Stuart McRobert Hands of the Titan

From the author

Anyone who has already become the owner of a 40-centimeter girth can immediately turn to the second part of the "manual" course - the program for experienced ones. But since there are probably few of them, I advise most of you to study the first part carefully and not to put the cart before the horse.

My friend Flynn's gym is a real iron paradise. What is there? Now I'll tell you. Dumbbells - from the lightest to 90-kilogram. Eight power racks with limiters, four platforms for deadlifts and Olympic lifts. Twenty Olympic barbells with a full butt. Eight benches, two pull-ups, four curved barbells, two sets of dip bars, two sit and stand calf raises, four high lat blocks, two grip machines… and nothing else.

Flynn has his own theory about this. He believes that it is impossible to clutter up the hall with unnecessary equipment. Otherwise, you will provoke the client to “departure” from useful basic exercises and get carried away with easier, but ineffective training.

“Well, let’s say I put a hack machine and a leg extension bench here,” Flynn says. “I don’t mind, let them stand. But some lost soul will definitely start using them! And generally stop doing normal squats! It turns out, I myself drove the poor fellow into a trap! May my conscience torment me!

In short, this is how he is - Flynn: they say, if you took up pitching, then do it for real!

For clarity, I will tell you one true story. About a year ago, a teenager came to Flynn's gym, completely crazy on the volume of the upper limbs. Five days a week, the guy tormented his hands. Somewhere around fifty sets for biceps, the same amount for triceps, and as an additional "stroke" - 15 sets for the forearms. All this is generously flavored with trisets, supersets, giant sets, complex sets, pre-exhaustion, negative reps, etc., etc.

- Would you like to try the old, proven system that helped many of our "clients"? Flynn offered him wholeheartedly on the first day. But the guy politely refused: they say, thanks, of course, but I trust my “forced program” more ... Well, no, there is no trial. For six weeks, Flynn watched the poor man suffer, and finally decided on a second try. I waited for him to complete another two-hour marathon of swotting biceps and triceps, and asked:

- Well, eccentric, how are things on the manual front?

“And I just wanted to consult with you,” the guy replied. Something doesn’t work out for me, although I do everything clearly according to the scheme ...

No wonder, Flynn thought to himself, and took a silent sip of his coffee.

“Maybe you can help me?”

"Good idea," Flynn agreed. - When you fell into stagnation, it's time to think about changes ...

- Probably, we need to add a couple more sets of lifts with a barbell, - the guy was inspired. – Superset with extensions on the lower block!

How to

Flynn fortified himself with another sip of coffee, mentally counted to ten, took a deep breath, and said:

“No, I want to offer you something very special.

- Do you have your own technique for hands?

“Of course,” Flynn nodded. Top secret. For club members only!

- Can you tell me right now? the guy asked, looking at Flynn the same way my dog ​​looks at me when I eat my wife's burgers.

"Dossier" of the client

Flynn began to carefully collect information:

- How many bench presses do you do while lying down?

- Five times 55 kg, but I rarely do this, - the guy answered. - I don’t want my hands to “shade” against the background of my chest and shoulders.

– Ясно. What about squats and deadlifts?

- I never do them. And then, the exercises for the legs and back are very tiring. And I need to save strength for biceps and triceps!

The conversation then turned to food. Although nutrition is a strong word: the guy ate almost nothing, except for some ultra-modern dietary supplement from anabolic-metabolic opto-neuro-granulated amino-activators.

“If you want to look like a champion, you have to eat like a champion,” the guy explained to Flynn.

“That’s right,” Flynn confirmed with the most serious look.

"Dossier" of the program

Flynn sent the guy to change clothes, and he sat down at the table and painted a training program for him. Fifteen minutes later, our hero returned for the "secret technique." He took the paper, read it from beginning to end, then read it again and stared dumbfounded at Flynn.

- Where are the bicep curls? And triceps extensions?

Flynn already had it ready answer:

- This is a new super-scientific system. Based on the principle of neuro-bio-optimization. Simply put, the NBO. Many champions go crazy for her.

- But why are there no bicep curls at all?

“Molecular refraction,” Flynn replied casually. - Lifting the biceps at the present time is nonsense. Hands, remember, must be built at the atomic level! ..

The "scientific" explanation convinced the guy, and he decided to try a new program. Although he was unpleasantly surprised when he found out that he would train only twice a week.

