HGS: novel and effective resistance training program

Scott Abel rolled out his Hardgainer Solution workout program roughly four years ago. I was editing his materials at the time, so I fortunately got an advance look at the program during the editing process. Calling it revolutionary might be a stretch, although I can’t think of another program quite like it. It’s very intelligently-crafted, extremely versatile, and one that I’ve used on and off since before it was formally released. It’s terrific for people like me who travel, who routinely find themselves working out in hotel gyms with limited equipment. In the intervening time, I earned a personal training certification and continued self-study into biomechanics and exercise science, by reading and bugging physical therapists buddies and doctors I know with questions about the musculo-skeleton, digestive metabolism, and how the body actually works. Let me share three tweaks I’ve made to the Hardgainer Solution.

Three tweaks to the Hardgainer Solution

What follows is some serious deconstruction of HGS. For exercisers new to the program, I’ll suggest following it just as Scott wrote it until it’s second nature.

These following three tweaks still observe the Hardgainer principles of intra- and inter-workout recovery, not repping to failure, workout pace, listening to biofeedback, and alternating exercises. These are its foundational elements and a big part of what makes it so flexible.

Using what I’ve learned, I came up with three tweaks to the Hardgainer Solution. Here they are, and with a sample workout or two at the end to illustrate.

HGS Tweak #1. Smaller exercise library.

HGS calls for several dozen exercises across the seven body parts: legs, back, chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps, and core. I’ve ditched most exercises and use only 30, and look for one-joint exercises. Keep in mind, my purpose here is hypertrophy training and not metabolic training. There’s nothing wrong with multiple joint, compound exercises. Our bodies are meant to engage multiple muscles and joints in order to move effectively. And that’s part of what makes isolation training so difficult: it’s really hard work to do because we naturally want to make work easier, not harder. Make sense?

Here are the exercises I use, having experimented on my own, and studied the writings of much smarter exercise scientists (e.g., Brignole and Purvis, to name two).

Six for legs: cable squats, heel elevated squats, sissy squats (cable and free-standing), leg extensions, hamstring curls, and DB RDLs.

Five for back: cable pull-“ins”, cable pulldowns (using two handles on a two-pulley machine), high-to-low shoulder blade shrug, seated back extension with weight or bands, and two-arm DB bent row (only when traveling when no cables are available).

Two for chest: Decline cable press, and DB bench press.

Eight for shoulders: cable side laterals, DB side laterals, cable thumbs-up/palms-up front raises, supine DB palms-up presses (for anterior delts), palms up seated DB presses, cable posterior delt flyes, prone-incline DB posterior delt raises, and cable shrugs.

Three for biceps: cable preachers, DB hammers, and DB palms-up curls.

Four for triceps: cable pushdowns (use both bar and two-handle varieties), supine DB triceps extension, cable triceps kickback, and TRX triceps extension (an exercise that’s live on after COVID-19 at-home working out).

Two for core: kneeling cable tucks, and crunches.

That’s it.

What happened to the others?

After some study, I narrowed down my everyday exercise library to just those 30. It turns out that there are really very few exercises that overload a muscle directly. Most exercises we perform:

• do not place the target muscle opposite resistance (example: palms-down front raises)
• involve other muscles to assist in the movement (example: incline bench press)
• use non-target muscles to do almost all the work (example: leg raises done for abs)
• add leverage (mechanical advantage) thereby decreasing resistance by distributing the load between multiple joints and muscles (example: squats)

You’re a machine!

The musculo-skeleton functions when muscles load a joint and create what amounts to a lever. Levers are simple machines, so, our bodies are machines. And as machines they are designed to make work as easy as possible. It’s counter-intuitive to make work as difficult as possible, and by difficult, I mean (a) removing mechanical advantage and (b) isolating single muscles. Our brains want as many joints and muscles involved as possible when the job is to move something. Just turns out that’s sub-optimal for muscle-building.

Somebody will say, “yeah, but you can’t lift as much that way, so you’re not overloading the muscle.” That’s partially correct. You can’t lift as much, but how do you know how much load a target muscle is actually receiving when several larger muscles are involved. Back to the squat: how much load do the quads get when the glutes, hams, and spinus erectors are greatly involved?

HGS Tweak #2. Less frequent use of biplexes and triplexes.

This violates one of the HGS principles and I do this mostly out of expediency. My gym is often crowded, and so bouncing between stations, or using more than one piece of equipment at a time risks either (a) losing my place, or (b) being “that” guy who seen as an equipment hog. But when I can, I combine exercises into biplexes, especially if they’re opposing muscle groups.  Example: biceps curls and triceps extensions.

In an ideal situation, I would keep the biplexes and triplexes. I just can’t make them work in my workout environments. There is definite metabolic advantage to doing them. That you can do the program without them speaks to its flexibility.

