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

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

The Squat and Grow Big Program

A Hybrid High-Frequency Regimen for Natural Mass-Building      I have long been a fan of high-frequency training (HFT) and other methods of lifting that go against the stream of most modern training.   This is especially true of strictly muscle-building methods.   Perhaps it’s hubris on my part to think that I know better than bodybuilders lifting in today’s gyms, but I think there are better methods for the natural bodybuilder than what is currently used by the vast majority of lifters (at least in the West—bodybuilders in East Europe are another story).      Infrequent training simply isn’t a good method for the majority of lifters if their goal is to gain muscle mass.  And by “majority” I mean  natural  lifters.  Steroids change the equation—and change it  big time .  Anabolic steroid use is often cited as the reason why bodybuilders from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and early ‘90s (before Dorian ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Train Heavy. Train Often.

       If you’re a natural lifter who wants to gain plenty of muscle mass but also the strength to go with it, I think there are three things that are paramount.   First, you need to train heavy.   Second, you need to train often.   And third, you need to remain fresh while doing the first two.      If you’re a student of the lifting game, and if something about my above statement seems vaguely familiar, there’s an explanation for that.   I basically paraphrased the great Russian strength coach Vladimir M. Zatsiorsky, who, rather famously, said that the key to strength training was “to train as heavy as possible as often as possible while being as fresh as possible.”   That quote is well-known for a reason.   Following it judiciously will unlock a lot of strength and hypertrophy gains.      Of course, there are a couple caveats to that statement.   You need to be training with barbel...
Post a Comment
Read more

My book ULTIMATE MASS & POWER now available in paperback

 My book "Ultimate Mass and Power: A Collection of Training Programs for Getting Massively Big and Incredibly Strong" is now available to purchase in a paperback edition.  (Click on the link to purchase.) Here's a description of the book: Are you looking for massive muscles? Monstrous strength gains? How about a combination of both? There seems to be quite a bit of confusion out there—whether it’s on the internet or at the gym—about how to train for BOTH hypertrophy and serious strength gains. The first problem seems to be that some folks just don’t know how to do either. Guys go to the gym to “get big” but then spend most of their time attempting to max out on a lift. Or, conversely, a guy wants to be massively strong but spends too much of his time training for a pump or doing a lot of repetitions. The training programs contained in this book will clear up this confusion. Herein you will find 16 different articles—each article replete with different programs—that offer...
Post a Comment
Read more