My
approach is one of simplicity. As Bruce Lee said, strip away the unessential.
Its only when you hone your training down to the essentials, do you actually experience incredible
results.
This is where MEGA Training comes in, or Minimum Effort Growth Acceleration Training.
MEGA Training is a training style I have coined that focuses your efforts on the key exercises and lifting
protocols that will produce the most powerful gains.
The ability to cover all your bases over fewer workouts and fewer exercises will allow for a much faster
rate of strength and muscle gains.
This is because you will experience better recovery, both neural and muscular, and you will be able to
train without compromising intensity or psychological arousal.
As natural lifters, were not very good at doing multiple things at once. Recovering from a torturous
amount of training volume and making consistent improvements in strength and power is very hard to do.
Lifting on non-consecutive days for maximum neural recovery, limiting my workouts to 4-5 exercises of
only 2-3 sets and taking 3 minutes of rest between heavy sets has resulted in downright incredible results.
At the very heart of this style of training is a lifting protocol that is hands-down the most sensible way to
train for strength and hypertrophy.
If you use reverse pyramid training to build a high level of relative strength, you will move towards what I
refer to as the Greek God Physique.
This is a physique categorized by a very solid level of muscle development and proportion. Think Brad
Pitt in Troy or Daniel Craig in Skyfall. Taut waist, v-shaped back, square chest and well defined legs,
shoulders and arms.
But theres a step beyond that, which is a look I call the Superhero physique. For adequate examples,
just look at Henry Cavill in Man of Steel or Chris Hemsworth in Thor.
This is similar to the Greek God Physique, but with an extra 10 pounds of pretty muscle. This extra size
is the result of enhanced fluid and glycogen in the muscles.
This gives your physique a fuller and more powerful look. To achieve this Superhero physique, we need to
bring in a form of pump training.
By itself, pump training is a horrible replacement for proper strength training, but when combined
strategically, it works wonders.
The style of pump training Im about to share with you will allow you to gain an additional 6 to10 pounds of
pretty muscle. Think of it as the cherry on top.
Limiting rest after a high rep set to only 20 seconds lets the body maintain the temporary state of
heightened muscle fiber recruitment.
Four to five of these mini sets are all it takes to trigger a high level of muscle growth.
Keep in mind, you want to use the same weight on your mini sets as your initial activation set. This is due
to the fact that youre only resting 10-20 seconds.
Rest pause training is like a muscle-building loophole that allows you to get enhanced muscle fiber
stimulation with a light weight.
Workout Notes
RPT = Reverse Pyramid Training. Reduce the weight by around 10% for each subsequent set. For
example, if you did 80 lbs dumbbell shoulder presses for your first set, youd go down to 70 lbs for your
second set and 60-65 lbs for your third set (it doesnt have to be exactly 10%). Rest a full 3 minutes
between these sets.
When you can hit the top end of the rep interval for a set, increase the weight of that set by 5 lbs the
following workout.
For weighted pull ups, use total weight (bodyweight + additional weight) when determining 10%.
For rest pause training pick a weight you can do for 12-15 reps. After which, rest 15-20 seconds and
perform 3-5 reps. Do 4-5 of these mini sets. The goal is to build up to 15 reps on the activation set and 5
mini sets of 5 reps with no more than 20 seconds rest between sets.
Closing Thoughts
I challenge you to try the above routine for three weeks, and tell me you dont experience some of the
best strength and muscle gains of your life, even on lifts youve previously plateaued on.
Lifting just three days per week with only five exercises per workout might scare you to death, but this is
the power of MEGA Training.
You might be tempted to stack more exercises and more workouts on top of this routine, but that is
precisely when the power of the routine will be compromised.
When you build up your physique with a lower volume approach some amazing things will happen.
One, youll be a lot stronger than you look. Building size without living in the gym requires you to get very
strong.
Secondly, you will maintain your muscle size effortlessly. If you take