10-Ton
WORKOUT
Lift beyond your limits to ramp up gains in
size and strength >>
156
training
By David
Barr, CSCS,
CISSN, and
Mark Thorpe
Workout
photos by
Pavel
Ythjall
muscleandfitness.com
157
training 10-Ton
pushpress
Your
Imagination,
like your knees, gets stiffer with
age. As a kid, leaping over tall
buildings in a single bound was an
everyday occurrence. But being
a grown-up has a way of stifling
the belief that you can do heroic
things, and the monotonous drone
of self-preservation often drowns
out the primal call to challenge
yourself.
We have the Superman antidote
for your Clark Kent malaise. We
can’t help you fly faster than a
speeding bullet or develop X-ray
vision, but we can help you lift a
whopping 10 tons. That’s right:
10 tons. That’s 20,000 pounds.
The 10-Ton Workout is your
remedy for stagnation and selfabnegation. It’s the phone booth
that’ll transform you from a bumbling milksop into a man of steel.
Without making a concerted effort
to find new ways to keep the
whole endeavor fresh, it’s easy to
find yourself floundering, lifting
the same weights month after
month. This is your chance to
overhaul your physique.
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MUSCLE & FITNESS
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training 10-Ton
How It Works
You’re going to get bigger in 30 days.
Stronger, too. In fact, every time you
train using this program, you’ll set a
new personal record. Better yet, you’re
not going to just perform the workout
each day, you’re going to do it better
each day.
“You’re going beyond sets and reps,”
says Nick Tumminello, a strength and
conditioning coach in Baltimore who
works with bodybuilders, NFL players
and professional fighters. “You’re
focusing on total amount of weight
moved, and the more weight you move,
the stronger you are. Period.”
The program is simple yet punishing. Seven main lifts are split into three
training days: bench presses and
shrugs; squats and romanian deadlifts;
and push-presses, bent-over rows and
close-grip benches. During each workout, you’ll lift 10 tons using our setsreps-weight formula with the primary
exercises. For example, in week 1, day
1, you’ll do five sets of eight reps using
185 pounds on the bench, then six
sets of nine reps using 225 pounds
on shrugs to equal roughly 10 tons.
Accessory exercises are then performed but don’t contribute to the total
tonnage.
Your goal is to start as close to 10
tons as you can in the first workout and
then improve on it in each subsequent
gym session (we include 12- and 15-ton
workout options, as well). By the time
you complete the program, you’ll have
increased your total weekly load by yet
another 10 tons (or 12 or 15).
WEIGHTED
DECLINE SIT-UP
The main effects — hypertrophy and
strength — come from minor changes
each week. When you start with our
week 1 bench press, you’re moving
a total of 7,400 pounds in that one
exercise (sets x reps x weight). The
BONUS
CONTENT
ON THE
WEB
160
For video demonstrations
of some exercises featured
in this program, go to
muscleandfitness.com
and click on
“Bonus Content”
MUSCLE & FITNESS
08.10
WOODCHOPPER
gym: World Sports Center, worldsportsctr.com
pgs. 156 –157: photo i llustration by aaron goodman
Why It Works
training 10-Ton
next week, after your muscles have grown
slightly bigger and stronger, you’ll add
just one rep per set.
While this may seem insignificant, it
isn’t to your muscles because it adds
another 800 pounds of growth-inducing
stimulus. Adding a rep in each subsequent
week means more muscle stress and
thereby growth. By the end of the fourweek program, you’ll be benching nearly
8,000 pounds more than you did in week
1. That’s a lot of payoff for small but consistent improvement.
A key motivator built into this routine
is its progressive nature. “This program
gives you a specific performance goal
for each workout,” Tumminello says.
“Noth­ing ensures you eat, sleep and train
properly like walking into the gym and
knowing you must set a new personal
record.”
If you can’t hit the 10-ton mark, don’t
worry; the progressive overload in each
session is what really matters. Just plug
a weight you can handle into our setsand-reps formula and follow the program
from there.
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Mediocrity
or Mass?
