The DUP Method Main Manual Mike Samuels with Jason Maxwell
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The DUP Method Main Manual Mike Samuels with Jason Maxwell
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The DUP Method Copyright ©2015 by JMax Fitness All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher (Jason Kenneth Maxwell). There are unique embedding codes in this pdf file that track any illegal downloads or distribution. Any illegal distribution results in fines starting at $250,000. ISBN-13 (paperback): XXXXXXXXXXXXX ISBN-10 (paperback): XXXXXXXXXX ISBN-13 (electronic): XXXXXXXXXXXXX ISBN-10 (electronic): XXXXXXXXXX Trademarked names may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.
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Disclaimer The information presented in this program is only for informational purposes and should not oppose against any medical advice from a licensed medical professional. Listen to your your medical professional and you must get your physicians approval before starting an exercise program. This program is designed for healthy individuals 18 years and older, and is meant for educational purposes only. All forms of exercise present risk. Readers should take full responsibility and should not take risks beyond your experience. If you are taking medication, are obese, diabetic, or have any serious illness then you must talk to your physician before starting an exercise and nutrition program, including this one. Jason Maxwell will not assume any liability or be held responsible for any form of injury, personal loss or illness caused by the use of this information.
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The DUP Method ..................................................................................................... 2 Main Manual ............................................................................................. ........... 2 Mike Samuels with Jason Maxwell ................................................................... 2 Disclaimer ................................................................................................................ 4 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 8 What is DUP? DU P? ........................................................................................................... 9 D- Daily .......................................................................................... ....................... 9 U – Undulating ..................................................................................................... 9 P – Periodization Pe riodization ................................................................................................ 10 References ......................................................................................................... ................................................... ...................................................... 11 FAQ ........................................................................................................................ ......................................................... ............................................................... 12 Q. Does DUP DU P Work? ........................................................................................... 12 Q. Doesn’t Training A Muscle Mus cle More than Once a Week Lean to Overtraining? . 13 Q. But I Get Sore Training Twice a Week ........................................................... 14 Q. Is there enough e nough variation only using the powerlifting exercises? e xercises? ................. 14 Q. How Do I Know I’m Progressing? ................................................................... 15 Q. Can I lose fat and train using DUP? ............................................................... 15 Q. What’s the best DUP routine? ....................................................................... 15 References ......................................................................................................... ................................................... ...................................................... 16 Quick-Starter Theory .................................................................................. ............ 17 Picking Your Percentages ....................................................................................... 19 How to Find Your 1RM ....................................................................................... 19 The Optimal DUP Template ................................................................................... 21 Day 1 ............................................................................. ..................................... 21 Day 2 ............................................................................... ................................... 22
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Day 3 ............................................................................... ................................... 23 Day 4 ............................................................................... ................................... 24 Day 5 ............................................................................... ................................... 25 Notes: ............................................................................................ ..................... 25 Side Note: Warming Up ..................................................................................... 26 Side Note 2: Sets, Reps, Rest & Workout Flow .................................................. 26 What to Do Next ................................................................................................ 27 Option 1: Increase Your Training Maxes ........................................................ 27 Option 2: Add Volume................................................................................... . 27 Option 3: Deload and Test Your Maxes.......................................................... 27 Bonus: Why 3 weeks? ........................................................................................ 28 DUP Part Deux: The 4-Day Week ........................................................................ ... 29 Day 1 ..................................................................... ................................................. 29 Day 2 ..................................................................... ................................................. 30 Day 3 ..................................................................... ................................................. 31 Accessory Day ........................................................................................................ 32 Notes: ............................................................................................ ..................... 33 The Busy Guy’s Guide to DUP ............................................................... ................. 34 Day 1 ..................................................................... ................................................. 35 Day 2 ..................................................................... ................................................. 36 Day 3 ..................................................................... ................................................. 37 The Uber-Busy Guy’s DUP Template ...................................................................... 38 Week 1, Day 1: ................................................................................................... 38 Week 1, Day 2: ................................................................................................... 38 Week 2, Day 1: ................................................................................................... 39 Week 2, Day 2: ................................................................................................... 39
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Week 3, Day 1: ................................................................................................... 40 Week 3, Day 2: ................................................................................................... 40 Hypertrophy-Specific DUP ..................................................................................... 41 4-Days Per Week ................................................................................................ 42 3-Days Per Week - ................................................................................... ........... 42 Session 1 ............................................................................................................ 44 Session 2 ............................................................................................................ 44 DUP for Beat-Up Lifters .......................................................................................... 45 Squat Substitutions ................................................................................ ............ 45 Deadlift Substitutions......................................................................................... 45 Bench Substitutions ........................................................................................... 46 Sample Program for Beat-Up Lifters .................................................................. 46 Day 1 ..................................................................... ................................................. 47 Day 2 ..................................................................... ................................................. 48 Day 3 ..................................................................... ................................................. 49 Progressing and Moving from Cycle to Cycle ........................................................ 50 Deloading ........................................................................................................... 50 Day 1: ........................................................................ ..................................... 52 Day 2: ........................................................................ ..................................... 52 Day 3: ........................................................................ ..................................... 52 Moving from Cycle to Cycle ............................................................................... 53 Increasing Your Maxes ............................................................................... ............ 54 The Wrap Up ..................................................................................... ..................... 56 Where to go from here ...................................................................................... 57 FTC Disclosure ............................................................................... ......................... 58
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Introduction DUP stands for Daily Undulating Periodization. Quite simply, it’s a method of training that will get you strong as hell. Want to get an insane squat, heavy-ass deadlift and boost your bench through the roof? Then DUP is for you. Want to build muscle? No problem. We’ve got you covered here too. For old school bodybuilders, used to training each muscle group just once a week, DUP flies in the face of everything you may have been told in the past. Don’t let that put you off though. Scientifically, DUP works. There’s no doubt about it. And in practice? Well, with professional powerlifters and bodybuilders like Layne Norton, Ryan Doris and Paul Revelia jumping both feet first into DUP, it’s safe to say it has some backing. These guys are certainly not lacking in the size department. The beauty of DUP is that it can be tailored to any schedule and any goals. In fact, we’ve got several versions of DUP programs just in this one book. You get: -
The “Optimal” Template for guys who can train 5 times per week The 4-day per week routine A busy guy’s guide to DUP with just 3 sessions DUP for beat up lifters Muscle-building DUP DUP Nutrition Guide Exercise videos teaching how to squat, deadlift, and bench press
That should be more than enough to keep even the most seasoned lifter going for a while. Without further ado, let’s get going.
