The 3/7 Training System

Good evening all, I would like share some information from a recent study here which showed some very impressive results. If anyone is up to try these methods, please let me/us know how it goes. I have decided that I will start training people again overseas next year (hoping to work near Sicily) and I would love to get some feedback on it before I start using it. It has worked much better than anything else for myself and a few close friends, the size gains have actually been much greater than I expected - combined with a good diet but a third of the amount of gear I am usually on. The following information comes from but is not quoted from:

Laurent, C, et al. Effect of a strength training method characterized by an incremental number of repetitions across sets and a very short rest interval. Science and Sports 2016; in press.

The bench press was the exercise used in the study. The 3/7 system works by using a moderate weight, equal to about 70% of one-rep max, and do five sets. You start with 3 reps on the first set, then increase one rep with each set. So at the end of the 5 sets, you are doing 7 reps. But you only rest for 15 seconds between each set. In the study, the 3/7 system was compared to using the 4 and 8-set conventional styles of training. The rest time between sets was 2-1/2 minutes for the conventional styles, which is according to recent research the amount of time that is best for producing strength gains.

The training sessions consisted of training twice a week, with at least 48 hours between sessions for 8 weeks. All training sessions began with a light warmup, three sets consisting of 1 set of 10 reps using 30% of one-rep max; 1 set of 8 reps using 40% of one-rep max; 1 set of 6 reps using 50% of one-rep max. Followed by the 3/7 scheme using 70% of one-rep max. The other two training programs consisted of 4x6 and 8x6 with the rest time of 2 1/2 minutes with the same weight.

The results showed that the one-rep maximum weight used increased by 29.9% in the 3/7 group and 35.9% in the 8x6 group suggesting that the 8x6 style is best for strength gains, 6x4 was significantly lower than both. For power the 3/7 and 6x4 produced better results. The size gains were significantly greater in the 3/7 group. The training style boosts the level of metabolic stress in the muscle by increasing the intensity through shortening of the rest period and not allowing ATP to fully replenish. So in order to cover all three things, the 3/7 style seems to be the best way to do this.

You have a massive increase in strength and improvements in size and power in 8 weeks and the best part is that after the warm up, the 3/7 style only took 5min and still showed such dramatic improvement, the others took quite a bit longer due to the increased rest period.

How I have incorporated this into my routine is to do them mainly with cables as it is easier to rest this often with cables and to try to do exercises that reach the full ROM of the muscle, I then do three other exercises afterwards, using this style if practically possible... I believe this is fully fatiguing as many fibers as possible by hitting it from all angles and optimizing intensity for each exercise by keeping the TUT high, eccentrics slow, mind muscle connection strong and using the full ROM:

Chest - Cable flies
Back - Pullovers on the cables
Shoulders - 45 degree delt raises (half way between directly to the side and in front)
Biceps - Inline bench curls
Triceps - Overhead tricep extensions on cables
Quads - extensions
Hammies - lying leg curls
Calves - seated calf raises for the soleus
Forearms - reverse grip curl

I hope I have covered enough for you to try it...

As I said, please let me/us know how it goes and ENJOY THE BURN :evil:

This leg workout is nothing short of excruciating:

3/7 for seated calf raises, lying hamstring curls, leg extensions and then leg press. With the leg press, keep your feet up on the plate while you rest; when you put your feet down it is easier for your body to push blood into the necessary areas so doing this will ever so slightly increase the intensity by slightly lowering the amount of oxygenated blood able to travel to the muscle. I have been in tears a couple of times.

Great!! What is the rest period between full sets of 3/7 and how many fulls sets do you do with how my exercises?

PraetorXII wrote: Great!! What is the rest period between full sets of 3/7 and how many fulls sets do you do with how my exercises?

I normally do the warm up for the muscle and then one 3/7 "set" per exercise with 2-2:30min break between exercises and about 3 exercises per muscle. The study did not do more sets or more exercises so this is just what I do to ensure I hit the whole muscle properly. I like to allow ATP to fully regenerate between exercises to maintain joint stability so as to prevent injuries from losing form through fatigue of the stabilizing muscles, which I try to limit using anyway by choosing the exercises mentioned above which are fairly isolated.

