MAKE LIGHT WEIGHT HEAVY

One of the joys of injury is that it forces you to learn new ways to train in order to keep achieving your goals, and in the course of recovering from a knee surgery and a buggy shoulder, along with dealing with the joy that comes with aging (though it’s really the mileage that gets to me) I’ve learned the benefit of making light weight heavy.  When I first began training, I fell into the trap of many trainees where I assumed the only way to get bigger and stronger was to ALWAYS lift as much weight as I possibly could on every exercise, to the point that I started growing neurotic about the benefit of exercises LATER in the routine because I wouldn’t be able to lift as much weight on them compared to if I did them earlier.  Later in my training, I realized that one can still gain significant benefits in their training using reduced poundages, insofar as that trainee made it such that those reduced poundages represented the max amount that trainee could lift under THOSE circumstances.  The other benefit to this approach of training is that, once understood and mastered, it means there are a LOT more options opened up when a trainee is limited in access to weight.  I’m not original in this approach in the slightest, with John Meadows being someone who has ultimately mastered this, but, in turn, there’s proof of concept out there about this approach to training and how viable it is.  Intro aside, I wanted to share a few ideas I’ve been using recently in order to make the most of less weight. 

RAMPING SETS

Not all ramps are created equal

This is a classic approach to training, and one that generates a lot of questions from new trainees, specifically “why use ramping sets instead of straight sets?”  It’s once again for the sake of making a light weight feel heavy. 

For an example, a straight set of 5x5 would simply be a case of a trainee taking a weight and doing 5 sets of 5 reps with that weight: so 185 for 5x5, for example.  Ramping sets, on the other hand, have the trainee stick with sets of 5, but ultimately work up to a topset of 5 reps in 5 sets.  The weight on the final set will be the highest, and the trainee isn’t going to failure in the sets leading up to it BUT those sets ARE generating fatigue and reducing the ability of the trainee to exert to their absolute maximal ability.  Instead of moving your actual 5rm if you were to just lightly work up to it, the topset of 5 that you accomplish with ramping sets will be lighter while still being incredibly effective. 

As of recently, I’ve been enjoying combining ramping sets with…

GIANT SETS

Don't use giant sets with viking press: bad combo

Anyone that has been a fan of Brian Alsruhe’s channel knows what these are, but for the uneducated, a giant set is like a superset, except it’s composed of 3 or more moves.  Because of the structure of a giant set, the movement performed after the first movement is going to necessarily be of less weight vs what you could handle if you were fresh, and it will continue on as the giant set goes.  This effect is particularly pronounced when you use giant sets that employ the SAME muscle rather than opposing ones.  2 that I’m currently employing is a press day giant set of press (strict press or behind the neck), parallel bar dips, dumbbell lateral raise and band pull aparts, and a deadlift day giant set of axle deficit deadlifts, reverse hypers and squat (buffalo bar or front squat).  Whereas I can normally hit 40+ dips in a set, going after pressing limits me to around 15-18, and I’m lucky to hit 3x10 of 230lbs on squats at the end of my deadlift day giant set, yet I’ve seen significant growth in my deadlifting and pressing while employing these giant sets as supplemental work.  Proof of concept that employing lighter weights will make you stronger as long as you make those light weights FEEL heavy.

PRE-EXHAUST


The SEALS have mastered this technique to spend a whole WEEK pre-exhausting themselves

The above mentioned giant sets are effectively benefitting from the concept of pre-exhaust.  This was a popular notion in bodybuilding circles, and was specifically intended to bring up lagging muscle groups, but can also simply be useful for sparing connective tissues by once again making light weights more effective.  For the down and dirty: get the muscle groups tired BEFORE you train them.  I’ve been employing this technique specifically with direct arm work via “running the rack” with dumbbell curls.  I have a set of powerblock classic 50s, so I can work with 10-50lbs going up in 5lb increments.  I’ll start with 10lbs and hit a set amount of reps (say 20), then move up 5lbs and repeat, and keep going until I can’t hit the required amount of reps, at which point I’ll start progressing DOWN by 5lbs going for max reps on each set.  By the end, my arms are absolutely fried, yet I’ve placed little stress on the elbow itself due to the light weight.

This technique can also be employed with heavier compound lifts.  The squat, in particular, benefits from this, as it’s pretty easy to load/unload the weights and the consequence for failure isn’t quite as awful compared to benching without a partner.

DROPSETS

No dumb caption: this is still just plain awesome

This is a classic staple of mine.  Work up to a topset, do it, then immediately take some weight off and keep chasing after reps.  This doesn’t quite have the same effect of pre-exhaust, since the topset weight you’ll be using IS around the max you can handle, but the follow on sets will employ less weight than if you were to do a straight set workout across multiple sets, while the training effect is VERY powerful.  Some of the best results I’ve ever got in my squat training came from dropset workouts.  I’m particularly fond of combining it with rest pausing, so I’ll hit a set of squats, strip weight off, take 12 deep breaths and then go after it again.

Along with the benefit to your body, dropsets have a PROFOUND training effect on the mind, especially when performed with heavy compound lifts, and particularly with the squat.  When you just do a burnout set of some lift, it’s easy to go until you quit, but having to get back UNDER the bar after that set to do even more work requires some serious guts.

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There you go folks: one my rare posts with some actionable advice.  Go forth, do some damage, and write any questions you have in the comments.