SPECIAL EARLY RELASE: I want people to really think about what is written here, come up with their own ideas and do some discussion, so you get your article early this week.
It dawned on me that, no matter how “different” I think a program is when I write it, they all boil down to the same principles. My intent here is to share the guiding principles that are at play whenever I train, such that anyone who wishes to employ my technique can design their own program. As with everything in life, nothing here is set in stone, and things are constantly in flux and changing, but this is at least a basic template one could employ in order to vector their training.
Each training day boils down to 4 phases within the training
day: Get stronger/better, get bigger/stronger, get healthy, and get
tougher. The first and the fourth phase
tend to only include 1 movement, and in most cases just 1 set, while phases 2
and 3 tend to be where the majority of time is spent. A typical training day ranges anywhere
between 60-80 minutes. If there are any
questions, write a comment.
Phase 1: Get
stronger/get better
The first movement of the program is our primary goal for
the training session that day. This
movement can break down to 1 of 2 primary purposes: getting stronger, or
getting better. I’ve written extensively
on this topic in the past, but to reiterate, we are focusing either on grinding
a movement and exerting ourselves as much as possible (getting stronger) or
improving technique in order to move more weight (getting better). Both will still pose a challenging workout,
but they take different avenues.
If the goal is to get stronger, pick a movement that one has
relative mastery over (something simple is ideal here, like a squat, bench,
deadlift, etc) and work up to 1-3 heavy sets.
Anywhere from the 3-10 rep range works here. The goal is to really grind, push, exert, and
employ effort. You should see stars and
your hearing should go out during the absolute peak of these movements.
In order to prevent burnout, I cycle the movements on these
days (either using ROM progression or different implements, such as an axle,
log, keg, sandbag, etc). Doing the exact
same thing every week for multiple weeks tends to not work out so well, and
since the goal here is strength instead of skill, there is no concern about
“falling out of the groove” between weeks.
This movement is about learning to strain above all else, and teaching
the body how to call in all the muscles it needs and brace as hard as possible
in order to accomplish this.
If the goal is getting better, pick the movement you want to
improve and focus more on maintaining ideal/improved technique. In these instances, it’s still good to go
heavy, as technique differs with a heavy weight versus a light weight, but you
don’t want to strain to the point that you have tunnel vision. Use rest periods liberally, train for a set
amount of time versus a set amount of reps/sets, set up event medley’s, etc. This is especially easy to map if you have a
specific contest coming up, as you can simply set up this movement as it will
be performed in the contest and perform 1-3 rounds of the event.
You should still get a decent workout from the skill based
training, but more likely it will tax your cardio and get you a pump versus
shorting out your CNS.
Here is an example of a "get stronger" movement
https://youtu.be/dJhjEyyOark
And this would be a "get better" workout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTe7YL1fJ9U
Here is an example of a "get stronger" movement
https://youtu.be/dJhjEyyOark
And this would be a "get better" workout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTe7YL1fJ9U
Phase 2: Get
stronger/get bigger
The second series of movements of the day is designed to
support/compensate for the first movement of the day. No matter what you did for the first
movement, you want to use this opportunity to get bigger, BUT, if you trained
to get better for the first movement, ensure you use this opportunity to also
get stronger.
Getting stronger is once again a fairly simple
approach. Here, we don’t need to exert
maximal effort like we did with movement once, but still want to push some
fairly heavy weights. The 6-10 rep range
for a big compound lift works well here, anywhere from 3-5 sets. You can either pick a movement that mimics
what you trained for lift 1 (ie: DB bench for movement 2 supporting Bench press
for movement 1) or utilize something with similar muscles but a different plane
of movement (ie: swiss bar overhead press supporting bench press, a squat for a
deadlift, etc).
For getting bigger, we’re going to employ a more “bodybuilder-esque”
approach for the assistance work.
Movements selected will be less directly analogous to the first movement
of the day and instead be movements that specifically build up the muscles
involved in the first movement. If today
was a squat day, we could use glute ham raises, reverse hypers, ab work, pull
throughs, kettlebell swings, leg presses, lunges, etc etc. Basically, a lot of movements wherein it
would be unreasonable to train them as a strength movement, but still
contribute toward making one stronger.
