Your Guide To PHA Training

by JLL Fitness · Published May 17, 2016 · Updated December 23, 2016

In the constant ever-changing world of fitness where there seems to be a new fitness craze every 5 minutes, it can appear to be pretty daunting to stay on top of them all. Today I’m going to talk about PHA training. Now if you google PHA you come up with all kinds of weird and wonderful things from Potentially Hazardous Asteroids to the Penguin Homing Association. But without talking about space rocks or homeless penguins we’re going to look at the idea of Peripheral Heart Action training and why it could be the workout change your body has been yearning for.

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After hours of research it’s pretty impossible to read up on PHA training without coming across the names Dr Arthur Steinhaus and 1960’s Mr America Bob Gajda. According to many sources (and there is many) it was in the 1940’s when Dr Steinhaus developed this theory of circuit training for bodybuilding purposes and then it wasn’t until the 1960’s when then Mr America and Mr Universe Bob Gajda credited this training method for his incredible physique.

What Is It?

The idea behind Peripheral Heart Action training is simple to understand. It’s designed to keep blood circulating around the body at all times during the workout. The thinking behind this is that by doing this, you’ll avoid any lactic acid build up in the muscle groups. This is also achieved by training opposite muscle groups. This type of training is so effective because it maximises body fat loss whilst reducing muscle mass loss. PHA training is a lot of people’s ‘go to’ training workout as it allows them to perform circuit training without the fatigue.

Another great pro for PHA training is the amount of variation involved which means your workouts are likely to less dull and boring. The more tolerable workout means gym goers are less likely to put it off.

How Do I Do It?

PHA training is very simple to set up. Basically, what you’re looking for is 5/6 movements with 5/6 cycles of these movements. For a really intense workout you should be looking to increase the resistance/weight of each movement. You should be looking for each cycle to be made up of the following movements:

2 upper body workouts
2 lower body workouts
1 core workout.

Now whatever you want to make these workouts consist of is up to you. As long as you tick the boxes for these muscle groups and perform them in quick succession with minimal rest means you’ll be performing PHA training effectively. The only rest time that recommended for these is however long it takes you to set up your next movement. So if people think there’s no rest for the wicked then they clearly haven’t tried this type of training!

PHA Training for Beginners

Here’s a simple PHA workout you can use to ease yourself into this type of training:

Barbell squats – 10 reps
Lat Pull Downs – 10 reps
Push Ups – 10 reps
Romanian Deadlifts – 10 reps
Leg Raises – 10/12 reps

Use this for the basis of 1 circuit and then repeat this 5/6 times with increased resistance on each cycle.

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Something worth considering? You better believe it. PHA training is great if you want to mix things up in the gym or at home. By constantly keeping your body guessing you’ll see much better results than I you were to try the same workout over and over again.

For a great range of fitness equipment to perform PHA training, visit www.jllfitness.co.uk or head to our Amazon and eBay stores.

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