5 Battle-Tested Strategies for Size and Strength
by James Chan
I've been in the iron game for about 15 years, and I've learned a few things about building muscle. By
researching all of the training theories and techniques, and by trying
them out first on myself, then on my clients, I've gotten a real sense
of what works and what doesn't. Some techniques and
strategies (such as working out twice a day six days a week), while
effective, aren't very user-friendly. Other strategies just plain suck. And then there are those strategies that are both effective and
user friendly. These are what I call the battle-tested strategies for
size and strength, and I'll present five of them in this article.

The Machine Gun Method (10-set protocol) This
method goes by many names and variations: Charles Poliquin called his
variation German Volume Training, while Vince Gironda referred to it as
10x10, 8x8 and 15x4. And followers of Pavel Tsatsouline know it simply
as "The Bear." The strategy works like this: choose one exercise (only one) for each of the muscle groups you want to train and perform many, many, many
sets of it. You would perform anywhere from 8 to 20 sets of the same
exercise, although 10 sets total is typically chosen as the target
(hence the name). This is high volume training at its best.
Think of this method like a machine gun: the first few rounds may maim
your target, but the next 10 to 15 will obliterate it. Even if you don't feel your muscles within the first few sets, then you'll definitely feel it within the next ten.
A deadly and unpredictable weapon, here holding an MP5 submachine gun. Two
things to keep in mind about this protocol. First, you're more likely
to overtrain on high volume (many sets of many reps) as opposed to high
intensity (heavy weight). So use heavy weight and low reps (3 to 6) for
the Machine Gun Method. If you use higher reps (ten or more), then the
total volume will be too high and you'll overtrain. Second, you
should employ the machine gun method on only a handful of body parts at
a time. If you tried to do 10 to 20 sets for every muscle, then you'd
overtrain from the sheer volume imposed on your nervous system.
Instead, employ the "Shotgun Method" of choosing exercises:
Arnold often employed the Shotgun Method.

The Shotgun Method No,
I'm not a gun nut, but I do love the firearm analogies. In this method,
you choose exercises that give you the biggest bang for your buck: the
fewest number of exercises that'll stimulate the most amount of muscle.
We're not talking about bench presses or leg presses, where
only half of your body is involved. We're talking about total body
exercises like the Olympic lifts (clean and press, the snatch, etc.),
deadlifts and squats. These are exercises that induce a huge dump of
Testosterone in your body.
The power clean: more bang for your buck. Once
you've chosen two or three "shotgun" movements, you'll blast away at
them with multiple sets of heavy weight, using the Machine Gun Method.
Then you'll follow up with a few sets of "troubleshooting" movements.
These are exercises that you choose to address any lagging muscle
groups. The beauty of this strategy is that whenever you employ
the shotgun movements, you create an anabolic response in your body
that might last a week. Within this week you can follow-up with
exercises to take advantage of that pulse of Testosterone and develop
any muscles you feel need some extra attention. Here's what a Shotgun Method program looks like:
Workout #1: Shotgun Clean and press (back, traps, triceps, biceps and deltoids)
8 sets of 3-5 reps
90-second intervals Pull-ups (back, biceps, forearms, and deltoids)
8 sets of 3-5 reps
90-second intervals Deadlifts (quadriceps, hamstrings, back, traps, forearms)
8 sets of 3-5 reps
90-second intervals
The deadlift: magnum of excercises.
Workout #2: Troubleshooting Seated calf raises
3 sets of 10-12 reps
1-minute intervals Leg extensions
3 sets of 10-12 reps
1-minute intervals Leg curls
3 sets of 6-8 reps
1-minute intervals 20-degree dumbbell press
3 sets of 6-8 reps
1-minute intervals Seated cable rows
3 sets of 6-8 reps
1-minute intervals Dumbbell laterals
3 sets of 10-12 reps
1-minute intervals Incline curls
3 sets of 6-8 reps
1-minute intervals Lying dumbbell extensions
3 sets of 6-8 reps
1-minute intervals

The Heavy/Light Method This
is a solid strategy to follow in your quest for size and strength. It's
simple but complete, versatile and effective. The heavy/light strategy
goes like this: perform heavy sets to develop strength and muscular
density, then perform light pumping sets to increase blood flow and
capillary development. Hence, you develop both sarcomere and
scarcoplasmic hypertrophy in your muscles. The heavy/light method can be performed in many ways:
Consecutive Sets of Heavy/Light In
this variation, you perform a series of heavy sets for a body part, and
then follow them up with a series of light sets for the same body part.
For example: Sets 1-4: 4-6 reps Sets 5-7: 10-12 reps You can use the same exercise for both rep ranges or two different exercises.
The Heavy/Light Compound Set In
this variation, you perform a set of low reps and heavy weight for a
body part, then immediately perform a set of higher reps with lighter
weight with a different exercise targeting the same body part. An
example of this would be 6-8 reps for the bench press followed by 10-12
reps of pushups.

