Beyond Supersets - Tri-sets & Giant-sets
If you haven’t read about Supersets, go back to the last blog post and get learned.
In this post, about gettin’ swolled, we are going to count higher than 2, and get into tri-sets and giant-sets. And if you want this dude to bro-splain it to you, watch this!!
Ok, enough of that, let’s get practical.
Hopefully, you’ve already mastered the superset and are ready to pack even more weights lifted into a shorter gym time. All you need to do is learn how to count to 3 or higher because…
…Tri-sets are (you guessed it), 3 exercises back-to-back-to-back with no rest in between (and a standard rest at the end). Giant-sets are a lazy way of saying you are combining 4 or more exercises in a row, instead of quad-, quint-, hex-, and septa-sets. However, those do sound pretty cool. Anybody want to octo-set with me?
On second thought, don’t say that. Instead, try adding some tri- and giant-sets to your workouts.
🔱 Tri-Set
The Definition: Three exercises for the same muscle group (or related groups) performed back-to-back-to-back with zero rest. Similar to supersets, you hit the same muscle group 3 times in a row to recruit the muscle in slightly different ways while maximizing fatigue, or you can stack 3 different exercises in a row, to allow the lactic acid to clear from one group of muscle while you punish 2 other groups.
As it turns out, muscles are blind.
They don’t know you’re still pushing through 2 more sets, using other muscles.
They just know that rest is rest, and they can recover while other do some work.
Which brings us to the GIANT-set, or what we call giant sets around here.
🐋 Giant Set
The Definition: Four or more exercises performed back-to-back with zero rest.
Why we use it: This is the ultimate time saver in the gym, and mimics a lot of what you do on the court. Coach doesn’t put you in the game for “2 sets,” running up and down the court only twice before coming out. You need to build muscular endurance and the ability to push through the burn.
The Character Test: Anyone can straight sets or even supersets, but I bet you don’t see many people at the gym fatiguing their shoulders with a giant-set like this…
DB lateral raise
Front raise
Rear raise
Upright row
Shoulder press
Technical Note
While there is zero rest between exercises in a Super/Tri/Giant Set, you do get a break at the end of that set to rest and clear the lactic acid and allow ATP (adenosine triphosphate) stores to partially replenish. You need about 90 seconds to do this, but don’t go pick up your phone and start scrolling like your puny friends. Record your weight and reps so that you can increase them next time!!! That’s where the growth happens — hitting more reps and lifting more weight than the last time (Progressive Overload).
Coach’s Character Note: "The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion." — Arnold Schwarzenegger.
When you’re halfway through a Giant Set and your lungs are burning, that is the moment your character is forged. Don't put the weight down. Finish the mission.
But WAIT!!!!
That’s not what Dr. Mike Israetel says in this video!!!
True, but we’re just using terms a little differently. What Dr. Mike describes here, we call…
💯Century Sets
or half-century sets if we choose to count to 50 instead of 100.
