Check out both lifts below, courtesy of Grigsby’s Instagram profile:

 

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A post shared by Danny Grigsby (@dan_grigs)

[Related: Powerlifter Jessica Buettner Deadlifts 507 Pounds For 6; Crushes 405-Pound Paused Squat For 4 Reps]

Only weeks removed from notching a professional powerlifting first, these are stellar training feats for the 28-year-old Grigsby. The powerlifter had previously noted he was working through minor quad tweaks. As a result, he took the necessary precautions to avoid any further unexpected pitfalls in training.

Starting to do volume again, this is brutal

It seems Grigsby is well on his way back toward full power and endurance with these respective pulls.

Putting in the Work

Grigsby stepping up his deadlift training is an excellent sign for his prospects over the rest of the year 2022. With almost a decade’s worth of experience under his belt, he is no stranger to pushing for success as a professional powerlifter.

During the 2022 United States Powerlifting Association (USPA) Virginia Beach Classic 2, Grigsby became the first person to deadlift over 1,000 pounds in a full powerlifting meet when he pulled 465 kilograms (1,025.2 pounds). He achieved this feat while competing in the raw 125-kilogram weight class.

Here are notable results from Grigsby’s still-evolving career:

• 2013 USPA Downing’s Gym Classic — 1st overall | Juniors
• 2013 USPA West Coast Open — 1st overall | Juniors
• 2014 USPA Oregon State Open — 1st overall | Juniors
• 2014 USPA Washington State Summer Strength Wars — 1st overall | Juniors
• 2014 USPA West Coast Regional Powerlifting Championships — 1st overall | Juniors
• 2015 World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters (WABDL) North American — 1st overall | Juniors
• 2017 USPA DCS Winter Open — 2nd overall | Open
• 2019 USPA California State Championships — 1st overall | Open
• 2020 USPA Iron Mongers Pro Day — 1st overall | Open
• 2021 World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF) The Bucked Up Showdown — 4th overall | Open
• 2022 USPA Virginia Beach Classic 2 — 1st overall | Open

Benefits of Volume Lifting

It’s one thing for an athlete to test their max strength with one great rep. It’s another task to push for a high volume with a degree of challenge.

Research has shown that pushing volume on a short-term basis with a lift can be integral to progress for a competitive athlete. However, it’s not advisable to focus on volume solely. An athlete should mix it with high-intensity, i.e., a challenging but still attainable weight.

People who managed to thread this training needle appropriately in their training for a few weeks saw noticeable upticks in hypertrophy (or muscle growth). (1)

Deadlifting for volume places considerable stress on the lower body, too. The workout is a great activator of an athlete’s hamstrings and gluteus maximus muscles (or butt), but those aren’t its primary benefactors. Partly due to the nature of the pull and eventual rep lockout, the deadlift primarily centers on activating an athlete’s quads and erector spinae (or back muscles). (2)

If a powerlifter such as Grigsby can pull a deadlift for both power and volume, then it would appear he’s performing at or near top level again.

Lofty Goals

Grigsby has not yet announced when he’ll compete in another powerlifting meet. Whenever that does happen, he has said his next major goal is to lift a 1,043.3-kilogram (2,300-pound) total between the squat, bench press, and deadlift. That total would make Grigsby second all-time behind a 1,053-kilogram (2,321.5-pound) world record set by Zac Meyers at the 2020 USPA No Luck Needed Open.

One potential upcoming option for an event is the 2022 WRPF American Pro, which will take place on July 29-30, 2022, in Manassas, VA. Grigsby competed in a WRPF event (his first-ever) as recently as September 2021 and could look to do so again.

If his recent deadlift training is any indication, Grigsby may continue to reach his ambitious goals regardless of wherever he competes next.