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What is DUP? The easiest way to explain exactly what DUP is, is to break it down into its specific components –
D- Daily The way you train (i.e. the exercises, sets, reps and loading) changes on a session to session basis. You’ll never do the same workout twice in the same week, or the same training block.
U – Undulating This refers to the mode of periodization you’ll use. You might be familiar with linear periodization. Linear periodisation might involve performing an exercise once a week. For instance, you might always bench press on Mondays. For four weeks, you’d do three sets of 10. The next four weeks could be four sets of six, and your third block might be five sets of three, before you go back to three sets of 10 in block four. You’ll get stronger week on week, but the trouble is, once you switch to your next block, any gains from the previous one can be quickly lost. Undulating periodization however allows you to vary the loads and rep ranges within a given week or a given block. Say you were you to train your bench press twice a week – on a Monday and a Thursday. You might do three sets of 10 on Monday, then perform five sets of three on Thursday. You’d get sustained benefits of the higher-rep hypertrophy work, and the lower-rep strength sessions. Alternatively, this undulation doesn’t have to take place in the same week, and would even work training a lift just once a week. An example (using the bench press again) would be – Week 1 – 5 sets of 6 reps
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Week 2 – 4 sets of 10 reps Week 3 – 3 sets of 12 reps Week 4 – Back to 5 sets of 6 reps
When comparing linear and undulating periodization, research shows that undulating routines can potentially lead to over double the strength increases that linear programs provide. (1)
P – Periodization Periodization simply means that you’re workouts are pre-planned, and you have a clear vision of where you’re headed. The huge issue where many bodybuilding programs from magazines and the Internet fall down, is that they’re simply a list of exercises, sometimes with sets and reps. This gives no guide for progression, deloading, or what to do when you hit a plateau. And you WILL hit a plateau. By periodizing your routine, you break your training up into blocks. This allows you to vary the intensity of each block, peak for competitions, take a deload when you’re feeling beaten up, and constantly progress 52 weeks of the year. Without knowing it, you’ve probably been employing some of these concepts in your workouts already. But what DUP does is ensure that each and every variable is optimized to give you the absolute best results possible. Plateaus in muscle growth and strength gains are a thing of the past, and whether you’re a competitive powerlifter, bodybuilder, or just a gym rat who wants to get freakishly strong, DUP is the program for you.
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References 1. http://www.fmh.utl.pt/agon/cpfmh/docs/documentos/recursos/110/A%20Comparison %20of%20Linear%20and%20Daily%20Undulating%20Periodized%20Programs%20with% 20Equated%20Volume%20and%20Intensity%20of%20Training.pdf
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FAQ FAQ sections usually go at the end of books, and are often a half-hearted attempt to answer any questions the author failed to address in the text. With this product, however, it’s important to get your head into the DUP mind-set straight from the off, and iron out any concerns you may have. Hence, give this a read before we get into the programs. If you’re already a seasoned vet with DUP routines, and purchased this with the intent of getting some new ideas for your training, it’s probably still worth reading this, just to reinforce your own knowledge. If you really want to just get started lifting some heavy stuff though, I completely understand (I’d be the same!) then just skip ahead to the workouts, and flick back here if there’s anything you’re unsure of.
Q. Does DUP Work? Great question to start with. I’ll be 100% honest here……. YES No question about it. DUP works. Whether it’s strength or size you’re after (or a combination of both) DUP is highly effective. I could give anecdotal evidence and explain all the theories as to why it works (which I will below) but I’m a science guy. To really test whether something works or not, you need to try it under controlled conditions, for a sustained period of time, and with no variables getting in the way. Fortunately, plenty of very smart guys have already done this, which leaves us with lots of studies to back up the efficacy of DUP. Rhea et. al concluded –
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“Making program alterations on a daily basis was more effective in eliciting strength gains than doing so every 4 weeks.” (1)
Prestes et. al found undulating periodisation superior to linear periodization, and that daily undulation was more effective than weekly, (2) while Dr. Mike Zourdos wrote his whole PhD on the benefits of DUP vs. traditional weight training. (3) Willoughby et. al also showed superior strength gains from undulating periodization (4)
Q. Doesn’t Training A Muscle More than Once a Week Lean to Overtraining? No. Quite the opposite in fact. One of the most critical components in building muscle mass is muscle protein synthesis. (MPS) This is the rate at which your muscles uptake protein, and in essence, how effectively they grow. About 4 hours after a workout, MPS rises to 150% of its normal resting level. 24 hours post-workout, that shoots up to 109%. Good times. Unfortunately however, after 36 hours, MPS is back to only 14% above baseline, and soon after, it returns to normal. (5) Therefore, by only training once a week (or even twice a week) you’re leaving a whole lotta increased MPS potential on the table. This is not a wise move if you’re after increased size. Additionally, have you heard the phrase “strength is a skill?” Essentially, this means that to get good at something, you have to do it a lot. It’s no good wanting your squat to go up, and only squatting once a week. Your muscles, joints and nervous system don’t get adequate stimulus to learn the
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movement. Sure, you might feel sore training a lift more than once a week if you’re not used to it, but that leads us on nicely to our next point…. Not only that, but you don’t actually have to train everything twice a week with DUP. You can do (and we recommend it) but training just once a week is certainly an option.
Q. But I Get Sore Training Twice a Week You get sore training twice a week because you’re not used to training twice a week. It’s like anything – your body adapts to it given time. And, rather than just adapting, your body becomes awesome at training a muscle twice a week, and reaps the benefits from added volume.
