By Paul Carter

A hard truth of training is that the training method that would produce the fastest results is
almost always one you can't do. Why? Because you're a semi-responsible adult and have the
schedule and life stress associated with adulting.

This doesn't mean you can't achieve good or even potentially great results. But it means you
should probably skip the training routines of Olympia-level bodybuilders and professional
athletes who make a living through human performance.

For the normal-life adult, training economy—not intensity or volume—is probably the most
important factor to be considered in training. Unfortunately, training economy is also far harder
to define than those other two variables.

Here's how I economize training for the average (or even above average) Joes and Janes who
want to maximize what time they do have to devote to the gym:
 Narrowing workouts down to movements and modalities that give the most bang for their
buck within shorter training windows.
 Prioritizing mechanisms known to help grow or retain muscle, such as progressive
overload, mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and even metabolic conditioning.
 Keeping wear and tear to a minimum, and designing training to be easy on the joints. We're
old. Our joints are old, too.
 Creating programs that stimulate, not annihilate. This could be said for all training
programs, really. However, few people consider the systemic effect that life stress has on
recovery. I don't think I'm reaching when I say that life stress in your 40s is more abundant
than in your teens and 20s.

My one-stop shop for checking all of those boxes is something I call "accumulative volume
training" (AVT), which is the backbone of the Jacked in 3 program.
What Is Accumulative Volume Training?

After almost a decade of powerlifting, I got sick of feeling tired and beat up. One of the
principles I prioritized upon my exit from that kind of training was the pre-exhaust with single-
joint movements, before moving on to the compound lifts. This is a classic bodybuilding
technique that I found kept my joints feeling good, and allowed me to still work hard on the big
stuff, without piling on the big weights.

Crucially, not piling on the big weights also kept me from having to "train on the nerve", i.e.,
getting psyched up for sets. This gave my sympathetic nervous system a break so that my
systemic recovery was vastly improved. The only drawback to this approach was that I ended
up doing a lot of volume overall, especially on the single-joint movements, and training
sessions ended up running longer than I really wanted.

I wanted to be able to get in the gym, hit some hard sets, have some form of progression to
monitor, and get out. I wanted to pre-exhaust without going through all the warm-up sets and
working sets a traditional pre-exhaust demands you undertake before you ever get to the big
lifts. I wanted to reduce my time in the gym, but without sacrificing efficiency or productivity.

I went back to doing the compound lifts first, with a change in how my warm-ups and working
sets were approached. The warm-up sets would build right into the working sets, while also
creating fatigue, and at the same time accumulating volume. The last few sets would be the
heaviest, but that "heaviness" could change workout by workout, and the amount of weight
would be limited due to metabolic fatigue.

The method I arrived at to meet the principles I outlined above was to crunch all my sets into a
form of rest-pause training that used an ascending pyramid of intensity progression.

Instead of sets, I performed "rounds" which consist of a bunch of mini-sets, which I called
"hops." I would start off with a very light weight and do my reps, then rest for 20 seconds, add
more weight, and do the same amount of reps as I did with the first set. I would continue
adding weight while keeping the reps static the whole time until I reached failure, or something
close to it. At that point, the round is over.
Here's how it could look for a Smith Machine incline press:

 6 reps, rest 20 seconds, add another quarter to each side

 6 reps, rest 20 seconds, add another quarter to each side
 6 reps, rest 20 seconds, add another quarter to each side
 5 reps, set over.

Simple enough, right? Perform 6 reps, rest briefly, and repeat that until you can't perform 6
reps, fail at 6 reps, or are pretty sure you won't be able to add 50 pounds and get 6 reps.

All of these hops make up one round. Through experimentation I've found that sets of 6-8
worked best for the compound upper-body movements, and sets of 10 worked best for lower-
body work.

Then, after the AV sets, I follow that up with a single-joint movement with 1-2 straight sets to
failure using moderate to higher reps. That muscle group is done.

How to Make This Approach Work for You

Everyone will have to use different loading schemes to account for their level of strength. The
weight hops do not have to be the same, either.