References:

1. Colquhuon, R.J., et al. (2018). Training Volume, Not Frequency, Indicative of Maximal Strength Adaptations to Resistance Training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. May 2018; Vol 32 (5); p. 1207-1213
2. Martín-Fuentes, I., Oliva-Lozano, J.M., Muyor, J.M. (2020). Electromyographic activity in deadlift exercise and its variants. A systematic review. PLOS One. Feb 2020; 15(2)

Featured image: @dan_grigs on Instagram

The post Powerlifter Danny Grigsby Deadlifts 915 Pounds for 2 Reps and Then Pulls 770 Pounds for 8 Reps appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Progressive overload can be achieved in multiple ways. We can increase the intensity, the frequency, or we can increase the number of reps and sets we’re doing with a specific weight. These techniques all expose the body to a new and greater stimulus than before. Although there are some benefits that are unique to each method, they are all essentially doing the same thing: they all increase our overall training effect.

The Fundamentals of Volume

Training volume is defined as sets x reps x weight. It is the total work done per session, or per week depending on how you look at it. For example, if someone does three sets of 10 reps at 100kg, that is 3,000kg of volume in that session. Over a training period, an increase in training volume has been shown to increase muscle size,¹ and bigger muscles are generally stronger muscles. As volume encompasses intensity, frequency, sets and reps, it is easier and more beneficial to track training volume rather than just to track one of these factors individually. To achieve progressive overload while looking at our training volume, we must manipulate classic training metrics.

Adding intensity (weight) is the least effective method to increase overall training volume. If you go from three sets of 10 reps at 100kg (3,000kg of volume) and add 2.5kg to the bar, you achieve 3,075kg of volume. If you had only added one rep per set, you would achieve 3,300kg of volume, and if you added a whole extra set, 4,000kg of volume.

However, there are unique benefits to increasing the weight used. Upping intensity is usually the main goal for strength athletes, as the competition demands a maximal strength test of a specific movement. Therefore, more intense training is more competition-specific. Increasing volume by adding intensity is probably best done in a strength phase of training, working towards a test or a competition day.

The Right Way to Increase Frequency

Frequency is the number of times you do a specific movement during a week. For example, if you squat twice a week, increasing that to three times a week will increase your frequency. This will increase your volume as well, as you add all the sets you do on your additional day to your current weekly sets. When increasing your frequency, it is best to split your current volume over the new number of days.

Let’s take an individual squatting five sets of five reps, twice per week. That’s 10 total sets. If they want to add a day to increase frequency, they are best off splitting those 10 sets over the now three days of squat training. That could look like four sets of five on day one, three sets of five on day two, and three sets of five on day three. Total volume hasn’t yet increased, but frequency has. After this point, you can add a set on day two and have increased volume in a more manageable way.

Frequency has a unique benefit to the other methods, in that it exposes the trainee to more practice at the movement. This can be especially beneficial to people struggling with technique, or beginners who need to learn a specific movement better.

Linear Progression Using Volume

Finally, adding reps or sets into workouts can moderately increase the volume of training. If one week you accomplish three sets of five with a particular weight and the next week you manage three sets of six with the same weight, you have increased volume. Adding reps or sets are moderate ways to increase volume, but it tends to be the most manageable for most athletes. Saying to someone “Okay, we’ve done five reps with that this week, next week we’ll do six reps” is fairly linear progression, makes sense to most people, and can be very manageable in non-maximal training programs.

This is a good technique for novice athletes, as it creates confidence that they are progressing without having to add more weight to the bar. An effective technique is to add a rep each week for two weeks, then add a set on the third week before returning to the original set and rep scheme but adding weight to the bar. In reality, this is a linear progression, but is less daunting than constantly adding weight to the bar.

See the Whole Picture

Volume incorporates all the classic methods to achieve progressive overload (intensity, frequency, sets and reps) and creates a nice, easy-to-track metric that gives a more holistic view of training. Assessing progress using volume rather than weight on the bar provides a more gradual and effective method of exposing the body to new stimuli. It also avoids the quick plateaus that arise from classic linear programs. If you don’t track your training volume, you are leaving out a key method to assess progress. Why assess just one metric of progressive overload, when you can look at them all together?

Reference:

1. Schoenfeld, Brad J., Dan Ogborn, and James W. Krieger. “Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis.” Journal of Sports Sciences 35, no. 11 (2017): 1073-1082.

The post The Holistic Way to Track Your Training Progress appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

• The confines of your genetic endowment (body type and limitations) and its potential to develop.
• The post-training factors of dietary habits and recovery time.
• The reality of exercise as a stressor and the desired adaptation you are seeking.

