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QUEST FOR ADVANCED CONDITION Chad Waterbury |
Exercise Advice by Strength coach Chad Waterbury
When your clients need to bring up a lagging body part, what kind of training works best?
But this is a tricky endeavor since you must not annihilate your muscles right out of the gate. I recommend that you start training each muscle group 3x/week. With each subsequent week, add another workout. The goal is to build up to a frequency of 10 sessions/week for the muscle group in question. The second necessary element is exercise variation: you must use a different exercise for each workout during the week, regardless of the how many sessions you perform. So if you're performing 8 sessions for the triceps, you will need 8 different movements. This is necessary to avoid overuse injuries and stagnation. Finally, you must use a plethora of different training parameters. If you perform nothing but say, 5 sets of 5 repetitions for each workout, you'll burn-out in no time. Because of the high-frequency, twice-daily (AM/PM) sessions become necessary. Here's a plan that works well to hypertrophy any muscle group: Week 1: (the common separates different workouts): 3x8, 8x3, 4x12 Week 2: 3x8, 8x3, 3x12, 3x5 Week 3: 3x8, 8x3, 2x14, 3x5, 2x25 Week 4: AM 3x8 PM 8x3, AM 2x14 PM 6x4, AM 3x5 PM 4x8, AM 6x2 PM 2x25 Continue to add sessions throughout the week until you reach 10. Be sure to vary your parameters as much as possible. If you're ever in doubt what to do, merely flip your parameters for AM/PM sessions. So if you perform 3x8 in the AM, perform 8x3 in the PM. This method works wonders!
Two of my favorite movements for quad hypertrophy are narrow-stance, high-bar back squats and barbell hack squats. Narrow-Stance High-Bar Squats: Place a barbell as high on your traps as comfortably possible. Stand with your heels 4-6 inches apart. Rotate your feet out to approximately 45 degrees. Elevate your heels on two 25 lb plates (one under each heel). Initiate the movement by pushing your knees forward. Once you can no longer push your knees forward, sit back and down. In other words, you should try to keep your torso as vertical as possible to maximize the stress placed on the quadriceps. Barbell Hack Squats: This technique is very similar to the high-bar back squats mentioned above. The difference being that you hold a loaded barbell behind you. Squat down and lift up the barbell so it's behind your legs. Place your heels on two 25 lb plates (one under each heel). Your stance should be less than shoulder width apart with your toes pointing forward. Initiate the movement by pushing your knees forward as far as possible. From there, sit back and down until the barbell touches your calves. Keep your torso as vertical as possible. I recommend you alternate between these two movements throughout the week. You should train the quadriceps 3x/week and use one exercise for each session. For example, Monday you would perform High-Bar Squats; Wednesday Hack Squats, Friday High-Bar Squats; the following Monday perform Hack Squats, etc. Perform 3 sessions each week with different parameters. Alternate your parameters throughout the week with set/rep guidelines such as 8x3, 2x20, and 4x6. Get ready for some soreness and growth of those quads!
Two carb/protein ratios I often use with my clients are 2:1 and 3:1 for breakfast and post-workout, respectively. The grams of protein are based on lean body mass. Let's say your lean body mass is 160 lbs. Multiply that number by 0.25 and you've got the number of protein grams you should ingest. In this case it's 40g of protein. From that point, the calculations are easy: consume 80g of carbs with breakfast, and 120g of carbs post-workout. For breakfast, I recommend adding in complex, slow-digesting carbs such as oatmeal. For the post-workout time, use a maltodextrin powder, rice, or low-fat cereals such as Frosted Cheerios. This trick works extremely well to add mass without that nasty body fat tagging along.
So to get around the sand issue, I started training my clients to walk backwards on a treadmill with a 6-8% incline. This technique worked remarkably well and it's now one of my favorite methods to add calf girth. Basically, backwards walking challenges the musculature in the front of your lower legs known as the dorsiflexors (anterior tibialis, etc). These muscles rarely get enough stimulation. When you expose these muscles to a large stimulus, they grow and increase the overall size of your calves - simple enough. But it also appears that they allow the larger gastroc and soleus muscles to grow. The reasons are ambiguous, but most agree that a lack of development on one side of your joint (ankle, in this case) will limit the development on the other side in order to protect the joint from injury. That's precisely why trainees are often able to hypertrophy their biceps after completing a maximal strength program for their triceps. Start performing backwards treadmill walking on a 6-8% incline every other day. Your first workout should last 10 minutes. From there, add one minute to each session until you reach 20 minutes. Once you reach 20 minutes, increase the grade or increase your bodyweight (ie, training load) by wearing an X-Vest. (Exercising with a DARD is another great way of targeting specifically the anterior tibialis area without the added cardio). Get ready for some seriously novel calf training!
Disclaimer: Before beginning any exercise program, consult with your physician to ensure that you are in proper health. These are not meant to provide medical advice; you should obtain medical advice from your private healthcare practitioner. No liability is assumed by QFAC for any of the information contained herein. 
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Without
a doubt, I feel the future of hypertrophy training rests on the
shoulders of high-frequency training plans. I came to this conclusion
after witnessing the calf development of soccer players, and lats
and biceps development of Olympic rings athletes. A high-frequency
training plan will make your muscles grow, period. 
Chad
Waterbury is a strength and conditioning coach with Bachelor of
Science degrees in Human Biology and Physical Science. He operates
his company Chad Waterbury Strength & Conditioning in Santa
Monica, CA where his clientele ranges from athletes and members
of military special force units to non-athletes seeking exceptional
performance and development. He has numerous articles published
in such online journals such as Testosterone and the American Journal
of Exercise. You can visit his website at www.chadwaterbury.com.