High-volume training is essential for (sarcoplasmic) hypertrophy. It is also great for burning fat. There are many ways to achieve high-volume. The German Volume Training method (10×10) is popular among bodybuilders. I learned the power of “100s” in the late ‘70s from my wrestling coach David Kling at Keystone Oaks High School in Pittsburgh, PA. He made it part of what he called “Russian Conditioning” and it was this training that made him one of the winningest coaches in this wrestling state. Among the runs and sandbag drills (I suspect we would have done Bulgarian bag drills, if they existed at the time), we did 100s with pushups. Essentially, the captains led the team in a series of 3-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-3 pushups (resting only enough time for the team/captains to do their set). It was quite a workout.
For those of us looking to burn fat and see a modest increase in muscle mass, 100s are great. Remember, these will not significantly affect cardiorespiratory endurance or muscle strength, but they will add to muscle endurance and some muscle hypertrophy. They are certainly an easy way to add volume.
A simple fat-burning workout would be to select 5-8 exercises that hit the entire body. Anything is fine. The key is to hit the 100 repetitions. I like a round of squats, Romanian deadlifts, pushups, stiff-arm lat pulls, lateral raises, triceps extensions, biceps curls, and crunches. These eight exercises take about 40 minutes to complete and will stimulate fat burning for some time post-workout. They are better with a partner, but can be done alone, as well (just count the rep time between sets). Vary the exercises and add or remove exercises according to the time available and individual goals. One essential, though, if you want to add muscle mass, is to include progressive overload—i.e., add weight to the exercises over time. If you are otherwise lifting heavy, this might not be necessary (or desired), as one will need to be able to recover from these and the weight lifting sessions. The 100s workouts, will not substitute for cardiorespiratory training, but it is a good supplement to cardio and weights for added body composition benefits.
Try ‘em I think you will enjoy the benefits. If you don’t like cardio and weight, but want general fitness benefits, 100s might be just what you are looking for.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!