| Detail October 1, 2003
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Chantal Dicaire proves
that with an effective training program, natural competitors can pack on a significant
amount of muscle size.
(photo September 2003 by Doug Schneider) |
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8 Sets of 8 Reps: The Ultimate
Muscle-Building Routine?
Warning: This is an intense training program for an
advanced competitor. Before undertaking any exercise program like this one, please consult
your physician.
The way some hotshot trainers talk today, you’d swear
that they had invented the concept of lifting weights. You should see what some will try
to pass off as their own ideas, not to mention the supposed "secrets" that they
possess and will only disclose to their paying clients.
The fact is, in most cases nothing is further from the
truth, and most of the "new and amazing" concepts some of these trainers come
up, if they are so amazing at all, have really been with us for years -- decades, in a lot
of cases. You’d be amazed at what you can dig up in the old books and magazines.
I was not surprised, then, when I heard someone say that
their trainer was promoting a routine that involved picking a single exercise for a muscle
and then, using a fixed amount of weight, performing eight sets of eight reps with only
minimal rest between sets. This person had no idea that the late Vince Gironda, one of the
greatest bodybuilding trainers of all time, had been promoting that type of routine for
decades.
But I don’t think that Vince even invented the "8
of 8" routine, as some call it, nor have I found anywhere he claimed to have done so.
The only thing I’ve ever heard or read from Vince was that it was one of his favorite
routines, giving the trainee what he called an "honest workout."
Vince wasn’t the only proponent of this type of
training. In the 1970s, the German weightlifting team reportedly popularized a similar
workout method, except that it involved ten sets of ten reps. That routine was dubbed
German Volume Training, and like Gironda, nowhere does it seem that the Germans claimed to
have invented the set-and-rep scheme, either. They just used it, with supposedly
wildly successful results.
After doing quite a lot of research, I never found out who
actually invented this training method, but what I do know is that it wasn’t one of
the trainers from around my city.
The amazing thing about this simple routine is how
effective it can be. Vince Gironda wrote in his outstanding book, The Wild Physique,
"I come back to this high-intensity ‘honest workout’ more often than any
other for maximizing muscle-fibre growth in the quickest possible time for the advanced
bodybuilder." Other coaches obviously use it, too. I searched the Internet and found
numerous articles on German Volume Training by strength-coach Charles Poliquin. About it
he says, "There is, however, one training system that stands above all the rest. It's
brutally hard, but I've found it to be a very effective way to pack on muscle fast! …
Gains of ten pounds or more in six weeks are not uncommon, even in experienced
lifters!"
Simple, but seemingly effective, and for the natural
trainer this routine is indispensable. Vince Gironda was a staunch advocate of natural
physique building, abhorring steroids or pharmaceutically-induced muscle gains of any
type. This routine is effective for the natural trainer because it is intense but brief,
allowing ample recovery time. Here is what it’s about.
Whether you do "10 of 10" or "8 of 8,"
the concept is the same:
- One exercise is chosen per body part, and it’s usually
an exercise that will involve the entire muscle. For chest it will be something like flies
or presses using free weights; for biceps it will be some kind of curl, most likely with a
barbell; and for legs it will be something like barbell squats or leg presses with a
machine. In a nutshell: big exercises that hit the whole muscle.
- The exercise is performed with good form, and is done only
with the strength of the person doing the lifting -- there are no forced or assisted reps,
and there should be no cheating!
The two toughest things with "8 of 8" or "10
of 10" are: 1) actually completing all the sets and reps under your own steam, and 2)
picking the correct weight that will allow you to do just that, but also tax the muscle
sufficiently.
The routine will take some experimentation to get it right,
but there are some guidelines for when you are starting out. Poliquin writes that 60% of a
person’s one-rep maximum is about the correct amount of weight for ten sets of ten
reps, so if you can lift 100 pounds in a certain exercise for one rep that means you would
pick 60 pounds as your working weight for this routine. It may not be a perfect start, but
at least it will give you an idea of what to try the first time. Obviously, with an
eight-sets-of-eight-reps routine the weight will be a touch heavier. But be careful:
Don’t make any judgments about the weight you’re using in the first couple of
sets -- you’ll be surprised how even a modest amount of weight can feel
extraordinarily heavy after eight or ten sets. If, at the end, the weight you’re
using is too light, make it a little heavier next time, and vice versa if it’s too
heavy. (Be very careful if the weight is too heavy, though. Don’t strain and possibly
injure yourself just to try to finish if you really can’t. Always use common sense
and train safely.)
Remember, with "8 of 8" or "10 of 10"
there should be no cheating and there are absolutely no forced reps. At the end you should
feel that you thoroughly exhausted the muscle, but you should be able to complete all the
sets and reps fully.
The main discrepancy between what Poliquin writes about
German Volume Training and what Gironda writes about his "8 Sets of 8 Reps"
section in The Wild Physique is the rest interval between sets -- and this is
crucial to the success of the routine. Both agree that interval must not vary (i.e.,
it must be identical between each set), but Poliquin indicates about 60 seconds between
sets, with Gironda saying just 15-20 seconds -- a big difference! I’ve done this
routine and can attest to the fact that 60 seconds is more than enough, and 15-20 seconds
is downright brutal -- but it can be accomplished, and you get things over faster. As with
anything, a little experimentation may be necessary to see exactly how you’ll take to
it.
Once you’ve finished, then the obvious question is:
How long until you work that muscle again? Gironda is pretty specific, saying 72 hours (3
days) should be sufficient providing you haven’t overtrained yourself. That seems
reasonable.
How long you do this routine is up to you. Mind you, most
experts, including Gironda, will say you can’t do the same routine forever -- it
becomes ineffective, not to mention boring. Given that people report great results within
weeks on this program, it means that you might want to cycle this routine in and out of
your regular training regime every so often when you want to push for new growth.
That seems to be how Vince used it.
There you have it, the lowdown on what is reportedly one of
the most efficient and effective ways to put muscle on your physique -- and one of the
oldest, too. So if you start doing "8 of 8" or "10 of 10" in your gym,
and you begin packing on muscle, some of the local trainers who have not seen this routine
might pick up on it and begin using it. You’ll be teaching new dogs old tricks,
but just make sure that after they learn it they don’t try to pass it off as their
own.
...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com |
