ExercisesProgramsPricing RU

The One-Two

Gym Workout for Strength, 2 Days a Week

In boxing, the one-two is two punches thrown back to back. “The One-Two” is built the same way: two workouts a week, each with two heavy barbell lifts for 5 sets. Set aside two days and start with the intro week.

  • GoalGain Strength
  • LevelExperienced
  • WhereGym
  • Workouts16
  • One workout~59 min
  • ForEveryone
Start it in the appThe app calculates the weight of every set from your 1RM

Who it’s for

  • You are confident with the barbell in the squat, press and pull
  • You have two days a week for the gym
  • You want to lift more

How it works

  1. 012 workouts a week, 6 exercises each; 12 sets a week for legs and 10 each for chest and back
  2. 02Heavy lifts: two barbell lifts in every workout, squat and bench press in the first, Romanian deadlift and incline bench press in the second; 5 sets of 5 reps in Base and of 4 in Peak, 150 seconds of rest
  3. 03Accessory exercises: 4 in every workout at 2 sets each, pull-ups and rows for the back, leg press and abs; the weighted ones for 10 reps in Base and 8 in Peak, pull-ups and abs for 12, 120 seconds of rest
  4. 04Two 4-week stages: in Base the load rises week by week, in Peak it is highest in weeks 2 and 3 and drops in week 4
Method

Strength work twice a week

Each heavy lift comes up once a week and gets 5 heavy sets. With the same number of sets per week, training frequency has little effect on strength gains, so the strength work fits into two days in the gym. The heavy lifts come at the start of the workout, before fatigue from the accessory exercises sets in. The app calculates the weight for each set from your max, and your maxes carry over from stage to stage.

Weekly volume

Counts sets where the muscle is the main target of the exercise

  • Chest10 sets2 workouts
  • Back10 sets2 workouts
  • Quads7 sets2 workouts
  • Hamstrings & glutes5 sets1 workout
  • Abs4 sets2 workouts

Weighted sets end at least 1 rep short of failure

What the research shows

3

  • Frequency affects strength through volume: with volume equal, the difference is small

    Grgic et al., 2018

  • Strength grows more with more sets per week

    Ralston et al., 2017

  • Muscle growth does not depend on the weight used; max strength improves more with heavy weights

    Lopez et al., 2021
The studies tested the principles; the program itself has not been tested in this form.

Workout A

6 exercises · ~59 min

The whole first workout. Tap an exercise to open its technique with photos and video.

  1. 01Barbell Full SquatQuads5 × 5weight from 1RM
  2. 02Barbell Bench Press — Medium GripChest5 × 5weight from 1RM
  3. 03One-Arm Dumbbell RowMiddle Back2 × 10weight from 1RM
  4. 04PullupsLats2 × 12bodyweight
  5. 05Elevated Cable RowsLats2 × 10weight from 1RM
  6. 06CrunchesAbs2 × 12bodyweight

All workouts in the program

16 sessions over ~7.5 weeks, 2–3 per week. Workouts A and B repeat in a loop, 8 times each. The other workouts and the weight for every set are in the app.

Workout intensity

The load of each session: higher means harder. average per round A–B

hardereasierWorkout 1 (A)Workout 2 (B)Workout 3 (A)Workout 4 (B)Workout 5 (A)Workout 6 (B)Workout 7 (A)Workout 8 (B)Workout 9 (A)Workout 10 (B)Workout 11 (A)Workout 12 (B)Workout 13 (A)Workout 14 (B)Workout 15 (A)Workout 16 (B)Round 1: averageRound 2: averageRound 3: averageRound 4: averageRound 5: averageRound 6: averageRound 7: averageRound 8: average

Workout number

AtletIQ app

Program weights — from your 1RM

1RM is the weight you can lift once. Enter it for the base exercises and AtletIQ will calculate working weights for all 16 workouts of “The One-Two”.

  • The weight of every set comes from your 1RM
  • All workouts of the program in order, with rest between sets
  • Progress for every exercise
Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play