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We’ll get to sets reps
percentages rest periods etc. in just a bit. The general guidelines are
very simple however. If you do a given core exercise at the weight
you’ve calculated to be correct, and you get all the sets and
all the reps, the next time you do that workout, you need to add a
small increment of weight. Stay at the new weight until you again get
all the sets and all the reps, and then increase yet again.
Don’t worry about establishing new one rep max lifts: just keep
concentrating on getting stronger. Do cardio on the days you do NOT
lift, and perhaps also on the days you’re not concentrating on legs.
A word of caution; this is a strength and growth program,
so if you intend to run long distances or set new 40 records or new
quarter mile times or in any way achieve max effort running, you’re
wasting your time, for you will not get bigger running at 100% of your
capability.
The exercise in blue for
each major muscle group workout is the supplemental exercise for that
muscle group. That gets done every day, just like the core movement.
After the supplemental exercise, the auxiliary movements are listed, and
those may vary from workout to workout. Where you see {{OR}} on your
workout, that means that there are two or more sets of exercises for
that particular muscle group. DO NOT DO THEM ALL ON ONE DAY.
Rotate through those groups of exercises. This is a nod at the school of
thought that says change of exercise and angle of effort makes a
difference, as well as an attempt to keep you from getting bored. ‘Superset’
means two exercises done back to back as one set with no rest between. ‘Giant
set’ means three or more exercises done back to back as one set with
no rest between. Make certain you do the warmup sets; you’ll have to set
your own weight guidelines here. Assistance work rep ranges vary; do
what’s suggested for the first two cycles, and then start doing what
works for you, always with an eye to adding more weight, more reps, more
sets, etc. It is in the supplemental and auxiliary work that you will
see the greatest benefit in raising volume; the core lifts remain at the
recommended percentages, while the ‘ancillary’ work sees more reps, more
sets, more total weight lifted, and therefore the greatest volume
increases.
GROWTH
The ‘growth’ workouts are
designed to force your body to create new muscle fibers. On those days,
for that specific major muscle group, your sets in the core lift will be
for twelve reps each, with the final set going to failure. Your rest
periods are relatively short, no longer than a minute. The work sets
start at 55% for the squat, then 60%, then 65%, then recalculate your
max and start over. The bench starts at 50%, then 58%, then 61%,
recalculate your max and start over. The deadlift start at 60% then goes
to 64%, then 68%, then recalculate and start over. For assistance work,
the sets have more reps and are a bit lighter as well, working in the
eight to twelve rep range.
Related article:
Shut Up and Grow!
Related article:
Maximum Muscle Workout
STRENGTH
The ‘strength’ workouts are
designed to force your body to get stronger. On those days, for that
specific major muscle group, your sets will be in the one to three rep
range. Your rest periods are long, up to five minutes between sets, and
your final set should be a single for maximum effort. If you can get two
or three, do so… then raise the weight for the next strength workout for
that specific major muscle group. After the warmup sets, you’ll see five
to six sets of triples, doubles, and singles aiming for that last max
effort single. Please don’t misunderstand; EVERY strength workout
leads to a new maximum lift attempt; there are no percentages here. If
you get stuck along the way, that’s all right, simply don’t raise the
weight next time through, and begin increasing your reps to three per
set. Don’t worry about increasing the max effort once you’ve gotten
stuck until all of your sets are at three reps. here, for a maximum lift
of 405, your work sets should be approximately 325, 345, 365, 385, and
405. If you get all that, go up one more time by either ten or twenty
pounds, and then raise all the sets appropriately in growth, speed,
and strength the next time through, as the growth and speed workouts
are based on your maximum lifts. Work at going a little heavier in your
assistance work, and cut the reps in each set a bit, looking at the four
to six rep range; we’re trying to get stronger here, and we only do that
by lifting heavier.
SPEED
The ‘speed’ workouts are
designed to teach your body to get that first rep… over and over.... On
those days, for that specific major muscle group, your work sets in the
core lift will be for two or three reps for LOTS of sets, with no going
to failure here. The objective is to get the two or three reps as
rapidly as possible, with no breakdown in form. Your percentages are
55-65% for bench, 50-60% for squat, and 50-60% for deadlift, in a wave
progression format, so for bench, your first speed workout is 55%, your
second is 60%, and your third is 65%. By that point you should have a
new max bench, and you recalculate your percentages. Do the same thing
for squat and deadlift. Your rest periods are short, for a maximum of
one minute between sets. It is important to make sure that you don’t
rest too long here, as fighting through the lactic acid buildup helps
force the body to produce more growth hormone. If you get all sets and
all reps, as always, raise the weight of the core lift for the next
speed workout for that specific major muscle group. If you get stuck
along the way, that’s again all right, simply don’t raise the weight
next time through until you can do all the sets and reps. Again,
assistance work has more reps and is a bit lighter here, looking at the
eight to twelve rep range.
