Lesson 13: Home-Based Workout Programs and Alternate Progression/Set/Rep Schemes

Who this is designed for:

• This is great for beginners to resistance training.
• This also works for individuals coming back from a layoff.
• When more advanced lifters incorporate a new exercise this can also work well.

How to apply:

• Add more weight each session while staying in the predetermined set and rep range.
• Start with light weight to help get lots of practice developing good form and then continue increasing the weight until you can no longer stay within the specified rep range or until your technique breaks down.
• When this occurs, either:
  • stay at the same weight until you make progress again (ie, more reps)
  • decrease the weight ~10% and work back up (in case you had entered a state of functional overreaching and need additional recovery)
  • change your goal rep range to provide a different training stimulus
  • change to a different progression scheme

Example:

Let’s say you want to perform 3 sets in the 8-12 rep range. As the goals here are to increase strength but also work on technique, all sets should be taken to a RIR ≥3 initially. If you perform 10 reps with 50 pounds and this yields a RIR ≥3, I will notate this as “50*10 @ ≥3”.

• First workout:
  • 50*12 @ ≥3, 50*12 @ ≥3, 50*12 @ ≥3
• Second workout:
  • 55*12 @ ≥3, 55*12 @ ≥3, 55*12 @ ≥3
  • Here you did the same set and rep scheme but went up 5 pounds. You will continue to do this for the next several sessions.
• Fifth workout:
  • 70*12 @ ≥3, 70*12 @ ≥3, 70*12 @ ≥3
  • You have gone up 5 pounds every workout to this point.
• Sixth workout:
  • 75*12 @ ≥3, 75*12 @ 3, 75*12 @ 2
  • You are no longer able to go up 5 pounds each workout without the sessions becoming more difficult.
  • It makes sense to continue increasing the weight as you are still far from failure; the more intense sets will elicit further strength gains.
• Seventh workout:
  • 80*12 @ 2, 80*10 @ 2, 80*9 @ 2
  • Here you are staying within the 8-12 rep range while keeping your RIR = 2.
  • These sets will be effective to elicit further strength gains and you are staying far enough from failure to help ensure good technique as you begin to push yourself more.
• Eighth workout:
  • 85*11 @ 2, 85*9 @ 2, 85*8 @ 1
  • In the last set here you went to a RIR  = 1. As you want to avoid failure you will keep the weight the same for the next session. Some would argue at this point you are no longer following linear progression since you are allowing the RIR to dictate what you do, but this is more of an argument of semantics; if you make progress next session by performing more reps (or the same number of reps but it is easier), than you are still making progress.
• Ninth workout:
  • 85*12 @ 2, 85*10 @ 2, 85*8 @ 2
  • As the RIR of all sets was 2 you can increase the weight again.
• Tenth workout:
  • 90*11 @ 2, 90*9 @ 2, 90*8 @ 1
  • Similar to above you will keep the weight the same. After a few more sessions making slow progress like this you then get to your 13th session.
• Thirteenth workout:
  • 100*9 @ 2, 100*8 @ 2, 100*8 @ 0
  • Now you have actually taken a set to failure and it is time to consider changing something.

Options for the next workout include:

• Keep the weight the same. You can continue doing this until there are two workouts in a row where you are not able to increase the reps you perform.
• Decrease the weight 10% and work back up. This is a good option if you feel somewhat fatigued, particularly during the warm-up sets. This may indicate you will benefit from taking it a bit easy for a session or two. However, if you are not feeling fatigued this is less likely to prove helpful.
• Decrease the goal rep range to 6-8. You can do this after employing the first option where the rep count stagnates. You can employ this with the second option as well if we are feeling fatigued. Or you can move directly into this option. Later when you stagnate again you can decrease the rep range to 3-5 (and increase to 5 sets instead of 3 to help make up for the loss of volume when decreasing the rep range to this lower amount).
• An additional option is to rotate out this exercise with a different one or to completely change the progression scheme to a different option listed in this section.

Exercise selection:

• It makes more sense to start with very light weight with exercises that are more technically challenging (ie, free weight compound exercises) rather than isolation lifts or machine lifts where there is little margin for error; for the latter exercises you can start at slightly more challenging weights without it significantly impacting your ability to develop good technique.
• Complete beginners will gain strength rapidly on all lifts and thus this is a good approach for all exercises if an incremental load adjustment is possible. For some exercises, such as lateral raises, it may not be possible to increase the weight in small enough increments for this approach to work well.

Who this is designed for:

• This can be done for individuals of any training level.
• This is particularly well-suited for individuals who have limited access to weights/resistance and thus will have difficulty adding resistance in small increments.

How to apply:

• Take sets to a specific RPE or RIR. Listen to your body and do as many reps as needed to hit your goal RPE or RIR.
• As you get stronger you will need to perform more reps to hit this goal.
• As sets up to 30 reps can be effective, you can continue this until you can perform 30 reps a set and then increase the resistance.
• At times you should take exercises to failure to allow yourself to anchor your RPE and RIR estimates appropriately. If you only ever go to a RIR = 2 you may actually be at an RIR ≥3 without realizing it. Taking sets to failure occasionally and remembering how sets feel at RIR = 0, 1, 2, and 3 will help your accuracy in estimating your RPE and RIR.

