Want To Look Better With Your Shirt Off? Start Training Like A Powerlifter. Seriously.

Powerlifting is a sport of giants. I’m thoroughly convinced that most successful powerlifters actually have giant genes. They’re just like Hagrid though, only half giants. When’s the last time you got around one of these behemoths? You probably noticed they’re gigantic. Root word of gigantic? Giant. Coincidence? I think not.

There’s a major misconception about powerlifters though, and that is that they’re all a bunch of fat dudes who only care about lifting heavy ass weights. They all absolutely care about lifting heavy weights, but they’re definitely not all a bunch of fat guys.

In fact, some of the world’s most successful bodybuilders got their start in powerlifting. They used powerlifting to build the base of strength necessary to go on and build guns that they were required to register in states with strict gun laws.

One of those guys? Some Austrian dude by the name of Arnold.

Training like a powerlifter might actually hold the key to you looking better naked.

Powerlifters don’t have time for fru fru b.s. training. They pick a few exercises that work really well, and stick to those. They remove all the extra nonsense that doesn’t do anyone any damn good. Because of that they build huge legs, wide backs, and chests that could fill a D cup.

Train like a powerlifter, look better naked.

Incorporating some powerlifting training is a hell of a lot easier than it sounds. Most people know the powerlifts, or the big three. Squat, bench, and deadlift.

Training like a powerlifter for aesthetic purposes just requires you to use these three lifts, change things up slightly, and then add in some form of cardio.

Where things are the same.

In order to train like a powerlifter to look better naked, you’ll keep doing the same lifts. Each workout should focus on one of the big three as the main lift that day.

On each of the big three, you’ll do 2-3 warm up sets to get going. Then go to working sets of 3×3, or 3 sets of 3 reps. These should be about 85% of your max. None of these reps should push you completely to failure. You should finish each set with 1-2 reps left in the tank.

Working in rep ranges anywhere from 1-5 reps is a hallmark of powerlifting training. It’s a rep range that focuses on building pure strength.

Where things get different.

After you’ve completed your 3×3 for that lift, you’ll do another 3 sets on the same lift. This time though you’ll drop the weight, and get 12 reps. This is a rep range that helps you focus on growth. You’ll likely be exhausted after 3×3, so be wise with the weight you choose. Working to failure isn’t ideal, you want good clean reps with a hard contraction in your muscles.

Doing the extra 3×12 is designed to help you get more total volume in. Getting more volume is a hallmark to training success, because it causes the muscles to grow. Not only will you get stronger, but you’ll get bigger as well.

After completing your 3×12 you’ll then pick 4 assistance exercises to do on each workout. Choose the assistance work wisely, and pick body parts that you particularly want to focus on. If you want to start doing curls, go right ahead. The same can be said with abs, though they’ll be getting plenty of work from your powerlifts.

For each assistance exercise, your set and rep range will be 4 sets of 12 reps. Organize things into supersets, so you’ll finish the workout with 2 separate supersets.

After this is where things get fun. You’ll have to incorporate some cardio if you want to look great naked. But it doesn’t have to completely suck.

Day 1: 30 minutes of very low intensity cardio. An exercise bike is perfect here.

Day 2: Grab a jump rope and get going. You’ll be going 10 rounds of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. The burn you’ll have in your calves is absolutely unreal.

Day 3: Hill sprints. If you don’t have a hill, doing exercise bike sprints or putting the incline on the treadmill all the way up is an excellent alternative. You’ll do 10 rounds of 10 seconds all-out effort, and then 1:30 of very easy paced recovery time.

To recap:

  • Strength work on each day for each powerlift is 3×3
  • Follow that with 3×12 for the same lift
  • Superset A
  • Superset B
  • Cardio

You may notice this would only call for 3 true days of lifting. So on the other 4 days it’s entirely up to you if you would like to get in the gym and do some extra work. The only thing I would advise is keep your extra lifting down to around 15-20 total sets. It’s imperative you give yourself time to recover.

Follow the program for 4-6 weeks, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that you’re not only stronger, but bigger, and carrying less fat. All things that equal looking better with your clothes off.