The 4 x 8 extra workout is for lifters who normally hit each muscle group only once or twice per week. If this is true of your own training and you are currently making good progress, then keep doing what you are already doing. In fact, you don’t even need to read the rest of this article because it offers the training option of adding extra workouts, and I would only recommend that you try it if you are not making progress.
When Fast Gains Cease
I have found that the best way to make fast progress is to overload your muscles with heavy weights. A simple example would be to do basic exercises such as squats and/or deadlifts, bench presses, overhead presses and bent-over rows twice per week. Do three to four easy warm up sets with lighter weights for each exercise. After doing the easy warm up sets, use 80% to 85% of your single rep max for 3 sets of 5 reps for each exercise. While this strategy will help you to gain strength quickly, you will eventually get stuck and find it very hard to add weight. A lot of lifters either try to push harder, or they set up a complex periodization scheme. However, if you are willing to give it time, you can simply add an easy 4 x 8 (i.e. 4 sets of 8 reps) workout two to three times per week to the workouts you are already doing and use it as a base to build on. An example will help to explain this.
We will imagine that you are doing 3 sets of 5 reps twice per week for each muscle group. Instead of doing nothing on your rest days, do 4 sets of 8 reps for a pressing exercise, a pulling exercise, and a leg exercise. Start with 50% of your single rep max and do 4 sets of 8 reps for your pressing, pulling, and squatting exercises twice per week. Rest only about a minute between sets and try to finish the workout within 20 to 25 minutes.
Start Easy and Gradually Increase
Your initial goal is to find a level of intensity that your body is comfortable with so that you can gradually add weight over time. The way your body responds to the 4 x 8 workout will depend on your current level of conditioning as well as your individual physiology.
After doing the 4 x 8 workout on your off days for three weeks, some of you may not feel any significant stress from the added workouts. If this is the case, add 5 pounds to your exercises every three weeks until the added workouts produce a training stimulus that causes your body to start gaining strength.
Other lifters may experience a decrease in strength and a lot of fatigue in between workouts from adding in the extra 4 x 8 workouts. If this happens, back off and reduce the weight as much as needed until you find an amount of weight that your body is comfortable with. Once you find the right level of intensity, you can then gradually build upon these extra workouts until they start to have a positive effect on the amount of weight you can use in your regular workouts.
A Long-term Strategy
This is a long-term strategy, which is something that many lifters can’t face. If they don’t see results within a week or two, they assume they are using an ineffective training strategy. You may see results every week or two in the beginning stages of lifting, but no lifter can gain quickly forever.
Ed Coan was one of the greatest, if not the greatest powerlifter ever. After experiencing rapid gains during the early stages of his training, Ed was content with a strength gain of 5 pounds every twelve to fourteen weeks. This sounds like terrible progress to some lifters, but if you can look five years into the future, all of those 5 pound increases in strength will add up to 100 pounds of added strength. This is a tremendous long term gain and is also a reasonable goal if you have been stuck at the same level of strength. The 4 x 8 workouts are designed to help you start at an intensity level that your body is comfortable with so that you can add 5 pounds to your lifts every 8 to 12 weeks. You will find that as you gradually add weight to these easy workouts, you will start gaining strength and it will eventually translate into the ability to use more weight when doing your regular heavier workouts.
Consistency is the Key
The key is the high degree of consistency that comes from working out more often while making sure to do so within the context of full recovery. These workouts will provide a foundation that your body can adapt to and build upon. If you are stuck and can’t add any weight to your high intensity heavy workouts, add low intensity training that you can gradually add to and you will eventually start to see strength gains when doing your heavier workouts.
Patience is Required
You must be patient to make this concept work. It may take several months before you start to see the benefits of the extra workouts, but if you haven’t made much progress lately, and you have committed yourself to long-term lifting, you have nothing to lose by trying something new or different. A month from now you won’t see much difference in your strength, but five years from now, you will be glad you did it. Best of training to you.