Cerberus Training - The 3-Headed Muscle Building Workout System

Cerberus. The hound of Hades. A 3-headed demon dog.

In Greek mythology, Cerberus is the guardian of the Underworld. In the gym, the three-headed bite of Cerberus training is the path to efficient muscle building progress.

Related - Become a Massive & Strong Freak 4 Day Workout

We will approach our workouts using a 3-pronged attack:

• Heavy - Each training day will start off with intensity, which in this sense means weight relative to your one rep max. The more intense a set is, the heavier it is compared to your one rep max. Heavy work will focus on the use of big-hitting, compound exercises.
• Volume - Once the heavy work is done, we are doing place each muscle group in the "grow zone" using a battery of reps and a quality time under tension. Slightly less-taxing compound exercises and machine exercises will be used here.
• Rest-Pause - Now it's time for a finisher. Rest-pause work is one of the best ways to build muscle. It beats a muscle down, and continues to thrash it before the muscle can recover. You will feel a solid muscle pump, and be sore for days.

Program Basics

Heavy exercises. These include the bench press, military press, squat, and deadlift. Power shrugs will function in the same manner, but focus on slightly higher reps.

Start with a weight that is about 80% of your one rep max. You will be performing two total sets. For the first set, stop at five reps. The second set will be performed for as many reps as possible. Stop the second set only under the following conditions:

1. If your exercise form starts to break down. Do not perform sloppy reps with bad form. We want quality progression and safe training.
2. If you feel like you might fail on the next rep. There is no need to train to failure. Push the second set hard, but end it before you reach failure.

If you are able to perform seven or more reps on the second set, add 5 pounds to the bar the next time you attack this exercise.

Rest: Rest about three to four minutes in between sets.

Volume exercises. Here, you will be performing four sets of 12 reps. Use the same weight for each set of a given exercise. When you are able to reach 12 reps for each set, add a small amount of weight to the bar.

As with your heavy work, do not train to failure or with back form. Stop sets one rep shy of failure, or when form starts to break down.

Rest: Rest about two minutes in between sets.

Rest-pause exercises. The goal for rest-pause exercises is to reach 10 reps for each of the five sets. The kicker is that you will be resting only 30 seconds in between each set.

When you are able to reach 10 reps for each effort, add a small amount of weight. Again, don't train to failure, nor with sloppy form.

Rest: Rest about 30 seconds in between sets.

Here is a recommended schedule:

• Day 1 - Legs
• Day 2 - Shoulders and Traps
• Day 3 - Off
• Day 4 - Off
• Day 5 - Back and Biceps
• Day 6 - Chest and Triceps
• Day 7 - Off

4 Day Workout Split