Skip to main content

21s for Strength and Power

     Big Jim Williams - who died not that long ago at the age of 65 - was one of the great legends of strength and power that you just don't hear that much about.  What a shame.  Not only was Williams strong (he bench pressed 675 pounds in a meet wearing nothing but a t-shirt and lifting belt, and did an "unofficial" bench of 700 pounds in the gym), but he was massively muscular and had a wealth of knowledge for anyone interested in getting bigger and stronger.

     One of the techniques that Williams liked to use - especially for more advanced lifters or for lifters who are "built" for a certain lift - was something called "21s."  And, no, these are not the 21s that are popular for bodybuilders.

     Here's how real 21s work: On your major lifts (squats, benches, deads, overhead presses - whatever lift it is that you're trying to get stronger) you perform no more than 21 total reps for that lift in the workout.  Using this technique you then train the lift rather frequently.  Anywhere between 3 to 5 days per lift, for instance.  (On deadlifts you might want to do less; the muscles of the lower back simply take longer to recover for most lifters.)

     Let's say that you have a max squat that hovers somewhere in the 400 pound range.  Using 21s your workout might go like this: 135 for 5 reps, 225 for 5 reps, 275 for 5 reps, 315 for 3 reps, 375 for 2 reps, 400 for 1 single.  You then repeat this workout another 2 to 3 days during the week.  Because the volume is so low on the lift, your body can handle the frequent training.  Slowly increase the weight over the course of a few weeks, and before you know it your squat is better than ever.

     Here is what a week of training might look like for a powerlifter trying to increase all his/her 3 lifts:

Monday: Squats: 21 reps, Bench Presses: 21 reps, chins for 5 sets of 5 reps, lying dumbbell triceps extensions for 3 sets of 10 reps

Tuesday: Bench Presses: 21 reps, Deadlifts: 21 reps

Wednesday: Squats: 21 reps, barbell curls for 3 sets of 10 reps, front plate raises for 3 sets of 10 reps

Thursday: Deadlifts: 21 reps, Bench Presses: 21 reps, bench dips for 2 sets of 20 reps

Friday: Squats: 21 reps

Saturday: Bench Presses: 21 reps

     It's a shame you don't see more of this kind of lifting performed nowadays.  Maybe it's not very popular because it's just too straightforward and basic.  There's nothing glamorous about it, that's for sure.  Of course, there was nothing glamorous about Jim Williams either, just a heaping mountain of mass and might.  That's all.

     May Jim Williams rest in peace.  He deserves it.  But may his training programs get more respect and more use by modern lifters.  He deserves that as well.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Feel free to leave us some feedback on the article or any topics you would like us to cover in the future! Much Appreciated!

Popular posts from this blog

Full-Body Big & Strong

A 3 Days Per Week, “Moderate Strength” Program for Size and Power      Last week, I published a Q&A article based on a few questions that I had been asked in the preceding weeks.  One of the questions asked was if it was possible to do an “easy strength” program just 3 days per week.  I answered the question in the best way that I could—if you want to read my answer in full, then, well, read that article—but the more that I thought about it in the days since, the more I think that one of my answers might just be the way to set up a full-body program for 3 days per week of training.  I suggested that it might work for a 3 day program if you simply bumped up your total volume to around 15 reps per lift.  In this article, I want to outline in much more detail what this might look like and how you can use it to get the most out of a 3 day per week, full-body program.      In many ways, this shouldn’t really be thou...
2 comments
Read more

Tommy Kono’s Insights

  Strength-Building and Mind-Power Secrets from the 20th Century’s Greatest Weightlifter/Bodybuilder      I love old-school bodybuilders.  If you’ve scoured this site, or have been a long-time reader, you’re probably aware of that.  My most popular articles at Integral Strength are almost all “classic bodybuilding” pieces.      Old-school bodybuilders—especially before the ‘70s—were a different breed.  Like bodybuilders today, they trained for aesthetics and to have a pleasing physique, but they also trained for strength and power, for flexibility, on various “odd” lifts, and for all-around athleticism.  They were, essentially, one part bodybuilder, one part weightlifter, and one part gymnast.  But a few stood out above all others.  One of those was, without a doubt, the great Tommy Kono.  Superlatives such as “great” are heaped upon a lot of old-time lifters, but with Kono it’s no hyperbole....
4 comments
Read more

Marvin Eder’s Mass-Building Methods

  The Many and Varied Mass-Building Methods of Power Bodybuilding’s G.O.A.T. Eder as he appeared in my article "Full Body Workouts" for IronMan  magazine.      In many ways, the essay you are now reading is the one that has had the “longest time coming.”  I have no clue why it has taken me this long to write an article specifically on Marvin Eder, especially considering the fact that I have long considered him the greatest bodybuilder cum strength athlete of all friggin’ time .  In fact, over 20 years ago, I wrote this in the pages of IronMan magazine: In my opinion, the greatest all-around bodybuilder, powerlifter and strength athlete ever to walk the planet, Eder had 19-inch arms at a bodyweight of 198. He could bench 510, squat 550 for 10 reps and do a barbell press with 365. He was reported to have achieved the amazing feat of cranking out 1,000 dips in only 17 minutes. Imagine doing a dip a second for 17 minutes. As Gene Mozee once put ...
Post a Comment
Read more