bodybuilding

My last article in Hard Gainer issue 77 seemed well received I got a few calls and a couple of letters.
The conversations centred on the gains I mentioned that I made, while following the all body program in late 2000. This article elaborates on this point and was sparked in my mind by the fantastic series of articles by Steven Wedan, the Cubist Chronicles. I found these to be brilliantly written, entertaining and informative, I could relate so much to them, especially the theories of Arthur Jones. I, like Steven, found some flaws with the high intensity approach. But also found many positives. I would like to explain how I came about training all body workouts; the gains I made and modifications I introduced to my programs to keep me moving forward. I would also like to try to unravel why I think these principles are so successful.

September 2000 and I am at the gym counter, when in walks a lad I have not seen in a while. Paul comes to see me now and then for a workout, as he lives not close enough to be a regular with us. “Wow you have gained some size, what the hell have you been doing?” He looked at least a stone bigger, I know it was nothing sinister as he is natural like myself and competes in the ANB. He told me that he had been training under the guidance of Mick and Sue. A couple that operates a small garage size gym on the outskirts of Barnsley. Now, he had been training with these two, years ago and had decided to go back and make some gains. They had Paul doing all body workouts, two to three days a week based on the Arthur Jones principles. I was aware of Arthur Jones, well anything-high intensity and abbreviated. I had trained that way for years, or what I thought. I had done the low sets and trained three to four days a week. But I had never done high intensity all body workouts before. I had to meet these two and have a workout.

Paul arranged to take me and introduce me. I put it to my partners and on September the 21st we set off for a workout that would change our views on muscle building in a single night.

The Workout from Hell

We were there at 7.30 pm prompt, after introductions and a little explaining on the basics of the workout, by Mick. I was the first to start the workout of my life. Following a brief warm up I started on squats with a plate and a ten on. At first I thought this would be to light as I had done three times this in my time. How wrong I was, I was made to do twenty reps with a pause at the bottom and no lock out at the top. This was also done in a very slow controlled, flawless technique style, something that was very new to me. In the years past I have been guilty of not training as strict as I could, I was in agony. I racked it and was on the leg extension in the blink of an eye, for twenty slow controlled held at the top reps. When I failed, the weight was dropped until the goal of twenty was reached. Hardly able to stand I was pushed under the squat again. Same weight, twenty again, I thought I was going to die. I don’t know how I did it, but when twenty was reached I racked the bar and fell to the floor. “Get up, chins now” Sue said. Underhand grip chins, again very strict and slow. Holding the stretch and contraction, I got twelve agonising reps. From there with no rest at all I was on to decline press with a plate and a ten on, I killed myself to get twelve. I failed a couple of times but was made to complete the set. Next up was low rows, again no rest slow and controlled, I got around twelve again. I say around because at this time I was in a world of pain.

There was more to come. Shoulder press with a barbell then dips then curls all one after another no rest. There was just two more to go and these finished me off big style. Rope pushdowns and dips, I got around twelve on the ropes but only 3-4 on dips. Not to worry, I was made to do negatives till that magic twelve, which was the nail in the coffin. I then made a quick exit outside and was as sick as a dog. I could hardly stand I was pumped to the point of pain. My only pleasure was watching my buddies put through hell, one after another.

The day after I had time to reflect on what had passed all these years of working out, as I was on Holiday. I had a good time with my family, even though I could hardly walk. I truly could not move or sit in any one position for any length of time, sleeping was even worse as I could not get comfortable. The positive was I had time to think. I realised that I had not trained strict all these years, as they had pulled me up on using momentum and technique constantly. I also realised that the bare minimum of exercise is needed as, every, and I mean every muscle ached in my body. I had four days rest and on the Tuesday I tried to train but was unable to do hardly anything as I was still to sore. So I did a little chest back and delts and called it a day. I spent the rest of the week recovering and reading books by Arthur Jones I had printed off the Internet, I was now getting to grips with what I had experienced.

The time reading and planning was well spent as now I could plan a workout program for myself. I now knew that the workout I did with Mick and Sue was a shock workout for the legs. These workouts were designed to bring up areas that are not developing as well as others. Arthur had these workouts planed to emphasise different body parts though out the working year. He also stressed that if advanced, that two workouts per week was right and not three. I personally after a few weeks, found a workout every fourth to fifth day was ideal. As I work a lot of hours and have a family and they all take a toll on your recovery.

