AGGRESSIVE STRENGTH ARTICLES
Combination Training For The Best Of Both Worlds
By Mike Mahler
I frequently get emails from enthusiastic trainees looking for the Holy Grail of training programs; people desperately search for the program of their dreams so they can sail off to a blissful training Nirvana. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. There's no single best program, since no one program produces results forever. Eventually, the body adapts and becomes unresponsive to any program, at which point, you can either continue your stimulus-addiction by staying on the same program without results, or you can wise up and switch to another program.
This is a hard concept to grasp when you're on a training program that's working, i.e., producing desirable results. During the honeymoon phase it's easy to have an illusion that you'll keep making gains forever and even when progress comes to a halt, many trainees find it hard to “break up” with their beloved program. Similar to a bad relationship, the trainee looks back to when the program was great and ignores the present reality: that it's no longer working. Don't be this trainee: don't be so attached to an individual training system that you think you can't benefit from another training system. And don't make the mistake of addicting yourself to the stimulus of training to the point of denying that you're not even making progress. The goal of training is to make progress. Whether it's losing fat, gaining strength, building muscle--or a combination of the above--you need to be focused on results, not simply punching in time. Clocking in hours at the gym doesn't guarantee progress any more than clocking in business hours guarantees bringing home a big paycheck: you have to work smart, not just hard.
One option that works well with training is switching gears every three to four weeks. For example, do three weeks of high-volume training such as 10x10 (ten sets of ten), then switch to moderate-volume training with higher intensity, such as 5x5. Finally, use a low-volume, higher intensity program in which training with maximum weight is the goal. While the concept sounds simple, it requires discipline to move from one program to the next. Why? You'll be making great progress in week three as you get used to the program, but once you switch to the next protocol, the first week or two are uncomfortable as you adapt mentally and physically. Once you get used to that program, it's time to switch again and that, my friend, is exactly the point!
Rather than wait for the program to stall in week five or six, you stay ahead of the curve by switching gears before it's too late. Similar to the stock market, you've got to know when to get in--and when to get out. Sounds easy, right? Please. How many times have you stayed too long on a program because you were comfortable? Hell, even now you've probably been on the same program for months (if not years) while wondering why you haven't made any progress since 2002! No more: it's time to get smart and take charge of your training.
Without further ado, here's my proposal: rather than waiting every three to four weeks to change the program, we'll add variety right off the bat, making moderate modifications each month. Here's how it works: we start the week with a 5x5 program as our high-volume day; in the middle of the week we'll use a 3x3 as a moderate training (and higher intensity) protocol, and finally, at the end of the week, we ramp up the intensity, applying a low-volume program, such as 1x6 per exercise.
The focus of this program is increasing overall strength; however, you can easily make it a size-and-strength program by ramping up the calories after ensuring your hormone levels are optimal, Testosterone and Growth Hormone being the most important. If fat loss is your goal, you're in luck, since the best way to combat fat is by building as much lean muscle as possible while keeping calories in check. Check out my fat loss DVD more info on this concept at: Fat Loss DVD . While I don't think cardio is essential for fat loss, it can provide a nice boost and has other health benefits, so get in two or three days of cardio on your off-days for active-recovery. No need to go overboard: twenty minutes is plenty.
Now, let's go over each day on the program and examine some sample programs to get you into action.
5x5
I've written about the 5x5 program many times. No, there's nothing magical about the program and 5x4 or 5x6 would work just as well; it's simply a good, solid program for strength and size. While the volume isn't low, neither is it high and most trainees can handle it at least once a week. High-volume training, even 5x5, is very effective for building size and strength. Here's how the 5x5 program works: pick a weight for an exercise, such as the barbell military-press, and do five sets of five reps with the same weight. Once you can do five sets of five with the same weight, add five pounds. Don't add five pounds until you nail all five sets with the same weight. For example, if you complete the first three sets of five, then get four reps on the fourth set and only three on the fifth, don't move up to the next weight--stay where you are and work on all five sets. Start with a weight with which you can do eight reps with a one-set max, and use that for Week One. Sure, it'll feel light, but that's the point. Enjoy your success in Week One, build your confidence and get used to the program.