Shot bru, I did some shoulders yesterday and some arms today, must say that last 7th rep is a bitch and it is really painfull to keep form. I did rest 2min between full sets but I could only manage about 4 exercises in total.

You should call this 3/7 The House of Pain Regime.

Hormonas, very interesting concept man. If it wasn't for my current strict regime I'd love to give it a try at least. Do you have a link to the study? I can't find it

Furk wrote: If it wasn't for my current strict regime I'd love to give it a try at least. Do you have a link to the study? I can't find it

I assume your goals are not strength or hypertrophy related then, Furk? If they are then maybe just try to include it as a finishing set for each muscle to get that crazy pump as it is just another way to do the same metabolic damage that you would be seeking in other strength or hypertrophy regimes? Or are you on a power/endurance regime?

The study is still "in press" and I am unsure if it is available online without a membership to ReseachGate. The study was revealed at a Science Conference in 2016 so is very recent, hopefully it will be available soon!

So I usually do PPL, heavy compounds first aiming for 5-8 reps, then after isolated work 8-12 reps. This generally works well for me, cutting or bulking.
But recently I started cutting aggressively, my only reason's being the gym is muscle preservation and expending calories. I'm still doing a PPL, but as close to 5x5 for lifts as possible. That means going heavier and workout duration shorter.
(I'll update my log thread sometime to explain, but I've been seeing good results in the short time I've been doing it)

Oh ok, so the study is brand brand new. After reading your post again, not sure if I understand it 100% because in paragraph 3 and 4 it looks like two different methods?

Giving this a 6 week bash

Oupa wrote: Giving this a 6 week bash

How is your training going Oupa? Any feedback yet?

Oupa wrote: Giving this a 6 week bash

Hey Oupa, did you get a chance to try this? if so, how did you find it?

Im goingto give this a bash as well.

@Hormonas how would you split this? normal body part split , im thinking Push/Pull could be fun :evil: and choosing exercises for each part of the strength curve like Ben Pakulski likes to do?

Lemme know what you think

This seems very interesting. I am going to give it a try.

So my understanding is that I must use 70% of my 1 rep maximum of an exercise.

set 1 -
3 reps
Rest 15s
set 2 -
4 reps
Rest 15s
set 3 -
5 reps
Rest 15s
set 4 -
6 reps
Rest 15s
set 5 -
7 reps
Rest 1. . .oh I'm done! Whew!!!

Do I need to increase the weight in each set or use the same amount of weight in all 5 sets? Common sense is telling me that if I need to increase weight in my later sets then I probably started off too lightly but please do give me a reply on this.

Big Boy wrote: This seems very interesting. I am going to give it a try.

So my understanding is that I must use 70% of my 1 rep maximum of an exercise.

set 1 -
3 reps
Rest 15s
set 2 -
4 reps
Rest 15s
set 3 -
5 reps
Rest 15s
set 4 -
6 reps
Rest 15s
set 5 -
7 reps
Rest 1. . .oh I'm done! Whew!!!

Do I need to increase the weight in each set or use the same amount of weight in all 5 sets? Common sense is telling me that if I need to increase weight in my later sets then I probably started off too lightly but please do give me a reply on this.

That is correct! You use the same weight in all 5 sets. If you feel that the weight was slightly too light and you didn't reach full muscle fatigue then you can do it again with the same weight after a 2 or 2.5min break. You probably wont be able to complete the 5 sets that time around and that's okay so long as you reach full muscle fatigue on each exercise. If you really feel that it was too light and that you would be able to complete a second full set then you can increase it slightly.

I gave the 3/7 Training System a try today.

I did leg extensions and I usually finish on the full stack of weights but I decided to start with the full stack and do the 5 sets as the 3/7 Training system requires. I felt a nice burn in that final set on my quads.

I only tried it on that exercise for legs and did the other leg exercises as I would normally do.

