FST-7 Advanced Workouts | The Ultimate Guide!

Are you curious about Hany Rambod’s FST-7 Training Program? Do you want to know the exact workouts that Hany uses with his world-class athletes? Then you’ve come to the right place.

In this comprehensive guide, I will teach you how Hany Rambod designs his advanced FST-7 workouts to help bodybuilders take their physique to the next level.

Introduction

Advanced FST-7 Chest Workouts
Advanced FST-7 Back Workouts
Advanced FST-7 Leg Workouts
Advanced FST-7 Shoulder Workouts
Advanced FST-7 Arm Workouts

Hany Rambod is one of the world’s top bodybuilding coaches. He has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Phil Heath, Hadi Choopan, Andrei Deiu, Jeremy Buendia and Derek Lunsford.

Hany Rambod designed his FST-7 Training Program to help advanced bodybuilders continue to make progress while staying safe and avoiding injuries.

So how does Hany do it? How does Hany design FST-7 workouts for his most advanced bodybuilding clients? Hany says that FST-7 Training is all about combining high-volume and high-intensity training techniques together in the same workout.

One of his favorite strategies is to perform 7 sets of an exercise with short rest periods at the start or end of his workouts. Hany calls this “fascia stretch training” because you are trying to stretch out the fascia tissue surrounding your muscles to create more room for growth.

Hany also uses other high-intensity techniques, such as partial reps, supersets and even forced reps to increase the intensity of his workouts.

Table of Contents

Advanced FST-7 Chest Workouts

Hany Rambod says the key to building a huge chest is to establish a strong mind-muscle connection early in the workout. He says that too many people focus on heavy barbell exercises like the bench press or the incline bench press.

Hany thinks these exercises are OK if you’re trying to get stronger. However, if your goal is to build a bigger chest then he prefers to focus on other exercises like dumbbell presses, machine presses and various isolation movements.

These are the exercises that Hany focuses on with his more advanced clients.

For example, here is an advanced FST-7 chest workout that Hany performed with the 4x Mr. Olympia winner Jay Cutler. Check it out:

Jay Cutler’s Advanced FST-7 Chest Workout

Exercise #1: 45 degree incline DB press, 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #2: Flat machine press, 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #3: 45 degree incline DB fly, 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #4: Flat cable fly, 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #5: V-bar dips, 7 sets to failure, 45 seconds rest

Here is the training video:

Hany Rambod likes to use a mix of compound and isolation exercises for his chest workouts. Jay Cutler starts this workout with the 45 degree incline dumbbell press.

Hany Rambod says that dumbbell presses and machine presses are probably better for your overall chest development than the bench press or incline bench press.

Jay Cutler is still lifting a ton of weight – he’s using the 155 pound dumbbells! – but the dumbbells allow for a more natural range of motion than a barbell would. Towards the end of the workout Jay Cutler uses different isolation exercises to really isolate his chest.

Here is Jay talking about the supine cable fly:

“The fly movement on the cable machine is a little different. It keeps constant tension on the chest which I have done the last 6 weeks or so which we’re trying to add a little more detail to the chest.

I just try to do as many forced reps as I can, some partials, just really trying to keep some partial tension on the chest.”

Finally Jay finishes the workout with some FST-7 sets on dips. Hany Rambod says that this is the most important part of the workout.

Jay is performing 7 sets with short rest periods to really blow up his chest and stretch out the fascia tissue.

“Of course, finishing with some FST-7 training, fascia stretching principle training which is a Hany specialty.

I did 7 sets of as many reps as I could on the dips for 7 sets, really just trying to fill that muscle and getting as much blood volume as I can.”

Here is another advanced chest workout that you can try. This one was performed by the bodybuilding legends Jay Cutler and Phil Heath. Check it out:

Phil Heath’s Advanced FST-7 Chest Workout

Exercise #1: Hammer strength incline press, 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #2: 30 degree incline DB press, 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #3: Flat DB press, 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #4: Standing cable fly, 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #5: 30 degree incline smith machine press, 7 sets of 8-12 reps, 45 seconds rest

Here is the training video:

This is another perfect example of how Hany Rambod likes to design his advanced FST-7 chest workouts. Jay Cutler and Phil Heath start the workout by training heavy on different machine and dumbbell pressing exercises.

Hany Rambod calls these the “base sets” because you re training heavy in the 8-12 rep range and trying to get stronger. Later in the workout Hany has his clients focus more on blood volume training and going for the pump.

“We did 7 sets on the smith machine press and that’s where you can really see the hypervolumization of the muscle. Everything was really good, getting colder and colder up until that point.

But once we hit those 7’s, it went to super volumization mode and Jay and Phil went 3-D. You can see the chest hang on both of them.”

