Bradley Steiner’s Rugged Size and Strength Split Routine – Easy Strength Version

 

Bradley J. Steiner, author of the original "Rugged Size and Strength Split Routine"

     In the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, Bradley J. Steiner was the voice of (what he called) “sane, sensible” barbell training.  His workouts were full-body programs done 3 times per week, utilizing a limited number of big “bang-for-your-buck” movements such as squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, bench presses, overhead presses, barbell curls and the like.  They were intended for the average, drug-free lifter who didn’t have the luxury of living at Muscle Beach in Venice, California and training all day, but worked a full-time job, had a wife and kids—you know, a “regular” life—but still wanted to build a strong, impressive physique that could move some heavy iron and turn heads at the local swimming hole.

     He wrote prolifically for (primarily) IronMan magazine up until the early years of this century.  When I started writing for IronMan in 1994, he had a monthly column for the magazine entitled “Fundamentals” that was chock full of all the information the natural bodybuilder needed.  His programs weren’t “glitzy” or “glamorous,” but if a lifter took the advice to heart and applied it in his training, he wouldn’t have needed much, if anything, else.

     For those lifters who did follow Steiner’s advice and knew of his almost utter disdain for the split training of the top bodybuilders of the day, they must have been quite shocked when they picked up the January ’72 issue of IronMan, only to discover he had written a program entitled “The Rugged Size and Strength Split Routine.”  But it wasn’t a “split routine” as the term was commonly used for programs at the time.  In fact, Steiner preferred describing it as a “divided workout schedule.”  It worked like this:

     On three days per week, say on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you followed this workout:

Bench presses

Bent-over barbell rows

Stiff-legged deadlifts

Squats

Your favorite abdominal exercise

     Then, on two alternate days, say Tuesday and Saturday, you did the following:

Barbell overhead presses

Barbell curls

     I have written about this program before, and if you’re interested in using it as Steiner initially recommended more than 50 years ago(!), then I suggest reading this past article of mine: Old Time Mass Tactics: Bradley Steiner's Rugged Size and Strength Split Routine.  In this article, however, I want to present to you an “easy strength” version of the program that will work wonders for packing on size, strength, and power to your physique.  In fact, I believe the Rugged Size and Strength template is ready-made for an easy strength way of lifting.

     I have written a lot about the easy strength methods of training over the last couple years, and I have several articles on the blog that explain it in more depth, but here are some of the general tenets for creating an easy strength program of your own:

1.      Train with full-body workouts using a limited number of basic barbell, dumbbell, or kettlebell lifts such as squats, bench presses, overhead presses, chins, dips, curls, cleans, snatches, or deadlifts.

2.      Lift 5 to 6 days per week.

3.      On average, keep your reps per set in the 1-5 range.  Doubles and triples are probably the perfect “sweet spot.”  Occasionally, you can do higher rep sets in the 8-10 range but only for 1 set.

4.      You should also average around 10 reps per lift per workout.  Pavel, in his and Dan John’s book Easy Strength, recommends these set/rep combos: 5x2; 2x5; 3x5,3,2; 3x3; 3x3,4,3; 3x4,2,4; 4x1,2,3,4; 4x4,3,2,1; 5x1,2,3,2,1.  When training with only singles, drop your total reps down to 6.

5.      Train between 80% to 95% of your one-rep max.  Always leave a couple reps “in the tank.”

6.      Go for a PR on either singles or reps on days when you feel particularly strong but don’t go “all-out.”  Instead, go for a “near max.”

7.      Vary the intensity throughout a training cycle.  Here is Dan John’s recommendation for varying your training loads over the course of several sessions: 3x3 (heavy), 5x2 (heavier), 2x5 (light), 6x1 (working up to a “near max”), 1x10 (very light for “tonic” recovery set), 3x5,3,2 (moderate).

      Applying these principles to the Rugged Size and Strength Routine template, let’s see what a couple weeks of workouts might look like.  I will offer two programs.  The first uses the same exercises throughout the training cycle, and it is the best option if you’re a relative beginner (if you aren’t very strong, then you’re a beginner; I don’t care how long you’ve been “training”) or if you’re more advanced but are new to easy strength methods.  You can also use it even if you’re advanced and have trained using easy strength routines before, but you also know that you get the best results by sticking with the same exercises for multiple workouts.  The 2^nd program is what most advanced lifters should use.  It uses the “same but different” method of rotating exercises but having the new movements be very similar to the ones they are replacing.

