Tailoring Your Workout Program - Part 3

Tips and Advice for Tailoring Your Training Routine

Part 3: Sets, Reps, and Training Frequency

     Click on these links if you would like to read the first 2 parts of this series: Part 1 & Part 2.

     In part one, we covered the basics of “workload” and in part 2 we covered how to “select a program” for your individual needs and goals.  This essay may not make as much sense if you don’t read the first two parts, so if you just jump in here, you’ve been warned.  With that out of the way, let’s get right to it.

     Originally, I was just going to sub-title this part “sets and reps,” but as I began to put pen to paper—I almost always handwrite my articles before I type them—I realized that training frequency must come first and it should determine the set/rep range that is then utilized.  Since we have been covering primarily full-body workouts done 3 days per week, we will start with the best set/rep combos for just that.  Just remember: select your training frequency and then choose your set/rep range.

     Another way to frame this is in terms of volume, intensity, and frequency; the 3 training variables.  I like to choose frequency first and then determine the volume and the intensity of the workouts.  I think this is especially true for beginning to intermediate lifters.  Choosing to utilize a full-body workout prevents the lifter from doing too much to start with.  I think one of the reasons that a lot of your average gym-goers don’t make gains in the gym is because they both overtrain and undertrain at the same time.  They do too much volume and/or intensity during their workouts (overtrain) which causes them to wait too long before training again (undertrain).  This is a problem with programs such as the 10 sets of 10 reps regimen.  Most lifters who undertake such training do so before they’re ready.  It’s too much for their bodies to handle at a single session, and then it takes too long before they can repeat the workout again.

     I think the best time to utilize higher-volume, higher-intensity workouts (such as 10x10) is once you have built up the work capacity to handle doing them frequently.  I realize that this advice is the opposite of modern bodybuilding, but it was the exact approach taken by old-school bodybuilders.  Steve Reeves, for instance, did around 10 sets per bodypart on a full-body program, but that was after he had built up the work capacity over years of training to handle such a workout.  George Turner was fond of a minimalistic program of squats, bench presses, and barbell curls, but all for 10 sets of 10 reps done 3 days weekly.  But he didn’t start with such a program for his bodybuilders.  He had them build up their work capacities so that they could handle it.  Turner didn’t use that kind of volume himself, he said, until he had trained on other, less-voluminous, full-body programs for 3 or 4 years.  (He trained on full-body routines for 7 to 8 years before he even attempted any kind of split program; he said that was par-for-the-course for all old-school bodybuilders of his generation.)

     Once you know your training frequency, the next decision you must take into account is your goal.  Are you after strength?  Are you simply looking for more muscle?  Or do you want a combination of both?  Generally, the more emphasis that you place on strength, the higher should your “intensity” be.  Intensity here refers to % of your 1-rep maximum—in other words, how heavy you are training—and not how “hard” you are training.  To make it simple, strength athletes need heavier weights and lower reps.  Those seeking just hypertrophy can utilize lighter weights (less intensity) for higher reps.  Those seeking both need both.

     Let’s start with strength on a 3 days a week, full-body routine.  One good way to think about set/reps is to start by determining your total reps for each lift/muscle group.  So, for strength, around 15 reps at each session is ideal.  This means you can do 3 sets of 5, 5 sets of 3, 4 sets of 4, or, when you are looking to train heavier on some days, 6 to 8 sets of doubles or around 10 singles.  When doing singles, use less total volume due to the high intensity.  Sometimes, do a higher rep workout here if you need the recovery.  You might just do 1 set of 15 reps with a really light weight, for instance.

     If you are after strength along with muscle mass, train a little lighter but use more total reps.  A good rep total here would be between 25 to 30 reps.  5 to 6 sets of 5 reps, 7 sets of 4, and 8 to 10 sets of triples are all great for this goal.  When doing doubles or singles, once again, drop the total reps down to around 15 to 20.  10 sets of 2 reps or 15 singles are both good when you are looking to train heavier.

     Finally, if it’s just hypertrophy that you are seeking, 30 to 50 total reps is best.  Almost to a man, most old-school bodybuilders started training using 3 sets of 10 reps in their full-body programs.  That’s the reason to this very day it’s still the most common set/rep combo for full-body programs.  So, it might almost seem cliche, or at least mundane, but 3x10 will always be good.  Bodybuilders, in fact, would do fine by starting with 3 sets of 10, moving to 4 sets of 10 after a few weeks, and then going to 5 sets of 10 reps.  5 to 6 sets of 8 reps is also good, along with 8 to 10 sets of 5 reps.

