In the last article, I discussed my belief that you can take a very simple workout, learn how to perform it with precision, and then repeat it over and over again in order to make substantial long term progress. I am not saying that this is the only way that lifters should train to gain strength, nor am I saying it is the best way for everyone, but I am saying it will work if you know how to do the workout correctly. In my own experience, I have found this to be true of the 6/15 workout as it has proven to be a workout that keeps working when performed over and over again with the right amount of volume, intensity, and frequency.
I must make it clear that I believe that there are several different methods that can be used to gain strength. Some of the best lifters advocate workouts that consist of constant change. In contrast, some of the best lifters advocate that you take the time to narrow your training down to a workout that consistently works when you repeat it again and again. There are also some lifters who believe in training with a substantial amount of volume and intensity to the point where it takes a week to recover. In contrast, there are other lifters who are more conservative in terms of the amount of volume and intensity used in each workout in order to recover faster and workout more often. The 6/15 workout is based on the approach where you strive to refine the volume and intensity to the point where you can repeat the workout again and again with a positive outcome. It’s also based on doing just enough work to stimulate strength while allowing quick recovery and frequent workouts.
The 6/15 workout is based on choosing just three basic exercises per workout. The three exercises should consist of the following:
First Exercise
Choose one pressing movement such as bench presses, incline presses, overhead presses, decline presses, or dips.
Second Exercise
Choose one pulling movement such as seated pulley rows, lat pulldowns, bent over barbell rows, machine rows, T-bar rows, or deadlifts.
Third Exercise
Choose either barbell squats or leg presses.
After doing a few warm up sets for each exercise, perform one to three work sets for 6 reps, and one work set of 15 reps for each exercise. The last rep of each set should be your marker rep which will be explained more in the next paragraph. The exact number of sets that you perform is based on the number of sets you can repeat while remaining at full strength with three or more minutes rest between sets. If you are repeating sets and notice that the rep speed of your current set is slower than your previous sets, you are no longer at full strength. You should stop repeating sets of the exercise you have been performing if this happens.. Likewise, if you are repeating sets of an exercise and you reach a set where your marker rep occurs before you reach your 6th rep, or your 15th rep, you are no longer at full strength and should stop repeating sets. The idea is to learn the exact number of sets you can perform so that you can repeat as many sets as possible at full strength. This will be two to four sets for most lifters. At the same time, you should stop repeating sets before you reach a set where you are no longer at full strength.
The Marker Rep
It is very important that you train with an ideal amount of intensity that is just hard enough to stimulate strength without being so hard that it requires long recovery or causes over training. The ideal intensity for this is the marker rep.
5 Marker Rep Indicators
The marker rep is the point in the set where it suddenly becomes more difficult than it previously was to perform another rep. My thoughts have changed in regard to the marker rep as I once believed the marker rep is all about rep speed, but I now believe that there are 5 indicators that a lifter should be aware of in order to recognize that he or she has reached his or her marker rep. The first two indicators apply consistently to all lifters who are trying to identify their marker rep. The third, fourth, and fifth indicators may or may not apply as the best way to identify the marker rep. These five indicators which signal when you have reached your marker rep are listed below:
1. The amount of effort it takes to perform another rep suddenly increases when you reach your marker rep.
2. The amount of tension you feel throughout your whole body suddenly increases
3. You can no longer maintain the same rep pace and rep speed begins to slow down.
4. You may pause longer between reps to gather Your strength in order to do another rep.
5. It becomes difficult, if not impossible to breathe out in order to exhale while lifting the weight. In other words, you will naturally tend to hold your breath as the weight is being lifted.
Rep Speed and A Change of Perspective
There was a time when I believed that the best indicator was the third indicator listed which states:
“You can no longer maintain the same rep pace and rep speed begins to slow down.”