Q. Is there enough variation only using the powerlifting exercises? Let’s clear up a myth here – you don’t have to do DUP with just powerlifting exercises (squat, bench, deadlift.) You could do it with overhead presses, barbell rows – hell, even seated calf raises and rear delt flyes if you so wish. That being said, compound moves like the powerlifts give you more bang for your buck. They hit more muscle groups, and allow you to lift more weight, and more weight = more muscle growth. All the plans in here will revolve around the big three, but there’s no reason you can’t do front squats instead of back squats, power cleans in place of deadlifts, or military presses in place of bench. In fact, there is a program here for “beat up lifters” which uses different variations. Exercise variation (i.e. constantly switching exercises) is actually one of the most overrated training variables. Your body actually likes consistency, and again, provided you’re increasing the weights you’re lifting, or your reps over a period of time, you’ll get stronger and bigger.
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Q. How Do I Know I’m Progressing? Volume! Volume is a crucial factor in hypertrophy (as demonstrated by Schoenfeld et. al, 2014. (6)) Volume is the total workload performed – Weight x reps Volume can be measured over a daily, weekly or monthly basis. All the plans in here are designed so that gradually, over time, you increase your training volume, either by increasing weight, reps or sets. You won’t increase volume every single week, but each training block will have more volume than the last.
Q. Can I lose fat and train using DUP? Yes. And you’ll get much stronger using DUP on a cutting diet than you would using bodybuilding-style splits. That being said, DUP is even more effective when combined with a calorie surplus, or a bulking diet. There’s more on the diet aspect in the nutrition manual.
Q. What’s the best DUP routine? As with so many questions in fitness, the answer is “it depends.” There’s no one single DUP training plan, rather, DUP is a system that can be manipulated to match any goals, schedule, or required modifications. In this manual you’ll get plenty of sample routines that work a treat, but not only that, you’ll acquire the knowledge needed to set up your own tailored DUP template going forward. This means that by learning the DUP principles, you’ll never be stuck for how to train ever again.
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References 1. 2. 3. 4.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11991778 file:///Users/mikesamuelspt/Downloads/Periodizacao-Jonato-et-al.-2009.pdf http://www.sportsnutritionsociety.org/ArchivePDFS/ArchivePDFS-267.pdf http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=cLz_mwWQXucC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=willoug hby+1993+periodized&source=bl&ots=gCplZ9BxxU&sig=vqGMHW_2UN0WJDINUzOY7s SyZik&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0n8tVOalBIP5O7PggfAE&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=will oughby%201993%20periodized&f=false 5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8563679 6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2471453
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Quick-Starter Theory Before delving into the routines (don’t worry, we’re nearly there? You might find it useful to take a look at the theory behind DUP programming. At a base level, you have four different forms of training rep ranges – • • • •
Power Strength Hypertrophy Endurance
Power training typically involves very low reps (sets of 1 to 3 reps) with a heavy weight, and a focus on moving said weight as quickly and explosively as possible. Strength training takes place in the 1 to 6 rep range. This differs a little from power training, as you’ll usually use slightly heavier loads for higher reps. This means that you won’t move the weights as quickly. You’ll still be trying to accelerate as quickly as possible, but do to the higher loads, the speed will be reduced. Hypertrophy is your typical bodybuilding type training – sets of 8 to 12 reps using moderately heavy loads, and working towards fatigue or failure. Endurance training is lighter still, with even higher rep ranges – usually in the 12 to 20 rep range. Rep Range
Load (% of 1RM)
Reps per Set
Power 70-90 1-3 Strength 80-95 1-6 Hypertrophy 70-85 6-12 Endurance <70 12+ For your needs, we can more or less get rid of endurance training. It can have its place in a strength and muscle building routine, but the focus here should be on the first three – power, strength and hypertrophy. Each week, you’ll rotate between the three different rep ranges, across your choice of exercises.
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As stated, the goal is to gradually increase volume within each given rep range. For example, if you squatted 225 lbs for 4 sets of 8 reps in your hypertrophy session in one block, the next block you’d look to get 4 sets of 9 or 5 sets of 8 with 225 lbs, or even stick with 4 sets of 8, but add 10 lbs to the bar. That’s how you get bigger and stronger.
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Picking Your Percentages All the weights given in this manual are based off a percentage of your 1 rep maxes. This is where a lot of guys screw up. They think their 1 rep max is the weight they hit in competition, when the adrenaline was pumping hard, and they were amped up. Or, if you’ve not competed, you might be tempted to choose the weight you got 6 months ago, that was a real grinder, and you’re not really sure if it was a full rep or not. Here’s the deal – It’s better to start too light than too heavy. Therefore, if you’ve tested your 1 rep maxes recently (within the last 3 months) take 90% of your best good lifts, and use this as your max for all the programs. So if you hit 315 on the squat a couple of months back, use around 285 for your max here.
How to Find Your 1RM Experienced lifters will likely be able to make a good guess at their 1 rep max, or might even have tested them recently. If that’s the case, go with that. If not, here’s a quick guide to finding your max – -
Set aside a day for testing. You’ll need a good 2 hours for this, so make sure it’s a day when you’re not pushed for time. Ideally, you’ll test after 1 or 2 complete rest days, so that you’re fresh. The order you should run them in is squat, followed by bench press, followed by deadlift. Before your session, complete a thorough general warm up, to ensure you don’t go into the session stiff and cold. We’ll take squats as an example here, to walk through exactly how you’ll test: Pick a weight that’s around 30% of your estimated max. (This only needs to be a rough guess.) If you expect to squat 250 pounds for instance, take 70 to 80 pounds as your first set and perform 8 to 10 reps
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-
Add another 50% to this (taking you to around 45% of your estimated max) and perform another 8 to 10 reps. Jump up again (so you’re at around 60% of your predicted max) and do 5 to 6 reps. Another jump up in weight should take you to 70% - do a set of 3 to 5. Take one more weight increase up to around 80% and perform 2 reps. (So if you estimated a 250 pound 1RM, this set would be 200 pounds for 2 reps.) From here, you’ll switch to single reps. Perform 1 single at 90%. Keep putting 5 to 10 pounds on the bar and performing single reps until you reach a weight where you feel that another increase would lead to a failed rep. The weight you finish on is the weight you’ll use as your 1 rep max for any DUP protocol. You’ll need a good 3 to 4 minutes between sets once you start getting heavy, and at least 10 minutes between the different lifts, so have some fast-digesting carbs or at least a workout drink at hand to sustain you through this lifting marathon!
