Perfect 10 Training

More is better

As a former bouncer, I've met a lot of eccentric individuals in my life. I think anyone could say this about themselves, but those who have spent most of their lives as bouncers are somewhat abnormal.

I can also say with a clear conscience that some of the bouncers I've worked with have given me some of the best (and worst) advice I've ever heard.

One of these truths worth remembering came from a Chicago bouncer. He said "Fighting is not cool. Remember that two wrong things don't make a right thing. That's why you should always hit them three times." This advice was quite useful on two or three occasions, but if I'm honest, I'm glad those days are long gone.

Now that I'm spending my time writing articles, I figured it was time to develop my own maxims.

A well thought out program is useful, but general rules and philosophies will help the reader more than any collection of sentences and repetitions. So what is my maxim? It is this:

If your goal is hypertrophy (gains in muscle mass) at the fastest rate possible, then the more often you train a muscle group, the better.

I've said this on a few occasions, but I doubt most readers have made a conscientious attempt to understand or apply the veracity of this. But in fact, a properly periodized, high-frequency training plan will produce the fastest hypertrophy by far.

What high frequency training means

The term "high frequency" is very vague. For some, it would probably mean that they should increase their frequency of training each muscle group to three times a week. For others, high frequency training would mean nothing less than training each muscle group twice a day, 6 days a week.

Well, both groups are right, as everything in life (and training) is relative. If you only trained each muscle group once every 5 to 7 days, then training each muscle group three times a week would generate a remarkable stimulus for hypertrophy.

For those who are currently already training each muscle group for 3 to 4 workouts per week, I would advise focusing on multiple daily workouts.

Where am I going with all this talk? These points are part of an effort to help you understand how complex this topic is, as I have thousands of exercisers (i.e. thousands of fitness levels) to serve. In fact, the Perfect 10 program is nothing less than an extraordinary undertaking. Before we get to the parameters, however, let me first explain the genesis of this program.

The Cirque du Soleil factor

For me as a physiologist, 2001 was a very influential year in my life. This was the year I first attended the Cirque du Soleil show entitled Mystere. This show opened my mind to accepting training methodologies that I would never have considered before. And it eventually led to many of my most effective training programs - training programs that I have never written about until now.

I had heard about this show through several of my clients, but never would have guessed what I would see there. For those who are not familiar with these circus shows, let me mention that they are some of the most exhilarating, inspiring and breathtaking displays of physical prowess you will ever see. Not only do these athletes have exceptional strength and agility, but they also have some of the most exceptionally developed bodies you will ever see.

As I watched the show, I thought about their training program. I wondered how these guys had built such proportionally enormous latissimus, shoulder and upper arm muscles. Was it a Mentzer-influenced program? Well, since their program consisted of 12 shows a week, I could easily dismiss that answer.

Was it the amazing level of training intensity with a primary focus on eccentric muscle actions? After all, numerous scientific studies on muscle building have shown that the eccentric phase of training (the negative or lowering portion of the exercise) leads to the most muscle damage and therefore the most perceived muscle growth. No, this could not be the case, as such training methods would have resulted in a state of stiffness, muscle soreness and poor athletic performance (during the recovery phase).

Instead, they must have found an optimal point in their training parameters that allowed them to induce a stimulus sufficient for muscle growth without burning out their skeletal and neural systems. Based on what nearly every strength coach, fitness writer and bodybuilding magazine recommended, such a training program just didn't seem possible.

Hmmm, it seemed like I had stumbled upon a puzzle with a few pieces missing.

My accidental happy experience

After the show, I went back to my hotel room and decided to go to the bar for a nightcap (I usually stick to ZMA, but I was in Vegas after all). The bartender started a conservation by saying "What did you do tonight?" I told him I was at the Cirque show and he replied "These two perform amazing acrobatic tricks together, don't they? They are brothers and they are neighbors of mine."

He told me that they spend most of the day practicing the Cirque routines. He told me on this subject "yes, I often look out my window and see them in their backyard perfecting their routines for hours." Oh man, I thought, these guys had two of the most amazing bodies I had ever seen and they were practicing at an incredibly high frequency - a frequency I had never read about from any of the "experts".

I got maybe three hours of sleep that night. I couldn't stop wondering how these athletes had built up their capacity to withstand such a training frequency. Then I thought about how it must be genetic predispositions, performance-enhancing drugs or a combination of both. But that line of thinking changed when I thought about my own experiences.

I thought about the soccer players I had met and the calf development they exhibited. Then I thought about the mechanics I had befriended over the years in my hometown - all of whom had massive and defined forearms. I also reminisced about the times when I had made the fastest and most extensive hypertrophy gains in a given muscle group.

