This is the first of several ‘anatomy of a workout’ articles I will be presenting. It is based on techniques I’ve discussed previously here on Rx Muscle. I want to explain the ‘WHY’ of the program design because the structure and techniques are utilized for a specific purpose. The techniques incorporated are Straight Sets, Staggered Sets, and Supersets.
The workout: Please note that you can substitute different exercises depending on what you want to prioritize (ex. You may do Low Pulley Rows/Incline Chest Press for the Straight sets, or Reverse Grip Pulldown/ Incline Chest Press, etc.)
Warm-up: These specific warm-ups target the primary muscles to be worked (see my Rx Muscle/Men’s Physique article ‘The Integrated Warm-up’). I recommend performing a general warm-up prior to these such as callisthenic, jump-rope, or machine based, etc.
For the specific dynamic warm-ups, my preference is elastics because I find they are very joint-friendly (see my article on elastic resistance) and they also provide an excellent peak contraction at the end range. Additionally I find they help prime the mind-muscle connection.
Straight Sets (Compound Exercises): The exercises placed in this part of the workout are the primary exercises to focus on when one is fresh. Perform three sets of each exercise. I typically rest for about 60 seconds between each set, but up to 90 seconds is fine.
Staggered Sets (Isolation Exercise): Staggered sets, in this case leg curls are interspersed throughout the workout after the straight sets and supersets. This is an excellent way to add some additional work during the week to a lagging body-part. I chose a lower body exercise here since we are working the upper body with so much intensity. This adds additional recovery time for the upper body. I specifically recommend choosing an isolation exercise that isn’t too taxing systemically since the main emphasis of this particular workout is chest and back.
Supersets (Compound Exercises): Doing supersets at this point in the workout allows you to move quickly from pulling to pushing exercises at a pretty good pace while still allowing each body part to recover sufficiently before hitting it again (take 1-2 minutes after each superset).
Another advantage to working antagonistic muscle groups in this manner is that when you are using the pulling muscles you create ‘reciprocal inhibition’ of the pushing muscles and vice versa. Therefore you not only get an actual stretch in the antagonistic muscle group, but you are triggering a neurological relaxation response.
You will notice we are only performing two sets of each exercise since the pulling and pushing muscles have already been stimulated in the straight sets that preceded it. The different angle will only emphasize rather isolate different fibers within the same muscle groups so there is quite a bit of overlap in terms of motor unit recruitment.
Supersets (Compound Exercise/Isolation): At this point in the workout I’m still using a compound movement for the pulling muscles because the row is a very different angle, focusing more on the mid back musculature. However for the pushing movement (chest) I opted for an isolation movement since we’ve already worked both the incline and flat position with compound movements.
Straight Sets (Isolation Exercise): The final straight set is an isolation movement for the side delts which are critical to develop to enhance one’s V-taper. I have placed it last in the workout because I find this type of movement to be less systemically taxing than the compound movements that preceded it. The front and rear delts have already gotten plenty of stimulation from the compound pulling and pushing movements so this final movement lets you emphasize the side delts to round out the workout. The amount of resistance I’m using will determine the rest intervals. If you want to go more for a burn then you might consider lighter weights and shorter rest periods (30 seconds), but if you are pushing a bit heavier then up to 60 seconds should be sufficient.
Note: I intentionally did not include specific rep ranges for the various exercises. This is because the above structure can be used with a variety of rep ranges. You may choose a single rep range to work in (ex. all sets of 10 reps each) or use any combination of reps (ex. light-heavy pyramid-15/12/10 reps, or 12-10-8, etc.). You may also use different rep ranges for the various sections of the workout. For example ascending pyramid for the ‘Straight sets’ and then perhaps sets of 10 reps for the first Superset, etc. There is endless variety available depending on your specific goals.
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