     Since it’s important to cycle your loads, one effective method is to do 3 sets of 10 reps the first week, 4 sets of 10 in your 2nd week, and then 5 sets of 10 in the 3rd week.  Try to increase the weight each week so that your total volume steadily goes up for 3 weeks.  In the 4th week, go down to a weight lighter than what you used in week one, and just do 1 or 2 sets of 10 reps for each movement.  The following week, start with the weight you were using for 5 sets of 10 reps, but do 3 sets of 10 and repeat the entire process.

     A lot of times, lifters think of 8 to 10 sets of 5 reps as a good “powerbuilding” workout, but it can be highly effective for just hypertrophy when you utilize the same weight that you would use for 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps.  Let’s say you can do 5 sets of 10 reps on the bench press with 225 pounds in a workout where you typically rest 2 minutes after each set.  Use that same weight but now do 10 sets of 5 reps, but decrease your rest time between sets to just 1 minute.  It’s the same weight (225) for the same total of reps (50), but the advantage is that you can move faster between sets, allowing you to get the same workload in almost half the time, and you can move each rep faster.  If you can produce more force with the same weight within the same (or a lesser) time frame, it is another way to boost muscle growth, and might be more effective than you even realize.  Scott Abel had this to say about the role of “power” in hypertrophy training around 15 years ago:

     The other day I received an e-mail from a client, who sounded a little confused. It seems that a so-called "personal trainer" walked by while my client was training and offered this brilliant advice: "You should lighten the load substantially, and do 4-4-1 tempo, to get more out of the set!"

     Say what? My client was confused because I had advised to lift explosively, regardless of rep range. So who was right?

     Let's take a look. If I lift 100 pounds for 5 reps, and you lift 100 pounds for 5 reps; I do 5 reps in about 5 seconds, you use the tempo above and take about 30 seconds to lift it. We both performed the same amount of work. But here's a question for you: whose set required more power? Whose set placed a higher metabolic demand on his body? The answer should be obvious. My set, of course.

     Power, folks, is a rudimentary principle expressed in many ways, but is essential to training for size, strength, thickness, etc. The simple basic premise is that it takes more power to move a weight in one second than it does to move it in two seconds. Over the course of a workout this is seen as an expression of more work in the same amount of time, or the same amount of work in less time. These are all expressions of the principle of power. You'll notice, of course, that the "method" of tempo suggested above by the moron "personal trainer" violates this principle.

     Next question. In the above example which one of us achieved the most overload? The answer is that it's a trick question. If that 100 pounds is a weight we are used to performing, then neither of us achieved overload for that set. Therefore, the advice of lightening a load you can already do explosively and take 4 times as long to do it, is faulty logic that does not follow basic principles. It means negating max load, and therefore negating the overload principle in general. This is just one example of "methods" being not only many, but also mistaken.

Now if you follow this so far, then you may be thinking that maximum load is therefore the way to abide by the Overload Principle. Well yes, but only if you understand max load. I want you to read the next sentence a few times and let it sink in before we continue.

     Max load is not the same thing as max weight.

     Why don't most people get this? I blame the industry for detailing external cues as the be all and end all of performance. How much you "can" lift is not the deciding factor. The deciding factor is how much stress a muscle endures as overload.*

     That is not to say that Abel recommended training with 5-rep sets or not training to failure.  Most of his programs, in fact, use undulating rep ranges, “surfing the rep curve,” as he puts it, from 6 to 20 reps.  Abel did, however, recommend training in one rep range the majority of the time.  And what rep range did he recommend?  Depends on the individual and if they had more fast-twitch or slow-twitch fibers.  To determine the best rep range for you, Abel had a rather ingenious method.  Perhaps there are still bodybuilding trainers that recommend this method, though I haven’t read anywhere about it in a number of years, so I’m not entirely sure.

