Beyond 5/3/1: Simple Training for Extraordinary Results (22 page)

• 12, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest

between sprints. Day Two

• 8, 40-yard sprints with 140 added pounds, 90 seconds rest

between sprints Day Three

• 6, 40-yard sprints with 180 added pounds, Do not time rest periods.

• Rest 5-10 minutes.

• 4, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

Week 7

Day One

• 12, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest

between sprints. Day Two

• 6, 40-yard sprints with 140 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

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Rest 5-10 minutes.

• 6, 40-yard sprints, with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest

between sprints. Day Three

• 4, 40-yard sprints with 180 added pounds, 90 seconds rest

between sprints Rest 5-10 minutes.

• 4, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

Week 8

Day One

• 12, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest

between sprints. Day Two

• 6, 40-yard sprints with 140 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

• Rest 5-10 minutes.

• 8, 40-yard sprints, with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints. Day Three

• 6, 40-yard sprints with 180 added pounds, 90 seconds rest between

sprints

• Rest 5-10 minutes.

• 4, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

Prowler Challenge – Conditioning for Weeks 9--‐12

Week 9

Day One

• 15, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest

between sprints. Day Two

• 8, 40-yard sprints with 140 added pounds, 60 seconds rest

between sprints. Rest 5-10 minutes.

• 6, 40-yard sprints, with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

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Day Three

• 6, 40-yard sprints with 180 added pounds, 90 seconds rest between

sprints

• Rest 5-10 minutes.

• 6, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

Week 10

Day One

• 15, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints. Day Two

• 10, 40-yard sprints with 140 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints. Day Three

• 6, 40-yard sprints with 180 added pounds, 90 seconds rest between

sprints

• Rest 5-10 minutes.

• 4, 40-yard sprints with 140 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

Week 11

Day One

• 15, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest

between sprints. Day Two

• 10, 40-yard sprints with 140 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints. Day Three

• 8, 40-yard sprints with 180 added pounds, 90 seconds rest between

sprints

• Rest 5-10 minutes.

• 4, 40-yard sprints with 140 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

Week 12

Cut out the lifting this week – we are completely focused on hitting the

goal. Day One

• 12, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest between

sprints.

Day Two

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• 12, 40-yard sprints with 90 added pounds, 60 seconds rest

between sprints. Day Three - Conditioning Test

• 10, 40-yard sprints with 180 added pounds with 60 seconds rest

between

sprints.

100 Rep Challenge

I love challenges – even if they are somewhat pointless or don’t really mean

anything. There is something amazing about setting out on the hard path,

struggling like mad and reaching the final destination. Many people shake

their heads at those that do that and continually ask why anyone would

subject themselves to such “trivial” things. But the work and the

perseverance to reach the goal is what really matters – these things harden

the body and the mind. They teach you resolve and how to fight through

mental and physical pain.

Challenges also give you the opportunity to test your limits. How far are you

willing to go? Do you have what it takes when you can’t see the light at

the end of the tunnel? More importantly, these challenges, if hard enough,

teach you that anything can be possible. I’m not ignorant enough to think

that one day I’ll grow wings and

fly – but sometimes when an obstacle seems too tall to climb over, you can draw

on

the strength built over these “trivial” challenges. In other words, these things

can

carry over to real life.

The performance goal of the 100 Rep Challenge is simple – complete all the

workouts listed below. Not a day or rep missed. We are not looking to

“Increase Your Bench Press 30 Pounds in Two Weeks!” or “Add a Half Inch

to Your Arms in

One Workout!” What we are training is hard work, mental fortitude and work

ethic.

This workout is not haphazardly put together. I’ve combined strength work,

conditioning work and hypertrophy work in a manner that allows you to

build each over a 6-week period. I’ve used many of these 100-rep exercises

in this manner during my rehab and over the years. It wasn’t until Paul

Carter and I took the time to brainstorm about how to incorporate them into a

proper training program that this workout was shaped. There are numerous

ways to do this but the 100-Rep Challenge is something special. The strength

work comes with the heavy barbell lifts. The conditioning work comes with

Prowler pushes and the 100-rep work. The hypertrophy work comes with the

100-rep work. Each is given attention and each

has the proper attention given.

