6

5 Little Used But Effective Set & Rep Schemes You Should Try

I’m a big fan of old school bodybuilding. Reg Park, Vince Gironda, Chuck Sipes, and the like. I’m a fan of their development, their strength, as well as their training routines. Back in the day (before steroids became mandatory, not that all those I just mentioned were natural) training was much different then it is now. Steroids, supplements, and the industry have played a large role in this as well as everyone wanting to be different then those who came before even if what came before worked.

While steroids have always been part of the sport of bodybuilding the further you go back the more natural you are going to get. I’m not here to make value judgement on steroids but rather to find out the best training methods for natural trainees as that is what most people are (plus steroids are expensive). So the more you go back the more likely you are to discover routines that are more fitted to the natural trainee. Hence the template I laid out for the natural trainee was inspired by Reg Park’s famous 5 x 5 system. So when your typical 3-5 x 6-15 get’s boring and you need a change consider checking out these little used (but effective) rep routines.

Scheme #1 – 10 x 10

Typically called German Volume Training but it can be used other ways as well. Obviously your 10 x 10 is going to be something that you do from time to time and not something you stay on regularly it’s too high volume. However for a short six week workout scheme it can do wonders to bring up lagging body parts or add overall mass to your frame. Because of the high volume this is going to be a hypertrophy focused scheme. You’re not going to develop strength on it, I’ll say that much.

You can do something like the German Volume Training routine or you can do what I do with this method. I simply take an exercise. Let’s say DB presses because developing your shoulders is always important. And after my basic routine of whatever I’m during I’ll do 10 x 10 of light dumbbell presses. This floods blood to the area, burns from lactic acid, gives them plenty of time under tension, and is done with a light enough weight to not destroy my shoulders for whatever the next day holds. A great mass builder for a body part you want to build up.

Scheme #2 – 10 x 3

While we’re at ten sets I want to talk about one of my favorite rep schemes and that is the 10 x 3 set/rep scheme. That’s 10 sets of 3 reps. I can’t remember where I first heard about this it was either Chad Waterbury or Jamie of Chaos & Pain (a great site but NSFW!). Regardless this gives you a good mix of both volume and heavy weight. Making it a jack of all trades in some ways but in this case that is actually an asset. It won’t maximize your strength development, your hypertrophy, or your fat loss but what it does do is give you a good mix of all three.

The 10 x 3 set and rep scheme is a good standby that you can use pretty much forever. I’ll often do this for my main lifts such as squats, deads, and pressing then do higher rep stuff for my other accessory lifts. Again this set and rep scheme can be a mainstay and an effective one at that. It can be a bit tiring at first but your body will quickly adjust to it after a week or two. I much prefer it over other more traditional rep schemes for main lifts, even more than the 5 x 5 scheme (which is still great for strength development and decent size with the right diet).

Scheme #3 – 8 x 8

This was as far as I can tell pioneered by Vince Gironda and the one that he is known for. Just like Reg Park is known for his 5 x 5. Obviously every lifter has used multiple rep schemes in their lifetime but it’s good to recognize the ones they popularized as they obviously popularized them for a reason. Anyways the 8 x 8 set and rep scheme is great for overall size and physique development as well as fat loss if you do it like Gironda did and make your training denser and denser (less rest and time between sets) every time.

If you’re looking to look good for the beach then you can do far worse then an 8 x 8 routine. For pure physique development it’s hard to beat 8 x 8. Though if you’re looking to develop strength in the process then you’ll want to include something else. It’s better for strength then 10 x 10 but it’s still not strength builder. However when warm weather is approaching I always break out an 8 x 8 routine that I do for some time preparing for the shirtless days (and nights) that come with the warm weather.

Scheme #4 – 15 x 4

A bit similar to the 10 x 3 albeit with more volume. This was also used by Gironda and is a bit of a contrast compared to his much more popular 8 x 8 routine. This one has more of a strength focused while still having enough volume for hypertrophy. This is great for building dense muscle and overall development. I have swapped this out with my 10 x 3 from time to time to get in some more volume and push myself a little harder. You have to eat big on this and my money hasn’t always allowed me to do this in the past (reason #300,456,201 while getting your money right is so important and affects literally every aspect of your life in a positive way).

However if you can keep it up then the rewards are big. A lot of volume and a lot of heavy weight will transfer to some impressive dense muscle if you can feed the machine. So not something I’d do if you’re on a shoe string budget when it comes to food. However it can be done for concentrated periods of time when you divert more money to food and recovery. Say a period of six weeks or so when you’re really looking to put on some dense muscle and some strength in the process.

Scheme #5 – 6 x 6

Another scheme used by Gironda from time to time. I’m a fan of 6 x 6 and have done entire workouts consisting of nothing but 6 x 6. It’s another one of those middle of the road schemes though with more of a focus on hypertrophy. Great for beginners as well as those who have been in the game for awhile. Provides adequate volume, strength development, as well as fat loss if you don’t take many breaks. It’s one of those that you can use as a mainstay and I have frequently. As a matter of fact a workout that I’ve been using often is doing 10 x 3 for the main lift and then 6 x 6 for the assistant lifts.

6 x 6 can be used for the main lifts as well with good effect. Overall it’s a good set and rep scheme. It’s not going to get you crazy strong, or crazy ripped, or crazy big in a short amount of time but it does a good job of lifting up all three at a decent rate. Like I said a good mainstay but not something I’d use for specialization. Try it out and see how it works for you I’ve seen much better results then I have with 3 x 10-12 but that’s me you have to see what works for you. Much better results as in doing more for my overall strength and size development.

Bonus – 20 Rep Squats

Alright so here’s a bonus. The old school 20 rep squat routine. This is purely to gain size. If you need to beef up for football or just need to beef up in general then this should be your go to routine. This was first introduced by John McCallum (who has some great books on lifting) back in the 60’s. It’s generally done with GOMAD (gallon of milk a day) but as long as you’re getting in sufficient calories and protein you should be good. Alright this is one where you have to eat like a monster for it to be effective. You’ll just be killing yourself otherwise.

It’s done for six weeks and six weeks alone. While there are many variations what they all have in common is that three times per week at the start of your workout you are going to do doing a set of 20 rep squats with the goal of increasing each day by 5 lbs. You are most likely going to be doing “breathing squats” where you have to rest for a couple of seconds at the top of the movement before going back down. These are brutal but damn are they effective. If you need size and need size fast then give this a try.

Alright that’s all I have for now. Test these out and throw some into your routine and see how they work for you.

If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it.

-Charles Sledge

Charles Sledge

6 Comments

  1. The book Super Squats which this is based on had an amazing
    affect on me I gain almost 30 lbs in 30 days! I was going for
    size and strength finishing off with 300 lb squats for 20 reps
    and dead lifting 365 lbs for 1X 20 was great for size and strength
    along with drinking a gallon of whole milk a day got massive fast.

    Most of my heavy training was 5X5 or 5X3 nothing more than
    6 reps but my body has paid for that heavy lifting.

    • Depends on which one you’re using. As short as possible. I always aim for training density. Trying to get more work done in less amount of time. Really depends on your work capacity.

Comments are closed.