The High-Frequency 6x6-8 Regimen

 

Another High-Frequency Hypertrophy Program for the Natural Lifter

     I write a lot about high-frequency training (HFT).  I think on average—assuming the lifter has the time to make it to the gym frequently—it’s the best form of training for the natural lifter or bodybuilder.  When I first started writing about this form of training—which I have been doing now for more than 20 years, perhaps longer—my programs mainly focused on strength training or strength training along with concomitant mass gains.  Recently, however, I have created more and more hypertrophy programs using these methods.  Part of that probably has to do with the fact that I have personally been using HFT for my own physique goals.  As I am not getting any younger, my body often can’t handle the heavy weights that I used to enjoy training with, but it can handle high-frequency when done with “reasonable” weights.

     There are different forms of HFT.  Most of the programs that I write about fall into two camps.  First, you can train using HFT while manipulating your volume and intensity throughout a training cycle.  Classic heavy-light-medium training uses this method, for example.  Second, you can train using HFT while keeping the volume and intensity pretty much the same (moderate or light) throughout a program, while really ratcheting up the frequency.  This is exemplified through various grease the groove programs such as “easy strength” routines or the “3 to 5 method.”  Those methods, however, are almost entirely focused on strength (hence the term “easy strength”).

     The program I want to present here falls into what I call the “easy muscle” category.  It’s similar to easy strength programs, in that it uses high-frequency with lighter sets that don’t approach muscular failure, but with more volume, more repetitions, and even lighter weights.  (Pavel refers to this mode of training as “even easier strength.”)

      One of the problems with almost all modern bodybuilding programs, even ones that are, overall, relatively “good,” is their approach to progressive overload.  The programs are, on the whole, “static.”  By this, I mean that the number of exercises, sets, reps, and days off stay relatively the same throughout the program and then progressive overload is achieved through attempting to slowly (though steadily) increase the poundage or the reps on a movement.  When one first begins a program of this nature, this approach can work.  But not for long.  When the lifter finds she has stagnated, she will then switch to some new exercises or take an extra day off here or there, with the hope that she simply needs more “rest and recovery.”  But there are better ways of approaching progressive overload.

     With easy strength regimens, grease-the-groove routines, or high-volume “Russian-style” programs, the approach is slightly different.  With these training strategies, you back off on the “intensity” (intensity here referring to how close your weights are to your 1-rep maximum, not muscular effort as it’s used among American bodybuilders) and increase the volume and frequency so that as your total workload steadily increases your strength does as well—and possibly your muscle mass.  The routine here takes this latter approach.

     This program uses a 2-way split and 6 days per week of training.  It is good for any lifter who is at least past the “beginner’s phase” of training.  I don’t recommend utilizing it unless you’ve trained for at least 6 months on a full-body program.  Obviously, you also have to have the ability to make it to the gym 6 days in a week—though you may be able to make it work with just 5 days of training; more on that shortly.

     This workout is rather minimalistic.  On one day, you will use a squat exercise and a lower body pull.  The 2nd day, you will use 3 upper movements.  As the title of the program indicates, on each training day, you will perform 6 sets of 6-8 reps on each exercise.  But you will do it like this: On each lift, select a weight where you could do 15 reps if you were doing it for one completely all-out set.  Do NOT select a weight heavier than that or this program will not work!  It will feel light at first.  That’s the point.  On the 1st workout of the week, do 6 sets of 6 reps with that weight.  On the 2nd workout, do 6 sets of 7 reps.  On the 3rd workout, do 6 sets of 8 reps.  On week 2, add 5 to 10 pounds to each lift and repeat the process.

     An example week of training should look like this:

Monday

• Barbell squats: 6x6

• Double kettlebell cleans: 6x6

Tuesday

• Bench presses: 6x6

• One-arm dumbbell rows: 6x6 (each arm)

• Barbell curls: 6x6

Wednesday

• Barbell squats: 6x7

• Double kettlebell cleans: 6x7

Thursday

• Bench presses: 6x7

• One-arm dumbbell rows: 6x7

• Barbell curls: 6x7

Friday

• Barbell squats: 6x8

• Double kettlebell cleans: 6x8

Saturday

• Bench presses: 6x8

• One-arm dumbbell rows: 6x8

• Barbell curls: 6x8

     This program looks deceptively simple.  But don’t let it fool you.  It’s also highly effective.

     Stay with the program until the weights become hard to increase.  Once you are struggling to get the reps on all 6 sets, then you know it’s time to make some changes.  This may come at the 6 week mark, or it could be as long as 12 weeks.  At that point, you can either change to some new movements and repeat the program for another 6-12 week block, or you can simply change over to a new program altogether.

     If you want, feel free to add a couple sets of abdominal work at the beginning or end of each session.

     Other good exercise options for the 1st day of training are front squats, bottom-position squats, goblet squats, double kettlebell front squats, dumbbell or kettlebell snatches, dumbbell or kettlebell high pulls, and (possibly) deadlifts of various types.  I write “possibly” here because it’s easier to overtrain deadlifts more than any other movement, and, even with lighter weights, the lower back doesn’t always recover that easily.  Having said that, however, if you know that you respond fine to high-frequency deadlifts then, by all means, give them a try.

     On the 2nd day of training, you can train incline bench presses, dumbbell bench presses (both flat or incline), weighted dips, chins (assuming you are strong enough for the reps), overhead presses (barbell, dumbbell, or kettlebell), pullovers, barbell rows, skull crushers, triceps pushdowns, dumbbell curls, or ez-bar curls.

     Also, if you’re advanced, and you know that you can handle the additional workload, you can always add an additional movement to each training day.  For most lifters, however, the program will work best as written.

     I mentioned earlier that it might be possible to use this on a 5-day-per-week rotation if you can’t make it to the gym 6 days weekly.  Word of warning, however: I find that if lifters struggle to make it to the gym 6 days in a week, they often struggle just as much to make it to the gym 5.  Only use a program that you know you can be consistent with.  Consistency trumps everything else when it comes to making (ahem) consistent gains.  Of course, it could be that you know you thrive best on less work.  It’s not that you can’t make it to the gym 6 days a week, it’s just that you know you’ll probably do better on a little less frequency.  Either way, another option is to train on a 3-on, 1-off, 2-on, 1-off split.  The program would then work like this:

Monday

• Barbell squats: 6x6

• Double kettlebell cleans: 6x6

Tuesday

• Bench presses: 6x6

• One-arm dumbbell rows: 6x6 (each arm)

• Barbell curls: 6x6

Wednesday

• Barbell squats: 6x7

• Double kettlebell cleans: 6x7

Friday

• Bench presses: 6x7

• One-arm dumbbell rows: 6x7

• Barbell curls: 6x7

Saturday

• Barbell squats: 6x8

• Double kettlebell cleans: 6x8

     On Monday of the next week, you would then do the bench presses, rows, and curls for 6x8, training the upper body 3 days on the 2nd week and the lower body and pulls just twice, adding weight to the movements on Tuesday and Wednesday.

     Since this is a muscle-building program, make sure that you get plenty of rest when you’re not training and be sure to get enough calories and enough protein each and every day to facilitate growth.

     If you’ve struggled to gain muscle mass through more conventional training programs, it might be time for a program such as this one.  Sometimes, higher frequency equals quicker mass gains.  You won’t know until you try.