Big 4 Variations

 

     In hundreds of articles and essays—both here on the blog and in various magazines and internet sites—I essentially repeat the same stuff.  Take what I call “The Big 4” for instance.  I’ve written about it ad nauseam, so much that you’ll find it repeated over and over on this site.  So why am I writing about it again, in what you’re now staring at on your computer screen, tablet, or phone?  The other day I received an email from a reader who wanted to know how to incorporate all of the elements of the Big 4 into his training split.  And my answer is essentially what precipitated this essay.

     Before we go any further, assuming you don’t know about the Big 4, here goes:  No matter what your goals are—whether you just want to look good naked, enter a strongman competition, gain as much muscle as humanly possible, or step on a bodybuilding stage; male or female—you must do the following 4 things each and every single week:

1. Squat something heavy.

2. Pick heavy stuff off the floor.

3. Press heavy stuff over your head.

4. Drag or carry various objects or implements.

     It doesn’t matter if you’re doing full-body workouts, a two-way split program, or a “bro” split where you only work one bodypart at each session.  No matter your program, you must do these four things every week, week in and week out, year in and year out.  It really adds up.

     Your average gym-goer never does these 4 things.  Oh, they might do one or two of them each week.  Occasionally, I’ll even talk to a lifter who does 3 of them, but I have never known a lifter that was doing all four of these when they came to me for advice.  (If they did, then, to be honest, they wouldn’t be asking me for advice in the first place.)

     The Big 4 are the what, but in this essay, I want to discuss the how.  Because the Big 4 are so versatile, in the sense that they “work” for any program, a lifter can sometimes get confused about the best way to implement them.  If you give the average lifter too much freedom, he or she often ends up simply “trying” a lot of stuff—simply playing around at the gym and doing random “whatever” workouts.

     What follows are some ideas for different programs based on your strength level, your goals, and your genetics.

Basic, Full-Body Program

     If you are new to training—or if you have been training for I-don’t-care-how-long and have never developed any appreciable mass and/or strength—then start with this program.  This will also be good if you’re new to training no matter your goals, be it strength, muscle mass, or a combination of both.  This is a two-days-per-week program.  The most popular days to train would probably be Mondays and Thursdays, although I always liked training on Sundays and Wednesdays when following something similar.

Day One:

1. Squats - 5 sets of 5 reps.  Perform 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps.  Only the last set should be “all-out.”  You may not even get 5 reps on your last set, and that’s fine.  Stick with that weight at each session until you do get 5 reps.

2. Barbell Bench Presses - 5 sets of 5 reps.  Use the same methodology as the squats.

3. Chins - 3 to 4 sets of close to maximum reps.  

4. Barbell Curls - 5 sets of 5 reps.  Same methodology as the squats and bench presses.

5. Loaded Carries - 1 set all out.  Pick a loaded carry of your choice.  If you train at a commercial gym, then you may only have access to heavy dumbbells, so the correct choice would be farmer walks.  Other good selections would be sandbag carries, stone carries, keg carries, suitcase carries (one arm at a time) or sled drags. (I consider dragging heavy implements to be “carries” even though, well, you’re dragging s**t.)  Heck, you can even get your old lady (or old man—sorry, ladies, I don’t mean to be sexist) to hop in your truck, put it in neutral, and let you push it around your cul-de-sac.  Whatever option you choose, make it heavy, and do one all-out set.  Done correctly, you won’t really need anything more than that one set.

6. Abdominal work of your choice - 1 or 2 sets.

Day Two:

1. Deadlifts - 5 sets of 5 reps.  Perform 5 progressively heavier sets same as the lifts from Day One.

2. Barbell Overhead Presses - 5 sets of 5 reps.  Same method as the other 5x5 lifts.

3. Power Cleans - 5 sets of 3 reps.  For this exercise, select a weight where you can probably get 6 or 7 reps, and perform 5 straight sets of 3 reps with this weight.

4. Loaded Carries - 1 set all out.  Select a different movement from what you utilized on Day One, but perform it in the same manner as your Day One lift.

5. Abdominal work of your choice - 1 or 2 sets. 

The 40-Day Program

     This is an “easy strength” program that was the inspiration for my “30 Rep Program.”  It comes from the minds of Dan John and Pavel Tsatsouline, two of the best coaches in all of strength sports in my book.  The way I do it is slightly different from the program as John wrote it in order to ensure that it fits the criteria of the Big 4.  Here’s an outline:

1. For the next 40 days, do the exact same workout every day.  John says, however, that he usually reaches his strength goals somewhere around day 20 to 25, so you could opt for an even shorter run of it.