     Abel recommended that you find your 1-rep max on at least a couple of lifts.  (If you knew your 1-rep maximum on an exercise for each one of your bodyparts that would be the “perfect” scenario to use this technique.)  Anyway, once you know your 1-rep max, load the bar with 80% of that max.  Now, do as many reps as you can with that weight.  Whatever rep range that you fail at, that is the rep range you should use the majority of time.  If you fail at 5 or 6 reps, you’re a fast-twitch athlete and should use that rep range most of the time.  If you fail at 10 reps, you’re definitely more slow twitch, and you should train in the 8-12 rep range.  You don’t have to do all of your reps at your particular range, but if you did so about 75% of the time, that would be best.  Now, keep in mind that technique is solely for hypertrophy.  If you’re seeking strength, or you’re an athlete chasing speed and power, then lower reps are necessary no matter your muscle fiber makeup.

     So far we have been discussing 3 days per week, but I know that there are probably readers who are using split routines and will continue to do so, so let’s look at the best set/rep ranges for twice per week.  This would also apply if you train around twice per week.  Perhaps you train on a 3-on, 1-off regimen, where your muscles are split 3 ways, such as a push-pull-legs split.  In that case, it’s close enough to twice per week that these are the ranges you should be using.

     One way to approach this is to think in terms of total reps per week and not just workout.  If you use a 5x5 program 3 days per week, then that’s 75 reps weekly.  If you decide to train your lifts twice per week, then use between 35 and 40 reps at each session (70 to 80 reps for the weekly total).  This means 7 to 8 sets of 5 reps would be just perfect.

     You can apply the same thing to higher or lower rep workouts.  If you were using a 5x10 program 3 days a week, then that’s 150 reps total for the week, so go to a workout total 2x per week of 70 to 80, meaning that 7 to 8 sets of 10 reps would be good.

     Before we finish this thing off, let’s return to full-body workouts and back to the world of the classic bodybuilder of my favorite era, the so-called “silver age” of bodybuilding, the mid ‘40s to mid ‘60s.  Here, we’ll use the examples of Marvin Eder (also my favorite bodybuilder of the era) and Reg Park.

     Eder’s full-body program offers us a glimpse in the mirror of all the set/rep ranges I recommended earlier (or, at least, most of them).  This is still one of the best muscle-building programs you could ever utilize:

Marvin Eder’s Full-Body Power/Mass Builder

1) Squats – Keep the feet fairly close together. Squat slightly below parallel, keeping your knees pointing forward. Exhale strongly at the hard spot on the way up.

2) Bench Presses – Use a medium-wide grip, with your hands about 26 to 32 inches apart. Lower the bar slowly to the highest point on your chest and immediately ram it back to the top as you exhale.

3) Heavy Bent Over Barbell Rows – Use the same as for the bench press. Bend forward with your back parallel to the floor and pull the bar up until it touches the rib cage. Lower the bar slowly close to your body, but don’t let it touch the floor. Use some cheat on the last few reps.

4) Standing Barbell Presses – Use a slightly wider-than-shoulder-width grip. Take the barbell off a squat rack rather than cleaning it, and preserve all your energy for pressing. Keep your entire body tight and exhale as you press the weight up. Do the reps rapidly without pausing at the top or bottom.

5) Lat Machine Pulldowns – Using a fairly wide grip with your hands six to eight inches wider than shoulder-width, pull the bar down to just below your collar bones until it touches your upper chest. You can also substitute some form of chins for this exercise, or alternate each workout.

6) Heavy Dumbbell Curls – Do this exercise while seated on a sturdy bench. Use a slight cheating motion as you inhale, curling the bells upward until they touch your delts. Exhale as you lower them all the way to straight arms.

7) Cool Down – 100 leg raises or other light abdominal work.

• Train three times a week on alternate days.

• Perform each exercise for 3 sets of 8 reps the first two weeks.

• After two weeks increase to 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps for your 3rd week.

• Take a light week on week 4.

• Increase to 5 sets of 5 to 7 reps on each exercise for weeks 5-7.

• Take a light week on week 8.

• Increase to 3 sets of 3 to 5 reps in weeks 9 and 10.

• Increase to 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps on each exercise for weeks 11 and 12.