Consider your goals: get stronger, improve endurance, shed body fat, improve your physical looks, or the total package of all those combined. You wish there was an easy path to achieve those goals. But you’re smart, which means you know it will take a lot of work to make those changes, depending on your body type, your current exercise regimen, and the all-important food intake component.

So how do you maximize your progress with the least amount of exercise?

Take Care of Your Diet First

First things first: you can only do so much within the confines of your body type.

You may be tall or short, have wide hips, narrow shoulders, a big booty or a flat one, be pear or apple-shaped, etc. You do, however, have control over your fat-to-muscle ratio, regardless of your genetic endowment.

You must commit to shoring up your diet. That is considered to be around 80% of the battle to shed body fat, look better, and become more fit. Without a firm grip on food intake factors, you’re making it difficult to accrue positive results. To lose body fat, there must be a negative calorie balance. Take in less and burn more. You also need to eat real food: fresh vegetables and fruit, lean proteins, good fats, and less processed foods.

The harsh reality of your genetics and the dedication required to eat properly can be disheartening. But if you have those going for you, what can you do exercise-wise to maximize your potential? Remember, the exercise component is not the end-all, be-all part of the equation. Therefore, exercise intelligently and efficiently. Don’t waste your valuable time attempting to out-exercise genetic limitations and poor dietary habits. You do not need to commit hours upon hours of time in the gym to lose body fat, build shapely muscle, and look better in front of your full-length mirror.

The late Arthur Jones was a man who was well ahead of his time. Although others in the past can be credited with limited, hard effort in training, Jones is considered the most recent (relatively speaking) advocate of that type of training: all-out effort, minimal exercise duration, and attention to adequate recovery time. “Flip the switch,” move on, and let the body heal itself.

Remember, doing something is 100% more than doing nothing. Doing that “something” in limited volume with no-holds-barred effort can be enough stimulus to facilitate physical gains for the average trainee.

The “Less is More” Program

If you’re with me at this point and want to give it a spin, try the following routine for eight weeks. The rules are simple:

1. 100% effort each set. Don’t stop if you can perform another repetition (safely, with a partner). Record the result of each set to assure objective progression.
2. Attempt to progress in each set of every workout in terms of the amount of resistance used and/or the number of repetitions performed within the prescribed range. Simple progression like that works.
3. Take a complete day off after each session (i.e., M-W-F or T-Th-Sa).

Day 1: Total Body

Warm up as needed, then perform one set of each of the following:

• Multi-joint leg push (barbell squat, leg press, or dead lift): 20-25 reps
• Hamstrings/glutes (leg curl, Romanian dead lift, or back extension): 15-20 reps
• Multi-joint leg push (lunge, goblet squat, or machine squat): 10-15 reps
• Pull down/pull up (wide or close grip): 15-20 or max reps
• Overhead press (barbell, dumbbell, or machine): 15-20 reps
• Low row (bent-over barbell or dumbbell row, plate-load or pulley row): 15-20 reps
• Chest press (barbell, dumbbell, or machine): 15-20 reps
• Upright row (barbell, dumbbell, or machine): 15-20 reps
• Incline press (barbell, dumbbell, or machine): 15-20 reps
• Abdominals (choose any): 20-30 reps

Day 2: Upper Body

Warm up as needed, then perform two sets of each of the following exercises, using the rep ranges provided:

• Chest press: 12-16 and 8-12 reps
• Low row: 12-16 and 8-12 reps
• Overhead press: 10-14 and 6-10 reps
• Pulldown/pull up: 10-14 and 6-10 or (or 2 x max reps for pull up)
• Incline press: 8-12 and 4-8 reps
• Upright row: 8-12 and 4-8 reps

Day 3: Lower Body

Warm up as needed, then perform the sets and reps indicated:

• Multi-joint leg push: 15-20, 10-15, and 5-10 reps
• Hamstrings/glutes: 12-16 and 8-12 reps
• Multi-joint leg push: 12-16 reps
• Hamstrings/glutes: 10-14 reps.
• Abdominals: 15-20 and 10-15 reps

Don’t Overthink Your Training

If you’re training to become stronger and improve your general fitness, you don’t need to spend hours of wasted time performing endless sets of various exercises at sub-maximum effort. If you’re training to only lose body fat and improve your physique, 80% of that goal is your diet and the other 20% is a minimal menu of basic resistance training exercises performed at a high effort for a minimal volume.