Then I did the 3/7 Training System on my Seated Dumbbell Curls. I used lighter weights than what I usually use and I just couldn't finish that final set. I got to about 5 reps in that 5th set and my arms were fatigued. I had a rest then did standing barbell curls. Again I started lighter but I think it was too light so in the 4th set I increased to a heavier barbell. I managed to complete the 7 reps in the last set. Same with the standing barbell reverse curls. I finished with alternate incline dumbbell curls and used a lighter weight to start with and my arms were just too fatigued. I think I was getting to half the reps in my 4th and 5th set.

When I left the gym I felt a nice soreness in my arms that I didnt get previously so I guess time will tell if this system will give me a faster rate of growth.

Thanks for sharing this info. Tomorrow I'm training chest and shoulders :woohoo:

So i made a rough template with exercises and position of flexion for each (midrange, stretch, contracted). going to use that with my push/pull split to see how it runs

Update

So i tried the plan last night with my Push day, the 3,4,5,6,7 reps work well with the midrange and contracted position exercises but for something like cable flyes (stretch position) abit higher reps might be better.

I trained Chest, Shoulders and Triceps today using the 3/7 system.

It was a bit of trial and error to figure out what amount of weight to start with. Some exercises gave me a good burn and I only got to the 5th rep in the last set but some of the exercises I perhaps used too less weight and just breezed through it all.

I'll keep at it and see how this goes over the next few months.

If you are using 70% of your one rep max and are breezing through the exercises then ensure you're using the correct form with slow and controlled eccentric movements. Most people struggle doing 10 good reps with 70% 1RM so it should be difficult doing 25 with the small breaks between. Remember to work "around" the joint, use the full ROM and squeeze at the top of the movement and squeeze slightly less as the weight goes back down eccentrically.

Hormonas wrote: If you are using 70% of your one rep max and are breezing through the exercises then ensure you're using the correct form with slow and controlled eccentric movements. Most people struggle doing 10 good reps with 70% 1RM so it should be difficult doing 25 with the small breaks between. Remember to work "around" the joint, use the full ROM and squeeze at the top of the movement and squeeze slightly less as the weight goes back down eccentrically.

I didnt use 70% of my 1 rep maximum but just took a guesstimate just to get used to this. My problem is that I max out most of the weight stack on some machines and I haven't tried to test what my 1 rep maximum really is on those machines. On free weights I went too light on my bench press so next time I have an idea on where to actually start. On my incline bench dumbbell curls I could easily do 3 sets of 10 reps using 27kg dumbbells but today I started with 22kg dumbbells and followed the 3/7 system and I struggled midway in that last set. My arms just couldnt go up any more no matter how much I grunted and groaned :lol:

Just taking things a bit slow and easy to see where my breaking points are so that I can do it proper as of next week :woohoo:

Hi guys.

I used this training legs and calves today. I found that the the 3/7 works good on compound exercises like squats, hack squats, leg press and ham curls and for calves donkey calf raises but like Hormonas said very slow controlled and perfect execution of reps. Some exercises for me like isolation moves and most of my leg and calf work I find my body needs high reps as heavy as I can but also as slow and controlled and perfect form to respond. I am going to try the 3/7 on all my body parts for the next 6 weeks.
What I like so far is that this will be good if you are pushed for time...

I also found the same on the isolation exercises , but i was thinking for stuff like leg extensions maybe do one leg at a time and focus on the tempo and contraction like you do in MI40 or any of BPak's programs.


@Hormonas
would it be too much volume if each isolation exercise is done with higher reps but still 15s rest. suppose it all depends on the total weekly volume for that muscle group right?

I do leg extensions and seated calve raises one leg at a time slow and controlled and heavy as I can always

would it be too much volume if each isolation exercise is done with higher reps but still 15s rest. suppose it all depends on the total weekly volume for that muscle group right?

You could do but really all it is doing is adding time onto to exercise as the goal is to reach muscle failure so to encourage the hypertrophy adaptions. How many more reps are you talking?