Example:

Let’s say you want to perform 3 sets of lateral raises to a RIR = 1-2. If you perform 10 reps with 5 pounds and this yields an RIR = 2, I will notate this as “5*10 @ 2”.

• First workout:
  • 5*12 @ 2, 5*12 @ 1, 5*11 @1
  • You can choose whether to take sets to a RIR = 1 or 2. People typically will take the final sets closer to failure than the initial sets so you stopped at a RIR = 2 on the first set and a RIR = 1 on the latter two sets.
• Second workout:
  • 5*13 @ 2, 5*12 @ 2, 5*12 @ 1
  • You have gotten a little stronger and can do an extra rep on these sets. You will continue to slowly make progress like this over many further sessions.
• Tenth workout:
  • 5*20 @ 2, 5*18 @ 2, 5*17 @ 1
  • Now that you can do 20 reps with 5 pounds you should be able to do several reps with 10 pounds.
• Eleventh workout:
  • 10*7 @ 2, 10*6 @ 2, 10*6  @ 1
  • Now you can continue to make progress as you did previously.

Exercise selection:

• This works well for exercises where you use small amounts of weight as it will be difficult to add additional weight readily. This is evident in the example above using lateral raises where it takes many sessions using 5 pound dumbbells before you are strong enough to use 10 pound dumbbells.
• This also works well for home-based exercises where you cannot increase the resistance for many exercises in an incremental fashion.

Who this is designed for:

• This can be done for individuals of any training level.

How to apply:

• Pick a specific rep range and RPE/RIR goal for your sets.
• Do as many reps as necessary to reach the RPE/RIR goal.
• If you do fewer or greater reps than the specified rep range then decrease or increase the weight, respectively.
• As explained in the “RPE/RIR approach” above, at times you should take exercises to failure to allow yourself to anchor your RPE and RIR estimates appropriately.

Example:

Let’s say you want to perform 3 sets in the 8-12 rep range to a RIR = 2 or 3. If you perform 10 reps with 100 pounds and this yields a RIR = 2, I will notate this as “100*10 @ 2”.

• First workout:
  • 100*11 @ 2, 100*9 @ 3, 90*10 @ 2
  • You have not reached the upper limit of your rep and RIR range in the first set so you will keep the weight the same for the next workout.
• Second workout:
  • 100*12 @ 2, 100*10 @ 2, 100*9 @ 2
  • You have reached the top of your rep range but not your RIR range so you will keep the weight the same.
• Third workout:
  • 100*12 @ 3, 100*11 @ 2, 100*12 @ 0
  • You have reached the top of your rep and RIR range so you will increase the weight.
  • Here you took the final set to failure to help ensure you are accurately assigning RIR values.
• Fourth workout:
  • 105*11 @ 2, 105*9 @ 3, 100*11 @ 2
  • You will keep the weight the same until you reach the top of your rep and RIR range.
• Fifth workout:
  • 105*12 @ 3, 105*9 @ 3, 105*8 @ 2
  • Now you can increase the weight again.
• Sixth workout:
  • 110*10 @ 3, 110*9 @ 2, 105*10 @ 0
  • You have again taken the final set to failure to help ensure you are accurately assigning RIR values.

Importantly for this method, you stay within your desired rep rage of 8-12 in every set and take each set to a RIR = 2 or 3. Therefore, you adjust the weight as needed to remain within these parameters. There is some flexibility here. For example, options include performing 105*8 @ 2 or 95*9@3 for a given set since both are within the desired ranges. What exactly you choose to perform to stay within the prescribed ranges is up to personal preference.

Exercise selection:

• This works well for exercises where you can add weight in increments without having to decrease the rep count significantly.
• For example, if your goal range is 8-12 reps and you squat 50 pounds for 12 reps and are at your goal RIR = 2 you will likely be able to squat 55 pounds for at least 8 reps while keeping the RIR = 2.

Who this is designed for:

• This can be done for individuals of any training level, though it will be more difficult for beginners who have no frame of reference for estimating RPE or RIR.
• For individuals who are not confident in their ability to estimate RPE/RIR this approach allows lots of practice to improve.

How to apply:

• In the first workout aim to take all sets to a RIR = 3 (equivalent to a RPE = 7 if using RIR-based RPE).
• In the next workout keep the weight the same but take all sets to a RIR = 2. At least on the first set you should be able to perform more reps due to strength gained from the prior workout and because you are purposefully going closer to failure.
• In the next workout keep the same weight but take all sets to a RIR = 1. For the same reasons listed above you should be able to perform more reps on the first set. As you are going close to failure you will develop more fatigue on the first set so you may not perform as many reps on subsequent sets as you did in prior sessions.
• If you have any doubt about your ability to accurately assess RPE or RIR, in the next session take at least the first set to RIR = 0. You can take subsequent sets to a RIR = 1 or 0 as you see fit.
• Finally, in the subsequent workout go back to taking sets to a RIR = 3 but increase the weight.
• When initially starting this approach it may be best to pick a weight where  you can perform 6-10 reps in the first set to a RIR = 3. By the last sessions you will possibly be performing 10-15 reps per set.