In college, I spent summers working for an apartment complex and one of my primary duties was pulling mattresses up and down the stairs. I did this for hours on end throughout the week. I built up 2.5 inches of arm circumference in 3 weeks doing this "mattress work". I have never built up 2.5 centimeters of arm circumference in such a short time with any of my training programs.

Voila! The answer to my puzzle must be hidden behind the high frequency training parameters that weren't destroying my muscles on a daily basis. I couldn't wait to get back to Tucson and start my own experiments.

6 Precautions

Well, that was four years ago and I have to say it took so long to find an answer. Why so long? Here's why:

1. hypertrophy training dogma

First of all, the stubbornness of the strength training community is quite strong. Because of this, some of my "non-paying" clientele did not follow my high-frequency training parameters precisely as I described them. Therefore, I had to discard my data on numerous occasions.

2. persistence in training

This goes hand in hand with point 1, you need to be persistent with high frequency training plans to reap the benefits. One or two weeks of high frequency training will not give you the results you want. The idea behind high frequency training is to build up your work capacity and specific muscle fitness to the level the system has yet to reach.

3. a lack of recovery support

Stretching and ice massage are imperative during the initial phases of high frequency training. Those who did not follow my recovery modalities often burned out within a few weeks. However, those who used stretching and ice massage as recommended built muscle faster than ever before.

4. a lack of personal ingenuity

The Perfect 10 training plan requires the use of numerous exercise variations. Since it is not possible for me to personally train thousands of readers, some ingenuity is necessary. You need to understand that even the slightest change in hand position, foot position, the use of one-arm exercises and switching from dumbbells to a barbell on any given exercise is enough to make it a "different exercise".

5. overzealous exercisers

For some, too much just doesn't seem to be enough. A few of the people I trained with grabbed the ball and ran way over the target zone on the very first run. In other words, they tried to do too much too fast and burned out.

6. limited training time

Obviously, high-frequency training is only ideal for those who can follow such a training plan. If you are one of those people who can only manage to find time for 2 to 3 training sessions per week, then this program is not for you. This is not to say that we should all quit our jobs, but high frequency training does require some lifestyle changes. This is a bitter pill for many recreational athletes to swallow.

After we get through these precautions, I will give you a program that will induce hypertrophy at a higher rate than you have ever experienced. But please follow my entire description exactly. If you are sloppy on even one element, you will suffer - trust me.

Perfect 10 Training Guidelines

1. choose 1 to 2 muscle groups that you want to improve the most.

If you start with a high-frequency training plan, overtraining will constantly knock on your door. Therefore, it is not necessary to bombard your entire body with such training parameters. Most people have a few muscle groups that are lagging behind in their development. If you are one of those who want to improve everything, then this program is not for you and you should choose a different hypertrophy program. This program is for those who need to progress underdeveloped muscle groups as quickly as possible.

2. perform a different exercise for each training session of the week.

There are countless different exercises for each muscle group, so following this rule shouldn't be too difficult. Let's take chest exercises as an example. If you're trying to improve your chest development, there are hundreds of exercise variations when you consider all the different angles between 30 degree reverse incline bench and 45 degree incline bench, all the variations of arm and hand positions (underhand grip, parallel grip...) and variations with dumbbells, barbells and on the cable pulley.

Make the effort to draw up a comprehensive list of all possible exercises that your available equipment allows. Both basic exercises and isolation exercises are suitable for this program. The more variations and options you have, the greater your success will be.

3. don't worry about the tempo of your muscle actions and don't emphasize the negative part of the movement

Considering the amount of sets and workouts you will be doing each week, you should take this rule very seriously. Just train as fast as possible while maintaining perfect form and a controlled negative portion of the repetitions. An eccentric movement that lasts longer than two seconds is excessive during this program. We are not trying to destroy the muscles, but we are trying to provide sufficient stimulus for muscle growth without causing unnecessary strain.

4. perform stretches and ice massages after the corresponding training sessions indicated in the plan.

There are a myriad of different stretching methods, but only static stretches are used in this program. Each stretching session should consist of four static stretches of the trained muscle group. Hold the muscle in the stretched position for 30 seconds and then pause for 30 seconds before repeating three times. It's as simple as that.

Ice massages should be performed with a Cryocup or a paper cup filled with ice. Use a Cryocup or paper cup for each side of the body. Once the cup is empty, perform the same technique on the other side of the body, using long, deep strokes and applying baby oil or olive oil to your skin to avoid hypothermia. Perform the ice massage during the first two hours after your training session.