The bottom line is Hany Rambod tells his advanced athletes to focus on joint-friendly exercises like dumbbell and machine exercises, to use a combination of compound and isolation exercises, and of course, to perform 7 fascia-stretching sets at the end of their workouts.

Hany says that most bodybuilders should only perform the FST-7 sets for 1-3 weeks at a time. However, for his more advanced athletes he has them perform the 7 fascia-stretching sets on almost every workout.

Advanced FST-7 Back Workouts

Hany Rambod says that the upper back is a finesse body part. He sees too many bodybuilders lifting too heavy in the gym without any upper back development to show for it.

Hany says the key to building a huge back is to focus on strong muscular contractions, and to feel your entire back contracting on your exercises – especially your lower lats. So how does Hany Rambod design his advanced FST-7 back workouts?

Hany uses a wide variety of exercises in his workouts, including different types of pulldowns and rows. He is also a big fan of using cable pullovers to really isolate the lats at the end of your workout.

Here is an advanced FST-7 back workout that you can try. Check it out:

Jay Cutler’s Advanced FST-7 Back Workout

Exercise #1: Seated cable rows (rope handle), 4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #2: Lat pulldown (wide / overhand grip), 4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #3: Standing one-arm DB row, 4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #4: Bent over barbell row, 4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #5: T-bar row, 4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #6: Standing straight-arm cable pullover (rope handle), 7 sets of 8-15 reps

Here is the training video:

Talk about a high-volume back workout! Jay Cutler performs 6 exercises for his upper back, including 4 rowing exercises, 1 pulldown and 1 lat isolation exercise.

Throughout the workout Hany Rambod uses many novel exercises. Hany says he used the rope attachment on cable rows, rather than a standard V-bar, because it helped Jay Cutler to use a bigger range of motion and achieve a better contraction in his lats and scapular retractors.

“The reason we’re using the rope on the low cable row is it allows you to go past your torso. Normally you have a barrier at your torso.

The rope allows us to go past that point and actually create a slightly different movement and I felt that that was really going to help bring in more detail to Jay’s back.”

Hany Rambod also modified Jay’s form on the one-arm dumbbell rows to hit his lower lats harder.

“One-arm dumbbell rows with Jay was quite interesting. I wanted to make sure he was pulling into his lower lat instead of the middle of his pec or his ribcage.”

Here is another advanced FST-7 back workout that you can try. Check it out:

Hadi Choopan’s Advanced FST-7 Back Workout

Exercise #1: Dual handle pulldown, 2 sets of 10-12 reps
Exercise #2: Lat pulldown (narrow / supinated grip), 2 sets of 12-15 reps
Exercise #3: Barbell bent over row (supinated grip), 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #4: Hammer strength row (wide / overhand grip), 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #5: One-arm DB row, 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #6: Deadlift, 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #7: 45 degree back extension, 4 sets of 10-15 reps

Here is the training video:

Hany Rambod pumps up the volume even more in this brutal back workout. He has Hadi Choopan perform 7 different exercises for his upper and lower back.

One interesting thing about this workout is Hadi Choopan performs all of his really heavy exercises later in the workout, after he has already pre-exhausted his upper back. For example, his underhand grip rows, one-arm dumbbell rows and deadlifts are all placed towards the end of his workout.

Hadi Choopan was only able to handle 405 pounds on the deadlifts. However, by performing them at the end of the workout he was able to get great stimulation in his upper back without having to go too heavy.

“Back is a finesse body part. You want to be able to manipulate your back into growing. You’re not going to just throw a bunch of weight on the bar.

That’s great for PRs and everything, but for actually growing your back, especially your lower lats, you have to feel the muscle working.”

Are you seeing the pattern? Hany Rambod likes to build his advanced FST-7 workouts with a ton of volume and a strong emphasis on form and getting strong muscular contractions over the amount of weight lifted on each exercise.

Advanced FST-7 Leg Workouts

Hany Rambod has some controversial opinions when it comes to training legs. He says that advanced bodybuilders should start all of their workouts with leg extensions. Yes, you heard me right – Hany Rambod thinks leg extensions is the most important exercise for building big legs!

So why does he like leg extensions so much? Hany says that leg extensions let you pre-exhaust your quads right at the start of the workout.

This does several things: it helps you establish a strong mind-muscle connection with your quads, and it reduces the amount of weight that you have to lift on your heavier exercises like squats and leg presses.

Hany says your legs will grow faster AND you will reduce your chances of getting injured by training this way. Many bodybuilding legends like Dorian Yates and Branch Warren also liked to train their legs this way.

