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Mega Feature: Layne Norton Training Series + Full
Power/Hypertrophy Routine
Layne Norton is a Pro Natural Bodybuilder with the IFPA and NGA. Layne has his PhD in Nutritional
Sciences with his thesis emphasis in muscle protein metabolism. He is also an accomplished
powerlifter holding the AAPF Squat and Deadlift American Records in the 220 lb class at 568 & 700
lbs respectively.
Read on as he bridges the gap between science and hardcore work ethic inside the gym with his
“Never Be Outworked” mentality.
PHAT: Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training
Written by Dr. Layne Norton
PhD Nutritional Sciences
BS Biochemistry
T here are some f undamental arguments in bodybuilding. I’m talking about the ones you see ALL T HE T IME. How
much protein should I take in? What kind of split should I use? How of ten should I workout? What’s the best
rep range f or growth? What’s the best volume f or growth? Most people try to make these issues out to be
black and white to solidif y their stances and of ten f ail to acknowledge that these issues are not black and
white and there is a substantial gray area. Take the arguments regarding rep ranges f or example. How of ten
have you heard you should ONLY train in ‘X’ rep range because it is the best one f or growth. T hen two days
later you see an article interviewing a 300 lb behemoth who trains in a dif f erent rep range but also looks
insane, so who are you to believe? Recently, there has been a bit of negative bodybuilding press regarding
lif ting in lower rep ranges with heavier weights. Some researchers and bodybuilders would have you believe
that low rep high weight training might be next to useless f or bodybuilding. But I think powerlif ters could teach
bodybuilders a thing or two in some cases. Konstantin Konstantinovs, Brandon Cass, Shawn Frankl, Matt
Krockzaleski, and Sam Byrd could easily be stage ready with a f ew months of dieting and do very well. Stan
Ef f erding and Johnnie Jackson both hold world records in powerlif ting and compete as IFBB prof essional
bodybuilders. Many of the bodybuilders f rom the classic era built their base with powerlif ting including Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbo. Ronnie Coleman, arguably the greatest bodybuilder ever to live never
competed in powerlif ting but was no stranger to heavy weights. Part of what made his DVD “T he Unbelievable
so legendary and well… unbelievable was the workout f ootage of him deadlif ting and squatting over 800 lbs
and f ront squatting 600 lbs f or reps!
Certainly higher rep ‘pump’ style training has its place for a bodybuilder’s arsenal, no doubt. But so
does heavy power training.
Training Frequency
As a person who has competed in both powerlif ting and bodybuilding I can tell you that the heavy movements
absolutely made me a better bodybuilder. For the longest time my legs were a huge weak point. At my f irst show
my thighs barely measured over 21”. T hey were absolutely pathetic and I heard about it f rom EVERYONE
especially on the f orums. I was called ‘chicken legs’ f requently and it was so f rustrating. I was working them out
really hard and f ollowing the advice of so called ‘bodybuilding experts’ making sure to train with maximum
intensity 1x/week but getting plenty of rest to make sure I wasn’t ‘overtraining.’ I was told I did not need to
squat or deadlif t to get my legs to grow and that was f ine by me because squats hurt and I would’ve rather not
done them. Af ter a f ew years of spinning my wheels (pun intended) a f riend convinced me to take up a hybrid
style routine where I did heavy work (squats, deadlif ts, presses) mixed with lighter hypertrophy ‘pump’ work.
Against everything I had read I started working out all my body parts 2x/week. T his would go on to become the
basic template f or what would evolve into PHAT (Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training), a f orm of non-linear
periodization training. Low and behold my legs grew more in 4 months than they had in the previous 4 years. At
my f ollowing show they came in just over 24”, still very small by bodybuilding standards, but a signif icant
improvement over recent years.
Two years later I won my natural pro card and they topped out over 25” following the same training
I had been doing, they were getting better, but still not nearly good enough to hang with the best.
