Pump and Grow Big

A (Relatively) High-Volume 2-Exercise-Per-Muscle Group Program for Gaining Muscle

     As I was typing away on my latest article for the blog, I needed a break.  I typically write in sort of creative “bursts.”  I’ll sit down at my “writing nook” with my laptop in hand and hammer away vociferously in periods of 30 minutes or so.  Once I feel as if I’m losing inspiration or the words just aren’t flowing as harmoniously as they could from my mind to my fingers, I’ll get up and do some household chores or walk around my wilderness property with my dogs for 10 to 15 minutes until the inspiration, once again, returns to me.  About once a day, I also take a break to check my emails, too.  And this morning, I received a question from a reader that I thought might not only interest other readers but would be a good idea for an article in its own right.  Hence, what you’re now reading on whatever-the-heck device you utilize to read my ramblings.

     After reading my last article on high-frequency specialization workouts, this reader was interested in the set and rep scheme I prescribed for arm training.  If you haven’t read that article, and that particular workout routine, it consists of doing 6 sets of 6 reps on one exercise for a muscle group followed by 8 sets of 8 reps on another movement for the same muscle.  Anyway, the reader wanted to know if I thought it would be a good idea to do a program where each muscle group is trained with a 6x6/8x8 workout.  The funny thing, though, is that I had already been thinking about just that very idea.  After writing that workout, I thought I would, eventually, write a routine that used the method solely.  The email just precipitated me writing it now rather than later, since I don’t particularly believe in randomness or chance.  So, I told him that, yes, I absolutely think that’s a good plan.  What follows is how I would put it into practice.

     I like this workout for a few reasons.  I think 2 exercises per muscle group is always a good strategy.  I also, of course, like one-exercise-per-bodypart routines and I certainly write programs that contain multiple exercises for each muscle.  Two per muscle group, however, might be the perfect balance between the two.  I like it because 6x6 is a good “power” builder, but the reps aren’t too low—high enough to produce hypertrophy.  Then, you can follow it up with 8 sets of 8 reps, still relatively heavy but great for a pump.  I also like it because the volume is high but not too high.  You end up with 14 sets for each muscle group, but if you do it the way I will prescribe shortly, not all of the sets are “hard.”  You might also notice that 6 sets of 6 reps and 8 sets of 8 reps works out to 100 reps total, the same as what you would get in a 10x10 workout, so even though you are doing 14 sets, your total workload isn’t as high compared to programs that use something like 3 to 4 exercises per muscle group for 3 to 4 sets of 10-12 reps each.  In those cases, you end up with more than 100 reps total.

     I’ll explain the regimen in greater detail as I outline the routine and give you a few tips and suggestions to get the most benefits possible out of it.

The 6x6/8x8 Power-Pump Program

Workout One: Chest and Back

Wide-grip weighted dips: 6x6.  After warming up with 2 or 3 sets—perhaps more if you’re exceptionally strong—use a weight belt and strap on the amount of weight you would use if you were doing one all-out set of 10 reps.  Now, attempt 6 sets of 6 reps with that weight.  (You will use this “10-rep weight” for all of your 6x6 movements.)  If you get 6 reps on all 6 sets, add weight at the next workout.  Keep your rest time between sets the same throughout the workout and from workout-to-workout.  Between 1 and 2 minutes should be ideal, but no more than 2 minutes.

Incline bench presses: 8x8.  Once you are finished with the dips, go to the incline bench.  You may need a warm-up set or two if you’re quite strong, though you also might be plenty warmed up from the dips.  Select a weight on these that you would use for one set of 15 to 16 reps if you were going to failure on that one set.  Don’t select the weight based on what you would utilize if you were fresh, but what you can do after the 6x6 exercise.  If in doubt, use a weight a bit lighter than what you think.  Again, attempt 8 sets of 8 reps with that weight.  And, again, if you get 8 reps on all 8 sets, add weight at the next session.  Rest less between sets on this movement than the previous one, somewhere between 30 second and 1 minute.  Use this same method on all other 8x8 exercises.

