I’ll be trying a new workout regime. The point of it is lifting to get bigger. I mentioned it briefly in this post about my new overall health improvement changes.

So how will I lift to get bigger? Well. Firstly, I’ll eat a lot. I’ll also be adding supplements.  And make sure that I get 8-9 hours of sleep. But those are topics for other posts. This post is about how I’ll actually lift to get bigger. What will my time in the gym actually look like?

Rest Days

There are only two workouts that I’ll alternate between. Workout A and Workout B. I’ll explain further down what they look like. These workouts are more simple and shorter than what I’m used to. But in addition to that, the biggest change for me is the amount of rest days. With this new protocol I’ll have more rest days than I’m used to. Usually I go to the gym on average 2.5 times a week. That is basically every Monday, Wednesday and Friday that I’m not traveling and not sick. This is an average of 4.5 rest days per week.

With the new protocol I’ll start with 2 rest days between each workout. That is 2.3 workouts per week and 4.7 rest days per week (⅓ * 7 and ⅔ * 7.) After two weeks I’ll increase this to 3 rest days between each workout. That is 1.75 workouts per week, and 5.25 rest days. Once I reach a plateau this will be increased to 4 rest days after each workout. This is 1.4 workouts per week and 5.6 rest days.

The change in rest days will be the biggest difference to my previous protocol. It will be interesting to try it and evaluate the effects. One of the main reasons I work out is mental health. It gives me a better mood. Therefore this is one parameter that I’ll keep an eye on.

The Workouts

As mentioned above there will be two workouts. Workout A and Workout B. Below is the content of each of these:

Workout A

• Yates row with EZ bar or barbell x 7

• Shoulder width barbell overhead press x 7

• Optional: Abdominal exercises from six minute abs.

Workout B

• Slight incline bench press (shoulder width grip) or dumbbell press x 7

• Squat x 10

• Spinning bike x 3 minutes

This might look like low volume. To me it does. But there is one thing that’s different and might compensate for the low volume. These are all sets to failure with a 5 seconds up and 5 seconds down cadence.

I’m excited about the exercises. Especially the shoulder overhead press and the squat.

Conclusion

It feels quite counter intuitive that low volume workouts and long rest periods can bring more gains. I previously thought that lifting to get bigger required a lot of time in the gym. But I’m willing to experiment and see what the effects are. If it’s possible to achieve better results with a lower time investment that would be amazing. Another potential benefit is that the strain on the body will be lower with this approach. The weights will be lower and that should mean lower risk for injury and less lifting with bad form. However this is something I need to keep an eye on.

I’ll try this out for a month or two and evaluate the effects along the way.

What does your workout regime look like? What are your goals?