The other way we’ll look at weights is as an RPE – Rate of Perceived Exertion. This refers to how tough a lit feels – RPE 10 = All-out maximum effort. This is a really tough rep – a true 1 rep max, and the form is questionable. RPE 9 = Almost a maximum. The form’s good, but you couldn’t get another clean rep. RPE 8 = Good form, but very tough. You have 1, maybe 2 reps left in the tank. RPE 7 = You could do 3 more reps. Be sensible with these, and don’t try to go to failure on all the accessory work where an RPE is given.
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The Optimal DUP Template While there may not be a “best” DUP workout, in an ideal world, where time, equipment, commitments and past injuries weren’t a factor, this is as close to a best routine you’d get. It’s “optimal” because it trains each of the big three exercises (squat, deadlift and bench press) in the three different rep ranges, and uses the overhead press and barbell row as a further assistance exercises. You also get one accessory session for your “pump work” and, by performing four sessions per week on the main lifts, you ensure you don’t have to be in the gym for much longer than an hour each time.
Day 1 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Power
4
4
80%
+ 5lbs
+ 5lbs
Strength
3
5
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Squat
Bench Press
Overhead Press
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Day 2 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Deadlift
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Deadlift
Squat
4
4
80%
+ 10lbs
+ 10lbs
Squat
+ 5lbs
Bench Press
Bench Press
4
8
70%
+ 5lbs
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Day 3 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Bench Press
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Bench Press
Deadlift
4
8
70%
+ 10lbs
+ 10lbs
Deadlift
RPE 9
Barbell Row
Barbell Row
3
5
RPE 9
RPE 9
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Day 4 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Chins/ Pulldowns
4
6
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Dumbbell Rows
4
8
RPE 8
RPE 8
RPE 8
Face Pulls
3
10-15
RPE 8
RPE 8
RPE 8
Calf Raises
5
10-12 10-12
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Curls
4
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Category
10-12 Pushdowns 4
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Day 5 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Deadlift
4
4
80%
+ 10lbs
+ 10lbs
Strength
Squat
4
8
70%
+ 10lbs
+ 10lbs
Hypertrophy
Overhead Press
3
8
RPE 7
RPE 7
RPE 7
Accessory
Barbell Row
3
8
RPE 7
RPE 7
RPE 7
Accessory
Notes: -
-
-
You can train on any days you like. During the week, you get two days rest. The program is structured so that although you may train the same lift two days back to back, the first day of the two shouldn’t be overly taxing. The weight for the power exercises stays the same each week, as the focus here is on form and explosiveness, not necessarily shifting huge loads. You can see why starting lighter than you might want to is a good idea, as you add 5 lbs to your bench press weights each week, and 10 lbs to your squat and deadlift. The overhead presses and barbell rows are included purely as a way to increase volume without overtaxing you. You can keep the weights the same each week, or change them, depending on how you feel with the RPE. The same goes for the full accessory session – if you’re feeling particularly beat up, you may even need to go lighter in weeks 2 and 3, as volume for the main lifts increases.
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Side Note: Warming Up Warming up is something a lot of lifters struggle with – even the more experienced folk. While there’s no need to do hours and hours of mobility work, you can’t just go straight in and lift either. Perform a general movement-based warm up to get your whole body moving. The key areas most guys should focus on are the hips, knees, ankles and shoulders. As a quick, go-to warm-up with a mix of mobility, flexibility and activation, try – -
-
Foam roll your upper-back, IT band, quads and hamstrings. Use a tennis ball or hockey ball to loosen off tight spots in your calves, glutes and pecs. Perform 15-20 reps each on – o Groiners, Spiderman Pushups, high-knee step-ups, bird-dogs, kneeling hip circles, shoulder dislocations using a resistance band or broom handle. The complete a brief activity circuit 2-3 times, consisting of – o Box jumps or broad jumps for 5 reps, clap Pushups for 5 reps, kettlebell swings for 10 reps, X-band walks for 10 steps each way.
Once you’ve run all this through (which should take around 10 minutes) start warming up for your lifts in exactly the same way as you did when testing your maxes.
Side Note 2: Sets, Reps, Rest & Workout Flow This is something that’s too often overlooked in online workout programs, as it’s often deemed as being “too basic.” But it never hurts to reinforce the basics. A rep is one movement of an exercise. So a rep on a squat involves starting in the upright position, squatting down until your hip joint is below your knee joint, then moving back up to the start. A set is a collection of reps. So if a session reads “Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps” you’d do 5 squats, take a break, then do 4 more lots of 5. Rest seems straightforward – it’s the amount of time you take between sets. For the most part, you needn’t be strict with rest periods on DUP. You want maximum
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performance on every single set, which may mean taking up to 5 minutes on your heaviest days. That being said, a good guide with regard to rest is – Sets of 5 or below = 2 ½ to 4 minutes rest Sets of 6 to 10 = 1 ½ to 2 ½ minutes rest Sets of 11 and above = 60-90 seconds rest
Workout flow is a little more tricky to address, but the best general piece of advice would be to work as quickly as possible, while ensuring you perform at a high intensity. You don’t want to train lazily, and be texting, talking or taking really long breaks between everything. Likewise, if you’re barely resting at all, and start to fail reps, or find that even your lighter sessions are feeling incredibly difficult, you might want to take a bit longer and slow things down.
What to Do Next On completion of week 3, you’ve got three options as to how to progress.
Option 1: Increase Your Training Maxes This is the easiest, and most sustainable option. Simply add 5 lbs to your bench press working max, and 10 lbs to your squat and deadlift maxes, then run the program again, using the same sets and reps, but with added weight.
Option 2: Add Volume A second (almost as straightforward) way to progress is to add an extra set to every exercise while keeping the weight the same.