3x3
The 3x3 is a common rep and set scheme in power lifting circles and is a great way to build strength. Similar to the 5x5 program, you're using the same weight for all three sets. When you can do three sets of three with the same weight, add five pounds. Start off with a weight with which you can do six reps if you take it to your limit. Again, it'll feel light, and that's fine for Week One--there's plenty of time to move into the heavier weights down the road. The 3x3 is more of a strength program and the moderate volume and lower reps is a nice change of pace from the 5x5.
High-Intensity Training
High-intensity training, otherwise known as HIT, is controversial: people think it's either the greatest program ever or the bubonic plague of the training world. Here's how it works: pick a weight for an exercise and knock out the reps until you hit your limit; stop the set when your form breaks down. Here's where it gets tricky: many HIT proponents recommend you go for another rep--no matter what. This usually results in a sloppy final rep, which is a great way to get injured or induce central nervous system (CNS) burnout.
When the body's overloaded with too much intensity, it breaks down to a point where it can't adequately recover. The consequence is feeling weaker at each workout and needing to apply more effort--and force--to get the job done. The brain's an important component of training and once the CNS gets fatigued, muscles aren't recruited in the most efficient manner--and strength goes down the drain. Thus, we need to be sure we're applying the correct dose of HIT; it's not something to be done more than once weekly for most trainees and rather than miss the last rep of each exercise, stop at your limit. In other words: if you've completed ten reps and aren't certain you can nail the eleventh, then stop at ten. Never end a set with sloppy form.
You may wonder why HIT is in this program if it has such high potential for CNS burnout and over training. Well, if you never push yourself to the limit, you'll never know what you're capable of nor will you learn how to push through when the going gets difficult. The problem with people who train HIT-style all the time is they push though--no matter what. Even if they're having an off-day and feeling weak, they'll train to failure when they'd have been better off doing a light day...or not training at all. Alternately, trainees who never train to their limit often give up when a set gets hard; in other words, when they get to a hard rep with a sticking point, instead of pushing through they'll give up, since they've trained to always be fresh and never train to failure. As a result, they miss out on tremendous strength opportunities, as well as mental-toughness conditioning.
The bottom line is that occasional HIT has a place in effective training and shouldn't be overlooked...but don't get attached to the stimulus aspect, which can be addictive for people who tend to stimulus-addiction in life's other, messier areas. Many trainees think they didn't have a good workout if they weren't wiped out after a training session. That focus is skewed: focus on something measurable, such as strength, when tracking progress.
The Combination Program Set-up
All right, we know what programs we're combining for the combination-program, so let’s talk about set-up: the program calls for three weight-training workouts per week. For simplicity, Monday-Wednesday-Friday is used in this article. Yes, you can do Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. You can even take an extra day off between each workout, or any of the workouts, if necessary. However, don't do two workouts in a row: these are full-body workouts and you'll need a break between each session.
Generally, Monday is the day you'll be most energetic. Sure, it's back to the grind at your lamer job, but you've rested over the weekend and should be ready to start off with a great workout to get the training week going. The 5x5 program is the most demanding work, capacity-wise, due to the volume, so the last thing you'll want is to leave it for the end of the week when energy levels are generally lower. The 3x3 program is on Wednesday and it's a welcome change from the 5x5. The 3x3 program is moderate-volume and somewhat high-intensity, but not too high if you avoid training to failure on each set. Finally, we save HIT-day for Friday. Yes, HIT is intense, but the volume is low and the workout goes fast, with only one set per exercise. Further, people tend to be more upbeat on Friday as they get ready for the weekend, so take that adrenaline potential and apply it to your workout. Finally, you get to two days off after HIT-day, so you'll have plenty of time to recover from the intensity.
