s, A1, rest 60s, etc)
Load: 8RM
Jacked Diesel Workout:
AM Workout
A1 Back Squat (narrow stance)
A2 Bent-over Rows (palms down grip)
B1 DB Military Press
B2 Lunges
C1 Standing Calf Raises (feet straight ahead)
C2 Incline Bench Press (narrow grip)
Sets: 4
Reps: 10
Rest: 60
Load: 12RM
PM Workout
A1 Deadlifts (narrow stance)
A2 Decline DB Bench Press (palms facing each other)
B1 Chin-ups or Pulldowns (palms up grip)
B2 DB Triceps Extensions
C1 Seated Calf Raise(feet angled out)
C2 Reverse Crunch
Sets: 3
Reps: 12
Rest: 30s between pairings
Load: 14RM
Phase II
This phase consists of working up to a 5 repetition maximum (RM) for the following lifts. Start the session with approximately 70% of your 1RM for the lift, or a 12-14 RM. Perform 5 reps, rest and add 10%, perform 5 reps, rest and add 5%. Keep increasing the load 3-5% until you reach a comfortable 5RM.
Rest 1-2 minutes between the initial efforts; rest 2-3 minutes between efforts with higher loads. This shouldn’t be a balls-out competition effort. Therefore, no face-slapping or screaming is required.
Duration: 1 week
Waterbury Workout:
Back Squat (wide stance)
Bench Press
Lying DB Triceps Extension
Jacked Diesel Workout:
Back Squat (wide stance)
Bench Press (pyramid style)
Skull Crushers
Deadlift (narrow stance)
Clean and press
Hammer Curls
Rest would be consistent throughout at 1 minute between sets.
Phase III: Augment Frequency Stimulus
Purpose: To reestablish a moderately high frequency plan in order to force the muscles to recover more quickly between workouts.
Waterbury Workout:
AM Workout
A1 Back Squat (narrow stance)
A2 Bentover Rows or Seated Cable Rows (palms down grip)
B1 DB Military Press
B2 Lunges
C1 Standing Calf Raises (feet straight ahead)
C2 Incline Bench Press (narrow grip)
Sets: 3
Reps: 6
Rest: 60s between pairings
Load: 8RM
PM Workout
A1 Back Squat (wide stance)
A2 Bentover Rows or Seated Cable Rows (palms up grip)
B1 BB Military Press
B2 Split Squats
C1 Standing Calf Raises (feet angled out)
C2 Incline Bench Press (wide grip)
Sets: 2
Reps: 12
Rest: 75s between each pairing
Load: 14RM
Jacked Diesel Workout:
AM Workout
A1 Back Squat (narrow stance)
A2 Bentover Rows or Seated Cable Rows (palms down grip)
B1 DB Military Press
B2 Lunges
C1 Standing Calf Raises (feet straight ahead)
C2 Incline Bench Press (narrow grip)
Sets: 4
Reps: 8
Rest: 60s between pairings
Load: 10RM
PM Workout
A1 Back Squat (wide stance)
A2 Bentover Rows or (palms up grip)
B1 BB Military Press
B2 Front Squats
C1 Standing Calf Raises (feet angled out)
C2 Incline Bench Press (wide grip)
Sets: 2
Reps: 14
Rest: 75s between each pairing
Load: 16RM
Phase IV
This phase consists of working up to a 3 repetition maximum (RM) for the following lifts. Start the session with approximately 70% of your 1RM for the lift, or a 12-14 RM. Perform 3 reps, rest and add 10%, perform 3 reps, rest and add 5%.
Keep increasing the load 3-5% until you reach a comfortable 3RM. Rest 1-2 minutes between the initial efforts; rest 2-3 minutes between efforts with higher loads.
Waterbury Workout:
Back Squat (wide stance)
Bench Press
Lying DB Triceps Extension
Jacked Diesel Workout:
Back Squat (wide stance)
Bench Press
Lying DB Triceps Extension
Deadlift (narrow stance)
Chins or Pulldowns (palms up grip)
Hammer Curls
Rest would be consistent throughout at 1 minute between sets.
Phase V
Now that you’ve finished dropping the volume and increasing the loads, your system is prepped for 8 total body sessions each week. Avoid going to failure during any set to control fatigue.
Waterbury Workout:
AM Workout
A1 BB Military Press (standing)
A2 Front Squat (shoulder width stance)
B1 Chins or Supinated Grip Pulldowns (wide grip)
B2 Lying DB Triceps Extension (use decline bench if available)
C1 Standing Calf Raises (feet straight ahead)
C2 Hanging Leg Raise
Sets: 4
Reps: 4
Rest: 60s between pairings
Load: 6RM
PM Workout
A1 DB Incline Bench Press
A2 BB Back Squat (shoulder width stance)
B1 Chins or Supinated Grip Pulldowns (narrow grip)
B2 Triceps Pressdowns or Overhead DB Extension (don’t rest between arms)
C1 Donkey Calf Raise (feet straight ahead)
C2 Reverse Crunch
Sets: 2
Reps: 12
Rest: 75s between each pairing
Load: 14RM
Jacked Diesel Workout:
AM Workout
A1 BB Military Press (standing)
A2 Front Squat (shoulder width stance)
B1 Chins or (wide grip)
B2 Lying DB Triceps Extension (use decline bench if available)
C1 Standing Calf Raises (feet straight ahead)
C2 Ab routine
Sets: 4
Reps: 8
Rest: 60s between pairings
Load: 10RM
PM Workout
A1 DB Incline Bench Press
A2 BB Back Squat (shoulder width stance)
B1 Chins or(narrow grip)
B2 Overhead DB Extension (don’t rest between arms)
C1 Donkey Calf Raise (feet straight ahead)
C2 Reverse Crunch
Sets: 2
Reps: 14
Rest: 75s between each pairing
Load: 16RM
As you’ve seen right now, I like the idea of his workout pairings throughout the day, he attacks every muscle relentlessly throughout a given week; what i have done is stacked a lot of his workouts, I am not going to go to the gym, do a phase 1 day 1 because it will do nothing for me because of my fitness level, basically, i will get to phase 5 in about 4 weeks instead of the 8 weeks that he gives us.
Also, i will probably see better results due to the tweaks i made with the RM’s and sets. Each session or AM session will end with 15 minutes of cardio.
Finally, suggestions for deit during this would be great. I have not decided if this should be a bulking up workout, or a leaning out workout. I know my size and strength will gain significantly, so any good ideas about a diet would be great because all Waterbury suggested was various supplements and vitamins.