I am often asked that even though I train people so many different ways I must have a favorite way to train. And I tell them that I do have a favorite way to train myself, but not a favorite way to train everyone because everyone is quite different and there truly is no “one size fits all” when it comes to training protocols, since what may be absolute magic for one guy, will be the worst possible option for another. That said I do have 5 different formats (and sub routines within them all) that fit an extremely large percentage of the lifters out there. Here they are if anyone is interested.
HARDGAINER/LOW VOLUME, LOW FREQUENCY ROUTINE
This format is one that after everyone reads the routines, not one in 20 will pick this one, and the truth is, about 5-8 out of the 20 will do better on this one than any of the others. Why will no one pick it? It’s not “flashy” it doesn’t have a fancy name, nor will most guys ever believe it could be “enough” work after reading “Flex” and the like seeing the “routines of the pro’s”. Well the truth is those damn routines of the “pro’s” work for a select few and most guys reading this are not likely to one of those guys.
Day One:
Dips or Bench Press 2 x 6-8
Incline Press, or incline Fly 2 x 10-12
Military Press, Or Hammer Shoulder Press 2 x 6-8
Tricep (skull crushers) Extensions or Tricep Pushdowns 2 x 10-12
Heavy Abs 3 x 10
Day Two:
Pull-Up 3 sets to failure
Barbell Row 2 x 8
EZ-Bar Or Dumbell Curl 1 x 10
Squats 2 x 10
Deadlifts, or Stiff-Legged Deadlift 1 x 10
Sub-Routine:
Here is another Hardgainer Style Routine done three days a week. TRUE hardgainers will do MUCH better on the two-day, as will many lifters with fairly good recovery.
Day One:
Dips or Bench Press 2 x 6-8
Incline Press, or incline Fly 2 x 10-12
Military Press, Or Hammer Shoulder Press 2 x 6-8
Tricep (skull crushers) Extensions or Tricep Pushdowns 2 x 10-12
Day Two:
Pull-Up 3 sets to failure
Barbell Row 2 x 8
EZ-Bar Or Dumbell Curl 1 x 10
Heavy Abs 3 x 10
Day Three
Squats 2 x 10
Deadlifts, or Stiff-Legged Deadlift 1 x 10
Pull-Troughs, Glute/Ham Raises, or Reverse Hypers
ROTATING LOW/MID VOLUME ROUTINE
Here is a routine that most anyone can pull off except for real hardgainers, that rotates every week. This allows more lifts to hit, allowing less monotony, and longer progress before a wall is hit from recruitment pattern burnout. You can also add a 3rd rotation of lifts if you like. This is an extremely solid way to train and is effective for a large variety of lifters. Again, many variations of this basic format are possible, and used dependent on the individual trainee.
Day one, week one
Dips 3 x 10
Incline Bench Press 3 x 6
Lateral Raise 4 x 10
Laying Tricep Extensions 3 x 8-10
Day two, week one
Wide Grip Pull-Down/Up 3 x 8
Chest Supported Row, or Barbell Row 3 x 8-10
Barbell Curl 3 x 10
Resistance Abs 3 x 10
Day three, week one
Squat 3 x 6-10
Leg Press 2 x 15
Good-Morning or Stiff-Legged Deadlift 2 x 8
Calf Raise RP 2 x 15/30
Day one, week two
Bench Press 3 x 6-10
Incline DB Press 2 x 10-12
Military Press 3 x 10
Tricep Pus-Downs 3 x 8-10
Day two, week two
Supinated Grip Pull-Down/Up 4 x 8
Dumbbell Row 3 x 10
Dumbbell Curl 3 x 8
Reverse Curl 2 x 10
Hanging Leg Raises
Day three, week two
Deadlift 1 x 8
Safety Squat, or hack squat, 2 x 6-10
Glute/Ham Raise 3 x 8
Leg Press Calf Raise
DC (Dogg Crap, AKA Dante) Training
You would have to be hiding under a rock to not know about Dogg’s training system. Here are a few reasons why it is so productive.
It’s obviously very low volume. Say what you will about HIT, it works wonders for MANY, MANY trainees. Most lifters simply do too many sets, of too many lifts way too often. They overtrain horribly, and don’t grow. DC’s system has you doing 4-6 WORK sets a session, usually no more than 3 days a week. That is a great formula for success for the previously perpetually overtrained.
