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(More customer reviews)Chad Waterbury is a respected name in the fitness coaching business, largely as a result of his regular contributions to sites like T-Nation and [...]. In fact, Huge in a Hurry is largely a crystallization of the training philosophy that he has elucidated in his articles for those sites. And what Waterbury presents is a logical, practical, empirical guide to strength training, though one that I feel is ultimately incomplete.
The author spends the first several chapters laying the intellectual foundation of his training philosophy. Much of this is information that experienced lifters will already know, but it bears repeating nonetheless, if only to aid the logical flow of the book. The second half of the book consists of various training programs/protocols aimed at different ends. Essentially, the book follows the pattern of many others written on strength training.
The author has been training people for quite a while, and he presents many of his ideas in the context of his own experiences. This is always a positive thing for any kind of practical guide. And it's apparent that Waterbury knows of which he speaks. He quotes peer-reviewed studies to back up most of his larger points, and he holds an advanced degree in the field. I do not take any issue with the author's knowledge; rather I do question some of his conclusions.
Essentially, the author is a proponent of the three-times-per-week, total-body weight training protocol. This is actually a very old-school program that has made a strong comeback in recent years. And it's easy to understand why. The body-part training specialization ad infinitum espoused in the Weider magazines has really veered too far off the track of sanity. Most people don't need twice-per-day workout protocols that drug-enhanced bodybuilders use to prep for the Mr. Olympia. What most people need is basic, sound training ideas that will help them reach their somewhat less lofty fitness goals.
Three-times/total body is one way for people to reach those goals, but it isn't necessarily the route for everyone. The author firmly believes that lifters should train every muscle group in each workout. He bases this idea on his belief that the old notion of the 48-72 hour muscular recovery is incorrect, and on the idea that more volume will lead directly to greater results. The problem with this idea is that recovery time and volume tolerance are two of the most person-specific variables in weight training. No two people respond to a given protocol in the same way. Some need more volume while others do well hitting each muscle group once a week. Some people make tremendous gains on total body workouts, while others run headlong into overtraining and the wall of diminishing returns.
The author claims that he's verified that total-body training is the superior protocol through his own experience, but my experience shows that this is a matter of individual response. Certainly many people will do very well on his program, but just as many will struggle, wondering all the while what they're doing wrong. For these people, some sort of body-part training split may be in order, and I believe that the author should be more careful to note this. Many trainers like the author and Alwyn Cosgrove have made great efforts of vilify body part splits. This seems to me a silly endeavor. Beginning lifters should try all types of programs to see what works best for them. The best program is not what trainer X or Mr. Olympia or Arnold says is the best, it's the one that works for that person.
That said, the information here is solid, and the book is certainly attractive and well written. I will say that if you're interested in getting into total-body-training splits, this is definitely the place to start. I wouldn't, however, go so far as to say that Huge in a Hurry is the definitive word on weight training. Too much is omitted for this book to be considered as such.
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