Mondays With Thibs: The Reality Show Mass Circuit
by Christian Thibaudeau


Don't worry, I haven't turned metrosexual on you. I can't name a
single one of those reality show "stars," or even one such show for
that matter.
However, despite my limited pop culture knowledge, there's one
thing I know about these shows: They're all based on the process of
elimination. That is, every week or so, one lousy participant is
turned into a laughing stock and dropped out on their ass.

This mass-building workout taps into that whole process of
elimination. However, this isn't to throw out the lousiest
exercise, but rather a way to autoregulate the training volume of
the session (autoregulating means adapting the volume and intensity
of the work according to your daily capacities).
This is accomplished by performing a series of four basic
strength exercises in the form of a circuit. Between each station,
there's also an abdominal exercise, which is used as your rest
period (that and the short period of time it takes to move from one
station to the next, adjust the weight, and go).


Casting the Exercises
There are two basic exercise options to choose from. Option A is
for those who are comfortable with the Olympic lifts, while Option
B is for those who aren't quite ready for cleaning and jerking.

Option A
Bench press
Power clean from the hang
Push press (or push jerk)
Snatch-grip deadlift

Option B
Bench press
Front squat
Standing military press
Snatch-grip deadlift
The number of reps per set is 4 to 6. For your first set, start
with a load you can lift for 8 to 10 relatively comfortable reps
(that should be around 70 to 75% of your maximum).
With each set of an exercise, you'll add 10 pounds and continue
to include the movement in the circuit as long as you can get 4
good repetitions.



Closed-Circuit Workouts: How They'll Look
Say you start the first circuit by doing:

1) Bench press (200 pounds for 6 reps)
2) Abdominal movement
(e.g. Swiss ball crunch)
3) Power clean from the hang (135 pounds for 6
reps)
4) Abdominal movement (e.g. V-crunches)
5) Push press (135 pounds for 6
reps)
6) Abdominal movement (e.g. Garhammer raise)
7) Snatch-grip deadlift (275
pounds for 6 reps)

Rest 60 to 90 seconds
Now that you've completed one circuit, add 10 pounds to each
exercise. So, the second circuit might look like this:

1) Bench press (210 pounds for 6 reps)
2) Abdominal movement
(e.g. Swiss ball crunch)
3) Power clean from the hang (145 pounds for 5
reps)
4) Abdominal movement (e.g. V-crunches)
5) Push press (145 pounds for 5
reps)
6) Abdominal movement (e.g. Garhammer raise)
7) Snatch-grip deadlift (285
pounds for 6 reps)

Rest 60 to 90 seconds



As you can see, in the example, our star only got 5 reps on the
power clean and push press, but that's still enough to keep them in
for the next circuit.


Power clean from the hang

Again, add 10 pounds to each movement and start a third
circuit.
Now, if there comes a point where you fail to get at least 4
good reps, this exercise will be dropped on the upcoming
circuit.
For example, let's say that on the third circuit you do:

1) Bench press (220 pounds for 5 reps)
2) Abdominal movement
(e.g. Swiss ball crunch)
3) Power clean from the hang (155 pounds for 2
reps)
4) Abdominal movement (e.g. V-crunches)
5) Push press (155 pounds for 4
reps)
6) Abdominal movement (e.g. Garhammer raise)
7) Snatch-grip deadlift (295
pounds for 5 reps)

Rest 60 to 90 seconds
You didn't get at least 4 reps on the power clean, so this
exercise (and its following ab movement) will be dropped. The
fourth circuit will now only include the bench press, push press,
and snatch-grip deadlift. Once again, pop 10 more pounds on the
remaining lifts.
So, moving on to the fourth circuit:

1) Bench press (230 pounds for 4 reps)
2) Abdominal movement
(e.g. Swiss ball crunch)
3) Push press (165 pounds for 2 reps)
4) Abdominal movement (e.g. Garhammer
raise)
5) Snatch-grip deadlift (305 pounds for 4 reps)

Rest 60 to 90 seconds
The push press now becomes our second elimination, which means
that we keep only the bench press and snatch-grip deadlift (to
which we add 10 more pounds).


In this example, the push press is the second
exercise booted.

The fifth circuit, then, may look something like this:

1) Bench press (240 pounds for 3 reps)
2) Abdominal movement
(e.g. Swiss ball crunch)
3) Snatch-grip deadlift (315 pounds for 4 reps)

Rest 60 to 90 seconds
Game over for the bench! Now you only have the snatch-grip
deadlift left. Up it by 10 pounds and attempt more sets until you
finally fail to get 4 reps.


