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Condense Time And Get Bigger And
Stronger Faster!
By Mike Mahler
(Originally Published in Hardcore Muscle Magazine)
When I was in the sales world, I realized real fast that I do not
get paid for simply showing up or pretending to work. Most people get
paid for working eight hours a day. However, how much work is actually
being done in those eight hours? From what I saw, not too much. At least
half of the day was wasted on gossip, doing tasks inefficiently, wasting
time in unnecessary meetings, and talking about things instead of taking
action. Just pretend for a minute that you are in sales and imagine what
you would do if your boss makes you the following offer: do the required
amount of sales for the day and you can go home anytime you want.
Moreover, if you meet your monthly quota in two weeks, take the rest of
the month off. What would you do? Personally, I would find efficient
means to get the job done efficiently so I do not have to waste time.
After all, the more I achieve in less time the more money I make. If it
takes 2 hours to make $500.00, I am making $250 an hour. If it takes
eight hours to make $500.00, I am only making $62.50 an hour. If you
have half a brain the former will sound more appealing than the latter.
The way that you approach bodybuilding should not be any different. You
do not get bigger and stronger the longer you stay in the gym, you get
bigger and stronger based on how efficient you are in the gym. I rather
spend one solid hour in the gym and maximize every minute to gains than
mess around for several unfocused hours. In this article, I am going to
reveal two training protocols that you can cycle between indefinitely to
keep the gains coming fast and furiously! The combination of these two
workouts will allow you to condense time and maximize your time
training. Thus, you will achieve more in less time. I like to call this
combination: condensed training.
The first super effective training protocol for maximizing
your training time is called EDT (Escalating Density Training). EDT is
the brainchild of top strength coach Charles Staley, author of “The
Ultimate Guide To Massive Arms: Escalating Density training.” A few
years ago Charles realized that the key to getting bigger and stronger
lies in doing more work in the same amount of time. Things such as rep
speed and feeling the muscle are really not that important. The key to
packing on size is to progressively increase the intensity, volume, and
density in each training session.
Here is how EDT works. Take two exercises that work
antagonistic muscles. For example, the bench press which works the chest
and the bent over row which works the lats. Take your ten-rep max on
each exercise and do as many reps of five of each exercise in a
designated time period. Coach Staley refers to this time period as a “PR
(Personal Record) Zone. To illustrate, lets say that the PR Zone is
twenty minutes. Set a stopwatch for twenty minutes and do as many reps
as possible on the bench press and bent over row. Do the exercises back
to back. In other words, do one set on the bench press, wait thirty
seconds, do a set on the bent over row, wait thirty seconds and do
another set on the bench press etc. Once the twenty-minute period is up,
the PR Zone is over. Record the total number of reps for each exercise.
Lets say that you completed thirty-five reps with 225lbs on the bench
press. Your goal at the next workout is to complete a minimum of
thirty-six reps. As long as you are doing more reps in the same amount
of time; you are increasing the intensity, volume, and density and will
pack on some meat. When you can increase the total number of reps by
20%, increase the training load by 5%. For example, lets say that you do
twenty-five total reps on the bent over row with 200lbs at your first
EDT workout. When you can complete thirty reps, increase the training
load to 210lbs. Make sure that you use solid form at all times.
Do not
cheat in order to get more reps.
I tried EDT around a year ago and was amazed with how well it
worked. Before using EDT my previous best On the Military Press with 2
70lb kettlebells, was six reps. After only two weeks of EDT, I nailed
nine reps. I had been stuck at a plateau for months before that and was
elated to say the least. Moreover, I got several comments from people
that my shoulders were looking much bigger.
I liked EDT so much that I bought the company! Just kidding.
However, I placed several of my online consulting clients on EDT
programs. As the feedback started rolling in, there was no doubt in my
mind that EDT was effective. Here is what my client Patt Drawe stated
about the EDT program that I designed for him, “I'm in my fourth week of
EDT and I'm happy to report that in one month I have made more progress
than in the previous three months! It works, and the feeling of
accomplishment is a great motivational boost as well. I don't max out
much, but my working weight on the bench has increased by about 20lbs in
the four weeks." Keep in mind that Patt is an experienced trainee. When
was the last time that you saw an experienced natural trainee pack on
20lbs on his or her bench press in four weeks? That’s more than most
trainees pack on in a year. Patt was definitely not the only client of
mine that benefited from EDT. My client Mike Brown went from barely
pressing two 70lb kettlebells for two reps, to twelve sets of three in
just a few weeks. A few months later, Mike military pressed two 88lb
kettlebells for ten reps!
