More High-Set, Low-Rep Workout Variations

Build Even More Size, Strength, and Power with Multiple Sets of Low Reps

     Of all the training articles that I have written the last couple months, the most popular article by far is my recent High-Set, Low-Rep Workout Variations for Size and Strength that I posted on July 11th.  In it, I covered (primarily) different variations using workouts of 8 to 10 sets of 3 to 5 reps.  I won’t go back over the training in that article, so if you haven’t read it, and you think it might be a training method that you’re interested in, then check it out.  In this article, I’m going to go over some additional workout ideas, including some advanced ones for lifters who have already spent a few training cycles using the methods discussed in the prior post.  Based on the interest in the previous article, I figured more lifters would want to know about some additional training ideas.

Rep Ladders

     With rep ladders, you use the same weight on a lift, but you “climb” up, down, or both in repetitions over several sets.  A lot of rep ladder training involves really high-repetition training.  This is particularly popular with bodyweight workouts. If you are interested in that kind of training, then check out parts ONE and TWO of my “Bodyweight Training and Beyond” series.  Here, we’ll stick with higher intensity training—intensity being a % of your 1-rep maximum as opposed to how “hard” you lift.

1-5 Training

     For this workout, use roughly the same weight you would utilize for a 10 sets of 3 reps workout.  In other words, your 6-rep maximum for one all-out set.  Do at least a couple of warm-up sets—the number of warm-up sets you need will depend upon your strength and/or the lift that you are training.  Someone who can squat 405 pounds for 6 reps might need 5 to 6 progressively heavier warm-up sets for this workout.  But a lifter who is going to use it on bench presses and can only bench 185 pounds for 6 reps might only need 2 warm-ups.

     Do a set of 1 rep.  Rest briefly.  Do a set of 2 reps.  Rest briefly.  Do a set of 3 reps, rest, followed by 4 reps, rest, and then, a top-end set of 5 reps.  Repeat for at least 1 more ladder.  If you do 2 ladders total for the session, it works out to 30 reps, the same as a 10x3 workout.

     One of the good things about this workout is that you will probably get those 30 reps in a shorter period of time than the 10x3 session.  You do your first set of one rep, and then, after a brief rest, you’re ready to go for your 2nd set.  The set of 2 reps is easy, so you don’t need much rest for a set of 3.  And so forth.  Sure, the set of 5 reps is going to be fairly hard, but when you finish it, since you know you’re just going to do 1 repetition on your next set, you rest briefly again to start the next ladder.

     If you’re new to this kind of training, you might want to limit your ladders to just two.  At least, at first.  Once you’ve adapted to it, you can do 3, 4, or even 5 ladders.  Though 5 would be about the limit of what I’d suggest.  75 reps is quite tough for the heavy weights.  With this kind of training, always keep in mind the words of Zatsiorsky to “train as heavy as possible as often as possible while being as fresh as possible.”  Fresh will depend upon your work capacity.  Once you have developed the work capacity to handle 75 heavy reps in a session, you can train that lift twice per week.  Or close.

     Use a similar program as what you might use for a 10x3 or 8x5 workout plan.  A good schedule might be something like this:

Workout A:

Front squats: 2 ladders of 1-5 reps

Bench presses: 2 ladders of 1-5

Barbell curls: 2 ladders of 1-5

Workout B:

Deficit deadlifts (sumo or conventional): 2 ladders of 1-5

One-arm dumbbell overhead presses: 2 ladders of 1-5 (each arm)

Weighted chins: 2 ladders of 1-5

     Train 3 to 4 days per week.  If you go with the 3-days-a-week model, then train, say, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, rotating from the A and B workout at each session.  If you opt for the 4-day model, then train on a 2-on, 1-off, 1-on, 1-off schedule, such as Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Also, you may want to swap out the deadlifts every few workouts for a power clean or snatch movement if you find that your lower back is not recovering adequately.

     Start with 2 ladders and add additional ones as you adapt to it.  You can also rotate between lower and higher workload weeks.  So, week one, you do 2 ladders.  Week 2, you would do 3 ladders.  Week 4, you do 4 ladders.  In week 5, take a de-load week and only do 1 ladder on each lift.  Week 6, you can either go back to 2 ladders or do 5 ladders.  If you do 5 ladders in week 6, then in the 7th week, go back to 1 ladder again before starting the cycle again.

     You can also use 1-5 ladders and do full-body workouts by only doing 1 ladder at each session.  So, you might train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on a FB workout consisting of squats, bench presses, power cleans, overhead presses, and barbell curls.  Since 1 ladder is only 15 reps, you can easily handle it for 3 days per week of training.