Heavy Iron
One basic concept that convinced me it was important to use heavy weights was that it just made sense to me
when I tried to f ind skinny people who squatted or deadlif ted super heavy weights. Come to f ind out it’s hard to
have chicken legs and have a really good squat. I told myself “I am going to squat 500 lbs f or reps because
there is no way I’ll be able to do that with skinny legs.” I’m sure there are people out there who squat over 500
lbs f or reps and do not have impressive leg development, but I certainly haven’t met them yet. So I set out on a
quest to squat 500 lbs and deadlif t over 600 lbs. Over time I adapted my routine to incorporate more and more
pure powerlif ting movements and what I f ound astonished me. I started using bands and chains to help get
stronger and I did box squats, speed squats, def icit deadlif ts, and rack pulls. All movements I had never even
heard of when I started bodybuilding. T he result? As we sit today my thighs measure over 28” at the largest
part and in addition to that my back has grown immensely. I also own the current AAPF American raw squat and
deadlif t records at 568 and 700 lbs respectively in the 220 lb weight class. I recently squatted 525 lbs f or a
triple and 505 lbs f or 5 reps. I placed top 5 in my f irst 4 natural pro shows including the IFPA Pro Natural World
Championships and I won the heavyweight class at the IFPA International! At every show the judges commented
on how drastically my legs and back had improved f rom when I won my pro card.
My legs may never be the best onstage because of their shape and structure, but moving heavy
iron made them much better and confirmed my initial theory that I would not be able to squat 500
lbs for reps with twig legs.
Anabolic Ef f ect
Now you may or may not ever deadlif t 700 lbs, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make drastic improvements in
your physique by incorporating aspects of power training mixed with hypertrophy. Probably the most important
thing heavy training can do is increase your overall capacity f or muscular growth through signif icant strength
gains. Training with lower reps and heavier weights is going to stimulate f ar greater increases in strength than
training with light weights f or higher reps. But how is that anabolic? I’m sure you are thinking “I am a
bodybuilder; I don’t care how much I lif t!” But by increasing your strength you will increase the amount of weight
you will be able to lif t when you train with a higher rep, ‘bodybuilding style’ training which will increase your
potential f or growth. For example, if one trained only straight high reps (15-20 reps) on an exercise you may
end up plateauing at a squat of 300 lbs f or 15 reps (not necessarily, just an example). If that same individual
incorporated heavy training into their regiment however, perhaps they get strong enough that they can squat
400 lbs f or 15 reps. Who do you think will have the greatest potential to increase their mass over the long
haul? Most likely it will be the person using more weight if all other variables are equal because they will be able
to create more overload and greater muscle damage, evoking a greater growth response. So while pure
bodybuilding style training may give you more growth over the short term, a combination of heavy weights f or
low reps and light weight f or high reps over the long term is going to provide more muscle by increasing your
growth potential!
So while pure bodybuilding style training may give you more growth over the short term, a
combination of power and hypertrophy training over the long term is going to provide more muscle
by increasing your growth potential! This is the basis for PHAT.
The Principles
T here are several dozen f orms of the PHAT program but the basic premise is the same. Each muscle gets
worked 2x/week. T he f irst 2 days of the week are split into upper and lower body power days. T his is f ollowed
by a rest day. T hen 3 days of traditional hypertrophy orientated bodybuilding training.
An example of the split would be:
Day 1: Upper Body Power
Day 2: Lower Body Power
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Back and Shoulders Hypertrophy
Day 5: Lower Body Hypertrophy
Day 6: Chest and Arms Hypertrophy
Day 7: Rest
Power Days
During the f irst 2 days of the week you will f ocus on big power movements f or your upper and lower body like
squats, f ront squats, deadlif ts, def icit deadlif ts, and box squats f or lower body. Barbell and dumbbell presses
and rows as well as weighted pullups f or upper body. Your goal should be to stay in the 3-5 rep range f or 3-5
working sets on the compound movements (only use one power movement f or lower body, presses, and
pulls/rows, i.e. don’t do squats and f ront squats in the same workout). Make sure you rest enough in between
sets to completely recover and be ready f or your next heavy set. If that means you need to take 5-6 minutes
between sets then so be it. T he purpose of these workouts is to move maximum weight! Save short rest
periods f or your hypertrophy days. On your power days you need to have a POWER mentality. Move the heavy
ass weight at all costs! A good way to make consistent progress is to rotate your power movements every 2-3
weeks. A f ew sets of assistance exercises can be done f or smaller body parts like hamstrings (though
deadlif ts and squat will involve signif icant hamstring recruitment), calves, shoulders, and arms.
Auxiliary exercises would include things like leg extensions, glute ham raises, good mornings,
standing and seated calf rises for legs and dumbbell presses, upright rows, curls, and skull crushers
for upper body auxiliary work.
