Astounding Three Day Workout For Mass!

[Noles Backer]

This workout isvery intense if you take the 1set to absolute failure. However I can't squat wed., my legs are too sore from Mon. So I do leg presses on Wed. I also change a couple of exercises on Wed. to mix it up al little like tricept pushdowns and preacher curls. It is hard to get your mind beleiving you're reallt doing enough with just one set but when you're sore after every workout and look at your weghts and mass they are both up after just two weeks..

[82nd Airborne]

"Come on. Any of you guys been through basic training, or advanced training like Airborne, Seals, Ranger training know that you can certainly push your body. "

After basic training I lost 10 pounds of muscle. I could do more push ups before basic than I could after basic. Over training is real. I lost a total of 30 pounds during basic. Basic made me weak. The emphasis on this kind of training is to turn you into a "Cardio Monkey." Yeah, just what I wanted to be... some skinny marathon freak. After basic I hit the gym and gained my hard-earned muscle back. I don’t think basic is a good example for convincing a bodybuilder to downplay over training.

ARMY 1995 – 1999 SGT

Hey Sarge,
I know you are not comparing Basic training to "Elite troopers" such as Airborne, Seals, Rangers, etc. etc. You sound just like a nasty leg. In fact the man is right the body can take what ever your mind will allow it to. If you think you can then you can, if you think you can't then you won't. Sounds like someone has a small mind.

This program works, at least it has for me. Astounding.
82nd Airborne Division 1981-1984
All the way, Airborne.

[-Moores Gym-]

I'm not a fan of doing the same exact exercises 3 days a week...id get bored

[Training hard]

I've been following this program for 4 weeks now and haven't really put on any mass (but then to be fair i haven't been taking in as much protein as I usually do)

HOWEVER

The STRENTH (sp) gains i've had so far are unbelievable. I've got New PR's in every exercise and everytime i train i'm setting a new PR. The only drawback that i have found is that my body is taking quite a knocking and a couple of old injuries are flaring up.

[WorldMuscle]

Sounds like you whoever you had write this article copied word for word some of the things Pete Sisco has said and other statements from Mike Mentzer's writings out of 'High Intensity Training' by Mike Mentzer without giving them due credit. Every part in this article was fully plaigarised as if sections from different books were copied into one single workout article.


The callous statements, the statements on rest and recovery, the statements on 2 up 2 down, the statements on progressive overload, I've read them from either mike or pete's writings. The only new idea in the article was the full body workout 3 days a week and that will not work if your going to failure in every set. Steve Reves gave a 3 day a week full body workout program in his book. Its physiologically impossible to recover for anyone besides a steroid user. Doctor's studies show that a muscle taken to full failure when lifting requires at least a 48hr-4 week time period to full recover. Everytime you lift you make inroads into your central nervous system's ability to recover and then after it fully recovers it will compensate to build the new muscle. 3 fullbody workouts is just rediculous. Anyone who has said they've gained on 3 a day should prove it otherwise I'm calling BS.

[gatorwayne]

i am 44 years old and i recently decided i was sick of being a fat a--,and took up the routine i did as a 25 year old.i am starting with full body 3 days per week for 6-8 weeks then plan to do a split routine.here is what i do
hands together push ups(as a warm up)3 x 40
superset:side laterals,shrugs,front dumbell raises,3x 10
supersetulldowns,dumbell lat raises,deadlifts,3 x 10
bench,12,10,8,8,8 (or to failure)
incline bench 3 x 10
superset:dumbell flies,leg extensions,bent rows,3 x 10
behind the neck barbell press,3 x10
upright rows 3 x10
military press 3 x 10
squats 5 x 10
dumbell curls 3-5 x 10-12
triceps extensions 3-5 x 10
triceps push downs 3 x 12
standing barbell curls 3 x 10
sounds like alot,i know,but the only way i have ever gotten my body to respond is to bust my buns.this article sounds interesting,but i have to say use caution and warm up.doing maximum reps without warming up properly is a highway to injury.

[WorldMuscle]

Squats, bench, and supersets all to failure 3 days a week? I gurantee your not going to make it to the 5th week.


One of the previous poster's has old injuries flaring up, that ought to tell you something. I don't reccomend this rediculous program at all. A 10x more effective program would be arms/chest, back/shoulders, legs. 3 workouts a week(1 different group per workout), 1-2 sets per exercise, 2 excercises per bodypart, all to complete failure. Even then I'd say thats overtraining and reccomend 1-2 workouts a week max, you always should be progressivly improving somehow in some area workout too workout if your lifting with the highest intensity possible.

