I really need to be a songwriter with titles like that I am telling you, but I have no plans for a workout album yet sadly. Which means the best way I can help you in the gym now is with training articles. Today’s lesson will be a new look at an old technique called running the rack.
Not only is this routine fast, but it is vicious, so if you are a type of trainee who likes to feel the muscle working, look no further. The basic idea used in all variations of the routine is you start with a light weight, do a certain amount of reps then go to the next weight, do it ,and then continue. Or vice versa starting heavy and going down .You may actually know one of the people that did this occasionally; he was around 6 foot one, 230 pounds and called the Austrian… Timber?.. no.. no.. That’s not it… oh yeah Arnold Schwarzenegger the “Austrian OAK”
Arnold Schwarzenegger “The Austrian…something
If you think I like mixing routines up with weird techniques too much, you would think Arnold was crazy. He was known to do anything from weekend long muscle barrages until he could not walk straight for a week to adding weights to one side of a dumbbell to work the muscle in a certain way. (Raising the pinky finger side on dumbbell curls to be exact)
Variation One
But hey a lot of it worked for him, it has worked for me, the people I train, and it can work for you. Arnold’s running the rack methods varied but he really liked grabbing a heavy weight, performing it until failure, then going to the next lighter weight in line, going to failure again and continue dropping that way. Always done at the end of training that muscle as a finisher. Which is a lot like drop sets or stripping methods, however more drawn out.
Variation Two
Another method, which even can even be used with bodyweight exercises like dips, pull-ups, and chinups, is the 1-10 method. I personally love this method and have seen it help a lot of peoples chin and pull up numbers. Easy to comprehend it looks like this…
1 Dip… wait 15-60 seconds
2 Dip… wait 15-60 seconds
3 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
4 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
5 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
6 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
7 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
8 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
9 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
10 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds( Start Back Down)
9 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
8 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
7 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
6 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
5 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
4 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
3 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
2 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
1 Dips… wait 15-60 seconds
Chuck Sipes , a legendary natural bodybuilding champion could go up to 25 reps and back down resting 15 seconds on dips. However, if you can just get up to four reps and have to start back down that is fine too, it will be a great finisher nonetheless.
Variation Three
Many champion bodybuilder and trainers use same rep “Running the Rack” methods as well. Using this method with incline curls would look something like this.
4 Reps Each Hand With 20lb Dumbbells
4 Reps Each Hand With 25lb Dumbbells
4 Reps Each Hand With 30b Dumbbells
4 Reps Each Hand With 35lb Dumbbells
4 Reps Each Hand With 40lb Dumbbells
3 Reps Each Hand With 45lb Dumbbells
( You couldn’t achieve 4 reps with good form so start back down)
4 Reps Each Hand With 40lb Dumbbells
4 Reps Each Hand With 35lb Dumbbells
4 Reps Each Hand With 30b Dumbbells
4 Reps Each Hand With 25lb Dumbbells
4 Reps Each Hand With 20lb Dumbbells
This will achieve a great pump, mind muscle connection, and burn in the biceps. Moreover, it gives you room to look for that oh so important progression. In a few weeks you might can use up to 50lbers before having to going back down.
Variation Four
Another variation Arnold performed with the 1-10 system was just going up on a compound barbell movement like bench press. Put on just enough weight you only get 1
rep , take some off do 2 reps, take more off do 3, again and again until you get to 10 reps for 55 total reps.
Conclusion
Remember these are primarily advanced techniques meant to be used sparingly for only one workout, or few weeks at a time. Like anything eventually the muscle will adapt and you will have to open your toolbox and look for something else. Good luck in your training and remember always have fun with it.
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Brad Kelly writes a weekly article every Tuesday. He is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer, Performance Enhancement Specialist, and Corrective Exercise Specialist out of Panama City, Florida. Driven by a passion to help others he not only trains locals, but also performs online personal training and writes fitness articles to reach as many fellow fitness enthusiasts as possible.
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