- Similar to full body training, an upper/lower split like this is one of (if not THE) most proven weight training splits there is. Each muscle group gets hit twice per week (every 3rd or 4th day), which is right within range of the ideal workout frequency.
- The effectiveness of the “Ten Set Method” Quoted by Charles Poliquin: It was so efficient that lifters routinely moved up a full weight class within 12 weeks. The idea of a repetitive movement stimulating certain, deep muscle fibers while recruiting more motor units per muscle group is the concept behind its effectiveness.
- During his time as a coach, Charles certified coaches in the Poliquin International Certification Program. Charles goal and hunger lead to produce hundreds of medals and win. He trained athletes in over 17 different sports including, the NHL, NFL, speed skaters, long jumpers and much more.
- A blurry photo taken by the shaking hand of Glenn Parker following a brutal week of training on the Charles Poliquin Hypertrophy Internship! Poliquin is also well known as being a proponent of twice a day training both for strength and hypertrophy.
Charles Poliquin Hypertrophy Program. 5/15/2017 0 Comments Charles Poliquin – His Favorite Mass-Building Program, His Nighttime Routine For Better Sleep, and Much More 51 Comments. Charles R Poliquin is recognized as one of the World’s most accomplished strength coaches who attributes his success to the quest for the “magical training.
Q: I’m interested in using the German Body Comp program to train for Brazilian jujitsu. Is that appropriate?
A: They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it’s not all that flattering when the imitators don’t do justice to the original work. Case in point: the German Body Comp program.
The German Body Comp program, one of my most popular workouts, is based on the pioneering research by a Romanian exercise scientist who defected to West Germany. Halarambie made the important discovery that the lactic acid pathway is better for fat loss than the commonly accepted aerobic pathway. He found that high blood lactic levels decrease blood pH levels, which in turn sends a message to the brain to accelerate its production of growth hormone. Higher growth hormone counts increase fat loss.
The GBC program is characterized by short rest intervals and multijoint movements to generate maximum growth hormone production. Not only does GBC result in greater fat loss than aerobic programs can produce, but it won’t sacrifice strength and muscle mass—in fact, it can make you bigger and stronger. With aerobics, all you get is fat loss and weakness. Why train your body to be weak?
How effective is the program? I’ve seen men gain 12 to 18 pounds of muscle in 12 weeks while losing fat, and it’s not uncommon for women to lose seven percent bodyfat in the same time period.
In addition to being great for anyone who wants to lose bodyfat, the GBC program is especially geared toward athletes because it develops muscular endurance. Law enforcement officers are prime candidates for the benefits of GBC, and I’ve had great success with grapplers and hockey players. In contrast, aerobic training does little to improve endurance for most sports and will compromise strength and power—it’s even been shown that upper-body aerobic training can compromise jumping ability. Which brings us back to the imitation problem.
The workout that is outlined in my book German Body Comp Program is designed for all levels of individuals. It’s a mix of machines and free weights, with the exercises increasing in difficulty—along with the overall volume of training—with the higher levels. Unfortunately, when fitness writers attempt to modify the program for athletes, they often make several critical errors in program design.
To show you how it’s supposed to be done, here’s a version for athletes who need to put on lean tissue and prepare for the months ahead of heavy lifting. Typically, the program is done by throwers and rugby players in the early off-season or by grapplers who want to take some time off the mat and build their lactate capacity; so in your case that would work. Obviously, these athletes will know their way around the weight room. It’s an advanced program and not for the weak of stomach.
