Skip to main content

In Praise of High-Sets, Low-Reps

     This week, it seems that I've received an inordinate number of e-mails.  Most of them have been related to questions regarding my latest article at Mike Mahler's website.  (If you haven't read that article—see the post a couple below this one—be sure to do so; and make sure that you check out Mike's site.  He's got a lot of good stuff there.)  I've been too busy to answer all of them—but I'll be sure to do so by the end of the weekend (hopefully).
     Anyway, I received an e-mail earlier today asking me what the single greatest "approach" is for building muscle mass.  In other words, what kind of workout program seems to elicit the best gains in both building muscle mass and garnering strength gains.  I started to answer with one of the more popular lines from strength coaches (and one of the most redundant):  "The best workout program is the one you're not doing."
     Then I decided that was a bit of a cop-out.
     Truth is, I do have a favorite approach.  And that's the high-set, low-rep approach.  I'm talking 10 to 20 sets of anywhere between 1 and 5 reps.  Pick one or two exercises at each workout.  I also like to pair an upper body pulling movement with a lower body pushing movement on one day, then an upper body pushing movement with a lower body pulling movement on another day, then have a day reserved for arm training, calf training, ab training—you know, the small stuff.  I find this is about as good as it gets.
     Here's what a good workout might look like:
Day One
Squats: 15 sets of 3 reps
Wide-Grip Chins: 20 sets of 3 reps
Day Two
Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses: 20 sets of 5 reps
Deadlifts: 15 sets of 2 reps
Day Three
Off
Day Four
Barbell Curls: 20 sets of 3 reps
Skullcrushers: 15 sets of 5 reps
Ab Wheel: 20 sets of 5 to 10 reps (Okay, I know that the reps are a little bit higher here, but that's for those of you who are conditioned enough to handle it.)
Day Five
Off
Day Six
Repeat with a different 5-day cycle of exercises

     Simple, but highly effective stuff.

Labels:

Comments

  1. TomFebruary 21, 2017 at 8:24 AM

    Thank you for this!

    However, how would you program this? For an example with squats, do you start at 70%, do the 15X3, add 5-10 pounds, and repeat next workout? Or start at a higher percentage, do 5x3 and gradually build up to 15 sets? Or, similar to Hepburn, do 15X1 and gradually build that to 15X3?

    Thanks in advance for your reply.

    ReplyDelete

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

Get Big Quick

       If you have been involved in the iron game for even a little while, you probably know most of the “get big advice.”   Stuff such as “eat a lot of protein and calories,” “train heavy on the big lifts,” “get plenty of rest and recovery,” and other such “basic” advice can be found in any number of articles, YouTube videos, or Facebook posts.   And most of it is pretty good and fairly sound—I’ve written plenty of such articles covering similar material here on the blog and I will continue to do so.   But in this essay, I want to do something just a little bit different.   Here, I want to look at some various tips, training ideas, and nutritional hacks that are not your run-of-the-mill suggestions.   Most of these are not to be used long-term, but they can be quite useful when utilized over a short period of time, such as one training cycle or even over the course of only a few weeks.      Before we get starte...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
2 comments
Read more