High-Set Low-Rep Training Variations

 

     I first tried using high-set, low-rep training sometime in the early to mid ‘90s.  At the time, I was bodybuilding and not powerlifting, and had just started writing for some of the major bodybuilding magazines, but I still had plenty to learn.  Don’t get me wrong.  I had done some low-rep training, especially for a few sets at the end of a workout, but I had never done low rep training exclusively using really high sets.  At one point, however, I read an arm training article by Greg Zulak, where he mentioned that it was beneficial to do 15 to 20 sets of 2 to 3 reps on occasion.  Now, to be honest, I can’t remember the exact article—I tried to find it in my attic full of old magazines while this essay was churning around in my mind, but to no avail.  Anyway, after reading it, my workout partner Dusty and I decided to see how that kind of workout felt.  We had been training at the time with a lot of sets, but also a lot of reps, so we were well conditioned to high-volume training, and, to be honest, we just didn’t think that the workout would be that tough.  But it sounded fun.  We liked to train heavy, and prided ourselves on being some of the strongest bodybuilders at the gym.  If I recall correctly, after warming up with a few sets, we put 135 lbs on the barbell curl, and did a few sets of 3 reps.  Once those got really tough, we dropped the weight down, and did a few more sets.  When those got tough, we dropped the weight a little more, until we eventually ended up doing 15 sets of 3 reps.  The next day, our biceps were sore to the touch.  And we were sold.  I don’t think now, with years more of “training wisdom” under my lifting belt, that “being sore” is necessarily indicative of a good workout, but I definitely felt that way then.  One thing was for certain: it was definitely a new stimulus on our muscles; we hadn’t experienced that kind of soreness in a long time.

     A few years later, when I took up powerlifting, I started using high-set, low-rep training almost exclusively, and got the strongest I have ever been in my life.  It’s the kind of training I utilized to finally push my squat and deadlift to over 600 lbs.  I didn’t start off powerlifting with those kind of workouts, so some of the suggestions I will offer here might not be good for you if you’re at the beginner or intermediate level, but I think it’s possibly the most effective training—and this goes for muscle mass, not just strength—for lifters who have been training for a number of years.

     When I stopped powerlifting (due to too many injuries), and started eating again (since I no longer had to stay in a specific weight class), I gained more mass than I had in many years by doing high-frequency, high-set, low-rep training.  I’ve been “pushing” that sort of training in my articles ever since.

     What follows are some different variations you can use if you want to try this form of training for yourself.  Word of warning: just remember that these workouts are not for outright beginners, but once you’ve built up the work capacity to be able to handle them, they may—just may—be the best kind of workouts you can do.

8 Sets of 5 Reps

  I think 8 sets of 5 reps is the best variation to start with.  The sets are at the low end of the spectrum—at least for high set training—and the reps are at the high end—that’s right, 5 reps is about as high as you want to go when training in this manner.

     For 8 sets of 5, start with a weight that you can get 10 reps with (after proper warm-ups, of course).  If you can get 5 reps on all sets—which you certainly might be able to do even from the start—then add weight at the next session.  With a lot of this type of training, you’re better off starting too light than too heavy.  A lot of lifters select a weight too close to their 5-rep max, something such as a weight where you can get 7 reps before failing.  But the problem with that is that you burn out too quickly.  Bottom line: when training with high sets and low reps, always start the programs with a weight that allows you, perhaps even with relative ease, to get the prescribed number of repetitions on all the sets.  You really don’t want to do the kind of descending sets that Dusty and I tried all those many years ago.

10 Sets of 3 Reps

     10 sets of 3 has been my go-to form of high-set, low-rep workouts since I first regularly implemented this sort of training.  I think the reason I first recommended this set/rep variation—which I did back in the ‘90s for IronMan magazine—is because it’s the exact inverse of the most “popular” set/rep combo, 3 sets of 10 reps.  In fact, an easy way to start this form of training—and it’s the advice I give in person when someone says they want to attempt this stuff—is to take whatever weight you would use for a hard 3 sets of 10 reps on any exercise, and now do 10 sets of 3 reps with it.  It’s still 30 reps total, but every single rep will be done with more force and power, and you can probably get all 10 sets in about the same time it would take you to do 3 sets of 10, simply because you’ll be able to move fast between sets.

     Having said the above, if you’re advanced enough, simply select a weight where you can get 6 reps.  Typically, anytime that you are going to do 10 sets of a single exercise for a single rep range, simply select a weight where you could get double that amount of reps for one set.  So, if you’re going to do the popular 10 sets of 10 reps, you would select a weight where you would fail at 20 reps for one hard set.  Here, it’s a weight where you would fail at 6.