A stronger guy might start with the bar, then "hop" to 135 pounds, then 185, 225, and 275. This
would be hops with a 45, then a 25, then two 45's, then a 25. Someone else may find using 10-
pound plates would be more efficient. Or the same guy on different days might prefer one
approach or the other.

You can do as few as four hops, or as many as 8-10. Some days, you might have more in you,
while others you'll have far less. This allows you to auto-regulate, but also have that top set to
measure yourself against.

While you could try to make this work with a body-part split, I find it works best with a three-day
upper/lower split. Arms get trained every session for high reps at the end of both days,
because who doesn't love leaving the gym with an arm pump?
Here's how it looks in schedule form:

 Week 1: Upper Body 1 / Lower Body 1/ Upper Body 2

 Week 2: Lower Body 2 / Upper Body 1 / Lower Body 1
 Week 3: Upper Body 2 / Lower Body 2/ Upper Body 1
 Week 4: Lower Body 1 / Upper Body 2 / Lower Body 2

I've included specific movements for each workout on the schedule. But honestly, I prefer to
think of the compound movements in each workout in these categories, rather than as
movements:

 Pressing movements
 Vertical pulling movements
 Horizontal pulling movements
 Quad-focused lower body
 Glute and hamstring-focused lower body

I'll give more recommendations for substitutions on the workout days themselves, but you have
many choices, and you can succeed on a plan like this for a long, long time.

Benefits of AVT

Joint Protection

If productive training longevity is a goal—and it should be—then it's imperative to take care of
your joints. Find me a guy that refuses to give up on pushing the "maximum weight for low
reps" envelope and I will find you a guy with achy knees, hips, elbows, and wrists. This is the
guy who is "strong," but also has to wrap, sleeve, and bandage everything after his 45-minute
warm-up and mobility session just so that he can "get down to depth" for squats.

At the same time, if muscle retention, or even gaining a few ounces of lean body mass, is still
the goal—and it should be—moving around purple dumbbells isn't very productive either.

Programming Flexibility
If someone needs more hops during a round because they are legitimately beat up, then
there's nothing set in stone saying they can't do 15-20 hops of 6-8 reps for pressing to get
warm. Anyone who has some serious mileage on a weight-trained body is going to need a little
more care than the very pliable body of a teenager or early 20s bro.

Auto-regulation

How each hop moves will tell you a lot about how to make your jumps. This gives you an
opportunity for auto-regulation, or customizing your workload based on how you feel, not just
what number is "supposed" to be your first work set.

Remember, you only have 15-20 seconds to make a choice on your jump in weight. If you're
feeling sluggish or beat up, you should play it conservatively, which is always smart when
you're in a bit of a recovery hole.

In action, this means there will be some days where you use AVT sets basically to get a pump,
stopping well short of your true "max," and walk out of the gym feeling good. These are good
days! On other days, if you're crushing your hops leading up to the last set, then you'll also
adjust for that as well, and set out to potentially smash a solid PR.

Movement Patterning

Have a lift that never "feels right" or that you want to focus on and get a lot better at? Program
in 15-20 hops for 2 rounds, and be conservative during your pyramiding. You should find that
during the second hop, a lot like Sister Christian, you really start motoring. In other words, the
groove of the movement starts to feel very efficient, and you may even be stronger during the
second round than the first.

Some of this is generalized warm-up, but I also believe it's a bit of a nervous system "wake up"
that happens as well. And I've experienced it plenty of times in this model.

I've been asked, "Can I just pyramid back down in weight after the first round is completed?" I
wouldn't suggest it. That's a bodybuilding technique all its own, for a different program. I
suggest taking a 3-minute rest between each round to allow ATP to be replenished. Going
back down in weight after the initial round is complete will not allow that, and I believe is less
productive than simply unloading the weight and taking a break between rounds. As noted,
very often the second round will feel more productive and efficient than the first round.
Upper-Body Workout 1

As mentioned in the program overview, there are specific movements listed in the workout, but
you can substitute based on what equipment you have available or what feels best to you. This
is about long-term successful training, not trying to force something that doesn't feel good. So
pick freely from this list, and do what works for your body.

