I am a believer in individualized strength training. This simply means that we are all different and need to train according to our own capacities and physiology. If you don’t know how to do this, you can fall into extremes and endless variations that are not the best option.
The Need For An Individualized Strength Training
The range of training methods among top powerlifters and bodybuilders is so huge that it can easily leave you confused and befuddled if you are looking to them for training advice. Bodybuilders differ in their approaches to training. Some prefer tons of training, others prefer brief workouts. When it comes to powerlifters, they all have the common goal of becoming as strong as possible. In spite of this, different lifters often use very different methods to get strong. One reason for this is because different lifters are different from one another. Some benefit from high volume; some from low volume; some from high frequency; some from low frequency; some from high intensity, and some from moderate intensity. Many of these lifters train the way they do because they have an individualized strength training program that fits the physiology of their own bodies. For best results, this should be done by everyone. In other words, we all need to formulate an individualized strength training program that is best for our own bodies.
Some of you who are reading this may have already tried out a massive variety of training methods. Either this has helped you to discover what type of training works best for yourself, or you may still be bouncing from one type of training to another in search of the best training method. One thing that would be helpful is to have a systematic approach to try out different methods in order to discover what type of training works best for yourself. The goal is to develop an individualize strength training program that produces the greatest benefit for your own personal physiology.
Starting With The Norm
I believe that the starting place for an individualized strength training program is to start with workouts that most people can perform with some degree of success. This is based on those who possess a normal range of capacity in terms of finding the right amount of sets, frequency, and intensity. It is important to point out the normal range is not a fixed number of sets or training days per week, it is a range. If you fit into the normal range, your goal is to experiment until you find the specific part of that range that is best suited to your physiology. This is what will be emphasized in this article, finding where you belong within a normal range of frequency and training volume. Some of you may not fit the norm, which will be discussed more in future articles.
The Normal Range Is Not A Bad Thing
For now, we will assume that most of you fit into the normal range in regard to the amount of frequency and volume that are optimal for the majority of lifters. By the way, fitting into the normal range is not a bad thing, many of the strongest lifters possess a normal range of capacity in terms of the number of sets and the training frequency that is most beneficial. The extensive research done by Prilepin who was a Soviet sports scientist is evidence of this. (Click on Prilepin’s Table if interested).
Most who fit into the normal range of lifting capacity will benefit from doing basic weight training workouts. The key to benefitting from basic workouts is not to do more, more, more, or to push harder, harder, harder, but to use better form and to refine the frequency, volume, and intensity according to your individual physiology, and to do so with enough precision to derive maximum benefit. What are some of the basic workouts that are beneficial for natural lifters who possess a normal range of capacity? Such workouts include:
Do warm 2 to 3 warm up sets followed by 3 work-sets of 8 reps.
6 sets of 6 reps using the same weight (70 to 80% of your six-rep max) for each set.
8 sets of 8 reps using the same weight (60 to 70% of your eight rep max) for each set.
Do 3 warm up sets followed by 5 sets of 5 reps with 90% of your 5 rep max.
Do 3 to 4 warm up sets followed by 3 work-sets of 5 reps.
Use a 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 pyramid structure for each exercise. The first three sets are warm up sets. The last set is a work set.
The set and rep schemes listed above should be performed two to three times per week for each muscle group. Why? Because the majority of lifters who do not use PED’s (performance enhancement drugs) will fit into the range of having the capacity to perform two to four warm up sets followed by two to four work-sets for each muscle group, and they will be able to recover from this when hitting each muscle group two to three times per week.
What about The Champions?
Why are there champions who do so much more than the norm, and other champions who do so much less than the norm? There are two main reasons, the first is that many of them are outliers who are not normal; the second is that many of them use PED’s (performance enhancement drugs). Basing your training on someone who has genetic qualities that are very different than the normal population will often lead to a bad experience if you try to imitate them.
What is an Outlier?
The scientific term for something that lies outside of the typical norm is called an outlier. For example, someone who is seven feet tall is an outlier because they lie outside of the normal range of height. It may be normal for a center in professional basketball to be seven feet tall, but it is not normal among the general population. Someone who has a photographic memory or an IQ of 200 is off the charts. These people are rare, but they do exist, they are outliers. Some people can build a huge amount of muscle and strength with just a little bit of training. These people are rare, but they do exist, they are outliers. Kirk Karwoski and Mark Chaillet are examples of this. Other people are the opposite, they thrive on huge amounts of training without suffering the effects of over-tranining. These people are rare, but they do exist, they are outliers. Arnold Schwarzenegger is an example of this. Bob Gajda is an example of someone who could train his whole body everyday with tons of sets for each muscle group and build a Mr. Universe body. People may try to train like Bob, but most won’t benefit from training the same muscle groups every day with tons of sets. Bob’s capacity to benefit from a daily dose of tons of sets is rare.