HGS Tweak #3. Each workout has a focus body part.

Each workout has one focus body part. Depending on how I feel on a given day, I might focus on two body parts, typically one big muscle group and one smaller one. Example: legs and arms.

I select single-joint exercises for focus body parts, meaning that the selected exercise moves *one joint only*. I might add another exercise where more than one joint moves, but at least one of them moves only around a single joint. Example: leg extension or sissy squat for quads because only the knee articulates, or RDLs for glutes because only the hip articulates. (I don’t have access to a multi-hip machine and would use one if I did).

I work the focus body part with eight reps…sometimes as low as six…for four sets.  But this includes four to five hard warm-up sets in advance of those lower-rep “working” sets. By the time I’m done, the focus muscles are feeling it.

Three sample workouts

Workout A	Exercise	Equipment	Set-up	Reps	Sets	Why I chose this
Focus Biplex	Sissy Squat	Dual axis Cable	Dual axis, arms set low and close together.	8-12	4	When a sissy squat is done strictly, the knees are the only joint that moves, making it legitmately an isolation exercise. The femur and tibia approximate each other at the bottom of the squat even more closely than in a leg extension, making for the fullest range of motion possible for a quad exercise, with almost no load on the spine.
	Squat			8-12		Because cable squats involve glutes, hams and other supporting leg muscles, I do these once I’ve taxed the quads exclusively with the sissies, to optimize the overall leg work. Perform these as a superset with regular squats.  10 to 12 cable sissies followed by regular, traditional squats.
Biplex	Single arm side cable pull-“ins”	FreeMotion seated cable row (high-low)	Sit turned 45 degrees. For right arm, turn left 45 degrees; for left arm, turn right 45 degrees.	12-15	4	Thinking of a clock face, the latissimus dorsi fibers run generally to 10 o’clock (for left side) and 2 o’clock (for right side. Pulling inward at this direction most effectively isolates the lats without overly involving the other movers typically active in pulldowns (such as rhomboids, T3-T4, teres major).
	Triceps pushdowns, both arms		Standing with knees barely touching pads, push down both handles simultaneously	15-20	4	Pushdowns are now one of the three triceps exercises I do.  Make sure to move *only* at the elbows. Only the forearm should be in motion throughout.
	Thumbs-up/Palms-up front raises	Cable machine	Pulley at knee height, facing away from it.	10-12	4	Anterior raises are most often performed palms-down, but this makes the middle delt the primary mover, because palm down rotates the humerus so that the anterior delt no longer opposes resistance. Thumbs-up rotates the humerus so that the anterior delt is once again directly opposing resistance, making it the primary mover.
Biplex	Bench press	Dumbell	Low door anchor	15-20	4	Follow sissy squat set immediately and finish.  These require plenty of hip involvement.
	Hammer curls	Cable machine	Seated	12-15	4	Performed as a biplex (superset) with side laterals. Wanted a push-pull effect following the chest presses earlier in the workout,  Concentrated on the rear delts doing the work.
	Kneeling torso tucks	Cable machine	Long stirrup handles	12-20	3	The hips should be 100% stationary and should not move. Only the trunk should flex. These isolate the rectus abdominus.
Workout B	Exercise	Equipment	Set-up	Reps	Sets	Why I chose this
	Romanian Deadlifts (RDL)	Dumbbell	Single-leg, touch contra-lateral toe to ground for balance only	8-12	4	Because I worked quads heavily in Workout A, I’m working the posterior chain in this workout.
Focus	Side laterals	Cable machine	Pulley ~6″ lower than  hand level when hand is at the side. Pull until arm is parallel to floor, no higher.	8-12	4	Because cable squats involve glutes, hams and other supporting leg muscles, I do these once I’ve taxed the quads exclusively with the sissies, to optimize the overall leg work. Perform these as a superset with regular squats.  10 to 12 cable sissies followed by regular, traditional squats.
	Rear delt flyes		Pulley at height of xyphoid process (lowest point on sternum). Stand with arm straight, with arm reaching across the torso. Pull until arm is a few degrees behind torso.	8-12	4	With arms straight, and moving only the arm, these isolate the posterior delts (and underlying support muscles), since only one joint is moving (the gleno-humeral joint).
	Supine palm-up presses	Dumbbell	Lie flat on bench. Lower DBs until humerus (upper arm) is 45 degrees to parallel. Keep palms facing upward.	15-20	4	These place the anterior deltoid origin and attachment opposite resistance, and work in line with the muscle’s fiber arrangement.  Avoid “pressing” by concsiously relaxing the triceps. Using a higher-rep set in this workout because anterior delts were worked in prior workout, although not part of a focus body part.
