Dr. Squat - Dr. Fred Hatfield

I liked that article. It had some good points. I also liked the book "Dinosaur Training" very much as well. While I may have my own criticisms on the book due partially to individuality, you have to realize that guys who train that way only have to train several times per month and it does in fact work. Brooks Kubik won national records in the bench press that way and there are many others who have done the same. Some of the greatest lifters in the world only workout 2 times per week. How can they all be wrong? I wonder how many records the author of that article has? Any?

I have to agree with that guy some what about the hard work. I say partially because the truth is that you aren't going to be a great lifter without hard work. It just isn't going to happen. When ever I benched heavy weight it always felt heavy. When ever I did a lot on the deadlift it hurt. Thats hard work. Even if I reduced my training to only one set per workout, its still hard work when I lift that heavy weight.

How ever the part where I agree is that I don't believe in redundant work for no reason. For example, if I'm training for a powerlifting contest with all three lifts why would I waist my time doing grip work at the end of my workout? Or why would I bother spending time doing clean and presses with a sand bag? And if the work I did was already sufficient why would I spend more time doing endless sets on shoulders or biceps or any assistance exercise at that matter? The work has to be specific. Thats why I'm a big believer in dropping all assistance exercises a few weeks prior to a powerlifting meet.

Additionally I don't believe in necessarily taking sets to failure. If I aim for 5 reps and I can get 6, I'll just do 5 and then add weight the next workout. If I aim for 5 reps and I only get 4, then so be it; better luck next workout.

So I guess I have different ideas. I like the dinosaur training model, but I believe in specificity. And I don't believe in excessively killing yourself in the gym for no reason. And just to comment on puking from working out, I don't think the workout is the problem. I used to get nauseous from training and even puked a few times, but once I started eating better foods it never happened again, not even when I did strongman events.

I'm also sure the way explained in that article works just fine as well. I'm sure many could have success that way and many already have. But who really wants to spend every day in the gym? I know I don't. I want a life outside of the gym. So if both strategies work then I suppose it depends on the individual and how they like to train. If you want to spend every day in the gym knock yourself out. I'll stick to 2 workouts per week and I will continue to progress off it. One last thing I have to say though is that when you get really really strong it takes much longer to recover. For example if you are training to compete in powerlifting with gear you can't workout every day on the same lift. You will not recover from it, even if you only work up to a top single. So with such training you have to resort to only a few workouts per week.

Well I think the two ideas we are talking about certainly have their similarities. The main difference I see is that the one style recommends a higher frequency of training sessions.

Which style is best? Well there is one thing I have learned about training when it comes to designing the best program. And what I believe is the most important factor is the law of individual differences. How ever there can be other factors that come into play. For example, if your motivation comes best when training with friends and you train with a team, it might be more optimal to meet up for that one workout per week with the team or when ever you can meet up. Because motivation and team support can certainly take you a long way.

I actually know someone who used to train every day. And he would do all his favorite lifts every day. He was incredibly strong and he was tall and ripped at about 185 lbs. I can remember seeing him deadlift regularly well over 400 of the platform and with both hands facing forward. He also used to do partial chins with up to 150 lbs strapped to his waist. And he would do snatches with up to 200 lbs. Believe it. He would be lifting that heavy every day, and with all of his lifts. It worked for him. I think what was key for him to do so well was simply practice. He practiced every day so he was good at lifting heavy weights. And it made him ripped too, probably because he worked out so much and his diet was good. But lets just face it. He lived in the gym and had no life. Probably no girlfriend either!

So wether working out that way is better or not, I don't know. It might just be. But on the other hand it is clear that people have made the more abbreviated type of training work for them. I think what it all boils down to is if you actually want a life outside of the gym. I know I do. I don't want to live in the gym. I want to enjoy my life. And I know for sure that you can in fact get great results with only a few sessions per week, if you workout like you mean it. Its a sacrifice.