One-Exercise-Per-Workout for Strength, Power, and Mass

 One-Exercise-Per-Workout for Strength, Power, AND Muscle Mass

Anthony Ditillo wrote several programs that are similar to the one-lift-a-day program presented here.

     The best programs are often both hard and simple.  They’re also—if articles and YouTube videos are to be believed—not very popular.  Which probably has a lot to do with the fact that, well, they’re hard and simple.  Hard and simple doesn’t usually sell magazines, or make for a popular “fitness” influencer,  or imbue a blogger with too many readers.  Oh, well.  It doesn’t make it any less true.  So I’m here to once again preach a hard and simple workout program.

     I have been lifting weights, in various forms, since the late ‘80s.  I have been a bodybuilder, powerlifter, and competitive martial artist, changing programs to produce desired goals.  I have also written about a variety of programs since I first started working as a freelance writer for bodybuilding publications in 1993.  I have written about—and recommended at times—infrequent H.I.T.-style training, Westside-style powerlifting methods, “traditional” bodybuilding workout techniques, Sheiko powerlifting programs, heavy-light-medium training, and probably everything in between.  But through all those various writings, I have always recommended one method of training that I found to be effective whether or not you’re a powerlifter, a competitive bodybuilder, a full-contact fighter, or any other sort of strength athlete.  And that’s the one-exercise-per-workout program, sometimes referred to as the one-lift-a-day method.

     This is slightly different from the once-exercise-per-muscle-group programs that I have also espoused at times.  You can do one-exercise-per-muscle group but still train multiple muscle groups in the same workout.  A one-exercise-per-bodypart workout might still contain two, three, four, or even five different exercises at each workout, depending on how many muscles you plan on training that day.

     But I think the reason a one-exercise-per-workout method is so effective is because of how focused it is, and how it forces you to cut out the superfluous for the bang-for-your-buck lifts that produce genuine results.  If you are going to squat for your workout, for instance, then that’s all you’re going to do.  And after 45 minutes of only squatting, which isn’t that long of a workout, you may be so sore the next day that you can hardly get out of bed.  Simple, yes.  Also brutally hard.

     This method of training works, as mentioned, for bodybuilders, powerlifters, Olympic lifters, and fighters.  It’s also more versatile than you would think of a program where you’re only doing one lift each day.  You can train six-days-per-week using six different exercises to work all of your muscle groups, utilizing whatever hellish set/rep combos your heart desires (or doesn’t).  You can train just the three powerlifts, and nothing else, training however frequently you need to.  You can also train bodyweight exercises.  One day you might just do push ups, the next day only chins, followed by a day of high-rep, many-set bodyweight squats.  So, yeah, it's actually pretty versatile.

     Also, if you opt for a one-lift-a-day approach then you can try something such as a “grease-the-groove” method where you just do a set of, say, chins, as many times as you can get around to the chinning bar throughout the day.  This method works really well with any bodyweight exercise.

     Technically, you could also train more than just one-lift-per-day if you opt for a morning workout and an evening workout.  In the morning, you could squat, and in the evening you could bench press, for example.  But I don’t think this is necessary, and if you do try it, you may quickly abandon it because you may find it simply too hard to recover if you’re doing daily workouts.  But, hey, let’s say you can only make it to the gym on the weekends, but on the weekends you can make it to the gym more than once.  In that case, it might actually be worth doing a double-split.  After all, you’ll have plenty of time to recover Monday through Friday.

     The workouts here, however, will simply take a one-lift-a-day approach.

     To start with—if you’re not a lifting “specialist” such as a powerlifter or Olympic lifter—I recommend most lifters do a 5-days-per-week method of training, which means that you need 5 exercises only.  Some of the correct answers for exercise selection would be squats, bottom-position squats, front squats, power cleans, power snatches, deadlifts, deficit deadlifts, bench presses, overhead presses, one-arm dumbbell overhead presses, chins of various sorts, barbell curls, and whatever loaded carry you can think up.  This method will allow you to build a great combination of size and strength in equal doses.  Here’s an example of a weekly training split on this schedule:

Monday: Squats

Tuesday: Flat Barbell Bench Presses

Wednesday: Power Cleans

Thursday: Off

Friday: One-arm Dumbbell Overhead Presses (do equal amount of work for both arms)

Saturday: Deadlifts

Sunday: Off

     Stick with the same exercises for a few weeks before replacing it with something different.  Just make sure you trade hard exercises for equally hard movements.  After, say, five weeks on the above exercises, you could switch to something such as this:

Monday: Bottom-position Squats

Tuesday: Weighted Dips

Wednesday: Power Snatches

Thursday: Off

Friday: Barbell Overhead Presses

Saturday: Chins

Sunday: Off

     If you’re going to train five-days-per-week, and find it hard to make it to the gym on the weekends—maybe you consider those days should be spent solely with your family and your faith—then train Monday through Friday, and take off Saturday and Sunday.  Conversely, some people find it easier to make it to the gym on Fridays and the weekends.  If this is you, then try training Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

     As far as set/rep combinations are concerned, this is a program where you want to make sure that you are getting enough work in at each session.  I would shoot for at least 7 sets-per-workout.  If your reps get really low—as they should periodically—then you can do upward of 20 sets-per-lift.  I personally would prefer my lifters—unless they’re outright newbies—to make a set/rep change, if not every week, then at least every other week.  Let’s look at an example of an 8-week training block to give you an ideal of the kind of program I’m describing:

Week One:

Monday: Squats - 7 sets of 5 reps (progressively heavier sets), followed by 4 sets of 8 reps (all 4 of these “back off” sets should approach failure).