Hypertrophy Days
On your hypertrophy days you should do some speed work (6-8 sets of 3 reps) with 65-70% of your 3-5 rep
max to start your workout with the power exercise you used earlier in the week. For example if you did squats
f or 3 sets of 3-5 reps with 300 lbs earlier in the week. T hen you would do 6 sets of 3 reps on squats with 195210 lbs with an emphasis placed on moving the weight through the concentric phase of the lif t as quickly as
possible. Do not go too heavy on your speed sets; if you cannot move the weight explosively then it is too
heavy! Rest no longer than 90 seconds in between each of the speed sets. T his builds explosiveness and
speed and may stimulate growth as well. Even though you are using less weight, you should still be applying
maximum f orce to it. To elaborate on this point, you can apply the same f orce to 250 lbs that you apply to 400
lbs, 250 lbs will just move f aster, and that is the point you want your body to be explosive. If you have access
to chains or bands they can be VERY helpf ul in building your explosiveness. If you choose to use them
however you may want to lower the weight you are using to compensate f or the increased loading at the top
end of the movement.
Make sure the weight is light enough that you can move it explosively. If you are slowing down at
any point during the concentric phase then it is likely too heavy.
More Important Notes
Af ter you f inish with your speed work f or the day you should train
basically like you normally would f or a bodybuilder. Your rep range should
be 8-20 and keep your rest periods to 1-2 minutes between sets. I would
increase the volume of these sessions by approximately 50-75%
compared to your power days. Make sure you do not over use f ailure on
your hypertrophy days or you will burn out quickly. I only recommend going
to absolute f ailure on the last 1-2 sets of each exercise once you have
adapted to the routine. On prior sets stop 1-2 reps shy of f ailure.
This may seem counter intuitive but it will help you maintain a greater
overall power and volume during the workout and it will prevent
neural fatigue and burnout. For the first 2-4 weeks you should NOT
train to failure at all until your body becomes accustomed to the
volume and frequency.
Overtraining Factor
Now I know you are thinking “I will overtrain if I workout each bodypart
2x/week!” While the f irst f ew weeks you may be very sore, tired, and not f eel great, if you push through this
af ter about 4-6 weeks you will f ind that your body will adapt to the increased f requency and you will hardly get
sore more f or more than a day. You will also f ind that your strength will start to skyrocket! I do recommend
deloading once every 6-12 weeks however. A deload would consist of 1-3 weeks of lif ting at 60-70% of your
normal weights. T his will be enough to maintain your strength, but light enough to allow you to actively recover.
Keep in mind one thing when starting this routine, it is not for the faint of heart, but heavy iron, is no
match for an iron will. If you are mentally and physically tough enough, you may just power your
way to new gains!
Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training Routine:
Note: Make sure you warm up thoroughly for all exercises, stretch, and use precaution when using
heavy weights.
Day 1: Upper Body Power Day
Pulling Power Movement: Bent over or Pendlay rows
3 sets of 3-5 reps
Assistance Pulling movement: Weighted Pull ups
2 sets of 6-10 reps
Auxiliary Pulling movement: Rack chins
2 sets of 6-10 reps
Pressing Power Movement: Flat dumbbell presses
3 sets of 3-5 reps
Assistance pressing movement: Weighted dips
2 sets of 6-10 reps
Assistance pressing movement: Seated dumbbell shoulder presses
3 sets of 6-10 reps
Auxiliary curling movement: Cambered bar curls
3 sets of 6-10 reps
Auxiliary extension movement: Skull crushers
3 sets of 6-10 reps
Day 2: Lower Body Power Day
Pressing Power Movement: Squats
3 sets of 3-5 reps
Assistance pressing movement: Hack Squats
2 sets of 6-10 reps
Assistance extension movement: Leg extensions
2 sets of 6-10 reps
Assistance pulling movement: Stif f legged deadlif ts
3 sets of 5-8 reps
Assistance pulling/curling movement: Glute ham raises or lying leg curls
2 sets of 6-10 reps
Auxiliary calf movement: Standing calf raise
3 sets of 6-10 reps
Auxiliary calf movement: Seated calf raise
2 sets of 6-10 reps
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Back and Shoulders Hypertrophy Day
Pulling Power Exercise speed work: Bent over or Pendlay rows
6 sets of 3 reps with 65-70% of normal 3-5 rep max
Hypertrophy pulling movement: Rack chins
3 sets of 8-12 reps
Hypertrophy pulling movement: Seated cable row