Okay, now that you have a clear idea of what a combination program is all about, let's go over a sample regimen you can put into action right away.
Monday: 5x5
A-1: Standing Barbell Military Press
A-2: Weighted Pull-up or Lat Pull-down
Do a set of A-1, then take a one-minute break before doing a set of A-2. Take another one-minute break, then repeat a set of A-1. Continue until all sets are completed.
B-1: Barbell Dead-lift
B-2: Hanging Leg Raise
Do a set of B-1, then take a one-minute break before doing a set of B-2. Take another one-minute break, then repeat a set of B-2. Continue until all sets are completed.
At first glance the program looks easy. Trust me, it's not, and there's a reason why you're only doing a few exercises. The volume adds up quickly, and when it does, fatigue becomes a factor. Thus, we focus on compound exercises to provide the greatest benefit. Forget about isolation work, since we don't want to major in minor things. Compound exercises, such as dead-lifts and Standing Military presses, will do more for your overall strength and physique enhancement than curls and push-downs.
Regarding the exercise selection, standing presses and weighted pull-ups result in a complete upper body workout; every muscle in the upper body is used, including the chest, and in a very efficient manner. Don't add any other exercises. For the lower body, we're focusing on the Barbell Dead-lift. The Dead-lift works the quads and hamstrings and is strenuous exercise, which is why we're pairing it with hanging leg raises. Besides not being strenuous, hanging leg raises help relieve the lower back, which can get tight from dead-lifting.
Wednesday: 3x3
A-1: Incline Barbell Press
A-2: Barbell Bent-over Row
Do a set of A-1, then take a 90-second break before doing a set of A-2. Take another 90-second break, then repeat a set of A-1. Continue until all sets are completed.
B-1: Barbell Full-Squat
B-2: Double Dumbbell Swing or Barbell Romanian Dead-lift
Do a set of B-1, then take a 90-second break before doing a set of B-2. Take another 90-second break, then repeat a set of B-1. Continue until all sets have are completed.
For the 3x3 workout , we're focusing on using more weight, for building more strength than 5x5 day. The Incline-press is a great exercise which combines the benefits of the bench press and the Military press--great exercise for sitting back and loading up the weight as much as possible. The barbell bent-over row is a powerhouse exercise for the back and balances out the pressing from the incline press. Many trainees make the mistake of doing too much pressing and not enough pulling; we want balanced strength and development. For the lower body, we're building some serious strength with the most effective mass-builder for the legs: the one and only Barbell-Squat. Rather than stop at 90-degrees, go rock-bottom, or as far as you can. Leg master Tom Platz was well know for his ridiculously huge legs--and he spent a lot of time in the squat rack. Tom focuses on full-range squats and is known for knocking off over twenty reps with 500lbs! All you have to do are a few sets of three, so go heavy--with solid form--and get the job done. We're balancing the squats with Double-dumbbell swings for the hamstrings: this is an explosive move that really works the hamstrings, and all the other areas you can't see in the mirror known as the posterior chain. If you're not familiar with the swing, do Dumbbell Romanian Dead-lifts. If you're not familiar with those, either look them up or get a trainer to show you.
Friday: HIT
Thank God it's Friday--and the good news is you're only doing one set per exercise. The bad news: you're doing one very hard set per exercise. Oh well, the workout is over in less than half an hour, then you can celebrate a great week of training at happy hour. Do a few warm-up sets for each exercise before going for the "money" set. Warming up is an individual thing and perhaps more of a confidence builder than anything else. No need to do an excessive amount of reps, just get warm and ready-to-go. To illustrate, here's a sample warm-up for a Barbell Dead-lift set of 315 for 10 reps:
135x5; 225x5; 275x3; 315x10
The last thing you want is to waste energy and build fatigue on warm-up sets. Get it done and move on to the money set. Here's a sample HIT workout:
Barbell Floor Press 1x6
Barbell Bent-over Row 1x6
Standing Dumbbell Military Press 1x5
Lat Pull-down or Weighted Pull-up 1x5
Barbell Squat 1x8
Barbell Romanian Dead-lift 1x6
Keep the rep range between six and twelve. Start with a weight that takes you to your limit at rep six and work on taking that weight to twelve reps over time. When you can complete twelve reps, add five pounds.