Monday
A1 Snatch pulls on podium5 x 6, X/O/X/O tempo
Rest 45 seconds
A2 Walking lunges5 x 6 steps per leg, X/O/X/O tempo
Rest 45 seconds
Rest three minutes after completing all A sets
B1 Cyclists’ back squats4 x 6-8, 3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
B2 Close, parallel-grip chinups4 x 6-8, 3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
Rest 3 minutes after completing all B sets
C1 Lying leg curls (feet plantar flexed)
4 x 6-8, 3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
C2 Incline dumbbell presses (semi-supinated grip)
4 x 6-8, 3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
Rest 3 minutes after completing all C sets
Tuesday
A1 Clean deadlifts on podium5 x 6,
4/O/X/O tempo
Rest 45 seconds
A2 Sternum chinups5 x 6, 2/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
Rest 3 minutes after completing all A sets
B1 Russian stepups4 x 8-10, X/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
B2 V-bar dips4 x 8, 3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
Rest 3 minutes after completing all B sets
C1 Lying leg curls (feet plantar flexed and
turned outward)3 x 6-8, 3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
C2 Seated dumbbell presses (semi-supinated grip)
![Charles Poliquin Hypertrophy Programs Charles Poliquin Hypertrophy Programs](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DH8pW1DelqI/0.jpg)
3 x 6-8, 3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
C3 Seated dumbbell external rotations
(elbow on knee)3 x 6-8, 3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
Rest 3 minutes after completing all C sets
Thursday
A1 Power cleans on podium5 x 6, X/O/X/O tempo
Rest 45 seconds
A2 Lumberjacks5 x 6, X/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
Rest 3 minutes after completing all A sets
B1 Front squats (narrow stance with heels elevated)
4 x 4-6, 3/2/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
B2 Incline thick-bar presses4 x 6-8, 3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
B3 Lean-away pullups4 x 6-8, 30X0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
Rest 3 minutes after completing all B sets
C1 Lying leg curls (feet plantar flexed and
turned inward)3 x 6-8, 3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
C2 One-arm bent-over shrugs3 x 8-10, 2/0/1/2 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
C3 Low-pulley external rotations3 x 10-12,
3/0/X/0 tempo
Rest 45 seconds
Rest 3 minutes after completing all C sets
Friday
A1 Snatch deadlifts, 10 x 6, descending-sets style, resting only 45 seconds; decrease the weight on every set so you can get the reps
Rest 5 minutes after competing all A sets
B1 Thick-bar curls, 8 x 8, descending-sets style, resting only 45 seconds; decrease the weight on every set so you can get the reps
B2 Decline EZ-curl-bar triceps extensions, 8 x 8, descending-sets style, resting only 45 seconds; decrease the weight on every set so you can get the reps
The best time for athletes to use this workout is as soon as the competitive season is over so your body can get accustomed to the change in body composition. After you try it and your teammates and competitors see your great results, don’t be surprised if they start imitating you!
Q: What do you think is the best trap exercise?
A: Besides the competitive Olympic lifting exercises and their assistance moves, one of my favorites for developing the traps is the one-arm barbell shrug. It’s great for stimulating strength and size gains in the traps and offers several advantages over conventional shrugs.
Compared to the two-arm barbell shrug, the one-arm version provides a greater range of motion. Try it if you don’t believe me. You’ll instantly feel how much higher the trapezius moves upward when you use the single-arm version. In fact, I would say that the only equivalent exercise would be shoulder shrugs using the Atlantis shrug machine, such as the one we have at the Poliquin Strength Institute.
There’s no contact with the body during one-arm barbell shrugs, permitting a much smoother performance. With dumbbells there’s a considerable amount of friction created as the plates rub against your body, especially with heavy weights. The friction increases the resistance of the movement, but you can’t actually determine how much the load has increased and, consequently, how well you’re progressing with the exercise.
With this version of the shrug, the working arm has to remain in a neutral position. The technique helps correct the excessively internally rotated shoulder and arm posture commonly associated with individuals who have bench-pressed excessively for years.
Finally, to prevent the barbell from moving toward the front of the body, the one-arm barbell shrug requires the infraspinatus and teres minor to be recruited isometrically. The additional work develops superior shoulder integrity that would be valuable for football and rugby players, who experience a high degree of disruptive forces to the shoulders during their sports. Although it seems like a simple movement, here are some special tips on how to get the most out of the one-arm barbell shrug.
First, to make it easier to load the barbell and pick it up, set the barbell on a power rack across the pins. You can then brace yourself with your free hand against one of the power rack posts, which will let you keep your torso upright. I would recommend the use of straps only if the weight is so heavy that your grip gives out—so no straps for sets of one to three reps.
To increase time under tension, which favors greater hypertrophy, pause for a predetermined time—one to six seconds, for example—at the end of the concentric range of motion. I prescribe that pause for people who are recovering from shoulder surgery, as they often cannot handle high loads but still need the hypertrophy to rehabilitate quickly.
If your traps are in need of a dire challenge, please give the one-arm barbell shrug a try. I’m certain you’ll be very happy with the quick results it provides, and adding it to your program would pay tribute to the pioneering work of the old-time bodybuilders and strength athletes.