Exercise selection:

• This approach is viable for any exercise. It makes more sense to do this with compound exercises when you are fresh as you may already be fatigued going into isolation exercises; this would make it more difficult to track progress and for beginners may make it more difficult to accurately gauge RPE or RIR on each set.
• If you choose to take the final session to RIR = 0 then be careful if you use an exercise where it can be more dangerous to fail (ie, squats).

Who this is designed for:

• This is particularly well-suited for individuals who aren’t confident in their ability to estimate RPE or RIR.
  • By taking the last set very close to failure or all the way to failure you will gain regular experience with how this feels.
  • You can then translate this experience to non-failure sets to better assess RPE and RIR for each set.
  • You will also learn through trial and error how the RIR of a specific set fatigues you for a subsequent set.
• This is also a good approach for people who tend to train too close to failure and have difficulty holding themselves back; with this approach and trial & error you’ll learn that holding yourself back a bit will allow more cumulative reps in the end.

How to apply:

• Aim for a specific number of total reps between all of the sets for a specific exercise.
• If you attain this many reps you can increase the weight in the next session.
• In general if you push to failure prior to the last set the number of reps you do on subsequent sets will suffer significantly; thus if you wish to take a set to failure it should likely only be the last set.
• Try to keep the rest periods between sets consistent in successive workouts; if you rest longer you will be able to perform more reps and thus varying the rest periods can make it more difficult to track progress.

Example:

Let’s say you set a goal of 30 reps to be completed in 3 sets. For this rep goal approach you will use the same weight in each set, in this case 100 lbs. If you perform 10 reps with 100 pounds and this yields an RIR = 2, I will notate this as “100*10 @ 2”.

• First workout:
  • 100*10 @ 2, 100*9 @ 2, 100*10 @0
  • By the third set you are fatigued so you manage the same number of reps as the first set but the RIR has gone down to 0.
  • You completed 29 total reps so you will keep the weight the same for the next session.
• Second workout:
  • 100*11 @ 2, 100* 10 @ 2, 100 * 11 @ 0
  • You completed 32 total reps so you will increase the weight for the next session.
• Third workout:
  • 105*10 @ 2, 105*8 @ 2, 105*9 @ 0
  • This is 27 total reps so you will keep the weight the same for the next session.
• Fourth workout:
  • 105*11 @ 2, 105*9 @ 2, 105*9 @0
  • This is 29 total reps so you will keep the weight the same for the next session.
• Fifth workout:
  • 105*12 @ 2, 105*10 @ 2, 105*9 @ 0
  • This is 31 total reps so you will increase the weight for the next session.

Again, other than the final set you should avoid failure. In the first workout above if you did 100*12 @ 0 in the first set, then the second set you may have done 100*9 @ RIR = 0, and the third set you may have done 100*7 @ RIR = 0. Thus, your total reps will likely be fewer than what would be possible if you save going to failure for the last set. Furthermore, the increased fatigue from going to failure on all 3 sets may hinder recovery for the next session.

Exercise selection:

• • This approach can be applied to any exercise.
  • If you choose an exercise where going to failure can be dangerous (ie, squats) you may want to take the final set to a RIR = 1 and only go to a RIR = 0 sparingly. Most people tend to not use this approach on the primary large free weight compound exercises (ie, the squat, bench press, or deadlift) due to the significant fatigue that can build up from going very close to failure on these sets on a regular basis.
  • This approach makes more sense with supplemental compound exercises done early in a workout; if you use it with isolation exercises later in a workout your level of fatigue may vary based on what you have already done in your workout session and this can impact the total number of reps you can perform.

Who this is designed for:

• Anyone who wants to increase maximal strength can incorporate this approach.
• While you can get stronger without this approach, this will aid neuromuscular development and train the body to better handle heavier loads.

How to apply:

• For any given exercise include a heavier set of 1-5 reps and then keep the subsequent sets in the ≥6 rep range.
  • Of note there are other strategies to incorporate back-off sets as well.^{(Rodriguez, 2021)} It’s not clear how best to apply this strategy in general but it is commonly used in different manifestations.
• It is important to build up gradually to heavier weight with the top set over many sessions when doing this approach for the first time.
• You can do this every workout or once every 1-2 weeks to help track changes in maximal strength over time.

Example:

Let’s say you want to perform 3 sets for a given exercise. You will work up to heavier weight for the top set and then use the subsequent two sets as “back off” sets in the 8-12 rep range. You will initially take the RIR of each set to 2 and then work towards a RIR = 1 for the heavier set. If you perform 10 reps with 100 pounds and this yields an RIR = 2, I will notate this as “100*10 @ 2”.