Look at your current resistance training program and ask yourself these questions:

• Are you performing needless multiple exercise sets?
• Are you exuding sub-maximal effort in each set?
• Are you training too often and not allowing for adaptation to occur?

Contrary to conventional wisdom, more is not always better. If you work hard and create a stimulus for adaptation, minimal training volume and adequate recovery and nutrition will suffice. In the future, think “minimal” when you train. In turn, your training will become more time efficient. Train with maximum effort, and you’ll realize positive results, provided your nutritional intake is sound and adequate recovery time is allowed.

Lose the rubber bands and get some real function in your fitness:

How Sports Performance Can Fix Functional Training

The post Train Less, Gain More appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Supersets don’t have to blast the nervous system. This is contrary to popular belief in a fitness industry that prioritizes working out over training. Coaches are in the business of coaxing performance from the nervous system – managing the process of giving as much as a sport requires as often as possible to get the fastest gains.

When the balance between stimulus and recovery is lost, supersets can become damaging to your athletes, your reputation, and potentially the bottom line of both the coach and athlete.

The Relationship Between Performance and Recovery

EXOS founder Mark Verstegen often states, “Recovery is the limiting factor on performance.” Brandon Marcello, PhD, has said, “I think Pre-covery is the limiting factor. Sleep & nutrition are the foundation for performance and recovery.” While both are true to some extent, it’s important to remember pre-recovery can’t be influenced once you’re working out. But recovery can be influenced at this time.

When we include supersets however, they can do one of two things:

1. Continue to blast the nervous system and lengthen the time to full recovery
2. Caress the nervous system and shorten the time to full recovery

In order to enhance recovery rather than delay it, select movement drills that require control and challenge stability.

“Be warned, if your athlete moves worse after their training session compared to when they started, your training program balance is tipped too far into the stimulus and far away from the recovery.”

A superset that puts the athlete at the edge of their ability to control forces in multiple directions says to the nervous system, “I want you to pay attention to your environment again, and to adapt to internal and external stimuli. This is function. I want you to recalibrate your ability to withstand adverse conditions. This is robustness.”

When we use this style of superset, we also speak to the nervous system in the way it learns best: subconsciously, by reflexes. Our primary strength exercises are not reflex driven. They’re conscious efforts. Superset movements that are performed on the edge of ability, where the athlete needs to manage their mistakes, are done reflexively and subconsciously. These rich stimuli stimulate the nervous system and set the athlete up for better recovery.

A great example is the Turkish get up (TGU), or indeed any transitional phase of the TGU. Holding a kettlebell overhead at a distance is a wobbly task that requires control. The wrist would prefer to fall into extension. The shoulders would prefer to fall in any direction. The trunk and pelvis have to align themselves in a constantly changing, yet reflexively stable position under the weight. The TGU is particularly challenging to the nervous system after performing any task that requires great exertion, like a bench press or deadlift.

The TGU is particularly challenging to the nervous system after performing any task that requires great exertion.

The Role of Primary Strength Exercises

It’s a different theme for strength-biased supersets. Primary strength exercises are usually biased towards producing or absorbing force in one direction. A push. A pull. A press. A lift. Fine motor control is not required. Indeed the nervous system does its best to avoid fine motor control. It just needs to exert maximum effort in one direction.

Recalibrating the Nervous System

There are plenty of other useful superset exercises that start in a position similar to the transitional stages of the TGU. Each exercise plays a role in recalibrating the nervous system after it was blasted by a primary strength set.

Here are some examples:

• The kettlebell arm bar
• A split kneeling one-arm press
• A farmer’s carry/one arm overhead carry/one arm carry
• Narrow stance split squats

Even the ground-based positions play a role in resetting the nervous system. Animal Flow is one example. Ground Force Method is another. Athletes who normally handle Animal Flow and other ground-based work can try these drills as supersets.

“But if you train hard and then expect your athletes to train again before they’ve had a couple of days to fully recover, then you’re training them to become better compensators.”