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You will be outrageously sore during this time. Expect it and embrace it. It’s

only six weeks – hardly a life time and something you SHOULD demand from

yourself. If you are unfamiliar with simple recovery methods, TNation has

dozens of articles to help you. This is not a time to cut out sleep, stretching

or mobility work. This is not a time to be “cutting.” Cutting is for people

who don’t have the discipline to eat right the majority of the time.

This training will allow you to earn the right to eat hearty. It will force

you to learn

about recovery.

The 100-Rep Work is great for hypertrophy – you will be tapping into a

rep range most never venture into. It is also terrific for strengthening your

tendons (and give you an outrageous pump!) You body will change in

these six weeks – your arms, traps and hamstrings will grow, and your

conditioning will also improve.

Enough with the small talk, let’s get to the training.

Training Week – Overview

• Monday – Lower Body Weight Training

• Tuesday – Lower Body 100

• Wednesday – Prowler Walk

• Thursday – Upper Body Weight Training

• Friday – Upper Body 100

• Saturday – Prowler Walk

Notice that there are two days devoted to strength, two days devoted to

conditioning and two days devoted to hypertrophy.

100--‐Rep Work

The following exercises will be used exclusively for the 100-rep work. It’s

not hard to do; just do 100 reps in one set. There are only three exercises

per day and trust me, this is all you will need. Don’t feel the need to add more

exercises; just do them as prescribed. If you feel any of the weights are too

heavy for your current level, simply do less. The weights listed are what

most people who have five or more years of training can handle. They are

not easy but they are doable. And if you have

any doubts, stop it. You must expect more from yourself.

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Upper Body 100

• Front Plate Raise – this is done with a full range of motion, until the

hands/plate are over the head. Using this range of motion greatly

taxes the upper back and shoulders. Weight used = 25-pound plate

• Barbell Curls – Weight used = 45-lb barbel

• Kirk Karwoski Rows – Weight used = Barbell with 135 pounds.

Straps are

not allowed.

Lower Body 100

• One Leg Squat – this is also known as a Bulgarian squat. This is

done with one leg in front and the other foot on a bench. Only your

bodyweight is used. Finish all the reps on one side before switching.

You will do 100 TOTAL reps

– meaning you will do 50 reps PER LEG.

• Hamstring Curl – this is done with 10 to 20- pound ankle weights. Lay

on the

floor or on the bench. Do both legs at the same time.

• Sit-ups – lock your feet under something stable, cross your arms on your

chest and do a sit-up.

100 Rep Notes

You are free to substitute any exercise you wish, but I can only

approve of the ones listed above. These were picked for a variety of

reasons, namely to target weak points, target areas people want and need

to develop, ease of performing 100 reps with, mobility and the simple

challenge of getting better.

You can rest during the 100-rep set but you cannot put bar down and you

cannot make the exercise “easier” during this time, i.e. laying down during a

rest period during a sit-up. If you are in doubt of what constitutes rest,

you are probably doing it wrong.

At the top of the front plate raise, squeeze your traps and upper back. Use as

straight of arms as possible.

Karwoski Rows are explained in the Yoke article I wrote on TNation earlier this

year.

Your form will probably get sloppy, which is to be expected. You must try to

maintain some integrity during the set. The weight is light enough that you

will not get hurt but the point of the doing the exercise is to exhaust

and annihilate the

muscle, not to just get the reps.

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You will be sore – expect it.

You can rest as much as you want between exercises. Don’t bring a stop

watch – we

are in the weight room, not on a track.

You must learn how to relax your mind during these sets – don’t focus on the

pain. You have to learn to disassociate yourself from reality.

I usually attack the first 50-60 reps without stopping. I take a short break and