Rest-Pause Program For a Serious Increase in Muscle Mass!

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Rest-pause training is one of the most effective methods for really fully stimulating muscle growth. To do rest-pause training, you basically do as many reps as you can with a specific weight, set the weight down for a short period of time, then immediately try and get as many more reps as you can.

Ordinarily, this is a technique normally used as an intensity technique, not as the basis of a full program.

But not too long ago, I was reading about a training style known as DC Training (if you've read Ironman magazine, you may have seen the article) that is essentially extended rest-pause training. The concepts made a lot of sense to me and I could see the potential in them.

Being an experimenter at heart, I decided to take the concepts talked about with the training and work with them in the form of a program. I want to share with you the program that I'm currently working with and seeing excellent results from.

First, here is the training split that I'm doing:

Monday

Tuesday

Wed.

Thurs.

Fri.

Sat/Sun

Back (3)
Deadlifts

Chest (3)
Barbell Bench Press

Biceps (2)
Barbell Curls

Calves (2)
Standing Calf Raises

Traps (2)
Barbell Shrugs

Shoulders (2)
Dumbell Shoulder Press

Triceps (2)
Weighted Dips

Thighs (3)
Dumbell Split Squats

Hamstrings (3)
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts

Traps (2)
Barbell Shrugs

off

Back (3)
Barbell Bent-Over Rows

Chest (3)
Dumbell Bench Press

Biceps (2)
Dumbell Curls

Calves (2)
Seated Calf Raises or Donkey Calf Raises

Traps (2)
Barbell Shrugs

Shoulders (2)
Barbell Hang Clean and Press

Triceps (2)
Close Grip Decline Bench Press

Thighs (3)
Barbell Squats

Hamstrings (3)
Lying Leg Curls

Traps (2)
Barbell Shrugs

off and/or cardio

The numbers on the right (3) mean the number of rest-pause sets to perform for each muscle group. I've been using the same exercises for all sets for the bodyparts, e.g. for back, I would do 3 rest-pause sets of deadlifts.

The idea is to use exercises that work the most muscle mass, like squats, deadlifts, split squats, bench press, shoulder-press, bent-over rows, barbell curls, dips, close-grip presses, stiff-legged deadlifts, etc. Basically, you want to use the heaviest, basic exercises for the sessions as possible.

I have shrugs every day because with barbell shrugs, you can load your body with hundreds of pounds to get an anabolic effect on the body using an exercise that the body can recover from very quickly. The traps can really take a beating and thrive on it. But since you're loading the body with heavy weight every training day, the response from the body is increase overall muscle mass.

When you're doing the rest-pause training, here's exactly how to do it:

Set a weight on the bar that you can hit 8 to 10 reps with before failure. Do as many reps as you can with it.
Rest 20 seconds.
Do another set of as many reps as you can with that same weight, same exercise. It may be 3 to 5 reps here.
Rest 20 seconds.
Do a final set of as many reps as you can with that weight. It may only be 1 or 2 reps here.
Take 90 seconds rest in between rest-pause sets.

Done. Sounds like not very much in terms of training volume but just wait until you try it!

When it says 3 rest-pause sets, like the (3), you count one set as [work, rest 20 seconds, work, rest 20 seconds, work]. That's one set. Then you repeat the sequence 3 times with 90 seconds rest in between.

I've been getting through these workouts in about 45 minutes or so, taking 90 seconds rest in between rest-pause sets and taking whatever time I need in between bodyparts to set up the next exercise.

Within the first week, I had already gained a couple of pounds without dramatically increasing caloric intake so it's definitely a promising technique!

Some notes on Rest-Pause Training:

don't do this style of training for longer than 6 weeks straight. That's when your body needs a break - back off for two weeks after 6 weeks on it. This will help your body recover and rebuild - you will probably see continued results even while backing off!
to back off, you can use the same general training split and number of sets but just drop the rest-pause technique and work in some lighter exercises like pulldowns or lateral raises for variety. Still work the muscles hard, though!
don't go to complete failure when performing deadlifts, squats or stiff-legged deadlifts. Because you're using so much weight and proper exercise form is so important, you want to stay a rep or two shy of a maximum effort. Believe me, even a rep or two short of failure will work you HARD by the end of the set.
you MUST strive to increase the weight you use on the exercises every time you do the same exercise again. For example, if you did 225 x 10 on the deadlifts one week, add 5 to 10 lbs onto that the next week. We're trying to force the progressive resistance in order to increase the workload on the muscles.
you'll notice that I'm not doing squats the day after doing deadlifts. Because both of those exercises are so demanding, it's too easy to push yourself too hard recovery-wise.
the dumbell split-squat is basically a lunge position without stepping completely back up to the standing position. You set your feet on the ground in the lunge position, then pick up the dumbells, then keeping your feet planted, move your body up and down. This takes pressure off the knees (as can happen with the step-forward lunges).
with cardio, do interval training, not long-duration cardio, for best results. You only need about 10 to 15 minutes of interval training at the most to get the job done.

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you can do 3 sets of abs at the end of each workout, if you like. It's not absolutely necessary, though, if you don't have time. You want wish to do abs with more sets along with the cardio training.
This isn't a volume-based program but more of an intensity-based program so don't do more sets than I have listed here. Just do the specified number of sets with intensity and you'll get results!
It may not seem like a lot of sets but it WILL strongly hit the body. The best way to judge is to do a session or two yourself and see how it feels.
as with any program, you should do a warm-up before jumping in and doing the heavy work. Personally, I do a few lighter sets of the exercise I'm about to do as well as some general warm-up movements - you may need a more thorough warm-up for yourself, however. Do not do any stretching pre-workout. It'll make you weaker for the workout. Save that for after.

So if you're looking for a new program to try out, this is a good one to give a go.

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