Hunter Labrada Recommends Best A/B Split Variations to ‘Break Through Your Plateaus’

Bodybuilder Hunter Labrada is making the most of his off-season after the latest Olympia. In a recent video on YouTube, Labrada talked about the benefits of incorporating split variations into training programs.

Being the son of IFBB Hall of Famer Lee Labrada, Hunter’s entry into professional bodybuilding generated a lot of buzz. He made headlines for his muscularity and size in the Men’s Open division at the 2020 IFBB Tampa Pro, where he defeated Iain Valliere for first place. The victory earned him an invite to the Olympia competition. He managed to crack the top ten and place eighth in his debut.

Hunter followed up with an appearance at the 2021 IFBB Chicago Pro. He handily dispatched the competition on stage and took first place. A few months later, he improved his standing to fourth place at the 2021 Mr. Olympia.

Labrada was last seen in action at the 2022 Mr. Olympia in Las Vegas two months ago. Things didn’t go as expected as he dropped down to seventh place in his third Olympia contest. Following the show, Hunter issued a statement expressing his disappointment. As a result of his performance, Hunter will need to earn his invite to the next Mr. Olympia show.

His coach Ben Chow said Hunter had problems peaking properly and mentioned a few things went wrong in the days leading up to the event. Chow admitted Hunter looked flat on the stage and believes they mistimed some stages of the preparation. 

Labrada declared his goal was to compete at two shows in 2023 and also qualify for the Olympia. The 30-year-old detailed the changes he made to his off-season diet recently to improve his physique. In addition, he emphasized that he would not be focusing on adding size as he intends to trim down his waistline this year.

Hunter Labrada Talks Benefits of A/B Split Variations

In a recent YouTube video, Hunter Labrada shared his thoughts on using “A/B” split variations in training programs to achieve optimal results.

“You can apply this to any kind of training style whether you’re a big progressive overload guy, a big volume guy, or anything,” said Labrada. “That is having an AB variation or split to your training. Let’s talk about it in the most simple of terms. Say you’re training on a push-pull legs off repeat. So, A variation would be push A, pull A, legs A, off, push B, pull B, legs B, off, and so on. You vary back and forth.

“This allows you to do a couple of things. One, if you’re a progressive overload person, it allows you to not run your head into the wall every three or four days, especially if you’re training on a push-pull leg split. You’re doing the same workout every fourth day so it allows you to have six or eight days before attempting to best your last attempt at the top set.”

Hunter encouraged the training method as a solution to push through plateaus and achieve more growth.

“As you get in the off-season and are clawing for that progress, that can be the difference between making or breaking your progress. Second thing, having that AB variation allows us to do is to alter training volumes or adjust points of emphasis. It allows you to really dictate where the volume can fall into your program. Another huge benefit you can see regardless of your training style is that you’re able to touch on different areas or focuses. What I mean is take push for example.

“On my push day, I might do a machine flat press and a dumbbell incline. I am really stressing output on the flat but then I have an exercise with some degree of stabilization on the incline. The next week, I’ll flip-flop that. I’ll do a cable flat press that requires a very large degree of stabilization followed by a prime incline or smith incline, something that has no degree of stabilization and is purely focused on output.

“It helps add novelty to training, can help you break through plateaus, and not reach any points of stalled progress in your training.”

RELATED: Hunter Labrada to Lee Labrada: ‘I’m Trying to Bring the Level of Conditioning You Brought’

Hunter Labrada shared he weighed 280 pounds while fasted in an impressive off-season physique update last month. Looking ahead, Hunter’s goal is to correct his peaks during contest preps.

You can watch the full video below:

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