A great physique can be yours without spending hours in the gym. Want proof? The 7-4-7 method harnesses all the power you can muster by structuring your sets in perfect tandem with the weight you're using. The result? Simple: The body you always wanted without moving into your local gym. Don't worry, you can thank us later.
How It Works
A 7-4-7 exercise starts with seven reps using a moderate weight. Without rest, you'll increase the load (and sometimes tweak the exercise slightly) to knock out another four reps. Finish by lightening the load and completing another seven reps. At 18 total reps per set, as opposed to the 8 to 10 you're probably used to, you're getting enough volume to tax your muscles and force your body to call in reinforcements (by laying down new muscle tissue). Increasing the intensity mid-set means you recruit more muscle fibers in a wider range. This dual approach is a rarity in muscle-gain plans, and it makes 7-4-7 the right combination to unlock growth.
Directions
FREQUENCY:
Perform each workout (Day 1,2, and 3) once per week.
TIME NEEDED: 40 min.
HOW TO DO IT:
Choose a weight you can perform no more than eight reps with, but do only seven. Immediately add weight so you can do only four reps (and fail at four). Then, reduce the load to something a little * what you used when you began with seven reps. Complete another seven reps. That's one set.
Hybrid exercises (such as the overhead press/push press and front squat/back squat/jump squat) are clone the same way, but the grip and bar position change.
Exercises that are paired (marked "A" and "B") are done in alternating fashion. Complete all sets for one pair before going on.
Day 1
1) Dumbbell Bench Press
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Sets: 3-4
Reps: 7, 4, 7 (each set)
2)Overhead Press/Push Press
Sets: 4
Reps: 7, 4,7 (each set)
Perform seven reps of the strict overhead press. Increase the weight, and immediately do four reps of push presses. Dip your knees to explosively press the weight, up. Reduce then load and finish with seven reps of strict presses.
3A)
Cable Chest Rye
Sets: 3 Reps: 8-12
Attach a D-handle to the top pulleys of two facing cable machines. Grab a handle in each hand and step forward with one leg. Your pecs should be stretched in the beginning position. Bring the handles in front of your chest in a flye motion.
3B)
Cable Pushdown
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Sets: 3 Reps: 8-12
Attach a rope handle to the top pulley of a cable station and hold an end in each hand. Facing the station and keeping your elbows close in, extend your arms downward.
4A)
Lateral Raise
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Sets: 3 Reps: 12-15
4B)
Dip
Sets: 3 Reps: As many as possible
Suspend yourself over the parallel bars of a dip station. Lower your body until your upper arms are parallel to the floor and then press back up.
Day 2
1) Wide-grip Lat Pulldown/Underhand-grip Pulldown
Sets: 4 Reps: 7,4,7 (each set)
Perform pulldowns with a grip outside shoulder width for seven reps. Immediately add weight and switch to an underhand grip with your hands inside shoulder width. Do four reps. Reduce the load and switch back to the wide grip, and finish with seven more reps.
2) Wide-grip Bentover Row/Underhand-grip Row
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Sets: 4
Reps: 7,4,7 (each set)
Perform rows with your hands outside shoulder width for seven reps. Increase the weight and switch to an underhand grip with your hands inside shoulder width. Do four reps. Lighten the load, switch back to the wide grip, and finish with seven reps.
3A)
Wide-grip Shrug/Close-grip Shrug NOT SHOWN
Sets: 4
Reps: 7,4,7 (each set)
Perform shrugs with your hands outside shoulder width for seven reps. Increase the weight and move your hands inside shoulder width and do four reps. Reduce the load and switch back to the wide grip. Finish with seven reps. Don't use straps.
3B)
Dumbbell Pullover
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Sets: 4 Reps: 8-12
Lie on a bench holding a dumbbell by one end with both hands. Press it directly over your face. Keeping your arms nearly straight, lower the weight behind your head so you feel a stretch in your lats. Pull the weight back over your face but don't let it rest over your chest.
4A)
Dumbbell Curl
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Sets: 3 Reps: 8-12
4B) Rear-delt Rye
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Sets: 3 Reps: 12-15
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and, keeping your lower back flat, bend over at the hips, With your palms facing your legs, raise your arms out 90 degrees to the side.
Day 3
1) Front Squat/ Back Squat/ Jump Squat
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Sets: 3-4
Reps: 7,4,7 (each leg)
Hold the bar on your fingertips with your elbows raised until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Perform seven reps. Increase the weight and switch to a back squat and do four reps. Rack the bar, step back, and squat down halfway. Jump for seven reps.
2) Dumbbell Reversee/Jump e/Walk-Lunge/Jum Luning Lunge
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Sets: 3-4
Reps: 7,4,7 (each set)
Step backward into a lunge position. Switch legs and repeat (7 reps). Get into a lunge and jump as high as you can, switching legs midair (4 reps). Then do walking lunges across the room (7 reps).
3A) Side Plank w/Leg Lift
Sets: 4
Reps: Hold for 10-15 seconds (each side)
Lie on your side and rest your weight on your forearm. Bridge your hips up so your body forms a straight line, then suspend your top leg in the air.
3B) Romanian Deadlift
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Sets: 4 Reps: 10-12
Hold a barbell against the front of your thighs. Bend your hips back and lower your torso (bending knees as needed)as far as you can with your back arched. Squeeze your glutes and hamstrings to come back up.
4A) Single-Leg Hip Bridge
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Sets: 3 Reps: 10-15
Sit on the floor with your upper back resting on a bench or chair and one leg extended in front of you. Push through the heel of your foot, raising your hips until they're level with the bench. Squeeze your glute sat the top.
4B) Crunch on Ball
Sets: 3 Reps: 10-15
Hold a weight plate at arm's length and rest your lower back on a Swiss ball. Crunch your torso until you're sitting upright, keeping the weight overhead at all times.
Stay with the program for at least four to six weeks to see results.
Keep your abs contracted on every exercise for an extra core boost.
Precede every workout with a 10-minute warmup
Your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor throughout.
Push your head forward after the bar passes it on the way up.
Squeeze your pecs at the top of every rep.
33 Percent increase in p synthesis when you a 5 grams of leucine to post-workout shake
Do not lean back to assist in pulling the bar down.
Pull the bar to your collar bone, not your chest.
2 Max percentage of your body weight you should lose through sweat. Drink water accordingly.
Keeping your glutes tight will help you hold the position.
If that's too hard, just hold a normal side plank position.
GO HARD
How you can make the four-rep part of the 7-4-7 sets harder
ADD WEIGHT. Increasing the load makes any exercise more intense.
MAKE A SUBSTITUTION. To lift more
weight, you can switch the exercise to something similar but that allows for more load, like going from a front squat to a back squat.
CHANGE YOUR GRIP. By moving your hands in, you make the exercise easier biomechanical so you can handle heavier weight. Switching up your grip also changes recruitment.
INCREASE YOUR SPEED. Performing exercises explosively recruits muscle fibers that have the most potential for size.
If you're around six feet tall, use a 65cm (diameter) Swiss ball.
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