Assess the athlete’s performance by watching for the following:

• Poor performance after primary lifts will tell you how fried the athlete is.
• Doing them well says the athlete has room for more blasting.
• If an athlete comes into training the day after a big session and still can’t to ground-based work, you know his or her nervous system has not recovered.

If you need more convincing, consider that the neuromuscular system learns best and quickest under the following circumstances:

1. When more than one joint is involved in the drill.

• For example, not an isolated elbow curl, but a curl to press.

2. When both an arm and a leg are involved.

• For example, a curl to press in narrow split kneeling or split standing.

3. When the arm and leg are on opposite sides of the body.

• For example, left side curl to press, right side single leg stance.

4. When the moving limb crosses the mid-line of the body.

• For example, a split kneeling or split standing chop or lift.

5. When both arm and leg are moving around a stable core.

• For example, single-leg, single-arm RDL, or even better yet, a full Turkish get up.

Targeting Recovery Based Supersets

As you can see, there are many positions and variations that can be used for recovery-biased supersets. Each one creates a stimulus that provides neuromuscular learning, as opposed to neuromuscular oppression. An oppressed nervous system does not grant you strength.

Many coaches ignore this recovery-superset concept because they think they have too little time to do fewer blasting exercises. Be warned, if your athlete moves worse after their training session compared to when they started, your training program balance is tipped too far into the stimulus and far away from the recovery. You’re not preparing them to perform. You’re preparing them to need more recovery.

Doing It Right the First Time

“If you don’t have time to do right, where will you find the time to do it over?”
John Wooden

More blasting is fine if they have days to recover. But if you train hard and then expect your athletes to train again before they’ve had a couple of days to fully recover, then you’re training them to become better compensators. That will eventually cost you and them. Their movement will be worse, due to soreness. This will lead them to work around their limitations. They’ll find movement in areas that aren’t supposed to move. They will run out of movement where they should have plenty. This will not only negatively affect their durability, but it will also negatively affect their efficiency.

“You can condition through sloppy form, or condition through impeccable form. Same time and energy spent. Not the same level of efficiency though, and therefore, not the same level of performance or safety. Anyone can go hard, but is it that hard to go smart after all? And above all, is it very smart at all to NOT go smart?”

Erwan Le Corre

Choose your supersets wisely. Your athlete’s career could depend on it.

More like this:

• Supersets: What They Are and 4 Ways to Do Them
• Everything You Need to Know About Supersets for Hypertrophy
• Hypertrophy Is Not a Bad Word: Functional Hypertrophy Training
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 & 3 courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

Photo 2 courtesy of Andrew Read.

The post Supersets: Beware the Line Between Training and Recovery appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The Single-Set versus Multiple-Set Debate

The debate will never end as long as mankind continues to believe more is better. As a result, many fail to experience what true, all-out effort entails when strength training. To better understand the debate consider the following talking points:

• If it was true that multiple sets trump single sets, why are the proponents of single-set strength training obtaining positive results?
• How do you define single-set strength training? Is it one set per body part? What about a single set per exercise, but with multiple exercises prescribe for the same body part?
• How do you explain a multiple set/repetition script that doesn’t offer optimal muscle stimulation? That is, multiple bouts are performed, but with sub-optimal effort that stimulates nothing. A greater volume of training means nothing unless it efficiently stimulates muscle tissue.
• If multiple sets are critical to optimal development, how hard should you work if the prescription calls for two, four, or six sets?
• If one set is effective, then it stands to reason that more should be better, right? Should you then perform 10, 15, or 20+ sets based on this logic? Where do you draw the line between training volume and overtraining?
• If you perform a five-set script with sub-optimal effort each set, is this superior to performing a single-set program at a high-level of effort?

The Problem With Percentages of 1RM

Many multiple-set programs are based on a percentage of a one repetition maximum (1RM). In example, 75% of a 1RM is assigned for twelve repetitions or 87% of a 1RM for five repetitions. Hey, it’ a plan, but do twelve repetitions at 75% and five repetitions @ 87% provide effective muscle overload? 

If sixteen repetitions were possible with 75% of a 1RM, halting the set at twelve repetitions would obviously be less than optimal. On the other hand, using 87% of 1RM may only result in four good repetitions even though the goal is five reps. In that case, it would be more productive even though the five-rep goal was not attained.

