10x3

samurai155

White Belt
Joined
Oct 6, 2005
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
I just read Chad Waterbury's article on Tmag about the 10x3 system for fat loss and his way of breaking down the workouts. I wonder if that rep system would work good for the push, pull, squat breakdown? I may give it a try.. Anyone have any thoughts?
 
I used 10x3 as my deadlift routine for a while when I started lifting, but when I started putting any real weight on the bar, it just became too much. In addition, I find deadlifting anything more than a single to be awkward, and don't see any real payoff. Other than that, I don't really have that much experience with the program. If you liked the article, you should check out some of his previous work on tnation. From what I recall, he breaks down his program into planes rather than motions (ie incline bench press and bent rows on the same day, ohp and pullups, and so on). I would imagine the reason he does this is that if one were to apply it to a full workout, including all the assistance lifts, the volume would just be too much. Imagine doing 10x3 bp, 10x3 inclines, cg and ohp on the same day with 80% of your 1 rm, and it starts to make a bit more sense. The biggest take-home message I got from his articles on the matter is that for hypertrophy, one should keep their volume in the 24-52 rep range per movement per workout. If you are going to use his program, you might as well stick to what he wrote, because trying to apply it to another workout is not going to give you the same results unless you understand all of what he said and why he said it.
 
There was a really good discussion when that article first came out. It was fairly advanced but basically I remember Sky Boat saying that 10x3 was out of the range of effectiveness on Prepelin's Chart. Waterbury says to go 10x3 with 85% of your max correct?
 
I think its 10x3 at 80%. Anyway, give it a try and see for yourself. Some people respond well to high volume.
 
I'm a big fan of 10X3. If you're not a top level power lifter (and most of us are not) it provides a great guideline for building strength. Before 10X3 I would work up to max singles but my total volume was a little low, with 10X3 I really think it nails the correct volume.

That said, I'm also a big fan of changing your rep scheme from week to week and even workout to workout as long as you retain some balance between pushing and pulling.

And ya, 10X3 deads suck ass.

My rep's during a training month will go from 12X1 to 10X3 to 5X5 to1X50.
By far the hardest is the 12X1.
 
Gentlemen,
Thank you for your replies. You all make a lot of sense. And high volume work seems to work well for me. I was hitting every body part three times a week a short time ago and hit a strength plateau. Im by no means a competitve power lifter, however, I just care about strength and not size. Thanks again
 
i've been working with a variation of waterbury's 10 x 3 program for a while now, and i'm pleased with the results: my overhead press, bench, and squat have all improved significantly. however, in this program 10 x 3 is really tied to waterbury's use of horizontal/verticle planes (which I prefer to to having a pull day or press day). i'm not sure how useful 10 x 3 is outside of this context.
 
I've used the 10 x 3 for a while and i love it. I would stay with the vertical and horizontal planes. my current routine is:
Chest/Back vertical
Legs
off
Chest/Back horizontal
Legs
for legs I do one hip dominant and one quad dominant exercise per leg day.
 
I've been playing with 10x3 on strict military presses for two weeks now and it's been working pretty well so far. I haven't yet been able to hit 10x3 with 80% though. last week it was 5x3,2, 4x1, and yesterday I managed 7x3, 3x2. So I've progressed pretty well on it. Now this may not just be due to the new rep scheme (since I only use it on one exercise, once a week and I overhead press 3x a week) but I felt I should share my results.
 
CoachB40 said:
I've used the 10 x 3 for a while and i love it. I would stay with the vertical and horizontal planes. my current routine is:
Chest/Back vertical
Legs
off
Chest/Back horizontal
Legs
for legs I do one hip dominant and one quad dominant exercise per leg day.

How do you hit your chest on a vertical plane? Does the Incline Bench count as a vertical lift?
 
Urban said:
I've been playing with 10x3 on strict military presses for two weeks now and it's been working pretty well so far. I haven't yet been able to hit 10x3 with 80% though. last week it was 5x3,2, 4x1, and yesterday I managed 7x3, 3x2. So I've progressed pretty well on it. Now this may not just be due to the new rep scheme (since I only use it on one exercise, once a week and I overhead press 3x a week) but I felt I should share my results.

what kind of rest periods are you taking? on waterbury's program you're supposed to have about 2 minutes between pressing sets (you superset with pulling exercises and take a 1 minute break between each). if it wasn't for the long break, 10 x 3 at 80% would've been impossible for me at first.
 
Aha! I've only been resting about a 70-80 seconds or so. even so, I've almost got 10x3 at 80%
 
10 x 3 = 10 sets by 3 reps right ? lets get that straight,since there r no stupid questions , only stupid people.
 
Yes 10x3 is 10 sets of 3 reps

A vertical plane chest movement would be dips
 
Back
Top