• First workout:
  • 100*12 @ 2, 100*11 @ 2, 100*10 @ 2
• Second workout:
  • 110*9 @ 2, 100*12 @ 2, 100*10 @ 2
• Third workout:
  • 120*7 @ 2, 105*11 @ 2, 105*9 @ 2
• Fourth workout:
  • 130*5 @ 2, 105*12 @ 2, 105*10 @ 2
  • Now that you can only perform 5 reps with an RIR = 2 you will go up 5 pounds each workout.
• Fifth workout:
  • 135*5 @ 1-2, 110*11 @ 2, 110*9 @ 2
  • Here it’s unclear if you could have performed 1 or 2 additional reps.
• Sixth workout:
  • 140*5 @ 1, 110*12 @ 2, 110*10 @ 2
• Seventh workout:
  • 145*4 @ 1, 115*10 @ 2, 115*8 @ 2
• Eighth workout:
  • 150*4 @ 1, 115*11 @ 2, 115*9 @ 2
• Ninth workout:
  • 155*3 @ 1, 115*12 @ 2, 115*10 @ 2

At this point you have now reached a top set of 155 pounds for 3 reps to a RIR = 1. If you want to avoid failure then you should not increase the weight next session. Rather, it makes more sense to keep the weight the same and continue performing sets of 3 until you acquire enough strength to perform a set of 4 to a RIR = 1. You can then add 5 pounds or you can keep the weight the same until you get up to performing 5 reps with a RIR = 1 and then increase the weight at this point.

Exercise selection:

• This can be done with any exercise but is particularly well-suited for compound exercises.
• Going heavy on the isolation exercises will increase your strength with them but will not have the same benefits that going heavy on compound exercises offers. With the compound movements there is a greater element of keeping your entire body tight and bracing hard while learning to push yourself again weight that feels really heavy.
• Additionally, if you do isolation exercises after compound exercises you will have some level of fatigue and thus attempting to isolate and track pure strength changes is difficult.

Who this is designed for:

• Anyone can use this technique, though it makes more sense for intermediate and advanced lifters as beginners can make good progress with relatively little training volume.
• If you intend to perform circuit training this is not a good option as this requires you to complete one exercise from start to finish before proceeding with your workout.
• If you are short on time any given day this is a good option if you choose to perform a small handful of exercises in that session.

How to apply:

• There are multiple different ways to apply this method.
• Option 1:
  • Set a specific time limit for an exercise (ie, 5 minutes). Set a goal number of reps.
  • Perform as many reps as possible at a set resistance level within that time limit.
  • If you complete the goal number of reps, then for the next session either:
    • increase the goal number of reps
    • increase the resistance for the next session
    • decrease the total time limit (effectively decreasing the rest periods between sets)
  • In general you will want to perform sets to a RIR = ~2-3 within this time frame; this balances performing sufficient reps each set to get closer to your goal without going close enough to failure that you hinder the number of reps you can perform on subsequent sets.
• Option 2:
  • Set a specific time limit for an exercise and a specific number of reps per set. Set a goal number of sets.
  • Perform as many sets as possible with the predetermined number of reps in the time limit.
  • If you complete your goal number of sets, then for the next session either:
    • increase the resistance
    • increase the reps per set
    • decrease the time limit (effectively shortening the rest period between sets)
  • In general the early sets will be to a high RIR and the later sets will be closer to failure as you accumulate more fatigue.
• You can alternatively perform some permutation of the above options and variables.

Example:

Let’s say you want to perform density training for lat pulldowns. You will set a 5 minute time period with a goal of performing 50 reps with 70 pounds, similar to option 1 above. If you perform 10 reps of 70 pounds to a RIR = 3 I will notate this as “70*10 @ 3”. I am listing the time that each set takes but you do not need to record this; simply start a timer at the beginning and then see how many reps you have done when time is up.

• Set 1:
  • 70*12 @ 3 – this set takes 22 seconds
  • Rest 30 seconds.
• Set 2:
  • 70*10 @ 3 – this set takes 18 seconds
  • Rest 30 seconds.
• Set 3:
  • 70*8 @ 3 – this set takes 15 seconds
  • Rest 30 seconds.
• Set 4:
  • 70*6 @ 3 – this set takes 12 seconds
  • Rest 30 seconds.
• Set 5:
  • 70*5 @ 3 – this set takes 10 seconds
  • Rest 30 seconds.
• Set 6:
  • 70*4 @ 3 – this set takes 8 seconds
  • Rest 40 seconds.
• Set 7:
  • 70*6 @ 0 – this set takes 12 seconds

In this example you performed 51 reps in 4 minutes and 47 seconds. Next workout you can increase the weight, increase the rep goal, or decrease the rest period between sets.

Exercise selection:

• Large compound exercises with free weights may or may not be a good choice for this.
  • If you use relatively heavy weights such that you are not performing many reps this can be a good strategy.
  • On the other hand, if you use lighter weight and do lots of reps you may find yourself becoming cardiovascularly winded.
    • This can be ok if you can maintain good form and want to work on improving your conditioning.
    • On the other hand, if this leads to form breakdown, or if you realize that being winded rather than a lack of muscular strength is preventing you from completing additional reps, this may not be a great option.
• For the above reasons this may be better suited for exercises like push-ups, pull-ups and machine variations where balance is less important and there is less risk of form breakdown.

Who this is designed for:

• This is not going to be very helpful for beginners as the progression scheme is slower than necessary.
• On the other hand, for more advanced individuals or people who are having trouble finding ways to add weight or reps to sets on a fairly consistent basis, this is a good strategy to increase overall volume and may help break through a plateau.
• This works better for people who are doing a split routine of some sort as it can be hard to get up to using a high volume of sets with full body routines due to time constraints within a single workout.

