The Penandbarbell.com blog, by Fitness author Daniel Schou

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The reason I always go back to high volume training

Sometimes I have been prioritizing heavy weights and a lower training volume than the one I usually perform. The number of sets have been kept low (2-4/exercise) and the number of reps as well (3-6/set). Most sessions have been following the thoughts behind the so called reversed pyramid training – meaning that I have started out with the heaviest set, after which I have decreased the weight for the following 2 or 3 sets of the same exercise. It can be inspiring to change thi

The perfect back workout

A perfectly composed back workout routine As any regular reader here at Penandbarbell.com will know I sometimes share my own exact workout sessions and comment on them. This is a way for me to exemplify some of the principles and ideas that I advocate. The different concepts that I like to put emphasis on in connection to muscle building and fat burning comes to light in these examples of my own routine. In today´s article I will present you with a back routine that I think c

A protein drink in the style of the golden era

Development is a fine thing. We don’t want to live in a stale universe where things just remain the same, do we? No. We don’t. We want movement and change. We want news. This is true in many, if not most, fields of life. The world of fitness and muscle building is no exception. Things move on. We don’t want to just keep on doing what all previous generations already did. We evolve. We get better. We learn. We discover. We innovate. All this having been said, there are things

The most effective way to build visible muscle

The empirical superiority of the old school bodybuilding split It has become popular to come up with alternative approaches to muscle building. You can´t read a fitness or health magazine without coming across some advice whose deliverer wants to replace the classical bodybuilding split with something else, be it “functional” training, low volume strength training, body weight gymnastics, Olympic lifting, training “like an athlete”, kettlebell routines, minimalistic training,

Honing sets: a way to improve results and decrease your risk of injury

I recently wrote an article about my own personal favourite kind of warm –up routine. In a segment of that article I recommended the habit of performing a warm up set for each and every exercise during your workout session. Today I will elaborate on why I feel this is something worth implementing into your routine. For the rest of this article I will call this kind of extra warm up set a “honing set”. This is a more apt description of what I’m talking about. The benefits of p

3 different high volume routines that I all recommend

If you are a regular reader here at Penandbarbell.com you will have noticed my love for high volume training. In a recent blog post I wrote about how I once more turned back to a high volume approach, after having had a few weeks where I prioritized heavier weights and fewer reps. As I concluded in that blog post of mine I always come back to high volume simply because I like it. It's not all about what "works" and "doesn't work" - it's also about what you like and what makes

The shock workout routine: a 550 reps arm workout

The shock workout routine, part 2: a 550 reps arm workout This article will give you a new example of what I call shock workout routines – in other words, a routine that you can apply whenever in need of a physical and mental change at the gym. More often than not these routines will be hard and challenging – but they will also be rewarding and strengthening. When you go back to your usual way of doing things you will most probably feel invigorated by these somewhat eccentric

Light is heavy

Light is heavy Today I performed 40 sets of grueling arm work. And I do mean grueling. This was truly hard training. It was a workout session during which I encountered an old truth: light is heavy. What I mean by this is that I relied, throughout the whole workout session, on light weights ("light" in this context meaning weights that allowed me to perform at least 12 reps per set) - and that this kind of training can be really taxing if one make sure to push oneself. It wen

Prioritizing will help you build muscle faster

Many people have goals at the gym that could be summed up something like this: I want to be in great shape, with a muscular and strong body that lacks weaknesses. I want an impressive upper body, six pack abs and well developed legs with great calves to go with them. This is not a bad ambition. On the contrary, it is a good thing to be conscious of the many different parts that together will form an impressive and aesthetically impressive physique. In today´s post, however, I

Bodyweight weekend

Friday's workout session went like this: Myotatic crunches on Bosu ball, 3x12 Alternating crunches on Bosu ball, 3x24 (12/side) Dynamic side planches, 3x20/side Lunges, 3x12/side Lower back extensions, 3x12 Sisyphus squats, 3x15 Dips, 3x12 Inclined push ups, 3x20 Calf raises, bodyweight, 1 foot at a time, 3x20/side Hanging leg raises, feet to the bar, 3x6 ... and Saturday went like this: Body rows, under Smith bar, with biceps grip, 10x10-16 Triceps pushups, with elevated fee

The most important kind of strength

Yesterday was arm day. But above all, it was focus day. When I arrived at the gym I had a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve, right down to the number of sets in each planned exercise. This isn´t rare for me – on the contrary, I most often have a detailed preconception of what’s going to take place at the gym. This time, however, it didn’t turn out like that. I had planned to do the following: Superset 1: Biceps chins 5x10 Triceps pushups 5x30 Superset 2: Inclined Bicep

How to make 20 minutes at the gym really count

I hadn´t planned to already write another article on the subject of minimal save workout sessions – in other words, workouts that can be performed in under 15 minutes those days when the circumstances doesn´t allow for more time at the gym – but today I found myself improvising a minimal workout session which I´d like to share with you in order to underline how intensity can be used as a time saver. Before I give you the details of today I’d like to mention once more that ear

8 exercises for one single muscle group

A back only workout Yesterday I targeted back – and back only. I have recently written about the benefits of targeting one single muscle group throughout a workout session. Now I felt it was time once again to harvest some of these benefits. The workout session It went as follows: 1. Chins 1, 3x8-12 2. Lats pulldowns, one side at the time, 4x8-10/side 3. Rowing, machine, 3x6 4. Bent over dumbbell rowing, 3x8-10/side TRISET: 5. Cable rows, standing, 3x12-14 6. Chins 2, 3x6 7.

