March 15, 2005

Vince's Clever Concept of Compounds

Last month, I talked about reps, sets, super-sets, tri-sets, and giant sets. My goal with that article was to explain some exercise terminology that you might encounter in the gym. This month I am going to discuss something that the legendary trainer Vince Gironda called compounds – something very similar to a super-set, but not likely something people will speak about much in the gym, since the idea of compounds is not all that well known or that well understood. This article will clarify what compounds are, and it will also detail how to use them with the super-effective "eight sets of eight reps" exercise routine.

Before I talk about compounds, let me reiterate what I said about super-sets in the previous article: A super-set is any two exercises done back-to-back with virtually no rest between sets. For example, if you do a set of dumbbell curls for biceps and immediately put down the weight and do pushdowns for your triceps, that’s a super-set. Likewise, you may do barbell squats for your thighs and immediately follow that with leg extensions, which are also for your thighs. That, too, is a super-set – at least the way most people describe super-sets today.

Vince Gironda – whose Hollywood-based "Vince’s Gym" was legendary, and who not only trained champion male and female physique competitors but movie stars also – thought about most things differently, including super-sets. In The Master Series of Cosmetic Nutritional Bodybuilding, an exhaustive one-year course that he wrote for his pupils, he defined a super-set as "alternating back and forth between two exercises of opposing muscle groups." (The emphasis is mine, not Vince’s.) The example I gave involving biceps and triceps would match Vince’s definition of a super-set – they’re opposing muscle groups. However, he defined a compound as "alternating back and forth between two exercises dealing with two aspects of the same muscle." (Again, the emphasis is mine.) That definition of a compound would correspond to the two thigh exercises that I also described as a super-set. Confusing? Not really.

In a nutshell, what Gironda called compounds are super-sets done for the same muscle. While the differences might seem trivial to the average person in the gym, it’s key when you realize that the concept of compounds goes very nicely with the "eight sets of eight reps" muscle-building routine (aka 8x8) that Gironda also liked because of its effectiveness at packing on muscle fast. On the other hand, super-sets, at least Gironda’s definition of them, don’t work with 8x8. Therefore, in Gironda’s world the distinction between super-sets – two exercises for opposing muscle groups – and compounds – two exercises for the same muscle group – is critical.

In its purest form, the 8x8 routine (as well as 6x6 and 10x10, which are variations that simply use less or more sets and reps) is one exercise per body part done for eight sets of eight reps. The trainer uses the same weight for every set and the same rest period for every set, making the first few sets fairly easy, and the last few sets remarkably hard, if the weight has been chosen correctly. The way Gironda taught this routine was to do it as intensely as possible, working at it so that the rest period between sets starts at, say, 30 seconds, and then decreases to just 10 or 15 seconds over time.

Obviously, the goal of this routine isn’t to use the heaviest weights possible. The goal is to use a heavy enough weight and then combine it with high intensity to induce muscle growth. As Gironda preached, progressive resistance can be accomplished in two ways: 1) by increasing the weight and leaving the rest interval the same, or 2) by keeping the weight the same and decreasing the rest between sets. Both ways work your muscles progressively harder.

The problem with the "pure" 8x8, though, is that it can get boring. Eight sets of eight reps of the exact same exercise can seem like an eternity. (Personally, I find 6x6 much more "mentally manageable" than 8x8, and 10x10 almost insurmountable – exactly why I never do 10x10, nor do I ask the people I train to do it either.) Enter Vince’s concept of compounds, which makes 8x8 a pleasure again.

Instead of doing 8x8 of one exercise, you can compound two exercises and do four sets of each for a total of eight. You’re still hitting the muscle hard in one fast shot; you’re just breaking up the monotony with two exercises instead of one.

For example, let’s say that you want to work your chest. Two excellent exercises to compound would be incline dumbbell presses and flat-bench dumbbell flies. Here’s how you’d do that in an 8x8-based routine:

• Pick the weights that you plan to stick with for all the sets for both exercises and place them at each of the benches where you’ll be doing the exercises.
  
  
• Start with one of the exercises – say, for the sake of this example, you do the incline dumbbell press first. Do eight reps of incline dumbbell presses in a controlled fashion.
  
  
• Immediately upon completion of that exercise go to the bench where you’ll do flat-bench flies. When your planned rest period is over, immediately do the dumbbell flies for eight reps. (Remember: Vince preached intensity, with a goal to get down to as little as 10-15 seconds between sets.)
  
  
• After completion of the dumbbell flies, go back to the bench that you’re using for incline dumbbell presses and begin your next set once your rest period is over.
  
  
• Repeat both exercises until you’ve done eight sets in total. (Remember: with 8x8 or 6x6 or 10x10, your rest period between sets remains the same, as does the weight you use – so choose that weight carefully, and tweak it over the next workout or two if necessary to get it exactly right).

There is also one more benefit by doing 8x8 with compounds rather than just using one exercise. Compounding allows you to work more than one aspect of the muscle in one exercise session if you strategically pick your exercises, whereas the single-exercise 8x8 is limited by one exercise that may focus attention on one area of the muscle at the expense of another.

For example, I chose incline dumbbell presses and flat-bench flies deliberately to make this point. The incline dumbbell presses tend to stress the upper part of the chest the most. The flat-bench flies hit more of the middle to the lower portion of the chest. Using both, you can work all parts of your chest, as opposed to just one with a single exercise. Let’s say you compound shoulder exercises. You might choose one exercise that focuses more stress on the front deltoid, and another that puts more stress on the side and rear deltoids. Shoulder presses and side laterals are examples of exercises that will help accomplish that. The combinations are endless.

Super-sets, tri-sets, giant sets, and compounds are advanced training concepts suitable for intermediate to highly experienced trainers. The all have their place, and people all have their favorites. The key now is implementing them and seeing what works best for you.

...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com

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