Option 3: Deload and Test Your Maxes If you’re relatively new to training (or strength training specifically) you will make big increases in just 3 weeks. This might make a deload (light training week, followed by a testing week, where you run a mock powerlifting meet, the better
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option. Don’t worry, we’ll tell you exactly how to do all this in the DUP guide to meet prep.
Bonus: Why 3 weeks? A lot of guys wonder why the above template is set up for 3 weeks. It’s a valid question, and actually, there are a number of reasons why – it’s not just randomly plucked from thin air. The main reason is because most intermediate and advanced guys need a lighter week around once a month, meaning that smashing it hard for 3 weeks, followed by 1 week of light training is optimal for strength gains without burning out. However, that being said, if you want to run two blocks back to back, with no rest between, then 6 weeks isn’t an extortionate amount of time to go without a break for. Had we set everything up as a 4-week cycle, and you decided to run two cycles consecutively, by week 8, you would be battered, bruised, and probably regressing in terms of size and strength. We’ve actually set every DUP template up in here to run for 3 weeks, purely because it seems to work best. Therefore, whatever level you’re at, and whatever program you choose, you’ll train hard for 3 weeks (increasing volume each week) then take the fourth week off, or, if you decide to go against the deloading principle, you’ll do six weeks on, one off.
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DUP Part Deux: The 4-Day Week Not everyone has the time or the inclination to train 5 days per week. It doesn’t mean you don’t want to reach your goals any less, it just means that you have other stuff going on – work, wife, kids, and so on. You might not even like the gym that much, and that’s cool, but if you LOVE the idea of getting big and strong still, then a 4-day per week DUP is the option for you. Essentially, this is the optimal template condensed into four days.
Day 1 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Squat
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Power
Bench Press
4
4
80%
+ 5lbs
+ 5lbs
Strength
Deadlift
4
8
70%
+ 10lbs
+ 10lbs
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Day 2 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Bench Press
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Power
Deadlift
4
4
80%
+ 10lbs
+ 10lbs
Strength
Squat
4
8
70%
+ 10lbs
+ 10lbs
Hypertrophy
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Day 3 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Deadlift
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Power
Squat
4
4
80%
+ 10lbs
+ 10lbs
Strength
Bench Press
4
8
70%
+ 5lbs
+ 5lbs
Hypertrophy
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Accessory Day Weight Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Chins/ Pull- 4 ups Dumbbell 4 Rows
5-8
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
5-8
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Pulldowns
3
8-12
RPE 8
RPE 8
RPE 8
Accessory
Face Pulls
3
12-15
RPE 8
RPE 8
RPE 8
Accessory
Calf Raises
5
10-12
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Curls
4
10-12
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Pushdowns 4
10-12
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Lateral Raises
10-12
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
4
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Notes: The only real difference between the 4-day and 5-day template is that the four main lift sessions are squeezed into three days, and as such, the accessory rows and overhead presses are taken out. You also get a bit more upper back and shoulder volume in the accessory session as you’re not rowing and pressing in the main workouts. Just as before, you can train on whatever days best suit your schedule, though here, obviously you can take a day’s break between the main workouts. This works well training day 1 on Monday, resting on Tuesday, performing day 2 on Wednesday, then adding in the accessory session on Thursday, resting Friday, with day 3 on Saturday and a rest on Sunday.
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The Busy Guy’s Guide to DUP So five sessions per week is way too much? Maybe even four is pushing it? The wife’s annoyed at you spending so much time at the gym, and the rest of your life’s starting to suffer? Again, that’s fine, there’s a DUP template for you, Mr. Busy. Your workouts will be a bit longer, as we’ll try to get extra volume in, but you can handle that, right? Here’s how we’ll set it up:
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Day 1 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Squat
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Power
Deadlift
4
4
80%
+10 lbs
+10 lbs
Strength
Bench Press
4
8
70%
+ 5 lbs
+ 5 lbs
Hypertrophy
Overhead 4 Press
6-8
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Chin-ups/ 4 Pull-ups
6-8
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
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Day 2 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Bench Press
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Power
Squat
4
4
80%
+10 lbs
+10 lbs
Strength
Deadlift
4
8
70%
+ 10 lbs
+ 10 lbs
Hypertrophy
Barbell Rows
4
8-12
RPE 8
RPE 8
RPE 8
Accessory
Lateral Raises
4
12-15
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
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Day 3 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Deadlift
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Power
Bench Press
4
4
80%
+5 lbs
+5 lbs
Strength
Squat
4
8
70%
+ 10 lbs
+ 10 lbs
Hypertrophy
Curls
4
10-12
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Pushdowns 4
10-12
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Calf Raises
12-15
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
4
The beauty of this is that you still get each of the big three in, three times per week, using the different rep ranges. Not only that, but you get your “fluff work” in too – the curls, the pushdowns and the raises, so your guns, delts and calves aren’t neglected. The workouts here may take slightly longer than if you were to train four or five days per week, but you can still be in and out of the gym in 75 minutes, and only need three sessions per week. If that’s still too much though – hey, it’s understandable with today’s modern life – you can still get epic results using DUP twice a week.
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The Uber-Busy Guy’s DUP Template The difference here, is that instead of working each rep range once a week (one strength, one power, one hypertrophy session) you’ll perform two sessions of each over a 3-week period.
