The 12 Habits of Big Lifters

8/9/2019 The 12 Habits of Big Lifters

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The 12 Habits of Big Liftersby Clay Hyght, DC|11/24/14

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Here's what you need to know... If hyertrohy is yo!r main goal, send time in allre ranges" It#s

not all $go hea%y or go home"$

&o otimally b!ild m!scle, yo! also need some 'lymic lifting

and owerlifting"

(o!#re robably not training hard eno!gh" )(es, you"*

&wice a year, get yo!r hysi+!e rofessionally e%al!ated" (o! cannot wing it" Ha%e a lan, kee a training log, and foc!s

on consistency"

any bodyb!ilders look good not becauseof what they do,

b!t in spite ofwhat they do"

Don#t blindly follow the ad%ice of someone -!st beca!se they look

great" Instead, seek o!t a good coach"

1. Big lifters use a variety of rep ranges.
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&raining for si.e and training for !re strength are different" S!re,

there#s some correlation between si.e and strength, b!t -!st beca!se

someone is big doesn#t mean they#re all that strong""" and %ice %ersa"

&he reason for this is largely d!e to -!st how different hyertrohy

oriented training and strength training act!ally are" 0etting stronger

re+!ires creating maim!m tension in the m!scle, and yo! accomlish

this %ia hea%y weight and mo%ing that hea%y weight as forcef!lly as

ossible" &his leads to more myofilaments being laid down and

imro%ements in yo!r ner%o!s system, both of which hel yo! become

stronger"


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'n the other hand, training for hyertrohy re+!ires a m!ch more

%aried aroach" In addition to doing some hea%y sets !sing yo!r 1

3, yo!#ll also ha%e to send amle time ind!cing metabolic fatig!e

%ia higherre sets" &his incl!des the 15, 151, and 125 reranges"

So the realistic +!estion becomes, where do yousend yo!r training

time6 If b!ilding m!scle is yo!r main goal, yo!#re going to ha%e to

send time in all re ranges"

It#s not -!st re ranges, either" 7%en the eec!tion is different" 8ith

bodyb!ilding training yo! need to foc!s more on feeling the m!scle,

whereas with strength training more of yo!r foc!s is on simly mo%ing

the weight"

3est inter%als are also different" Strength training re+!ires longer rest

inter%als while hyertrohy training calls for shorter ones" 9gain, yo!#re

forced to decide if yo!r goal is hyertrohy or strength, and then train

accordingly"

2. Big guys use the powerlifts and even some Olympicstyle lifts.


4/22

If I were starting o%er again in bodyb!ilding, one thing I#d certainly do

different wo!ld be to imlement some 'lymicstyle lifting as well as

some owerlifting"

:ow, the only two 'lymic lifts these days are the snatch and the

clean and -erk, b!t for bodyb!ilding !roses yo! sho!ld do the now

retired clean and ress o%er the clean and -erk"

8hen it comes to owerlifting, we#re talking abo!t the bench ress,

s+!at, and deadlift" Desite the o!larity of the bench ress, yo!

sho!ld foc!s more on the latter two"


5/22

:ow let#s get secific"

:ot many bodyb!ilders ha%e great backs" &hat#s -!st a reality" 7%en if

someone has big lats, they tend to be thick in the !er back betweenthe sca!lae"

Howe%er, by imlementing the snatch, yo!#d not only beef ! yo!r

!er back, b!t also the eternal rotators of the sho!lder" &he same

goes with the clean ortion of the clean and -erk, a"k"a" ower cleans"

&hey#re ecellent for b!ilding a thick, owerf!l !er back, tras, rear

delts, etc"

!elated: "ore on the clean

If yo!#d like to hit these !erback areas as well as work on yo!r

sho!lders, try the clean and ress" It#s not as easy as sitting on yo!r

b!tt and ressing the barbell o%erhead, b!t it#s s!re as heck more

f!nctional and offers more bang for yo!r training b!ck" &hat doesn#t

mean yo! sho!ldn#t e%er do seated barbell or d!mbbell o%erhead

resses" Instead, swa them for the clean and ress fairly reg!larly"

;or the record, do these 'lymic lifts near the beginning )or first* in

yo!r worko!t, which is where elosi%e ower mo%ements belong"

9s for the big three of owerlifting, s!rely yo! already do the bench

ress and s+!at, b!t instead of doing them in a higherre

bodyb!ilding manner, occasionally do them like a owerlifter wo!ld ain is yo!r body#s way of telling yo! something#s wrong"

Fet#s say yo!#re doing barbell c!rls and yo! feel ain on the inside of

yo!r elbow" 0!ess what6 It#s likely the onset of medial eicondylitis

)golfer#s elbow*" If treated early, it#s a retty simle fi" 8hen it#s


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ignored for weeks, or e%en worse, months, it#s going to be a lot harder

to fi and it#s going to be a lot longer !ntil yo!#re ainfree again"