Armed with my new information, my partners and myself embarked on this program on Sunday 1st of October. Squats Leg extensions Chins Decline press Dead lifts Shoulder press machine (hammer) Curls thick bar Pushdowns Dips Calve raise Each one was performed for 1 set with no rest in between exercises and twelve reps was the aim, if I failed around twelve I would add weight the next workout. If I failed under I would stay at that weight until I got twelve for however many workouts.

The aim was to progress in weight or reps, or both. A brief warm up was done on the large basic movements and equipment was set up before starting the workout. I did my workout then my partners in turn. This was to incorporate as Steve Wedan put it, the rush factor moving from one exercise to another with very little rest. At times doing the entire workout in around thirteen minutes. This I found hard but manageable, although I must agree with many of Steve’s points in issue 76. I felt a much more productive workout could be had without incorporating the rush factor. I did it running around but wondered if an increase in a few minutes time on a workout would make it less affective. This I was reluctant to try, as my gains were fantastic. It was not until later that I made adjustments as I became more in-tune with how much intensity I needed to put forth and I became confident enough to know I was doing the right thing. I also did not incorporate forced reps and other intensity tweaks as I felt that going to my own failure and adding weight in small increments was more than enough to stimulate gains in muscle mass. Odd times when I did add forced reps and negatives the gains slowed and recovery felt sluggish. My belief is that the reduction in volume and the extended recovery time was the major factor in the gains I received.

The Gain.

My weight on Oct 1st 200 was 159lb in the morning after a; you know, a visit to the loo. I had competed at 150lb in October of 99 and was very sharp at that. 159lb saw me looking lean at 8% body fat, done with callipers over 9 points of the body. I had over the past years been heavier, but I liked to stay leaner as every time I went over 161lb I would look too smooth. I was obviously not gaining any muscle even though I was training as hard as I could. The only difference that I could see, in the new light of things was the recovery factor. I was now on my new program allowing recovery to take place I gained on this program by keeping tabs on and increasing my calories slightly when I needed to.

In the period from Oct 1st 2000 to March 9th 2001, some 24 weeks I gained a ton of muscle. During October 2000 I was 159lbs in bodyweight and 8% body fat with lean mass of 146lb. By November 2000 I was 168lbs and 9% body fat and 152lb lean mass. By march 9th 2001, I was 171lb and 8% body fat and 157 lean mass. Strength shot through the roof and it was only the mistakes I made while dieting for a body building show that held back the gains and regressed them but that is a different story.

Watching and Learning. After the show I set myself up for gaining again with a few alterations. They were, no isolation exercises and no rush factor. As now I was retired from competitions, I felt that at last I could let go, of those so- called shaping exercises. Now I was training for me and not for an event. My goals now were to look to the future, now at 36 my aim was to be lean, large, healthy and strong right into my 40s 50s and 60s. Many of my ideas for my new program came from many older athletes that trained at my gym. One in particular, a chap named Steve, at 58 years old he is incredible, muscular, strong and healthy. I have watched him train on many occasions and noted his perfect style on the basic movements he uses. At around 5 foot 7 and around 190lb of lean separated muscle he always reminds me of a silver back gorilla as I have never seen so much hair on a man in my life. Some of the weights I witness regularly are standing barbell press with over 180lbs for sets of 10, with no belt. Dead lifts with 350lbs for sets of 10 again no belt. Incline dumbbell press with 90s for again reps. Steve also trains all body in one workout, every four or five days, and a couple of times a week he will do some cv work. Steve has trained on and off, mostly on, for nearly forty years. He has no bad back, no shoulder problems and no knee injuries. I see this is as a reward for years of treating his body right. There is only a slight injury to his right forearm that came from years of digging graves for a living this prevents him from doing barbell curls, but not dumbbells.

Now seeing this guy you would expect him to rub off on you, he did. I cleaned up my act even more, I had picked up many safety- training points, from Mick and Sue and now exercise performance was priority over just getting the weight up. Steve trains hard, but you never see a rep squirmed out, he always gets his rep goal then adds a little bit of iron the next workout, sounds familiar doesn’t it, I mirrored Steve’s ways. Could I make gains by not training to failure like Steve? I was now sold on the idea of all body workouts as an aid to recovering. My body had made great gains from resting more days. Something I would have not believed a few years ago. Had I in the past trained to hard? Pushed too much, making myself sick, was I delving to deep into my nervous energy? Would the gains come the same by pushing a little less? Yes, I was right, the gains in size and strength came at an alarming rate, granted I was gaining muscle back I had lost prior to the show, but they came. Don’t get me wrong I trained hard and strived to gain strength, but did not go to ultimate fail. Steady progression was enough. It took seeing Steve to prove it to my mindset.