[gatorwayne]

where are you in indiana?i grew up in muncie.live in florida now.

[WorldMuscle]

Fort Wayne


I went to Ball State for a year

[BenyE21]

Last summer when i did this program, i followed this workout in its exact order:

Incline Bench x8-10 Failure (approximately 2 inches short of lock-out)

Decline Skullcrushers - x8-10 Failure (approximately 45 degree angle from flat)

Military Press behind the neck x8-10 Failure (never go lower the the hairline on the back of your neck. like bench, about 2 inches short of lock-out)

Barbell Shrugs - x8-10 Failure (we want a maximum rom, so don't go too heavy)

Lat Pulldowns to the Front - x8-10 Failure (use a grip that is a little more than shoulder width apart. really concentrate on using only your back muscles. i use a thumbless grip.)

-or-

Pull-ups - x8-10 Failure (grip the bar a bit more than shoulder width apart, legs crossed at the ankles and toes pointed to the rear.)

Cable Rows - x8-10 Failure (Use a weight a light enough weight so that you can get your shoulder blades pinched together and get a full rom.)

EZ Bar Curls - x8-10 Failure (EZ Bar cause its less stressful for the wrists and easier to execute.)

SLDL - x12-15 ( I advise you go about a rep or 2 short of failure. wouldn't wanna injure your back.)

Leg Extensions - x12-15 (I don't usually recommend doin these, but i'm sure you wouldn't want to try heavy squats to failure every other day. Way to stressful. at least in my mind.)

Calf Raises - x12-15 Failure (use leg press machine)

then finish it off with some short, but intense ab work.

its gotta go lift after lift. rest no longer than 45 seconds between lifts.

[jmack93]

This workout will work for beginners and anyone who's plateaued with their current lower-intensity program... for maybe a few weeks or months at the most (depending on how intense you really get ie. weight moved per time).

And then you'll be overtrained, tired all the time, not getting stronger, no longer looking forward to your workouts, and risking injury.

Full-body workouts have their place, high-intensity obviously has it's place, but scheduling rests periods without paying attention to the results in your workouts has no place anywhere anytime. If you're not getting stronger, you're not getting bigger, and that's a request from your body to rest more. But also, this workout doesn't even recommend you record the TIME it takes to do your lifts and workout, so how do you know if you got stronger from one workout to the next?

I say skip it for Power Factor Training, then if you like that, try Static Contraction, Max Contraction, or whatever the latest developments from Sisco and Little (who aren't together anymore).

[mighty_mike]

I just started max contraction training and the results are mind blowing. I've been working out regularly for years (at one point 5 days a week, sometimes twice a day), and I did make progress, but ultimitely hit a plateau (aka OVERTRAINED). I gradually reduced workout frequency due to work schedules, and that's where I started to notice some gains. Then I stumbled upon Max Contraction at the local book store and started the program. Now having reduce my workout (full body, high intensity) to once or twice a week with the actual workout lasting not more than 15 minutes, I'm starting to see the cuts develop, am lifting more weight than I've ever lifted (eg. previously using 600lbs of full range leg presses - the leg press machine at my local gym can only load 900lbs, this became easy and I started using 1 leg for this amount of weight), added around 200lbs to my max bench press in just a few weeks, pull ups with 90bs strapped to my waist, and so on. It feels good to go into a gym, use the most weight the equipment can handle, come back a week later and do it again and find that using the entire stack is getting to easy. I'm now at the point of needing to find a gym that has equipment that can load more resistance.

Max Contraction goes against the grain of traditional weight training protocol, but it's efficient and works if applied properly. I highly recommend it.

Note that in Max Contraction, it's stated that it is possible to attain your genetic potential within two years if you train efficiently. I'm set to see if I'm able to get there using this training protocol.

[jmack93]

I just started max contraction training and the results are mind blowing. ... Note that in Max Contraction, it's stated that it is possible to attain your genetic potential within two years if you train efficiently. I'm set to see if I'm able to get there using this training protocol.

I agree. And if you combine MCT with a once-a-month CNS workout (see www.precisiontraining.com for the ebook), you'll get there even faster. These 2 workouts compliment each other PERFECTLY. Although I'll probably be the only one to tell you that, since MCT is Little's and CNS is Cisco's, and they seem to have gone their seperate ways. CNS basically uses exercises that combine compound movements with other movements, ala you do a deadlift, then shrug, then calf raise, all in basically the same movement with the same bar. The stimulation to the CNS is amazing, definitely too intense to do regularly.

