| Detail February 1, 2005
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Chantal Diciare flexes
her arm after a tough workout. The gym can be an intimidating place if you don't know what
certain terms mean. With a little reading, though, in no time you'll know almost
everything you'll ever need.
(photo January 2004 by Doug Schneider) |
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Reps, Sets, Super-sets, Tri-sets and
Giant Sets
Whenever you start something new – whether it’s a
job, a hobby, or a sport – you have to learn the jargon. Weight training is no
different. Chances are if you book an appointment with a personal trainer, they’ll
start using terms that they assume you understand when in fact you don’t. Don’t
be embarrassed, since everyone has to start somewhere. This article will give you the
basics of a few key terms so that when someone says, "Are you finished your
set?" you’ll know exactly what they mean.
A rep is short for repetition, and it is an exercise
done one time. Take, for example, the "drag curl" that I described in an article in March of last year. The
point from where the bar starts being lifted from the leg area and reaches the neck area
and then goes back to the leg area again is one rep. Another example can be found in the "sissy squat" article I wrote in December.
The start position is when you are on your toes; the middle position is when your knees
are close to the floor; the ending position is when you are back on your toes, in the
start position again. From start to end, one time, is one rep.
A set is simply a group of reps done one after the
other. A set can be as short as one rep, or as high as 100 or more. Just remember:
A set is just a group of reps, however many that may be. In weight-training programs,
though, you’ll often see recommendations for doing sets of six to twelve repetitions
because this tends to be the most effective muscle-building range.
Advanced trainers often do super-sets. Super-sets
are two different exercises done one right after the other, either for the same
muscle or two different muscles. For example, when working chest muscles, some people
super-set bench presses with dumbbell flies. These are both chest exercises. When doing
the super-set, the trainer will do a set of bench presses and then immediately upon
completion, and with virtually no rest, move to the area where she will do the flies and
complete a set of that exercise. A rest is taken after those two sets.
As I said, though, it’s possible to do super-sets, but
on different body parts. For example, some people like to super-set "opposing"
body parts – a set of bicep curls super-setted with, say, tricep pushdowns, to hit
the front and back of the arm intensely. The same rules apply: the first set is completed
and the second one is started with virtually no rest between. Chest and back are two more
opposing muscles that people often super-set. There are, obviously, many more exercises
that can be super-setted.
The tri-set is, as the name implies, three sets of
three difference exercises (one set each). This is similar to the super-set in that the
sets are done one after the other with virtually no rest between, but it’s usually
just one body part that’s worked on. It’s a popular and effective way to hit a
single muscle with multiple exercises, usually from multiple angles. Take, for example,
the chest – it’s very difficult to hit the upper, middle, and lower chest with
one exercise. A tri-set may comprise, say, incline dumbbell presses to stimulate mostly
the upper portion, flat-bench dumbbell flies to hit more of the middle portion, and then
flies on a decline bench to hit the lower and outer areas.
Finally there are giant sets, which are just like
tri-sets – multiple sets done on a single body part to maximize stimulation. A giant
set is simply more than three sets. Most commonly, it means four, one-set exercises done
one after the other, but it does not have to be limited to four (or we’d call it a
quad-set). I’ve seen people do five or even six different exercises in a giant set,
but usually when people talk about giant sets they’re referring to four.
It’s probably important to note that with sets,
super-sets, tri-sets, and giant sets, you might do any of the sets more than one time. For
example, it’s common to see someone do two to four individual sets of a particular
exercise. Likewise, they might repeat a super-set, say, four times, which would make eight
sets in total. If a tri-set was done three times that would be nine individual sets.In the
same way, if someone repeated a four-exercise giant set three times, that would be twelve
individual sets.
While the terminology might seem confusing at first,
remember that it’s just a matter of time before you learn all the lingo and sound
like a world-class trainer. It won’t take very long to learn, and with this article
you’re already miles ahead of the person who walked into the gym and didn’t even
know what a set or a rep was. Who knows, some day you might even find yourself saying,
"Let’s do a giant set for back, tri-set the chest, and then do super-sets biceps
and triceps, and let’s try to keep everything in the 8-12 rep range."
...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com |