Okay, lets get into how to design an EDT program for maximum
increases in size and strength. Now if your number one goal is to
increase the size of your arms, get Coach Staley’s book (Get his book
regardless of what your goals are as it is excellent) by going to
www.edtsecrets.com. I am not going to cover any specialization programs
in this article. Instead, I am going to go over a full body program that
dozens of my clients have used successfully.
Workout 1: Upper Body (Monday and Friday)
PR Zone 1: Chest/Lats (20 minutes)
A-1: Bottom Position Bench Press
A-2: Bent over Barbell Row
Wait five minutes and then do:
PR Zone 2: Triceps/ Biceps
A-1: Standing Military Press from the nose
A-2: Weighted Chin-up
Workout 2: Lower Body (Wednesday and Saturday)
PR Zone 1: Hamstrings/Quads (20 minutes)
A-1: Bottom Position Barbell Squat
A-2: Stiff Legged Deadlift
Wait five minutes and then do
PR Zone 2: Calves/abs (10 minutes)
A-1 Seated Calf Raises
A-2: Weighted Sit-ups
Lets go over some key points on the exercise selection here. One,
why do bottom position bench presses and squats. First, they are much
harder than regular bench presses and squats. You have to generate a
great deal of power to move a heavy weight from the bottom position and
you will be amazed how much weaker you are when you try this drill. Two,
it is safer. EDT is hard work and you move at a rapid pace. The bottom
position bench press and squat in a power rack will allow you to bench
press and squat safely. In addition, they provide the convenience of not
relying on a spotter.
Next, antagonist exercises are paired up in each PR Zone. The
barbell bent over row is an antagonistic exercise to the bench press.
While you are working one, you are warming up the opposite muscles. This
will provide the benefit of being much stronger on each exercise and
will build balanced muscles. Just as the barbell bent over row is
antagonistic to the bench press, the stiff legged deadlift is an
antagonist exercise to the barbell squat. The stiff legged deadlift will
add mass to your hamstrings, while the Squat primarily focuses on the
quads. Both are proven mass makers that will provide a one two punch to
your physique. Workout efficiently is another reason why antagonistic
exercises are utilized. More can be done in less time with antagonistic
exercises then by doing each exercise separately
Next, instead of doing isolation exercises such as the triceps
pushdown and the triceps extension, I am going to have you do the
military presses from the nose. This is a power move that will blast
your triceps into the stratosphere. Again, use a power rack and set the
pins at nose level. The weighted chin-up is an excellent antagonist
exercise for the nose-level Military Press. Unlike bicep curls, the
chin-up forces you to work with your bodyweight, which will pay off with
major dividends. If you are not strong enough to do weighted chin-ups,
start off with your bodyweight.
Finally, with calves, there really are not any antagonistic
exercises. No bid deal as this makes for a convenient area to add in
some stomach work. The weighted sit-up will get the job done. Just hold
a barbell plate on your chest and you are ready to go.
Regarding breaks between sets, start off by taking thirty-
second breaks in between each exercise. Make sure to do the exercises in
each PR Zone in super set fashion. In other words, do a set of bench
presses, wait thirty seconds, do a set of bent over rows, wait thirty
seconds, do another set of bench presses etc. As fatigue kicks in,
increase the breaks to one minute. Also, do not go to failure or
compromise form to get five reps on each set. If you get to the point in
which you can no longer complete five reps with solid form, decrease the
reps. The goal with EDT is total reps completed, not reps per set. Do
what you have to, to keep the reps accumulating from workout to workout.
In many of my EDT workouts, the final sets in each PR zone were reduced
to doubles and singles.
Make sure to take a day off in between each EDT session. For
example, do workout one on Monday and then take Tuesday off. Proceed to
workout two on Wednesday and then take Thursday off. EDT is super hard
work so expect to be sore after the first few workouts. You will adapt
though and in addition to building some major mass and size, will
acquire killer conditioning as well.
As effective as EDT is, four to six weeks is pretty much the
limit of what most trainees can tolerate before burnout kicks in. I
recommend that trainees switch to a lower volume program for four weeks
for every four weeks of EDT. Top strength coach Pavel Tsatsouline’s PTP
(power to the people) program is just the ticket to transition to after
four weeks of EDT work. Instead of jut going into maintenance mode for a
month. Pavel’s PTP program will allow you to continue to get bigger and
stronger. PTP is another example of condensing time and making workouts
far more efficient.
With PTP, Pavel recommends two primary exercises. Number one
is the deadlift. Pavel states that the deadlift is one of the best
exercises for packing on strength and size as it works more muscles than
any other drill. Next, Pavel recommends either the barbell side press or
the floor press as the upper body exercises of choice. In addition to
only concentrating on two exercises, Pavel recommends no more than two
sets of five per day for strength training. The first set is a heavy one
and the second set is completed with 90% of first set. Finally, you
train five days a week on the PTP program.
