The FST-7 method of weight training is credited to Hany Rambod who is a professional personal trainer with an impressive client list, including the reigning Mr Olympia, Jay Cutler. Over the course of this past year, Jay Cutler trained with FST-7 and was able to bring about a total body reconstruction from his 2008 Mr Olympia presentation to probably his most impressive package ever, which was enough to regain the Olympia title (2008 Photos, 2009 Photos).

Read Hany Rambod’s article on FST-7 that was originally posted in the MuscularDevelopment.com forums.

FST-7— The Key To Muscle Growth

What Is FST-7?
FST-7 is a training system I devised after years of research and a great deal of trial and error with many clients. FST stands for Fascial Stretch Training and the seven refers to the 7 sets performed for the final exercise of a target body part. I have had many clients use this system for overall growth and especially to improve stubborn body parts that were seemingly resistant to just about anything else the person had tried. FST-7 encompasses several factors both inside and outside the gym. This month, we will focus on the training aspects.

Is Fascia Limiting Your Muscle Growth?
There are three types of fascia in the human body, but the type bodybuilders should be concerned about is deep fascia. This is dense, fibrous connective tissue that interpenetrates and surrounds the muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels of the body. The high density of collagen fibers is what gives the deep fascia its strength and integrity. The amount of elastin fibers determines how much extensibility and resiliency it will have. In other words, some of us have fascia that is thicker and tougher than others. The most genetically blessed bodybuilders have thinner fascia, which is why their muscle bellies appear to be larger and fuller, with that round “bubbly” look that all bodybuilders covet. Ronnie Coleman and Phil Heath would be two prime examples of individuals blessed with thin fascia. Their muscles expand easier. Think of it in terms of it being easier to blow up a balloon as opposed to one of those water bottles that strongmen like Franco Columbu used. Jay Cutler and Nasser El Sonbaty are two men who clearly have thicker fascia. This didn’t prevent them from building substantial muscle mass, obviously, but neither man ever had that round “Marvel Comics” appearance to his muscles. Yet the average bodybuilder has thicker fascia than either of those two champions. In an effort to expand their fascia and allow growth to occur, some have turned to synthol and other items that are injected deep into the muscle belly. There have even been some advisors, mainly online, who make it seem as if this is the only solution and must be done. They will also try and insist that all the pros use synthol and site inject, which I can assure you is not true. Synthol and related products are foreign substances and you can never be certain how they will metabolize in the body. We are starting to see various health issues with bodybuilders which are more than likely related to site injecting. Yes, you do need to stretch the muscle fascia to experience optimal growth, but that is not the way to do it.

All Stretching Is Not The Same
I am not the first person to recognize the importance of stretching the muscle fascia. First John Parrillo, then more recently Dante Trudel of DC Training fame, incorporate aggressive stretching during workouts as part of their training programs. They had the right idea, but stretching the fascia by elongating the muscle is not the best method. FST-7 is based on stretching the muscle from the inside out by volumizing it. This is accomplished by getting the greatest pump possible while training.

Do I Still Train Heavy Or Can I Just Pump Up With Light Weights?
One thing I don’t want anyone misconstruing is that FST-7 is all about pumping. That’s just one component. I also believe that a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle, and you absolutely must train with heavier weights in the 8-12 rep range. I have tried many variations of heavier and lighter training with clients over the years and discovered that both types are needed. Heavy weights will build thickness and density, but they will not give you that round, full look. Similarly, getting incredible pumps all the time can impart some of that roundness, but you won’t ever get extreme muscle size without training with heavy straight sets. So you need to focus equally on maximizing both your strength and your pump in the same workouts to see optimal results. Here’s an example of a biceps workout— FST-7 style— that shows you how to incorporate both:

Alternate Dumbbell Curls 3-4 x 8-12
Machine Preacher Curls 3 x 8-12
EZ-Bar Curls 7 x 8-12 (rest 30-45 seconds between sets while sipping water— more on this next month)