Here is an advanced, high-volume leg workout that you can try. Check it out:

Steve Kuclo’s Advanced FST-7 Leg Workout

Exercise #1: Leg extensions, 7 sets of 8-12 reps, 45 seconds rest
Exercise #2: Vertical leg press, 4 sets of 8-10 reps
Exercise #3: Back squat, 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #4: Walking barbell lunge, 3 sets of 20-30 reps
Exercise #5: DB stiff-legged deadlift, 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #6: Lying leg curl, 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #7: Seated leg curl, 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Exercise #8: Kneeling leg curl, 4 sets of 8-12 reps

Here is the training video:

Talk about a high-volume leg workout! Hany Rambod starts this workout with the advanced FST-7 Pre-Load technique. This is where you perform your FST-7 sets at the start of the workout, rather than at the end.

Hany Rambod says this technique works especially well with advanced bodybuilders who are trying to blast through training plateaus.

“You can either do straight sets or pre-load. In the past with beginners and some intermediates we would do FST-7 at the end. For more advanced users we will use leg extensions as a pre-load for FST-7.

You will actually do 7 sets of leg extensions and what that will do is increase blood flow to your quads so you have a better mind-muscle connection as you go to other compound exercises.”

Throughout the workout Hany Rambod places a huge emphasis on performing more reps and volume, rather than just lifting heavy weight. Steve Kuclo is strong enough to squat 600+ pounds for reps.

However, Hany Rambod says that for advanced bodybuilders, dropping the weight to 405 pounds and performing sets of 10-20 reps is going to create more muscle growth.

“What seems to be getting his legs rounder is the volume. So we’re increasing the number of reps but keeping the weight at 405 and putting it up closer to the 20 rep range.

That way we can get really good maximum blood flow and really get sick, sick, sick pumps.”

Hany Rambod usually trains the quads and hamstrings together in the same workout. However, for more advanced athletes he sometimes trains the quads and hamstrings separately. Here is an advanced FST-7 quads workout that you can try. Check it out:

Jeremy Buendia’s Advanced FST-7 Quad Workout

Exercise A1: 45 degree leg press, 5 sets of 10-20 reps, no rest
Exercise A2: Walking DB lunge, 5 sets of 10-20 reps, no rest
Exercise A3: Leg extension, 5 sets of 10-20 reps, 1 minute rest

Here is the training video:

This workout is more challenging than it looks. Jeremy Buendia is performing a tri-set with three different exercises: leg presses, walking lunges and leg extensions.

Jeremy is performing all three of these exercises in a row with no rest in between sets. This technique creates a horrific amount of metabolic stress and really lights your quads on fire.

Things get even more interesting: Hany Rambod tells Jeremy to reverse the order of the exercises on each tri-set. For example, on the second tri-set Jeremy performs the leg extensions first, then lunges and finishes with leg presses.

Hany Rambod says this workout is perfect for advanced bodybuilders because you don’t have to use a lot of weight to stimulate growth in your legs.

“You’ll notice that we’re not using an extraordinary amount of weight. That’s because we have three different exercises that we’re going to be doing in a row – on top of the fact that we’re keeping the intensity high with short rest periods.”

The bottom line is Hany Rambod uses tons of volume and other high-intensity techniques in his advanced FST-7 leg workouts. You can read more about them in my article on FST-7 leg training – click here to learn more.

Advanced FST-7 Shoulder Workouts

Hany Rambod says the shoulders are a unique muscle group – they actually require more volume than any other body part to grow. Hany sometimes performs as much as 6-8 different exercises just for his shoulders!

Here is an advanced FST-7 shoulder workout that you can try. Check it out:

Hadi Choopan’s Advanced FST-7 Shoulder Workout

Exercise #1: Standing DB lateral raise, 4 sets of 10-20 reps**
Exercise #2: Seated DB overhead press, 4 sets of 10-20 reps
Exercise #3: 30 degree prone DB front raise, 4 sets of 10-20 reps
Exercise #4: Standing DB overhead press (neutral grip), 4 sets of 10-20 reps
Exercise #5: Seated DB lateral raise, 4 sets of 10-20 reps****
Exercise #6: Bent over DB rear delt fly, 4 sets of 10-20 reps
Exercise #7: Reverse pec dec, 7 sets of 10-15 reps, 30 seconds rest

**Perform 4-6 reps on one arm while the other arm holds the dumbbell in the top position, then switch arms. Repeat until you have performed 10-20 total reps on each arm.

****After your last set drop the dumbbells and perform lateral raises with just your arms. Have your training partner apply manual resistance down on your arms on the lowering phase of each rep.

Here is the training video:

This is a perfect example of how Hany Rambod organizes his advanced shoulder workouts. Hadi Choopan uses 7 different exercises to target his front, side and rear delts.

Some people may say this is too much training volume. However, Hany Rambod believes that these high-volume workouts are absolutely essential for building that 3-D look in the shoulders.

“Some people think that high volume comes with only back or legs. When you do shoulders, high volume is high volume. We’re pushing a lot of blood and we’re doing a lot of different angles.

