After training with Will Wayland in February this year, I decided to have a try at the Doug Hepburn method to get stronger. Will was using it for a month to change his training up.
This is a methodical grind to get progressively stronger using large compound lifts.
Essentially you start by lifting 80% of your 1RM for 8 sets of 2 reps (with 2 mins between sets) using 4 major lifts.
I used:
Deadlift
Back Squat
Bent Over Row
Overhead Press (in place of bench press due to lack of a bench)
You train four times per week, each session you add 1 rep to each lift.
So the sets on your programme will look like this for each exercise:
Day 1 - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Day 2 - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3
Day 3 - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3
Day 4 - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3
etc...
When you have performed 8 sets of 3 reps you add 5kg to the lift on your next session, go back to 8 sets of 2 and start over.
You can see that this is a really methodical 'grind' to increase your maximum lifts.
Every 8 workouts (2 weeks) you will add 5kg to each of these exercises.
Theoretically you'll add 130kg to each of these lifts in a year. That's quite some achievement!
While this method is a great way (in theory) to build strength, it's incredibly dull. You perform 2 or 3 reps, then wait 2minutes before doing it again.
Every workout is the same and it leaves you exhausted.
I lasted 3 weeks before moving onto something more enjoyable - I was significantly stronger after just 3 weeks though....
