Hugh McCranor

In 1999, just after I received my qualification as an I.A.R.T. Instructor, I had an opportunity dropped straight into my lap. A needed opportunity because even though I was qualified, I had no practical experience except training myself. I had some ideas and dreams of opening a 1-2-1 facility but that was in the embryonic stage. The opportunity took the form of a 210 pound bodybuilder named Hugh McCranor.

Mr. McCranor had severely damaged two vertebrae in his lower back, the result of heavy ballistic style weight lifting. He did not require immediate surgery but was advised that it would be considered if he did not cease and abandon all weight lifting activity. This was stated by two back specialists (which shows the ignorance of the medical profession).

Mr. McCranor was introduced to myself by his girlfriend, who happens to be my secretary. Being my secretary, it was her task to type all the answers to the I.A.R.T. exam. As she typed, she read and passed the information to Hugh. From there, a mutual meeting was arranged. At that meeting I determined that Mr. McCranor's style of lifting was ballistic in nature, utilizing very heavy free weights with a lot of hyper movements, i.e. positives, negatives and strips. I was also informed that training sessions lasted between 1 and 1.5 hours, 4-5 times per week consisting of 3-4 exercises per body part, 2-3 sets per exercise to failure. There were no formal records or training log to support his exact protocol, only Hugh's memory. Also, Mr. McCranor had a very strenuous day job as a fork lift operator, which required a lot of physical activity.

After a long and challenging conversation with Mr McCranor, I finally convinced him to use my services. The first thing I recommended was a change of gyms. There were two state run facilities offering Nautilus equipment, so we would use them. Secondly, we only trained once a week on a split program. Upper body week 1, and lower body week 2. Thirdly, we slowed down the rep speed to a 4-1-4. Fourthly we cut the amount of exercises per body part to two, using only 1 set to failure. Fifth, and this was the hardest thing to recommend, I asked Hugh to take two weeks off. I still think I was correct with this last recommendation because Hugh, in my opinion, was overtrained - especially with the added demands of his day time job.

On 24 March 1999, Mr McCranor was put through his paces for his first upper body workout. The slow, cadance made for a terrific pump, and less weight insured that his lower back injury would not be aggravated.

It was workout 2 that was significant. I was still heavily influenced by Mike Mentzer's routines but knew that Mr McCranor needed more volume, so I decided that his leg workout should consist of Nautilus leg extensions, supersetted with Nautilus leg press - both to real failure. I kept pushing Mr McCranor until he could hardly move either machine one inch from its starting position with absolute strict form. The result was that Mr. McCranor did not have the strength to get up. He barley had the strength to climb up the stairs to get out of the gym.

Sample Upper Body Routine: 1 set of each to positive failure only

Pull Downs
Nautilus Rows
Peck Deck
Nautilus Chest Press
Nautilus Lat Raise

Sample Lower Body Routine: 1 set of each to positive failure only

Nautilus Leg Extension
Leg Curl
Super Leg Press
Leg Press
Seated Toe Raise

In hind sight, I should have added more volume but his strength was increasing by leaps and bounds and his lower back was starting to feel better. At the time, I also did not fully appreciate cycling or the dramatic difference that extra volume can make to a better physique.

Examples of Strength Increase:

Leg Extensions 27/03/99 TUT 1.41 180lbs
(Nautilus) 06/05/99 TUT 1.11 250lbs

Side Lat 24/03/99 1.30 60lbs
(Nautilus) 10/05/99 1.29 120lbs

Row 24/03/99 TUT 1.05 130lbs
(Nautilus) 02/05/99 TUT 1.00 220lbs

For over a year we trained together and each time Hugh always increased his strength (although his Bio Analogics body composition system reading have shown some fluction during that year). His percentage of body fat to muscle mass has been pretty consistent. He can still train, train hard and maintain most of his muscle mass. Exactly what he wanted.

Bio Readings:

DATE WEIGHT B.FAT% LEAN MASS%
1. 15/10/99 213lbs 15.2% 84.8%
2. 23/08/00 211lbs 12.2% 87.8%
3. 16/12/00 210lbs 13.5% 86.5%
4. 05/2/01 217lbs 15.7% 84.3%

On 17 April 2000, I finally opened my 1-2-1 training facility and shortly after was able to hire Hugh as the tech trainer. Now with the heavy laborious day time job behind him and the added benefit of further knowledge from the I.A.R.T., Hugh has the competitive bug once again. He has decided to do a natural show in England in June 2001. The photos above are at 13 weeks out.

His strength is still increasing. Here are the following examples.

Pendulum Squats 02/12/00, 100kg for 1.20 TUT at a 4/4 cadance
16/02/01, 250kg for 1.49 TUT at a 4/4 cadance

Pendulum Pulldowns 24/08/00, 30kg for 1.54 TUT at a 5/5 cadance
(Hands Forward) 14/01/01, 60kg for 1.31 TUT at a 5/5 cadance

This is not a misprint. Hugh is now capable of doing heavy squats with no ill effects to his lower back.

Hugh completed one Blitz Cycle between Christmas 2000 and New Year 2001, but unfortunately caught the flu bug in the middle and had to stop training. Another Blitz session is scheduled for May. As his physique takes shape over the coming weeks I will forward pictures to the I.A.R.T. Not bad for a man who was to give up weight training or face the knife.

The Gym Hamilton Ltd is a licensed, Prescribed Exercise center, focusing on 1-2-1 training and offering an exclusive service to meet your physical fitness goals. We are strictly by appointment only giving the trainee total use of the facility in complete privacy without the hassle of waiting for a machine. Our trainer will coach, motivate and monitor your progress with every rep, set and training session insuring that we can do everything to achieve your physical goals. Call today for rates and times: 0441698 276304