Not only are we doing 1 type of lateral movement, sometimes we’re doing 2 or even 3 different lateral raises.”

In this workout Hany uses a combination of compound and isolation exercises. He believes the seated dumbbell shoulder press is the most important shoulder exercise you can do.

In fact, he includes it in almost all of his shoulder workouts. He also uses plenty of isolation exercises for his side and rear delts.

Here is another advanced shoulder workout that you can try. Check it out:

Andrei Deiu’s Advanced FST-7 Shoulder Workout

Exercise #1: Machine lateral raise, 7 sets of 10-15 reps, 30 seconds rest
Exercise #2: Machine overhead press, 4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #3: Seated DB overhead press, 4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #4: One-arm standing DB front raise, 4 sets of 8-15 reps
Exercise #5: Bent over rear delt DB fly, 4 sets of 8-15 reps

Here is the training video:

Hany Rambod uses his FST-7 Pre-Load technique for this workout. He performs 7 sets of lateral raises right at the start of the workout to pre-fatigue his side delts and pump them full of blood.

Hany says this technique can also help you stretch out the fascia tissue surrounding your side delts to create more room for growth.

“We’re going to start with an FST-7 pre-load. We’re going to do working sets, 7 sets, 30-45 seconds of rest in between each set and doing 10-15 reps. We’re going to push hard and really push that pre-pump.

What do you do with pre-pump? You’re trying to take that pump when you go to your compound movements when you have a better mind-muscle connection.”

Next Hany Rambod moves onto some heavy overhead pressing exercises, including his all-time favorite shoulder exercise: the seated dumbbell overhead press.

“The standard shoulder press. This is the mother of all shoulder exercises. I like it better than barbell presses. I love dumbbells because of the range of motion that you get. And this is what you need to build huge delts.

Machines, barbells and isolation exercises are great but this still has to be done. This is the mother of all shoulder exercises – the dumbbell overhead press.”

Finally Hany finishes the workout with some isolation work for his front and rear delts. The bottom line is Hany Rambod uses high-volume workouts with tons of isolation work to train his shoulders.

He says that the shoulders need more training volume than any other body part – including your legs or back – to grow.

Advanced FST-7 Arm Workouts

Hany Rambod says that the arms are another unique muscle group. You can’t just go in the gym and throw around a ton of weight on bench presses and barbell curls – he says that you have to be smart with your training.

One of Hany Rambod’s favorite strategies for arms is to pre-exhaust the triceps with rope pushdowns, and then perform heavier compound exercises like bench presses and dips towards the middle of the workout.

Here is one of Jay Cutler’s advanced FST-7 arm workouts where he does exactly this. Check it out:

Jay Cutler’s Advanced FST-7 Arm Workout

Exercise #1: Cable rope pushdowns, 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
Exercise #2: Bench press (shoulder-width grip), 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
Exercise #3: Lying ez-bar extensions (behind head), 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
Exercise #4: Seated overhead DB extensions, 7 sets of 10-15 reps, 30 seconds rest
Exercise #5: Standing DB curls (supinated grip), 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
Exercise #6: One-arm DB preacher curl (supinated grip), 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
Exercise #7: 30 degree DB spider curl (supinated grip), 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps
Exercise #8: Standing ez-bar curl (wide / supinated grip), 7 sets of 10-15 reps, 30 seconds rest

Here is the training video:

This is a perfect example of how Hany Rambod likes to design his advanced FST-7 arm workouts. Jay Cutler performs 8 total exercises for his arms: 4 for his triceps and 4 for his biceps. For his triceps routine Jay sticks with the usual FST-7 exercise sequencing rules.

He starts the workout with cable rope pushdowns to warm up his elbows. Then he moves onto the main mass-building exercises like bench presses and lying ez-bar extensions.

Hany Rambod has a special way he likes his athletes to do skull crushers: he has them extend the bar behind their head, rather than up over their chest.

“When we did skull crushers, we used a new technique for Jay Cutler. He pushed away from his forehead at a 45 degree angle. That was new for him and really got him super pumped.”

Finally Jay Cutler finishes the triceps routine with some FST-7 sets on the overhead dumbbell extension.

Jay Cutler’s advanced biceps routine was very similar: he performed 4 exercises, including 3 “base sets” exercises and one FST-7 movement where he performed 7 sets with short rest periods to really stretch out his fascia tissue.

Conclusion | FST-7 Advanced Workouts

The FST-7 Training Program is one of the most popular bodybuilding programs in the world.

Hany Rambod says it is ideal for advanced bodybuilders because it includes many techniques that are great for blasting through training plateaus, including mind-muscle connection exercises, supersets, partial reps and FST-7 sets.

If you are looking for an advanced training program to help you build muscle mass while avoiding injuries then the FST-7 Training Program is worth giving a shot. It may be just what you need to take your training to the next level.