How to apply:

• Start a program with relatively few sets per muscle group per week (ie, 6-10).
• Every 1-2 sessions or weeks add an additional 1-2 sets per muscle group.
• When the volume rises to the point that workouts take too long or you feel your ability to recover is negatively impacted, reset to a lower volume and increase the weight.
  • If you get to the point where you feel recovery has been negatively impacted you may be in a state of functional overreaching; at this point decreasing the volume serves as a deload and when you fully recover you may develop significant strength benefits.

Example:

I am not going to include a specific example as this is fairly self-explanatory. Just keep in mind that if at any point you can effectively increase the weight or reps for the first set without the RPE or RIR changing relative to your last session, that means you are doing sufficient volume to stimulate further progress. In this situation you do not need to further increase the volume as the current amount of volume you are performing is sufficient. If you reach a plateau where you do not make further progress for a couple of sessions in a row then you can further increase the volume (or reset the volume to a lower level if you feel you are accumulating too much fatigue and hindering recovery).

Exercise selection:

• This can theoretically be done with any exercise and any workout scheme.
• In general it makes more sense to track overall volume by muscle group rather than by exercise. For example, if you want to do this for the back & biceps, and you are doing both pull-ups and seated rows, you can add sets to both exercises at different points and count it as additional volume for the back and the biceps.

Who this is designed for:

• This is a reasonable strategy for non-beginners. Beginners will able to progress more quickly than this progression scheme allows.
• This is a good strategy if you have reached a plateau where it is difficult to add reps or weight to a specific exercise. Increasing training volume can prove very helpful in this situation.
• This works better for people who are doing a split routine of some sort as it can be hard to get up to using a high volume of sets with full body routines due to time constraints within a single workout.

How to apply:

• Start with a low number of sets per exercise (ie, 2 or 3).
• Option 1: each session increase the number of sets by 1 while keeping the weight and rep count the same.
  • After you get up to 4 or 5 sets, reset the volume to 2 or 3 sets and increase the weight.
  • While aiming for the same number of reps each set the RPE of each set is expected to increase and the RIR should gradually decrease.
    • If these do not change that means that the weight is too low or your goal reps is too low as the sets are not challenging enough for you.
    • If these change significantly (ie, set 1 your RIR = 4 and set 2 your RIR = 1) then you may need to rest more between sets.
• Option 2: each session increase the number of sets by 1 and keep the rep count the same while adjusting the weight so the RPE or RIR remains the same.
  • After you get up to 4 or 5 sets, reset the volume to 2 or 3 sets and increase the weight for the first set.
  • This takes some guesswork as you’ll have to assume how much to adjust the weight each set to stay at a similar RPE/RIR with the same rep count.
  • On the other hand, this is a good strategy to help you learn how much a preceding set will fatigue you for a subsequent set.

Example:

I am not going to include a specific example as this is fairly self-explanatory. However, you may find two different things occur with this method:

1. Similar to the “Volume ramping” approach above, if at any point you can effectively increase the weight or reps for the first set without the RPE or RIR changing relative to your last session, that means you are doing sufficient volume to stimulate further progress. You can still follow the progression as detailed here, but you may want to consider if previously you were doing insufficient volume. If so, then you can continue the current higher level of training volume until you reach another plateau and then alter your approach.
2. When you reach the highest level of volume you may induce a significant amount of fatigue. It is possible you will enter a state of functional overreaching. When you reset to a lower volume and increase the weight you will induce less fatigue and undergo greater recovery. Thus, the first workout with lower volume and heavier weight may not indicate significant progress (due to the previously accumulated fatigue) but the subsequent workout might after you have recovered well.

Exercise selection:

• This strategy is viable for any exercise.
• It makes more sense to do this with compound exercises than with isolation exercises as generally people are willing to spend more time on the larger compound exercises and would prefer not to add several sets to isolation exercises.
• If you do this for multiple compound exercises in the same session that work the same muscle groups, consider if the increased fatigue from increasing the sets with the first exercise will hinder your ability to productively increase the sets with the second exercise.
  • This will be evident if your strength significantly drops off from one set to the next even with sufficient rest time between sets.
  • If this occurs you may want to keep the volume for the second exercise lower while using this approach for the first exercise.

Who this is designed for:

• This is better suited for non-beginners as the inherent variability of these schemes adds more complexity than is necessary in the beginner stages.
  • If a beginner is working to establish consistency with assigning a specific RPE or RIR value to a given set, it is helpful to perform multiple similar sets (with similar numbers of reps) over successive workouts to better train themselves with using RPE/RIR. The extra variability with periodization makes this more difficult.
  • Most beginners will be able to engage in linear progression, which is simpler if you perform a similar number of sets and reps each workout and simply add weight as the primary changing variable.
• Depending on how you set up a periodization scheme it may be weeks between sessions where you do the same number of sets and reps; if so it may be challenging to be confident you are making progress on a daily or weekly time frame. If you feel you need more rapid feedback regarding how things are going then periodization strategies designed over longer time frames may not be a great option.