Editor’s note:Charles Poliquin is recognized as one of the world’s most suc-cessful strength coaches, having coached Olympic med-alists in 12 different sports, including the U.S. women’s track-and-field team for the 2000 Olympics. He’s spent years researching European journals (he’s fluent in English, French and German) and speaking with other coaches and scientists in his quest to optimize training methods. For more on his books, seminars and methods, visit www.CharlesPoliquin.net. IM
Overtrain, Rest, and Grow!
Warning
Honestly, you don't have the balls to use the advanced training principles I'm about to outline in this article. This training method usually only works with elite, coached athletes – athletes forced into the gym and driven into the ground by a hard-driving international level coach.
![Muscle hypertrophy programs Muscle hypertrophy programs](https://www.runnerprogram.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Charlespoliquin+runneruniverse.com_.jpg)
The training is brutal. Your body will scream. The psychological effect is agonizing. Your mind will rebel.
You will want to quit. You will want to screw with the program to make it physically and mentally easier. Very few of you will even attempt this type of training.
That's good. Most people shouldn't even try it. It's not for them. It very likely isn't for you. You can't handle it.
In spite of all of the above, the editors of Testosterone have talked me into writing about this type of training. But you've been warned.
That Which Does Not Kill Us...
Pierre Roy, one of my earliest mentors in weightlifting methodology, once said that unless athletes start complaining of tendonitis, they're not training hard enough. They should train until they're literally depressed, then back off.
In other words, if you're not making progress in the gym, smash yourself into the ground for two weeks – purposefully overtrain until you're mentally depressed and your body is about to shutdown – then take five days off. When you come back into the gym, you'll hit new personal bests.
Hypertrophy, for example, is an adaptation to a biological stress. If something doesn't kill you, then the more you put stress on it, the more it'll adapt. If the .22 caliber doesn't work, use a .50 caliber.
This type of training can be manipulated to work for pure strength gains, to develop hypertrophy, or to correct a weak muscle group or body part. This is the type of program I'd do if someone told me I'd make an extra two million a year if I gained 15 pounds. (I'd just hire some psychopath to drag me to the gym and make me stick to it.)
Planned Overtraining
The idea of planned overtraining isn't new. I didn't invent this; many have come to these same conclusions. Some have stumbled upon the idea by shear accident.
I call it super-accumulation training. I've done it with the national speed skating team for years and they've won a record number of medals.
Look at Hans Selye's model of the General Adaptation Syndrome. The more you train an inroad, eventually, and provided you rest long enough, the higher the peak of supercompensation. You'll feel like the walking dead at first, then like the Incredible Hulk as you recover and begin training again.
Many athletes have learned this lesson the hard way. 'Fatigue masks fitness' they say. In other words, when run into the ground, you can't really see where an athlete's potential is.
This is a mistake Olympic newbies make: they train more and more closer to the Games, then perform like shit in the Olympics. But then they take a week off and go to a World Cup and set a world record. Coaches and athletes eventually learned to train really hard until three weeks before the Olympics.
A similar system has been used in Montreal for years: two weeks balls-to-the-walls, one week recovery. It's the basis of the system used by many successful National Weightlifting Teams around the world.
Can you benefit from this training style? Yes, if you can stick to it. Let's talk about why that's probably not going to happen.
'You have to be weak to be strong.' Ayurvedic Medicine Paradygm
So the idea is simple: brutally train yourself into the ground for two weeks, take five days off, and come back to rebound and break your size and strength plateaus. But here's the catch: during the two weeks of loading/forced overtraining, your goal is to lose strength... then keep right on training!
When people get weaker they stop. That's a mistake on this program. You have to go until you get much weaker. You must shoot for a drop of 20% in strength. So if the weight you use for a certain exercise is 100 pounds for sets of 8, then at the end of the two weeks you should have a hard time doing sets of 8 with 80 pounds.
If you lose more than 20% that's even better. I've seen guys lose as much as 40%. Genetically skinny guys may lose more; mesomorphs may lose less.
If at the end of the two weeks you're happy and cheery, then you're a bullshit artist. You must have used the pink dumbbells for all the exercises. I've seen guys crying, asking if they could go home! If you have thoughts of going on a shooting rampage in a shopping mall because the price of beef went up, you're on the right track.