2-3-5 Training

     You can also use the same 6-rep max weight and do ladders of 2, 3, and 5 reps.  Each ladder is 10 reps, so do at least 3 ladders for the same workload as a 10x3 workout or a 2 ladders of 1-5 session.

     You can also “mix and match” the ladders.  So, you might start with 3 ladders of 2-3-5, and then, with the same weight, do another 1 to 2 ladders of 1 through 5.  Another option is to do 2 or 3 ladders of 2-3-5, and then just follow it up with a couple of 2-3 ladders.  This is good if you reach the point that you’re really struggling with your last set of 5 reps.  Definitely utilize it if you miss a set of 5 reps.

1-2-3 Training

     For an even heavier workout, and this is especially good for strength and power, go to roughly your 4-rep max and do ladders of 1, 2, and 3 reps.  This is great for lifters once they’ve adapted to handling the intensity of the two workouts above.

     With this workout, you use a sort of "modified Hepburn method" of training.  (We’ll discuss another Doug Hepburn method in a little bit.)  Starting with your 4-rep max, attempt five 1-2-3 ladders.  If you do get 5 ladders, then add weight at the next session.  Do 5 ladders even if you miss a set of 3 reps at any point.  So, at your first session, you might get 3 ladders of 1-2-3 and on your next 2 ladders you miss the 3rd repetition.  At your 2nd session, you might get 4 complete ladders and miss the 3rd rep on your final ladder.  Then, at your 3rd session, you manage to get all of your reps on all 5 ladders.  Add weight at the 4th session and repeat the process.

     This training might work better with only a couple of lifts at each workout, and a slightly less frequency of training.  Here’s an example workout plan that would work well:

Day One:

Squats: 5x1-2-3

Bench presses: 5x1-2-3

Day Two:

Weighted chins: 5x1-2-3

Military presses: 5x1-2-3

Day Three: OFF

Day Four:

Power cleans: 5x1-2-3

Barbell curls: 5x1-2-3

Day Five: OFF

Day Six: Repeat Training Cycle

     On all of these workout plans, add in some abdominal work and/or some loaded carries if you wish.  You can do 1 set of steep incline weighted sit-ups and 1 or 2 sets of farmer walks or sandbag carries at the end of each session or just every other workout.

Weight Ladders - “Chains”

     Another training plan is to use weight ladders instead of rep ladders.  With this method, you keep the reps the same on each set but move up and down the ladder by using varying weights.  The great early 20th century strongman Hermann Goerner called these chains since you are “chaining” together several different weights.

     Let’s say that your 5-rep max on the bench press is 225 pounds.  You might do 3 ladders (after warm-up sets) of 5 reps with 190, 200, and 210 pounds (working out to roughly 85, 90, and 95% of 225; use that calculation for any lift).  Chain as many ladders together as you can, up to a certain pre-set number of ladders, until you miss a set of 5 with 210.  So, you might attempt 5 ladders of 190, 200, and 210 pounds.  If you get 5 ladders, then add weight at the next session and repeat. Also, to start with, you might want to reduce the percentages used. So, any initial workout might be 80% - 85% - 90%.

     You can also do these with triples, doubles, or even singles if you are looking for more strength and power out of your sessions than hypertrophy.  5 reps are great if you want both strength and size.

     The beauty of this method is that you end up getting a lot of work in despite only having a few “tough” sets.  5 ladders at 3 different weights is 15 sets and a total of 75 reps, so you get 15 sets but only 3 to 4 even approach hard.  A lot of lifters discount those lighter sets, but they shouldn’t.  A high workload, especially one that allows you to stay fresh, leads to more size and strength gains.  You are able to train more frequently than with more “conventional” methods while keeping your central nervous system fresh.  Zatsiorsky would approve.

     Either of the training schedules above for the previous workouts would work well with this method.

8x5 but More Intense

     The typical method that I recommend for doing multiple sets (8 to 10) of an exercise for a certain rep range (whether it’s 3 reps or even as many a 10) is to select a weight for the lift where you could get double the reps if you were attempting one completely all-out, hard-as-heck set.  So, for 8 sets of 5 reps, you would select a weight that you would use for 10 reps for one set to complete momentary muscular failure.  For 10x3, it would be 6 reps.  And, yes, if you’re going to do a 10x10 workout, you select a weight that you would use for 20 max reps on 1 set.