[unregistered]

ive been using this workout and its working well, the last workout i tried didnt even get me sore. I think its worth a try for any begginers.. im not a body builder but i am definetly getting good results

[Unregistered]

ok yea nvm about that message^^^ just hurt the neck owe.. be careful with this workout

[Ton_]

Squats 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Leg Extensions 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Leg Curls 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Dumbbell Pullovers 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Barbell Overhead Shoulder Press 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Seated Rows 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Bench Press 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Barbell Bicep Curls 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Tricep Extensions 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Weighted Pullups 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Weighted Dips 1 X 8 - 10 reps
Standing Calf Raises 1 X 8 - 12 reps
Abs - 1 X 10 - 15 reps

This is how the exercises are written in the article. But is this also the right order to perform the exercises?

I'll try to start this workout today. Coz i've been at the same weight and same strength for months...

[Ton_]

This is how the exercises are written in the article. But is this also the right order to perform the exercises?

I'll try to start this workout today. Coz i've been at the same weight and same strength for months...

anybody?

[AC_GI]

Hey Sarge,
I know you are not comparing Basic training to "Elite troopers" such as Airborne, Seals, Rangers, etc. etc. You sound just like a nasty leg. In fact the man is right the body can take what ever your mind will allow it to. If you think you can then you can, if you think you can't then you won't. Sounds like someone has a small mind.

This program works, at least it has for me. Astounding.
82nd Airborne Division 1981-1984
All the way, Airborne.

So Airborne is "Elite?" LOL, I wouldn't be stupid enough to compare a regular airborne soldier to a Seal or Ranger. I think this is a good workout to mix in with the other workouts after you have reached your plateau on them. The military does not want big muscle bound bodybuilders... they want endurance filled "cardio monkeys." That is the only point I was trying to make. I like the workout, I like other workouts as well. It takes a lot to over train. I just think that basic training was a poor example.

And yes, I was just a nasty leg. I didn't get the enjoyment of damaging my knees and ankles jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. sorry.

AC

[Unregistered]

This is how the exercises are written in the article. But is this also the right order to perform the exercises?

I'll try to start this workout today. Coz i've been at the same weight and same strength for months...

I believe that is the suggested order. However, I alter the order to get my hardest (i.e., most taxing) movements out of the way first, when I have the most energy. The 3 big power movements (Squats, Deadlifts, Bench) are the ones I focus on, working in more isolated movements (rows and curls) in-between (for a little extra rest for the big muscles).

I like the workout, like most people I tinkered with the exercises. Wed. I supplant Squats and Stiff-Legged Deadlifts with regular Deadlift, I guess to give my legs a "break", if one can be had with this workout...those 2 exercises take a lot out of me and I run into problems with 2 days not being enough recovery time for my hamstrings/quads. Everything else, if restricted to a single intense set, seems to recover adequately with 2 days.

1) Squat (Mon. & Fri.), Deadlift (Wed.)
2) Seated Rows (Mon. & Fri.), Bent-over Barbell Rows (Wed.)
3) Bench Press
4) Barbell (EZ) curls
5) Stiff-Legged Deadlifts (Mon. & Fri.)
6) DB Pullover
7) DB Overhead Shoulder Press
8) Weighted Pullups (or Pulldowns)
9) Weighted Dips
10) Abs (in here somewhere, but the order varies)
11) Tricep Extensions

[Ton_]

Thnx man! I appreciate this !

[Unregistered]

"i give the article itself a 3.5/10. writer needs to have a more professional writing style and to actually get information straight."

This is not an english class for nerds. I think you are a fat english teacher who just got fired.

[Unregistered]

Thnx man! I appreciate this !

No problem, glad to help.

For everybody else: I loved the program, did it for 10 weeks. Really enjoyed being able to get everything done in an hour tops, 3 times a week. Also, was very relieved to learn that the body doesn't want more than 47 minutes of intense exercise, at least when it comes to building muscle. I researched it a little more, to be sure; it also made sense to me based on what I knew of my 90-minute workouts 4 times each week.