I don’t typically like to use very high reps, because too often you will experience general fatigue and get short of breath before you have built the maximum pump in the muscle. I also don’t like the weight to be too heavy and limit the reps any lower than 8, because this is when you see form breaking down and ancillary muscles kicking in and robbing the target muscle of the proper stimulation. You can think of the “7” set as blowing up a balloon. We keep the rest periods fairly short, because as you pump up the muscle, a little blood escapes in that time. You can think of it as blowing up a balloon with a slight leak in it— even though the balloon is being inflated, some air is escaping. The key is to build on the pump sets by set, exponentially, so that it reaches its maximum state by the final set. If the rest periods were too short, you wouldn’t have enough energy to do justice to the 7 sets. Another question I often get is should the weight be constant as the 7 sets go on? It can be, but it’s perfectly fine to reduce the weight one or two times as needed to stay in the proper rep range. There may also be times when you need to increase the weight, but this happens less often.

How Often Can I Train Body Parts This Way?
Generally speaking, this type of training is too traumatic on the larger muscle groups to use more than once a week. Due to the sheer volume of muscle cells, soreness tends to linger too long to allow for more frequent workouts. For instance, Phil Heath recently completed a back workout and was sore for four days. Since he is supposed to be training back and chest twice a week in preparation for the Arnold Classic, this threw him off his schedule somewhat. The higher than normal amount of microscopic tears in the muscle caused by FST-7 training necessitates a bit more recovery time than standard training protocols. However, smaller body parts like arms and calves certainly can and should be trained twice a week. This gives you twice as many opportunities to stretch the fascia in what are often exceedingly stubborn body parts. Here’s a sample split that displays how you could arrange this:

Day 1: Biceps and triceps, calves
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: OFF
Day 4: Chest and triceps
Day 5: Back and calves
Day 6: Shoulders and biceps
Day 7: OFF

This is a split geared toward someone with the goal of improving stubborn arms. There are many other variations depending on what the individual’s goals might be.

Which Exercises Are Best Suited To The “7” Sets?
Certain exercises are more appropriate than others for the “7” sets. The big, compound free-weight movements like squats and deadlifts usually are poor choices, for two reasons. For one thing, they involve several other muscle groups and don’t do a good job of isolating a target muscle. Also, they require technique and balancing, which tends to break down if one attempts to perform multiple sets in such a short time span. Machines are a good choice in many instances because they keep you in a fixed plane of movement and thus make it easier to isolate a given muscle. Those with selectorized stacks also make it very fast and convenient to increase or decrease the resistance as needed. Here are some suggested movements that I have found work very well:

Back Width: Machine pullovers (Hammer Strength, Nautilus) or cable pullovers

Back Thickness: Seated row machines with chest support

Chest: Pec deck or peck flye machine*, cable crossovers
*I find that the pec decks with the pads for the elbows usually work very well for shorter trainers, while the pec flye machines with handles seem to be better for tall guys. Try both; you will know by the pump and range of motion you achieve which one is a better choice for you.

Shoulders: Machine lateral raises with pads— my favorite is made by Bodymasters. Hammer Strength, LifeFitness and Cybex also produce similar models.

Quads: Leg extensions, leg presses

Hamstrings: Seated or lying leg curls

Biceps: EZ-bar curls, machine curls, cable “front double biceps curls”

Triceps: Cable pushdowns using rope attachment
Overhead cable extensions
Skull-crushers (for advanced trainers)

Calves: Standing and seated raises, calf raises using leg press
(alternate between these three)

When Should I Do My “7”…
The best time to do your “7” is as the final exercise for a muscle group. You don’t want to do it first, as this would take away from your performance on the heavy straight sets that are also a critical factor in building muscle mass. Finishing off a body part with a great pump is something many top bodybuilders have been doing instinctively for years, not knowing that they were expanding their fascia and maximizing growth. It may be tempting to do your pumping sets earlier on if you can’t seem to get any kind of pump going, but I would urge you instead to do something like a set or 2 of 21s to get the blood flowing and then proceed with your heavy sets before capping it all off with your “7” set for that body part. Remember, “7s” are done at the conclusion of each body part, so if you are working multiple body parts in a given workout, you will be doing two or more of these extended pumping sets.

