So most of you know there isn't 1 fixed way to gain strength. You can do triples, which are rather popular in powerlifting, the 5x5 for beginners, etc. Singles are slightly more difficult to work with, but pay off in terms of increasing the 1RMs while keeping the mass gains to a minimum. They're not for someone just starting a lift, or starting TO lift in general.
This would be useful for people doing weight class sports such as powerlifting, wrestling, olympics, etc. And also for cardio oriented sports like badminton, biking, swimming, etc.
The idea behind singles
Given how you only do 1 repetition per set which happens to be rather close to your 1RM, you need to keep in mind that you're not in the gym to show off. While doing singles over the course of a 3 month program, always lifting this heavy can be very difficult on your CNS, so difficult that you may be unable to complete the program the way it should be done if you exaggerate. Doing such low repetitions will minimize size gains (Gotta repeat that, I don't want people crying because they're not growing!), but at least you'll get to focus on what you would get from a single at the end of 5/3/1 or any other kind of trainings where you end on a near 1RM lift.
So as I've specified, the singles are CLOSE to your 1RM. What does that mean? You gradually increase weights from 80% of your starting 1RM, to 95% on week 1. That's going to be your "scale" for the following workouts. I'll explain in a bit.
So say your 1RM on deadlift is 300 lbs. The structure of your workout would be like this:
1x15 warm up
1x10 heavier warm up
1x10 mild to heavy warm up (don't burn yourself out, but don't be so fresh you'd get hurt going suddenly heavy)
1x1 with 240 lbs
1x1 with 250 lbs
1x1 with 260 lbs
1x1 with 270 lbs
1x1 with 280 lbs
1x1 with 285 lbs
It won't "feel" tiring. So don't act like you're awesome and you can do more. This is how you START the program. Those weights are key to your success. From there, you'll be able to know what to do for the following weeks.
The general idea is that you can add ROUGHLY 5 to 10 lbs per week on squats and deadlift and 2 to 5 lbs on bench. Now keep in mind this is based on unexperienced lifters. If that hat fits you, those increments COULD make sense. Otherwise I'd suggest going with 5 lbs for squats and deadlift. 2-5 for bench is feasible. But basically, you add weight to every single in small increments, every week. Hence week 2 should look like this:
1x15 warm up
1x10 heavier warm up
1x10 mild to heavy warm up (don't burn yourself out, but don't be so fresh you'd get hurt going suddenly heavy)
1x1 with 245 lbs
1x1 with 255 lbs
1x1 with 265 lbs
1x1 with 275 lbs
1x1 with 285 lbs
1x1 with 290 lbs
***The key rule to this training is to NEVER fail a single.***
If you can keep that in mind and stop walking around like you have 12 testicles, you'll do great. Be smart. As you get to your beginning 1RM, you need to gage if you can keep up the pace adding 5 lbs weekly. If not, I strongly advise you buy 1lbs magnets to reduce your increments. As long as the weight goes up, that's all that matters. Experienced lifters can't add outrageous #s in short periods of time no matter how awesome they are at lifting. Don't forget, you do NOT want to burn out your CNS before your 3 months are done.
From there, you do your 10 following weeks. Always add weight, no matter how little you add. At the end, take a good 2 weeks of deload and then test your new 1RMs.
This training can also be good for those who have been stuck at the same weight on their compounds for a while.
Tips to keep in mind as you perform your singles:
- Look up!
- Explode. The faster you try to go in the concentric phase, the easier the lift is going to be. I can never stress this enough. When you deadlift, you're fucking superman and you curl that weight with your dick. Fucking explode.
- Don't fail any single.