Week 1, Day 1: Exercise
Sets
Reps
Load
Category
Squat Bench Press Deadlift Barbell Row Overhead Press Pull-down or Pullup
6 4 4 3 3
2 4 8 8 8
80% 80% 70% RPE 8 RPE 8
Power Strength Hypertrophy Accessory Accessory
3
8
RPE 8
Accessory
Week 1, Day 2: Exercise
Sets
Reps
Load
Category
Deadlift Squat Bench Press Barbell Row Overhead Press Pull-down or Pullup
6 4 4 3 3
2 4 8 5 5
80% 80% 70% RPE 9 RPE 9
Power Strength Hypertrophy Accessory Accessory
3
5
RPE 9
Accessory
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Week 2, Day 1: Exercise
Sets
Reps
Load
Category
Bench Press Deadlift Squat Barbell Row Overhead Press Pull-down or Pullup
6 4 4 3 3
2 4 8 8 8
80% 80% 70% RPE 8 RPE 8
Power Strength Hypertrophy Accessory Accessory
3
8
RPE 8
Accessory
Week 2, Day 2: Exercise
Sets
Reps
Load
Category
Squat Bench Press Deadlift Barbell Row Overhead Press Pull-down or Pullup
6 4 4 3 3
2 4 8 5 5
80% 80% + 5 lbs 70% + 10lbs RPE 9 RPE 9
Power Strength Hypertrophy Accessory Accessory
3
5
RPE 9
Accessory
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Week 3, Day 1: Exercise
Sets
Reps
Load
Category
Deadlift Squat Bench Press Barbell Row Overhead Press Pull-down or Pullup
6 4 4 3 3
2 4 8 5 5
80% 80% + 10 lbs 70% + 5 lbs RPE 9 RPE 9
Power Strength Hypertrophy Accessory Accessory
3
5
RPE 9
Accessory
Reps
Load
Category
Week 3, Day 2: Exercise
Sets
Bench Press 6 2 80% Power Deadlift 4 4 80% + 10 lbs Strength Squat 4 8 70% + 10 lbs Hypertrophy Barbell Row 3 5 RPE 9 Accessory Overhead 3 5 RPE 9 Accessory Press Pull-down or 3 5 RPE 9 Accessory Pullup Despite the fact this set up means training less frequently than what may be considered optimal, it’s still a far, far superior approach to a 2-day template on a typical bodybuilding routine, where you may only train an exercise once every two weeks.
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Hypertrophy-Specific DUP Bodybuilders are stuck in their ways. They still like that “train to failure, once a week nonsense” so trying to convince Big Barry Biceps from your local spit and sawdust weights room to try out a routine where he trains everything two or three times per week, and only does squats and deadlifts for his lower body can be a little challenging. Despite this degree of trepidation however, bodybuilders, no matter how experience, fare fantastically well with DUP. Often, the increase in training frequency alone is enough to ignite new size and strength gains. Any of the DUP templates will provide this, but that’s not to say they’re necessarily the “best” options if hypertrophy is your number one goal. There’s one very simple way you can make daily undulating periodization more suited to hypertrophy though, and that is by changing how often you work in different rep ranges. Remember we had our three rep ranges – power, strength and hypertrophy. Now, power training can definitely aid muscle growth, and there’s no doubt that getting stronger with strength training will also bring about size increases, but as suggested by the name, if you want to increase muscular hypertrophy, then hypertrophy-specific training is the best of the three. Hypertrophy training typically involves training in the 8 to 12 rep range, using slightly less weight than you would in a strength workout. In fact, it’s what you’ve probably read in most bodybuilding magazines. In nearly every edition, you’ll see “Use a moderate load for 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps, stopping just shy of failure” mentioned at least once. While there is more to it than that (much more in fact,) that is the basic premise of hypertrophy.
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So how can we make a DUP block more suited to hypertrophy training? The answer – switch up how often you work in the hypertrophy rep range. This can be done using any of the above templates, but to give you an idea of what it might look like using a 3-day and 4-day structure –
4-Days Per Week Week
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
1 2 3 4
Power Power Power Power
Hypertrophy Hypertrophy Hypertrophy Hypertrophy
Strength Strength Strength Strength
Hypertrophy Hypertrophy Hypertrophy Hypertrophy
3-Days Per Week Week
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
1 Power Hypertrophy Strength 2 Hypertrophy Power Hypertrophy 3 Strength Hypertrophy Power 4 Hypertrophy Strength Hypertrophy The above could be applied to a single exercise, or to every exercise. For instance, if you wanted to perform your squats, deadlifts and bench presses all in the same rep ranges every session, this would be easy to plan. Using the 4-days per week set up, you’d simple make day 1 your power day for squats, deadlifts and bench presses, day 2 your hypertrophy day for all three, day 3 your strength day for all three, and so on. However, if you wanted to get really fancy, you could train each exercise for a different rep range every day. This is not recommended if you struggle to keep tabs on what you’re supposed to be doing every day as it is, but if you’re organised, and find that some sessions – say performing all your strength exercises on the same day – is just too taxing, and compromises performance, you could try something along the lines of the following –
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Week
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
1
- Power squat - Strength Bench - Hypertrophy Deadlift
- Power Bench - Strength Deadlift - Hypertrophy Squat
- Power squat - Strength Bench - Hypertrophy Deadlift
2
- Power Bench - Strength Deadlift - Hypertrophy Squat
- Power Deadlift -Strength Squat - Hypertrophy Bench - Power squat - Strength Bench - Hypertrophy Deadlift
- Power Deadlift -Strength Squat - Hypertrophy Bench - Power squat - Strength Bench - Hypertrophy Deadlift
3
- Power Bench - Strength Deadlift - Hypertrophy Squat
- Power - Power Bench - Power Deadlift - Strength Deadlift -Strength Deadlift -Strength Squat - Hypertrophy Squat - Hypertrophy Squat - Hypertrophy Bench Bench Another, potentially more “interesting” way to make DUP more specific to hypertrophy is to add more fluff work. What do we mean by fluff work? Essentially it’s hitting those bodybuilder muscles – the ones that powerlifters mock, but secretly love – the biceps, traps, calves, and so forth. A super simple way to do this is just to add an extra accessory session each week. When doing this, a great way to go about it is to change the exercises, and/or the sets and reps for each accessory session. So you could have –
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Session 1 Exercise
Sets
Reps
Chin-ups/ Pull-downs Row variation Lateral Raise Calf Raise variation Curls Pushdowns
5 5 4 4 4 4
6-8 6-8 8-10 6-8 8-10 8-10
Sets
Reps
Session 2 Exercise
Chin-ups/ Pull-downs 4 10-12 Row variation 4 10-12 Lateral Raise 3 12-15 Calf Raise variation 3 12-15 Curls 3 12-15 Pushdowns 3 12-15 These numbers are not set in stone, or gospel, they just demonstrate how you could vary the loads and rep ranges each session. Day 1 could be 4 sets of 5 on everything, or 6 sets of 10, while day 2 could be 2 sets of 15 or 3 sets of 20. In reality, it doesn’t matter too much, it’s simply a way of working through different ranges.
