How Effective Are Giant Sets For Your Bodybuilding Training

Giant sets are super-sets that are super-charged. Whereas a traditional super-set is a combination of two sets done back to back in succession, without rest, a giant set is a combination of three or more exercises done back to back, in succession, without rest.

The use for this type of training tool is mostly for larger body parts, because large body parts such as legs and back are difficult to overtrain. In fact, most don't even scratch the surface on exhausting the legs and back in their workouts. Set number is only one part of the equation, by the way. Now that isn't to say that large muscle groups cannot be overtrained, but they are more difficult to overdo than smaller, ancillary body parts for the simple fact that they are more complex, are denser, have multi-joint movements associated with them, and don't recover as rapidly as smaller muscle groups.

Giant sets seem to address these issues quite effectively because they are able to exhaust a larger muscle group more effectively. The fatigue and lactic acid output associated with training a body part within the scheme of a giant set, creates a muscle fiber penetration that is impossible to attain with single set training.

So when should you use a giant set?

Probably the best application of a giant set for legs or back is at least once a week in the off season, and twice a week for two weeks/ with one week off, during a contest training cycle. If you're not killing 'em, it's going to be hard to develop them fully. And giant sets are slayers!

A Brief Warning....

By the way, giant sets are not for beginners! That isn't a comment meant to tempt and challenge - they truly are NOT for a beginner. They require a certain grasp of form, knowledge of the execution of multiple exercises, and a beginner just does not have this grasp for at least a year.

Anatomy of a Giant Set

A giant set can be made up of any three, four or five exercises. Generally, people do 3 or 4 per giant set because 5 is really devastating and fatiguing. FYI, It takes a strong bodybuilder with a lot of endurance to do 4 or 5 exercises per giant set. But the results, if done correctly, can be amazing! Just think: The more concentrated intensity I put in, the more I get out.

Choose the exercises based on difficulty

Try not to put three super difficult exercises into one giant set. What we mean by this is simple: Don't put squats, hack squats and leg press together in one giant set unless you truly know you can handle it. We recommend putting leg press, hack squats and leg extensions into a giant set, as an example. Order them from most difficult to least difficult so that when you are truly fatigued in this onslaught of repeated sets without rest, you will actually be able to get up and do another one in 5 or 6 minutes.

Remember, you'll be frothing at the mouth for that set of leg extensions at the end. Keep that set lighter and higher in reps and it will serve two purposes: It will be a final set to challenge your quads, and it will also serve as a great beginning to your recovery period. Inadvertently, it will actually work the lactic acid out of the muscles and prepare you for rest in between sets.

Oh, and that's the other thing... A giant set requires a lot more rest than what you might normally take on a leg day or back day. Taking 5 or 6 minutes is not uncommon. You don't want to fully recover, but you do want to take enough time so that you can actually perform a second and third giant set. Doing three giant sets in succession is probably adequate as a start. We do know some guys who do four and five, but their strength and aptitude for intensity is tremendous. If you are doing giant sets for legs, walk it off. It's

What kind of weights should you use?

Use weights that are challenging for you in a super-set. Adding that third or fourth exercise means that you'll be crawling and bargaining your way through it in the hopes that the pain will end soon, and that's exactly where you want to be. Experiment with the weight you use and the reps you use. Do some giant sets with lower weight and higher repetitions. Do others with low reps and 85% max weights. Or, use the giant set as a big drop set. Go from really heavy to moderately heavy to lighter, and increase your reps as the weight decreases. Again, this is a great way to work lactic acid out of the muscles as you descend into recovery.