Training Regime

For a long time, I’ve been an adherent of the high intensity training style when it comes to weights. I still am, but the current program takes a slightly different approach.

In this subscriber only piece, I’ll break down what I’m doing, why, and how you can implement it if you choose.

First, a small amount of backstory for context: most of you know that I split my physical training time between old school resistance training and old school Jiu Jitsu. For most of my martial arts training, this meant drilling and positional work, followed by grueling rounds that often left me beat up and worn down. Combine this with a heavy lifting routine, motorcycle accidents, and other “high mileage” stuff, and the injuries started to stack up in my 30’s…and 40’s.

Something had to give.

Although the internet has been especially ablaze with it in the last year or two, everything happens in cycles in weight lifting and there’s really nothing new under the sun.

The issue here is that it is being described as the best way to lift, period, by many influencers. I disagree. I think it is the best way for some people to train, and especially those who have already trained long enough and built up a base of muscle, technique and power in order to have actually earned their way into the high volume value.

For most beginner and intermediate lifters, a mixture of both is desirous, and this is what I’ve returned to.

On my last foray into “getting serious” again (I never stop lifting, but it definitely takes a back seat at times, and goes into maintenance mode), I blew up to over 200 pounds, and was moving heavy weight again for a while.

My bad knee had other plans, and that style of eating and fast gaining quickly turned into more fat on my body than I’m comfortable with. I couldn’t do much lower body for a while, and lost some size on my legs, leaving me with the unenviable position of being fatter than I wanted, with smaller legs than I used to have, creating a bad combination that a look in the mirror confirmed as totally unacceptable for me.

(These reset moments of mostly serious self-disgust are important, no matter what anyone tells you. Your level of what’s acceptable may be different from mine, but there’s a few tactics to this I’ll throw in at the end of the article to keep you honest)

The plan was twofold: come back to the weight room dedicated and hungry, control the calories to right around maintenance level, clean up around the edges of the diet, and incorporate a high effort, high volume approach that still involved high intensity lifts within each workout.

I wanted the volume for a few reasons: I was frying my fail spots with relentless heavy weight, and some volume can be great for times like these. IMPORTANT NOTE that high volume does not mean “junk volume,” slamming out fast repetitions to “get to the end of the set.” Each rep is done with focus and attention, trying to concentrate everything on the muscle(s) being worked.

Second, to use the volume as a mental reset and to increase overall drive and horsepower. Low rep might be heavy, but its easy to go in the gym and give everything you’ve got for 30-45 mins knowing you’ll never have to do more than 5-6 reps in a row.

The demand and self-motivation required to go in and knock out 30 sets on a leg day is hard. It’s a lot of work. The volume creates a lot of soreness, especially at first. You’ll get a little nauseated. You get those baby deer legs again. Stairs and sitting on toilets become a sidequest. Anyhow, you get the idea. I wanted to have blood in my eyes again.

Third, high volume makes me sweat like whore in church, keeps my heart rate in the cardio zone, and contributes heavily to burning fat, especially as more muscle is built.

Nothing in this program is earth-shattering because nothing in the weight training world that works is earth-shattering. Share the program with friends if you want, or print it out and use it.