# The 3 X 3 Workout..



## marso70 (Oct 10, 2007)

This is an excellent article by top strength coach Matt Brzycki...try it at your peril. You have been warned!!

Paul.

*METABOLIC CONDITIONING: THE 3x3 WORKOUT*

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Matt Brzycki*

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Coordinator of Health Fitness, Strength and Conditioning*

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Princeton University*

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Typically, coaches have athletes perform their strength training separate from their conditioning activities. Yet, during the course of their competition, many athletes are required to integrate their muscular strength with their cardiovascular or aerobic conditioning.*

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Metabolic conditioning is essentially a combination of strength training and aerobic conditioning. Unfortunately, conditioning an athlete's metabolic system is rarely addressed. Metabolic conditioning may be improved by simply doing strength training with very little rest between exercises. Performed in this fashion, the shared demands on an athlete's muscular and cardiovascular systems will create a metabolic conditioning effect that cannot be approached by traditional methods of training.*

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The 3x3 Workout*

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On June 1, 1996, I had brunch with John "JT" Thomas, the Penn State Strength Coach. Our conversation drifted to opinions as to what exercises each of us thought were the absolute toughest to do. Along those lines, JT told me about the toughest workout he'd ever been through. The workout occurred several years ago when he was an Assistant Strength Coach at the U. S. Military Academy. At the time, the Strength Coach at the Academy was Bob Rogucki. (Bob has been the Strength Coach of the Arizona Cardinals for the past 5 or 6 years.) JT told me that Bob once put him through a workout that required an amazing amount of metabolic conditioning. The workout is sometimes referred to as a "3x3" (i.e., three by three) and has become one of JT's favorites.*

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Strangely enough, at roughly the same time JT was describing his 3x3 Workout, Tony Alexander (my training partner) was going through a version of it. Figure 1 details the workout Tony did on June 1, 1996. *

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When he was done with the workout, Tony said he collapsed into a chair and was numb from his neck to his calves. One hour later, he said his heart rate was still 100 beats per minute (bpm). (His normal resting heart rate is about 60 bpm). In Figure 1, notice that Tony was also using exceptionally heavy weights during this workout. For example, at a bodyweight of about 230 pounds he performed his first set of dips and chins with an extra 25 pounds of resistance. The herculean workload placed upon both his muscular and aerobic systems simultaneously translates into a tremendous metabolic conditioning effect.*

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3x3 Design*

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The sample routine shown in Figure 1 is just one of many possible versions of a 3x3 Workout. A 3x3 Workout can actually be modified in a countless number of ways. However, it's critical that the athlete performs every set to muscle failure. It's also important that the athlete moves quickly between exercises with as little rest as possible. The length of the recovery between exercises will depend upon the athlete's present level of metabolic conditioning.*

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A 3x3 Workout is basically a multiple-joint hip movement followed by a multiple-joint chest movement followed by a multiple-joint upper back movement and repeated two more times with as little rest between exercises as possible. Using these three types of movements will address every major muscle in the body including the hips, quadriceps, hamstrings, chest, upper back, shoulders, biceps, triceps and forearms.*

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The most demanding exercises for the hips would be some type of squat, deadlift (with an Olympic bar or a trap bar) or leg press. Certainly, dips and chins would represent the most challenging selections for the chest and upper back. Those who cannot perform dips and/or chins with their bodyweight can perform the movements in a negative-only fashion. Three other exercise options for the chest are the bench press, incline press and pushups. Any type of pulling movement -- such as lat pulldowns or rows -- are suitable for the upper back.*

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The first time through the movements, an athlete should reach muscle failure at about 20 reps for the hip exercise, 12 for the chest exercise and 12 for the upper back exercise. When the sequence is repeated the second time, the repetition goals would be 15 for the hip exercise, 10 for the chest exercise and 10 for the upper back exercise. The third time through the movements should have goals of 12 for the hip exercise, 8 for the chest exercise and 8 for the upper back exercise. In summary, the repetition goals for these movements should be 20, 15 and 12 for the hip exercise and 12, 10 and 8 for the chest and upper back exercises.*