The percentage of a 1RM system applied to multiple-set protocols is flawed due to a lack of accuracy with prescribed repetitions and appropriate resistances used to create optimal overload.

The Purpose of Multiple Sets

If multiple sets are performed, are all sets completed with the goal of recruiting and overloading a maximum amount of muscle tissue? If not, what is the purpose of each set? Again, arbitrarily performing “x” number of repetitions for “y” sets can be inefficient if those bouts don’t create muscle overload.

The number of sets per muscle group needs to be addressed. Take a look at a plan to target the chest (pectorals). Here is a typical set/repetition script used for that purpose:

• Barbell decline press – 3 x 10
• Machine flat bench press – 4 x 8
• Dumbbell incline fly – 3 x 12
• Close grip push ups – 3 x maximum repetitions per set

Are all of those sets necessary? Absolutely not. That is way too much training volume for one part of the body. A better menu would be as follows if the trainee truly worked as hard as possible on each set performed:

• Barbell decline press – 10 repetitions to volitional muscular fatigue (VMF)
• Machine flat bench press – 8 repetitions to VMF
• Dumbbell incline fly – 12 repetitions to VMF
• Close grip push ups – maximum repetitions to VMF

I think you get my point. Therefore, to make your training time more time-efficient and effective for creating muscle overload, I recommend these tips for single-set strength training.

9 Ways to Get the Most Out of Single-Set Strength Training

1. Work to volitional muscular fatigue, safely. Go all-out and recruit as much muscle possible. A good analogy would be the 100-meter sprint. You do not sprint hard for 85 meters then coast the last fifteen. Run hard through the finish line.
2. Use minimal training sets (volume). Aim for quality, all-out sets to VMF (safely). This is a direct and measurable approach that allows for proper recovery time, gives you results, and minimizes total workout time.
3. It’s okay to use single sets and different exercises for each body part. You’ll be attaining a multiple-set flavor, but with minimal training volume (see the recommended chest/pectoral prescription above).
4. Strength train repetitions should be done with meaning. Don’t move the resistance haphazardly, but control it in both the concentric (positive) and eccentric (negative) segments of the exercise. For those of you now freaking out about developing the quality of power, relax and go read a legitimate exercise physiology textbook and research the basic physics of power development on the Internet. In essence, power is enhanced by improving muscular strength and learning to execute a movement as efficiently as possible through skill practice. Moving fast should only be practiced outside the weight room when practicing specific sport skills
5. Pause and squeeze in the contracted position. Use a smooth turn around between the concentric (raising) and eccentric (lowering) phases.
6. Use a training partner to assist you with forced repetitions. Once you reach VMF, failure usually occurs at the sticking point of the exercise range of motion. But at this point, you have yet to fully fatigue the involved muscles. Keep working the exercise while your training partner minimally assists as you squeeze out a few additional full-range repetitions.
7. Perform top one-half to one-quarter range of motion repetitions. Stay above the sticking point and keep pushing or pulling against the resistance. This only works a partial range of motion, but muscle is still being recruited and this further adds to the overload effect.
8. Perform isometric holds to finish a set. When forced and top one-half and one-quarter repetitions are completed, simply contract isometrically against the resistance to further fatigue involved muscle fibers. This would be in either the locked-out position (pushing exercises) or the attainable position (pulling exercises). You may think you’re doing nothing due to the lack of dynamic movement, but you are contracting muscle statically.
9. A final suggestion is to vary the repetitions and resistances over a multi-week training period. Mix it up. Use different set-repetition scripts from workout to workout and week to week.

The Difference Single-Set Training Makes

What is amazing is that simply spending a few additional seconds following VMF at the concentric failure point can be the difference between a productive overload from one exercise set as compared to half-assed multiple sets. Doing something 100% in less time is much more efficient than performing greater training volume at less than 100% effort.

Additionally, what is truly astonishing is the difference between the amounts of recovery time between workouts when comparing multiple sets performed below VMF to minimal sets performed to VMF. Again, spending a few more clock seconds at the business end of an exercise set may require additional days of recovery to allow for complete adaptation to that stress.