5. learn to train through the soreness.

Sore muscles will be your new best friend, so you should learn to love them. This program will create continuous muscle soreness (at least) for the first few weeks. Slowly but surely this soreness will subside over time. This is a good thing! But you have to understand that you have to force your muscles to train more often. All those dogmas about irregular training will be overridden by your new found high frequency karma.

6. train the rest of your body as usual

You don't have to change the training for the rest of your body. In other words, you can continue to train the other muscle groups as usual. If you use the Perfect 10 training for chest and triceps, you simply remove these muscle groups from your existing training program. Think of Perfect 10 as an extension of the program you are currently following (the term turbocharger would probably be more accurate).

The program

Here's what you've been waiting for! You were probably wondering why this program is called Perfect 10 Training. It's because (surprise surprise) I'm going to describe a program that trains your lagging muscle groups for 10 workouts per week! Think of this program as the antithesis of the mythical Colorado Experiment.

Pull the Zippo out of your pocket and get ready to light the stick of muscle dynamite.

Week 1

Addendum to weeks 1 to 4: Do this program for one or two muscle groups. Choose one exercise for each of these muscle groups each day. Stretch after each training session.

day	Sets		Rest	Weight
1	6	3	70 sec.	6RM
2	Training free
3	3	10	2 min.	12RM
4	Training free
5	5	5	90 sec.	8RM
6 & 7	No training

Week 2

day	Sets		Rest	weight
1	7	3	70 sec.	6RM
2	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
3	4	10	2 min.	12RM
4	Training free
5	6	5	90 sec.	8RM
6 & 7	No training

Week 3

day	Sets		Rest	weight
1	8	3	70 sec.	6RM
2	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
3	5	10	2 min.	12RM
4	Training free
5	7	5	90 sec.	8RM
6	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
7	Training free

Week 4

day	sets		Rest	weight
1	3	3	70 sec.	5RM
2	Training free
3	3	8	2 min.	12RM
4	Training free
5	2	12	90 sec.	15RM
6 & 7	Training free

Week 5

Supplement for weeks 5 to 8: Perform this program for one or 2 muscle groups. Choose one exercise for each of these muscle groups every day. There must be at least 6 hours between the morning and afternoon/evening training sessions. Stretch after each training session. Perform an ice massage at the specified times.

Day	Sets		Break	Weight
1 in the morning	3	3	70 sec.	5RM
Evening	3	8	2 min.	12RM Ice massage
2	Training free
3 in the morning	2	12	90 sec.	15RM
Evening	3	5	90 sec.	8RM Ice massage
4	Training free
5 in the morning	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
in the evening	1 *	12	N/A	12RM Ice massage
6 & 7	Workout free

* This set should only be performed to concentric failure.

Week 6

day	Sets		Rest	Weight
1 in the morning	4	3	70 sec.	5RM
Evening	4	8	2 min.	12RM Ice massage
2	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
3 in the morning	3	12	90 sec.	15RM
Evening	4	5	90 sec.	8RM Ice massage
4	Training free
5 in the morning	4	3	70 sec.	6RM
Evening	1 *	15	NA	15RM Ice massage
6	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
7	Training free

* This set should only be performed to concentric failure.

Week 7

day	Sets		Rest	Weight
1 in the morning	3	8	90 sec.	10RM
Evening	2	20	3 min.	24RM Ice massage
2	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
3 in the morning	3	3	70 sec.	5RM
in the evening	3	12	2 min.	15RM Ice massage
4	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
5 in the morning	3	3	70 sec.	5RM
Evening	1 *	10	NA	10RM Ice massage
6	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
7	Training free

* This set should only be performed to concentric failure.

Week 8

During this week, the selected muscle groups are not trained at all.

Week 9

day	Sets		Rest	Weight
1 in the morning	3	5	70 sec.	7RM
Evening	2	15	2 min.	18RM Ice massage
2	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
3 in the morning	3	3	70 sec.	5RM
in the evening	2	20	3 min.	22RM Ice massage
4	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
5 in the morning	3	10	2 min.	12RM
in the evening	6	3	90 sec.	5RM Ice massage
6 in the morning	2	25	3 min.	28RM (~50% of the 1RM)
in the evening	1	50	50RM (~25% of the 1RM)
7	Training free

Once you have completed week 9, you are officially a High Frequency Protégé! If you follow the program exactly as described and if you avoid muscle failure (except for the days indicated), you will have helped bring about a new revolution in hypertrophy training.

By Chad Waterbury | 08/16/05

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/perfect-10-training