Jacked Notes #4 - The Truth About My Training Split

Words I resonate with:

Lifting weights just to get huge is overrated.
Lifting to look better, feel better, and stay strong for everyday life is underrated.

Jacked Notes #4

Think of this email as a pocket guide. Something you can reference anytime you get stuck, start overthinking, or fall back into the bodybuilding trap.

Let’s break down what I do and why. I’ll walk you through my exact training split so you can either copy it or take what resonates and apply it to your own routine.

Quick Update

Before we dive in, I launched a new community a few weeks ago.

My goal is to make it the #1 no BS lifting community online.

Details are at the bottom if you want to join over a hundred others leveling up and keeping each other accountable.

I’m also starting a training journal and will be uploading every single one of my workouts moving forward so you can see exactly what I do. This will be exclusively inside of the community.

Lifting Schedule

Let’s start with my lifting schedule.

Most of you already know what I’m going to say.

But repetition isn’t a bad thing.
We need to be reminded more than we need to be taught.

For every time I talk about simplicity, 100,000 pieces of content get pumped out by influencers making fitness more complicated than it needs to be.

Here’s what I do:

I lift 3 days a week.
Right now that’s Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Push, Legs, Pull.

What About My Off Days?

I aim for two walks, one in the morning, one in the evening. Usually around 30-45 minutes each.

Walks are the secret to getting lean effortlessly, you don’t need to overthink cardio.

Start with walking.

If you work a physical job or do manual labor, that counts too.

There is a health app on your phone that tracks your daily steps.

Search “health” and you should find it.

Aim for 10,000 steps a day. Obviously the phone will have to be in your pocket to track it.

Once again, I promote simplicity. So a good question to ask at the end of each day is,

“Did I move more than I sat today?”

In the gym, I have one goal every session:

Leave nothing in the tank.
I go to war with my old self.

That means pushing for some kind of progression, more weight, and more reps. Anything that beats what I did last time.

It’s not random. I track everything with the app in my program, but a notebook works just as well.

Progression is ALWAYS the goal.
Because when you consistently progress, your body is forced to grow.

Progression = Growth 🗝️

My Push Day Looks Like This:

Incline DB Bench
Machine Chest Fly
Chest Press
Lateral Raise
Overhead Triceps Extension

One set each. To failure. 6-10 rep range.

And yes, just one.

The version of me from a few years ago would’ve laughed at that and said this is complete BS. But after 10+ years of training, I’m focused on simplifying the process and much more open minded.

I used to lift 7 days a week, doing 20+ sets per session.

I’ve come to realize we don’t need nearly as much as we’ve been sold.

When you zoom out and actually look at how the body responds to training, the truth is simple. Apply a stress it hasn’t experienced before, then recover from it. That’s how progress works.

If you take one set to brutal failure and leave absolutely nothing in the tank, why would you need to repeat it again? You’ve already sent the signal for your body to grow.

Mike Mentzer used the metaphor of a light switch, once you flip the switch on why keep flipping it??

The truth is most people aren’t truly pushing themselves. So they end up doing 5 mediocre sets that collectively equal the intensity of one truly hard set. That’s why they still grow.

It might sound like bro science, but it makes sense to me.

Think about this deeply..

Say we start with incline bench.

We do a couple ramp sets.

Then once warmed up we do one all out set to failure.

Why do more? You’ve already triggered the growth mechanism.

Now let’s say you left 2-3 reps in the tank instead.

Yes, you should do a few more sets because you didn’t get as many effective or stimulating reps.

Since switching to this one-set-to-failure approach, I’ve hit PRs nearly every session for almost 2 months straight, which is rare at my level. I'm not supposed to be progressing this fast. But I am.

While writing this post I was curious, so I searched on YouTube something like “total volume for hypertrophy.”

And clicked on a video from a well-known fitness expert. He talked about a recent meta-analysis (basically where they review tons of researchers’ findings)

I used to stay up-to-date with all the research until I realized it's all just noise and contradicting.

The conclusion was somewhere between 4–40 sets a week! Like really? We’ve been researching lifting for almost 100 years and we’re that far off still?

Also, the 40 sets had severe diminishing returns.

Plus the negative effects of destroying your joints for 0.001% more gains.

So what is the takeaway of this?

I’m not necessarily telling you to start doing 1 set.

None of my programs in Average To Jacked promote this (yet)

Because I didn’t build my physique from this.

But I did build with much less than 99% of lifters and I’m starting to think I could’ve got away with even less.

If you’re a beginner, don’t copy me yet.
Do what actually works to build your base. Do what got me here. Not what I’m doing now.

That’s somewhere around 10–12 sets per muscle group per week if you’re using a moderate intensity — think 1–3 reps left in the tank.

This 1-set method is just an experiment for me. I’m sharing it to show you that most guys can get results doing way less than they think.

If you’re currently doing 5 sets per exercise and unhappy with your results, start by dropping it to 3 or 4 and pushing harder. Then spend more time recovering instead of always trying to do more.

If I can get results doing less, that’s not laziness, it means I’m protecting my joints and freeing up more time to grow in other areas of life.

“Got it Eric, but how should I progress?”

Stick to what’s proven.
Use the double progression method I promote.

Start with 3 sets of 8 reps for each exercise for example. Depends on the exercise but sometimes I start with 6.

Push Day Week 1: 3x8.
Week 2: Try 3x9.
Week 3: Go for 3x10.

If you can’t get all 3 sets for 10, try again next week.

Only increase when all sets hit the target. Once you reach 3x12, increase the weight by 5 lbs (or 2 kg), drop back to 3x8, and start climbing again.

No complex formulas, no spreadsheets. Just consistent progression.

Remember, we’re focused on getting jacked for everyday life.

Not to step on a bodybuilding stage or compete in powerlifting.

Simple works.

What About Legs and Pull Days?

Same concept.

Pick somewhere between 3–5 exercises that align with your goals and run the same progression system.

If you want a done-for-you plan, I’ve got 6+ routines inside Average to Jacked. Dumbbell-only options too. Also working on adding a Mike Mentzer-style 1-set-to-failure split soon. All updates are free to my course + community members. Forever.

Inside the community, I’m also documenting every one of my training sessions so you can follow along and see exactly how I train.

Final thoughts

Now I know this probably goes against most of what you’ve been told.

But here’s the truth:

More isn’t better.

For 99% of guys, 3 or 4 days is all you need.

4 might be slightly better if you have the time, energy, and ability to recover, but most don’t.

I don’t train 3 days a week because I’m lazy.
I train 3 days a week because I actually train hard.

If you ever stop doing pump work and actually push yourself, you’ll get it.

You won’t want to train more. You won’t need to train more.

You don’t need 20+ sets a week per muscle.
You don’t need 6 lifting days a week.
You don’t need complicated progression models.
You don’t need complexity to grow.

You need a simple plan you can actually follow.

To Recap:

I train 3 days a week
I aim for 10k steps daily
I Track my lifts and aim to beat my previous self
I keep the main goal the main goal: progression

I gave you the what and the why.

But only you can do the work.

Talk to you next Saturday!

-Eric

P.S.

If you’re tired of confusing advice and influencer BS and just want a straight path to getting jacked, learn more about my full program and private community here: http://averagetojacked.com/​

Inside, you get:

• The Average To Jacked program

• Direct support from me

• Exclusive content

• Q&As (only posted in the community)

• A place to connect with others on the same path

• No more second-guessing or doing it alone

plus a ton more planned!

My goal is to make it the #1 No BS lifting community and help people all over the world get jacked.

Click here to learn more: http://averagetojacked.com/ ​

Hope to see you in there. 💪