Bigger Leaner Stronger by Mike Matthews

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The Book in One Sentence

No matter how bad you might think your genetics are or how lost you might feel after trying and abandoning many types of workouts, you can have the lean, ripped body that you dream about.

The Seven Big Ideas

Train 1-2 muscle groups per day
Do sets of 4-6 reps for nearly all exercises
Do 9-12 heavy sets per muscle group
Rest 2-3 minutes in between sets
Train for 45-60 Minutes
Train each muscle group once every 5-7 days
Take a week off training every 8-10 weeks

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Bigger Leaner Stronger Summary

Matthews opens chapter 21 with a training formula that outlines the protocol he recommends you follow:

2–3 | 4–6 | 9–12 | 2–4 | 45–60 | 5–7 | 8–10

Let’s look at each part in more detail.

1. Train 2 to 3 Major Muscle Groups Per Workout

While there are many different ways to organize workout programs, Bigger Leaner Stronger utilizes what’s known as a “push-pull-legs” or “PPL” split, which has you train two to three major muscle groups per workout.

Matthews favors a push-pull-leg routine over others, such as “full-body,” because it trains all major muscle groups, allows plenty of time for recovery, and can be easily tailored to fit different training goals, schedules, and histories.

A push-pull-leg routine separates your major muscle groups into three different workouts: (1) chest, shoulders, and triceps (push), (2) back and biceps (pull), and (3) legs (including calves, usually). Matthews explains that this protocol is easier to understand, too.

2. Do 4 to 6 Reps Per Hard Set

“Rep,” which is short for “repetition,” is a single raising and lowering of a weight. A “set” is a fixed number of repetitions of a particular exercise, and a “hard set” is a heavy, muscle- and strength-building set that’s taken close to the point where you can no longer continue with proper form.

For example, if you’re doing dumbbell biceps curls and curl the weights up from your sides and then lower them back to their starting positions, you’ve done one “rep.” Then, if you do five more reps and stop close to the point where you can no longer continue with proper form, you’ve done one “hard set.”

Bigger Leaner Stronger has you work in the rep range of four to six reps, meaning that most of your hard sets are going to entail doing at least four reps but not more than six. Matthews explains that, for most men, this means working with weights that are around 80 to 85 percent of their one-rep max.

3. Do 9 to Hard Sets Per Workout

Each Bigger Leaner Stronger workout has you warm up and perform 9 to 15 hard sets. For example, if you’re doing bicep curls, you would do ten reps with about 50 percent of your hard set weight and rest for a minute. Then, you would do ten reps with the same weight at a slightly faster pace and rest for a minute, followed by four reps with about 70 percent of your hard set weight and rest for a minute. Finally, you would do three heavy, muscle–building sets.

4. Rest 2 to 4 minutes in Between Hard Sets

Matthews writes that, unless you’re looking to burn calories, it’s a mistake to ignore resting between sets if you’re trying to build muscle and get stronger. He cites research that found that, after an extensive review of weightlifting studies, “3-5 minutes’ rest between sets allowed for greater repetitions over multiple sets.”

He elaborates further,

The reason why this piece of the formula is “2–4” and not just “3” is you can rest slightly less (two minutes) in between hard sets for smaller muscle groups like the biceps, triceps, and shoulders, and slightly more (four minutes) in between hard sets for your larger muscle groups like your back and legs if your heart rate hasn’t settled down, or if you simply feel you need a little more time before you can give maximum effort on your next hard set.

5. Train Most Major Muscle Groups Once Every 3 to 5 Days

Matthews explains that the frequency in which you can and should train each major muscle group depends on several things, including your workout schedule, your physique goals, your workout intensity (how heavy the weights are), and your workout volume (how many hard sets you do).

He adds that one overarching, non-negotiable rule that governs the results is the higher the intensity and volume of the individual workouts, the less frequently you can do them. This means you could, in theory, squat or bench press three times per week, but you couldn’t do ten heavy sets of each per workout.

The bottom line is that frequency is mainly a tool you use to reach your target weekly volume for each major muscle group as long as you’re lifting heavy weights.

6. Take 1 to 2 Days Off Per Week

Intense training wears you out. And for that reason, Matthews recommends no more than six days of serious exercise per week (resistance training and higher-intensity cardio), with one day of no intense physical activity whatsoever (very low-intensity cardio or sports, however, like swimming, walking, or golf is fine).

7. Take It Easy Every 8 to 10 Weeks

Matthews writes there are two easy ways to avoid symptoms related to overtraining. The first is periodically reducing our workout intensity or volume (known as deloading.) The second is periodically taking five to seven days off weightlifting. In Bigger Leaner Stronger, Matthews invites you to try both and see which works best for you.