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June 13, 2005
Build might and muscle with the classic 'countdown to power'
John McKean sent me an article he wrote about the 54321 routine back in the sixties. It details how to make great gains by doing consecutive sets of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 repetitions.
"The countdown provides the lifter with several advantages." writes McKean who has won many titles in powerlifting and all-around lifting and started his writing career in Strength & Health under legendary John Grimek. “First of all, he is relieved of the boredom of doing set after set with the same weight or for the same number of counts. Secondly, he looks forward to each coming set because, in his mind, the decreased repetitions make it easier to perform. Of course there is more weight to contend with but those detestable reps are diminished! It can also be seen that the body acquires a gradual adjustment to an ever-increasing weight. When one can force his mind and body to accept heavier workloads, he begins to improve.”
McKean gives you the freedom to decide what poundage jumps you are going to make between sets. Most experienced lifters jump ten to twenty pounds, John McKean added thirty five pounds per set to his squats, and some big dudes add as much as a hundred pounds between sets! Simple math tells that you should be putting up at least five wheels to make such jumps. Ten pound increases should be about right for the average bodybuilder, e.g. 200x5, 210x4, 220x3, 230x2, 240x1. Note that not all sets will be equally difficult; that is fine and even purposeful, ‘cycling’ within a workout.
John advises that your first workout should start out with the top single twenty pounds below your best. Practice the 54321 system three times a week and add five pounds to each set every workout. In two weeks you will overshoot your old max. If you keep working hard, you may end up with a forty-pound gain on your lift in one month, a typical experience for the 1960s powerlifters and bodybuilders who took on this program.
For more information on this topic order Pavel’s Beyond Bodybuilding today.
Posted by james at June 13, 2005 5:21 AM