High-Set Singles the Ditillo Way

Another Anthony Ditillo Inspired Training Program for Massive Size and Strength

     This is now the 3rd of my recent articles inspired by the workouts and training programs of the great bodybuilding writer Anthony Ditillo.  If you’re interested, and you haven’t read them, check out my Anthony Ditillo and the Development of Muscular Bulk and Power for an overview of Ditillo’s methods along with Ditillo’s Big Three for Bulk and Power, which outlines some workouts using Ditillo’s “big 3”, the full squat, the weighted dip, and the weighted chin.

     One of Ditillo’s favorite methods was to use workouts involving multiple sets of heavy singles.  Most bodybuilding writers of his day—nothing has changed since then—thought that heavy singles were good for strength but not so much for size.  Ditillo believed that multiple singles didn’t just build strength—though it might be the best method for pure strength alone—but also built size, or “bulk” to use his favored terminology.  I think Ditillo is correct.  Because of Ditillo, I wrote several articles for Ironman more than 20 years ago that argued for the implementation of high-set singles in the pursuit of hypertrophy.

     Ditillo and I are not alone in this view.  Brooks Kubik, author of the popular book Dinosaur Training, wrote this in that same book: “Many dinosaurs do heavy singles.  Why?  Because they have discovered that for many men, singles build more muscle and strength than sets of multiple repetitions.  Yeah, I KNOW that singles are contrary to modern wisdom and conventional training protocols.  I KNOW that all of the modern experts say that single reps are dangerous and non-productive.  I KNOW that all of the modern ‘champs’ say to train with light weights and concentrate on ‘feeling’ the muscles.  I KNOW that everyone at the House of Chrome and Ferns never does a single rep on anything.  And I KNOW that we have all kinds of wonderful ‘scientific’ training systems that regard heavy singles as worthless, dangerous, insane, and ridiculously old fashioned.

     “The experts are WRONG when they say singles don’t work.  For many men, singles build muscle and strength like you wouldn’t believe.  Forty or fifty years ago—before the steroid era—quite a number of folks did singles and they got really big and strong on them.  (C.S.’s note: This was written in 1996, so make that 70 to 80 years ago.)

     “In those days, the biggest and strongest men in the world were Olympic weightlifters.  Top lifters like Tommy Kono, John Davis, Stave Sanko and Mahmoud Namdjou could win world titles in lifting AND enter bodybuilding competitions and do terrifically well—Kono won the Mr. World title, Davis placed 3rd in the Mr. America and won “Best Back,” Sanko won the Mr. Universe title, and Namdjou won his height class in the Mr. Universe contest.  And the heavyweight lifters (men like Norb Schemansky, Jim Bradford, and John Davis) were so much bigger than any bodybuilders (with the notable exception of Reg Park, who himself trained like a lifter) that it wasn’t even funny.  If singles are so terrible, why did the lifters thrive on them?”

     I included that quote in an essay for the blog titled “Singles” a few months back, as well, so read that article if you want even more information on the how and why of heavy singles for size and strength.  For the remainder of this article, I’m going to focus on how Ditillo used them.  I think Ditillo is almost spot-on in his assessment, and I built a lot of size and strength, even when I was in my 40s, using workouts very similar to what Ditillo utilized.  However, I first came across the concept of high-set singles via Doug Hepburn—another massive and incredibly strong lifter who built a lot of that mass with multiple singles—and used Hepburn’s methods when I was powerlifting, so I already knew their benefits before really “getting into” Ditillo.

     Ditillo, for his personal training, preferred this method:  He would train 4 days per week.  At each session, he would do 3 lifts—a squat or a lower body pull, an upper body press, and an upper body pull (rows, chins, or even curls).  He would do one or two warmup sets for each lift, then do 5 to 7 singles with approximately 90% of his one-rep max.  After his singles, he would drop down to 75% of his 1-rep max and do one set of as many repetitions as possible.  He wrote that for him, there wasn’t a better system of training.  Ditillo: “For me, this type of routine has always been most gratifying. I have gained the most bulk and power using this type of routine. Now, I cannot positively tell you that if you perform the same routine you will gain also; this is because of many possible things. For instance, suppose you did not particularly like my type of routine but decided to try it nonetheless. Why, your mental attitude would cause you to fail in obtaining results right from the very beginning. You did not want to follow my type of routine in the first place, so it would be foolish of you, indeed, to expect outstanding results with this type of mental attitude.”

     But if you do like this kind of training, I think it’s one of the best methods that you can use.  Also, even if you don’t particularly care as much for high-set singles—I can’t understand that view personally, as I can think of little better than a heavy workout of multiple singles in the 90%+ range of your max but, hey, that’s me—you should still do this kind of training on occasion just to see how it will work for you.  Because if you are built for it, then it’s the kind of training you need to do.  Depending on your muscle-fiber makeup—your percentage of fast-twitch compared to slow-twitch, to keep it simple—determines how well, or not, that you respond to it.  If you’re highly fast-twitch then “strength” reps might be better for you for muscle growth than standard “hypertrophy” reps (i.e. high reps).  But even lifters with more slow-twitch fibers should do singles on occasion.

