by Greg McGlone
T-Nation's Greg McGlone cornered Dr. Clay Hyght, one of our favorite bodybuilder-chiropractors, who weighed in on the über-importance of peri-workout nutrition, why split training kicks ass, and how he copes with the constant risk of getting too big.
If you've heard of Dr. Clay Hyght, it's either because you read T-Nation, where he's become a regular and valued contributor, or you followed this year's Precision Nutrition Hot Body contest, which Hyght, a veteran bodybuilder, won.
We'll presume, for your sake, it's because of the former and not the latter.
A 35-year-old native of Birmingham, Alabama, Hyght started as an all-around athlete who eventually settled on BMX racing, which made its Olympic debut this summer. Hyght did very well at BMX, winning state and regional titles and one national championship. "Then I turned pro and suddenly became mediocre," he says with a laugh.
He retired from BMX racing and focused on his studies, earning an undergraduate degree in exercise science at Auburn before becoming Dr. Clay Hyght at Texas Chiropractic College. Hyght, who's single and looking (T-Vixens are encouraged to send pics and a bio to drclay@drclay.com), now lives in the Bay Area of Northern California, where he runs his chiropractic practice, and where he's working on a book and DVD.
So how have you done as a bodybuilder?
I've been competing for 17 years now, managing to win the state title in my weight class once. I narrowly missed the overall title, which was really my goal. I also judge some shows and help quite a few people with their contest prep.
Attention, ladies: the doctor will see you now.
How are you training these days?
My current program is interesting because it's not really typical for me. I've been super busy finishing a book and DVD project, so I've been trying to minimize my gym time. That's actually odd for me, because I love training! So I finally settled on a training split for chest and back, shoulders and arms, and legs.
I train three or four times a week. My exercises, sets, and reps aren't written in stone, but I generally do a compound exercise first using more resistance and fewer reps. The next is more midrange in reps. If there's a third exercise, it'll be roughly 12 to 15 reps.
As for nutrition, I've instinctively cycled my carbs for years. I also tend to separate carbs and fat, thanks to John Berardi's influence. Lately, I've been consuming about 200 to 250 grams of carbs on a training day, and about 100 to 150 on a non-training day. Protein is steady at about 300 grams per day. My fat intake will be roughly 30 grams on a higher-carb day and about 60 grams on a lower-carb day.
The total calories for my diet may seem a bit low [between 2,270 and 2,470 on training days, and 2,140 to 2,340 on non-training days], and they are, but it works for me. Someone like John Berardi has to eat 4,500 calories to maintain weight, but I'll actually gain fat on that, even if it's all from clean food.
You mentioned book and DVD projects. What are they, and when we can expect them?
One project is essentially a way for me to help more people with customized nutrition and training programs. Books and DVDs can be limiting in that they're one-size-fits-all. Individualized programs, on the other hand, tend to yield far better results, especially over the long haul. But working with clients is time-consuming, so we've figured out a way for me to work with more people, and at a more affordable price.
The other project involves my more hardcore side and is less mainstream. I'm finishing up two books, one on getting ready for a bodybuilding contest and one on getting ready for a figure contest.
In your recent T-Nation article, "12 Truths About Bodybuilding Training", you stated that despite the plethora of benefits associated with total-body training, and the fact that you train your own clients with TBT, you don't feel that it can take one's physique to its ultimate potential. Now, at the risk of stirring up an old war, let's talk about this for a second.
I think most readers would do great with TBT, for a while. I think, however, that there comes a time when you need to go to split training if additional hypertrophy is your goal. Here's a general progression I think most should follow as they advance: total-body training, half-body training, split training.
It may seem as if I'm simply pro-split training. That's not the case. Just like Alwyn Cosgrove is perceived as anti-split training when he's really not. He and I talked at length a while back about total-body vs. split training. We totally agreed on when each should be used.
There I was, ready to have an intellectual debate with the anti-split guy, yet we didn't disagree about much of anything. We laughed about how readers perceive us, and pigeonhole us based on things we write. So while I'm a bodybuilder and I train myself using a body-part split, it'd be a mistake to consider me the "split training guy."
What kind of split do you prefer for most trainees?
I don't really have a preferred split, to be honest. Each person has different needs and goals, and those needs and goals are met with all sorts of splits.
I work with a lot of bodybuilding and figure competitors. Most of them have weak body parts that need to be brought up. Likewise, they'll have strong body parts that simply need to be maintained. Since this combo is different for everyone, I have to design a specific routine just for that person.
If you had to pin me down to a split or two that works for most people I'd have to say it would be a chest-shoulders-triceps, back-biceps, and legs split. Just rotate through that four or five days per week.
