Accelerative Low Rep Training

This type of high-set, low-rep training has become popular among strength coaches in various sports, and has been used by powerlifters and Olympic lifters for quite some time. It only makes sense that bodybuilders should start taking advantage of it as well.

Powerlifting super-coach Louie Simmons uses a form of it to achieve the awesome results he gets with his lifters. Another proponent of this training is strength/bodybuilding coach Charles Staley. His method is similar to what I prefer when it comes to building muscle mass. It's probably the method that would best be preferred by the majority of you out there who just want to pack on some more muscle mass.

Basically, for accelerative low-rep training, the force produced by each rep is more important than the amount of reps performed in each set. More sets are performed to compensate for the lack of volume. Let me explain.

Let us assume that you can perform 10 reps in the bench press with a weight that is approximately 70% of your 1 rep maximum, and you set about to do so at your next workout. After your first set, you rest several minutes and then perform another set of 10 reps, just barely getting all 10. After a few more minutes, you perform a third and final set and this time you also manage, but only barely, 10 repetitions.

You just performed a total of 30 repetions. Now, what if I told you that the better way to perform those 30 repetions was to perform 10 sets of 3 reps (accelerating as fast as possible on the positive portion of the rep) with the same weight, instead of 3 sets of 10. With 10 sets of 3 reps, you perform the same total workload but each rep is much more productive because you are able to put maximum force production into each and every rep. This is what builds raw strength, in addition to muscle. The 3 sets of 10 reps might build muscle, but it also makes the lifter very slow. Accelerative training builds explosive power and gives you the same, if not better, hypertrophy response than the high reps.

You might be scratching your head a bit at this point, but don't worry. Give the below routine a try and I promise you'll be a believer.

Day One: Chest, Lats, Shoulders

Bench Press- 10 sets of 3 reps. Use 70% of your one-rep maximum, taking no more than one minute of rest in between each set. Use about a 2 second negative, pause on your chest for no more than one second and then explode to lockout.

Wide-Grip Chins- 10 sets of 3 reps. Stay with the same 70% rule as above and perform each set with the same rep cadence.

Dumbbell Bench Press- 5 sets of 5 reps. These sets should be heavy. Rest two to three minutes between each set.

Bent-Over Rows- 5 sets of 5 reps. Same scheme as the Dumbbell Benches above.

Seated Behind-The-Neck Press- 10 sets of 3 reps. 70% of your one-rep maximum should be used once again.

Day Two: Legs, Hips, Lower Back

Squats, alternated with Deadlifts- 10 sets of 3 reps (each exercise). You might have thought the first workout was easy, but you'll be feeling the pain after this one. Use 70% of your 1 rep max on both exercises. Perform a set of squats, rest 1 minute, perform a set of deadlifts and so forth. Never take more than one minute between each set.

Hack Squats- 8 sets of 2 reps. Since squats don't work your lower quadriceps very hard, perform these as well. Once again, use 70%, but with 2 fewer sets and only 2 reps per set.

Day Three: Off

Day Four: Arms, Calves

Barbell Curls- 10 sets of 3 reps. Once again, use approximately 70% of your one-rep maximum. Make sure that you use 70% of a "no-cheat" maximum, in other words, whatever you can curl in strict form.

Lying Barbell Extensions- 10 sets of 3 reps. Using the 70% rule, alternate these with the above exercise. In other words, perform a set of curls, rest 30 to 60 seconds and perform a set of curls, alternating back and forth between the two until you have completed all 10 sets of each exercise.

Standing Calf Raises- 10 sets of 3 reps.

Day Five: Off

Day Six: Repeat Day One

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 i...

Basic Lifting, Instinctive Training

While doing research for my last article, I was re-reading Bradley Steiner’s original “Rugged Size and Strength” essay (from 1972) and came across this bit of advice: “Do not attempt to set up a pre-planned schedule of either sets or reps.” That may not seem like much—it’s the kind of “basic” advice that’s easily overlooked—but there is wisdom in it, minimal as it may seem at first glance. Depending on the workout program and the lifting population it’s aiming for, that quote could be either good or bad. It’s not good advice for a beginner’s program, any beginner’s program. It’s not good advice for intermediate or advanced lifters, either, who are attempting a new workout program or a new “style” of lifting that they haven’t utilized before. For instance, if you’ve been training for the past decade on a bodybuilding workout consi...

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 ...

C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Search This Blog