Size and Strength Training for Generation
Ent
by Mike Mahler

In Part 1 of this series,
I showed the entertainment-addicted youth of our nation —
Generation Ent — how to do hardcore cardio work that's
fun, challenging, highly effective, and never
boring.
This time the subject is size and strength. The workout is based
on ideas popularized by Louie Simmons, a true strength-training
pioneer. The powerlifters Louie trains at Westside Barbell Club are some of the
strongest men and women around.


Westside'sMatt Kroczaleski shows what
"strong" looks like.
Most young men reading this don't care about setting squat
or bench press records, and I can't recall the last time I met
anyone who told me his goal is to look like a heavyweight
powerlifter.
So why would I base this workout on those used by some of the
world's strongest humans? One word: variety. Westside lifters
know how to mix things up. They don't cater to Gen Ent, but
their workouts offer enough novelty to keep even the most
distractible lifter engaged. As long as you avoid eating like a
powerlifter, you'll develop a strong and solid physique with
powerlifters' training techniques.


Three Workouts, Three Goals
My program includes three total-body workouts each week, each
with its own goals and challenges.

Monday: Maximum Size and Strength
At Westside, the lifters work up to a one-rep max on a chosen
exercise on maximum-effort day. The following week they max on a
similar but different exercise. For example, if they use the floor
press one week, they might use the decline press the next. They
call this the "conjugate method."
But while working up to a one-rep max is great for building pure
strength, it's not ideal for hypertrophy. For that, you need
more reps. So instead of a 1RM you'll work up to a five-rep
max on the chosen exercise. You'll still increase your
strength, but also induce muscle growth as well. (I picked up this
tip from Andrew Durniat,
an outstanding strength coach and strongman competitor.)
Another change: Instead of switching your main max-effort
exercise each week, you'll change every three weeks. This way
you have a chance to get good at the exercise before moving on.
This is a flexible standard; if you're new to training, you
can spend up to six weeks on each max-effort exercise, as long as
you keep improving on your 5RM. More advanced trainees, who adapt
quickly to their training programs, may want to change every two
weeks.
Most of you, however, will do well with this three-week
rotation:
Week one: Work up to a weight that's one rep shy of
failure. The goal is to get your fifth rep on your final set
feeling as if you could do one more.
Week two: Add five pounds on your final set and go for five
reps, even if the fifth rep pushes you to your limit.
Week three: Go all out — the heaviest weight you can use
for five reps, even if you risk failure on the fourth or fifth rep.
(Just make sure you use a spotter where appropriate.) This is your
final week on the exercise, so you really want to push it.
Start over with another exercise the following week, using the
same progression.
You'll do this with four different categories of
exercise:

• presses (vertical and horizontal)
• upper-body
pulls (vertical and horizontal)
• squats
• lower-body pulls
I'll provide lists of exercises in each category in a
bit.

Wednesday: Repetition Method
One workout a week, you'll use light weights for timed
sets. But don't mistake "light" for
"easy." An example would be a five-minute set of the
dumbbell clean and press, using about 30 percent of your one-rep
max.
One goal, says Louie Simmons, is to jack up growth-hormone
production, promoting bigger muscles with better body composition.
Another goal is to increase strength endurance, helping you train
longer and harder. Finally, by putting this workout in the middle
of the training week, you'll get some active recovery from
your max-effort workout.

Friday: Speed
Despite what advocates of Super Slow training say, you have to
get fast if you want to get strong. Really strong men and women
don't set out to do slow and controlled lifts of really heavy
weights.
Sure, the bar may move slowly when you're lifting maximum
weights. But that's not because you're trying to lift it
at that speed. You're trying to finish the job as fast as you
possibly can, with as much force behind the effort as you can
generate. It just happens to move slowly because it's a really
fucking heavy weight.

As our own Chad Waterbury says,
muscles are meant to contract quickly. All of the recent focus on
prescribed rep speeds has set strength training back
dramatically.
Faster muscles aren't just for performance. The muscle
fibers responsible for fast, high-effort movement are also the ones
that have the most potential to get bigger. Fast training also has
powerful effects on your body comp — you'll jack up your
metabolism in the short term and, over time, keep it up and running
at a chronically higher rate.
Finally, lifting fast is just more fun than lifting slow.
You'll feel ramped up after your workouts, rather than wiped
out.

Word of caution: You still have to use good form. Sloppy lifts
are a bad idea at any speed, and they're especially bad when
you're moving the weight as fast as possible.




Arnold was as strong as he looked.


The Exercises
Different exercises work better in different workouts. Some
variations allow for heavy loads and strict form, and are perfect
for the Maximum Size and Strength workout on Monday. Others are
awkward with max loads, but perfect for the Repetition Method
workout on Wednesday. Still others lend themselves to
short-duration, maximum-speed sets; they're good choices for
the Speed workout on Friday.


Presses
Rather than create two different categories — vertical or
military presses for shoulders; bench or horizontal presses for
chest — I prefer to put them together into one category. You
can only choose one pressing exercise for your max-effort workout
on Monday, but you can use others in your Wednesday and Friday
workouts. And you get to switch every three weeks, giving you
plenty of opportunity to balance things out.

Standing barbell military press
Standing thick-bar military press
Kettlebell or dumbbell military press
One-arm kettlebell or dumbbell military press
Alternating dumbbell or kettlebell military press
Sandbag military press
Lifeline USA TNT power cable military press
Barbell bench press
Barbell bottom-position bench press
Barbell floor press
Barbell incline press
One-arm kettlebell or dumbbell bench press
Incline dumbbell bench press


Upper-body pulls

Pull-up (overhand grip) or chin-up (underhand grip)
Towel pull-up
Lat pulldown (underhand or overhand grip)
Barbell bent-over row (underhand or overhand grip)
Thick-bar bent-over row
Trap-bar bent-over row
Sandbag bent-over row
One-arm bent-over row (kettlebells or
dumbbells)
Alternating bent-over row (kettlebells or dumbbells)
Renegade row (kettlebells or dumbbells)



Squats
Let's be honest: Lots of guys hate doing squats, and avoid
them like a psycho ex-girlfriend. Lots of guys complain about not
making progress. How much crossover do you think there is between
those two groups? Pretty close to 100 percent?
Squats work because they're hard to do. They're
responsible for more workout-induced puking than any other
exercise. (Helpful tip: Don't eat anything for two hours
before squatting.)


Barbell back squat
Barbell front squat
Barbell box squat
Barbell bottom-position squat (set the pins in the squat rack so
you can start in the bottom position, with your thighs parallel to
the floor)
Barbell hack squat
Barbell overhead squat
Dumbbell squat
Kettlebell front squat
Weight-vest squat
Hindu squat
Sandbag shoulder squat