Variations on the 10 Sets of 10 Reps Method for One-Exercise-Per-Bodypart Training Since the ‘90s, I’ve preached the benefits of one-exercise-per-bodypart workouts in articles I wrote for Ironman magazine and MuscleMag International . The very first method that I touted was the 10 sets of 10 reps workout. Back in the last century, when I still trained as a bodybuilder before my “conversion” to powerlifter, I did most of my hypertrophy workouts using the standard multiple exercises per muscle group for multiple sets—typically 3 to 4 lifts per bodypart for 3 to 4 sets of (somewhere between) 6 and 12 repetitions. I’d hazard that’s still the way most bodybuilders train in today’s gyms. Back then, I was “chasing the pump” in most of my workouts. I noticed something, though. I would often start a workout with a good pump on my first exercise but when I switched to a new one, I would lose my pump or it would diminish somewhat. ...
Simple Methods to Improve Your Workouts and Obtain Better Results Over the years, one of my most popular articles has been my “ Train Long, Not Hard ” feature that I wrote for Testosterone Nation around the beginning of this century. The title comes from a saying of Arthur Jones, the creator of Nautilus equipment and the father of so-called “high-intensity training” and the whole one-set-to-complete-momentary-muscular-failure approach to workouts. He and Mike Mentzer are responsible for brain-washing an entire generation of lifters and quite possibly ruining real strength training, at least here in America—though I’ll save my ramblings on that for another essay or you can read my article on REAL High-Intensity Training . Anyway, his saying goes like this: “You can either train long or you can train hard, but you can’t do both.” Jones, quite obviously, believed that “train hard” was the answer to that conundrum. In my article...