My workout was now, Squats. Squats in Rack. Bench Press. Dumbbell Inclines. Dead Lifts. Chins. Standing Press. Cleans. Dips. Close grip Press. Curl. Hammer curl. Neck & Grip. Neck & Grip.

Each workout was spaced 4-5 days apart for one to two sets of each movement after warm ups. Five months on at the time of writing not much has changed regarding the program apart from now I do a little less.

Cleans and hammer curls have now been dropped and dips have moved from workout one and replaced dumbbell inclines. Twice a week I do cv work for twenty to thirty minutes in the form of a run, bike or skipping. This not only keeps my heart and lungs in shape but abs and calves to.

Why as a Whole?

For years I followed a split routine and upon seeing this type of program, above, on paper I would not have believed it was possible to make gains from it. It took spending time with Mick and Sue to show me the benefits of hard brief exercise. Also Steve Wedan’s words for me question the rush factor and intensity of my workouts for maximum progress. Also Steve for showing me what can be achieved in the future through correct exercise style and progression.

I truly believe that training my body, as a whole is the major factor to recovery and gains I have been enjoying. I simply tried to fathom it out and here is why I think it works. I remember reading an article by Ken Leister were he had described an autopsy and how the human body is a mesh of interweaved muscle fibres where all muscles are tied into others overlapping and under-laying. This proved to him that the body works as a unit and that you cannot totally isolate any one area. He also went on to say, and I think Arthur Jones said something similar. you must train you body as a system and not as a conglomeration of body parts. The physiological/biochemical system that in effect supports any gains you might stimulate. Is just that, a system.
You don’t eat breakfast for our arms and back and lunch for your thighs.
You don’t sleep Monday for your upper body and Tuesday for your lower body. I agree with this whole-heartedly we know that when we train it is the nervous system that is worked. It is this system that breaks down when over training sets. i.e. you don’t say to your partner I am not training today as my chest and calves are over trained. You feel absolutely shattered; the whole system is worn out. You get cold or an injury and you can hardly pick yourself up out of bed in a morning. So it’s your system. Lets look at this the common sense way and compare the two approaches.

A typical split system, one I use to follow, lets say chest and back Monday, rest on Tuesday, shoulders and arms on Wednesday, rest on Thursday and legs on Friday. You are never recovering from this, only the weekend gives your system the chance to slightly recover. But you do not grow, you stay the same. Your body has recovered from the last workout but has not had enough time to lay down any muscle. This only happens when you miss a session or two or have a holiday. Isn’t it funny that you seem to feel bigger when you don’t train for 3-4 days or when you are on your hols!

Maybe you could, still thinking this through as I write, still split your bodyparts up and still rest 3 days in between workouts which would give your system time to rest in between workouts but would leave too long between a movement worked. I.e. squats would only get done every nine days or so- maybe not bad thing but it would take you forever to add weight to it. But now lets look at this whole body system the way I see it, the logical and common sense way. You train your whole body with about 7-10 exercises, like the one’s I outlined above. Work them for 1-3 sets per movement after warm ups I say three sets if you are new to the game and as you get stronger reduce the sets. Rest 4 days then train again with maybe some different movements: Then rest again for 4 days. So now we have worked the whole body twice in ten days. Lets say, making this easy, 30 days in a month, that’s 6 whole body workouts.

Versus the whole body worked once a week, split over three workouts. That’s say, four weeks to a month, four whole body workouts. But this has taken 12 system- working workouts to achieve this, versus only six workouts on all body. You are actually covering more but taking less out.

The whole body program allows you to fully recover and get more sessions of benching, more squats per month than you would doing a split routine. This allows your strength to shoot through the roof because you are recovering, as a whole, along with this your size gains will increase. Just think about it, it makes so much more sense. You train as a whole, rest as a whole with no overlaps of exercises on a different day. Each time you train you are strong and refreshed and you grow.

Take care Ian.