For those that can take it, the rest-pause sets provide the fastest path to hit the muscle fibers deeply with the least amount of sets (one). The system has a built in intensity cycling schedule. These are the so-called “cruise weeks”. I believe they were originally built in the system primarily to scale back the androgen use for a short time (four or more weeks heavy, two weeks low dose with clomid to help HPTA recovery) and were then also used to scale back the intensity, and take a slight break from the grueling chore of the extreme eating required to build extreme mass. What is beautiful about this system is that it works wonders for both the gear user, and ESPECIALLY well for those training clean. Most people’s bodies just don’t stand up well to a constant high intensity pounding and this system provides just the active rest break that so many need, but so few get on other systems.
The loading changes every week. Dogg’s system of picking 3 different lifts for each bodypart and rotating them each week stops the neural adaptation burnout that occurs when doing the same lifts week-in, week-out. On the down side people that don’t recruit well sometimes don’t progress on individual lifts as fast as they would when the neural adaptations are allowed to progress on a weekly basis. But this is offset by the fact that most people get better size gains when the load is varied, and it takes quite a while for most people to hit a wall with this type of loading.
DC’s routines are setup a variety of ways, with perhaps the most popular and appilicale being splitting the body up like this:
a)
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
Back width
Back thickness
b)
biceps
forearms
calves
hams
quads
Three lifts are picked for each bodypart, and each training day you do ONE of the lifts in either rest-pause, or strait set fashion. That means after warm-ups, you do ONE lift per body-part for a total of 5 sets per workout. If you are not familiar with the details of this system do NOT attempt it based only on the routines presented here. The extreme stretching and other details are part and parcel of the system and must be used as a whole.
Here is a list of DC approved lifts. I do NOT approve of all of the lifts myself, but know they work well for many people:
CHEST
incline smythe
decline smythe
hammer strength press (incline and decline)
other good machine press
incline barbell
decline barbell
incline dumbbell press
flat dumbbell press
decline dumbbell press
SHOULDERS
smythe presses to front
smythe presses to back of head
hammer strength press
other good machine press
barbell press to front
barbell press to back of head
dumbbell shoulder press
TRICEPS
close grip bench in smythe
reverse grip bench in smythe
skull crushers
dips (in upright position)
BACK WIDTH
rack chins to front
rack chins to back of head
reverse grip rack chins (close grip)
assisted pullups
hammer strength "pulldown" machines
other good "pulldown" machines
pull downs to front
pull downs to back of head
BACK THICKNESS
deadlift
rack deadlift
T-bar rows
smythe rows
barbell rows
BICEPS
barbell curls
alternate dumbbell curls
barbell preacher curls
hammer strength machine curls
other good machine curls
cable curls
incline db curls
close grip ez-bar preacher curls
standing medium grip ez-bar curls
FOREARMS
hammer curls (alternated)
pinwheel curls (alternated)
reverse grip one arm cable curls
CALVES
calves on a leg press
standing calf raises
calves in hack squat
seating calf raises
any calf machine with a good range of motion
HAMSTRINGS
seating leg curls
standing leg curls
lying leg curls
stiff leg deadlift
sumo presses
QUADS
squats
smythe squats
hack squat
leg press
Here is a sample routine:
Monday
Hammer Bench Press x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Military Press in Rack x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Skull Crushers x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Wide Grip Pull-Down x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Bent Row x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Wednesday
Barbell Curl x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Hammer Curl x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Leg Press Calf Raise x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Glute/Ham Raise x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Leg Press x 1 set 10/20 Rest-Pause
That would be considered the first rotation. Now using a DIFFERENT set of lifts, the next is done. Again, there are three sets of lifts, and after the third rotation, you start again, such as:
Friday
Incline Bench Press x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Hammer Shoulder Press x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Dips x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Supinated Grip Pull-Ups x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Rack Pull x 1 set 10 reps
Monday
Dumbbell Curl x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Grip Machine x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Standing Calf Raise x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Leg Curl x 1 set 8/15 Rest-Pause
Squat x 1 set 10/20 Rest-Pause
Here is another variation of the format that I have used with great success myself, and with trainees of mine.