Now at this point I know what you are saying. How can you
possibly get bigger and stronger with only two sets of two exercises per
workout? First, training has to do with quantity not quality. Remember
the analogy that I used at the beginning of this article. It is not how
long you are at work, but what you do at work. A few sets done right are
much better than a dozen sets done wrong. Also in Pavel’s excellent book
“Power To The People”, Pavel reveals several tips for recruiting as many
muscles as possible in each exercise to maximize strength and make your
muscles hard as a rock. For more info on Pavel, go to
www.powerbypavel.com.
Second, due to the frequency of PTP training the weekly volume
is hardly low. Each week you are doing a total of ten sets. Instead of
doing ten sets on one day and taking seven days off, you are breaking
the ten sets over five days. The frequency of Pavel’s program will shock
your body into new levels of growth. The more frequently that you can
hit a muscle with adequate recovery, the faster it will grow.
Now I like the program that Pavel outlines in his book for people that
want to get strong without adding any weight. However, for bodybuilders
I recommend a few more exercises to induce hypertrophy and for training
variety. What are the exercises? Lets add the weighted chin-up, the
dumbbell press, the bent over row, the squat, and the Military Press to
the deadlift. Also, instead of doing the same exercises every day, lets
do some alternating throughout the training week. . Here is an example
of a five-day schedule:
Monday -Wed-Fri Tuesday-Thursday
Military Press Dumbbell Press
Weighted-chin-up Bent-Over Row
Deadlift Squat
Pavel recommends taking five minute breaks in between each set to
maximize strength. Since we want o focus on building big muscles, I am
going to have you take two-minute breaks between each set. Similar to
EDT, the exercises will be done in Antagonistic fashion.
Here is how the sets will breakdown. Do five reps on the first
set. Even if you can do more, stop at five. On the second set, shoot for
seven reps. When you can nail seven reps on the second set, increase the
weight by 5% at the next workout. Otherwise, stay at the same weight
until you complete seven reps on set number two. Do not worry if the
prospect of only doing a few sets at each workout sounds unappealing.
After a month of EDT, you will welcome the lower volume workouts. What
you like does not really matter anyway. Serious trainees want results
and the back-to-back combo of EDT-PTP will deliver just that! Stick with
PTP for four to six weeks. At that point it will be time to ramp up the
volume and intensity again and plug into another EDT workout.
By combing EDT and PTP into an 8-10 week training cycle, you
are taking advantage of one of the most effective training concepts in
the world known as periodization. The concept of periodization was
popularized by top strength coach Tudor Bompa. Basically, with
periodization you breakdown the entire year into training quarters. For
example, an athlete might spend four months working on muscular
endurance by working in the 12-15 rep range. Then spend another four
months on hypertrophy, by working in the 6-8 rep range. Then finally
spend the last four months of the year working on brute strength in the
1-3 rep range. Looks great on paper. However, there are two major
drawbacks. One, four months is a long time to spend on one area of
training. For many trainees, four months of 12-15 reps per exercise will
get old real fast. Number two, your body will adapt to what you subject
it to. In four months of doing endurance work, you will become very good
at endurance work. However, after four months of doing brute strength
work, You will probably lose the benefits of the endurance work that you
did earlier in the year. Thus, instead of breaking training down over
the course of several month, condense the periods and do much smaller
cycles such as four weeks instead of four month. That is precisely what
we are doing with the EDT-PTP.
You will not lose any of the results that you achieve with
EDT, during the PTP cycle. In fact, the opposite will occur. You will be
stronger, bigger, and refreshed for another EDT cycle. Vice versa as
well. After each EDT cycle you will have more high quality muscle mass
to maximize your strength for PTP. You will still get bigger with PTP,
but that is not the emphasis. In addition, studies show that your body
generally adapts to a given workout regimen after three to four weeks.
With the EDT/PTP combo you stay one step ahead of plateaus that may
occur by constantly switching gears. In addition to keeping workouts fun
and fresh, your hard work will be rewarded month after month. Not stop
wasting reading this article. You have work to do!
Tips for Successful EDT/PTP training
Clear EDT/PTP with your doctor before starting. Especially if you have
any heart problems or high blood pressure.
Make sure to drink a protein/carb drink immediately after each workout
to enhance recovery.
Get a cryocup (call 1-800-ICE-5722) and ice your legs down after each
workout.
Get a sports massage once a week or at least twice a month to enhance
recovery.
To make this program even more effective, click here: http://www.mikemahler.com/services.html
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