Manual labor jobs led these champions to develop this protocol: Back off sets

This month we are hitting a protocol called Back Off Sets. This is a classic strategy that dates back to the likes of Doug Hepburn and Paul Anderson.

If you do not know who these titans of strength were, you are about to. Doug was a clubfooted Canadian, Paul was a farmer kid from Georgia. These two battled it out on the North American and Olympic sides for the strongest man in the world. 

They say necessity is the mother of invention. This epic battle for who is the strongest man in the world led to back-off sets. This is an important foundation for this story because, without context, you may look at back-off sets as something it is not. 

To start back off sets are meant to be a way to develop strength and size. The Olympics were amateur and both Paul and Doug had to supplement their income with strength exhibitions. No one wants to see a small man doing random feats of strength, these titans of strength needed to be ambassadors to the strength training and had to inspire with their incredible level of strength and power. 

What is also significant is that they had to have full-time jobs, mostly labor-based ones. Their natural strength made them ideal for manual labor. What I am doing is painting a picture of these guys who had hard lives and were forced to train in less-than-ideal circumstances. This was also considered taboo at the time. Both Doug and Paul faced harsh criticism for their passion and were typecast as freak shows or weirdos. Their commitment to training was literally against all odds. 

And here we are benefiting from their greatness. We are going to develop strength with four sets of eight and then back off and develop hypertrophy with one set of twelve. The combination of higher intensity and higher volume will make your quads, lats, and hamstrings feel a way that you have never felt before. You are going to be stressed and tired. You are going to want to not show up. You are going to not want to pick as heavy a weight as possible. You will be challenged to a level you probably have never felt before. 

But when that doubt creeps in, harken back to Doug and Paul. They worked a hard day’s work, then came home to a garage or a basement and trained until they were numb. Numb from the criticism. Numb from the constant question of why. Numb from the pain of discipline and the never-ending desire for greatness. That’s why you will push through. You are going to do more than you ever thought possible because of what both Paul and Doug did for us.