The best training method that you don't use

The ladder method

Ladders are a training method that has a long history and can do wonders for your strength, power and hypertrophy. The basic ladder is a variation of 1-2-3-4-5 using the same weight. Here's what it looks like:

• One repetition
• Pause
• Two repetitions
• pause
• Three repetitions
• Pause
• Four repetitions
• Pause
• Five repetitions

The good thing about constant weights is that they allow you to appreciate your perceived rate of exhaustion. If you do the 1-2-3-4-5 ladder with pull-ups, then you will find the sets of one and two reps to be relatively easy and the sets of 4 and 5 reps to be correspondingly heavier. Yes, this is common sense, but this method will teach you to change your perceived rate of fatigue for many exercises and weights by increasing the volume without too much challenge.

This is important because most people focus on increasing their max weight (100%). This is fine and indeed admirable. Others, like former discus world record holder John Powell, approach the challenge of increasing strength and power by trying to increase their 80% of their 1RM weight. That's the world ladders live in. They are another way to increase volume and they are a challenge for those who like "burn out" sets.

The basic ladder

This is the most basic ladder:

1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3

Do NOT increase the weight when going from three reps back to one repetition. Yes, the single repetition will be easy. You want it to be. It will feel light when you move the weight. This basic ladder gives us 18 total repetitions and this brings us pretty close to the range of the classic 20 to 30 repetitions needed for hypertrophy and strength established by Delomere's research.

The most mentally challenging thing about ladders is the pause intervals. Many find the "I do my set/you do your set" method perfect. You pause for as long as it takes for your training partner to finish their set. Of course, the pause intervals can vary based on the number of repetitions in the previous set. You will need almost no time to recover from the single repetition, but you may need more time to recover from the set of 3 repetitions.

A ladder for presses and squats

This ladder works well for bench presses and squats:

2-3-5-2-3-5-2-3-5

Or you could do them in the following way, which is a variation of the classic 5 x 5 scheme. You simply omit the last set of 5 repetitions to reach 25 total repetitions:

2-3-5-2-3-5-2-3

You can use a lot more weight than with the more traditional methods. The sets of 2 to 3 reps are easy and the sets of 5 reps are real killers.

The hypertrophy ladder

For building muscle, especially overhead presses (one arm or two arms), this ladder works very well:

2-3-5-10

Just performing one repetition equals 20 repetitions and it's very easy to get up to 100 total repetitions by doing the ladder five times. In general, however, most of us won't need more than two or three reps. Using constant weights, the progression will look like this:

2-3-5-10-2-3-5-10-2-3-5-10

The ladder full body workout

You can use ladders for your entire workout, but this takes some planning and thought. Here's an example:

• Press: 2-3-5-2-3-5
• Deadlift: 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3
• Squats: 2-3-5-2-3-5
• Curls: 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3

Plan three days per week and "autoregulate" the weights. In other words, increase the weights when they start to feel light!

The rules for ladders

Ladders are surprisingly simple. Nevertheless, there are some guidelines. Ladder expert Steve Shafley gives the following rules:

• Focus on the big exercises. Multi-joint exercises are best, but you can even use ladders for curls. Fast movements such as Olympic weightlifting exercises also work well with ladders as there is little fatigue.
• Choose your repetition range. Setting the maximum at 5 reps and performing a ladder with 1-2-3 reps is a good place to start. Start light.
• Choose the number of reps for the ladders. I recommend starting with three reps. If you can do all three ladders, then you need to increase the weight on the next training session.
• It's all about staying fresh and crisp. Ladders are not about choking out reps with your last ounce of strength. Autoregulation is crucial. There are no percentages, plans or programs to calculate weight. The exerciser must adjust the weights by feel.
• Let the volume do the work. This is often underappreciated. Getting strong, defined and muscular takes time, energy and effort. To increase strength, you need many clean repetitions with good technique to teach the nervous system to move massive weights.
• The speed of the movement and overall effort must be maintained throughout the ladder. If you want to choke out reps, then ladders are not for you.
• Don't dwell on bad days. Ladders seem to work via an adaptation of the nervous system. And as with all systems, correcting the wiring can take some extra time.

Ladders provide the foundation for heavy training. Tom Platz taught us this years ago, "It's not heavy weights that build muscle. It's not high reps that build muscle. It's high reps with heavy weights that build muscle."

From Dan John | 07/28/16

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/the-best-training-method-youre-not-using