How to apply:

• Linear periodization:
  • In general start with fewer sets and higher rep ranges (ie, 3*12-15).
  • Then, each session, each week, or every 2 weeks, decrease the rep range and gradually increase the set count (ie, 3*12-15, 3*10-12, 4*8-10, 4*6-8).
  • Then start over with fewer sets and higher reps.
  • Alternatively, you can choose to keep the set count the same for all workouts and just vary the rep range.
• Reverse linear periodization:
  • This is the opposite of linear periodization.
  • The research overall finds this to be potentially inferior to linear periodization, in general I would favor a linear periodization approach over a reverse linear periodization approach.
• Block periodization:
  • As discussed previously this generally refers to altering program structure over longer time periods to train different fitness attributes. Thus, this does not refer to one specific program. Rather, it refers to several successive programs designed to train different aspects of your fitness.
• Undulating periodization:
  • You can set this up in many different ways by altering the set and rep count in consecutive training sessions.
  • When first doing this it will likely be beneficial to repeat sessions at least every 2 weeks so you can ensure you are making progress. For example, if you do squats on Monday and leg press on Thursday, you can do:
    • week 1:
      • Monday: squats 3*10-12
      • Thursday: leg press 3*12-15
    • week 2:
      • Monday: squats 3*6-8
      • Thursday: leg press 3*8-10
    • week 3:
      • repeat week 1
  • This way you  will be assured you are making progress if you can increase the weight on week 3 while performing the same number of reps with each set taken to the same RPE/RIR as week 1.
  • You can alter this basic structure in many different ways, but try to ensure you build in some method to objectively track progress over time. If you do different set & rep ranges every workout for 1 month it may be difficult to know if this is actually benefiting you.

Example:

I have included this table previously and am placing it here again to illustrate each of these better.

Of note, periodization can be combined with other progression approaches discussed in this section. For example, the “Linear progression” approach essentially incorporates linear periodization if you decrease the rep range when you reach a plateau. You can easily incorporate variable rep ranges with the other approaches as well.

Exercise selection:

• In theory periodization can be used with any exercise but in general it is more frequently used with compound exercises.
• You can use this with isolation exercises, but as these movements are generally done with moderate or higher rep ranges there is less utility in incorporating lower rep ranges with a periodization approach.

Who this is designed for:

• This is not ideal for individuals looking to maximize strength as Lesson 5 showed that rest periods of at least 120 seconds (and possibly longer for heavier free weight compound exercises) are beneficial for maximum strength gains.
• This is a good strategy for people looking to improve overall conditioning and work capacity, as well as for people looking to shorten the time of their overall workouts.
• If you intend to perform exercises in circuits this method is not feasible since you are not doing two sets in a row of the same exercise.

How to apply:

• Pick a certain length of time to rest between sets, such as 120 seconds.
• Decrease the rest period between sets in successive workouts. For example, go from 120 seconds to 105 seconds, then 90, then 75, then 60 seconds.
  • You may find different exercises lend themselves to more effectively be trained with different rest periods. In general longer rest periods will be needed for exercises using larger amounts of total muscle.
• When you get to the lower rest periods limit that you set for yourself, start over with the longer rest periods but use more weight or aim for more reps.
• Alternatively, when you are using shorter rest periods you can keep them short if you want your workouts to be shorter. In this situation the gradual decrease in rest times proves helpful for improving overall conditioning to allow you to perform quicker workouts.

Example:

I am not including a specific example as this is illustrated well in the “How to apply” section above.

Exercise selection:

• This works well for exercises where you are attempting to improve your ability to do many reps at once. For example, this is a fairly common strategy for improving at push-ups and pull-ups.
• This is likely not a good strategy for the heavier free weight compound movements as decreasing rest times will lead to your cardiovascular system becoming more taxed, and when you are short of breath it is harder to maintain good technique with these exercises.

Who this is designed for:

• Anybody can use this strategy effectively. When purposefully performing reps slowly these are frequently referred to as “tempo reps”.
• Lesson 5 showed that a controlled eccentric phase over 1-2 seconds and a concentric phase done as quickly as possible with the weight under control is likely ideal for improving a combination of hypertrophy, strength, and power.
• However, you can purposely slow down the eccentric or concentric phase to help monitor your technique throughout the movement, identify weaknesses, for some exercises to better work the muscles through the full range of motion, and at times to make the exercise harder when it would otherwise be difficult to increase the resistance..
  • For example, if you descend slowly in a squat you may better identify if you are maintaining weight evenly throughout your feet and/or if you are experiencing buttwink (posterior pelvic tilt) at the bottom of the movement. If you ascend slowly in the squat you’ll be able to more easily track your torso angle and ensure your hips do not shoot up faster than the barbell (or other weight implement) itself.
  • As another example, if you do a pull-up (which has a negative strength curve) as quickly as possible the momentum from the beginning portion of the rep may carry you up to the top portion to a degree and take some of the resistance off of your muscles as you ascend near the top. Purposefully doing the concentric phase slowly will allow you to better feel the muscles working through their full range of motion.
  • As a third example, when performing a rowing movement some people subconsciously extend their lower back at the beginning of the movement to help generate momentum; by doing the concentric phase slowly it will be easier to prevent this from happening if this is a concern.
  • Lastly, for an exercise like lateral raises where it is very difficult to increase the weight on a regular basis, you can make the repetitions harder by prolonging the concentric or eccentric phase for each rep. In this way you can effectively increase the difficulty and make continued progress while keeping the weight the same.

