Whole-Body Hundreds

One hundred (yes, 100) reps per exercise and a head-to-toe muscle-building workout like you’ve never experienced – this 4-day routine is a new twist on the classic “Hundreds” training technique.

Written By Jim Stoppani, PhD

Updated July 7, 2020

As plateau-busting techniques go, few get the job done more efficiently than Hundreds. Got a muscle group that doesn’t want to grow and/or a training program that’s stagnant? Start addressing these issues and sparking new gains with just one set.

One set of 100 reps, that’s is.

Hundreds training has been around for a while – a technique that involves picking one exercise for a given muscle group, selecting a light weight, and doing one all-out, grueling set of 100 reps. Bodypart complete, now let it rest.

My approach to Hundreds training follows the standard format of one exercise and 100 reps per muscle group, but I’ve got a new, more aggressive spin on the technique: a whole-body approach in every sense of the word.

In my book, you’ve got 10 individual bodyparts – some big, some small: chest, back, legs (quads + hamstrings), shoulders, traps, triceps, biceps, forearms, calves, and abs. You’ll be giving each of these the 100-rep treatment, and you’ll be doing so in four consecutive workouts.

If you’re counting along at home, that’s 1,000 total reps per workout. Times four.

At some point during your first Whole-Body Hundreds workout, you may think to yourself, “What did I get myself into?” You got yourself into a 4-day program that will change your biochemistry, promote new muscle gains, burn fat, and strengthen your mind as much as it strengthens your body.

100 Benefits

The benefit of hundreds training lies in how it recruits the two major types of muscle fibers – slow-twitch and fast-twitch – through the course of each (long) set.

Because the weight is so light and the reps are high, the slow-twitch fibers are worked thoroughly in the beginning of the set. Slow-twitch fibers, as you may know, are the ones used primarily for endurance-type activities, thus high rep counts train them most effectively.

Fast-twitch muscle fibers, on the other hand, are utilized more during powerful activities – short, intense bouts of exercises (sprints, heavy lifts, plyometrics, etc). Therefore, these types of fibers are best trained with either heavy weight and low reps or fast, explosive movements. One important thing to remember here: Fast-twitch fibers have much more potential for growth than slow-twitch fibers.

Most muscles are around 50% slow-twitch, 50% fast-twitch, so it’s a good idea to train both types of fibers regularly. In the course of your 100-rep sets in this program, you’ll be emphasizing the slow-twitch fibers on roughly the first 50 or so reps. At that point, those fibers will be fatigued and the fast-twitch fibers will take over to more or less carry you the rest of the way.

This one-set journey to 100 causes significant biochemical changes in the muscles. Specifically, it leads to greater growth of blood vessels that feed muscle fibers to enhance the delivery of oxygen, nutrients and hormones to the cells. Accompany this style of training with proper nutrient and supplementation – of course, I recommend Pre JYM and Pro JYM before workouts and Post JYM and Pro JYM afterward – and your muscles will have no choice but to grow bigger.

Hundreds Rundown

My Whole-Body Hundreds routine consists of four separate workouts performed on consecutive days (though you can feel free to insert a rest day or two if you like). In fact, I’ll be posting on my social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) the exact hundreds workouts I’m doing, starting tomorrow.

In each workout, you’ll be doing one set of 100 reps with a relatively light weight on 10 different exercises – one move per muscle group (chest, back, legs, shoulders, traps, triceps, biceps, forearms, calves, abs.)

But I’m not talking about 100 consecutive reps without setting the weight down. Rather, each hundreds set will involve choosing a weight you can do for around 30 reps, then using the rest-pause technique to reach 100 reps.

Rest-pause is a pretty simple concept: Rep out to failure (or close to it), then set the weight down and rest for 10-20 seconds. Pick it back up and continue repping out until reaching failure again, then rest another 10-20 seconds. Repeat in this manner until you reach 100 reps, however many rest-pauses it takes you to get there.

Whole-Body Hundreds Workouts

Each of the four workouts will be a little bit different (while still consisting of 10 exercises x 100 reps). Below are specific directions for each of the individual routines.

I mentioned earlier that I designed these routines to be done on four consecutive days. But feel free to insert rest days between workouts if you like and/or are still at a beginner or intermediate level.

To download any of the workouts to your mobile device, click on the "Workout" heading (Workout 1, Workout 2, Workout 3 or Workout 4) – each of those is linked to its corresponding downloadable workout.

Workout 1

>>Exercise Selection: The focus here is on compound (multijoint) moves.

>>Load: Pick a weight on each exercise that’s approximately 50% of your 10-rep max (10RM) or that has you reaching initial failure at around 30 reps.

>>Sets/Reps: After reaching failure (or close to it) initially, rest-pause until you reach 100 reps.

>>Exercise List:

Machine Bench Press
Seated Cable Row
Dumbbell Squat
Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Dumbbell Shrug
Dumbbell Seated Calf Raise
Triceps Bench Dip
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Dumbbell Wrist Curl
Crunch

Workout 2

>>Exercise Selection: Single-joint (isolation) moves are the focus here. When I did this workout, I was travelling and made it work at a hotel gym. Feel free to use whatever comparable exercises you want at your gym.

>>Load: Pick a weight on each exercise that’s approximately 30% of your 10RM.

>>Sets/Reps: After reaching failure (or close to it) initially, rest-pause until you reach 100 reps.

>>Exercise List:

Cable Crossover
Straight-Arm Pulldown
Reverse-Hamstring Extension
Rear Delt Flye
Cable Middle Trap Shrug
Cable Standing Calf Raise
Rope Triceps Pressdown
Standing Cable Concentration Curl
Dumbbell Reverse Wrist Curl
Reverse Crunch

Workout 3

>>Exercise Selection: Compound exercises (as in Workout 1) are emphasized. When I did this workout myself, I was camping in the High Sierras with my family, so I was limited to bands and adjustable dumbbells that I brought along. But the point of these workout is to show you how I personally adapt my training on the go and still get results. Just because I use bands on an exercise doesn't mean that you have to.

>>Load: Pick a weight on each exercise that’s approximately 30% of your 10RM.

>>Sets/Reps: After reaching failure (or close to it) initially, rest-pause until you reach 100 reps.

>>Exercise List:

Bands Reverse-Grip Chest Press
Band Standing Pulldown
Band Hack Squat
Band Upright Row
Band Behind-Back Shrug
Band Donkey Calf Raise
Band Triceps Dip
Band Curl
Band Behind-Back Wrist Curl
Band Standing Crunch

Workout 4

>>Exercise Selection: Like Workout 2, single-joint moves are the focus. I was still in the mountains camping when I did the workout – so again, limited to bands and dumbbell exercises. I did all bands again here, but use any version you like of the 10 exercises (ie, barbell, dumbbell, machine, cables, bands, etc).

>>Load: Pick a weight on each exercise that’s approximately 50% of your 10RM (an increase from Workout 2).

>>Sets/Reps: After reaching failure (or close to it) initially, rest-pause until you reach 100 reps.

>>Exercise List: