Flex_USA_JulyAugust_2017_2
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LIFT<br />
BY GREG MERRITT<br />
MUSCLE<br />
MULTITASKING<br />
WITH STAGGERED SETS, YOU WORK<br />
TWO DIVERSE AREAS TOGETHER<br />
abs with any other<br />
body part. Because<br />
you don’t want your<br />
grip lessened when<br />
doing, say, pulldowns,<br />
forearms should be<br />
worked only with legs;<br />
for similar reasons,<br />
calves can be worked<br />
with anything but legs.<br />
Any staggered work<br />
for biceps, triceps, or<br />
deltoids should also not<br />
rob strength from the<br />
bigger body part. So<br />
you can stagger in<br />
pushdowns with legs<br />
but not with chest<br />
presses (which also<br />
work triceps).<br />
In addition, cardio<br />
can be staggered into<br />
your weight training.<br />
Do 10- to 15-minute<br />
sessions of highintensity<br />
cardio<br />
between body parts.<br />
For example, work<br />
quads, hit the StepMill<br />
for 10 minutes, work<br />
hams, hit the treadmill<br />
for 10 minutes, work<br />
calves, and finish off<br />
with 10 minutes of<br />
elliptical. Instead of 30<br />
minutes of continuous<br />
tedium, you’ve broken it<br />
into more palatable<br />
pieces and kept your<br />
enthusiasm, focus,<br />
and intensity elevated.<br />
And such up-tempo<br />
intervals are better for<br />
burning fat than longer,<br />
lower tempo work.<br />
There are three ways<br />
to do staggered sets:<br />
STOP WASTING<br />
TIME. There’s a lot<br />
of idleness in a workout.<br />
All those rests<br />
between sets are<br />
lost opportunities to<br />
stimulate growth. Of<br />
course, you don’t want<br />
to take away from the<br />
muscles you’re resting,<br />
but you can work an<br />
unrelated muscle during<br />
that downtime. By<br />
hitting two body parts<br />
in the period that you’d<br />
normally work one,<br />
you can multitask your<br />
way to greater gains.<br />
MUSCLE<br />
MULTITASKING<br />
As a name, “staggered<br />
sets” is lame. “Diverse<br />
attack” would be clearer<br />
(and cooler), but<br />
“staggered” means you<br />
can work a smaller body<br />
part by alternating its<br />
sets with only some<br />
of the sets of a bigger<br />
body part. Smaller<br />
usually means calves,<br />
abs, and forearms,<br />
though it might also<br />
mean biceps, triceps, or<br />
deltoids. You can train<br />
Unrelated Supersets<br />
Alternate a set for a bigger<br />
body part, like the back, with<br />
one for a smaller, unrelated<br />
body part, like calves. You<br />
probably won’t want to do<br />
as many sets for the smaller<br />
body part, so simply skip<br />
supersetting one or two<br />
exercises. For example, if you<br />
do 16 sets and four exercises<br />
for the back, you’ll do 12 sets<br />
and three exercises for calves.<br />
Asymmetrical Combos<br />
Do one set for the smaller<br />
body part for every two or<br />
more sets for the larger body<br />
PER BERNAL<br />
68 FLEX | JULY/AUG ’17
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