How to apply:

• When performing this for technique development and weakness identification:
  • Instead of using a rep tempo such as 2/1/x/0 (which would be a 2 second eccentric phase, a 1 second pause, perform the concentric phase as fast as possible, and then immediately start the next rep), you would use a tempo such as 5/1/3/1.
  • You can do this every rep of a set or just for the first 1-2 reps.
  • If at any point you feel your form is breaking down then you should adjust your form accordingly for the remainder of the set.
    • For example, if your hips go up too quickly as you ascend in the squat then you can consciously keep your torso angle consistent at the beginning of the concentric phase with the tempo rep.
    • If you cannot correct your form with this weight but you can with a lighter weight then this means you have identified a weakness and this weight is too heavy for tempo work.
  • Over time if you are doing this to work on technique you can slowly decrease the length of the tempo reps while you are able to maintain good form.
• When performing this to make the exercise harder:
  • In this case a shorter tempo such as 3/0/2/0 may be more appropriate.
  • With the longer eccentric phase your muscles are more actively contributing to the eccentric portion of the lift (as opposed to just lightly resisting the weight while gravity brings it downward).
  • With the longer concentric phase you are removing any aspects of momentum that would assist your muscles in the latter portion of the lift.

Example:

I am not including a specific example as this is illustrated well in the “How to apply” section.

Exercise selection:

• This can be done with any exercise for technique development purposes as well as weakness identification.
• If doing this to make reps harder this can still be done with any exercise but is particularly well suited for the lighter exercises that target smaller muscle groups where it is difficult to make incremental increases in resistance. This would be one way to make progress over time without using such high weight that your form has to suffer to complete the lift.

Who this is designed for:

• This method has only recently been described, with only one research group evaluating it thus far.^{(Duchateau, 2021)}
• Additionally, it is not frequently used due to its novelty, so it is difficult to characterize its quality well.
• For this reason, I cannot state confidently if anyone should use this method regularly.
• Nonetheless, the above research group’s findings are encouraging, and due to the unique and very quick nature of protocol I do believe it would be worthwhile to consider for anyone in a time crunch.

How to apply:

• Take 70% of your 1 rep maximum.
• Perform a set of 3 reps, then 4 reps, then 5 reps, then 6 reps, and lastly with 7 reps, all with 15 seconds of rest between each set.
• The idea is that the initial reps will be very fast and aid force/power development while by the end of the protocol the last 2 sets will be close to failure due to the accumulated fatigue, thus better stimulating hypertrophy.

Example:

I am not including a specific example as this is illustrated well in the “How to apply” section.

Exercise selection:

• In theory this can be used for any exercise.
• Given the last 1-2 sets will be very close to or at failure, this can potentially induce a significant amount of fatigue and pose a safety risk for exercises such as squats where going to failure regularly may not be safe.
• Additionally, for the larger compound exercises it is possible that cardiovascular conditioning may become a hindering factor by the end rather than muscular failure. If this is the case this may be a good protocol to work on conditioning but may not yield the muscular benefits that are desired.

Of note, there is not much research evaluating any of these approaches or other specialized techniqes, and it is not clear if there is any merit to using these beyond simply increasing training volume.^{(Schoenfeld, 2018; Angleri, 2020; Kassiano, 2021)} Drop sets are used fairly commonly, rest-pause and myo-reps (explained in detail here) are used for various purposes. Most people do not use the terms “rest-pause” and “myo-reps” as they were initially intended to be used. I will explain them here and then make it clear when I think they can be useful.

Who this is designed for:

• People of any training level can use drop sets and myo-reps though beginners will not need them.
• Rest-pause involves going to failure repeatedly so I strongly recommend this only be used by more advanced lifters with several years of experience who can maintain proficient technique when doing this and gauge their recovery abilities well.
  • In fact, the only reason I am including this in this course is because a lot of people claim to be doing rest-pause sets when in reality they are not using the term the way the method was initially described.
• These approaches are better suited for individuals who are either short on time or want to devote relatively little time to certain body parts or movements.

How to apply:

• Drop sets:
  • I introduced this idea in Lesson 4.
  • Finish a set and then immediately lower the weight and perform additional reps.
  • If you want to do this I advise lowering the weight ~20% with each drop (this is variable).
  • Typically people will perform 1 or 2 drops, essentially making 2 or 3 mini-sets in 1 full set.
• Rest-pause reps:
  • Do not do this unless you have several years of experience.
  • Here you pick a weight that is relatively heavy (ie, a 7-10 rep max).
  • Take the set to the point of technical failure.
  • Take 10-15 deep breaths.
  • Perform an additional 2-4 reps to technical failure.
  • Take 10-15 deep breaths.
  • Perform a final 1-3 reps to technical failure.
• Myo-reps:
  • This can be considered a variation of rest-pause reps.
  • The individual who created this technique recommended using 30% of your 1 rep max if you are a beginner, 40% if you are intermediate, and 50% if you are advanced.
  • Reps should NOT be performed with a full range of motion, rather you should utilize the middle 80% of the range of motion without locking out your limbs.
    • The purpose of this is to mimic blood flow occlusion training, which I will briefly touch on in Lesson 15. I am not discussing this in depth as it is not yet fully proven to be safe and otherwise has rather specific applications (ie, injury recovery). Thus, I am skeptical of the risk-reward ratio with blood flow occlusion training. Additionally, I am more skeptical that avoiding lockout will mimic it.
  • Perform a set until the rep speed slows significantly, typically to a RIR = 1-2, and then re-rack the weight. This is called the “activation set”.
  • Take 3-5 deep breaths. Then perform a mini-set of 3-5 reps close to failure. Then take 3-5 deep breaths and repeat another mini-set of 3-5 reps. Repeat this process until:
    • you either perform 5 min-sets with the same number of reps in each set
    • you perform a mini-set with fewer reps than the prior mini-set
    • examples:
      • 20+3+3+3+3+3 – stop here as you have done 5 mini-sets
      • 20+4+4+3 – stop here as the rep count has dropped off with the final mini-set

