PHAT

Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training

My PHAT program became pretty popular from 2008 until present and with good reason…
IT WORKS. You’ll get stronger, more muscular, and you’ll enjoy it. No wonder thousands of
people tried it out and LOVED IT! Well now, I’m bringing you a new version absolutely FREE!
As a person who has competed in both powerlifting and bodybuilding, I can tell you the
heavy movements i the program absolutely made me a better bodybuilder.

For the longest, time my legs were a huge weak point. At my first show my thighs barely
measured over 21”. They were absolutely pathetic and I heard about it from EVERYONE,
especially on the forums. I was called ‘chicken legs’ frequently and it was so frustrating.
I was working them out really hard and following 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 ‘over-training.’ I was told I did not need to squat or deadlift to get my legs to
grow and that was fine by me because squats hurt and I would’ve rather not done them.
After a few years of spinning my wheels (pun intended), a friend convinced me to take up
a hybrid style routine where I did heavy work (squats, deadlifts, presses) mixed with lighter
hypertrophy ‘pump’ work. Against everything I had read I started working out all my body arts
2x/week. This would go on to become the basic template for what would evolve into PHAT
(Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training), a form of non-linear periodization training. Lo and
behold, my legs grew more in 4 months than they had in the previous 4 years. At my following
show, they came in just over 24”, still very small by bodybuilding standards, but a significant
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.

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 YOU’LL GET STRONGER, MORE MUSCULAR,
AND YOU’LL ENJOY IT

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 find skinny people who squatted or deadlifted super heavy
weights. Come to find out it’s hard to have chicken legs and have a really good squat. I told
myself, “I am going to squat 500 lbs for 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 for 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 deadlift over 600 lbs. Over time, I adapted my routine to incorporate
more and more pure powerlifting movements and what I found astonished me. I started using
bands and chains to help get stronger and I did box squats, volume squats, deficit deadlifts,
and rack pulls. All movements I had never even heard of when I started bodybuilding. The
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 managed to win two national titles in powerlifting, a
Silver medal at IPF Worlds, and set a then Squat record of 668 lbs in the 205 lb class! I also
have won my class at a pro bodybuilding show, the 2010 IFPA International. So I know a little
bit about getting stronger and growing muscle. My best lifts are a 668 lb squat, a 391 lb bench
press, and a 717 lb deadlift in competition. 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.

Now you may or may not ever deadlift 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 for muscular growth through significant strength gains. Training with lower reps
and heavier weights is going to stimulate far greater increases in strength than training
with light weights for higher reps. But how is that anabolic? I’m sure you are thinking “I am a
bodybuilder; I don’t care how much I lift!” But by increasing your strength, you will increase
the amount of weight you will be able to lift when you train with a higher rep, ‘bodybuilding
style’ training, which will increase your potential for 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 for 15 reps (not necessarily, just an example). If that same individual incorporated heavy
training into their regimen however, perhaps they get strong enough that they can squat 400
lbs for 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.

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 So while pure bodybuilding style training may give you more growth over the short term, a
combination of heavy weights for low reps and light weight for high reps over the long term is
going to provide more muscle by increasing your growth potential!

This is the basis for PHAT. There are several dozen forms of the PHAT program but the basic
premise is the same. Each muscle gets worked 2x/week. The first 2 days of the week are
split into upper and lower body power days. This is followed by a rest day. Then 3 days of
traditional hypertrophy orientated bodybuilding training. An example of the split would be:

During the first 2 days of the week, you will focus on big power movements for your upper and
lower body like squats, front squats, deadlifts, deficit deadlifts, and box squats for lower body.
Barbell and dumbbell presses and rows as well as weighted pull-ups for upper body. Your goal
should be to stay in the 3-5 rep range for 3-5 working sets on the compound movements (only
use one power movement for lower body, presses, and pulls/rows, i.e. don’t do squats and
front squats in the same workout). Make sure you rest enough in between sets to completely
recover and be ready for your next heavy set. If that means you need to take 5-6 minutes
between sets then so be it. The purpose of these workouts is to move maximum weight! Save
short rest periods for 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 few sets of assistance exercises can be
done for smaller body parts like hamstrings (thought deadlifts and squat will involve significant
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.

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 On your hypertrophy days you should do some volume work (4 sets of 8-10 reps) with 85% 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 for 3 sets of 3-5 reps with 300 lbs earlier in the week, then
you would do 4 sets of 8 reps on squats with 255 lbs with an emphasis placed on moving the
weight through the concentric phase of the lift as quickly as possible. Do not go too heavy on
your volume sets; if you cannot complete the reps with good form then it is too heavy!
Rest no longer than 3 minutes in between each of the volume sets. Even though you are using
less weight, you should still be applying maximum force to it. To elaborate on this point, you
can apply the same force to 250 lbs that you apply to 400 lbs, 250 lbs will just move faster, and
that is the point you want your body to be explosive.

After you finish with your volume work for the day, you should train basically like you normally
would for 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 failure on your hypertrophy
days or you will burn out quickly. I only recommend going to absolute failure 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
failure. 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.

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 Now I know you are thinking “I will overtrain if I workout each body part 2x/week!” While the
first few weeks you may be very sore, tired, and not feel great, if you push through this after
about 4-6 weeks you will find that your body will adapt to the increased frequency and you
will hardly get sore more for more than a day. You will also find 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 lifting at 60-70% of your normal weights. This 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!

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 Example Workout

Day 2: Lower Body Power Day / Day 3: Rest Day

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 Want To Continue The Phat Training Protocol?

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 DR. LAYNE NORTON
2022 and 2024 IPF World Masters Powerlifting Champion

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. He owns BioLayne LLC which offers nutrition and training
consultations for bodybuilders, powerlifters, and weightlifting enthusiasts.

Have questions?
To learn more about Layne and the services he offers visit his website at:
BIOLAYNE.COM

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