Now that we’ve covered the somewhat obvious topic of how to get stronger and bigger by lifting heavy weights, let’s get a little more technical. What the heck can you actually DO with this information? How can you design a program that works for you? Never fear! Help is here!

How to Design Your Sets

Yes, we’re going to look at another study from Pubmed. In this one, they separated a bunch of fellows into two groups. Both groups did an initial hypertrophy (which is just a fancy word for getting bigger) regimen of 10 reps at decreasing load for 6 weeks. But that’s not the really interesting part. After that, the two groups both did strength-training type sets. They did 5 sets of low rep work. The difference is that one group added another lightweight, high rep set after that. The group that added the high rep set after their strength sets gained more size AND strength than did the group that just performed low rep strength work. Sweet.

So, how do you integrate that into your workouts? The way I do it is outlined in fairly heavy detail on the My Current Routine page. I’ll use the first group of exercises I do as an example of my personal thinking behind the design of my workout. For the bench press, I’ll do two pretty easy sets of 6 reps. The key here is that I pretend the weight is heavy. I envision controlling the weight all the way down and back up, practice keeping my core rigid and grip the bar really tightly. I’ll increase the load from the first to the second set, but, again, I keep the weight pretty low.

Designing your own routine can be frustrating

For the third set, I up the weight pretty significantly, and come to within maybe 15-20 pounds of what my next, heaviest set will be. By this time, I’m used to the movement and that third set helps prepare my body for the heaviest set. That fourth set is really where I give it my all. I use as much weight as I can handle.

I may not even make it to all 5 reps, but that’s okay. I try to avoid attempting a rep that I can’t finish. One reason I do this is because I don’t work out with a spotter, so I don’t want to get caught in a bad situation. Even if I’ve done more reps with more weight before, if I feel like I may not make it that day, I won’t try it. There’s nothing wrong with that. We all have our off-days. You have the rest of your life to do this. There’s no reason to rush and end up hurting yourself.

That last set is where I back the weight down, and do about 10-12 reps. I’m usually using a little bit less than the weight I used on my 3rd set. However, I find that I can lift a pretty decent amount weight for this set, even after I’ve just completed my heaviest set. You can probably do more for this back-off set than you think you can. So, don’t be afraid to push it. Remember, this is just an “icing on the cake” type of set. If I don’t get to 10-12 reps, that’s okay.

My next two exercises target the same muscle group, only in slightly different ways. So, there’s no need for those initial two light sets. I just jump straight back into some heavier and then heaviest work. Followed with the lighter sets. So, I end up with 6 heavy sets (3 that really, really challenge that muscle group), and 3 lightweight, high-rep sets. I use that principle for just about every exercise. I try to keep the total working sets for the day less than 20.

Now, you don’t have to do it exactly like this, nor do you have to do exactly what I do in the way that I do it. Doing it this way is just more appealing for me. I like it and it’s fun. And that’s what is most important. You need to make sure that whatever method you choose is appealing to YOU. If you’re not enjoying the program you’re on, you won’t stick with it. But I don’t know anyone that doesn’t find getting stronger to be fun!

What About Rest?

This article shows that for strength training, 3-5 minutes is optimal. I find that to be way too long, personally, but that may be different for you. I personally use 2 minute rest intervals at the moment, but I’d like to use 3 minute intervals. As I said, though, that’s a really long time. So, what to do? Well, you can pair exercises that don’t work the same muscle groups. For instance, you could do a set of bench press, then rest 90 seconds, and then do a set of rows. Rest 90 seconds again, and there’s your 3 minutes of rest for bench press! My gym’s setup currently won’t allow me to do that with the particular exercises I’m doing now, but I guarantee you that when I switch up the specific exercises in a few months, I’ll be going back to this antagonistic pairings that have worked so well for me in the past. I highly encourage this. But, if you can’t do that, I personally find 2 minute rest intervals to be plenty, even when working with really heavy loads.

So, have at it. Design your own routine! Have fun and experiment with what is fun for you and what works for you. I highly encourage this, because everyone is different. It’s easier to get excited about lifting when you really like what you’re doing. There’s no need to subscribe to a one-size-fits-all approach (although, there’s nothing wrong with that if you are still uncomfortable with doing it yourself — just pick a good one!). If you don’t know which exercises to do, the Weight Training section of Exrx.net has a great listing of all kinds of exercises you can do and a myriad of ways in which you can do them. Remember to have fun and challenge yourself!

-Drew

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