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

Wide-grip chins or lat pulldowns: 8x8.  If you’re strong enough, then go with the wide-grip chins.  If not, then wide-grip pulldowns are perfectly fine.

Workout Two: Legs

Hack squats: 6x6.  You can do these on the hack squat machine or with the “old school” barbell version.

Back squats: 8x8

Stiff-legged deadlifts: 6x6

Lying leg curls: 8x8

Workout Three: Shoulders and Arms

Military presses: 6x6

Behind-the-neck presses: 8x8

Barbell curls: 6x6

Preacher curls: 8x8

Skull crushers: 6x6

Rope pushdowns: 8x8

Tips

• You can train your calves on your leg day or at every other workout.  If you want, feel free to use the same 6x6/8x8 method on them or use higher reps depending on what works best for you.  Most lifters get better results from less sets but higher reps on their calves, however.

• Train your abs at one of the workouts, every other session, or each day if you wish.  A simple routine of 3 sets of steep incline sit-ups at the end (or beginning) of each workout would work well.

• If you like the idea, you can also train in an alternate or superset fashion for your antagonistic muscle groups such as chest and lats, quads and hamstrings, and biceps and triceps.  So, on arm day, you might superset barbell curls with skull crushers and preacher curls with rope pushdowns.  Keep the rest recommendation the same between each superset as what I suggested between sets.

• I suggest using a 3-on, 1-off schedule to begin with.  If you find that you need more rest, then you can train on a 2-on, 1-off, 1-on, 1-off, or just train on a simple 3-on, 2-off throughout the course of running the program.  If you know you respond well to more, you can also train on a 6-on, 1-off routine.  If you do opt for the 6-on, 1-off approach, you might want to swap the leg day and the shoulder/arm day so that you’re not immediately training chest and back again the day after a hard shoulder and arm session.  I think for most, however, 6 days straight of training would be too much.  3-on, 1-off should suffice for the majority of trainees.  You can also train 3-on, 1-off most of the time and just take an extra day off whenever you feel as if you need it.

• Instead of taking a day off when you feel as if you need more recovery, you can also do a 3-day cycle of “light” workouts.  Drop the weights from the previous sessions to about 80 to 90% of what you were utilizing but keep the 6x6/8x8 format.  Some lifters might want to just naturally rotate back and forth in this heavy/light manner especially if they opt for a 6-day format.

• Stick with the routine as written for 8 weeks, 6 weeks at the minimum, though you can also stretch it out to 12 weeks.  After that, if you’re getting good results and want to stick with it, just change over to some same but different movements.  If you already have enough muscle size and need more “detail” in some of your muscles, you can make the 2nd exercise an isolation movement.  So, you could replace the dips and incline presses for your chest with incline dumbbell presses (6x6) and flat dumbbell flyes (8x8).  Use a similar method for any other muscle group that needs it.

• You can also swap to some different set/rep combos.  For example, if you want to make it more “power” focused, you could go to a 6x3 and 8x6 scheme.  Conversely, you can increase the reps on both movements if you want a really big pump or just need a break from the heavier training, something such as 6x10 and 8x15, though be careful with the higher reps as they start to significantly push up your total workload.  But, heck, if you know you can handle it, then go for it.

• Since this is meant to be a muscle-building program, make sure you’re eating enough calories and getting enough protein each day.  Use my “standard” recommendation of 20 times your bodyweight in calories each day and 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily and you’ll be on the right track.

• Don’t do too many other activities outside of the gym so that you can focus solely on building muscle.

• Get at least 8 hours of sleep each and every night.  Go to bed and wake up each morning at the same time.  Routine is paramount for good sleep and proper recovery.

Final Thoughts

     This is what I consider one of my “interlude” posts.  An article I didn’t plan on writing because I was working on something else, but then the inspiration struck and I couldn’t help but write it.  Since I wrote it rather hurriedly—I started and finished it in about an hour—there could be something that I missed and will wish, later on, that I had included.  If I think of anything at some point that I wish I had included, I’ll add it in the “comments” section below.  Of course, if you have your own comments or questions, please add them below, as well.