High Frequency Strength 3 X 3 Workout…
This month we are going to get back to the basics and focus on performing the 3 core lifts; Squat, Bench Press, & Deadlift and we’re going to do them 3 times per week. That’s where the 3 X 3 comes from in this workout. These numbers have nothing to do with the sets and reps, but rather doing the 3 core lifts 3 days per week.
This is a simple, but very effective, workout program that’s popular among powerlifters and strength athletes. The magic of this routine is in its simplicity because when it comes to building a muscular physique the one key element that you must focus on is getting stronger.
One of the problems that a lot of us run into these days is that we end up doing way too many exercises in the gym. I know I’ve been guilty of doing this on several occasions and maybe you have done this as well. What often happens is we spread ourselves too thin and burn out on the sheer volume of training.
The root cause of this problem is the environment that most of us train in. The typical commercial gym these days has so many fancy padded machine exercises all over the place that people are getting away from the basic bread and butter mass building moves. In most gyms today it’s more common to see a line up for the nice padded exercise machine, than it is to see a line up to the squat rack.
To often people are walking right past the squat rack and plopping their butts down on the leg press. They skip the barbell bench press and opt for the hammer strength machine. And they just avoid deadlifts all together (because they don’t want to hurt their back) and perform a few sets of lat pull downs instead.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of machine exercises and I feel they have their place in the gym. Machines are great for isolating specific muscles, working around injuries, and they can help add variety to your training. However, over reliance on machine exercises will actually make you weaker, instead of stronger. And I know this because I’m speaking from experience.
When I look back over my years of training, I can honestly say that I’ve made my best size and strength gains when I was training in little shit gyms that only had the bare bones basics… power rack, bench, barbells, dumbbells, and couple simple cable machines. The lack of fancy equipment forced me to stick to the basics and the result is I got good gains with those basic moves.
Whenever I’d train in the big commercial gyms that have every exercise machine imaginable, I’d more often than not end up doing too many of those machine exercises in place of the basics core lifts. Have you ever fallen into this trap before?
Now you can still make “strength gains” with these machine exercises. However, those strength gains don’t always carry over into your free weight exercises. Machines balance and support the weights for your muscles. All you really have to do is push or pull along a guided track. Machine exercises are not a true strength builder.
But on the other hand, when you make strength gains in basic free weight exercises, those gains almost always carry over into your machine exercises. Free weights put you in a real 3 dimensional environment where you not only have to push or pull the weights, but you have to balance and support them as well. Barbells and dumbbells can twist, turn, wobble, etc. and this all leads to a higher level of neuromuscular activation and thus more stimulation for strength and muscle development.
So for our High Frequency Strength Workout we’re going to put the machine exercises on the back burner. And just focus on only doing a select few powerlifts and working the crap out of those lifts!
The goal for each workout is simple…
To Lift More During This Workout Than You Did For Your Last Workout.
A bigger muscle is a stronger muscle (and vice versa). When you are at the gym just look around at the regular members. I’m willing to bet that the guys who are the biggest and the most muscular are also the ones who are lifting the heaviest weights.
If you can consistently beat your previous best lifts over and over again, even if it’s just getting an extra 5 pounds to the bar, it will all add up overtime to some Big Lifts and some Big Muscles.
Each High Frequency Strength workout will consist of:
– Barbell Squat
– Barbell Bench Press
– Barbell Deadlift
Nothing else can sum over up overall brute strength and power like those 3 lifts.
Workout 3 Days Per Week…
The workout itself is very simple. You’re going to hit the gym 3 days per week (or every second day). The main thing is that you take a full day of rest after each workout before training again.
Now if you are a serious muscle building enthusiasts you are probably getting fired up and excited about the idea of doing a serious mass and power building workout program. But there is one critical key factor that will determine your success or failure with this program and it is…
You Are NOT Allowed To Train To Failure!
You are reading this right, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TRAIN TO FAILURE.
I’m typing in all caps because this is a very important point. When you train to failure you will over stress your central nervous system and this will actually limit your gains in a high frequency workout program.
The only way you can physically recover and be able to hit the gym again 48 hours after squatting, benching, and deadlifting is if you stop all your sets short of failure. I know this goes against the typical hardcore bodybuilder mindset, but please trust me. I’m not going to steer you wrong. If you follow this advice and stop your sets short of failure for the next 6 weeks your new muscle gains will make you a believer.
Think of it as building your strength, NOT testing your strength.
Click The Link Below To Download The Full High Frequency Strength Workout Schedule:
–>> High Frequency Strength Workout Program – PDF
–>> Printable Workout Gym Schedule – PDF
If you have any questions or comments about this workout program,
please post them in the forum and we’ll chat there 🙂