Heavy Singles
When I first made the
switch from focusing on bodybuilding to focusing on power training, I
immediately enjoyed the training and the results they brought me. One of the reasons I enjoyed strength
and power training so much was the implementation of heavy singles into my
programs. It was enjoyable to lift
near maximum weights on a regular basis—and to get great strength gains from
all the uber-heavy training.
One thing that
worried me about heavy singles, however, was losing a lot of my muscle
size. I had originally been
taught—by bodybuilders who were friends of mine or through the various articles
in the bodybuilding magazines each month—that singles were good for building
maximal strength, but would have little to no impact on gaining (or even
maintaining) muscle mass. I had
always been taught that for maximum hypertrophy you needed to concentrate on
sets in the 6 to 8 repetition range.
I thought if I started training with sets of 3 reps, 2, or (God forbid)
1 rep, I would be training my nervous system, and making my tendons and
ligaments stronger, but I wouldn’t be getting any hypertrophy gains.
Imagine how surprised
I was when, not only was I keeping my muscle, but my arms were soon larger than
they had ever been. And the only
things I had been doing for my arms were barbell curls, reverse barbell curls,
and close-grip bottom-position bench presses—all for singles. I have been sold on singles ever since.
There are several
good ways to implement singles into your training programs. Two of the best ways are to either use
progressively heavier singles or to perform multiple singles with the same
weight on all sets. The workouts
below will use both of these methods.
These workouts are great to use after a few months on the programs in
Part Three. They will also prepare
you for all the hard and heavy work you’ll be doing in the workouts in the
upcoming parts of this series.
New To Singles
This first program is
for those of you who are new to single-repetition training. It will also prepare you for the
routines that are to follow. In
this one (as in the others we have followed so far) you will be using the
heavy/light/medium method of full-body training.
Heavy Day
·
Full Squats—3 to 6
singles. I wrote down full
squats because I don’t want you to
get in the habit of doing half squats since you will be using more weight than
you are used to handling. Leave
your ego at the gym door (or at the garage door if you train at home as I do)
when squatting for singles. For
this exercise (as with all the core lifts in the program), I want you to start
out with a weight where you can get at least 3 singles (usually about 90-95% of
your max) after a sufficient warm-up.
Add singles at every workout until you are able to do 6 singles with the
weight. When you get all 6
singles, add weight at the next workout and repeat the process. This is one of the time-proven methods
to build maximum strength. It has
worked for such all-time great strength athletes as Doug Hepburn, Paul Anderson,
and Pat Casey. If it worked for
them, it will work for you.
·
Flat Bench Presses—3 to
6 singles. Use the same method
that you used on squats. As for
your technique, I want you to make sure you pause for a count of one second at
the bottom of each repetition.
Don’t get in the habit of bouncing the weight off your chest despite the
heavy weights.
·
Deadlifts—2 to 4
singles. On this exercise, you
won’t need to do as much volume
(deadlifts, by their nature, simply don’t require as much work to bring them up
as squats and benches). For that
reason, I want you doing no more than 4 multiple singles at around 90-95% of
your maximum.
·
Bent-arm Dumbbell
Pullovers—3 sets of 10 reps.
George Turner (one of the greats in bodybuilding) once called this
exercise the upper body squat, and for a good reason—it works your triceps,
shoulders, lats, and chest (especially your lats and tris). Work hard on each set, but take every
set a rep or two shy of failure.
·
Dumbbell Curls
supersetted w/ bench dips—2 sets of 20 reps (each exercise). Work each set hard, and concentrate on
getting a good pump. Because of
all the heavy singles at the beginning of the session, you don’t need low repetitions
on these exercises. As with the
pullovers, don’t take any set to failure, but still work them hard.
·
Abs—3 sets of 30-50
reps. Pick any of the ab exercises
you have come to enjoy and work one of them very hard. If you need to, add extra weights via a
plate on your chest (on crunches or sit-ups) or a dip belt (hanging leg raises,
knee-ups, etc.).
Light Day
·
Full Squats—6
singles. For all 6 of these “work
sets” use a weight that’s around 80% of the weight used on heavy day. Alternate between 3 different stances—2
sets wide, 2 sets close, and 2 sets medium.
·
Flat Bench Presses—5
singles. All these sets should be
done with 80% of the heavy day’s work weight. Concentrate on using good form (pausing on your chest,
keeping your hips on the bench, driving the weight up with your feet, etc.)
·
Deadlifts Off a Box—4
singles. Use only around 70% of
the heavy day’s weight for conventional deadlifts. Your lower back will need the extra rest.
·
Lying Dumbbell Triceps
Extensions—4 sets of 10 reps. Take
every set three to four reps shy of failure.
·
Abs-3 sets of 30-50
reps.
Medium Day
·
Bottom-position Squats—3
to 6 singles. Your goal here is to
use 90-95% of what you used on your heavy day for all of the singles. For many, it’s going to be hard to even
do that much. Train this exercise
hard (I can’t stress that enough) and it will pay off big time, however.
·
Bottom-position Bench
Presses—3 to 6 singles. Use the
same system that you used on the squats above, setting the pins at chest level.
·
Rack Deadlifts—2 to 4
singles. Set the pins in the power
rack so you start this exercise at about knee level.
·
Barbell Curls
supersetted w/ Close-grip Push-ups—2 sets of 20 reps (each exercise).
·
Abs—3 sets of 30 to 50
reps.
