If you are a newbie and are searching through books or
reading web pages on the internet there are often many fitness terms (fitness
lingo) that you will come across that you may not understand. So
today I am going to explain what some of the most common fitness terms mean regarding the different types of weight lifting sets.
reading web pages on the internet there are often many fitness terms (fitness
lingo) that you will come across that you may not understand. So
today I am going to explain what some of the most common fitness terms mean regarding the different types of weight lifting sets.
If you are a fitness veteran then this post is obviously not
for you, this blog post is meant to clear up some terms for people just
starting out who either don’t know what these terms mean, or use these
techniques of training these terms represent but just did not know what it was
called. So here are some terms you will come across very often in your muscle building journey….
for you, this blog post is meant to clear up some terms for people just
starting out who either don’t know what these terms mean, or use these
techniques of training these terms represent but just did not know what it was
called. So here are some terms you will come across very often in your muscle building journey….
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| Kirill Chayka Greek God Aesthetics Photo From his FB:http://www.facebook.com/ChaykaKirill Learn the different types of sets to use for Greek god like muscle growth. |
Popular lifting
terms:
A set – This refers
to the amount of repetitions of a particular exercise you will do without
taking a break. For example if you are
doing bicep curls if you do 10 repetitions of the curling motion without a
break between the reps then you stop at 10 because you could not lift anymore
or were really struggling, that is your first set. You take a short break and
you might do another set of 10 reps. for that particular workout you could end
up doing 4 sets of 10 bicep curling repetitions.
to the amount of repetitions of a particular exercise you will do without
taking a break. For example if you are
doing bicep curls if you do 10 repetitions of the curling motion without a
break between the reps then you stop at 10 because you could not lift anymore
or were really struggling, that is your first set. You take a short break and
you might do another set of 10 reps. for that particular workout you could end
up doing 4 sets of 10 bicep curling repetitions.
Warm-up Sets –
warm-up sets are sets done with a lighter weight before you start your actual
exercise so that you get the blood flowing to your target muscle, and loosen up
your joints so that you don’t injure yourself. You do not do warm up sets to
failure but you can increase the weight a little with each warm up set.
warm-up sets are sets done with a lighter weight before you start your actual
exercise so that you get the blood flowing to your target muscle, and loosen up
your joints so that you don’t injure yourself. You do not do warm up sets to
failure but you can increase the weight a little with each warm up set.
A super set – a
super set is when you do two sets one after the other without taking a break
between them.
super set is when you do two sets one after the other without taking a break
between them.
A circuit – A circuit
is when you do 3 sets or more following each other without taking a break
between the sets. (These sets usually target different muscles groups of course
otherwise you would not be able to handle it)
is when you do 3 sets or more following each other without taking a break
between the sets. (These sets usually target different muscles groups of course
otherwise you would not be able to handle it)
Pyramid Set – are
sets in which you go from a lighter weight with higher number of reps to
heavier weight with a lower number of reps with each set. Reverse pyramid sets
the opposite of pyramid sets.
sets in which you go from a lighter weight with higher number of reps to
heavier weight with a lower number of reps with each set. Reverse pyramid sets
the opposite of pyramid sets.
A drop set – this
is a set performed using a lower weight used to continue a workout after
failure is reached at a higher weight. For example if you are using a 30kg
dumbbell for doing the bicep curl for the first set then you decrease the
weight to 25kg for the second set and 20 kg for the third set. One way to do
drop sets is to do each set till failure or you could just drop the weight and
increase the number of reps in each set. A drop set may also be referred to as
a strip set when you keep stripping
plates of the bar with each weight decrease, or running the rack.
is a set performed using a lower weight used to continue a workout after
failure is reached at a higher weight. For example if you are using a 30kg
dumbbell for doing the bicep curl for the first set then you decrease the
weight to 25kg for the second set and 20 kg for the third set. One way to do
drop sets is to do each set till failure or you could just drop the weight and
increase the number of reps in each set. A drop set may also be referred to as
a strip set when you keep stripping
plates of the bar with each weight decrease, or running the rack.
Forced Reps –
these are done straight after reaching failure with the aid of a partner/spotter
to assist you in lifting the weight, they should assist you as little as
possible, just knowing someone is there is often good enough to make you think
they are actually helping you a lot which motivates to push even more and
actually get the most out of those forced reps.
these are done straight after reaching failure with the aid of a partner/spotter
to assist you in lifting the weight, they should assist you as little as
possible, just knowing someone is there is often good enough to make you think
they are actually helping you a lot which motivates to push even more and
actually get the most out of those forced reps.
Negative Reps –
Are when a partner helps you lift an extremely heavy weight but you have to
control it down by yourself, or you use both legs or ups to lift a heavy weight
up but only use one to bring it down another method is when you lift a weight
up fast and bring it down slow and controlled.
Are when a partner helps you lift an extremely heavy weight but you have to
control it down by yourself, or you use both legs or ups to lift a heavy weight
up but only use one to bring it down another method is when you lift a weight
up fast and bring it down slow and controlled.
Giant Set – When
a single muscle group is targeted using 4 sets of different exercises one after
the other with little to no rest time between the sets to reach failure, when
muscle fatigue is reached mid set the weight is dropped to a lower weight and
the workout continues.
a single muscle group is targeted using 4 sets of different exercises one after
the other with little to no rest time between the sets to reach failure, when
muscle fatigue is reached mid set the weight is dropped to a lower weight and
the workout continues.
Most of these more complex types of training sets are used
to shock your muscles into more growth and are often done by experienced lifters;
they should not be done often but only used as methods to break through
plateaus.
to shock your muscles into more growth and are often done by experienced lifters;
they should not be done often but only used as methods to break through
plateaus.
