R.O.B. (Rest Only Briefly)

[KingCol]

This guy from BSN wrote this one.  I tried it for my entire split for a week.  If you need a new routine or just something new , give it a try.  My legs were SORE!

[davie]

So ur only talking about cutting ur rest periods between sets down??

davie

[Mike]

A clever acronym, let me guess, his name was Rob too.  If you could be more specific I think we can belittle you a bit more.

No, seriously, that's a great idea.  Most dudes spend hours in the gym just bs'n or sitting around. 

[KingCol]

Yeah,
  Only 20-30 seconds between sets.  I know it sounds crazy but try it for a day.  The bsn site has an article about it.  Just dont pay attention to the supp references and follow the program.

[wes]

This is nothing new at all and just a way for Rob Thoburn to try to make a buck.

People have been training like this since the 1970`s for Christs sake!!

[JPM]

Have to agreed with Wes, nothing new about short breaks between sets. I believe Vince G. used that in some  of his early training ideas in the late '50's. During the 60's and 70's most top BB'ers were using this principle for short periods. Most used it when getting ready for a show. Ideal for a super pump if that was your goal. Dave Drapper, Scott & Don Horworth (spelled wrong?) come to mind. All trained at Vince's gym (now a parking lot). There were also doing SS's, tri set's, giant sets, drop sets, etc  big time around that period of BB'ing, with no rest between.  15 to 30 second between regular sets gave great muscle endurance considering most of those workouts could last from 2 1/2 to 3 hours or more. Pretty mild deca/D-bol was used but most relied on red meat, liver tabs and eggs  (at least a of dozen a day..usually much more).  Good Luck.

Side Bar: Most, if not all, the guy's who trained at Vince's gym always seemed to have better all around delt development than anyone else. This goes for the bicep bellies also (Scott curls?).

[davie]

I take it u maybe dropped the weight u usually used a bit?

davie

[WOOO]

I take it u maybe dropped the weight u usually used a bit?

davie

i rest about 45 seconds to a minute between sets... after about a month of doing this (i used to rest 3-5 minutes sometimes) i found that i was just as strong, but i got a better pump and i got out of the weight room in 30-40 minutes instead of an hour and a half

[torquemada]

What kind of training split do people use with this and volume?  I've tried cutting my rest periods down and find it's getting easier...and it is nice to be done in 1/3 the time

[WOOO]

What kind of training split do people use with this and volume?  I've tried cutting my rest periods down and find it's getting easier...and it is nice to be done in 1/3 the time

4 on, one off

day1: chest, biceps
day2: quads, hams, abs
day3: calves, side delts, front delts, triceps
day4: back, rear delts, traps, abs

[KingCol]

This is nothing new at all and just a way for Rob Thoburn to try to make a buck.

People have been training like this since the 1970`s for Christs sake!!

I never said it was " a breakthrough in training".  I was just offering something new for people with stale workouts, etc.  It IS a bit different that ss, tri sets, etc because it does include a brief rest period.  Good luck with it.  It works for me. 

[WOOO]

I never said it was " a breakthrough in training".  I was just offering something new for people with stale workouts, etc.  It IS a bit different that ss, tri sets, etc because it does include a brief rest period.  Good luck with it.  It works for me. 

don't worry he's just hating

[Humble Narcissist]

Bumping this thread because I just read an article about this training program on Ditillo's website. Going to give it a try with the very little rest, no 3 hour workouts though.

[ThisisOverload]

Bumping this thread because I just read an article about this training program on Ditillo's website. Going to give it a try with the very little rest, no 3 hour workouts though.

I take very short breaks between lifts, but it's more for the cardio application of it and keeping my heart rate up constantly. The last 3-4 years i've done higher reps with shorter breaks and i feel great in the gym.

Most of my workouts last about 30-45 minutes.

It's bad for strength but the workouts feel amazing. Plus it has helped me build a little endurance. When i first started it was a challenge to get through an entire workout with short breaks, now it's really easy. Sometimes i will do back to back sets with only 20 seconds of rest with relatively heavy weights.

It's hard to do for squats.

I think anything can work on paper, but i feel better working out this way.

[IroNat]

Have to agreed with Wes, nothing new about short breaks between sets. I believe Vince G. used that in some  of his early training ideas in the late '50's. During the 60's and 70's most top BB'ers were using this principle for short periods. Most used it when getting ready for a show. Ideal for a super pump if that was your goal. Dave Drapper, Scott & Don Horworth (spelled wrong?) come to mind. All trained at Vince's gym (now a parking lot). There were also doing SS's, tri set's, giant sets, drop sets, etc  big time around that period of BB'ing, with no rest between.  15 to 30 second between regular sets gave great muscle endurance considering most of those workouts could last from 2 1/2 to 3 hours or more. Pretty mild deca/D-bol was used but most relied on red meat, liver tabs and eggs  (at least a of dozen a day..usually much more).  Good Luck.

Side Bar: Most, if not all, the guy's who trained at Vince's gym always seemed to have better all around delt development than anyone else. This goes for the bicep bellies also (Scott curls?).

Drapper?  Horworth?

You don't know how to spell "Draper" and "Howorth", two very famous bodybuilders from the past?

Did you grow up in a cave, bro?

At least you got "Scott" correct.

[IroNat]

This is nothing new at all and just a way for Rob Thoburn to try to make a buck.

People have been training like this since the 1970`s for Christs sake!!

That's for sure.  This was common to train with short rests when approaching a contest to cut up.

Nothing is new.  It's all been done 60-70 years ago.

The only difference today is the amount of drugs taken.

Geezus!