Example:

• Drop sets:
  • If your 10 rep max on the machine chest press is 100 pounds:
    • Start with 100 for a set to a RIR = 1-3 (so 7-9 reps)
    • Then immediately after this perform a set with 80 pounds to a RIR = 1-2 (you may reach 2-5 reps or so depending on how close to failure the first set went)
    • Stop here or perform a final mini set of 60 pounds to a RIR = 0-2.
  • You do not need to go to failure on any mini-set but you can on the final mini-set if you can do so safely.
• Rest-pause reps:
  • I do not recommend this for beginners or early intermediate lifters and thus I am not providing a relevant example.
• Myo-reps:
  • Rather than determining your 1 rep max, you can simply pick a weight where you think you can perform 15-20 reps.
  • You can then follow the protocol as written above.
  • I am rather skeptical that only using 80% of the range of motion will significantly mimic blood flow occlusion training given you are supposed to unload the weight between each mini set. Thus, I think it is fine to use a full range of motion on each rep.

Exercise selection:

• These are best suited for the isolation movements or the machine movements where it is easy to change weight quickly (for drop sets) and where increased cardiovascular fatigue is unlikely to hinder form.
• Additionally, if developing maximum strength is a goal then using a strategy with lower rep sets is worthwhile.
  • With drop sets you can start with heavier weight and then do multiple drops.
  • With myo-reps your sets will use relatively light weights and this will likely not be a good strategy to employ on a regular basis to increase maximal strength.
• As an example, I would not use these approaches for squats as it is more difficult to remain technically proficient when you are out of breath and most people use squats as a general strength-building exercise with heavier weight.
  • Having said that, if you are experienced enough that you believe you can maintain technical proficiency while doing these with squats then you can do these if desired.
• If you start to use these I would initially avoid failure on all mini-sets. See how sore these techniques make you and how you recover from them prior to increasing the intensity by taking any of the mini-sets to failure.

The research overall on cluster sets is somewhat equivocal at this point; there is no clear advantage over traditional training strategies.^{(Davies, 2021; Jukic, 2021)} Additionally, most methods of using these take longer than traditional training protocols. However, less fatigue and sensation of effort is developed when using these methods, and thus theoretically they may be helpful in elderly and clinical populations (ie, rehabilitation settings).^{(Latella, 2021)}

Given the equivalent results, I will simply describe how these can be incorporated as I do not suggest directly utilizing these methods considering the increased time requirement. Nonetheless, if these options are appealing for any reason you can use them successfully.

Traditional sets:

• A traditional protocol may include a 12 rep set followed by 120 seconds of rest and then a second 12 rep set.

Cluster sets with inter-set rest:

• A cluster set variation of the traditional protocol above may include a 4 rep set followed by 15-45 seconds of rest, then another 4 rep set followed by 15-45 seconds of rest, and then a third 4 rep set.
• This is followed by 120 seconds of rest.
• Then the first cluster set is repeated.
• In general the higher the relative load of the lift the longer you will want to rest.

Cluster sets with inter-rep rest:

• Perform 1 rep at a time and rest 6-20 seconds between reps.
• In general the higher the relative load of the lift the longer you will want to rest.

Equal work-to-rest ratio cluster sets:

• Here you consider the traditional set protocol, take the total planned rest time, and divide it by (total number of reps – 1). Thus, in the above example, 120/(24-1) = 5.2
• You then perform 1 rep at a time and rest 5.2 seconds between each rep. You can continue this to failure or stop short of failure.

Rest redistribution cluster sets:

• Here you take the planned rest time and redistribute it amongst the reps such that the total training time does not increase. This is the only method where the time of the cluster set is not lengthened relative to the traditional sets.
• In the above example, instead of doing 12 reps in 2 sets separated by 120 seconds, you can do 4 reps in 6 sets separated by 24 seconds. The total length of time is equivalent.

Again, at this point the evidence indicates these cluster set variations are not more effective than traditional sets. They may still be useful for people who are not able to tolerate traditional sets, and there could be specific applications for them that have not yet been found effective in studies. If you would like to experiment with these then feel free to do so, but consider incorporating traditional sets occasionally as a bench mark to ensure you are making progress. In theory cluster sets can be done with any exercise.