     Relax and rest between each set until you have fully recuperated enough to go on. Schedule your workout so that you will have enough time to go through it without rushing. Don’t add any other exercises. Warm up before each exercise.**

     Last but by no means and in any way least, we turn to the great Reg Park.  Park is the perfect example of what a natural bodybuilder who wants to attain a perfect physique and use full-body workouts should aspire towards.  He demonstrates the kind of full-body workouts that a lot of old-school bodybuilders were capable of if they had taken their time, over years, to build up their work capacity until they could handle (what we would consider) an “extreme” workload.  Here is the full-body, 3 days per week program that Park used to win the ‘51 Mr. Universe competition:

Reg Park’s Advanced Full-Body Program for the Pro

Incline D.B. Press – 5x5 with 140 lb. dumbbells

Flat Bench D.B. Press – 5x5 with 140 lb. dumbbells

Pushups

Press Behind Neck – 5x5 with 210 lbs.

Military Press – 5x5 with 210 lbs.

Two D.B. Press – 5x5 working up to 100 lb. dumbbells

Dumbbell Lateral – 5x8 with 50-60 lb. dumbbells

Chins – 5x8

Bent Barbell Row – 5x8 with 250-300 lbs.

One Arm D.B. Row – 5x8 with 100-120 lb. dumbbell

Lat Pulldown – 5x8

Central Loading Curl – 5x8 with 140 lbs.

Incline D.B. Curl – 5x8 with 70 lb. dumbbells

Barbell Curl – 5x8

Lying On Back Two Dumbbell Curl – 5x8 with 50-60 lb. dumbbells

One D.B. Two Arm French Press – 5x8

Lying B.B. Triceps Extension – 5x8

Triceps Dips or Parallel Bar Dips – 5x8

Triceps On Lat Machine – 5x8

Donkey Calf Machine – 10x20

Squat – 3x20 with 320 lbs

D.B. Pullover – 3x10***

     Yeah, the rules go out the window once you have the work capacity of a Reg Park.  Old-school bodybuilders didn’t need to “manipulate” the 3 training variables of frequency, volume, and intensity the way that I am always blathering about.  I always write that 2 of the variables must be high (or 1 high and the other moderate) and the other, remaining, variable must be low.  But the “Silver Age” bodybuilders had a work capacity that could handle everything high.  I must write that it’s not impossible, either.  I had built up my work capacity to handle around that same amount years ago.  It can be done!

     Okay, I can’t think of a better way to finish this thing off than to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from George Turner.  In an article years ago for Ironman magazine, Turner wrote these words about the work capacity of old-school bodybuilders in his characteristic style:

     "Consider Roy Ledas and Buddy Pryor doing endless seated presses with 125-pound dumbbells when neither one of them weighed more than 170, or Doug Strahl and George Sheffield working out for 5 hours a day, 6 days a week.  I remember the New Yorkers Lou Degni, Marvin Eder, and my buddy Dominic Juliani training Monday through Friday in the gym and on Sunday doing chins and dips on the beach for endless sets of up to 50 reps (that's right, 50 reps) and Chuck Ahrens training arms and shoulders for 4 hours, 3 times a week, and doing standing triceps French presses for 5 or 6 reps with a 315-pound Olympic bar.

     "At the time, I trained everything from the abs down for 54 sets on one day and my entire upper body for 90 sets the following day, often working out 10 or 11 days in a row before instinctively taking a day off.  It was nothing out of the ordinary.  I was training at about the same level as every other real bodybuilder.  We were used to it, as we worked up to it for years.  We didn't have to take something to make us want to train.  We loved it!  Now, I hear about people hitting one bodypart per day, taking a week to work the entire body.  What kind of bullshit is that?  Get in condition for crying out loud; don't get everything out of a syringe."

     If that doesn’t inspire you to take up old-school mass-building, I don’t know what will.

     As always, if there are any comments or questions, leave them in the comments section below.  You are always welcome to send me an email if you want a more personalized response.  I usually respond to emails within a few days.

     If you enjoyed this article, and enjoy reading my blog, then consider purchasing one of my books to help support my work.  My brand-new book on Bill Starr’s training system, “The Strongest Shall Always Survive: Lifting Lessons from an Iron Legend,” is now available, and is filled with information on how to tailor your own heavy-light-medium programs.  You can find more information on it, and my other books, on the My Books page.

*“Max Load Training in the Real World” by Scott Abel, in the online magazine T-Nation.

**From the article “Power/Mass Training” in IronMan Magazine.

***From the article “How I Trained to Win Mr. Universe” by Reg Park, in a 1967 issue of Health and Strength magazine. (A U.K. magazine, not to be confused with Strength & Health.)