The same goes for scheduling. This program is set up M/W/F, but feel free to do it however
works for you.
Workout Plan (UB1)

 Pressing Movement: Bench, incline bench, close-grip bench, chest press, Smith machine
press, snatch-grip behind-the-neck barbell press, any seated or standing overhead
press variation.
 2 sets, 6-10 hops (Perform 6-8 reps with low weight. Add a plate of appropriate size to each
side, rest 20 sec., then perform another 6-8 reps. Repeat these "hops" with 20-sec. rests
between until you reach failure, or can't add any more weight and stay in the 6-8 rep range.
All of that is one set. Strip off the weight, rest at 3-5 min., and start again from the bottom.)

 Chest Isolation: Cable cross-over, dumbbell fly, machine fly.

 1-2 sets, 10-12 reps

 Vertical Pull: Pull-ups or chin-ups, lat pull-down variations, straight-arm pull-down.

 2 sets, 6-10 hops (Perform 6-8 reps with low weight. Add a plate of appropriate size to each
side, rest 20 sec., then perform another 6-8 reps. Repeat these "hops" with 20-sec. rests
between until you reach failure, or can't add any more weight and stay in the 6-8 rep range.
All of that is one set. Strip off the weight, rest 3-5 min., and start again from the bottom.)

 Rear Delts: Dumbbell rear delt fly, reverse pec-deck, reverse cable fly, band pull-
apart, rear delt row.
 1-2 sets, 10-12 reps

 Biceps: Barbell curl, switch-grip curl (alternating between wide and narrow every 5
reps) dumbbell curl, incline dumbbell curl, concentration curl, hammer curl, preacher
curl, machine curl, all other curls.
 2 sets, 20 reps

 Triceps: PJR pull-over (a cross between the pull-over and skullcrusher that I
created), triceps push-down, dumbbell kick-back, overhead rope extension, close-grip
bench, skullcrusher (only if your elbows can handle them).
 2 sets, 20 reps
Lower-Body Workout 1

Today's lower-body workout is structure slightly differently than Upper-Body Workout 1. Rather
than doing multiple rounds of the leg press or squat, do one round with the leg press, then do
your squats. After you've done all those leg presses—that's a lot of hops, after all—be
conservative with your squats. Resting as much as necessary between warm-up sets, build up
to a heavy-feeling top set of 6-8 reps, then call it good.

As with the upper-body day, pick the squat variation that best fits your equipment, your injury
history, and your body. Back squats, front squats, hack squats—they're all fine to use.
Workout Plan (LB1)
 Leg Press
 1 set, 12-15 hops (Perform 10-12 reps with low weight. Add a plate of appropriate size to
each side, rest 20 sec., and perform another 10-12 reps. Repeat these "hops" with 20-sec.
rests between until you reach failure, or can't add any more weight and stay in the 10-12 rep
range.)

 Squat: Back squat, Front squat, Zercher squat, Hack squat, etc.
 1 set, 6-8 reps (with as many ramp-up sets as necessary)

 Leg Extension
 1-2 sets, 15-20 reps

 Biceps (see Upper-Body Day)

 2 sets, 20 reps

 Triceps (see Upper-Body Day)

 2 sets, 20 reps
Upper-Body Workout 2

This workout differs slightly from Upper-Body Workout 1 in that you'll do horizontal pulls
instead of vertical pulls, and shrugs instead of rear delts (which will get worked in your
horizontal pulls).

If you want, you can also switch press variations, from incline or horizontal presses to vertical
presses. Alternately, you can bench twice a week for a few weeks, then switch to a more
shoulder-focused phase. What you choose there is up to you and your shoulders.