15 to 20 Sets of 1 to 2 Reps

     Occasionally, you might want to attempt even more sets of even lower reps.  I think 15 sets of 2 is good, as is 20 sets of singles.  I wouldn’t try this training until you’ve spent at least a couple of months on one of the above set/rep ranges, or something similar.  For 15 sets of 2 reps, select a weight where you know you can get 4 or 5 reps with it.  You may not actually get 2 reps on all 15 sets, but that’s fine.  For 20 sets of singles, select something where you can get 3 or 4 reps with it, and simply see how many singles you can get.  If you get 20 singles, stop at that point.

The Hepburn Method of High-Set Singles

     The great Canadian strongman, Doug Hepburn, used this form of training—and the one that follows, which we’ll get around to shortly—to develop a lot of his lifts, in both Olympic lifting, and the various “odd” lifts.  (Exercises such as the bench press, for instance, was considered an “odd lift” at the time.)  Select a weight on any exercise—after warm-ups—where you know you can get at least 4 or 5 singles.  Now, try to do 10 singles.  You probably won’t actually get 10 singles, however, so just stop when you reach your final single.  Stay with that weight at each workout until you can get 10 singles.  At that point, add weight at the next session—anywhere between, probably, 5 to 15 pounds, depending on your strength and the exercise—and repeat the process.

Hepburn’s 8 Sets of 2 to 3 Reps

    This is another of Hepburn’s methods.  On the exercise(s) you want to improve, use a weight where you can manage 8 reps before reaching failure.  Now, do 8 sets of 2 reps with that weight.  Hepburn said that if you selected an accurate weight, this would feel easy.  That’s the point.  It’s sort of an old-school grease-the-groove method.  At the 2nd workout for the lift, do 1 set of 3 reps and 7 sets of 2 reps.  At the next session, do 2 sets of 3 reps followed by 6 sets of 2 reps.  And at the next session it will be 3 sets of 3 reps, and 5 sets of 2 reps.  You can probably see where this is going.  Use this method of adding a set of 3 reps at each workout until you get 8 sets of 3 reps with a weight.  At this point, add 10 to 15 pounds for big lifts (such as squats or bench presses) or 5 pounds for smaller lifts (barbell curls, for example), and start back over at 8 sets of 2 reps.

Cycling Repetitions

     You don’t have to use the same reps for all of your sets.  One other idea is to cycle through different rep ranges throughout a certain amount of sets.  For example, I like 5 rounds of 5, 3, and 2 reps.  For your first set (once again, after warm-ups) use a heavy weight where you can get 8 reps, and do a set of 5.  Rest a few minutes, add weight and do a set of 3.  Rest again.  Add weight.  Do a set of 2.  After that, rest, go back down to your 5 rep weight, and repeat the process 4 more times, for a total of 15 sets.  You can also cut down on your number of sets, at first until you adapt, to 9 or 12 sets, doing only 3 to 4 cycles to begin with.

     Other good options include doing 2 or 3 rounds of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 rep(s) or 4 to 5 rounds of 3, 2, and 1.  You can also start with the heavier weights, so that you do 5 rounds of 2, 3, 5, and so on and so forth.

Training Splits for the Variations

     Let’s look at some example workout sessions and training splits you might want to utilize using any of these variations.  What follows are just that: examples, albeit ones that would work well if you choose to use them.  You can substitute exercises other than the ones I listed, but make sure that you substitute same but different lifts.

Workout Plan #1

Day 1: squats, barbell overhead presses, barbell curls

Day 2: deadlifts, bench presses, chins

Day 3: off

Day 4: repeat Day 1

Day 5: off

Day 6: repeat Day 2

Day 7: off

Day 8: repeat training cycle

Workout Plan #2

Day 1: squats, deadlifts

Day 2: bench presses, chins

Day 3: barbell curls, one-arm dumbbell overhead presses

Day 4: off

Day 5: repeat training cycle

Workout Plan #3

Day 1: squats, bench presses, barbell bent-over rows, barbell curls

Day 2: off

Day 3: off

Day 4: deficit sumo deadlifts, chins, barbell overhead presses, dips

Day 5: off

Day 6: repeat training cycle

Workout Plan #4

Day 1: squats, bench presses, wide-grip chins

Day 2: deadlifts, barbell overhead presses, barbell curls

Day 3: off

Day 4: front squats, incline bench presses, close-grip chins

Day 5: deficit sumo deadlifts, behind-the-neck presses, dumbbell curls

Day 6: off

Day 7: off

Day 8: repeat training cycle

     If you would like to do so, you can also add in some abdominal work to any, or all, of the sessions, and you can add a loaded carry for one, maybe two, sets at the end of a couple of workouts each week.

     I hope this article has provided you with some ideas for various high-set, low-rep workouts.  If anyone has any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below.  You can also email me if you want your question(s) to be private.

     Until our next article, good luck and good training!