Grim repper: experience new muscle growth and fat loss—along with some pain—with this at-home high-rep program

Muscle & Fitness, July, 2009 by Joe Wuebben

"It changes the person emotionally and mentally." Trainer James "Buddy" Primm is talking about a super-hardcore training method, one he puts his most famous pupil through every Friday for much of the year. That would be Terrell Owens, wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills and owner of one of the NFL's most shredded physiques. Coincidence? We don't think so.

It's called 100s training and, as the name implies, it consists of one set of 100 reps. Each set is so punishing that upon completion it provides the lifter "a sense of accomplishment," theoretically making him mentally stronger. "You get [muscle] growth and it burns fat at the same time. It's a total shock to the body," Primm says.

A typical set consists of 8-12 reps, the ideal range for hypertrophy. But sometimes your body needs a little shock therapy to build new muscle and torch bodyfat. Jacking up your reps--even if it means significantly decreasing resistance--can do just that. And it doesn't take fancy equipment or a gym membership. If you own a pair of light dumbbells, a barbell or a set of elastic bands (sometimes you can use just your bodyweight), the benefits of 100s training are within your reach.

THE CENTURY CLUB

The basis of 100s training is muscle confusion to the nth degree, providing the muscles an experience they've never had. The occasional burnout set of 25 reps is one thing, but multiply that by four and it's something else entirely. A set of 100 burns like crazy and tests your pain tolerance, but this training method is more than just a masochistic display of toughness; it's backed by sound physiology.

"[This training] really affects the body as far as taking in oxygen," Primm says. What he means is, such high-rep sets lead to blood vessel growth, so more oxygen plus other nutrients and hormones gets to the muscle cells, which in turn increases their growth potential.

Another benefit of 100s is that it effectively trains both fast- and slow-twitch muscle fibers. Because you use a relatively light weight, the endurance-oriented slow-twitch fibers are trained early in the set, when the reps feel easy. As those fibers fatigue halfway through the set, the fast-twitch fibers, which are responsible for initiating explosive movements, kick in. Most muscles contain 50% slow-twitch and 50% fast-twitch fibers, and by training both in one extended set, fatigue is achieved on all levels.

"On the days I do 100s with my athletes, we don't do anything else. No cardio, no nothing," says Primm, who also trains Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Jermaine Phillips and Buffalo Bills linebacker Kawika Mitchell. "We come in on Friday and do five sets [of 100s], and that's it."

REPPING FOR GROWTH

The exercises you select for 100-rep sets need to be basic moves (see "100s at Home" on page 186 for a list of appropriate choices), and you must perform them with very light resistance. This is what makes 100s so conducive to at-home training: It lends itself to exercises such as push-ups, crunches and bodyweight squats, so you don't need to own 80-pound dumbbells or hundreds of pounds in weight plates. Even if you're in solitary confinement on Rikers Island, you have no excuse not to try it.

Despite the name of this program, you're not required to perform 100 consecutive reps; brief rest periods (more on that shortly) are allowed. If you want to rest only 1-2 times during the set, select a weight that's 20%-30% of your 10-rep max. You'll do 70 reps, rest briefly, then continue for 30 more reps.

If you'd prefer to use a slightly heavier weight, pick one with which you can get 20 reps and stop five times before hitting 100. Then, after you've been doing that for a while, you can try doing two sets of 50 and eventually build up to one set of 100. "Kawika had to stop five times on a 100-rep set the first time he did it. It took him about three weeks to build his muscle endurance," Primm says.

As for rest periods, a good rule of thumb is to rest for as many seconds as you have reps remaining. If you need to stop after 50 reps, for example, rest 50 seconds before starting again. If on the same set you reach 75 reps before failing again, you'd rest 25 seconds. Continue until you reach 100.

The key to 100s training is not overdoing it, since sets this intense can lead to overtraining. Primm incorporates 100s in his athletes' workouts only part of the year, once a week and for only five exercises (see the "Once-a-Week Program" at left for a sample 100s workout similar to Primm's). Another option is to do 100-rep sets exclusively (see opposite page). We recommend doing this for no more than four weeks, then wait at least six weeks before revisiting it.

Either way, 100s isn't for the beginner. "I won't do this with just anybody," Primm says. "It's impractical to do [100s] with someone who's just starting out. You need a good training base. Hundred-rep sets are for someone who's in shape and wants to take his training to another level."

"Try what we call Power 100s. Choose a weight for an exercise that's 40%-50% of your 10-rep max. Perform 10-reps and rest for 10 seconds; repeat until you reach 100. These rests aren't long enough to interrupt fat-burning, yet they allow you to lift more weight. Research shows that performing the reps explosively burns more calories than the traditional slower pace you'd use for 100s training."