Here is the take-home message. Single-set strength training can be effective if you go all-out on each set performed. Follow my suggestions to enhance the single-set approach, and understand it’s appropriate to perform more than one set per muscle group provided it is not excessive.

References:

1. Carpinelli RN., Otto RM., “Strength training. Single versus multiple sets.” Sports Med. 1998 Aug;26(2):73-84.1.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Save Time and Get Stronger With Single-Set Training appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

One of the things that has always stuck in my head as far as training goes is to do the opposite of what most do. Breaking Muscle athlete and super-coach Charles Staley is the guy who said this. It’s a fairly simple concept. If you see people using machines, then do free weights. If you see people doing chest and biceps, then do legs.

But the biggest disconnect usually comes when we talk about volume. Everyone knows typical gym training begins with three sets of ten. There is actually some science behind that. Back in the 1960s, Dr. Thomas DeLorme found that people responded better to multiple sets than they did to a single exposure, both in terms of building muscle size and strength (which explains why high-intensity training doesn’t work long term).

While sets of ten will work to begin with, they do have some limitations, especially for the natural trainee. Sooner or later the decreasing intensity in these sets of ten will have you need to work fewer reps per set. To begin with, a set of ten may leave you out of breath and flushed, but it won’t stay that way. The best way to think about it is like going for a jog. At first it’s difficult to even get around the block, but if you keep running those relaxed runs, you will be covering more and more distance pretty quickly. And at that point the only way to get fitter is to run faster

It may seem like a strange analogy, but there are far more similarities than differences between strength and fitness training. Beginners usually find themselves training at around seventy percent of what they are ultimately capable of. In fact, there is even a table to work out how hard you are working based off how many reps per set you are doing called Prilepin’s Table. A single set that is the heaviest thing you can lift once and once only represents 100% of your maximum. Looking at Prilepin’s Table, you’ll see that it goes down and eventually ends up at sets of ten and a corresponding seventy percent effort.

One of the things people often lose sight of is how many total reps are in a session. There’s a real reason why top strength coaches record not just weight, but sets and reps in their students’ work, as it helps to calculate the total intensity for the session, and even the training cycle. When you look at successful training plans the majority have one big thing in common – they share a total number of reps between the mid twenties and low thirties.

Think about it:

• 3 x 10
• 3-4 x 8
• 5 x 5
• 4 x 6
• 6 x 4

But there’s one incredibly valuable scheme that is overlooked in these plans, and that is the flip side of the old three sets of ten. What happens when you do ten sets of three? <strong”>Let’s look at some of the benefits of 10 x 3:</strong”>

• In a lift like the deadlift, where the set up can often be half the battle, this gives a trainee more opportunities to learn how to set up properly.
• Fatigue per set is kept to a minimum, reducing the possibility of injury. It’s rare to hear of people hurting themselves on the first rep of a set, but far more common for people to push hard while fatigued and hurt themselves on the eight, ninth, or tenth rep.
• Instead of thirty reps done at seventy percent intensity, this is thirty reps done at around 85% intensity.

This style of training allows for much greater stimulus to be applied to the muscles, which will result in greater strength and hypertrophy along the way. This is a great tool to use with opposing muscle groups and big lifts. Good choices are:

• Front squats and Romanian deadlifts
• Front squats and power cleans
• Bench press and chins

It can also be used to good effect on its own, and Westside Barbell made the 10×3 workout famous when they started using it for speed work on their Dynamic Effort days. For people who have never tried it, the end result is similar to what Dan John had in mind when detailing the One Lift a Day program. Just know that ten genuinely hard sets of three in a big exercise will take some time to get through, and the rest needed to do all this properly will make what seems like a small workout push out to the hour mark.

I’d suggest scheduling no more than two workouts per week for the ten by three sessions and using lower intensity work on the other days. A good sample split would be:

• Monday: 10 x 3 front squat and power cleans
• Tuesday: 5 x 5 bench press and chins, 3-4 x 6-8 of another upper-body pair
• Wednesday: Rest or easy cardio
• Thursday: Same as Monday
• Friday: Rest or easy cardio
• Saturday: Same as Tuesday
• Sunday: Rest or easy cardio

Give it a try for six weeks and see how fast you grow in size and strength.