The order of the exercises is up to you. Some trainees like to do squats and dead-lifts at the beginning of a workout in order to get the most strenuous exercises out of the way. Others find that upper-body exercises have a tonic effect and ramp up their focus for the harder exercises. Experiment and find out what works best for you.
You may find you're better off with fewer exercises such as:
Barbell Military Press 1x6
Barbell Bent-over Row 1x6
Barbell Dead-lift 1x6
More than likely you'll have some days wherein you can handle all the exercises, and others where you'll want to scale things back and focus on only a few. The more you train, the more instinctive you'll become about the best plan of action for each workout. Often, you'll need to make mid-course corrections at the beginning of a workout rather than being stubborn and following the plan no matter what.
Wrap-up
There it is! A training program with variety built-in throughout the week. You'll start off with high-volume and moderate intensity at the beginning of the week to get things moving; in the middle of the week up you'll ramp up the intensity while lowering the volume; at the end of the week, when you're ready for the weekend, you'll have an intense, brief workout to round things out. Let's end with some frequently asked questions:
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long should I stay on the program?
A: Stick with the sample program for four weeks. Then take a back-off week in which you go through the program using 80% of the weight that you'd normally use. During the back-off week, don't train to your limit on HIT-day; stop several reps short. When you resume training, make a few modifications: for example, instead of doing 5x5 on Day One, do 5x6. Instead of doing 3x3 on Wednesday, try 2x3 with heavier weights, or 3x2. On Friday, change some of the exercises, for example, do Dumbbell Floor Presses instead of Barbell Floor Presses. You don't have to make dramatic changes every four weeks, but you should make some changes to keep things fresh.
Q: Where do I fit cardio in?
A: Do some moderate cardio on off-days, two to three times per week. 20-30 minute sessions are plenty, so don't go crazy with cardio. Use moderate-exertion, so you can still hold a conversation, which will help with workout recovery. Be aware that it's easy to go too far and get counter-productive results.
Q: Is this program good for size or strength?
A: Every size-program should have a focus on strength. Why would you want to get bigger without getting stronger? If you keep your calories in check, this program can easily be a strength program in which hypertrophy is minimal or non-existent. To induce hypertrophy, simply increase calories with quality food and get a good amount of sleep every night (no less than eight hours of deep sleep). Finally, hypertrophy is reliant on ideal Testosterone and Growth Hormone levels: if both are low, forget about getting bigger. For more info on the importance of optimizing hormones, get my e-book: Click here: Aggressive Strength E-book
Q: How come there are no exercises for the arms?
Correction there are no isolation exercises for the arms. Compound exercises such as Military Presses and Bent-over Rows work the arms directly. Focus on putting up some good numbers on the compound exercises and your arms will grow. Frankly if you cannot do a standing Military Press with 200lbs and deadlift 400lbs then you have no business doing isolation work. Focus on overall strength and power.
Q: How do I maximize workout recovery?
A: Resist the urge to add more work to the program; leaving a workout feeling energized and empowered is a strong sign that you've completed a productive workout. Next, get in a power nap after your workout--thirty minutes will get the job done. I like to listen to the Holosync meditation program during this time (Click here for more info). Make sure you have a protein shake after each workout with 25-35 grams of protein and 40-60 grams of carbohydrates. Reduce workout-induced inflammation with systemic enzymes such as Vitalzym. Finally, get a solid sports massage every two weeks, minimum--every week is even better if you can afford it.
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