The point is, you have to be very clear that you won't quit for two weeks. You'll get to the point where every joint hurts, and you'll see your weights tank. You may start your squats with 300 pounds on Monday and by the next Friday only be able to use 240. That's when you know you're doing it right.
And so begins the physical and psychological agony. And there's more: you're going to lose muscle at first too. It's not uncommon to lose 12 to 15 pounds in the first two weeks. But during and after your off period, if you eat correctly, you'll gain that back and usually another five pounds in one shot.
A 200 pound man may go down to 185 or 187 by the end of the two weeks. Then he will slingshot past his previous best and hit 205. If he follows the program and if he has the testicular fortitude to accept the initial losses.
There's been some research done here in the US and in Finland that at the end of your two weeks of loading you actually have a decrease in Testosterone levels. But at the end of your period of unloading you have an increase in free Testosterone. There's a high correlation in the amount of free T you have and the amount of strength gains you make.
So, by the end of the first two weeks of this program, you will:
- Lose strength
- Lose muscle
- Be chronically overtrained
- Experience aching tendons and joints
- Be brutally sore (and train right through it)
- Be mentally depressed
- Feel like killing yourself or others
If you don't experience these things at the end of two weeks, then you didn't do it right.
But let's keep our eyes on the prize here. This isn't just self-torture. If you can get through the two weeks of loading, then properly execute the five day recovery period, then you will, without a shadow of a doubt, blast though your previous strength and/or hypertrophy goals.
Your mouth will literally drop as the recovery process begins. You'll feel like your muscles are about to burst through your skin and your friends will accuse you of being on something. The rewards are indeed great... if you survive the first two weeks.
The Super-Accumulation Program
I'm not normally an advocate of total body training, but I would do it with this type of training if your main goal is hypertrophy. You'll be training nine times a week for two weeks.
What's that? You can't train six days a week and twice-a-day on three of those days? Then screw off. This wasn't written for you.
Total Body Hypertrophy Plan
Train nine times per week:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Train twice per day
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning: Train once per day
Sunday: Off
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning: Train once per day
Sunday: Off
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Morning Workout
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Tempo | Rest | |
A1 | Back Squat | 5 | 4-6 | 40X0 * | 100 sec. |
A2 | Leg Curl | 5 | 4-6 | 4010 | 100 sec. |
B1 | Lean-Away Chin-up | 5 | AMAP | 4010 | 100 sec. |
B2 | Dip | 5 | AMAP | 4010 | 100 sec. |
* Tempo — That's four seconds down, no pause, explode up, no pause, then repeat for the next rep.
Evening Workout
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Tempo | Rest | |
A | Snatch Deadlift on platform | 10 | 6 | 5010 | 3 min. |
B1 | Seated Dumbbell Press palms facing each other (semi-supinated) | 5 | 6-8 | 4010 | 100 sec. |
B2 | One-Arm Dumbbell Row | 5 | 6-8 | 2011 | 100 sec. |
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Mornings
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Tempo | Rest | |
A1 | Front Squat | 5 | 4-6 | 40X0 | 100 sec. |
A2 | Kneeling Leg Curl | 5 | 4-6 | 40X0 | 100 sec. |
B1 | Close-Grip Pronated Pull-up | 5 | 6-8 | 3011 | 100 sec. |
B2 | Incline Dumbbell Press | 5 | 6-8 | 3110 | 100 sec. |
Crucial Points
- Each set goes balls to the walls!
- Not counting warm-ups, take each set to concentric failure. In other words, don't do a set of 8 with a weight you can rep to 15. Do sets of 8 with a weight you can only lift 8 times.
- If you have to decrease the weight every set to get the required number of reps, decrease the weight by no more than 5%.
- Use your normal recovery methods: pre-workout drinks, during workout drinks, post-workout Surge®, beta alanine, whatever. You'll need it. Take at least 40 grams of BCAA during each workout. Yes, I said 40.
- Your appetite will go up at first during the end of the two weeks of loading, then it will begin to decrease. That's a sign of overtraining by volume. The second sign is that you'll find you can't get enough sleep. Sneak in a nap anytime you can; the more sleep the better.
- To combat deep muscle soreness, take 4-5 grams daily of the amino acid lysine. Lysine stores go down when you overtrain.
