Tri-Set Routines If you want more muscular definition, tri-setting is a good way to get it. This means doing 3 exercises in a row without resting, or as I sometimes do it, with a brief 15 second stretch between exercises. Tri-sets get you breathing hard and enable you to do more training in less time, although it's usually with lighter weights. Tri-sets are a step beyond super-sets (doing two exercises in a row without stopping) requiring more stamina and focus. But what a pump you get! The time to start tri-setting is after you've been doing super-sets for a while. In the past several issues of BTB, I've outlined the workouts I've been doing which have included lots of super-sets. These are both ways to increase the intensity of your workouts. I find it's time to start tri-setting when my joints stay sore longer than usual - what's needed is massive blood flow into the muscles to clear out toxins. The best way to heal injuries and soreness is to increase blood circulation to an area and tri-setting does this better than anything.
The best way to select exercises for your tri-sets is to select movements that work the same body part or adjacent body parts but do not interfere with your strength on each successive movement. For example, you wouldn't tri-set pulldown, low cable row, and close grip pulldown because they all tax the biceps too much and you'd lose a lot of strength on the second and third exercises. There are some body parts that I tri-set all the time like abs (leg raise, crunches, seated twist - again not working the same area of the abs on successive movements - leg raise is for lower abs, crunches for upper abs, and twists for obliques). When I work abs, I do not rest at all - no rest between exercises and no rest between tri-sets either - because I want my abdominal workout to be aerobic in nature. Plus, I want to get it finished quickly since I'm doing 400 plus reps per workout. But on all other body parts, I take a good rest - 3 minutes or so - between tri-sets, to allow my strength, stamina, and focus to return. Here are some great tri-set combinations I've been experimenting with: For Chest, back, shoulders:
1. Front pulldown/70-degree incline dumbbell press/ rear deltoid machine 2. 25-degree incline dumbbell press/ low cable row/ cable crossover behind neck 3. Pec deck/ close grip pulldown/ pullover For thighs and calves:
Leg Extension/ leg curl/ hyperextension.
Leg press calf raise/ donkey calf raise/ seated calf raises.:
For biceps, triceps, lateral deltoid:
1 arm dumbbell curl/ 1 arm dumbbell extensions/ 1 arm dumbbell side raise Forearms:
EZ bar reverse curl/ BB wrist curl/ gripper.
Try some of these tri-sets for a refreshing change in your workout from time to time.