Rest-pause training. It's one of my favorite ways to
build muscle.
Forget normal sets and reps. Instead, think brutality. Intensity. Limited rest. Heart-racing, pump-inducing madness.
Back in the day I created a lifting style called
Bulldozer training. It featured a specific number of sets for each exercise, with a defined rest period in between each effort. Rest periods were typically 30 seconds. This allowed you to catch your breath, but didn't allow a muscle to fully recover.
This was the point.
Tax a muscle. Catch your breath for a brief moment. Hammer that muscle again (and again, and again), never fully allowing it to recover.
This style of training was highly effective. In 2008 I ran it for a complete year and had some of the best muscle building results of my 30 year lifting career. Workouts were typically 45 to 50 minutes in length, but they were
non-stop, action-packed brawls.
Over the years many of you have tried Bulldozer training. Gains were made. Testimonials poured in. And as a result, people wanted more. More rest-pause workout splits. More rest-pause training options. More gains.
So this weekend I was sitting around analyzing my goals for the rest of 2016. I needed to pare down my time in the gym, while also allowing time for cardio. So I said to myself:
Self! This is a good time to break out rest-pause training.
Building Muscle Using Block Training
OK, so what exactly is rest-pause training?
Rest-pause training is a muscle building approach that restricts rest in between sets, maximizing time in the gym and the bodybuilding process by never allowing a muscle to fully recover.
Bulldozer training is effective. But after having run it for a straight year I wanted to try something new. Some more intense. Something a bit different and a bit more insane.
Enter b
lock training.
Block training tosses out the concept of sets. It also tosses out defined rest periods. So with no fixed number of sets, and no monitoring of rest in between sets, I know what you're thinking... How the heck does it work.
Well before you click away, understand that block training is anything but complicated. It's simple. Deviously simple.
You pick a weight. You pick a block of time. You hammer our as many reps as possible during this time frame, resting only briefly between efforts. This pattern of "sets" and limited rest is repeated until the block of time expires.
Are are some of the program nuts and bolts:
- Exercise blocks. Exercise block periods are generally 3 or 5 minutes.
- Weight. Start with a weight that you could normally perform 15 reps with.
- Rep goal. This if your goal for each block of time. If you reach this level (or more), add a small amount of weight the next time you perform this exercise. Progressive overload is king. If you aren't pushing for progress you are handicapping your muscle gains.
- Rest. Rest only briefly, and as needed, while in the middle of an exercise block. Catch your breath, gather your wits, and attack.
Remember that sets and rest periods do not matter. Reps do. Attack the weight and try to perform as many reps as possible during the exercise block. Rest as needed, only long enough to catch your breath and gather your wits.
Included in this feature are the following splits:
- 3 or 4 day Upper/Lower Split
- 3 Day Split
- 4 Day Split
3 or 4 day Upper/Lower Block Training Split
This block training split features 4 workouts. They can either be performed as part of a 4 day upper lower split, or cycled as part of a 3 day upper/lower split.
4 day split sample schedule:
- Day 1 - Upper A
- Day 2 - Lower A
- Day 3 - Off
- Day 4 - Upper B
- Day 5 - Lower B
- Day 6 - Off
- Day 7 - Off
3 day split sample schedule:
- Day 1 - Upper A
- Day 2 - Off
- Day 3 - Lower A
- Day 4 - Off
- Day 5 - Upper B
- Day 6 - Off
- Day 7 - Off
- Day 8 - Lower B
- Day 9 - Off
- Day 10 - Upper A
- Day 11 - Off
- Day 12 - Lower A
- Day 13 - Off
- Day 14 - Off
- Continue cycling through A and B workouts.