Tuesday: Flat Barbell Bench Presses - 7 sets of 5 reps, followed by 4 back-off sets of 8 reps

Wednesday: Power Cleans - 7 sets of 5 reps (no back-off sets for this exercise)

Thursday: Off

Friday: One-arm Dumbbell Overhead Presses - 7 sets of 5 reps, followed by 4 back-off sets of 8 reps

Saturday: Deadlifts - 7 sets of 5 reps (no back-off sets)

Sunday: Off

Week Two:

Monday: Squats - 10 sets of 3 reps (Select a weight where you would reach failure on the 5th or 6th rep)

Tuesday: Flat Barbell Bench Presses - 10 sets of 3 reps

Wednesday: Power Cleans - 10 sets of 3 reps

Thursday: Off

Friday: One-arm Dumbbell Overhead Presses - 10 sets of 3 reps

Saturday: Deadlifts - 10 sets of 3 reps

Sunday: Off

Week Three:

Monday: Squats - 5 cycles of 2, 3, 5, & 10 reps for a total of 100 reps.  I wrote about this method a few weeks ago in my essay on “ladder training.”  Here is how I described it there: pick a weight where 10 reps is really hard but you know that you can manage 10 reps.  Do a set of 2 reps, rest a little, do a set of 3, rest a little more, do a set of 5, rest some, and then do a set of 10 reps.  Repeat the cycle 4 more times. The beauty of this method is how quickly you can move through the sets.  Two reps is easy, so you quickly go to 3 reps.  Three reps is easy, too, so you quickly do a set of 5.  Since 5 reps is also easy, you quickly do a set of 10 reps.  And, yes, the 10 reps is hard, but since you know you only have to do 2 reps on the next set, you quickly move on to it, as well.

Tuesday: Flat Barbell Bench Presses - 5 cycles of 2, 3, 5, & 10 reps for a total of 100 reps

Wednesday: Power Cleans - 5 cycles of 2, 3, 5, & 10 reps for a total of 100 reps

Thursday: Off

Friday: One-arm Dumbbell Overhead Presses - 5 cycles of 2, 3, 5, & 10 reps for a total of 100 reps

Saturday: Deadlifts - 5 cycles of 2, 3, 5, & 10 reps for a total of 100 reps

Sunday: Off

Week Four:

Monday: Squats - 15 to 20 singles.  (For these, select a weight quite a bit heavier than what you used on Week Two for the 10 sets of 3.  Shoot for 15 to 20 singles.  If you manage 20 singles at your first session, you probably chose a weight that’s too light.  This method is fantastic for building absolute strength.)

Tuesday: Flat Barbell Bench Presses - 15 to 20 singles

Wednesday: Power Cleans - 15 to 20 singles

Thursday: Off

Friday: One-arm Dumbbell Overhead Presses - 15 to 20 singles

Saturday: Deadlifts - 15 to 20 singles

Sunday: Off

     At this point, you want to switch over to a new set of exercises for the training week.  However, you may want to take off a week before beginning this 4-week block of training all over again with new movements.  And if you don’t want to take an entire week off, you can always do a week of active recovery workouts.  Once you’re ready, begin another 4-week block of training with new exercises so that your next training month looks something such as this:

Week One: 7 sets of 5 reps, 4 back-off sets of 8 reps

Monday: Bottom-position Squats

Tuesday: Weighted Dips

Wednesday: Power Snatches

Thursday: Off

Friday: Barbell Overhead Presses

Saturday: Chins

Sunday: Off

Week Two: 10 sets of 3 reps

Monday: Bottom-position Squats

Tuesday: Weighted Dips

Wednesday: Power Snatches

Thursday: Off

Friday: Barbell Overhead Presses

Saturday: Chins

Sunday: Off

Week Three: 5 cycles of 2, 3, 5, & 10 reps for a total of 100 reps

Monday: Bottom-position Squats

Tuesday: Weighted Dips

Wednesday: Power Snatches

Thursday: Off

Friday: Barbell Overhead Presses

Saturday: Chins

Sunday: Off

Week Four: 15 to 20 singles

Monday: Bottom-position Squats

Tuesday: Weighted Dips

Wednesday: Power Snatches

Thursday: Off

Friday: Barbell Overhead Presses

Saturday: Chins

Sunday: Off

     If you didn’t take an off week or an “active recovery” week after the first 4 weeks of training, you should definitely do so at this point.  Once you have recovered during your off week or your active recovery week, you can always go back to the exercises you used for the first 4 weeks, and repeat the cycle over again, or you can select another 5 exercises, or you can opt for something entirely different.  You may be tired of one-lift-a-day workouts, or just feel as if your body would do better if it had an entirely different mode of lifting.  I think this is a good time to switch to something entirely different such as a full-body, heavy-light-medium program.

     Another option would be to return to the same training schedule as the first 4 weeks, but select some completely different set/rep combinations.  Some other set/rep combos that would work well would include 10 sets of 10 reps, 12 sets of 8 reps, 15 sets of 5 reps, or a high-set ladder workout where you started with 1 rep, and add a rep with each successive set, working up to at least 10 reps.

In Conclusion

     Originally, I was going to include even more workouts here, such as some example weeks of training for the powerlifter.  However, this thing has gone on long enough, so perhaps I’ll do a “Part Two” in the future on some specific powerlifting methods.

     If you decide to take up this kind of training, make sure you’re eating plenty of healthy carbs and fats, and getting enough protein intake on a daily basis.  Also, make sure you’re getting plenty of sleep at night, and aren’t doing too much on your “off” days.  This training is simple, but it isn’t easy, and you need all the help with recovery that you can get.