Do you want to add new muscle mass across your entire body? If so, we've got a solution for you. Pick a doorway in your house that you walk through frequently and install one of those home pull-up bars. Then set a heavy kettlebell next to it. Honestly, it's all you need to add a full-body, high-frequency training (HFT) plan into your life.
Doing that will be the best technique you ever used to add muscle. Plus, if you slack off, you'll feel riddled with guilt on a daily basis because you'll constantly be reminded that your ticket to new muscle is right in front of you. I mean, do you really not have the time to knock off 10 swings and 5 pull-ups as you pass through that doorway a few times each day? Or 10 goblet squats and 5 one-arm push-ups?
I think you do. In fact, I know you can do it, and you will gain muscle. Look, if every guy who's short on muscle mass would alternate between the swing/pull-up and goblet squat/one-arm push-up combo four times each day, there'd be a lot more muscle in this world three months from now. And it would take a grand total of about 10 minutes of time per day.
It's essential to manage fatigue when you add full body workouts to whatever you're already doing. We all know that more workouts can lead to more growth, but we need to respect the delicate balance between fatigue and recovery. Two exercises that can drain your recovery capacity are the deadlift and barbell squat, so that's why they aren't part of this HFT plan. However, at least one of them should be included in your primary workouts.
The volume guidelines listed below will be sufficient to stimulate growth without the CNS fatigue that comes from maximal strength loading during the barbell squat and deadlift. Your replacement moves will be the goblet squat and swing since they're two of the best exercises you can do using submaximal loads. With HFT, you don't need to train with balls-to-the-wall intensity every workout to stimulate muscle growth. Just add these circuits into your current training plan and get ready to add lean body mass across your upper body and thighs.
You have three primary programming options for using these circuits to gain muscle. The first two options don't require you to perform all 5 rounds each time you do a HFT circuit.
This is often the most popular option since it's the simplest.
Put a pull-up bar and heavy kettlebell in your house and just knock out one round of the Swing/One-arm push-up/Pull-up (SOP) circuit when you have a few minutes. The next time you have a few free minutes at home you'll do the Goblet squat/Headstand push-up/One-arm row (GHO) circuit for one round.
You'll alternate between those two circuits throughout the week whenever you can. Maybe you fit in four rounds on Monday, three rounds on Wednesday, and five rounds on Saturday and Sunday. It doesn't matter as long as you're adding something on top of your current training program.
Some guys like to keep detailed records of all their training.
If you're one of them, you can certainly be meticulous with your HFT workouts and work to add more volume over time. This is the best way to manage fatigue, so it's the ideal choice for people who are already on an intense training program that consists of three or more primary workouts each week.
Now there are countless ways you can systematically increase your training volume by adding HFT circuits, but I'll just touch on the two key points.
Take at least one full day off each week, so if your primary workouts are in the mornings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you could add HFT circuits in the following manner:
At this point you can increase the frequency of the HFT workouts to 5 times per week with 5 rounds, or work to finish each circuit in less time.
The final option is to use the 3 circuits above as your standalone primary training program.
You can definitely add more exercises after the 5 rounds are finished to focus on your calves, abs, or whatever else you're trying to build, but the 3 circuits alone will cover most of your training needs.
If you choose this option, you'll start with 4 workouts, 5 rounds of each, for the first 2 weeks and increase the frequency as shown below.
At this point you'll have learned enough about your own training needs and recovery to design a customized full-body HFT program on your own. Finally, HFT requires proper workout nutrition. You'll be pushing your recovery capacity to the limit, so use Biotest's latest high-performance supplements to aid recovery and enhance muscle growth.
Ask Me Anything I receive great questions in my T Nation Community Coaching Lab. If…
Ask Me Anything I get a lot of great questions in my T Nation Community…
An Exaggerated Warm-Up Isn't Helpful I don't know when the lengthy warm-up became a thing,…
Training and Your Metabolic State When I think "workout," I think of speeds. Your metabolic…