October 1, 2009

Denis Pedneault’s 3x9 – A Simple Yet Effective Routine for Gaining Muscle Quickly

Some people think that women shouldn’t train with weights the way men do – that there should be girl training or some such thing. Don’t tell that to Denis Pedneault, who’s not only one of Canada’s best all-natural bodybuilders ever (he’s a three-time Canadian champion and is ranked among the top ten in the world), but one of the country’s best trainers as well. The routines he prescribes for women are the same ones he uses on men – and himself!

Denis is not your average personal trainer. His educational background is in kinesiology, and, in addition to offering personal-training services, he works as a rehabilitation therapist and teaches exercise prescription at his local university. If that’s not enough, he’s an expert on posture too. If you look at the way he stands, you’ll see he holds himself picture perfect. Denis is a guy who is educated and experienced, and he practices everything he preaches. He also thinks far outside the box and has developed exercises as well as workout routines for men and women that are vastly superior to those taught by most trainers today.

It’s for all these reasons that we recruited Denis to be a part of our team and help with training Natalie Waples, the well-known figure star whom we sponsor and I personally coach. We brought in Denis to offer new ideas to improve her physique so that when she competes again, she’ll be in her best shape ever. Denis met with Natalie, assessed her condition thoroughly, and then mapped out a complete exercise program that he felt would do the trick.

The program Denis created detailed the exercises he wanted her to perform along with specific set and rep schemes. In fact, it’s almost identical to the program he uses himself to compete on the national and international stage. According to Denis, there’s little to differentiate the type of training that he or Natalie should do. The goals are similar, as are the methods employed to get there.

Denis is very particular about how each exercise must should be performed. Here he instructs Natalie Waples before the beginning of her first set of lying dumbbell rows.

A key component of the first part of her program centered around Denis’s 3x9 routine – a simple, efficient set-and-rep scheme that Denis uses as the foundation for his own training when he wants to build muscle. The 3 refers to the number of working sets done (we always started with a warm-up beforehand), the 9 refers to the number of reps per set. With this method, he only recommends one exercise per body part for optimal results.

To some, 3 sets won’t seem like much – or enough. Open any print magazine and you’ll see routines with numerous exercises and 10, 20, even 30 sets per body part. The problem with those lengthy routines is that they usually lead to overtraining. Some people might be able to do them and progress, but most people will end up taxing their systems too hard and regress. Denis would rather have the person do fewer sets, but have them perform them very well. These 3 sets, done properly, are enough to induce muscle growth with no risk of overtraining.

The 3x9 is similar to Vince Gironda’s 3x8 routine that I’ve written about before but with Denis’s own twist. (Gironda was a legendary trainer from the ‘50s through to the ‘90s who invented many of the training principles that people today take for granted.) Whereas Gironda’s routine had the person increase the weight with each set (50% of an 8-rep maximum of the first set, 75% for the second, 100% for the third), Denis starts out with a 9-rep maximum weight (after warm-up) and maintains the same weight throughout each set afterwards. Therefore, as the sets increase, so, too, does the effort.

The rest between sets is about 1-2 minutes – enough to feel fully recovered so you’re not out of breath before you start the next set. The idea is to get the most out of each of the three sets with perfect form without the use of forced reps.

If the trainer has picked out the proper weight to use (important!), each set should be done with this kind of effort (remember: after warm-up!):

• Set 1: The 9 reps should be difficult to do, with the 9th rep being the last one possible without assistance or cheating to perform the next one.
• Set 2: The 9 reps should be extremely difficult to do; in fact, the person might be unable to finish them. If that happens, the person can stop midway and "rack" the weight, rest for a few seconds, and then carry on until 9 reps are completed.
• Set 3: The 9 reps should be impossible to do; instead, on this set, you strive for as many reps as possible and work toward the goal of reaching 9 reps with each successive workout. At first, you might only get 6 or 7 reps.

Obviously, it’s important to put full effort into all three sets. The first set will be difficult but manageable, but the next two should be extremely hard, since you likely won’t be able to finish in one shot. But that’s not enough – it’s important to use progressive resistance with this kind of routine. In other words, every so often you have to increase the weights you’re lifting, but without sacrificing form. If you don’t increase the weights, you’re not likely to improve.

Denis ensures that the exercise is performed precisely so that the targeted muscles are worked effectively. Denis always emphasizes exercise quality of quantity, which allows him to keep workouts brief.

The way to gauge whether you move ahead with the weight is to assess the performance on the second and third sets. If you can do 9 reps on the second set without stopping, and you’re reaching 8 or 9 reps on the last set, then it’s time to increase the weight for the next training session. A training journal is a good way to keep track.

What I like about Denis is that he’s not afraid to go against the norm, just like Vince Gironda did decades ago. Both guys think far outside the box and aren’t afraid to challenge conventional wisdom. Their proof is in the result.

This 3x9 routine might seem so simple to some that they’ll assume that it can’t work. From our experience, it does. After one month on this routine, Natalie was stronger, her muscles were fuller, and she was fully recovered and ready to move to the next step of training Denis had planned. We’ll be publishing many more articles about Denis Pedneault and the unique training routines and exercises he’s developed in the coming months.

. . . Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com

Denis Pedneault is located in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. You can contact Denis by e-mail to denis@seriousaboutfitness.com.