Results: Back, legs, "up the middle" muscles got stronger and bigger. Chest seems about the same. Arms got smaller. Gained 4-5 lbs. of muscle mass, which is unheard of for me. I know I gained strength, as the weights went up, but it's hard to say how much because all I have to compare it to is my past volume workouts.

Arms got smaller, I believe, because a) suddenly I was doing a FAR smaller number of chest/shoulder presses, and b) I did solely barbell (BB) chest presses (I did a good job switching up exercises for arms/chest/back/shoulders, but not for chest). This wasn't enough to work my triceps: the first day of my latest workout I did dumbbell (DB) chest presses, and my triceps are quite sore for the first time in awhile. I forgot that the triceps do a ton of stabilizing work when using DBs for presses. Triceps make up 2/3 the volume of your arm, so I can understand why it appears my arms are slimmer. I assume this also limited the gains I could make in my chest. Not sure how to address the biceps, but I'm also not sure how much they regressed, if any. It could be that once my triceps bounce back, I won't notice any difference. I stuck triceps and biceps towards the end of workouts, and I'm sure that affected my arms as well.

As with many things in life, the negatives are easier to recognize than the positives. But the arm issue aside, I love this workout, what it did for my core muscles and "thickness", and what it did to shake my workouts up. It is a refreshing change from the standard "Chest day, Legs day, Back/Bis day, Shoulder/Tris day" splits. Jumping from one exercise to the next keeps things interesting (no time to get bored!) and keeps me focused. If you hate a certain exercise, you only have to do it once, then move on! Most importantly for me, it proved that less can be more with regards to time and intensity in the gym; I've never sweat or panted so much in the gym. Doing the big muscle movements is certainly draining, but science indicates that working these muscles results in muscle-building benefits for all your muscles, and this workout proves that. I was afraid I'd slim down and lose hard-earned gains, but the opposite happened, I gained thickness and mass where I had the most to gain (my core muscles).

What I'll do differently next time: Alternate DB chest presses with BB presses to hit triceps better. Will also alternate underhand chin-ups with overhand pull-ups to *hopefully* hit biceps better. Alternate when I do arms in the workout.

What I learned: High intensity workouts consisting of basic big muscle movements can allow you to stay fit and muscular, even gain strength and muscle, in shorter, condensed workouts. You CAN get away with one intense set 3 times each week. And your muscles can recover in 2 days, if you limit them to one intense set. However, quads and hamstrings must REALLY be restricted to one set, doing even 2 sets meant I'd not recover in time.

Miscellany: Rediscovering DB pullovers was great. I needed to really monitor my eating; scaling back from 4-5 workouts/week, 90-minutes at a time to 3 hours per week meant I didn't need as many calories (unless I wanted to just gain weight - fat and muscle - which I didn't), and it was a challenge to get out of old eating routines. Adequate sleep/rest was a must...I was a zombie on a couple of occasions when I tried to skate by with 7 hours of sleep after one of these workouts. Normally, no problem, but after this workout, no way...your whole body is left shaking and whimpering for rest. Even the sleep after your day of rest is key to recovery...I was annoyed, but it was a good lesson. Good stuff.

Anyway, I'll cycle off the workout for another 2+ months and can't wait to get back on. Am using a little more of a volume workout for now, a John Stamatopoulos plan that uses a lot of the same fundamental ideas: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/johnprogram.htm

Good luck.

[Teen_Titan]

What is a good Ab exercise to do for this program?

[juice box]

Sometimes it is better to take the road less traveled. This program was first developed by Aurthur Jones back in the early 70's. He mainly wanted to sell his weight machines but thought it would be good to offer his mass secret training as well. He had many people try this program who he trained and for the most part all of tham made significant gains. There are those who think that this workout is not a good way to gain mass and don't take it seriosly. When aurthur had a chance to have Arnold Schwarzenegger try his workout Arnold was very close minded about the whole thing and never really gave it a good try. ( I mean the thought of doing one rep over three or four sounds rediculous)If you are not going to all out failure you are going to fail at this program just like Arnold. Arnold first started taking roids as a young teenager and that is where he got most of his gains, and genetics also played a big role too. This program goes to prove that if done correctly you to can make gains under heavy intense training. Why? Well mother nature works wonders when your body is under a lot of stress and intensity for defense mechanisims.
Meaning that if your body senses imediate danger it has to adapt to responde thus infrequent workouts and in less time your body responds to better than working out five to six times a week because then you are going against mother nature in trying to make your body grow when not under heavy stress and intensity. This making less is more instead of more is more. You have to be willing to turn the bodyduilding world upside down and just do things that are not the norm as like in this workout. Everybody seems to be caught up in the mist that you have to train long and hard in oreder for your body to responde but it is not so. If you want more info on HIT then I encourage you to read The New High Intensity Training by Ellington Darden. Remember knowledge is power and once you figure that out you will be able to achieve your realistic goals.