     Once you have adapted to multiple-set training, and you think you’re ready for it, you can select heavier weights.  For this training method, select roughly your 5-rep max.  Do a couple of sets with that weight. Then reduce the weight by 5 to 10 pounds (depending on whether you’re using a “big” lift such as squats or bench presses or a “small” lift such as barbell curls) and do 2 more sets.  Reduce the weight again, and do another 2 sets.  Reduce the weight one last time and do your last 2 sets, for a total of 8 sets.

     This is an intense workout.  Only do it if your body is ready for it.  It’s best to use it for a short training cycle.  6 weeks might be best.  8 weeks is probably about the maximum length of time that you would want to use it.

     A program similar to what I suggested for the 1-2-3 ladder training would work well.  This is good for muscle-building as much as strength.  A training plan such as this would be a good idea:

Day One:

Bench presses: 8x5

Weighted chins: 8x5

Day Two:

Squats: 8x5

Stiff-legged deadlifts: 8x5

Day Three: OFF

Day Four:

Military presses: 8x5

Barbell curls: 8x5

Day Five: Off

Day Six: Repeat Training Cycle

     If you think it would help with your recovery, you can reduce the number of sets on the 2nd lift down to just 6 sets.

High-Frequency Training with the Hepburn Method

     I am, of course, a fan of high-frequency training (HFT).  I think that, at least periodically, lifters who utilize lower-frequency models of training should use some HFT programs for a training cycle or two.  The problem with some of the training methods that we’ve looked at so far is that it doesn’t allow for training a lift with HFT.  (I define HFT to be any training program that allows for at least 3 days of training per week on each lift or muscle group.)  Enter the “Hepburn method.”

     Doug Hepburn had several different training methods that he utilized.  One of them, and the one we’ll discuss here, utilized doing 8 sets of 2 to 3 reps with a weight that you could use for 8 reps if you were doing one all-out set.  This method works for 3 days per week of training per lift because the total reps are between 16 and 24.  That’s pretty close to what you would typically use in a lot of 3-days-per-week, full-body workouts, such as 3 to 5 sets of 5 reps, which would work out to between 15 and 25 reps.

     The method works like this: Again, select a weight on a lift that you would use if you were doing one all-out set of 8 reps.  At the 1st session, do 8 sets of 2 reps.  At the 2nd, do 1 set of 3 reps and 7 sets of 2 reps.  At the 3rd, do 2 sets of 3 and 6 sets of 2 reps.  And so on until you are doing 8 sets of 3 reps with the weight.

     This works best if you only do it for 2 to 3 lifts.  You can train with a more “conventional” method on your other lifts if you do more than 3 lifts for a session.  So, you could just do 3 lifts and only 3 lifts for the entire program.  You might, for example, select squats, military presses, and weighted chins and do nothing else.  Or you might select just squats and overhead presses for the Hepburn method, and then do 2 to 3 sets of 5 reps on chins, bench presses, and curls for the remainder of the workout.

     You would use the same weight for 9 straight workouts, meaning that you would use it for 3 weeks, then increase weight on the lifts at the start of the 4th week.  It would work like this on a lift:

Week One:

Monday: 8x2; Wednesday: 1x3, 7x2; Friday: 2x3, 6x2

Week Two:

Monday: 3x3, 5x2; Wednesday: 4x3, 4x2; Friday: 5x3, 3x2

Week Three:

Monday: 6x3, 2x2; Wednesday: 7x3, 1x2; Friday: 8x3

     At the start of the 4th week of training, add weight and repeat the process.  This is what I call a “slow and steady” form of training.  Since you’re not pushing it with hard workout sessions, but are just letting the frequency and the volume do the work, you’ll need to stick with it for at least 12 weeks to really see progress.  It works best if you will use the method for even longer than that, but just switch over to some new same but different exercises.  If you trained with barbell back squats the first 12-week cycle, you might then go to front squats for another 12 weeks, followed by bottom-position squats after that.  You would then go back to the regular barbell squats at that point, and will probably be a lot stronger.

     You can also do it for just one training cycle if you want a change of pace and want to try something different, though this program works best for those who have an “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” mentality and enjoy doing the same kind of training for the long haul. I've known lifters, for example, who have spent 30 years of training doing roughly the same 3 days per week, full-body session. If you're one of those guys, this is a program you'll like.

Final Thoughts

     If there’s enough interest, then at some point I might do a 3rd article on even more high-set, low-rep training variations.  In the meantime, give some of the workout ideas in this essay (and the first one) a try.  For anyone seeking a lot of size and strength, high-set/low-rep workouts will always be the best.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, leave the in the "comments" section below or shoot me an email for a private conversation, particularly if you would like for me to look over your program.

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