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DUP for Beat-Up Lifters So your knees aren’t what they used to be? Your shoulders don’t like you bench pressing, your hips creak from time to time, and deadlifts are out due to a lower-back injury 15 years ago? Don’t worry. DUP doesn’t discriminate and make itself available only for those in tip-top shape. All you need to do is tweak your exercise selection to suit what you can and can’t do. As far as exercise rotation goes, here are the best substitutes for those who suffer with typical injuries and can’t perform regular squats, deadlifts and bench presses.
Squat Substitutions -
-
Safety bar or cambered bar squats . Your best bet if it’s an upper-body injury that stops you holding the bar when back squatting. High bar Olympic squats. Make these your go-to if you can squat, but can’t assume a low bar position. Box squats or Pin squats. These work if you can’t achieve full depth on a back squat. Front Squats. Lots of lifters find their lower-back takes over when back squatting. If this happens for you, go with front squats instead, as they keep you in a much more upright position.
Deadlift Substitutions -
-
-
Sumo deadlifts. These are still a competition legal form of deadlifting, and you may well use a sumo stance anyway. If not though, give it a go – you get less lower-back involvement, and more from your glutes and hamstrings. Block pulls. Can’t pull from the floor? Go with blocks or with the barbell on pins, anywhere from 2 to 6 inches off the floor. Paused deadlifts .
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-
-
If you’re worried about going too heavy and risking your back, do paused deadlifts where you make the initial pull, then pause with the bar at mid-shin level for 1 to 2 seconds, then finish the movement. Deficit deadlifts. Performed standing on a 1 to 3 inch platform, and would be used for the same reasons as paused deadlifts. Trap bar deadlifts This is the deadlift equivalent to the front squats. A much more quad-dominant movement, using the trap bar keeps you in a more upright position, and allows you to keep a neutral spine easier.
Bench Substitutions -
-
-
-
-
Swiss Bar Presses. The Swiss bar (often called a football bar) has neutral handles, which can often be a more comfortable position for your shoulders. Board Presses. Need to reduce the range of motion on your bench presses, perhaps due to a previous pec or shoulder injury? Go with board presses. Get a 1, 2 or 3 inch board, and have a partner hold it on your chest when you bench, or secure it around your torso with a resistance band if you train on your own. Incline or Decline Presses There’s no particular reason why these might benefit you, or prevent the reoccurrence of an injury, but some lifters just fare better with them. Dumbbell Bench Presses These work okay, but there are two issues. Firstly, working out your one rep max is difficult, and if you train on your own, getting the dumbbells into position on your heavier days will be a struggle. Weighted Pushups I’ve had these recommended to me before, and they certainly can work, but like dumbbell presses, they probably aren’t the best alternative. For one, you need to factor your bodyweight into the equation every time you train, and loading can be problematic.
Sample Program for Beat-Up Lifters This really is as simple as taking any of the previous templates, and altering them so they fit your needs. Let’s look at the busy guy’s template as an example – 6 4 e g a P
Day 1 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Front Squat
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Power
3” Block Pull
4
4
80%
+10 lbs
+10 lbs
Strength
Swiss Bar Press
4
8
70%
+ 5 lbs
+ 5 lbs
Hypertrophy
Overhead 4 Press
6-8
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Chin-ups/ 4 Pull-ups
6-8
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
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Day 2 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
Swiss Bar Press
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Power
Front Squat
4
4
80%
+10 lbs
+10 lbs
Strength
3” Block Pull
4
8
70%
+ 10 lbs
+ 10 lbs
Hypertrophy
Barbell Rows
4
8-12
RPE 8
RPE 8
RPE 8
Accessory
Lateral Raises
4
12-15
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
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Day 3 Weight
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Category
3” Block Pull
5
3
80%
80%
80%
Power
Swiss Bar Press
4
4
80%
+5 lbs
+5 lbs
Strength
Front Squat
4
8
70%
+ 10 lbs
+ 10 lbs
Hypertrophy
Curls
4
10-12
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Pushdowns 4
10-12
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
Calf Raises
12-15
RPE 9
RPE 9
RPE 9
Accessory
4
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Progressing and Moving from Cycle to Cycle I’ll level with you here – there’s no precise reason why each routine is set up for three weeks. Scientifically, this doesn’t come across as any better than a 2-week, 4-week or 6-week cycle. Anecdotally, however, three weeks works tremendously well. Why? Over the course of three weeks, you’ll be able to add weight to the bar (as seen by the 5 lb jumps for the bench press and the 10 lb jumps for the deadlift) without your sets and reps dropping. However, week four is where you can start to feel a little beat up. Your technique may go slightly off, you feel more sore and fatigued than you’d like, you have the odd session that just doesn’t go to plan, and if the worst comes to the worst, you start missing reps. Some folk will find they can train past three weeks, but the longer you train for, the heavier your maxes will be, the more volume you’ll perform in your workouts, and the more you’ll feel a need for that break after three weeks. Thing is though, we’re not going to take a break. We’re going to deload.
Deloading Aside from over-reaching or getting injured, taking a whole week off completely from lifting is one of the worst things you can do for your size and strength gains. Your body likes consistency, and it gets into a rhythm lifting frequently. The trouble is, you just can’t maintain a high level of performance week after week. This is where deloading comes in.
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If you were also lucky enough to get your hands on the DUP accelerator manual, you’ll see how deloads are built in there, to enable you to carry on progressing, while giving yourself some much-needed recovery. Too many guys completely screw up their progress and take huge steps back by taking a whole week off the gym, or not structuring a deload correctly, so here’s where you learn the ins and outs of deloading. The principle is to lift light enough that your nervous system, your muscles and your joints get a break, but not so light that your body “forgets” how to lift. Depending on what DUP template you’ve been following, you won’t be lifting quite as frequently during a deload, and it’s recommended that on your nonlifting days, you just rest. Don’t try to throw in any whacky cardio. Don’t experiment with new exercises. Just stick to the plan.
