Time-Volume
Training is one of my favorite "no
brains required" methods for
building muscle and strength like
clockwork. When you do this style
of training, you know EXACTLY what
weight to use, how many reps to do,
how long to do it for and when to
increase the weight...ZERO brains
required.
It's
a strategy that allows you to do a
LOT of work for a muscle in a short
period of time, which will stimulate
muscle growth AND burn a lot of calories
and boost your metabolism, contributing
to significant fat loss.
It's
GREAT stuff and a technique I think
is absolutely worth using whether
you're looking to build muscle or
burn fat.
The
formula for my regular version
of Time-Volume Training is simple...and
you'll be able to see exactly why
I say "zero brains required"...
Select
a weight you can do 10 reps with in
a normal set (you're going to be doing
this for a 15 minute block of time).
Now do 3 reps. Rest 10 seconds. Do
3 more reps. Rest 10 seconds...and
repeat until you can't get 3 reps
in a set.
Now
switch your rest to 20 seconds and
keep going with more 3 rep sets. Repeat
these with 20 seconds rest until you
can't get 3 reps again and then go
to 30 seconds rest...and so on, to
40 seconds rest. Repeat until your
15 minute block of time is done.
If
you make it 1/3 of the way through
(e.g. 5 minutes on a 15 minute block)
still doing 10 seconds rest, then
you increase the weight on that exercise
in your next workout.
That's
it!
For
the FULL description and methodology
of Time-Volume Training, read the
following article:
Time/Volume
Training - A Program For Building
Mass Even With Bodyweight Exercises!
I
had originally designed Time-Volume
Training to be done with bodyweight
exercises that usually allow you to
get too many reps to build muscle
(like being able to do 30+ push-ups)
and use them to build muscle by brining
the reps down and going for volume.
Then I realized this framework works
GREAT with weights as well (even better
than bodyweight, to be honest!).
Time-Volume
Training is a form of Density Training
(density training has been used by
Vince Gironda, Charles Staley and
many others) that takes ALL the guesswork
out. The exact sets and reps and rest
are all laid out for you...all you
have to do is the work.
Normally,
I do Time-Volume Training with just
one exercise...e.g. bench press for
15 minutes straight.
And
this works VERY well. You get a tremendous
amount of time under tension for the
target exercise and target muscles
and you can see tremendous results
both in muscle and fat loss.
THIS
version I want to tell you about today
is done with two antagonistic exercises.
For the demo, I'm using flat barbell
bench press and chin-ups, working
the chest and back.
Going
back and forth between two antagonistic
exercises has a several big advantages:
First,
the muscle groups get a bit more rest
between sets because you're not hitting
them directly again after 10 seconds
rest. This allows you to stay at the
same rest periods for longer, which
means you do more overall sets in
the 15 minute block of time.
More sets means more volume which
means more results.
Second,
antagonistic training is VERY efficient
for the nervous system. Activating
the antagonist muscles can actually
INCREASE strength in the original
bodypart, i.e. you can actually be
a bit stronger in bench for the chest
when you work a back exercise right
before.
So
this type of training allows you to
stay stronger on both exercises and
get a lot of good training volume
in with very little rest (making it
GREAT for fat-loss and preserving
muscle while training for fat loss).
It
also keeps you away from muscular
failure so that you're not crushing
your recovery systems, which is also
VERY important on a reduced-calorie
diet where reduced recovery levels
can be a big problem.
Here
are pics of the two exercises in the
demo...pretty straightforward. You
can use pulldowns if you can't do
at least 10 chin-ups.
Since
my chin-up bar is on my rack, rather
than moving the bench on each set,
I just opted to straddle the bench
at the bottom of the chin-up.
As
you'll see in the demo video, I take
10 seconds rest between each set.
Do 3 reps of bench, rest 10 seconds,
then 3 reps of chins, rest 10 seconds,
then 3 reps of bench, etc.
Keep
going like this for as long as you
can.
Now
here's the thing...most likely, one
exercise is going to start fading
first. For me, it was the bench press.
So what I did was kept the rest to
10 seconds going from bench to chins,
but increased the rest to 20 seconds
going from chins to bench. This worked
quite well and allowed me to keep
going while still minimizing rest
in between sets.
You
can perform this type of training
with just about any antagonstic exercises
and bodypart pairings, e.g. biceps
and triceps (curls and pushdowns),
quads and hamstrings (squats and stiff-leg
deadlifts), abs and lower back, front
delts or rear delts (front raises
and bent-over raises). For the smaller
parts like arms and shoulders, I would
suggest a 10 minute block of time.
You
can use Time-Volume Training as a
technique to insert into your training
once in awhile or work it as the basis
of an entire program.
Conclusion:
Overall,
Time-Volume Training is a great method
for building muscle both on fat-loss
programs and on muscle-building programs.
It'll help keep workout time managed
and predictable while hitting your
muscles VERY effectively, while burning
a tremendous amount of calories (ideal
for fat-loss training).
I
like this style of training so much,
I've included it as a major part of
two of my programs...Metabolic
Surge - Rapid Fat Loss and Mad
Scientist Muscle. This "antagonistic"
variation of it can be worked into
both of those very easily!
Bottom
line, if you've never tried it before,
take 15 minutes in your next workout
and do this Antagonistic style of
training. Just plug in your favorite
exercises and prepare to be impressed!
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