Many people put themselves on a diet and head to the gym hoping to lose some excess weight and get into better physical shape. They will often get the help of a trainer to develop an exercise program to help them develop the type of body they want. After a few weeks, or even months they look in the mirror and determine that what they are doing isn’t producing the results they expected and fault the advice they have been given.
While in many cases this may be true, unfortunately the fitness industry is filled with 'professionals' under delivering. Think about any time spent on a treadmill where you may have simply plodded along for the required amount of time. Fifteen minutes at one mile per hour on a zero incline is not going to be as beneficial as 10 minutes at five miles per hour with a three or four percent incline???
This is where the concept of giant sets comes in. This type of exercise involves four or five types of exercises done one after the other with minimal rest between them. The term minimal rest in this concept means no more than 10 seconds, achieving what some might consider a miniature circuit.
I attended Charles Poliquins, Hypertrophy internship in Sweden late 2011, where I also had the pleasure of having Milos Sarcev presenting and training us. First off, we performed 3x workouts a day, in 5 days. Yes 15 training sessions, all focused on building lean muscle, all at 100% effort, balls to the wall. We worked through numerous times what was pleasantly named the Milos Giant set. At times up to 14 exercises back to back, for 2-3 sets, and up to 25+ reps on an exercise. Gruelling work, but it works, and thats what we want - Results.
One thing to consider about this type of workout, especially if done in a public gym will be the availability of the equipment. As you move from one type of exercise to the next it is possible you will be backed up by others working on the same equipment, often without the same intensity with which you are working out. You will need to adapt to working with or around other people using the same equipment.
Additionally, since your workout will be more dense, and the rest intervals short you will likely need less weight for the rep range your shooting for than usual.
While it may seem unnecessary to mention, you will need to remain focused on your giant set when the temptation is to slow down as that will not help you achieve your training goal. In order to show true results you will need to maintain a high level of intensity in your workout throughout the giant sets each time you preform them.
As a starting goal you should perform four exercise sets, with eight to 10 reps for each exercise. Resting between exercises should not be for more than 20 seconds resulting in no more than a one minute rest period between each set. You should also stagger the muscles you work on throughout the week.
Planning an exercise routine for giant sets for three days per week, the focus should be on your chest and biceps on the first day, on the second day you can focus on your back and triceps and the third day you should dedicate to your legs. This is just a guideline. For a client, I would be very specific with the programming to meet the needs, requirements and what is realistic for them.
For example, on day one perform 10 reps on the incline BD press, 10 on the flat BB press, 10 on the decline DB press and 10 more on the flat DB press. After a one minute rest continue on to 10 reps on the incline DB bicep curl, 10 reps standing EZ bar reverse grip curl, 10 reps Seated DB hammer curl and 10 reps on standing close grip BB curl. If you have dedicated the time to perform these exercises with top intensity you will be spent at the end of the session. If you do not feel tired you either lacked the intensity, you are using weights that are too light or you rested far longer than 20 seconds between each exercise.
In order to remain focused on your exercises and the number of reps needed to produce the results you are seeking, nutrition will play a major role in your routine. If you rigorously exercise and perform all of the recommended giant reps every other day, stopping for fast food or other treats as a reward for a job well done will not allow you to achieve the desired results.
Yours in health!