DC, IA style with all weights
Day One, Week One
Dips Reps 8/16 Rest-pause
Incline Fly Reps 8/16 Rest-pause
Lateral Raise Reps 15/30 One 15/30 rest-pause
Skull Crushers Reps 8/16 Rest-pause
Day Two, Week One
Wide Grip Pull-Down Reps 8/16 Rest-pause
Chest Supported Row Reps 8/16 Rest-pause
EZ- Bar Curl Reps 8, Both sets done with same weight
Resistance Abs Reps 10 Machine of your choice as long as it fits you well and you can go heavy, or see my ab article
Day Three, Week One
Leg Press Calf Raise Reps 20 2 Straight sets to failure
Deadlift Reps 10 1 set of 10 to one rep short of failure
Leg Press Reps 10/20 Rest-pause
Day One, Week Two
Dumbell Bench Press Reps 10 Both Sets Done with same weight
Incline Press, in rack Reps 8/16 Rest-pause
Machine Lateral Raise Reps 10/20 Rest-pause
Tricep Pushdown Reps 8 Both sets done with same weight
Day Two, Week Two
Supinated Grip Pull-Down/Pull-Up Reps 8/16 Rest-pause
Dumbell Row Reps 8/16 Rest-pause
Incline Bench Dumbell Curl Reps 8 Both Sets Done with same weight
Resistance Abs Reps 10 Machine of your choice as long as it fits you well and you can go heavy
Day Three, Week Two
Leg Press Calves Reps 15/30 2 rest pause sets. One to 15, the next to 30, fail at 8 for the first, 15 for the second
Leg Curl Reps 10 1 straight set to failure
Leg Extension Reps 10 1 straight set to failure
Squat Reps 20 Rest-Pause, Puke, go home
WESTSIDE BARBELL
Here is a sample of ONE of my 4 different Westside Barbell modifications. This is may all time favorite way to train as it gives SUPERIOR strength gains, and size gains are great also. Usually the size gains are as good as anything other than volume, but unlike volume, most can do this style of training productively I have been working on the modifications of the basic WSB format for a couple of years now and have FINALLY got all the pieces together to make this system work WONDERFUL for trainees at all levels. THIS IS NOT THE STANDARD WSB FORMAT. Many, if not most trainees just don’t hold up well to the frequency of the standard WSB format, myself included.
The format shown is for guys that have average to above average recovery ability. If you are a hardgainer or extreme hardgainer this is not the format to attempt. I will post a sample of that soon. What will this type of routine do for many if not most of you? Build strength faster than any BB program you have ever tried by a long shot. Just strength? Nope! For most of you, size will be awesome to. It may be the fastest way for many of you to reach your lifting goals, .Whether you are a BB’er or PL’er. I CHALLENGE ANY OF YOU THAT ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH YOUR CURRENT LEVEL OF PROGRESS TO TRY THIS FOR 4 WEEKS! If it works, you can do more studying and put together something on your own, or have me design a full routine and diet for you. A few things to keep in mind:
It is only a SAMPLE and is not laid out exactly like I write them for clients for a few reasons. I wanted to make sure EVERYONE had access and ability to do the lifts listed, and everyone that has even a modest gym can do these. I used a 3-week (it ends up being closer to 4 actual weeks because of the rotating format) on the ME lifts for simplicity sake. SOME lifters do get a 3 week rotation on ME lifts and other get 2 weeks, or even one. There is no waving of the weights or volume for either the DE work or the repetition work. Again this was done for simplicity sake, and I also can’t give it all away-lol. And last but not least, not knowing who will be attempting it, it is quite generic. But I will bet that anyone that recovers even remotely well will do extremely well on it. After just 4 weeks you WILL have a higher bench, squat and deadlift.
REMEMBER THIS IS ONLY A PARTIAL SAMPLE OF THE FORMAT, AND YOU CANNOT, I REPEAT CANNOT JUST RUN THIS SAMPLE FOR LONGER THAN THE WEEKS SHOWN. WSB CHANGES THE ME WORK EVERY 1-3 WEEKS, AND THE REST OF THE LIFTS MUST BE CHANGED FREQUENTLY ALSO FOR IT TO WORK. IF YOU NEED MORE INFO ON THIS CONTACT ME.
Monday ME Squat,
Arched Back Good Morning in Rack, 2 inches above parallel, 1 max set of 3 reps
Box Squat 2 x 8 at parallel, should have 2 reps left in you for all sets.
