Sometimes, who you train with can be HUGE. Well, my training partner is HUGE and it has lit a fire in my belly akin to eating hot peppers covered in Ex Lax. My butt is on fire! My new training partner is Lin McAteer. He is an employee of our largest distributor for Scivation and the EXCLUSIVE distributor for Primaforce-Europa, but in the gym, we are just two warriors knocking it out.

He has introduced me to a training style I WISH I knew about years ago. It is THE ONLY way he trains, with the exception on a few things we will do instinctively, and it has allowed me to GROW while dieting at BELOW 5% body fat! What is this program? For the purposes of this article, I will call it "High Reps to Hugeness Training!"

Muscle Growth While Dieting!

Training Split

• Monday: Off
• Tuesday: Off
• Wednesday: Back
• Thursday: Chest
• Friday: Legs
• Saturday: Shoulders/Traps
• Sunday: Arms

What we do is 2 sets of 15 on everything except for the first exercise of a workout, where we will do one to two warm-ups before our working sets. We then do two sets, sometimes one if it kicks our butts, until we get 15 reps. We still go heavy and sometimes will even use rest-pauses to get that magic 15.

We usually get 15 but if we fail beforehand, we rest and knock out the reps we owe rest-pause style! This has helped keep me injury-free and unlike other 15-rep sissy workouts, we go hard and heavy, so the muscle stimulation is more than enough to get big, lean and HARD.

We train Wednesday through Sunday and have Monday and Tuesday off to work with our training schedule, so any five-day split, whatever days you can make it, will work fine.

We do calves and abs every training day. Our calf exercises are either donkey calf raises, seated calf extensions or leg press calf raises at three sets of 25 reps. We do abs most days at three sets of 15-20 reps.

How Much Of My Max Should I Use?

Choose a weight that allows you to get 12-15 reps. As soon as 15 reps comes easy, it is time to raise the weight for set number two! After a couple of weeks on this program, you will find that you are lifting the same weight for 15 reps as you were for eight reps. It is an unreal feeling!

What If I Can't Complete 15 Reps?

If you reach failure after say 10 reps you should rack the weight, take 5 deep breaths, and then bang out your last 5 reps. This is called a rest-pause set. The goal of this program is to always get 15 reps NO MATTER WHAT! Even if you have to rest twice that is fine.

You may end up doing something like 9 reps, take 5 deep breaths, 4 more reps, take 2-3 deep breaths, and then complete your final 2 reps. The most important thing to do is consistently add weight to the bar while completing your 15 reps. As was said in the preceding paragraph, as soon as you can complete 15 reps you should up the weight.

Example Routine

With this style of training, we utilize a lot of machines. This is more of an advanced training program because as a beginner, you want to focus on the bread and butter exercises such as squats. But as you will see, we incorporate these core lifts into this program regularly. Here is a sample routine:

Ab Selections To Consider

• Hanging Leg Raises
• Machine Crunch
• Decline Situps

Calf Selections To Consider

• Donkey Calf Raises
• Leg Press Calf Raises
• Standing Calf Raises

Cardio

This all depends on your goals. But generally, I recommend 20-45 minutes of low intensity cardio year round Pre or Post Workout.

The Importance Of Year Round Cardiovascular Training

Endurance A.K.A. cardiovascular training improves the heart's ability to pump blood and increases oxygen uptake into cells. A "fit" person also loses more fat at rest and during exercise than an unfit person.

Bodybuilders use cardiovascular training mainly as a means to increase caloric expenditure thereby increasing fat loss or decreasing fat gain. By doing cardio year round you will increase your body's capacity to lose fat at both rest and exercise. Let's discuss what type of cardio to do.

Low-Moderate Intensity Cardio On Weight Training Days

As stated in the intro, bodybuilders primarily use cardio as a means to increase their caloric expenditure (Cardiovascular training has a TON of other health benefits, but we will not touch on those benefits here). The use of low-intensity cardio, done either pre or post weight training, allows one to burn more calories while not hampering recovery.

Low-intensity cardio is not as strenuous on the body as high-intensity cardio or high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It would be very hard for someone to complete a HIIT session pre weight training as it would decrease your performance when lifting weights, or to complete the session post weight training as it would be very fatiguing.

We want to keep the body healthy and injury free. If you get injured, then your workouts will suffer or cease altogether. Therefore, I feel it is more practical to perform low to moderate intensity cardio on weight training days. Now one could perform their cardio separate from their weight training, but for most that would mean two trips to the gym, which is impractical; hence my recommendation to perform cardio pre or post weight training.

Whether you choose to do your cardio pre or post weight training is a personal preference. Remember, your main goal is to hit it hard in the weight room. If doing cardio pre weight training decreases your performance then it would be better for you to do it post workout.

If you find that you are too tired to do cardio post weight training or simply find you become too bored and do not finish your cardio session, it would be better for you to do your cardio pre weight training.

High Reps For Huge Muscles

There you have it, a program unlike any you have ever used before. Don't stop at eight reps, be a real man and get 15 and make those muscles feel like they're going to explode through your shirt! Just don't cry to us when your clothes are too tight!