First stage workouts

“Our methodology is a serious thing,” Flynn said. “So you have to start slowly and gradually. On Monday you will do three exercises: squats, bench press and deadlifts. Friday - four: deadlift, shrugs, pull-ups and bench press with a narrow (40 cm) grip. Your task is to become twice as strong. And for this you need to limit the amount of training and focus on basic exercises. They are the ones who build strength. You will work according to the 5x5 scheme. I explain what this means. Do five reps with a light weight. This is your first warm-up set. Then the second - add weight and do 5 more repetitions. Then again increase the weight and do three “working” sets. And so it is with every exercise. Later, by the end of the program, your “working” sets will be so heavy that you can’t even dream of now. But you need to start easily, and increase the “working” weights gradually - from week to week. The general picture is this: a month of relatively easy training, then two months of hard training. The "easy" period is very important - it is a kind of "introductory course" and your insurance against injury. If you immediately grab onto heavy weights, you will hoard half the program. Did you say you bench press 5 reps of 55 kg? So your twelve-week bench cycle will look like this, - Flynn began to write a cycle diagram on a piece of paper.

weeks

30x5 36x5 45x3x5 (3 sets of five reps)

31x5 40x5 47x3x5

34x5 43x5 50x3x5

36x5 45x5 52x3x5

38x5 47x5 55x3x5

40x5 50x5 56x3x5

40x5 52x5 58x3x5

40x5 55x5 61x3x5

40x5 55x5 63x3x5

40x5 55x5 64x3x5

40x5 55x5 65x3x5

40x5 55x5 66x3x5

40x5 55x5 67x3x5

“In the same way, you will increase the weights in all other exercises,” Flynn finished. Keep in mind: an advanced or experienced guy could not build up workload at this rate. This is only possible for beginners.

new diet

Under Flynn's guidance, the guy buried his "super supplement" in the yard. I wonder if the grass will wither over this "grave"? Flynn and I wondered. (As it turned out, withered). Since then, the only supplement our young friend has taken has been vitamins and minerals. And then one tablet a day. But in general, his diet consisted of natural, high-quality food: eggs, milk, cheese, meat, fish, pasta, bread, potatoes, vegetables and fruits. He ate large meals four or five times a day. As soon as he felt hungry, he immediately swallowed something solid. And washed it down with one or two glasses of milk.

- And what, does everyone need to eat like that? I asked Flynn.

- No, only young and thin. And a man over thirty can limit himself to three meals a day: a good breakfast, a hearty lunch and dinner. The main thing is to eat high-quality, healthy products. And get all the nutrients from them, not from supplements. As your training "gets heavier", you also need to eat more to provide the growing body with everything it needs.

Three months later, the guy added 13 kg in the bench press, 18 in the squat and 20 in the deadlift. In addition, he himself recovered by 4.5 kg - only due to the muscles. Flynn informed him that things were going well and it was time to move on to the second phase of the program. But first, ten days of complete rest.

Second stage workouts

Ten days later, Flynn and the guy met again. Flynn slammed the sheet with the new program on the table with his broad palm.

- In a secret laboratory, a shock technique was recently invented. Of course, they keep it a strict secret. But we have our people everywhere. Anyway, we found a guy who cleans up trash in the lab, so he sold it to us for 50 bucks. So, in the second stage, we will apply a strictly new methodology,” Flynn told the guy.

- And what, now I'm going to do bicep curls and extensions? - he rejoiced.

“No,” Flynn shook his head. “Our first task is to optimize metabolic factors.

And the guy was hooked again: Flynn "put" him on three workouts a week with the "5x5" system for all basic exercises:

Monday

Squats (to parallel): 5x5

Bench press (grip 65 cm): 5x5

Thrust on the upper block down (to the chest): 5x5

Press from behind the head sitting: 5x5

Rise on toes standing: 2x20 (weight unchanged)

Twisting: 1x40-50

Wednesday

Жим на наклонной скамье (45 градусов): 5x5

Тяга гантели одной рукой: 5x5 (для каждой руки)

Шраги со штангой: 5x5

Twisting: 1x40-50

Tilts to the side 1x30-40 (in each direction)

Friday

Приседания до параллели: 5x5

Жим лежа узким (40 см) хватом: 5x5

Становая тяга на согнутых ногах: 5x5

Rise on toes while sitting: 2x20 (weight