Density, as it pertains to resistanct



training, is the amount of Work

performed per unit time. And yes,

“time" is critical here, because it's

the variable we're going to manipulate

to ensure Progression, and a simple

one at that.

(By the way, Work equals Force X's

Distance, and when we're talking

engines and sports cars, it's called

"Horsepower." I mention this, because

everyone knows that, a bigger engine

with more cylinders produces more

Horsepower, all else equal. Same with

your muscles.)

I won’t go into why Density Training

works, other than to say it

preferentially targets Intermediate

Twitch Muscle Fibers, and also the

nutrient delivery / waste removal

systems associated with these fibers,

which means that these fibers and

these systems will hypertrophy in

response (sorry for the science

speak!). If you’re more curious about

the mechanism than that, you can buy

my Advanced Training & Nutrition

Guide, where I do go into a little

more detail, while at the same time,

keeping it in laymen's terms. For now,

here’s the workout:

Let’s pretend it’s your day to train

biceps. Here’s what you do:

You will perform Standing Curls (I

like doing these with an Elastic Band

rather than a dumbbell).

1) Select a load (or a color with the

bands) such that you think you can

perform about 15 reps on your first

set before reaching failure (where

failure means that your form isn’t

PERFECT anymore, not what you can

cheat up with a backward lean to shame

the tower in Pisa). The exact number

of reps you get isn’t important

anyway, only that it’s over 8 reps at

least.

2) Do as many reps as you can in good

form, and then write down the load

used (or the color of the elastic

band) and the number of reps.

3) Rest EXACTLY 20 seconds.

4) Do another set of as many reps as

you can. Obviously, you won’t get as

many reps this set as you did on your

first, provided you challenged

yourself on the first set, and

assuming you're not some sort of

genetic Density freak. 5) Rest

EXACTLY 20 seconds. 6) Repeat steps

3-6 using the same load each set until

you get to a total of 50 reps.

7) Once you’ve achieved 50 reps (or

even up to 100 if you’re an advanced

trainee who knows they respond better

to higher volume), you’re done!

8) On your subsequent workout, you’ll

do everything exactly the same,

EXCEPT, you’ll cut your rest periods

by 5 seconds to 15 seconds.

9) Once you’re down to 5 second rest

periods, you can move on to something

different (ideally a routine that

stresses progression by Load or

Acceleration), or you can repeat this

routine for one more cycle using

slightly heavier loads.

This is only one variant of Density

Training you could employ, but it’s

one of the simplest, and that’s why I

like it so much!

The Fitness Sage always favors the

Simple, Balanced, and Profound

approach to building a better body.