Sets

by Anthony P. Church.

Few know about them. Even fewer know how to use them. Those who know, usually fear them. But everybody can benefit from them. What am I talking about? I'm talking about a part of your workout that is right under your nose. You experience them every time you workout. However, chances are you know not the many variations and combinations of them and how to unlock their hidden variances to supercharge ALL of your workouts! Why do so many not know about them? They have not received much attention from writers, that's why. In fact, they have been so overlooked that they would make McCain's general lack of media coverage look like the incontrovertible love affair the media has had with his democratic rival Barrack Obama. What are we talking about? Set variations! Chances are, if you're working out you perform a weight for a specified number of reps, stop, wait a little while, and then start again. It's a standard set. We all do it. But let not another workout go by without incorporating at least one of the following variations of the traditional set into your workout to kick it into high gear. All sets are not created equal. Drop sets: This set is exactly what it sounds like. You do a set, and then you drop the weights as obnoxiously as you can for everybody to hear and recognize what a sheer brute you are and how big and jacked you have become. Kidding! A drop set is a rather simple concept. Let me take you through one with a popular exercise, the dumbbell lateral raise for shoulders. With a drop set, you begin with a weight that you can do your prescribed amount of reps for, let's say 12 reps with 20 pounds. Once you complete your twelve reps, you put the weights down and pick up the 15 pound dumbbells, which you have prepared in advance and have waiting for you. You do these until you cannot get a single rep more, and then again, you put them down and pick up the 10 pound dumbbells, which you have prepared in advance. You do this until you feel satisfied with the rampage your muscles have been a victim of. This obviously works best with machines, as it is easy to simply move a pin rather than stripping weight off a bar or having to deal with multiple dumbbells. Most people will drop the weight down two or three times before stopping, as that should suffice for the purposes of this type of set. Rest pause sets: The idea behind these is simple. When your set is over, wait 15 seconds or so, and crank out a few more reps. You can do this as many times as you would like to add intensity to your workout. These work good on both compound and isolation movements and are great for adding intensity to exercises you are doing for trouble spots or stubborn muscles. Super sets: These sets were done by Superman himself to help keep him super strong. Ok, maybe not, but you will feel like Superman himself as you work your way through them. A super set is nothing more than two exercises that work opposing muscle groups, alternated, with little rest between each one. For example, you may do a chest exercise and then follow it up with as little rest time as possible with a back exercise. Or, you might do leg extensions, and then follow them up immediately with leg curls. Wait your standard rest period between each superset and then get started again. Why antagonistic exercises? The idea is to ensure that the blood supply is confined to a relatively small area to help facilitate speedy recovery of the protagonist while the antagonist is working. This is also a good way to reduce your time in the gym as well! Tri Sets: As the name implies, this involves doing three sets together as one. Each set should involve the same muscle group in order to technically be considered a tri set. As you might have expected, since the idea is to boost intensity, there is very little rest between each exercise. A good example might be to do barbell curls, followed by seated alternate dumbbell curls, followed by hammer curls for the biceps. The sets would progress, one right after the other, until all three were done. At that point, you would wait the duration of your standard rest period before beginning another tri set. You can use as many or as few of these as you need to add intensity to your workouts! Giant Sets: The Giant set was definitely created with the more is better mentality, which is not always true. That being said, the Giant set is another type of set that you should keep in your arsenal when doing battle with your body. A giant set involves doing 4-6 exercises for one muscle group with little rest between sets. Staggered Sets: Having trouble getting all of your body parts worked out in a comprehensive weekly training program? Try injecting 10 sets of forearm, abdominal, or calf work in between sets, for say, chest, legs, or other unrelated areas. These are all areas that tend to be neglected in training so it might be a good idea to start incorporating them into your workouts for the next couple of months to play catch up! For more ideas or to get set up on a personalized training program to take your training to new levels, please contact me at: anthony@anthonychurch.com Editors Note: Anthony Church has been involved in fitness since he was only eight years old and is one of the premier strength and conditioning coaches in the world. He has trained people from all walks of life and competed as a drug free bodybuilder at the national level, beating even adult drug using athletes as a mere teen! Since then he has piled on the accomplishments and is most renowned for his personalized training program and nutritional guideline program expertise.