As with the other workouts, substitute from this list as needed based on your available
equipment and your body's needs.
Workout Plan (UB2)

 Pressing Movement: Bench, incline bench, close-grip bench, chest press, Smith machine
press, snatch-grip behind-the-neck barbell press, any seated or standing overhead
press variation.
 2 sets, 6-10 hops (Perform 6-8 reps with low weight. Add a plate of appropriate size to each
side, rest 20 sec., and perform another 6-8 reps. Repeat these "hops" with 20-sec. rests
between until you reach failure, or can't add any more weight and stay in the 6-8 rep range.
All of that is one set. Strip off the weight, rest 3-5 min., and start again from the bottom.)

 Chest or Shoulder Isolation: Cable cross-over, dumbbell fly, machine fly, dumbbell lateral
raise, plate front raise.
 2 sets, 10-12 reps

 Horizontal Pull: T-bar row, seated cable row, leverage row, bent-over barbell
row, dumbbell row.
 2 sets, 6-10 hops (Perform 6-8 reps with low weight. Add a plate of appropriate size to each
side, rest 20 sec., and perform another 6-8 reps. Repeat these "hops" with 20-sec. rests
between until you reach failure, or can't add any more weight and stay in the 6-8 rep range.
All of that is one set. Strip off the weight, rest 3-5 min., and start again from the bottom.)

 Shrugs: Dumbbell shrug, dumbbell shrug with 3-second pause at the top, upright
row, Smith machine behind-the-back shrug, barbell Meadows shrug.
 2 sets, 10-12 reps

 Biceps: Barbell curl, switch-grip curl (alternating between wide and narrow every 5
reps) dumbbell curl, incline dumbbell curl, concentration curl, hammer curl, preacher
curl, machine curl, all other curls.
 2 sets, 20 reps

 Triceps: PJR pull-over (a cross between the pull-over and skullcrusher that I
created), triceps push-down, dumbbell kick-back, overhead rope extension, close-grip
bench, skullcrusher (only if your elbows can handle them).
 2 sets, 20 reps
Lower-Body Workout 2

Just like on previous days, you have options here. For the first move, I recommend either a
split-squat variation, or a single-leg sumo leg press.

If you go with the split squat, either flat or rear-foot elevated squats are fine, but for the
Bulgarian version it really depends on how you perform them. To put maximum emphasis on
the posterior chain, focus on pushing the back (elevated) leg down and back, feeling a stretch
in that leg's hip flexor.

If you don't do this, it's really easy to make it a quad-dominant movement—which it shouldn't
be.
Workout Plan

 Single-Leg Pressing Movement: Dumbbell split squat, Bulgarian split squat, Smith
machine split squat, single-leg sumo leg press.
 2 sets, 10-12 hops per leg (Perform 10-12 reps with low weight. Add a plate of appropriate
size to each side, rest 20 sec., and perform another 10-12 reps. Repeat these "hops" with
20-sec. rests between until you reach failure, or can't add any more weight and stay in the
10-12 rep range.

 Deadlift: Conventional, Sumo, Trap-bar, Snatch-grip, Romanian, etc.

 1-2 sets, 6-8 reps

 Lying Leg Curl

 2 sets, 10-12 reps

 Biceps: (see Upper Body Day)

 2 sets, 20 reps

 Triceps: (see Upper Body Day)

 2 sets, 20 reps
Rest or Conditioning Days

Even if your goal is purely getting jacked, I recommend doing conditioning work—not to be
confused with "cardio"—twice a week. Here are a few options:

 Do 40-yard sprints. Start slow, like 8-10 of them at a pace that doesn't kill you. Build up to
15 or more over 4-6 weeks.
 Hit the stationary bike, and do 12-15 sprints of 15 seconds apiece, followed by 45 seconds
of easy pedaling.
 Push a weighted sled or Prowler around with the same basic programming.

If you're not feeling any of those, go for a fast-paced walk for 30-40 minutes. This is really
underrated. And do it outside—not on the treadmill.

The rest of your day, eat good food, and lots of it. No one ever got bigger by not eating.