Oh, and keep your nutrition on point too – you might be taking training a little easier, but you need good nutrition to aid recovery, so treat it as you would a regular training week. Deloading is remarkably simple. Here’s what you’ll do –
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Day 1: Exercise
Sets
Reps
Load
Squat Deadlift Bench Press
5 5 5
5 5 5
70% 70% 70%
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Load
Squat Deadlift Bench Press
3 3 3
8 8 8
60% 60% 60%
Sets
Reps
Load
Day 2:
Day 3: Exercise
Chin-ups/ 3 8 RPE 7 Pulldowns Overhead Press 3 8 RPE 7 Row Variation 3 8 RPE 7 Curls 2 10-15 RPE 8 Pushdowns 2 10-15 RPE 8 Calf Raises 2 10-15 RPE 8 If you can only make it to the gym twice, that’s cool. You’re probably better off doing the two sessions of the big three, and skipping the accessory workout, or adding a few accessory exercises into your two main workouts. When deloading, it’s vital you leave your ego at the door. Think long-term progress, not short-term training effects. The only reason to skip a deload week is if you absolutely aced your last three weeks of training, so much so that it almost felt too easy. In which case, you just need to progress your program as detailed in just a moment. After your deload, you should feel rested, recovered, and ready to crush it again. We’ll tell you what to do for your next cycle over the page.
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Moving from Cycle to Cycle Ever heard that phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?” Never has this been more appropriate than with weight training. Listen. DUP works. It works seriously well. It might be basic, but basic is usually best, and, provided you set your maxes correctly, you should feel on top of the world with your training, and be ready to go ahead with exactly the same template (with a few minor alterations.) Exercise variation, and randomly switching movements to create “muscle confusion” is one of the most downright backward concepts in the training industry. Constantly switching round what you’re doing can only ever lead to a lack of gains, and poor results. This approach might make you feel more sore, but soreness does not directly equate to progress. Therefore, if you enjoyed your last cycle and got results on it, take your deload week, then repeat the exact same workout. Well, not the EXACT same – you need to change it slightly, and that change comes in the form of loading.
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Increasing Your Maxes Nine out of 10 people will do best simply by adding 5 lbs to their bench press training max, and 10 lbs to their squat and deadlift maxes, then working out the correct percentages. For example, if you used 225 for your bench max, 275 for your squat and 315 for your deadlift first time round, your new training maxes for cycle two will be 230 for your bench, 280 for your squat, and 320 for your deadlift. However, there are certain caveats to this …… If you missed any reps on a particular exercise in your first block, then keep your training max the same. For instance, if you followed the plan, but only hit 2 sets of 8, a set of 7 and a set of 6 on your bench press in week 3, then a better option is to keep your bench max the same, but aim to nail all those reps on week 3 next time around. If you seriously bombed, and missed reps in week 2 (or even week 1) then you probably set your maxes too high, so lower them by 10-20% and repeat the cycle. On the other end of the spectrum, if your first three weeks was just too damn easy, you’re going to need to go heavier than the suggest 5 and 10 lb increases. How much heavier? It depends. If you’d rate the difficulty level of most of week 3’s sessions as a 7 or 8 out of 10, add 20 lbs to your squat and deadlift training maxes, and 10 lbs to your bench press max. If your sessions in week 3 were about as challenging as a Sunday afternoon stroll with grandma, then add 30 lbs and 15 lbs respectively. Once again, keeping a level head is vital – do not let your ego get the better of you. You don’t want to miss reps at all.
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So set your new maxes, and run the last cycle again. Alternatively, if you’re itching for a change, why not try a different template. You might get some more time free up, and decide to go from four days per week to five. You might decide you want to specialise in a lift (as per the workouts in the specialisation manual) or you may even decide to peak for a meet. Whatever you decide, there’s a DUP program just right for you.
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The Wrap Up How does that feel? You know have a plethora of DUP programs at your fingertips. So many in fact, that you’ll never run out of routines to try. Forget all this nonsense about muscle confusion, and needing to completely overhaul your routine every 4 weeks – you could stick to DUP for the rest of your training days, and continue to get bigger, stronger and not have to worry about needlessly cycling from workout to workout, wondering what the heck you’re going to do next. The important thing to remember too, is that DUP is not a specific program, nor is it even a series of programs. It’s simply a method of undulating periodization and loading throughout a training block. Say for instance that you really hate back squats, have no interest in powerlifting, and would rather do front squats. That’s not a problem at all. Just pick any routine here, and substitute out back squats for front squats. Or safety bar squats. Or paused squats. Or pin squats. The choice is yours. You could even opt for leg presses! Okay, you don’t get as much bang for your buck, and testing your leg press max to figure out percentages wouldn’t be the best idea in the world, but the theory would still apply.
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Likewise, you needn’t stick with the exact set and rep lists here, or even the percentages. You might know that due to your biomechanics and muscle fiber type, that 4 sets of 4 reps at 80% on your deadlift would be seriously tough, and that come the third week of a cycle, you’d be using bad form, or even failing reps. No issue again – start at 75%. Similarly, more experienced lifters may be able to increase weights from week to week by more than 5 or 10 pounds, while newbies might need to go lighter. Those newer to training or powerlifting-style training should probably stick to the programs as written as much as possible, but more experienced trainers can absolutely tweak things as they go through. And that’s pretty much it. We’d love to know how you get on though – so give us your feedback, and feel free to fire over any questions.
Where to go from here If you enjoyed the program, but want to get results even faster (AKA you’re impatient), then we’d recommend you checkout the DUP Method Accelerator Upgrade: http://www.jmaxfitness.com/the-dup-method-acc/ If you want to save yourself lots of time and would prefer our done-for-you software package of the DUP Method, then you can check that out here: http://www.jmaxfitness.com/the-dup-method-dfy/ If either your bench press, your squat, or your deadlift sucks, you may want to specialize that life. If this is the case, then we’d recommend the DUP Method Specialization Package: http://www.jmaxfitness.com/the-dup-method-spclztn/
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