Glute/ham raise 3 x 8 to failure
Barbell Row 3 x 8, NTF
Dumbbell Curl 3 x10, NTF
Tuesday Off
Wednesday ME Bench
CG bench press in rack 4 inches from chest, 1 max set of 1 reps
Skull Crushers, straight bar 3 x 10, only last set to failure
Dumbell bench press 2 x 10, only last set close to failure
Lateral raise 4 x 10, NTF
Abs, HEAVY 3 x 10
Thursday Off
Friday DE Squat
DE Box squat at parallel 2 reps x 6 sets, 45 TIMED seconds between sets
Pull-Throughs 3 x 10 Only Last set close to Failure
Glute/ham 3 x to failure, or reverse hyper 3 x 8
Lat Pulldown, wide grip 4 x 6, NTF
BB Curl 3 x 6, NTF
Saturday Off
Sunday Off
__________________________________________________ __________
Monday DE Bench
Speed Bench press 3 reps x 6 sets, 45 TIMED seconds between sets
JM Press 3 x 6, NTF
Tricep Pushdowns 3 x 8, NTF
Dumbell Shoulder press 3 x 8 OR lateral raises, NTF
Hanging leg Raises 3x 10
Tuesday Off
Wednesday ME Squat
Arched Back Good Morning in Rack, 2 inches above parallel, 1 max set of 3 reps
Box Squat 2 x 8 at parallel, should have 2 reps left in you for all sets.
Glute/ham raise 3 x 8 to failure
Barbell Row 3 x 8, NTF
Dumbbell Curl 3 x10, NTF
Thursday Off
Friday ME Bench
CG bench press in rack 4 inches from chest, 1 max set of 1 reps
Skull Crushers, straight bar 3 x 10, only last set to failure
Dumbell bench press 2 x 10, only last set close to failure
Lateral raise 4 x 10, NTF
Abs, HEAVY 3 x 10
Saturday Off
Sunday Off
__________________________________________________ __________
Monday DE Squat
DE Box squat at parallel 2 reps x 6 sets, 45 TIMED seconds between sets
Pull-Throughs 3 x 10 Only Last set close to Failure
Glute/ham 3 x to failure, or reverse hyper 3 x 8
Lat pulldown, wide grip 4 x 6, NTF
BB Curl 3 x 6, NTF
Tuesday Off
Wednesday DE Bench
Speed Bench press 3 reps x 6 sets, 45 TIMED seconds between sets
JM Press 3 x 6, NTF
Triceps Pushdowns 3 x 8, NTF
Dumbbell Shoulder press 3 x 8 OR lateral raises, NTF
Hanging leg Raises 3 x 10
Thursday Off
Friday ME Squat
Arched Back Good Morning in Rack, 2 inches above parallel, 1 max set of 3 reps
Box Squat 2 x 8 at parallel, should have 2 reps left in you for all sets.
Glute/ham raise 3 x 8 to failure
Barbell Row 3 x 8, NTF
Dumbbell Curl 3 x10, NTF
Saturday Off
Sunday Off
__________________________________________________ _________________
Monday ME Bench
CG bench press in rack 4 inches from chest, 1 max set of 1 reps
Skull Crushers, straight bar 3 x 10, only last set to failure
Dumbbell bench press 2 x 10, only last set close to failure
Lateral raise 4 x 10, NTF
Abs, HEAVY 3 x 10
Tuesday Off
Wednesday DE Squat
DE Box squat at parallel 2 reps x 6 sets, 45 TIMED seconds between sets
Pull-Throughs 3 x 10 Only Last set close to Failure
Glute/ham 3 x to failure, or reverse hyper 3 x 8
Lat pulldown, wide grip 4 x 6, NTF
BB Curl 3 x 6, NTF
Thursday Off
Friday DE Bench
Speed Bench press 3 reps x 6 sets, 45 TIMED seconds between sets
JM Press 3 x 6, NTF
Tricep Pushdowns 3 x 8, NTF
Dumbbell Shoulder press 3 x 8 OR lateral raises, NTF
Hanging leg Raises 3 x 10
* NTF means NOT to Failure
If you have just read this and are totally unfamiliar with WSB DO NOT POST A BUNCH OF BASIC QUESTIONS. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT DE OR ME MEANS, OR OTHER SIMILAR STUFF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE TO ATTEMPT THIS. YOU MUST HAVE AT LEAST A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF WESTSIDE BARBELL PRINCIPLES BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS. Go to the WSB section of my site:
http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=63
WAVED VOLUME
Many people do WONDERFUL on volume routines. Many have never been able to get volume to work for them in the least. By waving the volume you can get a volume responder to do MUCH better both in terms of size, and strength. And can very often get guys that have NEVER been able to make gains using volume do extremely well. This is only one of an endless number of possible variations, and one that is not the best wave for guys with poor recovery ability. For guys with less than good recovery more weeks should be spent on lower volume and the ramp up should be fairly steep, and only held a few weeks. If you are creative you can do a lot with this system and get size gains you were never able to gat on lower volume in some cases. I could post 10 sub-styles. But you probably get the basic idea. The wave loading can be peaked, and dropped back down immediately, or waved back down slowly. Waving it back down slowly is best done with a shorter, steeper duration ramp.