3 sets of 8-12 reps
Hypertrophy pulling movement: Dumbbell rows or shrugs bracing upper body against an incline bench
2 sets of 12-15 reps
Hypertrophy pulling movement: Close grip pulldowns
2 sets of 15-20 reps
Hypertrophy shoulder movement: Seated dumbbell presses
3 sets of 8-12 reps
Hypertrophy shoulder movement: Upright rows
2 sets of 12-15 reps
Hypertrophy shoulder movement: Side lateral raises with dumbbells or cables
3 sets of 12-20 reps
Day 5: Lower Body Hypertrophy Day
Lower Body Power Exercise speed work: Squats
6 sets of 3 reps with 65-70% of normal 3-5 rep max
Hypertrophy pressing movement: Hack squats
3 sets of 8-12 reps
Hypertrophy pressing movement: Leg presses
2 sets of 12-15 reps
Hypertrophy extension movement: Leg extensions
3 sets of 15-20 reps
Hypertrophy pulling movement: Romanian deadlif ts
3 sets of 8-12 reps
Hypertrophy curling movement: Lying leg curls
2 sets of 12-15 reps
Hypertrophy curling movement: Seated leg curls
2 sets of 15-20 reps
Hypertrophy calf movement: Donkey calf raises
4 sets of 10-15 reps
Hypertrophy calf movement: Seated calf raises
3 sets of 15-20 reps
Day 6: Chest and Arms Hypertrophy Day
Pressing Power Exercise speed work: Flat dumbbell presses
6 sets of 3 reps with 65-70% of normal 3-5 rep max
Hypertrophy pressing movement: Incline dumbbell presses
3 sets of 8-12 reps
Hypertrophy pressing movement: Hammer strength chest press
3 sets of 12-15 reps
Hypertrophy f ly movement: Incline cable f lyes
2 sets of 15-20 reps
Hypertrophy curling exercise: Cambered bar preacher curls
3 sets of 8-12 reps
Hypertrophy curling exercise: Dumbbell concentration curls
2 sets of 12-15 reps
Hypertrophy curling exercise: Spider curls bracing upper body against an incline bench
2 sets of 15-20 reps
Hypertrophy extension exercise: Seated tricep extension with cambered bar
3 sets of 8-12 reps
Hypertrophy extension exercise: Cable pressdowns with rope attachment
2 sets of 12-15 reps
Hypertrophy extension exercise: Cable kickbacks
2 sets of 15-20 reps
Day 7: Rest
Keep in mind this workout would be for someone who is relatively adapted to higher frequency and
volume, so you may want to cut out an assistance/auxiliary exercise on each day to start until your
body adapts.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What do I do when I plateau on this routine?
T he f irst thing I would recommend doing is changing your power/accessory exercises. Just doing that can
of ten make a dif f erence. Beyond that you need to look at where your sticking points are on various lif ts.
Where are you having trouble in the lif t and how can you improve that aspect of the big lif ts? For example, if
you really want to improve your deadlif t and you are having trouble with them, specif ically moving the bar of f
the f loor and through the f irst part of the movement, then I would start f ocusing on doing def icit deadlif ts
standing on a 2-4″ box. If you are having dif f iculty locking out the deadlif ts then I would do rack pulls f rom
slightly below the knee to help you get stronger in that part of the lif t.
I have included exercises/accessory work that can help you on various lifts.
Squats:
Typically people are weak in the hole and I would recommend doing below parallel box squats to help f ix this.
Make sure you sit down to the box and pause on it. Also good mornings may help back strength to maintain
your arch in the hole and deep hack squats may help increase quad strength f or deep reps.
Deadlif ts:
If you are weak of f the f loor, then f ocus on def icit deadlif ts f rom a 2-4″ box. If you are weak at the lockout
then do rack pulls f rom just below the knee. If you have access to bands or chains I would also recommend
adding those in as they will make the lockout more dif f icult.
Presses:
If you are weak midway through the movement or at the lockout, really f ocus on triceps strength using close
grip presses, dips, or skull crushers. Adding bands or chains will also help with lockout of a press. If you are
weak at the bottom, try doing presses where you pause f or a 3 count at the bottom bef ore pressing.
Deload:
If changing exercises and f ocusing on weak portions of the lif ts themselves don’t improve things you may
need to deload f or 1-3 weeks. I don’t schedule deloads, I take them when I need them which is typically every 612 weeks. How long you take it f or will depend on how long it takes you to f eel mentally and physically
ref reshed and f ocused. For a deload I recommend doing your normal routine, but only using 60-70% of normal
weights. So f or if you would normally do 3 sets of 5 on squats with 300 lbs., I would recommend doing 180-210
lbs. on squats f or 3 sets of 5.