This is meant to be a flexible program. If that means you can only train twice during the week
and need to either lift or do conditioning on the weekend, so be it. On the other hand, if you got
in your three lifting sessions and a conditioning routine or two during the week, it's OK to chill
out and live your life. If you get antsy, go for a brisk walk. And do it outside!

Eat. Rest. Hang with the people who matter. If you know you can't train tomorrow, sure, do it
today. But don't half-ass the rest of your life.

You know what your options are. Do them or don't. Get jacked or don't. No one's going to
make you do anything.
Nutrition Overview

Paul Carter's Jacked in 3 training program is all about taking the focus of "quantity" in training,
and putting it on "quality." Your approach to nutrition should be the same way.

So let's start here: If you have a way of eating that works with your life, supports solid training,
and keeps your body composition where you want it to be, stick with it. Why bother changing
what's working?

However, if you're not entirely satisfied with how you eat, or you want to make a few tweaks to
your nutrition to coincide with the start of this program, here's where to start.

Eliminate The Obvious Junk

As Paul Carter put it on the Bodybuilding.com podcast, nobody's ever seen a field of Fritos
waving peacefully in the wind. They're not food. They're a concoction in a lab.
So here's your rule: 90 percent of the time, eat food. Have a solid piece of protein on the plate,
load up on veggies, and have carbs that come from the ground—not from cardboard. Cutting
out low-quality, low-nutrient food is an "addition by subtraction" approach. And along with lifting
regularly and doing cardio, it's enough for most people to achieve incredible body changes.

Are you someone who needs—or thinks you need—a number? Aim for 1 gram of protein per
pound of body weight. Spread it across a few meals and maybe a shake. That's enough.

Call it "eating like a bro," like Carter does, or call it "eating clean" or whatever you want. But do
it 90 percent of the time, and you can be jacked without counting calories—and have enough
flexibility in your diet to still satisfy your sweet tooth on occasion.

Have Protein Pre-Workout

This is a favorite approach of Paul Carter's, and believe it or not, it has been shown in research
to be as effective as post-workout protein.

As Bodybuilding.com author Nick Coker, MS, CISSN writes in the article "The Case for Pre-
Workout Protein," a study published in 2007 found that when subjects were provided a 20-
gram protein shake before lower-body exercise, net protein balance was positive both before
and following exercise, and synthesis rates were significantly elevated compared to baseline
measures.[1]

Here's one of Carter's favorite pre-workout protocols from his blog, Lift-Run-Bang: Take 20-25
grams of casein—yes, casein—60-90 minutes prior to training, with a banana and a couple of
tablespoons of peanut butter.

This combination of slow-burning protein, fats, and carbs will keep amino acids flowing
throughout your workout and afterward, while keeping your blood sugar from going bonkers
during your workout.

If it helps you get enough protein in your daily diet, you could have a second shake post-
workout. But that one's optional, because the pre-workout shake you took (and the quality
meal you'll eat later) are still doing you a lot of good.

Keep Other Supps Simple

Don't go chasing magic bullets. Stick with what works. Here are few to consider:
Creatine Monohydrate: It's safe, it's cheap, and it has been shown again and again to help
boost strength and muscle gains. If you're looking for a simple way to get more results from the
work you do, you can't go wrong with 3-5 grams of monohydrate a day.

BCAAs: You'll find plenty of supporters and naysayers for branched-chain amino acids, but they've
been shown in the research to both help prevent exercise-induced muscle soreness, and lower perceived
levels of exertion.[2-5] If you're going to hit it hard just three times a week, those are both good things.

Fish Oil: As Carter writes in his article "The Nutritional Keys to Staying Jacked After 40," fish oil falls
under the "just take it already" category of supplements—at all ages. It does so many wonderful things
that improve health, wellness, and both muscle-building and muscle retention. Pick a good one, and take
it daily. [6-7]

Quality Over Quantity In The Gym, Kitchen, And Life

Sure, there are plenty of other things you can do to try to optimize your health and nutrition, depending
on your age, income, and goals.