Program #1

Week One:

Monday:

Bench presses – 3x3

Bent-over barbell rows – 3x3

Stiff-legged deadlifts – 3x3

Squats – 3x3

Ab wheel – 1x8

Tuesday:

Barbell overhead presses – 3x3

Barbell curls – 3x3

Wednesday:

Bench presses – 5x2

Bent-over barbell rows – 5x2

Stiff-legged deadlifts – 5x2

Squats – 5x2

Ab wheel – 2x5

Thursday:

OFF

Friday:

Bench presses – 2x5

Bent-over barbell rows – 2x5

Stiff-legged deadlifts – 2x5

Squats – 2x5

Ab wheel – 1x5

Saturday:

Barbell overhead presses – 5x2

Barbell curls – 5x2

Sunday:

OFF

Week Two:

Monday:

Bench presses – 6x1

Bent-over barbell rows – 6x1

Stiff-legged deadlifts – 6x1

Squats – 6x1

Ab wheel – 1x8

Tuesday:

Barbell overhead presses – 6x1

Barbell curls – 6x1

Wednesday:

Bench presses – 1x10

Bent-over barbell rows – 1x10

Stiff-legged deadlifts – 1x10

Squats – 1x10

Ab wheel – 1x5

Thursday:

OFF

Friday:

Bench presses – 3x5,3,2

Bent-over barbell rows – 3x5,3,2

Stiff-legged deadlifts – 3x5,3,2

Squats – 3x5,3,2

Ab wheel – 2x5

Saturday:

Barbell overhead presses – 3x5,3,2

Barbell curls – 3x5,3,2

Sunday:

OFF

Program #2

Monday:

Bench presses – 3x3

Bent-over barbell rows – 3x3

Stiff-legged deadlifts – 3x3

Squats – 3x3

Ab wheel – 1x8

Tuesday:

Barbell overhead presses – 3x3

Barbell curls – 3x3

Wednesday:

Bottom-position bench presses – 5x2

Weighted chins – 5x2

Power cleans – 5x2

Front squats – 5x2

Ab wheel – 2x5

Thursday:

OFF

Friday:

Dumbbell bench presses – 2x5

One-arm dumbbell rows – 2x5 (each arm)

Romanian deadlifts – 2x5

Dumbbell squats – 2x5

Ab wheel – 1x5

Saturday:

One-arm dumbbell overhead presses – 5x2 (each arm)

Thick bar barbell curls – 5x2

Sunday:

OFF

Week Two:

Monday:

Board presses – 6x1

Barbell shrugs – 6x1

Sumo deadlifts – 6x1

Bottom-position squats – 6x1

Ab wheel – 1x8

Tuesday:

Barbell overhead presses – 6x1

Barbell curls – 6x1

Wednesday:

Bench presses – 1x10

Bent-over barbell rows – 1x10

Stiff-legged deadlifts – 1x10

Squats – 1x10

Ab wheel – 1x5

Thursday:

OFF

Friday:

Bottom-position bench presses – 3x5,3,2

Weighted chins – 3x5,3,2

Power cleans – 3x5,3,2

Front squats – 3x5,3,2

Ab wheel – 2x5

Saturday:

One-arm dumbbell overhead presses – 3x5,3,2 (each arm)

Thick bar barbell curls – 3x5,3,2

Sunday:

OFF

     Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the program:

·         I kept the order of the exercises the same as what Steiner recommended in his original program.  But feel free to change it around if you want.  For instance, a lot of lifters like to start their full body sessions with squats and a heavy pull movement just to get them out of the way.

·         When training for mass and power, make sure that you eat adequate calories every day and are getting enough protein.  You won’t make gains without doing so.

·         Make sure you get enough sleep at night and are resting enough during the day.  As with nutrition, it’s hard to make good gains on a mass and power program if your sleep and rest aren’t adequate.

·         Stick with the program for at least 6 to 8 weeks.  You can stick with Program #2 even longer since it has variety built into it.

     As always, if you have a question about the program, shoot me an email or leave your question(s) in the comments section below.

 

 

 

Sources

 

“The Rugged Size and Strength Split Routine” by Bradley J. Steiner; January 1972 IronMan magazine (Vol.31, No.2)

 

Easy Strength: How to Get a Lot Stronger than Your Competition—and Dominate in Your Sport by Dan John and Pavel; 2011, Dragon Door Publications