[Unregistered]

I came back to the site today because I wondered if there was a forum - because I wanted to post.

Did this workout yesterday for the first time and have some commets.

1) Every muscle in my body aches like never before. I did a GOOD workout with this routine. Something I havn't seen commented on in the forum is the extent to which few of these exercises isolate one muscle - so it is simply not true to say that there is only one exercise for each muscle.

2) We all know that change is good. This is a BIG change from my normal workout - therefore it is good. Whether it is good over time we will see.

3) Only one set ( after a good warmup ) is a very big phychological shift for me. I gave myself a score out of 10 for effort on each of these sets, and I was pushing 9s and 10s for the whole thing. I don't consistently workout to that intensity because my workouts are so spread. What I'm trying to say is if you are sticking to only one set - they you are more likely to really go for it.

4) I had energy for the entire routine with no need for a break That's new for me too.. I usually cool down too much during a workout. I was AT IT for this entire thing. I take NO-XPLODE before a workout and it was in full effect for the whole routine.

So - very interesting to see where this goes. I think it is a very good workout for me. I DO believe that less is more, but I also know that change is good.

Dawump

[Unregistered]

Too confusing...

This program is supposed to be HIT, but it is not even close to John's program. It is against all the ideas like "recovery time is at least 48 hours, have to change the exercise for the same muscle every week(alternating exercises)".


Erhan

From what I know Wed is 48 hrs from Mon and Fri is 48 hrs from Wed. So the rule is not broken.

You should combine the 2 programs into 1. You should alternate exercises between every work out like John says, but do the exercises for each body part every work out like this program says (not once a week per body part). I would also take the reps down to 5-8 from 8-10, since this is a mass building program. And also introduce the 2 warm-up sets (not just one), this should make the "too injury prone" sayers feel more comfortable.

In defense of this program: You do 3 sets of squats once a week (all same day) with a split routine; you do 3 sets of squats per week (3 different days) with this routine. Same number of sets and reps, but with this program you hit the muscle full of energy with every set where with the split routine you would hit the muscle full of energy only the first of three sets. At the end of 3 sets, with this program you will likely lift more lbs for the week than with the split.


Just my 5c.

[Unregistered]

i was lifting 4 times a week for the past 6 months before i started this program and taking protein and creatine. my max weight was 150 lbs and im 5'10". i started this program and quit the creatine and started taking animal m stak, hgf-1, and protein. in 2 months i gained 15 pounds and its really hard for me to gain weight. so i think this really works and it only takes me 45 - 60 min at the gym.

[~jAmeZ~]

This sort of routine is very old-school and I can tell you for a fact that it works. It's probably a good routine to start training on.....once you make good gains, you can switch to a more volume-oriented approach to bring up smaller bodyparts. Following something like the routine in this article will lay a good foundation.

[patg73]

I've been on this workout for only 1.5 weeks and I already have a gain of 5lbs. I've been working out for the last 6 months and lost 50lbs pounds (thanks 2 circuit training cardio) of crappy body fat. And even thought i was weight training very frequently (4 times per week), I wasn't gaining any true muscles size or strength. It was starting 2 drive me crazy.

I wanted to make some changes and found this site and this workout. Thank god because I finally feel like something here might work for me and it has so far.

Was wondering though. Since I lost the weight and I wanted to stay trim (definition) and gain mass. Would doing 15 solids minutes on the eliptical after every workout hurt my goals of gaining mass? The extra time would bring my workout to an hour exactly.

Thanks a million

Pat Gagne

[Unregistered]

Today was the first day I started with this workout and obviously I'm not able to see results; however, i was completely drained when I left the gym. So far so good...but about 2 hours after the workout i noticed a slight tweek in my right shoulder. Currently my range of motion is limited due to uncomfortability. Does anyone know how i can correct this? Was this due to the surplus of compound excercises? My delts were rather pumped after the workout, but I'm afraid that although I benched I didn't hit my chest. Arnold had said that Ken Waller used declines as his primary chess mass builder, could that be the case with myself? Please respond.