For instance, Carter (like Jim Stoppani) is a big fan of intermittent fasting, where you limit your eating
to a single daily "window," usually of 8 hours. But he insists you still time your intake around training.
"Whatever window you decide to use, make sure you get in a solid meal before and after training," says
Carter.

But that's not for everyone. If you're a young man looking to get huge, you have little to gain from
skipping any meal. If you're over 40 and want to hold onto muscle mass more than keep adding, it's a
different story.

Think quality over quantity. Do hard work. Eat like an adult. Get jacked, and know you earned it.

References

1. Tipton, K. D., Elliott, T. A., Cree, M. G., Aarsland, A. A., Sanford, A. P., & Wolfe, R. R.
(2007). Stimulation of net muscle protein synthesis by whey protein ingestion before and after
exercise. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, 292(1), E71-E76.
2. Greer, B. K., White, J. P., Arguello, E. M., & Haymes, E. M. (2011). Branched-chain amino acid
supplementation lowers perceived exertion but does not affect performance in untrained males. The
Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 25(2), 539-544.
3. Negro, M., Giardina, S., Marzani, B., & Marzatico, F. (2008). Branched-chain amino acid
supplementation does not enhance athletic performance but affects muscle recovery and the immune
system. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 48(3), 347.
4. Nosaka, K., Sacco, P., & Mawatari, K. (2006). Effects of amino acid supplementation on muscle
soreness and damage. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 16(6), 620-
635.
5. MacLean, D. A., Graham, T. E., & Saltin, B. (1994). Branched-chain amino acids augment ammonia
metabolism while attenuating protein breakdown during exercise. American Journal of Physiology-
Endocrinology and Metabolism, 267(6), E1010-E1022.
6. Maroon, J. C., & Bost, J. W. (2006). ω-3 Fatty acids (fish oil) as an anti-inflammatory: an alternative
to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for discogenic pain. Surgical Neurology, 65(4), 326-331.
7. Smith, G. I., Atherton, P., Reeds, D. N., Mohammed, B. S., Rankin, D., Rennie, M. J., &
Mittendorfer, B. (2011). Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids augment the muscle protein anabolic
response to hyperinsulinaemia–hyperaminoacidaemia in healthy young and middle-aged men and
women. Clinical Science, 121(6), 267-278.
You're almost done! Start looking ahead.

This is it: the home stretch. You only have a few days left in this fitness plan, and the finish
line is in sight. But once you cross it, you’re not really done; you’re ready to begin again! It's
time to start considering your options for what comes next. An "after" picture, some well-
earned rest, and a hearty meal or two are probably part of your plan. But what then?

Here are some popular options:

 You could turn right around and perform this same plan again. No, really! Many people find
they experience even better results the second time through a plan since they’re familiar
with the exercise protocol, the diet, and other factors that may be hard to master the first
time through. If you hammer the plan again, just set some new goals and push yourself
beyond where you started.
 If you’ve been moving in the same direction for a while and need a change of pace, you
could do a 180 and change your goal. If you've been chasing gains, try a fat-loss or
performance plan. If you've been losing fat, it could be time to build strength or add muscle.
Believe it or not, each program can feed perfectly into the next! There are over 45 plans to
choose from on our Browse All Plans page.
 Take a brief break from structured training. If you need a little variety in your life and time to
decide where to go next, just repeat your favorite workouts from the program you're
finishing while you make up your mind, or string together workouts from a few different
programs—back from one, legs from another, and so on. This can help you try a plan out
before you commit to it.

Whatever you do, don't let the momentum you've been building up fade away! Consistency is
the key to a fit lifestyle, and over the last few weeks, you've built up a lot of it. Now go finish
strong!
Background

Paul Carter is a strength hypertrophy coach and the founder of Lift-Run-Bang, an online coaching website.
He has written for T-Nation, Muscle and Fitness, Flex Magazine, and Bodybuilding.com. Paul is also the co-
author of "Maximum Muscle Bible."