I’m a personal trainer — The 6-12-25 workout method is the functional way to pack on lean muscle mass and strength

The training protocol comes from strength coach Charles Poliquin and uses giant sets to overload muscles into growth — a technique called hypertrophy. Giant sets refer to a group of three or more exercises performed with little to no rest between them, as you move straight from one to the next. Like a superset, but… bigger.

This method boosts your total training volume while cutting down on rest periods to make workouts more effective. The standard approach uses three exercises in each set with all movements targeting the same muscle group. The system works by doing six reps then 12 reps, and finally 25 reps in sequence. You complete three to five rounds of this pattern. Rest breaks of 3 minutes happen only between full rounds and not between individual exercises. When you perform the six-rep portion you should use heavy weights with compound movements like bench presses to build strength. During the 12-rep section you drop the weight a bit & switch to accessory or isolation movements. The final 25-rep phase uses light weights with accessory or isolation exercises to finish the set.
Here’s an example for each of the major muscle groups:

• Chest: 3-5 sets
  • Bench press: 6 reps
  • Shoulder press: 12 reps
  • Reverse flyes: 25 reps
• 3 minutes rest

• Back: 3-5 sets
  • Pull-up: 6 reps
  • Single-arm row: 12 reps
  • Weighted superman: 25 reps
• 3 minutes rest

• Legs: 3-5 sets
  • Front squat: 6 reps
  • Good morning: 12 reps
  • Hamstring curls: 25 reps
• 3 minutes rest

You could split these up by session, like chest on Monday, back on Tuesday and legs on a Thursday, for example. You could create a chest and back pairing and save legs for later in the week.

You can design a complete full-body workout that targets all muscle groups in one session. Just make sure to rest for at least 24 to 48 hours before your next workout. You need to determine the right weight for each exercise so that the final repetitions feel challenging. This means using heavier weights when doing 6 reps & lighter weights when performing 25 reps. I suggest first learning how to calculate your one-rep max and understanding the concept of running the rack. These techniques will help you better manage your weight selection during workouts.

What are the benefits of the 6-12-25 method?

You get to tap into multiple training principles here — strength, hypertrophy and endurance.

Strength training usually means doing fewer repetitions with heavier weights that are close to the maximum you can lift one time. Hypertrophy training requires you to gradually increase the challenge to your muscles by creating tension and stress through moderate weights & repetition ranges. Endurance training uses much lighter weights for many repetitions to teach your muscles to resist fatigue and last longer. This approach lets you steadily increase the weight as you become stronger and your muscles grow. You can work on both strength and muscle size while including compound exercises that improve functional movement along with accessory or isolation exercises that target individual supporting muscle groups. This combination creates an intense post-workout pump through the total volume of work & increased blood flow to your muscles.