IN THE GYM: LAYING THE FOUNDATION…THE FINAL INSTALLMENT IN THE “TIPS FOR BEGINNERS: LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR MUSCULAR SIZE, STRENGTH AND EXPLOSIVE POWER” SERIES ...TRAINING WITH THE HAWK
NOTE: The information presented herein is meant to serve as a general guideline and is not meant to be construed as a recommendation for any one individual personally
Parts I, II, III and IV of “Laying the Foundation” can be found in the July, August, September and October issues of Natural Champion. If you missed any of these articles, we suggest you click back to the appropriate issue and start at that point.
As we mentioned way back in July in the introduction to “Laying the Foundation”, one of the most common mistakes beginning trainees make is to try to follow the routines of top bodybuilders as published in some of the more popular ‘muscle mags’. Unfortunately, the average untutored beginner usually fails to realize that (a) only an experienced and/or genetically blessed individual – or one who is ‘chemically enhanced’ - could recuperate from such a program, and (b) the published routines are sometimes either exaggerated, especially in terms of poundages handled, or a figment of some ghostwriters imagination, and as a result more often than not ends up over trained, burned out, and totally frustrated.
What the average beginning trainee should be following is the type of routine the bodybuilder or athlete used in the foundation period, the time when he was building, not refining.
If you are new to the wonderful world of resistance training, here are some tips to help you lay the foundation for muscular size, strength and explosive power.
* Start at a low level of effort and gradually increase.
Use compound movements with free weights as the basis of your workouts.
*Add resistance whenever possible. All things being equal, increased muscle strength translates to increased muscle size and functionality.
Stress good exercise form. As noted above, always strive to increase the resistance but never at the expense of proper exercise performance. Concentrate on every rep of every set and keep the tension on the target muscle or muscle group.
*Be consistent. Taking a killer workout one day and missing the next two sessions just puts you back two steps.
*Be intense. Bring your “A” game to the gym every time and your results will multiply accordingly.
*Learn the value of nutrition, mental attitude, and recuperation.
Now, for those of you who have completed the Beginning and Intermediate Routines and the Advanced Level Routine #1, let’s go to the next step.
ADVANCED ROUTINES: At the advanced level, training becomes more and more individualized. Some top bodybuilders have found that they make their best gains training a body part every five to seven days while others feel twice a week per body part is best. Likewise, some prefer lower reps – all-time bodybuilding great Reg Park built a multiple Mr. Universe title winning physique and world class strength, drug free, with his 5 sets of 5 reps routine – while others have found that reps in the 8 to 12 range work best. For maximizing results and minimizing sticking points or plateaus, we recommend that intermediate and advanced trainees vary exercise selection and sets and reps.
When it comes to the question of high reps with lighter weights or low reps with heavier weights, Charles Hawkins, Natural Mr. Universe, takes the approach of using heavier weight and high reps! The Hawk feels he gets his best results in muscle size and density from the 12 rep range. He also feels that the higher reps help protect him from injury as the poundages he handles for 12 to15 reps is naturally less than he would be able to use for 5 or 6 reps and therefore presents less stress to his joints. He notes two things, however:
One is that he goes by ‘feel’ and at times may do lower reps when he has that feeling of power and, or wants to gauge his strength, and at other times he goes to even higher than usual reps to get a super pump.
The other thing the Hawk notes is that striving to use maximum poundage with maximum reps is flat out hard – but it flat out works!
ADVANCED ROUTINE – TRAINING WITH THE HAWK
Charles Hawkins, aka the Hawk, Drug-Free Mr. Universe, usually works out 5 times per week, either training Monday through Friday with the weekend off or training 2 or 3 days in a row then taking a day off. Though he has tried just about every routine imaginable in his years of training, he currently uses two basic body part splits:
SPLIT #1: Each body part once per week
Monday: Thighs/Hamstrings/Calves
Tuesday: Chest/Abs
Wednesday: Back/Calves
Thursday: Shoulders/Traps
Friday: Biceps/Triceps
SPLIT #2: Here the Hawk combines a ‘big’ body part, such as chest, and a ‘little’ body part, such as biceps or triceps. Legs are always trained by themselves. Two examples of this type body part grouping would be:
Day #1: Thighs/Hamstrings/Calves
Day #2: Chest/Biceps/Abs
Day #3: Back/Calves
Day #4: Shoulders/Triceps/Abs
Day #1: Thighs/Hamstrings/Calves
Day #2: Chest/Triceps/Abs
Day #3: Calves/Back/Biceps
Day #4: Shoulders/Traps/Abs
PROTOTYPE ADVANCED “HAWK” ROUTINE: Note: This is a sample routine that has proven to be very effective. The reps vary from low (in the 5 to 8 range) to medium (8 to 10 range) to high (10 to 15 for upper body and up to 20 for lower body). This ensures that all fiber types are stimulated as well as injecting variety into the program. Individuals should make adjustments as necessary to fit their particular needs.
This is a split routine based on a 5-day per week training schedule. On this program you will work out three days in a row, take a day off, work out two days in a row and take another day off, rotating in this manner to provide slightly more frequent stimulation for each muscle group while still allowing for recovery.
MONDAY: CHEST/BICEPS/ABDOMINALS
Bodypart Exercise Sets Reps
Chest: Incline Dumbell or Smith Press 4 5 to 8
Bench Press or DB Bench Press 4 8 to 10
Low Incline Flyes 3 12
Biceps: Barbell Curl 5 5 to 8
Alternate Dumbell Curl 4 8 to 10
Cable Preacher Curl 3 12 to 15
Abs Hanging Knee In 3 20
Rope Crunch 3 20
TUESDAY: THIGHS, HAMSTRINGS, CALVES
Bodypart Exercise Sets Reps
Thighs Squat 5 5 to 8
Leg Press 4 8 to 10
Leg Extension or Hack Squat 3 12
Hamstrings Leg Curl 5 5 to 8
Seated Leg Curl 3 8 to 12
Calves Calf Machine 5 8 to 10
Donkey Calf Raise 4 10 to 12
Seated Calf Raise 3 15
WEDNESDAY: STRETCHING & CARDIO
THURSDAY: SHOULDERS, TRICEPS, ABS
Bodypart Exercise Sets Reps
Shoulders Seated Dumbell Press 5 5 to 8
Alternate Forward Raise 4 8 to 10
One Arm Laterals 3 8 to 10
Triceps Dips 5 5 to 8
Lying Tricep Press 4 8 to 10
Pressdown 3 10 to 12
Abdominals Incline Leg Raise 3 15 to 20
Crunch 3 15 to 20
FRIDAY: CALVES/BACK/TRAPS/
Bodypart Exercise Sets Reps
Calves One Leg Calf Raise 4 20
Back Deadlift 5 5
Wide Grip Chin or Pulldown 4 8 to 10
Barbell Row 4 8 to 10
Seated Cable Row 4 10 to 12
Traps Dumbell Shrugs 5 5 to 8
SATURDAY: Repeat Monday’s program and continue to rotate.