Photo 1 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 2 courtesy of CrossFit Impulse.

The post Why 10 x 3 Is Best for Strength and Size appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This limit isn’t just theoretical, as a study this month in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning demonstrated. In the study, researchers examined elite Australian football players to determine if changes to their training load would improve their performance. We can assume that we want to train a team to an optimal level, but not push them too far. As such we need to find out what too far means.

As it turns out, too far doesn’t really apply at the team level. The various training volumes only caused a performance swing of less than 10% from the lowest to highest volumes. Although, for the curious, it was the highest volumes that had the best results.

On the individual level, however, there was considerable variation in the response to training volume. And that is to say, the responses were all over the place. When volume increased, performances went up, stayed neutral, or declined. The entire gamut of responses occurred.

Interestingly, in the sprint tests that the participants underwent, the fastest players were the least able to tolerate more volume. This could be explained by saying that the greater volume made the slower players gain more ground in the speed department, thus improving their performance as a result, but the researchers noted that speed actually didn’t correlate to performance, only to training tolerance.

So for those of us who do not play Australian football, we need to convert this study into practical information:

First, in terms of finding your tolerable limits, the researchers determined that speed and anaerobic ability seem relatively unimportant, but aerobic ability is very important. I think this translates across to pretty much every other sport, so keep that in mind.

Next, if you are a competitive athlete, make sure you vary your volume in the season so as not to push it during times of high competition. Remember that competition will contribute to your volume, so if you find you are working at your limits, back off during competition time.

Third, when dealing with teams the training volumes need to be individually designed. I see this mistake constantly, where all athletes are given the same training volume with a general attitude that more is better and often with an emphasis on the anaerobic, especially for combat sports. This method is common, but clearly not the best for any team.

Finally, in the end we need to find our limits and work there if we want to be good athletes. Beyond that we need to find a way to increase our limits if we want to be great.

References:

1. Paul Gastin, et. al., “Influence of Physical Fitness, Age, Experience, and Weekly Training Load on Match Performance in Elite Australian Football,” Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 27(5), 2013

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post More Training is Better, Sometimes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Let me explain what is meant by training frequency versus volume, first off. People can often confuse frequency for volume, even in research. Often when you work out more, it also means you have done more volume in, say, a week’s time as well. The two, however, are separate factors. As one example, in his book, Science and Practice of Strength Training, Zatsiorski noted that, for strength, a higher training frequency with the same training volume was superior. On the flip side, in a “study” that I myself performed on a good friend and very talented professional fighter, we determined that (at least for him) the weekly frequency of his running made no difference in his results, but rather it was his total mileage (the volume) that predicted his cardiovascular ability.

So it seems depending on what result you’re looking for the response might be different. A recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning agrees that when the issue is how healthy people report themselves to be frequency and volume might both be a good idea.

In the study, researchers looked at a group of soldiers both prior to and after deployment. They questioned them about how often they performed strength training and cardiovascular training while deployed, and how they reported their strength, body fat, and health. Most of the soldiers got stronger and healthier, also losing body fat. Interestingly, they didn’t increase their VO2 peak values, though. Now, keep in mind these soldiers were asked how often they trained, which probably means their volume was higher as well, but it’s difficult to be certain.

Although there were some differences in response to training based on frequency, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the study was their self-reports of health. A little over half of the soldiers who exercised three times per week or more reported that their health had improved during deployment. A little under a quarter of those who exercised fewer than three times per week indicated an improvement in health. Considering that just as many total soldiers reported their health declined while deployed as those who said it improved but didn’t train much, it’s not farfetched to say that training frequency and probably volume, too, helped these soldiers tolerate the conditions of deployment.

In physically difficult situations, it looks like how often and how much you train correlates with how healthy you feel. To some, this might sound uncontroversial, but to others who support the “less is more” approach of training – at most once per week – it’s probably true that a greater frequency or volume, to a degree, is the right approach for most athletes, soldiers, and anyone else.

References:

1. Bradley Warr, et. al., “Influence of Training Frequency on Fitness Levels and Perceived Health Status in Deployed National Guard Soldiers,” Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 27:2 (2013)

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

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