Cross Wiring This
is where you intersperse light sets with heavy sets, using the same
exercise (also known as wave loading or series training) or with
different exercises for the same body part. Typically, in cross wiring
two exercises, you alternate between a compound movement and an
isolation movement: 1A: Barbell Military Press
3-5 reps
90-second intervals 1B: Dumbbell laterals
12-15 reps
90-second intervals Repeat three more times

Set Extenders Set
extenders are techniques that allow you to go beyond a normal set for a
given muscle group. Techniques like rest-pause, compound sets,
tri-sets, and descending sets are all set extenders. The reason these
techniques work so well is that they allow you to serve two masters:
volume and intensity. Say you perform 4 to 6 reps at a given
weight. The intensity (weight) is high, but the volume (reps) is low.
If you performed 10 to 12 reps, then the volume would be high, but
intensity would be low. With set extenders, however, you
increase both volume and intensity. When you can increase both volume
and intensity, then you increase muscular hypertrophy. Let's
take tri-sets, for example. Suppose you can do pull-ups, but you can
only perform 4-6 reps. You can extend the set for your back by doing a
tri-set such as this:
Pull-ups (4-6 reps)
Lat bar cable rows (6-8 reps)
Wide grip deadlifts (4-6 reps) Instead
of just doing a set of 4 to 6 reps, you've now done a triset of 14-20
reps for the back. This is a great way to add extra exercises without
overextending the length of your workout. Other set extenders to consider:
Rest-pause This
is an excellent technique for those who are fast-twitch monsters. If
you respond best to heavy weight, then this technique will help you
fully develop your fast-twitch muscle fibers. Simply do as many reps as
you can with a given weight and put the weight down. Rest 10 seconds
and resume the set. Rep out and repeat once more.
Descending sets Whereas
rest-pause works best for fast-twitch muscles, descending sets work
best for slow-twitch muscles, such as the lateral head of the deltoids
and calves. This technique also works best in a commercial gym, where
you can easily implement it on a dumbbell rack or a cable machine.
Compound sets This
is when you perform two exercises in a row for one body part (which is
different from a superset, where you alternate between sets of two body
parts). Compound sets can be implemented in two ways: The
Post-Exhaust Compound Set - You've no doubt heard of the pre-exhaust
method. The post-exhaust compound set is the exact opposite.
Post-exhaust requires that you perform a multi-joint movement for a
body part followed by a single-joint movement for that same body part.
An example of this would be a pull-up followed by stiff-arm pulldowns. The
Heavy/Light Compound Set - As I mentioned earlier, this is where you
perform low reps with heavy weight for one exercise, then immediately
perform higher reps with a lighter weight of another exercise. The
heavy/light method can be combined with the post-exhaust method: front
squats (4-6 reps) followed immediately by leg extensions (10-12 reps).

Back Cycling: Controlled Overtraining "Back
cycling" is a training strategy where you purposely overtrain yourself
for a short period of time and then pull back to allow your body to
overcompensate with muscular growth. Bodybuilders had played around
with the concept since the early days, but no one had promoted it as a
training strategy until Leo Costa and Russ Horine promoted it in the
late 1980's and 1990's. Back cycling is not the same as "muscle
confusion," which is simply a haphazard changing of routines without
rhyme or reason. Back cycling is best described as "controlled
overtraining." You purposely increase the densityof
training for a short period of time, anywhere from three days to three
weeks. In other words, you do more work per unit of time. This means
increased sets, reps, and exercises per workout, but the workout length
will remain the same: 45-60 minutes. To pack in more sets, reps and
exercises within this brief time frame, you must employ shorter rest
periods and possibly use set extenders as well. Think of it as putting
your body into overdrive. You can't stay in overdrive forever,
of course. If you go beyond three weeks, you'll surely overtrain. This
is when you have to pull back or "back cycle." Rather than focus on
training density, you'll decompress the volume and focus on training intensity. This means heavier weight, lower reps, higher rest periods and fewer sets and exercises. Here's a back cycling routine using both the classic 10x10 and 5x5 methods:
Week 1-3 (Density) 10 sets of 10 reps with 1 minute rest periods One exercise per muscle group 8 muscle groups (Chest, Back, Deltoids, Biceps, Triceps, Quads, Hamstrings, Calves)
Week 4-6 (Decompression) 5 sets of 5 reps with 3 minute rest periods One exercise per muscle group 5 muscle groups (Chest, Back, Quads, Hamstrings, Calves) If
you look closely, the 10x10 method has greater training density than
the 5x5 method. You're doing four times as much volume per muscle group
with shorter rest periods: 10x10=100 reps vs. 5x5=25 reps The
5x5 method, however, has greater intensity, since you're focusing on
heavier weight with fewer exercises. Despite the greater intensity,
you're pulling back from training density by employing longer rest
periods (3 minutes).

"Plan Your Workout. Work Out to Your Plan." Now
that I've shown you some battle proven strategies for size and
strength, go out there and kick some ass in the gym. Train smart and
stay safe.

About the Author:
James
Chan is a police officer for the University of California Police
Department in San Francisco. When he's off-duty, James conducts
personal training, specializing in strength and physique enhancement.
He is certified through the National Strength and Conditioning
Association and may be reached at jchan@strengthandphysique.com. For more information on his upcoming book, Strength and Physique, Volume One, visit his blog.



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