2. Pick 5 exercises to train each day.  Obviously, 4 of the movements are going to be a squat, an overhead press, a pull, and a loaded carry.  You will also perform an abdominal exercise as the 5th movement.

3. Perform 2 sets of 5 reps for the squat, pull, and press.  For abs, do a single set of 5 reps.  For the loaded carry movement, do one hard set but not all out.

4. Don’t “plan” the exact weight you’re going to lift each day.  That’s not how this program works.  As John says, you should go heavy “naturally.”

5. To quote John: “Don't eat chalk, scream, or pound on walls. Simply do each lift without any emotion or excitement and strive for perfect technique.”

     Here are a few examples of what lifts you might select for the 40 (or 20) days:

Option A

Barbell squats

Barbell overhead presses

Power cleans

Farmer walks

Ab wheel

Option B

Bottom-position squats

One-arm dumbbell overhead presses (2 sets of 5 for each arm)

Thick-bar deadlifts

Sandbag carries

Barbell rollout (if you think that the ab wheel is tough, this one is even harder)

Option C

Front squats

Barbell push presses

Power snatches

Sled drags

Weighted sit-ups

     Here is some advice for making this program “work” straight from John:

     The secret to the program is that you get your volume from doing up to ten sets of a lift in a week and the load increases as you naturally feel like the weights are "easy." It is that simple.

     The first time I tried this program under Pavel's direction, I added 15 pounds to my lifetime incline bench press during the twenty-first workout, approximately a month after starting the program. I did this max with no spotter and I got the lift for a double. It was a 15-pound improvement over my lifetime best with an extra rep as a parting gift without doing a single hard workout. Just two sets of five anytime I entered the gym.

     With a home gym, I can train this program daily, but I naturally find that I take days off here and there simply because of the nature of life. You could do all 40 (or 20) days in a row, but things will come up.

     After finishing either all 40 days or when you feel your strength has come up to a level that more advanced training methods are appropriate, feel free to move along. The short time you invest in focusing on strength building will do wonders for your muscle mass as you begin to attack supersets or whatever you deem important.*

Dinosaur Training-Inspired Power Rack Program

     The program below is similar to one that I once utilized (way back in, like, the last century) after reading Brooks Kubik’s “Dinosaur Training.”  It’s also a good change of pace after doing high-frequency workouts such as the 40-Day Program.  This is a 3-days-per-week program, but you only train each lift once-per-week.  Most lifters like to do this on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday if they want the weekends off.  If you like training one day on the weekend, however, then train on either Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday or Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday.  Always take two days off after the last training day of the week.

Day One:

1. Bottom-position Squats - 5 progressively heavier singles.  Work up to a near max, but not your absolute limit.

2. Barbell Squats - 5 progressively heavier triples.  Do these in the “conventional” style.  Work up to a really heavy triple, but as with the singles, it shouldn't be an all-out max effort.

3. Barbell Overhead Presses - 5 progressively heavier sets of 3 to 5 reps.

4. Ab Wheel - 1 or 2 sets of 5 to 8 reps.

5. Farmer Walks - 3 to 4 sets all-out.

 Day Two:

1. Thick-bar Bottom-position Bench Presses - 5 progressively heavier singles.  Perform these the same as the bottom-position squats from Day One.

2. Barbell Bench Presses (conventional style) - 5 progressively heavier triples, same as the barbell squats from Day One.

3. Weighted Chins - 5 progressively heavier sets of 3 reps.

4. Barbell Curls - 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps.  Utilize the same weight on all sets.  These should be hard but not all-out.

Day Three:

1. Sumo Deficit Deadlifts - 5 progressively heavier singles, performed in the same manner as the bottom-position squats and bottom-position bench presses from your other training days.

2. Thick-bar Rack Pulls - 5 progressively heavier triples.  Do these in the same manner as the barbell squats from Day One and the barbell bench presses from Day Two.  Set the pins in the rack so that you are starting a little below knee level.

3. One-Arm Dumbbell Overhead Presses - 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps (each arm).  As with the barbell curls from Day Two, these are straight sets that are hard but not all-out “limit” sets.

4. Weighted Sit-ups - 1 or 2 sets of 5 to 8 reps.

5. Sandbag Carries - 3 to 4 sets all-out.

Final Thoughts

     I hope this article has given you some ideas about different ways that you can implement the Big 4 in your training.  Keep in mind, however, that these are just 3 examples.  The variations that you could utilize are almost endless.

*From “The 40-Day Program” by Dan John, in the online magazine T-Nation, published 5-19-2009