;or the record, by stretching yo!r wrist fleors yo! can +!ite likelya%oid getting golfer#s elbow to begin with" :ow that we#re on the toic

of stretching, it#s something that yo! sho!ld be doing daily" !st

consider stretching art of training < beca!se it isB

&he same goes for foam rolling, and if yo! can afford to get soft tiss!e

work done reg!larly, do that, tooB

!elated: 1) 7oam !olling Techni$ues

Fastly, if yo!#re o%er A or !se erformanceenhancing dr!gs, get yo!r

blood work < and robably !rinalysis < done fairly reg!larly" !ch like

softtiss!e in-!ries, if yo! find something wrong, it#ll be fareasier to

correct sooner rather than later"

7%en if yo! co!ldn#t care less abo!t being healthy and only care abo!t

getting -acked, yo! still need to take care of yo!r body" 'therwise yo!#ll

e%ent!ally end ! ha%ing an in-!ry or illness that#ll force yo! to take

time off from training and yo!#re definitely not going to make rogress

then"

18. They eep it all in perspective.

&here#s more to life than -!st lifting weights and eating"

=ndo!btedly, bodyb!ilding )cometiti%e and recreational* teaches

disciline, atience, goal setting and achie%ement, and good ol# mental

to!ghness, among other things" 7%ery single erson wo!ld benefit

from at least ha%ing a season of life where they trained hard and ate

really well in an effort to take their body to the net le%el"
http://www.t-nation.com/training/feel-better-for-10-buckshttp://www.t-nation.com/training/feel-better-for-10-bucks


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!t make s!re bodyb!ilding enhances yo!r +!ality of life instead of

detracting from it" ;or eamle, do yo! a%oid doing social acti%ities

with friends or family beca!se yo! might miss a meal or only get se%en

ho!rs of slee instead of eight6 Hea%en forbid someone in%ite yo! ona weeklong %acation or road tri" &hat#d re+!ire yo! to miss +!ite a few

meals and worko!tsB

!t here#s the thing, fast forward a few month or years and it#ll be that

%acation yo!#ll be reminiscing and talking abo!t, not another week of

training and eating si meals er day"

&here#s a time to forgo certain acti%ities, no do!bt, b!t !nless yo!#re

within 12 weeks from a really imortant cometition, then yo! can

robably skim a tad on yo!r training and eating to do f!n things with

family or friends"

Jee yo!r m!scle b!ilding goals in ersecti%e, esecially if yo! don#t

make a li%ing with yo!r hysi+!e" 9fter all, yo! don#t want to end !

with a great hysi+!e and a noneistent social and/or family life"

11. They don9t blindly follow the advice of bigger bodybuilders.


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y c!rrent training artner is a really good cometiti%e bodyb!ilder

who#s a few weeks away from a contest" In other words, he

looks greatB I, on the other hand, ha%e recently res!med training hard

after a long layoff" In other words, I look mortal"

So when eole come ! to ask a training or n!trition +!estion, whom

do yo! think they ask6 Him, of co!rse" He#ll +!ickly and h!mbly oint

o!t that I#m act!ally the one to answer the +!estion beca!se I#m his

coach"

It#s nat!ral to want to get ad%ice from someone who looks how we want

to look" Howe%er, there#s a big difference in being a good athlete and a


20/22

good coach" ;or eamle, yo!#d be better off taking tennis lessons

from Ken!s 8illiams# coach than from Ken!s herself"

&he reality is many bodyb!ilders look good not becauseof what theydo, b!tin spite ofwhat they do"

efore I#d e%er coached a ro bodyb!ilder, I ass!med they were %irt!al

encycloedias for training and n!trition information" Some are, b!t the

reality is, most are not" In fact, yo!#ll hear some of the most abs!rd

things come o!t of the mo!ths of high le%el bodyb!ilders and fig!re

cometitors, esecially regarding n!trition"

&he oint is, don#t -!st blindly follow the ad%ice of someone beca!se

they look great" &hey may look great beca!se of genetics, dr!gs, or

some combination thereof" Instead, seek o!t a good coachor stri%e to

become one yo!rself"

12. (uccessful lifters are consistent.


21/22

7%en if yo! ha%e the best genetics yo!#re still not going to get

anywhere in bodyb!ilding witho!t consistency" 9t the same time, e%en

with s!bar genetics, yo! can b!ild an imressi%e hysi+!e if yo!#re

willing to be consistent o%er a long eno!gh eriod of time"

&o be clear, I#m talking consistency with both yo!r training and yo!r

n!trition, not one or the other" &he two go together like a car#s engine

and transmission < one witho!t the other doesn#t work"

&oo many eole train hard and eat right for a few weeks, or erhas

e%en months, b!t then get disco!raged and sto" &hen at some oint


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they#ll get back on the wagon and go at it again for a eriod of time,

only to soon sto again"

!ilding m!scle ain#t stam collectingB 9fter +!itting yo! don#t ick !where yo! left off" Instead, yo! start o%er" &hat#s why consistency is

critical"

&o really maimi.e yo!r hysi+!e, yo! need to eat or meals er

day and train 4 or days er week for years on end" Sorry to b!rst

yo!r b!bble if yo! eected something easier" If yo! want an easier

hobby, try the aforementioned stam collecting, restoring old cars, or

something that doesn#t re+!ire the insane amo!nt of consistent

disciline that b!ilding m!scle does"

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The 12 Habits of Big Lifters