Elite Physique The New Science of Building a Better Body

Body Part–Specific Programs
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That brings us to an essential point about any HFT plan to develop lagging
body parts: You need to perform exercises that overload the muscles more than
the joints. The barbell bench press might be a good exercise to build the pectorals,
but it also places a lot of strain on the shoulder joints. But a one-arm fly with a
resistance band targets the chest with minimal stress on the shoulders.
In this chapter we cover the ideal HFT exercises for each muscle group. These
are the exercises that target muscles as directly as possible for maximal growth
with minimal strain on your joints. Three other times throughout the day, you’ll
simply squeeze those muscles to peak contraction for 6 seconds. You can do these
contractions anywhere, without any equipment, in whatever clothes you happen
to be wearing, with no warm-up required.
These daily squeezes have significantly improved the muscle-building results
of my HFT programs. I just wish I’d properly interpreted Schwarzenegger’s
quote years before I did.
Now it’s time to show you what I’m talking about.
HFT Targeted Plans
In this section we cover the HFT plans that target specific muscle groups. Since
you’ll be performing three full-body workouts on top of these plans, choose no
more than two muscle groups to attack at any given time. Any more than that
will create excessive fatigue and compromise your overall recovery. For example,
if you feel your calves and biceps are underdeveloped, add those plans to your
program. Or maybe you just need to develop your triceps. In any case, continue
with the plan until the muscle group has grown to the level that suits you. Later
we’ll cover what you can do to keep the gains you’ve made.
For the HFT targeted plans you will perform two sets on the scheduled days.
When you’re training a muscle twice a day, outside of your normal full-body
workouts, the last thing you’ll want to worry about is finding exercise equipment.
That is why the recommended exercises for an HFT targeted plan are based on the
minimum equipment possible. Ideally, all exercises could be performed with just
your body weight, but that is not practical for targeting certain muscle groups.
The good news is that the only exercises that require a weight are the lateral raise
and wrist extension and flexion, and they often require nothing heavier than a
10-pound (4.5 kg) dumbbell. The other exercises are performed with your body
weight or a resistance band. The ideal way to perform any HFT exercise is one
limb at a time since it’s likely you can produce more force than if you worked both
limbs at the same time (Aune et al. 2013). There are three primary reasons why:
• You can better focus on the targeted muscle to improve motor unit recruitment.
• You can identify strength imbalances between the left and right side.
• Sometimes it’s necessary to train only one limb, such as rehabilitation from
surgery.
That being said, it’s not always necessary to perform your HFT exercises one
limb at a time. Sometimes you’ll be short on time, or the exercise is well suited
for working both limbs simultaneously, or the resistance band needs to be significantly
stretched to produce enough tension to challenge you. In any of those
cases, it might be more beneficial to train both limbs at the same time.