For really advanced competitors, though, I'd have to lean towards an even more separated split like:
off
chest and abs
back and calves
off
shoulders and hams
arms and abs
quads and calves
Again, keep in mind that those are cookie-cutter splits, though they do work for a lot of people. When I'm working with advanced competitors, it's anything but cookie-cutter.
How do you approach peri-workout nutrition and supplementation?
Peri-workout nutrition is über-important. I'd say that not paying attention to pre-, during-, and post-workout nutrition is one of the most common errors that people make in the quest for building lean muscle. The research keeps pointing to the fact that consuming certain nutrients around weight training is both anabolic and anti-catabolic. So it's safe to say if you're not paying attention to peri-workout nutrition, you really don't want to maximize your progress.
As for specifics, a fast-acting carb and fast-acting protein is really the root of peri-workout nutrition. For most people, using Surge Recovery is the best, simplest, and best-tasting thing to do. I have many of my clients use it. Most people who want to build lean mass would do well sipping on one-half to one serving of Surge Recovery at the beginning of their workout, followed by another half or whole serving after their workout. I'd also drop 5 grams of creatine into that last drink, or 2.5 grams in each.
For those who are really trying to lose fat ASAP while preserving muscle, I'd say 25 grams whey, 25 grams glucose, 5 to 10 grams BCAA, and 2.5 grams creatine consumed both during and at the end of the workout would work very well.
Lets go back to your "12 Truths" article, where you mention the bench press isn't a good chest builder, and the deadlift is a great back builder. For someone trying to pack on mass and following a bodybuilding-type routine, give us some of your favorite movements for each body part.
See, this is a good example of what I mentioned earlier: all I have to do is mention that the barbell bench press is overrated, and not a good chest builder for many people, and I get pigeonholed as "the guy who hates the bench press." I actually think it's a very good exercise, just not the Holy Grail of chest exercises.
For back, I think deadlifts, dumbbell rows, and pull-ups are the best back builders, although I do think that many people (including myself) do better with pull-downs than pull-ups, for various reasons.
For chest, I think decline dumbbell presses are one of the best overall chest builders. Flat dumbbell presses are right up there. Dips and flies, though polar opposites, are also great. I'm also fond of the incline Hammer Strength press.
For shoulders, I think lateral raises are by far the best exercise for cosmetic purposes. Standing barbell presses and seated dumbbell presses are, although different, equally good overall deltoid exercises.
Dr. Clay's pick for the best overall chest exercise.
The best triceps exercise is easy: skull crushers, assuming they don't bother your elbows, which they tend to do over time. V-bar pushdowns are a close second. For biceps, I like standing, alternating dumbbell curls. Barbell curls are a close second. If I could only do one abdominal exercise I would probably do decline crunches, with weight as needed.
For legs, especially quads, the hands-down winner for best exercise is the barbell squat. Is there a doubt on that one? I think the second best is walking barbell lunges. That's a great, often overlooked exercise. From a strictly cosmetic standpoint, I really like the hack squat machine for quads, though I don't think it should be done month in and month out, as it tends to promote patellar tendonitis.
For hams, I have to include two: stiff-legged deadlifts and lying leg curls. Glutes are covered with squats and walking lunges. Calves are easy: standing calf raises.
I also have to include the best exercise for the external rotators of the shoulder. Doing the "sword" exercise with a low cable is my single favorite.
Lastly, for the flexor pollicis longus, playing thumb war is tops.
The flexor pollicis longus, vital for playing thumb war and X-box.
For someone who's trying to get down to the 8 to 10 percent range for body fat, how much cardio do you think is necessary?
That depends on how much body fat they have now and how fast they want to get there. Let's assume someone is about 15 percent and wants to get there fairly quickly.
Most people could get to that point — assuming their diet is spot-on — by doing two 20-minute HIIT [high-intensity interval training] sessions along with two 45-minute regular cardio sessions per week. The two regular sessions should be done prior to eating breakfast, or another time when blood glucose is very low. The timing of the HIIT sessions isn't so important, though it often works out well to do it on off days from weight training.
What would your recommendations be for someone who's over 20 percent body fat?
The recommendations I just mentioned would work great. Fat loss would come pretty quickly, again assuming the diet is spot-on, and it wouldn't be too terribly much to ask of someone.
But let's say this person wants to get lean yesterday and is willing to do whatever it takes cardio-wise.
I had a client, Eric, who came to me last year about 10 weeks out from a contest. He was in decent shape, but not in 10-weeks-out shape, especially considering this was his first show and you never know what might happen near the end. Plus, he had decided to enter the toughest show in the state. To say Eric needed to lose fat quickly was an understatement! Here's exactly what I had him doing the majority of the time:
AM: cardio for 45 minutes every day
PM: HIIT on bike, StairMaster, or treadmill. After warming up two minutes, do 20 seconds all-out followed by 40 seconds at a normal pace. Repeat 12 times, then cool down for two minutes. Do this on your two non-training days and one training day, but not leg day.
