Feeder Workouts

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Feeder Workouts For Faster Gains

by

Alan Palmieri

Feeder workouts are a good way to help the body move beyond sticking points resulting in additional gains. The principle behind feeder workouts is simply this; it keeps blood gorged in the muscle area longer than normal thus assisting in additional growth. As we all know, blood flow to a muscle is paramount for growth.

I wouldn’t suggest a beginner start using feeder workouts but they are useful for intermediate and advanced trainees. A beginner needs to stick with the fundamentals before attempting specialization methods and techniques. They need more rest and time for recuperation than a more experienced bodybuilder does.

Using the calf muscle as an example lets assume the following. You are training calves twice per week, on Monday and Thursday. Monday you perform heavy calf work employing lower reps and Thursday you perform lighter movements for higher reps.

With feeder sets you will continue just as you are only on the next day, the day after your normal workout, you will perform two or three sets of extremely high reps to help pump your claves with blood. So on Wednesday and Friday you will perform two or three sets of standing calf raises with extremely light weight or no weight at all. Each set will consist of at least fifty reps. For calves I would shoot for a hundred reps.

Again as an example, if you work biceps on Tuesdays and Fridays you would perform your normal workout and on Wednesday and Saturday you could

do barbell curls for two sets of 50 reps. For biceps, a small muscle, I would suggest only two sets. Calves on the other hand are capable of more work thus the three sets.

You can do the same for any muscle group you would like to focus on. Just remember not to make this an ongoing part of your training. Employ feeder sets for a limited period of time, four to six weeks or so, and then return to your regular workout schedule.

It’s not complicated. Just make certain you are using body weight only or extremely light weight and the reps are kept high, in the 50 – 100 range. The one thing you do not want to do is strain the muscle by using heavy weight during a feeder workout. You are only trying to pump blood into the muscle area and keep it there, this requires high reps. You can’t perform a high enough rep count if you are using a poundage that is going to cause you to strain.

Your tempo should be fast, not sloppy fast; smooth continuous motion with no jerking or cheating. Feel the muscle cramp… get it into that zone and keep it there, rest between sets are kept to a minimum.

For me, calves, delts, chest, and back respond really well to feeder workouts. Several tries with bi’s and tri’s did not produce any successful results. For whatever reason, quads and hamstrings did not respond as I would have liked either. I really don’t have a reason to offer for this other than to say that’s just the way it is.

Best of luck!

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