Advanced Program
After you have done
the above program for at least six weeks, your body should be well acclimated
to single-repetition work and ready for a more advanced regimen of heavy
singles. This program has a
greater total workload and better prepares you for the workouts to come. You will notice that this program also
contains an extra light workout.
If you have been training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, then this extra
light session would fit in best on Tuesday. While not everyone needs this extra session, it will work
wonders for a lot of lifters who need to add in some extra work, but don’t need
to make their heavy workouts any longer than they are already.
Heavy Day
·
Squats—2 to 5 singles
(followed by a possible max effort), followed by 1 set of 5 reps and 1 set of
10 reps. After the initial
program, your nervous system should be more efficient at moving heavy singles,
which is the reason I have you starting with a weight you can only get 2
singles with. If you manage to get
all 5 singles with the weight you’re using, then go for a personal record on a
6th set. Never attempt
a weight you have done before—go for a new record every time. After your final single, drop down in
weight for a set that makes you work hard for 5 reps, followed by one that
makes you work hard for 10 repetitions.
·
Flat Bench Presses—2 to
5 singles (plus max effort if necessary), followed by 1 set of 5 reps and 1 set
of 10 reps. Use the same method as
the squats.
·
Deadlifts, Deadlifts
Off Blocks, or Rack Deadlifts—5 to 7 progressively heavier singles, followed by
3 sets of 3 reps. For these use a
different method than the squats or bench presses. Rotating between the three exercises every week, work up
over 5 to 7 singles until you hit a maximum weight. After your final single, drop down to 80-85% of that weight
and perform 3 sets of 3 reps.
·
Dumbbell Curls
alternated w/ Close-grip bench presses—varying repetition ranges. Change the sets and reps every week,
using 4 sets of 10-15, 2 sets of 20, 5 sets of 8, etc. Shoot for around 80-100 reps total
between both exercises.
·
Abs—5 sets of 40 to 60
reps. Pick a hard exercise for
this day—hanging leg raises, steep incline sit-ups, etc.
Light
Day (one)
·
Front squats or
Overhead Squats—5 singles. Use a
weight that’s around 50-60% of the weight used on squats the previous day—just
don’t go over 60%. Alternate
between these exercises, doing the overhead squats every third week. As for form, on the front squats make
sure the bar is resting high across your chest, almost on you neck. This will make you squat very upright
and will work your quadriceps hard.
For the overhead squats, press the weight over your head. Once it is locked out, keep it there as
you squat down and up over the course of the entire set.
·
Overhead Presses—2 to 5
singles, followed by 1 set of 5 reps.
Use the same technique as the bench presses from the heavy day, just
make sure to drop the second down set of 10 repetitions.
·
Snatch Grip Deadlifts—3
to 6 singles. By snatch grip, I’m
talking about using a wide grip, with your pinky finger almost touching the
power rings—the same grip used by Olympic lifters when performing the snatch. This exercise is naturally tougher
because of your grip and the way it works your back muscles. Still, make sure you use no more than
50% of what you used on your back exercise on the heavy day.
Light
Day (two)
·
Close-stance, High-bar
Pause squats—2 to 5 singles. Use the
same method with these as the squats on Monday, omitting any of the down
sets. Make sure you pause for a
count of 2 to 3 seconds at the bottom of the movement.
·
Incline Bench Presses—2
to 5 singles. Use the same 2x5
system as the pause squats above.
·
Rounded Back Good
Mornings—4 to 5 progressively heavier singles. Work up to a weight that’s around 90% of your maximum on the
final single.
·
Dips—5 progressively
heavier sets of 8, 5, or 3 reps.
Use a dip belt to add weight on these. Alternate between the three different repetition ranges each
week.
·
Abs—5 sets of 40 to 60
reps.
Medium Day
·
Box Squats—2 to 5
singles, followed by 1 set of 5 reps and 1 set of 10 reps. Use the same method with these as the
regular squats on heavy day—without the maximum attempt after all 5
singles. The nature of this
exercise should take care of how much weight you use, just make sure you don’t
exceed 90% of the weight from the heavy day. For form, use a box that, when you sit down on it, is below
parrallel. Make sure you sit back on the box, not straight down. Pause on the box briefly, relaxing your
hip muscles but keeping your other muscles tight.
·
Close-grip Bench
Presses—2 to 5 singles, followed by 1 set of 5 reps and 1 set of 10 reps. Use the same set/rep format as bench
presses on heavy day, except don’t attempt a maximum attempt at the end of the
5 singles.
·
Barbell Shrugs—5 to 7
progressively heavier singles.
Start out with a couple of light warm-upsets of 5 reps. After that, work up over 5 to 7 singles
until you hit your max weight for the day.
·
Barbell Cheat Curls—5
progressively heavier singles. For
these, don’t just let your biceps do the work. Intentionally cheat throughout the concentric portion of the
movement by using your hips and back to swing the weight up. Throughout the eccentric portion, lower
with control.
·
Abs—5 sets of 40 to 60
reps.
Conclusion
After several months
on the above programs, I can guarantee you will be bigger, stronger, and
thicker than before you started either program. You’ll also have the muscle and strength in all the right
places since these routines focus on the rear of your body just as much as the
front. Even if your goal in
training is to be a competitive bodybuilder, I don’t want you skimming over
this part without trying it (or any of the future parts with programs that
include singles). Trust me: even
if your main goal is hypertrophy, your body will benefit from these
workouts. There’s a noticeable
difference between the look of muscle built with heavy, low rep training, and
the type built with high-rep pumping workouts. Never forget it!