“There’s working out and then there’s
training,” Tumminello points out. “Train­
ing is when you have a progressive plan
with measurable goals and continual
challenges. Working out is anything that
makes you sweaty and tired but not necessarily bigger or stronger because it
lacks consistency, direction and specifi­
city. The 10-Ton Workout is for those who
want to train using a progressive program
that ensures success.” Are you in?
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MUSCLE & FITNESS
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BENTOVER
ROW
training 10-Ton
The 10-ton
program
The first number under
“weight” corresponds to the
10-Ton Workout, and the next
two are for the more challenging 12- and 15-Ton workouts. Find the one that’s right
for you and stick with it for
four weeks, then work up to
the next highest weight. The
total tonnage for the first
week comes in at just less
than 10 tons per workout.
From there, the weight
increases slightly each week.
By week 4, you’ll lift upward
of 10 tons per workout and 10
tons more than in week 1.
Week 1
Exercise
Weight
Sets/RepsTonnage
(Pounds)
(Pounds)
Day 1
Bench Press
Barbell Shrug
Seated Dumbbell Curl
Face Pull Day 2
Squat
Romanian Deadlift
Weighted Decline Sit-Up
Day 3
Push-Press
Bent-Over Row
Close-Grip Bench Press
Woodchopper 10/12/15 ton
185/225/275
5/8 225/275/335 6/9 30/35/45 4/8
50/60/75 4/8
10/12/15 ton
7,400/9,000/11,000
12,150/14,850/18,090
—
—
225/275/335 165/195/245 15/25/35 5/10
5/10
4/10
11,250/13,750/16,750
8,250/9,750/12,250
—
135/165/205
95/115/145 165/195/245
50/60/75 6/9
5/9
5/10 4/10 each side
7,290/8,910/11,070
4,275/5,175/6,525
8,250/9,750/12,250
—
185/225/275 225/275/335 30/35/45 50/60/75
5/9 6/10 4/9
4/9
8,325/10,125/12,375
13,500/16,500/20,100
—
—
225/275/335 165/195/245 15/25/35 5/11 5/11 4/11
12,375/15,125/18,425
9,075/10,725/13,475
—
135/165/205 95/115/145 165/195/245 50/60/75 6/10 5/10 5/11 4/11 each side
8,100/9,900/12,300
4,750/5,750/7,250
9,075/10,725/13,475
—
185/225/275
225/275/335 30/35/45 50/60/75 5/10 6/11 4/10
4/10
9,250/11,250/13,750
14,850/18,150/22,110
—
—
225/275/335 165/195/245 15/25/35 5/12 5/12 4/12
13,500/16,500/20,100
9,900/11,700/14,700
—
135/165/205 95/115/145 165/195/245
50/60/75 6/11 5/11 5/12 4/12 each side
8,910/10,890/13,530
5,225/6,325/7,975
9,900/11,700/14,700
—
185/225/275
225/275/335 30/35/45 50/60/75 5/11 6/12
4/11
4/11
10,175/12,375/15,125
16,200/19,800/24,120
—
—
225/275/335 165/195/245 15/25/35 5/13
5/13 4/13
14,625/17,875/21,775
10,725/12,675/15,925
—
135/165/205 95/115/145 165/195/245 50/60/75
6/12
5/12
5/13
4/13 each side
9,720/11,880/14,760
5,700/6,900/8,700
10,725/12,675/15,925
—
Week 2
Day 1
Bench Press Barbell Shrug Seated Dumbbell Curl
Face Pull Day 2
Squat Romanian Deadlift
Weighted Decline Sit-Up
Day 3
Push-Press Bent-Over Row Close-Grip Bench Press
Woodchopper
Week 3
Day 1
Bench Press Barbell Shrug Seated Dumbbell Curl
Face Pull Day 2
Squat Romanian Deadlift
Weighted Decline Sit-Up
Day 3
Push-Press Bent-Over Row Close-Grip Bench Press
Woodchopper Week 4
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Day 1
Bench Press Barbell Shrug Seated Dumbbell Curl
Face Pull
Day 2
Squat Romanian Deadlift
Weighted Decline Sit-Up
Day 3
Push-Press Bent-Over Row Close-Grip Bench Press
Woodchopper Note: Accessory exercises don’t contribute to tonnage totals. M&F
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