This indicator works well for many lifters including myself, but it doesn’t work for everyone. Most lifters will reach a point at the end of a set where they can no longer maintain a steady even rep pace, and the last two to three reps slowdown in comparison to the previous reps of the same set. However, there are some lifters who push all the way to failure by doing max reps, but they never slow down at the end of a set. These lifters maintain a steady even rep speed until they fail. For example, there are lifters who can do ten reps using a steady even rep speed, but when they try to do an eleventh rep, they can’t get the weight up and they fail on the eleventh rep. Such lifters must use a different indicator to determine where their marker rep occurs. In my opinion, the most consistent indicator is based on the amount of effort it takes to keep repeating reps.
Before the Marker rep: A little Bit Harder
When identifying the marker rep, you must understand how the amount of effort tends to progress throughout a set. We will look at an example of how this works when a lifter must push himself to failure in order to complete a set of 8 reps. What normally happens at the start of a set is that the second rep feels a lot like the first rep in terms of the effort it takes to lift the weight. As the lifter continues, the third rep is only a little harder to lift than the second. Likewise, the reps only get a little harder as the lifter continues to the fourth and fifth reps. All of this happens before a lifter reaches his or her marker rep. The point that must be emphasized here is that each successive rep seems to only get a little harder as you repeat them before you reach your marker rep. This changes when you reach the marker rep.
The Marker Rep: Significantly Harder
The marker rep signals a sudden increase in the difficulty of repeating reps. When doing a set of 8 reps to failure, it is usually around the sixth rep where the weight suddenly feels as though it has become significantly harder to lift than the previous reps. This is the marker rep.
Stop At Your Marker Rep
The key to keep gaining strength over the long term is to train with enough intensity to stimulate strength gains. At the same time, you must avoid training with too much intensity as it makes it difficult to recover. For this reason, it is of vital importance that you learn to be aware of the point in the set where it feels as though the reps suddenly become more difficult to repeat. Once again, this occurs at the marker rep. When you hit your marker rep, stop the set.
Reps in the Tank
When stopping at the marker rep, most lifters will still have reps in the tank. Reps in the tank simply refers to the number of additional reps that you could have performed if you pushed yourself to do as many reps as possible for a set. As noted earlier, there are exceptions to this, but most lifters will tend to have the following number of reps in the tank when they reach their marker reps:
1 to 3 reps left in the tank when doing sets of 6 reps
3 to 5 reps left in the tank when doing sets of 15 reps.
Guideline: Use Your 8 Rep Max For 6 Reps
If you choose a weight that you can perform for 8 reps when pushing for max reps to failure, you will probably come pretty close to hitting your marker rep when using the same weight for 6 reps.
Guideline: Use Your 19 Rep Max For 15 Reps
If you choose a weight that you can perform for 18 to 19 reps when pushing for max reps to failure, you will probably come pretty close to hitting your marker rep when doing 15 reps.
Guidelines vs. Precision
Even though I provided some guidelines, they are only provided to give you an idea if you are close to calibrating the intensity of each set correctly. However, the guidelines are not going to be a perfect fit for everyone. You can start with guidelines but the goal is to move towards individual precision in regard to your marker rep. Remember that the exact number of reps that a lifter has left in the tank when stopping at his or her marker rep will not be the same for all lifters. It will vary from lifter to lifter because of individual differences. The number of reps in the tank will depend upon several factors which include:
The specific exercise that is being performed.
Whether sets of 6 reps are being performed or sets of 15 reps are being performed.
Your level of energy.
Individual differences between lifters.
While the number of reps in the tank will vary from lifter to lifter and from exercise to exercise, the main thing is to find the point in the set where it suddenly becomes more difficult than previous to repeat another rep, as this should be your stopping point.
Training Frequency
Assuming you understand how to gauge your training volume according to the number of sets you can perform at full strength, and you train with marker rep intensity, you should easily be able to recover from two workouts per week. In all likelihood, most people will be able to do three workouts per week. Remember that you are not training to failure, nor are you repeating sets to the point where you are lifting in a weakened state. This should make it easy to recover, which means that there are many of you who will be able to do the 6/15 workout more than three times per week. The bottom line is to do the number of workouts each week that proves to produce the best results for yourself.
In the next couple of articles, I will discuss the manner in which you should progress and add weight to your lifts when using the 6/15 workout. Best of training to you.
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