3x10 vs. 5x5

3x10 vs. 5x5 There was a time when the standard advice given to any beginner at the gym was to go for 3x10 – in other words, to perform 3 sets of 10 reps in each exercise. And the number of exercises per muscle group would most often be recommended to be 1-3. This concept was so often given as the beginner’s routine that even people who had never set foot in the gym knew about it. It was what one would call common knowledge”. Today the gym crawls with beginners going for a to

Different muscle different system

19/1-16. Today´s blog post is an urging to all readers to make sure to customize not only your program as a whole – but your routine for each muscle group. During my last few sessions I have experienced firsthand with this important principle: the need to customize one’s approach to the different muscle groups. If you, like me, are dedicated to the iron, then you are familiar with the entertaining value of reading up on different routines, systems and schools. I have found th

The minimalistic save, part 1

17/4-2016 The minimalistic save, part 1 Sometimes we face the daunting prospect of having to go through a few days, or maybe even weeks, without being able to visit the gym. It could be traveling that causes this traumatic experience. Or it could be social circumstances, or job related stuff that hinders us from doing what we really want to do, namely lifting weights in a locale filled with soul mates doing the same thing. When this happens we can either accept it – or we can

A set-free abs workout

6/12-15 The day before yesterday I trained my abs and today I'm paying the price; the soreness is truly tangible. Not that I mind, i have always found abs muscle soreness rewarding. What made the workout session stand out was my decision (made beforehand) not to think in terms of sets. I knew what exercises I wanted to perform and I had decided on the amount of total work that I wanted done in each exercise - in other words: I knew how many reps I was going to perform, and th

Back to basics

5/12-15 The last six months I have been experimenting with my workout routine. I have, in fact, never before altered my overall program and my different workout sessions to such a degree as I have during this period. I have tried high volume training (in the shape of GVT; German Volume Training – where one aims for at least 6 sets of each exercise, all consisting of 12 reps each, adding up to plenty of reps and, more often than not, a strong pump in the targeted muscle) and I

Don't forget shoulder day

11/11-2015 There is a lot of talk online about the importance of leg day. There is an urge not to become somebody who has a muscular upper body and thin legs. The truth however is that in reality the opposite is much more commonly seen: people walking around on thick and heavy legs while lacking completely in upper body development. So: let us not forget shoulder day and let us not forget to perform the important isolation exercises, like for example the biceps curls, the tri

Enjoying some exaggeration

4/10-15 Enjoying some exaggeration My last two workouts have both been taken to exaggeration and beyond. I say this without showing a trace of remorse. The abundant numbers of exercises, sets and reps have been the result of pure inspiration. It went like this: Session 1: Pecs 1. Inclined bench press, dumbbells, 6x6-12 2. Flyes, dumbbells, 3x8-11 3. Bench press, barbell, 10x6-10 (I warned you it would be exaggerated…) 4. Inclined bench press, dumbbells, no 2, 3x8-12 5. Push u

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Recent Posts

The reason I always go back to high volume training

The perfect back workout

A protein drink in the style of the golden era

The most effective way to build visible muscle

Honing sets: a way to improve results and decrease your risk of injury

3 different high volume routines that I all recommend

The shock workout routine: a 550 reps arm workout

Light is heavy

Prioritizing will help you build muscle faster

Bodyweight weekend

The most important kind of strength

How to make 20 minutes at the gym really count

8 exercises for one single muscle group

3x10 vs. 5x5

Different muscle different system

The minimalistic save, part 1

A set-free abs workout

Back to basics

Don't forget shoulder day

Enjoying some exaggeration

Archive

Copy of Great and underused exercises, part 2

Copy of Bench pressing Hollywood style

Defeat your ego and conquer quality

The energy building workout

The minimalistic save workout , part 2

Pecs and Cardio Monday

Nutrition when in pursue of a chiselled body

The benefits of targeting one single muscle group

The bonus benefits of intense high volume training

Bench pressing Hollywood style

The reason I always go back to high volume training

The perfect back workout

How weight training will strengthen you for life outside of the gym

A protein drink in the style of the golden era

Summer abs: starting out early by doing 3 simple things

penandbarbell.com

by Daniel Schou