TLDR: periodizing volume and intensity in a way like the Hepburn method lets you keep kicking ass week after week for the long haul. Also read /u/Gary_Oldman_AMA 's post below which is a great writeup.. Alright, so my history with Hepburn is a little sporadic, having run one of many variations of the program in the past, but never more than 3 months.

Doug was old school strong. The Doug Hepburn Power and Pump Method for Average Joes The Doug Hepburn power and pump 8x3 protocol (Program A) is one of my favorite training systems. The secret to his herculean strength was the modified Hepburn method! Doug Hepburn was easily the strongest man in the world in the 1950s! Many versions of the Hepburn Method can be found without accessories. It's powerbuilding at its finest - brutal, hard work on basic exercises. The programs you’ll tend to find from Doug talk of doing a ‘power’ routine followed by a ‘pump’ routine. In this way, this differs from popular powerbuilding programs of today that frequently program 3-4 accessory movements outside of the primary compound lift. The Hepburn Method : Increase Your Strength and Power Doug Hepburn was a legendary Canadian old school strongman who also won a gold medal in the World Olympic weightlifting championships in 1953. Hepburn recommends heavy rows, chins, and dips as useful accessories, so they are included in the spreadsheet as optional. Hepburn was the first lifter to bench press 500 pounds and also squatted 600 pounds at … Heavy, yes, but not grinders. But don't forget one of the most important points that Hepburn made in his book: Have a life outside of training. Each workout, you’d add one more single until you hit eight reps. Another variant attributed to him starts out with 8×2 (eight doubles) – just like the singles, these should not be maximal sets. The ‘power’ routine would have you start out with a weight that you could handle for five singles. Follow the Hepburn plan for a few months and let me know what happens. Doug Hepburn’s training program has stood the test of time as one of the most effective ways to train for relative and absolute strength. He was the first natural lifter to bench press 500 pounds, and he could squat 600 pounds for reps at the age of 54. Doug Hepburn laid out the rules for a program that will develop tremendous size, strength, and power. Each workout, you’… The Doug Hepburn Method Doug Hepburn was a Canadian strongman. But, Doug wasn’t just strong. These weren’t meant to be all-out maxes; heavy, yes, but not ass-kicking grinders. He was also as big as a tank. He won a weightlifting gold medal at the 1953 World Championships.