- If you choose your own exercises, remember that all the movements you use have to be 'most bang for your buck' exercises. Every exercise should involve at least two joints or more. No dumbbell flyes, kickbacks, or other Men's Healthexercises done with pursed lips.
- Don't mess with the recipe. If anything, add more training, but don't substitute dinky exercises. Don't do alternating dumbbell curls on the Bosu ball while holding a Bodyblade between your teeth.
- During the two weeks of overreaching, if you don't bother to eat two grams of protein per pound of body weight, stay home.
- Don't take Testosterone boosting supplements during the loading weeks. You want to train to the point of depressed Testosterone! Save the T-boosters for the five day off period.
- Don't worry about direct arm work. You'll gain plenty of arm size without direct biceps and triceps work during this program if you choose to use dips, chins, and presses.
- Now, if you want to use different exercises – back squat in the morning, heals-elevated squats at night, front squats the next day, next day after that a cyclist squat, etc. – that doesn't matter. But, week one and week two should look the same. You need to make sure of this so you'll be able to see if you got 20% weaker on those same exercises.
- Consume 30 to 45 grams of fish oil per day during the loading phase. (No need to do this during your five off days because you'll want more calories from carbs and you don't want to slow down the insulin response with the fish oil during this off/rebuilding period.)
- You have to make a contract with yourself to do the work. Reward yourself with a big dinner on the last Saturday night. Ideally, if you don't have a coach, train in a team of three partners.
5 Day Recovery Period Guidelines
- Off is off. No 'recovery work.' Besides, if you squat in five training sessions in three days, you think you're going to want to run around a parking lot dragging a fucking sled?
- During this five days off, you'll want to eat something every hour and a half. Alternate solids meals with liquid meals. Always start with solid. Wake up and have a high protein breakfast – buffalo steak and berries, for example. Ninety minutes later, have the equivalent of 250 grams of Surge or a bunch of whey protein and carbohydrate powder. Add about 20 grams of glutamine into these shakes. That's 80 grams of glutamine per day during your five recovery days.
- If you don't eat and eat and eat, it's not going to work. Calories are the focus during this recovery period.
- If you're not putting the weight back on, I don't have a problem with you eating some empty calories. Eat some ice cream if you want it. Five days of that isn't going to hurt you, especially considering the average American eats like that 365 days per year.
- Massage and frequency-specific microcurrent acupuncture will accelerate recovery. Ice massage is for dorks, only raises your cortisol, and doesn't do shit.
- Double-dose Alpha Male® during this off period. By your third off day, you'll be hornier than a three-balled billy goat because your Testosterone levels will be shooting through the ceiling.
- Once you start overeating, your joints and tendons will begin to feel better. In this five day phase, your whole demeanor and physique will change. You'll feel like the Incredible Hulk!
Back To The Gym
You trained to near-death for two weeks, then took five days off. Now what?
After your off period, go to the gym and do your Monday morning workout from the loading phase. Take a day off. Then do Tuesday's workout. Your goal here is to evaluate your progress. Prepare yourself to see some major gains. After that, you can start the cycle all over again if you choose.
Bringing Out the Big Guns
In weightlifting circles, they look for you to walk in looking like a zombie. That's when they know it's time for you to take off. No zombie look? Then you're not training hard enough and you need to train more, then rest.
I did a strength training version of this program once for the Olympic luge team. The coach said he had to cut some members of the team because the Olympic gravy train money was over. I told him that after three weeks I'd tell him who on the team had the balls to be a champion.
I walked into the starting house three weeks later and saw five members of the team in one corner looking like someone had shot their dogs. They looked depressed, some were drooling, some had tremors. I told the coach to keep those guys and cut the rest. The other members of the team were up and laughing on the other side of the room. They clearly hadn't followed the program.
So he kept the depressed guys and cut the rest, right then and there. (Germans don't fuck around.)
The zombies took their five days off. After that, one member of the team, who only weighed 172 pounds, came back and did three wide grip pull-ups with 120 pounds of added weight. He went on to set an Olympic record in the start.
Like those athletes, you gotta train when you're weak. You have to push yourself, both physically and mentally, to reap the massive benefits of this type of training. If you want to blast through your training plateaus, you have to pull out the big guns. And this program is the biggest gun in my arsenal.
The question is, are you man enough to pull the trigger?
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Charles Poliquin Workout
06/11/07