When individualizing your workouts, you must understand that you should individualize your workouts to match your own capacities. Trying to imitate someone who has the ability to benefit from an extremely huge amount of training, or an extremely small amount of training, will leave you frustrated and confused. You will wonder why you are training like them without experiencing the results they seem to experience. The discrepancy between you and an outlier will be even greater if the outlier is taking drugs to build his strength and size. You will go mad trying to do what they are doing unless you are one of the rare outliers who is taking drugs like them.
The bottom line is that my advice for the vast majority of people who want to get bigger or stronger is to train within your personal capacities. Most people will be training according to their capacities if they follow the guidelines listed below:
- Train each muscle group two to three times per week. The exact amount of days per week (either 2 or 3) depends on your personal recovery rate. Let results be the guide
- Use basic compound exercises to build strength and size. Examples of these exercises include:
Squats and leg presses
Bench press and bench press variations
Bent-over rows and seated pulley rows
Overhead press
Deadlifts
- Do two to four warm up sets for each muscle group.
- Follow your warm up sets with 2 to 4 work sets for each muscle group. The exact amount of work-sets should be based on how many sets you can perform at full strength.
- Stay within a rep range of 5 to 15 reps per set.
- Push your work-sets to your limit rep or your marker rep. Your limit rep is the limit of reps you can perform while maintaining a steady even rep pace with excellent form. Your marker rep follows the limit rep and is the first slower rep where you can no longer maintain a steady even rep pace at the end of a set. You do not need to push your sets to failure as it will eventually lead to a sticking point.
- The last guideline is to progress at the right rate. A lot of beginning lifters can add five pounds to their lifts every seven to twenty-one days for a few months when using a sound training approach. If you are a beginner, you must know that your gains will eventually slow down. At that point, you must have realistic expectations and allow time for the poundages and reps you are using to become easier before adding weight. It may be six to twelve weeks before you can add five pounds to your lifts. If you add weight too quickly, you will be forced to squeeze out slow grinder reps at the end of your sets in order to do the amount of reps you planned for each set. Slow grinder reps and training to failure can lead to overtraining. This will happen if you add weight to your lifts too quickly. I recommend adding weight at a rate that allows you to stay within your ability to maintain a steady even rep pace.
My Experience With Progression
After years of experimenting with different progression methods, I have found that Marker Rep Training is one of the most reliable methods of progression for consistent gains. You can read about how to use this method for free by clicking on the book below:
Personal Lesson: Be Careful Who You Listen To
In regard to my own training, I started lifting in 1979. I was sure the champions knew the secrets to training and I kept trying all of their training methods. After a couple years of beating my head against a wall with training systems invented by drug enhanced outliers, I began to find some fairly sound advice from lesser known authors who weren’t as famous, but their advice worked better. This consisted of people such as Bradley J. Steiner, Stuart McRobert, and Vince Gironda. You can learn from their training methods by referring to the following resources:
Bradley J. Steiner: Hard Work On Basic Exercises
Stuart McRobert: Hardgainer Routines For Natural Lifters
Stuart McRobert: Brawn and Beyond Brawn
Another trainer who understands the type of lifting that works for the majority of lifters who have a normal range of capacities and do not take steroids is Mark Rippetoe. I am sure there are others, but the trick is to find someone who puts out information that is easily accessible in an easy to follow format with good instruction. Mark Rippetoe will do that for you. The following books and videos will provide you with some resources in regard to Mark Rippetoe’s training methods.
Mark Rippetoe: The Starting Strength Method
Mark Rippetoe: Practical Programming
Video of Garrett Blevins Explaining The Starting Strength Method
Video of Garrett Blevins Explaining The Texas Method
I originally started writing this article with the intention of explaining how to individualize your training whether you fit into the norm, or you are an outlier and an extreme. It soon occurred to me that I couldn’t do this in one brief article, so this article ended up explaining the variations within the normal range of differences. The variations within the normal range of differences are not huge, but subtle in regard to training frequency and how many sets to perform for each muscle group. These variations were discussed in guidelines 1, 3, and 4 within the seven guidelines that were stated earlier in this article. The guidelines are intended to help you determine the precise type of training that is best suited for your body, which is what individualizing your training to your own physiology is all about.
In the next article I will deviate from those who fit into the norm and discuss those who thrive on low frequency training. There are substantial variations among those who fit into this category. These variations require different types of low frequency training which will be discussed in the next article. Best of training to you.
Of all the books on this website. 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 is probably the best one for providing workouts that accommodate a wide variety of individual differences in training frequency and training volume. You can read this book for free by clicking on the book cover.