You can still go heavy here, like with a reverse hyper, or light, like
with lateral raises, but the goal is not to push the most weight but to
stimulate muscles and get a pump. Focus
more on feeling the muscle and improving the areas you need to improve and less
on how much weight is on the bar or beating PRs from the previous weeks.
Some "get stronger" work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPu-xh6uTTw
Some "get bigger" work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Ft15yZavc
Some "get stronger" work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPu-xh6uTTw
Some "get bigger" work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Ft15yZavc
Phase 3: Get healthy
This is where a lot of filler work goes, the stuff that
needs to get done but no one gets really excited about. Band pull aparts, ab work, pre/re-hab,
etc. There will sometimes be overlaps
here between the “get bigger” movements and these, and don’t be too worried if
you get a pump while doing these, but the point here is less about making
things bigger and more about keeping the body in a state where it can continue
to train.
For personal examples, my right shoulder/labrum is pretty
much hamburger, and if I don’t keep up rear delt work I get in pain pretty
quick, so I’m constantly hitting up band pull aparts in my upper body
training. Additionally, I am fairly
certain I have some undiagnosed herniated discs in my neck, and if I don’t use
a neck harness regularly it starts to act up, so this is a good place to train
the movement. Other folks might use this
to do some mobility work, rotator cuff work, etc.
Here is an example video of getting healthy
Some examples of "getting healthy"
https://youtu.be/83DBRilawig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpy2RSXA8dU
Here is an example video of getting healthy
Some examples of "getting healthy"
https://youtu.be/83DBRilawig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpy2RSXA8dU
Phase 4: Get tougher
We save this for last, because after this you’ll have
nothing left. Whereas everything up
until this point was meant to improve us physically, this is meant to improve
us mentally. For this portion of the
workout, we’re going to pick something that absolutely sucks to do yet still
has some similar qualities with the main goal of the day.
Examples include
20 rep breathing squats
Squat drop sets
Heavy yoke walks
Farmer’s carry with straps (no chance of dropping implement)
Sandbag/keg carry for distance/time
Bench burnouts/drop sets
Etc
Squat drop sets
Heavy yoke walks
Farmer’s carry with straps (no chance of dropping implement)
Sandbag/keg carry for distance/time
Bench burnouts/drop sets
Etc
It’s not that difficult.
Push past your comfort zone, use a lot of intensity amplifiers (drop
sets, forced reps, rest pause, short rest periods, etc) and get smoked. You should basically be crawling away from the
gym after this. Creativity is highly
encouraged, as there is really no wrong way to go about this. This is also an excellent opportunity to
sneak in some strongman training/conditioning if you have an upcoming contest,
with medleys being awesome for making life terrible.
You’ll note that this is the final movement of the day. The reason for this is two-fold. 1: after you perform this movement, you
should have no energy left for any other sort of training. 2: already being in a state of fatigue will
mean that you need less weight to elicit the desired outcome, which should
hopefully put you at less risk for injury/burnout.
The “get tougher” portion will also function to meet the goals
of getting bigger, better and stronger too (as do really all movements in the
program, nothing exists in a vacuum), but the goal is really about just pushing
past one’s comfort zone. Your breathing
should be labored, your muscles should burn, and you should wonder why you
choose to do this for a hobby.
Some "get tougher" exercises
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdDs9jtrbK8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPDBflCl3-I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KkvrVq_0CM
Some "get tougher" exercises
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdDs9jtrbK8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPDBflCl3-I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KkvrVq_0CM
*Hacks
Since I train at home, I have a bit more liberty in how I go
about training, and have utilized the following approaches to cram as much as I
can into my training in as little time as possible. The key here is that nothing is too rigid or
structured: we approach training with a basic idea, but the execution is less
relevant than simply meeting the goals.
-Alternating movements/supersets:
I am a big fan in alternating between my “get stronger” and “get bigger/healthier” movements when I train, especially if I’m working opposite muscle groups in doing so. I find it helps to speed up my recovery and keep blood flowing while I train, and also helps me squeeze in more training in a shorter amount of time. Band pull aparts work incredibly well here, throwing them in between sets of just about everything on upperbody days, but I also like doing this with heavier back movements (lat pulldown, rows, chins, etc).
