T
HIS IS AN INSIGHT
to how Aaron
Hudson trains and
believes is the best way
to build muscle in order
to be a competitive
athlete.
He trained using this type of
routine with small changes here and
there, for many productive training
years. This type of routine has led
him to have a competitive life,
spanning 6 years so far in
federations, such as NABBA and
UKBFF, where he won the super
heavyweight class.
This routine is how he will be
currently preparing for the 2018
season, he believes that if you
follow this approach to training, you
may also achieve the sort of great
gains that he will be showcasing on
the stage very soon.
The Training Approach
Hudson typically adopts a low(ish)
volume approach, and believes in
full range of motion “compound”
exercises and hitting failure. He is in
the gym five, sometimes six, (if
recovery allows for it) days a week,
and works on what he calls a “12-set
principle”, whereby he gives himself
12 sets to take the muscle group,
hitting each body part once a week,
to absolute failure.
Hudson will do either three
exercises (four sets per exercise) or
four exercises (three sets per
exercise) and works on a rep-range
of 6-10, always aiming to hit failure
on a set rather than hit a certain
number of reps. So, if he’s able to
get more than 10 reps he will
increase the weight, or if he gets
less than 6 reps he will do less
weight on the next set.
Hudson advises that if you feel up
to it and it’s safe to do so, throw in
some negative reps on top of the
last few reps or drop sets. Really go
all out on the muscle and don’t leave
anything left in the tank.
Hudson is a huge believer in
mind-muscle connection, he thinks
it’s more vital to feel the muscle
through a full range of motion than
simply lugging heavy weights which
can invariably put stress on the
joints and tendons. Try to be aware
just because there’s more weight on
the bar it DOESN’T mean you’re
causing the muscle to grow! Leave
your ego at the door… You aren’t in
the gym as bodybuilders to take
unnecessary injury risks to smash
world records, you’re there to
stress the muscle properly to make
it adapt and grow!
BACK
Day 1 – Back
This is how Hudson structures his
workouts in order to get maximum
gains, but yet with maximum
recovery also.For back he typically
alternates between a row and a
pull-down… so row/pull/row/pull…
like so…
3x wide grip chins (4 sets) –
nothing beats chins for hitting all the
muscles within the back. Lock your
lower legs behind your hamstrings
(try and get your heels to touch your
hamstrings). You can use an
assistance machine or ask someone
to