30 Apr Fluff and Buff-Why Do It?

By Daniel Dalenberg

As referred to in the 10/20/Life system, a fluff and buff workout is a quick, high volume, low intensity bodybuilding session. It will be several low stress movements performed for high reps with little weight.  It should  generally be completed in 30-40 minutes. It is a pretty easy session, so, why do it? What good will come of it?

Active Deload

This is one of my favorite reasons for the fluff and buff session. I often treat this session as an active recovery day and focus on muscles that are a stiff, sore or tend to get beat up. For me, this is the biceps. My biceps get killed throughout a training cycle and are a constant battle to keep healthy. A 30-minute session that includes a bunch of direct upper arm work gives me a good stretch and pumps a bunch of blood through an area that needs some extra help recovering. This fluff session can mean the difference between benching really well and having to cut sessions early because my biceps are fried.

Get your “Fluff & Buff” Tank HERE

Neglected Muscle Groups

ALL YOU NEED IS SQUAT BENCH DEAD. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

Yeah, that’s not true. Of course a lot of the work that we do comes from the 3 main lifts, but as a result some areas can get neglected during the main training sessions. Two things I like to include during a fluff session – grip work and calves. I have tiny fat baby hands and am finally getting to a point where grip is limiting my deadlift. Some extra work here will pay off. For calves, anyone who has ever fell forward with a squat probably noticed how sore that made their calves. While the calves only play a small role in powerlifting, they are certainly a useful stabilizing muscle when squatting and pulling.

Some Cardio

Another neglected area in powerlifting. Outside of a handful of psychopaths like Brandon Crabill that actually enjoy both weight training and endurance running, most of us aren’t doing much cardio work. The fast pace of the fluff and buff will help a bit with conditioning and be useful for endurance. This will ultimately enable you to make through the long, difficult squat sessions with ease and as an added bonus, a little cardio might take that foot back out of the grave!

Now, we aren’t using the fluff day to train for a marathon. Not even a 5k. I’m not saying it is an intense cardio session, but if you keep the pace up it will have the potential to positively impact your conditioning.

Do your fluff and buff.

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Daniel Dalenberg

Dan Dalenberg is a pro level raw and equipped powerlifter with elite totals in the 220, 242 and 275 class. Best official raw meet lifts include an 804 squat, 507 bench press, 715 dead lift and 2006 total. Best equipped lifts include an 950 squat, 715 bench, 735 deadlift and 2400 total at 242. Dan has been training under Brian's guidance using the 10/20/Life methodology since late 2010.

Latest posts by Daniel Dalenberg (see all)

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• Dan Dalenberg | Deload and 5k week! - June 18, 2018