Weight lifting may seem pretty simple and straight forward (I mean, just lift the weight, right?), but there are many different types of weight lifting techniques that can give you different results. Here are some common terms you may have heard of and how they can help you get the results you are after.
Super Sets - Super sets are a great way to improve both muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance to cut down on your workout time and burn fat while gaining muscle. Super sets usually consist of two to three exercises performed back to back with little to no rest in between, and then repeated. Example: 10 weighted lunges, 10 push ups, and 10 pull ups, then repeat.
Giant Sets - Giant sets are four or more exercises that target one muscle group performed in a row with little to no rest in between. An example for a bicep giant set would be 10 hammer curls, 10 bicep curls, 10 preacher curls, 10 close grip barbell curls performed all in a row. Giant sets are great for producing maximum size and strength.
Drop Sets - Drop sets are a great way to work your muscles to failure and then some. A giant set is when you perform an exercise to failure at a heavy weight, then lower or drop the weight a few pounds and immediately repeat the exercise to failure again. This is a technique usually used to produce strength or size and you can drop the weight as many times as you’d like. The more drops, the better the results, but only if you know when to quit, as reaching failure multiple times can leave you exhausted and prone to injury.
Are there any weight lifting terms you’ve heard of and are curious if they can help you? Leave them in the comments below!
August 20th, 2010