THE WORKOUT
 Every
leg workout has squats as the core lift. If you have access to Manta
Rays, cambered bars, oversize bars, bands, and/or chains, feel free to
use them. If not, good old fashioned full squats work fine. You’ll find
front squats, reverse squats, box squats, etc., throughout this workout
schedule, and where you see any of those variations, especially box
squats… do box squats. Box squats are performed to below
parallel, and you must ensure that you do them properly. {{The proper
performance of the box squat is another article entirely, and will
follow this one.}} We use good mornings as the supplemental movement for
every leg workout, and for most back workouts; these are critical to
back and leg development and strength. The sets and reps may vary from
workout to workout, but this exercise is crucial to your success on this
program. A lot of trainers don’t espouse leg extensions and leg curls;
if you have a glute/ham machine, use it instead of leg curls, and if
you’re not going to do leg extensions, then replace leg extensions with
kneeling body raises.
You’ll also see that most
non leg workouts also contain a squat/lunge section. In the process of
performing this routine, I felt that when I took a rest day, it often
became too long between squat workouts, so I added some. Essentially, if
I perform a leg day, then take a day off, when I come back, I’ll do the
chest workout and the squat/lunge routine as well. Then I won’t do one
on back day, because squats are right around the corner the next day. I
don’t do squats two days in a row, but I don’t let five days go by
between squat workouts either.
I have shoulder workouts
paired with legs, so that the nine workout rotation includes three
shoulder workouts. Keep in mind that shoulders get a lot of work
anyway, so if your shoulders are telling you they’re tired, let them
rest… simply note that you performed less than you expected, so that
your next time through, you’re not expecting miracles out of your
shoulders.
On chest and triceps day,
you don’t see a lot of triceps specific movements. The reason for that
is pretty simple. Like shoulders, triceps get a lot of work in most
chest movements. Once you’ve done the recommended workouts for three
rotations, if you really feel that you need more triceps work, add an
exercise or two and see how it goes. I include lat work on chest day, as
the lats are such huge supporting muscles for the chest that they simply
need to be worked as an antagonistic movement when the chest is warm and
worked as well.
Back workouts include
biceps. This makes sense as both muscle groups involve pulling motions,
and the heavy back work is supported by arm strength. There are lots of
lat pulls and rows here as well. The back strength increases I have seen
with My athletes since adding good mornings and lat work are phenomenal,
and I won’t fail to continue to use them in My routines. I really
believe that forearms in general routines get enough work without
specializing them. In strength and power routines, however, the amount
of work the back gets in deadlift movements is dependent on grip
strength, which in turn is determined by forearm power. So, do your
forearm work.
In the Notes and Comments
columns, make certain that you critique your workouts; it’s the only way
you’re going to remember six months from now what was hard when you
started, and it’s a great way to keep track of actual progress even when
the weight lifted may not change. Also note when you don’t get all the
sets or reps; if missing reps becomes a pattern for any specific
exercise, you need to find out why; am I trying to lift too much, am
I doing this exercise too late in my routine, did I need a rest day
before working out again, or is there some other reason, injury or
otherwise, that I can’t do all the reps for this exercise?
Do not do more exercises
than are listed; do not do more sets than are listed; do not do more
reps than are listed for the first three rotations of this
program.. If you can get the entire exercise set rep weight
scheme as you have calculated it, add weight the next time through. For
supplemental and auxiliary work, don’t sweat adding weight every time.
Concentrate on getting all the sets and all the reps. If the time comes
that it truly feels easy, THEN go up a small amount. We’re not really
interested in how much you can curl; we’re interested in making sure the
biceps can support the grip that hold the bar with the 600 pound weight
that the back is capable of deadlifting. We don’t care about how much
you leg curl; we’re interested in making sure the hamstrings can support
the quads that are capable of squatting 700 pounds. We don’t care how
much you French press; we’re interested in making sure the triceps can
support the pecs when you bench that 400 pounds.
And that’s it. Very,
very few of us are actually advanced lifters, and almost all of
us want a routine that tells us exactly what to do. As you get more
comfortable with what your own body tells you, feel free to start
changing things up to suit yourself. If I know that there are four or
five days coming up that I simply won’t be able to lift, I work out
three or four or five days in a row, because I know I have an extended
recovery period coming up. If I start to feel like something in this
routine isn’t working for Me, I change it. I DON’T change My
routine every three or four workouts, or even every three or four weeks.
With nine different workouts, your body isn’t really going to get a
chance to get bored or adapted; I’ve been building and performing this
routine for six months now, and I still get muscle soreness and
improvement every single time I go to the weight room.
THE WORKOUTS
Click each of
the links below for a printable version of the workout:
GROWTH - LEGS
STRENGTH - CHEST
SPEED - BACK
STRENGTH - LEGS
SPEED - CHEST
GROWTH - BACK
SPEED - LEGS
GROWTH - CHEST
STRENGTH - BACK
Related Articles:
The Physics of Bodybuilding - We
Squat Therefore We Are! by Kerry Dulin
Squat Tips - by Doug Daniels
Train Like a Beast - The Back - by Derek Charlebois
if
it hurts...
add
weight...
if
you're tired...
add
weight...
if you're sick...
add
weight...
See it, believe it, do it...
just add weight
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