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Another Application*

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I tried a 3x3 Workout similar to that shown in Figure 1 on June 7, 1996. Overall, I may have done more demanding workouts but this one ranked right up there with the most challenging. From a muscle fatigue standpoint, the 3x3 Workout was brutally effective. I've experienced far greater muscular soreness from numerous workouts. However, no other workout I've ever done compares to this one as far as the high level of metabolic stress.*

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First, let me say this about the muscle fatigue from this workout: I didn't use wrist straps for chins (in order to save time). For more than 5 minutes following the workout, my forearms were engorged with so much blood that it felt like they would explode. I couldn't even close my hand to make a fist. I can't ever recall feeling that much muscle fatigue throughout the entire length of my forearms for that amount of a time. The fatigue in my biceps and triceps was also very evident almost immediately after the workout. The next area I noticed was my hips and legs. After about 3 hours, my upper back started to tighten up. About 4 hours later, I could feel my abs start to stiffen. And my upper back was getting more numb by the hour. Oddly enough, I had very little muscle soreness the next day.*

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Getting back to the metabolic stress: From a standpoint of total systemic fatigue -- that is, my muscles, heart, lungs and so on -- a 3x3 Workout was incredibly demanding. After the first set of leg presses, I was already inhaling and exhaling like I had just sprinted a quarter-mile. At this point, my lungs were on fire and I was gasping for air. After performing my dips, I went right into chins -- only pausing long enough to change the weight I used that was around my waist. Needless to say, the second and third times around were progressively more difficult.*

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It only took me 20 minutes to perform this particular 3x3 Workout . . . and I was panting the entire time. When I finished my last exercise (the third set of chins), my heart was pounding like crazy and my pulse was 150 bpm. As I was taking my pulse, my hand and fingers started to cramp from simply pressing on my carotid artery.*

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In short, a 3x3 Workout places an incredible demand upon every major muscle in the body and, at the same time, stresses the cardiovascular pathways. Furthermore, this type of workout can be used to improve an athlete's metabolic conditioning in a time-efficient manner.*


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## NLG (Sep 6, 2007)

"Those who cannot perform dips and/or chins with their bodyweight can perform the movements in a negative-only fashion"

So dont do those if you cant do it with your own body weight?

I expect chins is pull ups and dips for the triceps, yes?


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## marc (Jul 16, 2007)

yep, dips also work the chest if you lean forward slightly, keeping a straight upright position will work the triceps


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## NLG (Sep 6, 2007)

K


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## marso70 (Oct 10, 2007)

As marc said when doing dips keep a slight forward lean a good way of doing this is by putting your chin on your chest, also keep your elbows out wide this will involve all the muscles of the pectorals, delts, triceps and even the traps are involved.

I would advise against doing them negative only fashion as this is a very demanding way to train.

Use a supinated (palms facing you) grip when doing the pullups.

You can also substitue other pressing and pulling movements for a bit of variety, as nothing is written in stone.

Paul.


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## NLG (Sep 6, 2007)

What do you mean by negative only fashion?

Sorry for being a dumbass by the way haha


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## [email protected] Company (Oct 10, 2007)

Just means you only do the lowering phase of the exercise. So from the locked out position of the dip (get to this position by jumping up to the parallel bars or whatever you use) then lower down. some people can't get back up under their own steam so just jump back up to the top again. Lower yourself down and repeat.

I trained a friend of mine recently and he never did any negative dips howvever, just started off with normal ones (couldn't even do one) then as he got stronger through benching (close and normal, alternating incline/decline etc) in about 8 weeks he was dipping sets of 10ish with 10kg plate round his waist (not massive but bearing in mind he was about 60kg dripping wet and almost 6ft, not a bad improvement)

What I'm getting at is each to their own! sounds like a good way to train though. I trained westside barbell style for a while and that sounds similar on the dynamic days. Minimal rest, just keep going. Overtrained me like hell! Didn't want to eat or train! Worked well while I coped with it though...


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