| Upper/Lower Split | | |
|---|
| Upper a | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Bench Press | 4 minutes | 40 |
| Lat Pull Down | 4 minutes | 40 |
| Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press | 4 minutes | 40 |
| Push Ups | 2 minutes | AMAP |
| Seated Cable Rows | 2 minutes | 30 |
| Side Laterals | 2 minutes | 30 |
| Cable Triceps Extensions | 4 minutes | 40 |
| Seated Dumbbell Curls | 4 minutes | 40 |
| Upper/Lower Split | | |
|---|
| Upper B | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Incline Dumbbell Bench Press | 4 minutes | 40 |
| Pendlay Rows | 4 minutes | 40 |
| Upright Rows | 4 minutes | 40 |
| Low Cable Crossovers | 2 minutes | 30 |
| Machine Rows | 2 minutes | 30 |
| Push Press | 2 minutes | 25 |
| Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions | 4 minutes | 40 |
| EZ Bar Curls | 4 minutes | 40 |
| Upper/Lower Split | | |
|---|
| Lower a | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Squats | 4 minutes | 40 |
| Leg Curls | 4 minutes | 50 |
| Leg Extensions | 3 minutes | 40 |
| Reverse Lunges | 3 minutes | AMAP |
| Seated Calf Raises | 4 minutes | 50 |
| Plank | 4 minutes | AMAP |
| Upper/Lower Split | | |
|---|
| Lower B | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Leg Press | 4 minutes | 50 |
| Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts | 4 minutes | 40 |
| High Box Step Ups | 3 minutes | AMAP |
| Good Mornings | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Standing Calf Raises | 4 minutes | 50 |
| Ab Wheel Roll Outs | 4 minutes | AMAP |
3 Day Block Training Split
3 day split sample schedule:
- Day 1 - Chest and Arms
- Day 2 - Off
- Day 3 - Quads and Shoulders
- Day 4 - Off
- Day 5 - Back, Hamstrings, Calves and Abs
- Day 6 - Off
- Day 7 - Off
| 3 Day Split | | |
|---|
| Chest and Arms | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Bench Press | 5 minutes | 50 |
| Incline Dumbbell Bench Press | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Machine Chest Press | 2 minutes | 30 |
| Push Ups | 2 minutes | AMAP |
| EZ Bar Curls | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Cable Triceps Extensions | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Hammer Curls | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Close Grip Bench Press | 3 minutes | 30 |
| 3 Day Split | | |
|---|
| Quads and Shoulders | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Squats | 5 minutes | 50 |
| Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press | 5 minutes | 50 |
| Leg Press | 3 minutes | 40 |
| Upright Rows | 3 minutes | 35 |
| Leg Extensions | 3 minutes | 40 |
| Side Laterals | 3 minutes | 35 |
| High Box Step Ups | 2 minutes | AMAP |
| Face Pulls | 2 minutes | 25 |
| 3 Day Split | | |
|---|
| Back, Hamstrings, Calves and Abs | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Deadlifts | 5 minutes | 30 |
| Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts | 5 minutes | 50 |
| Pendlay Rows | 3 minutes | 35 |
| Leg Curls | 3 minutes | 40 |
| Seated Cable Rows | 3 minutes | 35 |
| Seated Calf Raise | 3 minutes | 40 |
| Lat Pull Downs | 2 minutes | 25 |
| Ab Wheel Roll Outs | 2 minutes | AMAP |
4 Day Block Training Split
4 day split sample schedule:
- Day 1 - Chest and Triceps
- Day 2 - Back and Biceps
- Day 3 - Off
- Day 4 - Shoulders, Traps and Abs
- Day 5 - Quads, Hamstrings and Calves
- Day 6 - Off
- Day 7 - Off
| 4 Day Split | | |
|---|
| Chest and Triceps | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Bench Press | 5 minutes | 50 |
| Incline Dumbbell Bench Press | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Machine Chest Press | 3 minutes | 35 |
| Low Cable Crossovers | 3 minutes | 35 |
| Close Grip Bench Press | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Cable Triceps Extensions | 3 minutes | 35 |
| Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions | 3 minutes | 35 |
| 4 DAY SPLIT | | |
|---|
| Back and Biceps | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Deadlifts | 5 minutes | 30 |
| Pendlay Rows | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Lat Pull Downs | 3 minutes | 35 |
| Seated Cable Rows | 3 minutes | 35 |
| EZ Bar Curls | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Seated Dumbbell Curls | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Rope Cable Curls | 3 minutes | 35 |
| 4 DAY SPLIT | | |
|---|
| Shoulders, Traps and Abs | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Push Press | 5 minutes | 50 |
| Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Upright Row | 3 minutes | 35 |
| Side Laterals | 3 minutes | 35 |
| Face Pulls | 3 minutes | 35 |
| Power Shrugs | 3 minutes | 40 |
| Ab Wheel Roll Outs | 3 minutes | AMAP |
| 4 DAY SPLIT | | |
|---|
| Quads, Hamstrings and Calves | | |
|---|
| Exercise | Block | Rep Goal |
| Squats | 5 minutes | 50 |
| Leg Press | 3 minutes | 40 |
| Leg Extensions | 3 minutes | 40 |
| High Box Step Ups | 3 minutes | AMAP |
| Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts | 3 minutes | 30 |
| Leg Curls | 3 minutes | 40 |
| Seated Calf Raise | 3 minutes | 40 |