Sample FST-7 Body Part Routines*

Triceps

Close-Grip Bench Presses 3-4 x 8-12
Weighted or Machine Dips 3 x 8-12
Overhead Cable Extensions 7 x 8-12
(Beginner and Intermediate)
Skull-Crushers 7 x 8-12
(Advanced)

Quads

Leg Extensions 3-4 x 8-15
Squats 4 x 8-12
Hack Squats or Leg Presses 3 x 8-15
Leg Extensions or Leg Presses 7 x 8-15

Chest

Incline Dumbbell Presses 3-4 x 8-12
Incline Dumbbell Flyes 3 x 8-12
Flat Hammer or Dumbbell Presses 3 x 8-12
Pec Deck or Cable Crossovers 7 x 8-12

Shoulders

Seated Dumbbell Presses 4 x 8-12
Barbell or Dumbbell Front Raises 3 x 8-12
Dumbbell Lateral Raises 3 x 8-12
Lateral Raise Machine 7 x 8-12

Here is a little note worthy Q and A about FST-7

FST-7: Preloaded and Reloaded!

Question: One of your clients goes to my gym and I saw him training legs the other day. I always pay attention to whatever he’s doing to see what I can pick up and use for myself. I’ve seen him using the FST-7 system for a while now and normally he does the “7” sets at the end of a body part. This time, he did his 7s on leg extensions at the very beginning of the workout. I think I recall you mentioning this variation on the FST-7 system before, but I don’t understand the rationale for doing 7s in the beginning. What gives?

HR: What you saw was one of two variations my clients have been using as specialization routines for stubborn body parts. I call these the “FST-7 Preloaded” and “FST-7 Reloaded” concepts. What you witnessed was the FST-7 Preloaded version, which has a bit of the pre-exhaust element to it. In the case of the workout you watched, the athlete would begin with 7 sets of leg extensions for roughly 10-12 reps each, with only 30-45 seconds rest in between each set.

Question: What this does is “prime the pump” for the heavier sets to follow. The next two exercises are front squats and leg presses, each done in a high-intensity style. After sufficient warm-ups, 2 work sets of 8-12 reps, as heavy as possible, are performed. Normally, the quads would not receive any significant pump from sets such as these. Many bodybuilders would feel the more powerful glutes and hip flexor muscles working instead. But the initial 7 sets on leg extensions served to pump up the quadriceps and pre-stretch the fascia, so that the heavy sets of front squats and leg presses would deliver a far more significant pump than usual. Then, to really make sure that the quads are hammered into new growth, we finish with a final set of 7s on hack squats. This technique is fairly new, but so far the results are very encouraging. Another advanced version is the FST-7 Reloaded concept.
HR: In this variation, two heavy exercises are performed for straight sets, and the workout ends with two series of 7s done back-to-back. In the example of quads, an athlete may start with two or three exercises such as leg extensions, squats, and perhaps walking lunges; then finish with leg presses and hack squats for their 7s. Both of the methods discussed above would be ideal for a person who needs to improve the fullness and sweep of his or her quadriceps, yet is unable to squat heavy due to preexisting problems with the lower back or knees. Another common muscle group the Reloaded version is used on is the upper chest. I might have a client do heavy sets with incline dumbbell presses, incline dumbbell flyes, and the flat Hammer Strength bench press machine and finish with both the pec deck and cable flyes done for 7 sets each. Again, I must emphasize that these are advanced techniques and both make a deep impact on the body’s ability to recover. You must not attempt to use them for every single body part at the same time or I guarantee you that you’ll overtrain. I also want to add that even when used sparingly as I suggest, special attention must be paid to optimizing recovery with proper rest, nutrition, and supplementation. If you fail to respect your body’s recovery needs, this or any other type of training system will not deliver the results you want.