Waved Volume
WEEK 1-2
Day one Sets Reps
Bench Press 2 sets 8 reps
Low Incline Dumbbell Press (15-30 degree) 2 sets 8 reps
Dips 2 sets 10 reps
Lateral Raises 2 sets 12 reps
Day Two
Overhand Grip Pull-Down/pull-up 2 sets 8 reps
Chest Supported Row, or Cable Row 2 sets 8 reps
Dumbbell Curl 2 sets 8 reps
Grip Work Your Choice 2 sets 10 reps
Day Three
Rack Deadlifts 2 sets 6-12 reps
Leg Press 2 sets 15 reps
Resistance Abs 2 sets 10 reps
Leg Press Calves 2 sets 10/15, 15/30 reps
WEEK 3-4
Day one Sets Reps
Bench Press 3 sets 8 reps
Low Incline Dumbbell Press (15-30 degree) 3 sets 8 reps
Dips 3 sets 8 reps
Lateral Raises 3 sets 8 reps
Day Two
Overhand Grip Pull-Down/pull-up 3 sets 8 reps
Chest Supported Row, or Cable Row 3 sets 8 reps
Dumbbell Curl 3 sets 8 reps
Grip Work Your Choice 3 sets 12 reps
Day Three
Rack Deadlifts 2 sets 6-12 reps
Leg Press 2 sets 15 reps
Resistance Abs 2 sets 10 reps
Leg Press Calves 2 sets 10/15, 15/30 reps
WEEK 5-6
Day one Sets Reps
Bench Press 3 sets 8 reps
Low Incline Dumbbell Press (15-30 degree) 3 sets 8 reps
Fly 3 sets 10 reps
Dumbell Overhead Press 3 sets 8 reps
Lateral Raises 4 sets 8 reps
Skull Crushers 3 sets 8 reps
Tricep Extensions 3 sets 8 reps
Day Two
Overhand Grip Pull-Down/pull-up 3 sets 8 reps
Supinated Grip Pull-Down/pull-up 3 sets 8 reps
Chest Supported Row, or Cable Row 3 sets 8 reps
Barbell Curl 2 sets 8 reps
Dumbbell Curl 2 sets 8 reps
Grip Work Your Choice 4 sets 12 reps
Day Three
Rack Deadlifts 2 sets 6-12 reps
Squats 2 sets 6-12 reps
Leg Press 2 sets 15 reps
Resistance Abs 2 sets 10 reps
Leg Press Calves 2 sets 10/15, 15/30 reps
WEEK 7-8
Day one Sets Reps
Bench Press 4 sets 8 reps
Low Incline Dumbbell Press (15-30 degree) 4 sets 8 reps
Fly 4 sets 10 reps
Dumbbell Overhead Press 4 sets 8 reps
Lateral Raises 4 sets 8 reps
Skull Crushers 4 sets 8 reps
Tricep Extensions 4 sets 8 reps
Day Two
Overhand Grip Pull-Down/pull-up 4 sets 8 reps
Supinated Grip Pull-Down/pull-up 4 sets 8 reps
Chest Supported Row, or Cable Row 4 sets 8 reps
Barbell Curl 4 sets 8 reps
Dumbbell Curl 3 sets 8 reps
Grip Work Your Choice 4 sets 12 reps
Day Three
Rack Deadlifts 2 sets 6-12 reps
Squats 3 sets 6-12 reps
Leg Press 2 sets 15 reps
Resistance Abs 2 sets 10 reps
Leg Press Calves 3 sets 10/15, 15/30
There are many variations on all these themes and one can truly most any trainee if modified for the individual.
Good luck and good training!
Iron Addict
Gender: Male 
My Top 5 Lifting Routines
Gender: 