	Shrugs, T1-T2	Two-pulley Cable machine	Back away a step or two from pulleys, lean back a few degress so that there is no stress on lower back. Shrug with arms completely staight.	10-20	4	With very little stress on the spine, cable shrugs allow for excellent isolation.
	High-Low Shoulder Blade Shrug	Cable machine	With arms locked (slightly bent and locked is fine), roll the shoulder blades down and in, as if you were trying to hold a pencil between them.	12-15	4	By locking the arms and moving only the scapulae, these become an isolation exercise for the rhomboids.
	Decline cable press	Two-pulley Cable machine	Using a dual axis machine, set machine arms just outside shoulder width, handles at armpit level. Stand so that when pressing downward, the cables form a 60 degree angle versus the torso.	12-15	4	These engage more pec fibers than any exercise I’ve found. The cables allow for the hands to come together at the end of the movement, fully contracting the muscle.
	Supine triceps extensions, both arms	Dumbbell	Lying on a bench, elbows pointed straight toward the ceiling, DBs held in neutral hand position. Move *only* the forearms	12-15	4	I actually like to fix my upper arms where the elbows are pointed slightly behind me, so that the upper arm creates about a 75 degree angle to the floor. These are a tremendous triceps isolator…you can tell because done strictly, the lighter DBs feel pretty heavy.
	Preacher curls	Cable machine	Can use a cable preacher machine, or other pulley machine. For “other pulley machine” squat and rest elbows on knees, or use Swiss ball to rest elbows.	15-20	4	These maintain resistance on the biceps, even after the forearms have crossed beyond 90 degrees.
	Crunches	Bench or floor	Keep shoulders back, move only from pelvis to rib cage. Keep legs still.	20-30	4	I no longer do any leg raise exercises for abs. Hip flexors get plenty of work otherwise, and abs only engage isometrically when leg raise exercises are done. Further, leg raises place stress on the lumbar spine.
Workout C	Exercise	Equipment	Set-up	Reps	Sets	Why I chose this
Biplex	Decline cable press	Two-pulley Cable machine	Using a dual axis machine, set machine arms just outside shoulder width, handles at armpit level. Stand so that when pressing downward, the cables form a 60 degree angle versus the torso.	12-15	4	Back is focus today. These allow me to get chest out of the way using a very specific pectoralis major activating exercise (the pec contracts most strongly somwhere around 110 degrees to perpendicular to the body.)
	Single side DB RDLs	DB	One DB on ipsilateral side. Contralateral foot’s toe lightly touching floor.	15	4	Recently had a heavy leg day and my body is telling me the quads are still a little too fatigued for direct engagement. Using these with extremely strict form to target glutes.
Focus Triplex	Single arm side cable pull-“ins”	FreeMotion seated cable row (high-low)	Sit turned 45 degrees. For right arm, turn left 45 degrees; for left arm, turn right 45 degrees.	8-12	4	This is the single most effective lat isolator I’ve found in my 41 years in the gym, and I’ve trained with some elites. Nothing compares to this movement’s efficient targeting of the lat without engaging helper muscles. Nothing.
	Stiff arm T3-T4 shrugs	FreeMotion seated cable row (high-low)	With arms locked and slightly bent, move the weight by bringing shoulder blades as close together in the back as possible. Hold for one second, repeat.	8-12	4	We shrug upward all the time to build T1-T2. T3-T4 get some work from other traditional back exercises that intend to work the lats, but involve numerous other movers, including the oft-forgotten T3-T4. These isolate the lower traps by making them do what they were intended to do.
	Triceps pushdowns, single arm		Use a pistol grip (neutral hand, thumbs-up) to grasp handle.	12-15	4	Smaller muscle paired with larger muscle group as “active recovery” between back sets. I can use the same machine to do all three, so a very efficient use of gym equipment and time.
	Rear delt flyes	Side-by-side cable machine	Pulley at height of xyphoid process (lowest point on sternum). Stand with arm straight, with arm reaching across the torso. Pull until arm is a few degrees behind torso.	12-15	5	I need a delt exercise today. Posterior delts pair nicely with the focus back work. With arms straight, and moving only the arm, these isolate the posterior delts (and underlying support muscles), since only one joint is moving (the gleno-humeral joint).

Those are my three tweaks to the Hardgainer Solution. HGS worked great for me from the beginning, and with these three tweaks to the hardgainer solution, it’s working even better. At 60 years old, I’m making better gains than I did 35 years ago. Wish I’d known this stuff then.

I highly recommend HGS to anyone, new to fitness or gym rat, but especially exercisers like me who are by definition hardgainers.

For more on how to write your own programs, or tweak already-great programs like HGS, see Abel’s Program Design Masterclass.