     I will outline a few different routines, but here are the “rules” that should be followed for all of the Ditillo-inspired workouts below:

• Train 3 to 5 days a week.  Ditillo did best with 4, whereas other lifters might do better with just 3 and still others need 5 to make the best gains.  I always trained 5 days using a similar routine.

• At each workout, do only three lifts, a squat or lower-body pull movement, an upper body pressing movement, and an upper body pull.  Rotate workout-to-workout between squats/lower-body pulls, upper body vertical/horizontal presses, and upper body vertical/horizontal pulls.

• Train a particular lift, however, only once per week or even just every 10 days in a 3-day-a-week routine.  So, even if you train 5 days a week, you would only do barbell back squats once in that week, for example.

• For each lift, do 2 to 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps (this is your “warm-up”) followed by 5 to 7 singles with approximately 90% of your 1-rep maximum on that lift. After your last single, drop down to roughly 75% and do 2-3 sets of 3-5 reps—as opposed to just one set to failure a la Ditillo.

     If you’re at all confused, the following routines will lay out the “parameters” even better.  I will show you a 3-day, 4-day, and 5-day example program.

The 3-Days-a-Week Program

     Keep in mind that this one, and the ones that follow, is an example program.  You can use it as written or you can substitute some same but different lifts.  Just make sure that your template remains the same.  In all of the following programs, I didn’t list warm-ups, so make sure that you do at the minimum 2 sets of 5 reps on each lift—3 to 4 sets would be better for most lifters; as many as 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps if you’re using big weights on your lifts—before commencing with your singles.

Week One:

Monday:

Full squats: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5 (5 to 7 singles, 2 to 3 sets of 3 to 5 reps)

Bench presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Weighted chins: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Wednesday:

Deadlifts: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Military presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

One-arm dumbbell rows: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5 (each arm)

Friday:

Front squats: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Incline bench presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Lat pulldowns: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Week Two:

Monday:

Sumo deficit deadlifts: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

One-arm dumbbell overhead presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Bent-over barbell rows: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Wednesday:

Start the rotation of workouts over again with Monday’s workout from week one.

The 4-Days-a-Week Program

Monday:

Full squats: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Weighted dips: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Close-grip, underhand weighted chins: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Tuesday:

Deadlifts: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

One-arm dumbbell overhead presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

T-bar rows: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Thursday:

Bottom-position squats: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Bottom-position bench presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Wide-grip weighted chins: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Saturday:

Stiff-legged deficit deadlifts: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Push presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

One-arm dumbbell rows: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5 (each arm)

The 5-Days-a-Week Program

Monday:

Bottom-position squats: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

2-board bench presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Bent-over barbell rows: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Tuesday:

Deadlifts: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Military presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Weighted chins: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Wednesday:

Front squats: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Bottom-position bench presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

One-arm dumbbell rows: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5 (each arm)

Friday:

Sumo deficit deadlifts: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

One-arm dumbbell overhead presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5 (each arm)

Close-grip underhand pulldowns: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Saturday:

Box squats: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

Bench presses: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

T-bar rows: 5-7x1, 2-3x3-5

     On Monday, you would start with another lower body pulling movement, a vertical pressing movement, and a vertical pulling movement.  Then, on Tuesday, you could start the rotation of workouts over again, doing on Tuesday of the 2nd week what you did on Monday above.

Final Thoughts

     If you’re new to this kind of training, and you don’t know which routine to start with, then begin by using the 3-day program.  After a few weeks, you can then increase it to 4 days of training.  At that point, if you’re making good gains, go to 5 days or just stay with 4.  You can also stick with the 3-day routine for 8 weeks straight, then follow it up with 8 weeks of the 4-day program followed by 8 weeks of the 5-day routine.  And if you know you respond well to more volume, jump right into the 5-day template.

     These workouts are best for lifters who know their bodies well enough that they know when to push it and when to back off.  If you don’t know your body well enough at this point in your training, then stick with the 3-day schedule if you decide you want to try it out.  On the 4 and 5-day routines, you need to be “intuitive” enough that you know on some days you should only work up to, say, 80% of what you would typically do compared to always using 90% on your work sets.  Cycling your training loads is an important concept for successful strength and power training.

     If you’re looking for a combination of size and strength, and you haven’t tried them yet, give multiple singles a go.  It could just be the best workout you will ever do for the strength and muscle size that you’re craving.  Ditillo found them to be the best.  You might too.

     As always, if you have any comments or questions, leave them in the “comments” section below or send me an email if you would prefer a private correspondence.  I typically answer my emails every couple days or so.

     And if you liked this article and want more workouts and training programs, check out My Books.  I have several books currently available for purchase.  Buying one (or all!) helps to support my writing and ensures that I can continue doing so.