If you're pressed for time in the gym but you still want to make massive gains, learn about time-efficient training techniques to supercharge your upper body workouts.
Ever feel like you're racing against the clock in the gym, trying to squeeze in those exercises? We're sharing the insider scoop on rest-pause sets and supersets that can cut your gym time in half while still scoring you those significant muscle gains.
This episode isn't just about fast-tracking your fitness; it's about optimizing every minute for maximum results. We'll explain why these tried-and-true methods, often overlooked as simple bro-science, are backed by solid research and can be integrated into your routine without compromising performance.
Tune in as we break down how to maintain intensity and volume in your workouts, sidestepping the common trap of excessive volume, all while keeping an eye on the clock. Whether you're a busy professional or a time-strapped fitness enthusiast, you won't want to miss the game-changing strategies we're unpacking to revolutionize your upper body workouts.
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“Quick Wits” are short, 3-5 minute episodes between full episodes to give you an actionable strategy or hit of motivation.
These mini-episodes give you practical advice on fitness, training, and mindset based on my everyday experience with clients that you can implement right away.
If you're pressed for time in the gym but you still want to make massive upper body gains or, frankly, gains of any kind. Learn how in today's Quick Wits, where we talk about time-efficient training to supercharge your upper body workouts. Welcome to the Wits and Weights podcast. I'm your host, philip Pape, and this twice-a-week podcast is dedicated to helping you achieve physical self-mastery by getting stronger, optimizing your nutrition and upgrading your body composition. We'll uncover science-backed strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle and mindset, with a skeptical eye on the fitness industry, so you can look and feel your absolute best. Let's dive right in. Let's dive right in.
Philip Pape:
Recently, eric Helms and Mark Zordos published a special massive training guide Time-Efficient Training Techniques for Upper Body in the Mass Research Review. So credit where credit is due, and I wanted to make a quick wits about this because I also love this topic. I talked with Brian Borstein about it as well, and some of the other folks that have been on the show and on today's Quick Wits we're talking about upper body specifically based on this article, but, honestly, these methods can apply to anything. I would say they are not earth shattering, they're not cutting edge. They've been around for a long time. The bros have been using them forever, arnold, the guys like that. I've used them, my coach, andy Baker, uses them, and I'm coming more around to the idea that these don't necessarily have to compromise your training or performance and they can be an excellent way to solve one very thorny problem many of us have, and that is just potentially not enough time. And the cool thing in this mass article or this PDF that they put out is they compared a traditional workout to a workout where everything was updated with these time efficient techniques and you save like 50% in your time without necessarily any loss in performance when it comes to hypertrophy.
Philip Pape:
Now there are some caveats, like if you're going for maximal strength, powerlifting, you know big movements, compound lifts, low rep ranges, where you need a lot of rest periods. You can't be using these for everything. So they also suggest that you might want a hybrid approach. You're not doing this for every movement, but you might have one or two movements. You do the traditional way, with plenty of rest between sets and then two or three movements at the end. That you're doing with these time intensity techniques. And the other caveat is don't use this to get in massively more volume. That's not really the point. The point is simply to save time in the existing effective amount of volume you have.
Philip Pape:
So the three methods they allow you to basically maintain or increase your you know workout intensity we'll call it and your volume, but in a fraction of the time. So the first one is rest pause sets, and all this is is you perform a set to failure or near failure, and then you only take about 30 seconds, or some people say 10 to 15 breaths, and then you only take about 30 seconds, or some people say 10 to 15 breaths, and then you go to the next set. You you could probably only get about half the reps, and then you take 30 seconds and then you do the last set and only about half the reps. Obviously that's an example of doing three sets, but you can do it with, say, four, with two, and the idea here is you're keeping the muscles under tension, basically for longer and and not letting them recover as quickly, so you're closer to failure when you get to sets two and three. So that's called rest-pause sets Super effective, I use them all the time Great, especially for isolation type work.
Philip Pape:
The second technique is supersets, which is just alternating between two exercises with no rest in between. I mean, sometimes you might have like 30 seconds of rest, but this would be doing, say, a set of bench press and then a set of rows. Or even in my starting strength days I might do a set of squats and then, during the rest period, I would warm up the press or the deadlift right, whatever the next movement is. And you can do these with opposite muscle groups, the same muscle groups, or kind of halfway in between. The closer the muscle groups are to being the same, the more you're going to fatigue them and so the more it can affect your performance. And this is where I like antagonist sets, like biceps and triceps right, or leg curls, leg extensions, things like that. And, by the way, all of these intensity techniques have a little extra. It's either a bonus or a curse, and that is they get your heart rate up, and this is a work capacity issue which could be a benefit if you're trying to improve your conditioning.
Philip Pape:
The third technique is called drop sets. Just very classic. After you lift a set to failure, you then just drop the weight a little bit and you do more reps to hit failure and drop it again. Now you could do it in a very controlled way, like you do a set of, you know, 12, and then you drop 10%. And then you do as many as you can, you drop 10%. Or you could just say, look, I'm going to go until I hit 50 reps, or I hit 75 reps, and you just keep dropping. You do a bunch, you drop, you do a bunch, you drop, and each time you're going to failure Again, a very effective technique.
Philip Pape:
So you could complete a traditional session that takes 90 minutes in maybe an hour or maybe even 45 minutes by swapping out some of your you know, your dumbbell flies and your tricep pushdowns and your barbell curls and things like that with these movements and also get a little extra work capacity and conditioning in there as well, and it gives you a little more variety, makes your workouts some more dynamic, intense, sometimes more productive, because they force you to focus.
Philip Pape:
You're not kind of sitting around or in your rest sets or getting on your phone or checking email, and you're just focused and you get it done. So there are a lot of reasons to do this. Always keep pushing the limits of what you think you can achieve or what you're able to do. Get creative, train smart, stay strong and maximize that time in the gym. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Wits and Weights. If you found value in today's episode and know someone else who's looking to level up their wits or weights, please take a moment to share this episode with them and make sure to hit the follow button in your podcast platform right now to catch the next episode. Until then, stay strong.