Intro To the 8×8 Workout Program
Pack on muscle, and get yourself beach ready with this unique pump program
Designed by “The Iron Guru” Vince Gironda’s, the 8×8 workout program offers a unique approach to a training program focusing on high volume, low weight, and low rest times. Instead of manipulating the weight, sets, or reps to increase the intensity, this program focuses on reducing the rest breaks, leading to bigger muscle pumps and bigger muscles.
This style of workout is great for intermediate to advanced lifters who are looking for a change in their programming to help get beach body ready in a short amount of time. The 8×8 workout program is built for aesthetics, not improved strength or athletics. With the higher volume it’s normal for the individual to feel quite a bit of muscle soreness post workout, making nutrition and rest a high priority.
If you have a vacation coming up or want to look your best for an upcoming event, you need to try this program out. It doesn’t take long to see some big differences.
Have limited gym equipment access? No problem! Check out this simple Dumbbell Only Total Body Workout Here or modify the workouts to fit your equipment availability.
8×8 Workout Program Schedule
This program is intended to be performed 4x per week workout, which cycles through the workouts like so:
Monday: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps (CST)
Tuesday: Lower Body (LB)
Wednesday: Back/Biceps (BB)
Thursday: CST 2
Friday: LB 2
Saturday: BB 2
Sunday: Rest
OR
Monday: CST
Tuesday: LB
Wednesday: BB
Thursday: Rest
Friday: CST 2
Saturday: Lower Body
Sunday: BB 2
Monday: Rest
Repeat
The second option is a better schedule for recovery. If you can only make it to the gym 3x per week, simply complete the other versions of the workouts on the next week. Aim to take at least 1 day off from activity. This program should only run for 6 weeks before alternating to a new workout program.
8×8 Workout Breakdown
These 8x8x workouts are roughly 45-minute workouts, with only 4-5 exercises per workout. With each exercise there will be 8 sets of 8 reps, with 30 seconds of rest between sets. As you progress, you’ll lower the rest breaks. This will happen in 2-week cycles. Initially starting at 30 seconds for the first two weeks, dropping to 20 seconds, and ultimately 15 seconds for weeks five/six.
As you might be able to tell, this program will require you to lower the weights you typically use for your workouts. A good range to begin with would be around 60% of your 1-rep max, then adjust as needed.
For conditioning, you will get a lot of it, as well as endurance work through the program. While normally I’d advise conditioning for every program, doing large amounts of high intensity work or high-volume work can affect your recovery from these workouts. I’d recommend doing low intensity work for roughly 20-30 minutes on your off day. Again, this program is focused around aesthetics, not athletics.
Because of the high-volume nature of this program, I would advise to only do 6-week cycles of this program at a time. To maintain a well-balanced approach to your workouts I would advise trying a different style of program for a few weeks before using this program again. Check out the HML Program (aka Goldilocks Program) if you’re looking for another alternative focusing on strength and muscle building
That being said, if you enjoy this type of training and want to do a second cycle, make sure to take a week off in between each round of performing the program.
Other considerations
To get the most out of this program – nutrition, sleep, hydration, and stress management are going to be key to the results you see. Having these aspects down can dramatically affect how much muscle you build, or how much fat you lose. If you’re not sure what you should be doing on this side of things, make sure to contact me directly.
As with all workouts, having a solid warm up plan is going to be another factor to getting the most out of your workout. While most people will simply walk on the treadmill (which might be alright when you’re new to the gym) it’s going to be more effective to implement a well-rounded warm up to include foam rolling, stretching, activation work, and CNS activation. While that may seem like a lot to do, it should only take 10-15 minutes at most.
Grab a copy of my RK Athletics Client Warm Up document here to simplify the process and make your warm-ups the most effective they can be.
Sample HML Workout
Using these templates, you can easily set up your own variation of the 8×8 workout program.
CST Template
- Bench Press Movement
- Accessory Chest Movement (Fly’s)
- Shoulder Focused Movement
- Triceps Movement
BB Template
- Pull-Up Based Movement
- Horizontal Pulling Movement
- Vertical Pulling Movement
- Biceps Movement
LB Template
- Squat Movement
- Hinge Movement
- Lunge/Machine Movement
- Core Based Movement
Sample CST Workout
8 Sets of 8 reps of each:
DB Bench Press
Cable Standing Fly
Single Arm Cable Lateral Raise
DB Skull-crusher
Week 1 / 2 – 30s rest between each set
Week 3 / 4 – 20s rest between each set
Week 5 / 6 – 15s rest between each set
Depending on your goals, you can adjust the exercises accordingly. I will always recommend most programs to include a Press, Row, Squat, Lunge, Hinge, and Carry throughout the workouts to make for a complete program. This program is designed for more compound movements, with some isolation movements involved.
Summary
As mentioned before, this program will greatly challenge your body to progress quickly in a very noticeable way. This is a great workout style for intermediate to advanced lifters who have an upcoming holiday or want to fill up their sleeves at an upcoming event.
Want a done-for-you version of this program, on a top of the line app platform that will track your progress and act as a personal trainer in your pocket? Check out the Super Pump 8×8 Program Online and get jaw-dropping changes today.
Have questions about the 8×8 workout program structure?
Drop a comment below and I’ll be more than happy to answer it.
Live Your Life To The Fullest,
Rich, Owner & Personal Trainer – RK Athletics
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