This will be light enough to allow active recovery but heavy enough for you to maintain your muscle
mass and strength.
How can cardio be incorporated into your routine?
You can adapt to almost anything with this routine but it will take time. I did PHAT training all the way up to my
show and by the end I was doing cardio almost everyday. In the of f season I typically incorporate 1-2 days of
high intensity cardio per week including car pushes, sled dragging, sprints with a sprint parachute, as well as
some other circuit style workouts f or cardio. I also do the typical elliptical/bike cardio intervals as well. When
you f irst start with PHAT you may want to limit the cardio to 1x/week until your body adapts to the volume and
f requency of the routine. If you f ind your legs are overly sore then I would suggest just doing some moderate
intensity cardio to get some blood f low in the area and perhaps skip the HIIT f or the week until your body gets
adjusted to the training.
You can also focus on cardio that does not involve the legs so much like using the rowing cardio
machine or doing some heavy bag training for cardio.
Why aren’t all sets to f ailure?
Failure is a tool and has to be used correctly. During the f irst 3-6 weeks of the routine I would NOT recommend
taking sets to f ailure as doing so will burn you out physically and mentally very f ast. I’d recommend stopping 12 reps shy of f ailure. Once you get adjusted to the volume and f requency then you can start adding in f ailure
f or your power movements and some of your accessory/auxiliary work as your body gets more adjusted. You
should never train to f ailure consistently more than 6 weeks in a row without at least a partial break f rom it.
T he reason I recommend this is because if you constantly train to f ailure it will decrease your perf ormance,
strength, reduce the volume you are able to tolerate, and ultimately reduce your hypertrophic capacity. T here is
this notion out there that any set not taken to f ailure is a wasted set, but that’s complete NONSENSE that has
been perpetuated over the years by people who have not read the research.
Indeed, research has shown that sets taken near, but not to failure are almost, if not as effective as
sets taken to failure on inducing growth and there is the added benefit that they do not overtax your
nervous system to the point where it reduces your strength, power, and volume output.
Example:
For example, if you train to all out maximum concentric f ailure on bench press and hit f ailure on your 6th rep.
T he next set you probably will only get 3-4 reps, and the f ollowing set you might get 1-3 reps. As you can see
your output decreases very quickly. But if you only took the f irst set to the 5th rep, it is quite likely you could
take each subsequent set to 4-5 reps and so overall you have actually had a more ef f ective workout by
staying away f rom f ailure because you were able to maintain your power/strength output over several sets.
People don’t realize that overload is cumulative over the workout and adding more volume is
actually a way to induce more overload, not just by adding more weight/reps. Again, there is nothing
wrong with taking some sets to failure once you are adapted to the routine, but it has to be properly
periodized to avoid performance decrements and CNS overtaxing.
How can regular deadlif ts be implemented into this routine?
I recommend putting deadlif ts on the power lower body day. Some people seem to believe that deadlif ts are an
upper body exercise and while they do involve the back muscles, the deadlif t is moreso a posterior chain
exercise and requires a good deal of hip f lexion. T he movement is like cross between a good morning and a
squat essentially and so there is also substantial lower back, hamstring, glute, and quad activation. T hus I
recommend keeping them on leg days. I would not do squats and deadlif ts on the same day unless you have
been doing PHAT f or a long time and you are very adapted to the routine and are able to tolerate it. Otherwise I
would suggest alternating the movements or doing a squat movement f or a f ew weeks on your power day and
then a deadlif t movement f or a f ew weeks. If you are someone who has really good quads and weak
hamstrings/lower back then maybe 3 out of every 4 weeks you do a deadlif t movement f or your power
exercise.
If you are like me and have strong hamstrings and lower back but weak quads then maybe do a
squat movement 3 out of every 4 weeks and then do a deadlift movement for your power move
once per month. That said you can always work in some form of a deadlift variation or squat
variation as an accessory exercise as well.
Training Series Part 1
Training Series Part 2
Training Series Part 3
Music By: Chimaira
About The Author
Dr. Layne Norton is a pro natural bodybuilder with the IFPA and NGA and pro powerlifter. He
completed his PhD in Nutritional Sciences with his area of emphasis in muscle protein metabolism
from the University of Illinois.
Website: www.biolayne.com
Bodyspace: www.bodyspace.com/str8f lexed
Photography: http://nmlif estylemag.com/
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