He ended up doing virtually all of the sessions on a treadmill. So his HIIT sessions were treadmill sprints, and he pushed himself hard. But Eric's tenacity paid off.
Not only did he not get embarrassed, which was his initial goal, he took second place out of 12 people in his class. How he ended up looking even shocked me — he looked damn good! This cardio plan works, and works well.
A lot of bodybuilders say that they need to "feel the muscles working," rather than just lifting the weights. How much truth is there to this, even for someone just going for hypertrophy?
There are times when you should focus on moving the weight and times when you should focus on feeling the muscle work.
Bodybuilding is about developing each muscle, and each section of each muscle, to a proportional degree. When trying to bring up a weak muscle or part of that muscle, it's obviously important that the muscle in question is doing the brunt of the work. For example, to target the lower traps — a weak point on many people — it typically takes a fairly precise movement, and even an acute focus on that muscle. Otherwise, larger or more neurologically dominant muscles will take over.
However, there are times when even a bodybuilder shouldn't be concerned with finessing the weights, and should just lift them. Squats and deadlifts are a great example. No need to worry about feeling the muscle work on those. Just use good form, and move the damn weight!
Move the damn weight!
I do think some bodybuilders get too far off base with feeling the muscle work, at the expense of lifting heavy weights and lifting them quickly. This is one reason some bodybuilders aren't nearly as strong as they look.
Feeling the muscle work is not very important for powerlifters or athletes like football players. Essentially, bodybuilders need to train muscles, while others need to train movement patterns.
As a chiropractor, what are the most common structural imbalances you see in trainees?
That's easy, though I would consider them muscle imbalances, which affect the structure. Vladimir Janda called them "upper and lower crossed syndromes." In my experience, more people have this than not. With upper crossed syndrome the neck flexors are weak, the neck extensors are tight [hypertonic], the pecs are tight, and the scapular retractors are weak [hypotonic]. You'll see a forward roll of the shoulders and a forward head carrying position.
Upper and lower crossed syndromes
Lower crossed syndrome consists of hypertonic spinal erectors and hypertonic hip flexors combined with hypotonic abdominals and hypotonic glutes.
I would say about 90 percent of what I treat has to do with these two "syndromes" or muscle imbalances. Yet they are easily correctible. Too often — and I've certainly been guilty — we think of building individual muscles without looking at posture and the common imbalances that come with them. We should focus more on the body as a whole. Let's not build a ripped and lean body on a crooked-ass, unstable frame!
Okay, Doc. Let's change gears here and talk about women.
My favorite subject. I was getting tired of talking about training.
I hear so many women say, "I don't like a guy who's too big." Your thoughts?
I've found it to be true for me. The smaller I am, the more compliments I get from girls regarding my physique. If I really bulk up in the off-season, zero compliments. And when I lean back down, some will say, "You were too big before."
I've tried to figure out the psychology behind that, and I've come up with a couple things. Keep in mind I'm not a psychologist, nor do I play one on TV.
For one, I think we prefer what we're accustomed to. Most women don't grow up around really muscular guys, but those that do tend to prefer that.
Another thing is that females assume that if a guy is pretty big and lean then he must be vain, spending hours upon hours in the gym with no time or attention left for her. Unfortunately, some guys fulfill that stereotype, so it perpetuates itself. This actually makes dating tough for me.
I've also seen that many women prefer not to date a guy that she thinks is better-looking or has a better physique than she does. It just magnifies her insecurities, I guess. But for us guys, we're like, "Bring on the hotties!" If you think I wouldn't date Jessica Simpson because she's better-looking than I am, you're crazy. Put me in that game, Coach! I'm ready!
What do you think about guys who say, "I don't want to get too big?" That's a problem I'd love to have.
Yeah, I'd like to have that problem, too. Then I could just lose muscle. Heck, that's a cinch! Many of the guys who say that are simply rationalizing a lowered goal so they don't risk failure. Sure, most guys really don't want to look like Jay Cutler, but when they say they don't want to be as big as someone like me, then I think they're rationalizing.
I'm 5-11 and usually weigh about 210. That's not very big. However, I've worked with guys who actually want to look like an Abercrombie model, so to each his own.
We should all take an honest look at ourselves and see where we settle or compromise in life. No one should compromise their goals just because they may not seem attainable. We're capable of achieving far more than we think. The guy that says he doesn't want to be rich because of all the taxes he'll have to pay is simply trying to justify not going for it. As my dad always told me, "Son, you can do or be anything you want, if you want it bad enough." That's how I live my life.
Wise words. Thanks very much, Dr. Clay.
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