Base 10 Weight-Training For Hypertrophy and Variety

Base 10 Training is a name I have given to the following protocol of resistance training
The “Base 10? part comes from the basis of this protocol being 10 sets of 10 reps per body part. It’s quite a bit of volume for the average Joe or Jane. It’s about one-half to one-third the training of a pro bodybuilder.

David Greenwalt
Once you are beyond your first 30 days of resistance training ANYONE can do it. Your experience, or lack of experience, will dictate the loads you can use. If you are a basic, 3 sets of 10 person I will caution you that you WILL very likely be quite sore for 1-3 days after your first pass for each body part.
Base 10 is most commonly going to be used when you want to train a body part once per seven days.
Also, the 10 X 10 base and all variances of it apply to the following body parts:
Chest
Back
Biceps
Triceps
Quads
and not commonly to the following body parts
Shoulders
Hamstrings
Calves
Abs
Traps
Typically the smaller body parts above will be trained between 1/3 and 1/2 the sets of the larger body parts but if you have a lagging body part above then Base 10 COULD be applied to any body part.
Base 10 training dictates that you pick 1-3 exercises for a body part and you perform, for example, a total of 10 sets of 10 repetitions. So if you are working Chest and you are doing one exercise you’d simply choose ONE WEIGHT for that exercise and perform 10 sets of 10 repetitions.
The rest period is between 30 and 90 seconds between sets. Varying the rest period will vary the load you can use.
If you choose 2 exercises for a body part (e.g., chest again) then you simply make sure that a total of 10 sets of 10 are complete by the time you finish the two exercises. Any combination of sets between the two exercises is fine. You don’t have to do 5 sets of each. The same goes for adding a third exercise. Just make sure that a total of 10 sets are complete between the exercises total. 10 total sets. Not 10 sets of each exercise.
Now this is where Base 10 gets interesting. Typically, training methodologies dictate that we can either train really heavy (high intensity) or we can train really long (volume) but not both with any real consistency. Base 10 is great because it maintains the integrity of this philosophy quite well. Here’s how.
With Base 10 you can add more variety by moving your reps down as your sets go up. It works like this
10 X 10
11 X 9 (using more weight for same exercise performed doing 10 X 10)
12 X 8 (using more weight for same exercise performed doing 11 X 9)
13 X 7 (using more weight for same exercise performed doing 12 X 8 )
14 X 6 (using more weight for same exercise performed doing 13 X 7)
15 X 5 (using more weight for same exercise performed doing 14 X 6)
I stop the progression at 15 X 5 because 5 reps is at the lower end of the hypertrophy-specific rep range. And the purpose of this type of training is to increase strength in the specific repetition range proven to increase the size of type II muscle fibers. But ladies listen — if you keep losing body fat you will continue to get smaller and smaller and smaller even though your muscle grows. Always remember fat is three times as large as muscle if we’re measuring pound for pound. Add a pound of muscle but lose a pound of fat? You’ll be smaller EVERY SINGLE TIME.
So back to chest for a moment to clarify. If you are training chest once a week using Base 10 training and your last Monday chest workout was 10 X 10 it is entirely okay for you to choose, for this Monday, a 12 X 8 protocol. That would be 12 sets of 8 repetitions. Again, 1-3 total chest exercises totaling 12 sets and every set is 8 reps. Because the reps are lower than the original 10 you SHOULD plan on using at least a little bit more weight. And the goal is to choose a weight for an exercise that you don’t need to increase or decrease to get all your sets at the repetitions you are shooting for.
CAUTION: To protect your joints, tendons and other connective tissues I don’t recommend that you jump more than two progressions if your repetitions are dropping in any given week. For example, if you last did chest at 12 X 8 I don’t recommend you jump to 15 X 5 the next week. That would be three progressions beyond 12 X 8 for intensity (load you can use). 14 X 6 is two progressions beyond 12 X 8. However, when your repetitions are going back up it is acceptable to jump to any place you want since lowering the load (forced as the reps go up) will be easier on connective tissue. So if you want to work a body part at 15 X 5 and next week you want to do 10 X 10 that is perfectly fine. It’s okay to move your reps UP on the scale anytime but stay with the two-progressions rule if your reps are decreasing.
The base of my training is Muscle Professor — straight up. Why? It works and it’ll work for you regardless of experience. But when I want to shake things up BASE 10 training is great and adds the variety I need mentally while keeping volume in a nice range for overall hypertrophy-specific goals. If you aren’t using the Muscle Professor as your base and you want to have muscle that people can see then start using the Muscle Professor.
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In health,
David Greenwalt – Founder
Leanness Lifestyle