Use The ‘Chipper’ Method to Build Muscle Like a CrossFit Pro

Sets, reps and rest times are great, they give you a blueprint to follow in the gym to ensure you’re not just guessing when it comes to building muscle. They are without a doubt one of the best ways to organise your training. But, one variable that’s not quite as simple to nail down is just how hard you should be working in order to build maximum muscle, in minimum time.

Research has shown that it’s not necessarily how many sets of ten you perform, but how close you come to ‘failure’ (the point at which you can no longer perform another high quality rep) on each of those sets that counts. It’s widely agreed that sets that end while you still have five or more reps in the tank aren’t going to do much for muscle growth. You also don’t need to take every set to complete failure, that can lead to injury or leave you too sore to train for the next fortnight, not ideal.

But pushing yourself into that ‘not-so-sweet-spot’ where you could only do two or three more reps at most, each time you pick of the barbell, whether that means performing 5 reps or 25, is going to ensure that you’re training with enough intensity to earn those much coveted gains.

It looks like Muhammed Ali may have been onto something when he said, ‘I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count’.

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

So, how do we ensure, without a doubt, that we’re hitting it hard enough every time we train? You can get your calculator out and figure out your lifting ‘percentages’ to help you choose weights and reps. But that won’t account for day-to-day fluctuations in strength, energy levels and motivation. We’ve already shared with you our ‘250% Method’, which helps you to find that sweet spot whatever weights you’re using, but now we want to share with you another foolproof method, often employed in the CrossFit world, for ramping up the intensity for some serious gains: the chipper.

A ‘chipper’ turns traditional gym logic on its head by swapping the sets and reps for an overall target and asking you to simply ‘chip away’ until you’re done. ‘Five sets of ten’ becomes a goal of fifty and tasks you with working and resting intuitively in order to get through each movement (with good form) in as little time as possible. You may start with an opening salvo of fifteen reps, followed shortly thereafter by a set of ten, then eight, so on so forth, until eventually you’re working in twos and threes, just to get the job done.

The result? Minimum time, maximum reps in the ‘proximity to failure’ zone and a boat load of ‘metabolic stress’, one of the primary drivers of muscle growth.

The catch? It’s seriously brutal work.

How To Use Chippers

If your goal is packing on muscle, pick weights that you think you could get more than ten reps out of, but no more than twenty, and aim for a total of 200-300 reps per body part, per week. Break those down however you wish into chipper sets of 30, 50 or even 100 for more light weight accessory movements and smaller body parts like the biceps.

Repeat the same movements, with the same weights often. Once you find you can quickly get to your rep target in only 2-3 sets, it’s time to up the weights.

We’ve got three ‘chipper’ workouts below for you, for any muscle-building strategy. They only require dumbbells but are guaranteed to up the intensity and result in a serious pump.

The WorkoutsFull Body Chipper Workout

Choose weights that allow you to do more than ten reps in your first set, but no more than twenty. Rest as necessary to keep your form tight, and allow you to keep performing no less than 3-5 reps, but don’t rest for so long that your reps for each set begin to climb back up.

1/ Pull-Up x 50

Grasp a pull-up bar with an overhand grip over shoulder-width apart, lift your feet from the floor, hanging freely with straight arms. (A) Pull yourself up by flexing the elbows while pinching your shoulder blades together. When your chin passes the bar, (B) pause before lowering to the starting position. If you struggle to do more than 8-10 pull-ups in a row, use a band for assistance. Rest as you need to in order to keep your form sharp, but not so long that the first few reps begin to become ‘easy’ again.

2/ Push Press x 75

Clean your dumbbells onto your shoulders, palms facing in. Take a deep breath to help brace your core. (A) Dip at the knees and use your legs to help (B) press your dumbbells overhead. Lower under slow control to your shoulders and repeat. For maximum growth, ensure you’re lowering your dumbbells slowly on each rep.

3/ Front Squat x 100

Once you’ve completed your presses perform your squats by cleaning the bells back onto the front of your shoulders (A). From here, drop into a deep squat, until your the crease of your hips passes below your knees (B), before driving back up. Keep your torso as upright as possible throughout, and keep control of that descent.

Upper Body Chipper Workout

Choose weights that allow you to do more than ten reps in your first set, but no more than twenty. Rest as necessary to keep your form tight, and allow you to keep performing no less than 3-5 reps, but don’t rest for so long that your reps for each set begin to climb back up.

1/ Dumbbell Z-Press x 50

Take a seat on the floor with your legs outstretched and a pair of dumbbells on your shoulders. (A) Take a breath and brace your core, keeping your torso upright press your dumbbells overhead (B). Lower under control to your shoulders. When you can no longer lock the weights out overhead, or control their descent, take a short rest and continue.

2/ Bent-Over Row x 50

Hold your dumbbells at your sides and hinge at the hips until your chest is parallel to the floor, dumbbells hanging at your shins (A). Maintaining a flat back, row both dumbbells towards your hips (B), squeeze here, then lower under control to the start before repeating. Control the tempo both up and down and focus on finding and ‘feeling’ your lats.

3. Dumbbell Bench Press x 100

Lay flat on a bench, your knees bent, pushing your feet into the floors. Press a pair of dumbbells into the air, locking out your elbows (A). Lower the bells slowly until they touch your chest (B) keep your elbows at 45 degree angle, pause here before explosively pressing back up. Repeat.

4. Dumbbell Hang Cleans x 100

Stand up and hold your dumbbells at your side. Hinge at the hips to lower them to your knees (A). Stand back up with a slight jump, using the momentum to pull the dumbbells on to your shoulders (B). Stand up straight, then lower under control to your sides and repeat. Keep the ‘pull’ up explosive, but control the descent to add size to your biceps.

Lower Body Chipper Workout

Choose weights that allow you to do more than ten reps in your first set, but no more than twenty. Rest as necessary to keep your form tight, and allow you to keep performing no less than 3-5 reps, but don’t rest for so long that your reps for each set begin to climb back up.

1/ Front Squat x 50

Clean your dumbbells onto the front of your shoulders (A). From here, drop into a deep squat, until your the crease of your hips passes below your knees (B), before driving back up. Keep your torso as upright as possible throughout, and keep control of that descent.

2/ Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift x 75

Stand tall with a your of dumbbells at your sides, feet at shoulder width and glutes tensed (A). With a slight bend in the knees, push your hips back and slowly lower the bells towards the ground (B), pinching your shoulders back and maintaining a flat back. When you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, pause and explosively return to and upright position.

3/ Alternating Reverse Lunge x 100 (Total)

Stand tall after your deadlifts, hold your dumbbells with straight arms by your sides (A). Keeping your chest up at all times, take a step backward with one leg, bending your front knee until the back knee touches the ground (B). Stand up explosively, pause and repeat with the other leg. Each leg equals one rep. Continue until you reach 100 total.

4/ Dumbbell Deadlift x 100

With your dumbbells on the floor just outside your feet, hinge down and grip them with a flat back and neutral spine (A). Engage your lats and stand upright, ‘pushing the ground away’ with your feet, squeezing your glutes at the top (B). Your arms should be hanging straight throughout this movement, think of them as hooks.

More ‘Chipper’ Workouts From Men’s Health