[Humble Narcissist]

It's hard for me to get used to as I usually take long breaks between sets. Definitely a different feel.

[IroNat]

It's hard for me to get used to as I usually take long breaks between sets. Definitely a different feel.

You have to use lighter weights.  The tradeoff is you will lose max strength training like this.

You have to decide what your goal in lifting weights is.  Do you lift for strength and power or to increase your cardio?

I've done it all the ways.  You change it up when you get bored I guess.

The old-timers trained fast like this for relatively short periods of time pre-contest to get definition.

[Humble Narcissist]

You have to use lighter weights.  The tradeoff is you will lose max strength training like this.

You have to decide what your goal in lifting weights is.  Do you lift for strength and power or to increase your cardio?

I've done it all the ways.  You change it up when you get bored I guess.

The old-timers trained fast like this for relatively short periods of time pre-contest to get definition.

Yep, switching back and forth is good for the mind as well.

[oldtimer1]

This is a very old training protocol.  In the 50's they called it muscle spinning. Vince Gironda might have been the biggest proponent.  Rest 30 seconds or less using moderate weights is a killer. You can't use heavy weights training like this and it gets you in shape quick. The trade off as Ironnate said was your single rep and low rep sets will suffer from not training for strength but now training for muscular endurance. Some guys training like this like to throw in some heavy days to compensate. Others like Ironate said some cycles with heavy weights and some training for a lack of a better term muscular endurance will be a plan for many.

 I read what a guy wrote about the bodybuilding champ Steve Davis.  He said looking at him train it would seem he was using light weights. He found training with him the weights were heavy because it was he would do a set then Steve would do a set, back and forth with no rest. He said 115lbs back rows got heavy quick by the 6th set only to move on to the next exercise. I heard the same thing about Chris Dickerson.  At his best he trained at such a pace that the seemingly light weights were really heavy.  He used for example 160lbs for seated cable lat rows. Seems like a light weight but try to do 6 sets with very little rest between sets after 6 sets of chins. Another guy said he saw Tom Platz using 40lbs for flies that he super set with 135lb bench presses.  Again you can make a light weight heavy by using short rests, higher reps and a strict form. 

The biggest proponent of light to moderate weight training right now is Ryan Humiston. His views on youtube are huge.  He uses high reps and very short rest between sets. He's fond of saying the old way of using 8 reps with a heavy weight is easier than his method. On one video he said he sometimes does a 100 strict deep reps of squats with just the 45lbs bar.

Let's call a spade a spade. On the Navy site they had a question and answer section. Someone wrote what kind of lifting program should I do to prepare for SEALS training?  The answer was there was no weight lifting in SEAL training.  Is SEAL training hard?  It's brutal even though on the Navy site they make it seem doable so they won't hurt recruiting for the Navy as a whole. The majority of these 20 year olds joining actually think they have a shot to become a SEAL.

I've seen black guys training in a broken down abandoned kid playground doing bodyweight stuff training seriously hard. In the affluent town a few miles away in a gym that has everything, the majority of the guys do not impress that they are in shape. They should join the black guys in the poor town's playground doing chins, dips, pushups and other stuff.

[Humble Narcissist]

Yep, some still call it muscle spinning. I've heard Tony Robbins refer to it as that.

[pkaz]

This is a very old training protocol.  In the 50's they called it muscle spinning. Vince Gironda might have been the biggest proponent.  Rest 30 seconds or less using moderate weights is a killer. You can't use heavy weights training like this and it gets you in shape quick. The trade off as Ironnate said was your single rep and low rep sets will suffer from not training for strength but now training for muscular endurance. Some guys training like this like to throw in some heavy days to compensate. Others like Ironate said some cycles with heavy weights and some training for a lack of a better term muscular endurance will be a plan for many.

 I read what a guy wrote about the bodybuilding champ Steve Davis.  He said looking at him train it would seem he was using light weights. He found training with him the weights were heavy because it was he would do a set then Steve would do a set, back and forth with no rest. He said 115lbs back rows got heavy quick by the 6th set only to move on to the next exercise. I heard the same thing about Chris Dickerson.  At his best he trained at such a pace that the seemingly light weights were really heavy.  He used for example 160lbs for seated cable lat rows. Seems like a light weight but try to do 6 sets with very little rest between sets after 6 sets of chins. Another guy said he saw Tom Platz using 40lbs for flies that he super set with 135lb bench presses.  Again you can make a light weight heavy by using short rests, higher reps and a strict form. 

The biggest proponent of light to moderate weight training right now is Ryan Humiston. His views on youtube are huge.  He uses high reps and very short rest between sets. He's fond of saying the old way of using 8 reps with a heavy weight is easier than his method. On one video he said he sometimes does a 100 strict deep reps of squats with just the 45lbs bar.

Let's call a spade a spade. On the Navy site they had a question and answer section. Someone wrote what kind of lifting program should I do to prepare for SEALS training?  The answer was there was no weight lifting in SEAL training.  Is SEAL training hard?  It's brutal even though on the Navy site they make it seem doable so they won't hurt recruiting for the Navy as a whole. The majority of these 20 year olds joining actually think they have a shot to become a SEAL.

I've seen black guys training in a broken down abandoned kid playground doing bodyweight stuff training seriously hard. In the affluent town a few miles away in a gym that has everything, the majority of the guys do not impress that they are in shape. They should join the black guys in the poor town's playground doing chins, dips, pushups and other stuff.

That is true about Steve Davis. I trained with him while he was getting ready for the 1981 Mr Olympia.

[Humble Narcissist]

That is true about Steve Davis. I trained with him while he was getting ready for the 1981 Mr Olympia.

Steve's diet was probably even more brutal.