-Alternating movements/supersets:
I am a big fan in alternating between my “get stronger” and “get bigger/healthier” movements when I train, especially if I’m working opposite muscle groups in doing so. I find it helps to speed up my recovery and keep blood flowing while I train, and also helps me squeeze in more training in a shorter amount of time. Band pull aparts work incredibly well here, throwing them in between sets of just about everything on upperbody days, but I also like doing this with heavier back movements (lat pulldown, rows, chins, etc).
Ideally, you do want to use a movement that isn’t going to interfere
with the recovery of your larger movements.
Supersetting bench press with band pushdowns may prove ineffective,
whereas bicep curls shouldn’t have too negative of an impact. You can either perform the movements
immediately following each other or rest a little in between each. The key is to not get stuck in the mindset of
“now I am training strength and later I am training size”, but instead realize
that the goal is to hit all the movements at some point in the workout.
-Giant sets
Giant sets are similar to supersets, we’re just throwing in
a greater number of movements. This is
an effective way to include a lot of “get bigger” work in the program, or to
combine the “get stronger” “get bigger” and “get healthier” portions all in
one. An example would be if we were
doing dumbbell benching to get stronger, we could follow the set with some chin
ups and then follow the chin ups with some band pull aparts. You can rest between movements or follow one
immediately after the other, resting at the end of the giant set. Once again, this is just about squeezing in
more work in less time.
-Volume/fatigue
accumulation
Whereas the first two methods mentioned were about squeezing
in more work in less time, this is more about getting a certain amount of reps
in without affecting recovery. You’re
still going to be training movements in between other movements with this
approach, but the goal here is to NOT go to failure with the second movement,
and instead just get a few reps in. We’re
working toward a total amount of reps by the end of the workout with this
approach.
An example would be if, in between every exercise on our
upperbody day, we throw in 3 chin ups.
Depending on how many exercises we have (and warm-ups), we could pretty
easily work up to 50-60 reps in this fashion, while at the same time remaining
fresh to hit other movements.
Additionally, if one still wants to elicit a pump effect
from this training, we can spend the entire training day performing 1 movement
in between all other movements, and then at the end of the training day perform
1 all out set, aiming for as many reps as possible. We will be in a fatigued state at this point,
which will mean we require fewer reps to get our desired result, but still be
able to push ourselves and leave feeling pumped.
An example of this approach would be if we performed 3 reps
of dumbbell rows between every exercise, and then at the very end performed 1
all out set of kroc rows with each arm.
If you have any questions, let me know.
Nice write up man a lot to think about/tweak from a abstract approach. My Inzer 10mm lever arrived and it is one beastly belt. The back is "bulletproof" thanks for your help.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding news on the belt. Hope it brings you many years of PRs.
DeleteGreat write-up, a lot of good thoughts and things I can apply as a fellow home gym strongman guy.
ReplyDeleteWill
Very awesome. Glad you appreciated it. We're definitely a different breed, haah.
DeleteVery nice way to structure a training! Does it mean I go for a rep max 4 days a week?
ReplyDeleteHey man, sorry I missed this post for so long, but I've definitely trained that way before and found it effective.
DeleteHey man enjoy your blog. I am designing my own program based on my schedule and based on your thought process, for a deadlift day, would you say this lay out makes sense?
ReplyDeleteDeadlift - 3x5 (Get stronger)
SLDL - 4x8 (Get bigger)
DB Row, GHR, Ab Roller, Back Ext - 4x10-12 (Get healthy)
Farmers Walk - 3 Rounds (Get tougher)
Hey man,
DeleteFor the paradigm I employ, the first exercise of the day is a topset, rather than straight sets. At most, it's chased by a backoff set, but I don't find much value in using straight sets and fixed reps when it comes to maximizing strength.
Farmer's walks should be done on their own day. Those are events/conditioning. If you absolutely must do them on that day, it would be for one round for as long as possible. Anything you can do for 3 rounds isn't meeting the point, as everything I linked was an example of just one very brutal set where you leave it all out there. So if you wanted to do farmers, use some straps and walk until you collapse. Maybe rest pause it some.
Hope that helps. Glad to have you as a reader.