Around and Around We Go
Most individuals should aim for at least three complete circuits
before having to drop exercises (I had this guy drop at three just
to avoid the example dragging on like Survivor). If you
can't get at least three full circuits, the starting load was
excessive for one or several movements. On the other hand, if you
can get more than five full circuits, then the starting weight was
too light. So, it may require some experimentation at first.
One thing you'll notice is that when the first movement is
eliminated, it doesn't take long for the others to follow. This is
because, despite doing fewer exercises, each circuit is more
difficult due to there being less rest between sets of the same
exercise. Of course, there's also the fact that you're actually
adding weight!


Reality Show FAQ


1. What will this workout accomplish? What goal is it best
suited for?
It's primarily a basic hypertrophy program for individuals who
are pressed for time. While it has a strength component to it, it's
not a pure limit-strength program because of the short rest
intervals.
However, it'll be very effective for individuals needing the
capacity to display a high level of strength and power, even in a
partially fatigued state. Basketball players, hockey players, mixed
martial artists, boxers, and the like can benefit from this program
when used from time to time.





2. Do I train to failure?
No! If you're familiar with the recent series of articles
detailing my training philosophy (The Thib System I,
II,
III,
and IV,
you know that I don't recommend shooting for muscle failure on
compound movements such as those included in this program.
However, understand that I define failure as the incapacity to
complete a repetition. As long as a repetition is complete,
regardless of how hard it was (it has to be technically correct,
though), I don't see it as failure.
With this program, let's say that you're able to get three reps
on a movement, but this third rep took everything you had to
complete; you just know that it'll be impossible to get one more.
Then the set is over. You only got three, so you'll have to give it
the ol' heave-ho.
Even if you aren't gunning for it, failure might occur once upon
a time. That's fine, don't worry about it. You'll probably survive
another day.


3. Can I add some isolation exercises for my guns?
With this type of session, I have one simple rule: the "60
minute rule." Meaning, your workout should last, at most, 60
minutes. To know if you can add isolation work, and how much,
calculate the time the circuits took and subtract it from the
allocated 60 minutes.
If the circuit portion of the workout took you 45 minutes to
complete, you have 15 minutes of "free time" in which you can
perform any exercise you see fit (preferably movements targeting a
glaring weakness).
You don't have to use the entire free time, or any of it. You
can simply call it a day after the circuits. But, under no
circumstances are you to add more work than the "60 minute rule"
allows.



4. Can I use other base exercises?
Sure, but keep the basic movement patterns the same. For
example, you can substitute out the bench press for an incline
press, decline press, dumbbell press, incline dumbbell press, or
floor press. Instead of the snatch-grip deadlift, you can use any
other type of deadlift.
One thing you should avoid, though, is using the back squat.
Don't get me wrong; I love back squats. But for this program, they
aren't ideal because they heavily involve the lower back, which is
already being taxed extensively by the deadlift.


5. How many times per week can I do this program?
You can schedule the Reality Show workouts anywhere from one to
three times a week.
When using a whole body approach, I don't recommend training two
days in a row. So if you opt for that, you'll be training one on,
one off. Any one of those workouts can be this circuit. You can
also use the circuit once or twice per week and another type of
training for the remaining sessions.
A whole body training schedule could take on any of these
forms:

Option 1 — Once a Week
Monday: Reality Show circuit
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Whole body strength workout
Thursday: Off
Friday: Whole body metabolic (or hypertrophy) workout
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Restart cycle

Option 2 — Twice a Week
Monday: Reality Show circuit
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Whole body strength workout (or hypertrophy,
depending on your goal)
Thursday: Off
Friday: Reality Show circuit
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Restart cycle

Option 3 — Three Times a Week
Monday: Reality Show circuit
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Reality Show circuit
Thursday: Off
Friday: Reality Show circuit
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Restart cycle
You can also fit one weekly circuit workout within the frame of
a body part split. For example:
Monday: Reality Show circuit
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Chest and back
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Off
Saturday: Arms and shoulders
Sunday: Off


That's a Wrap

The only thing missing from this Reality Show workout are the
morally-challenged babes willing to do anything for some
camera time (sorry about that).

But, busy individuals with limited training time will
efficiently and effectively build some impressive mass without the
prime-time drama.



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