There are a lot of ways to get bigger and/or stronger. But what is the optimal way to train for both strength and muscle mass? There are a lot of sets/reps schemes and training methods out there, and some suit your needs better than others, but here’s an alternative that I find great.
It involves working out using “ladders”, a term made popular by strength coach Pavel Tsatsouline. This involves doing sets of 1,2,3,4…up to a certain number, which depends on your goals. You can also do them in descending order. But here’s where things get interesting.
There is also a type of ladder called the “waving ladder”. Let’s say you’re doing a ladder of 1–5 reps. So, ascending there would be sets of 1,2,3,4,5. A waving ladder makes you alternate the sets, so you would end up doing sets of 1,5,2,4,3. The point is to maximize the amount of work you can do in a finite amount of time. These ladders allow you to cut your rest time drastically while also increasing the volume done.
This will help you both with strength, if you choose to do a smaller number of reps with higher weight, or with size if you choose to train with more reps and a little lower weight.
Ladder Workout Timer: An app to maximize your workout.
When training using ladders, you have to vary the amount of rest you take between sets such that it’s proportional to the work you just did. So, if you rest for 5 seconds for 1 rep, you’d have to rest for 25 seconds for 5, and so on. I found keeping track of where I am in the workout and how much rest I should take pretty tough in the heat of the moment, so I built an app to help with this.
“Ladder Workout Timer” allows you to customize your workout according to your needs, and then tells you exactly what you need to do, so you can focus on the work and forget about the minutia while you’re lifting. You can customize the type of ladders you do, the number, the sets and reps, and the rest time. It also contains education to help you set up your workout more effectively. I’d appreciate it if you gave it a go:
https://itunes.apple.com/app/ladder-workout-timer/id1438722179?ls=1&mt=8
And never forget: