Elite Physique The New Science of Building a Better Body

Muscle-Building Programs
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You can, and often should, add more exercises that stimulate other muscle
groups you’re trying to build—those lagging body parts that could use some
extra volume. We cover that later in this chapter. For now, let’s continue with the
basic full-body workout structure.
Circuit or Straight Sets
Let’s say you perform four sets for each of the three aforementioned movements.
You could perform straight sets, which means you perform all four sets of the
upper body pull before all four sets of the upper body push and then finish with
the lower body movement. On the other hand, you could perform those sets in
a circuit: one set of the upper body pull, then one set of the upper body push,
and then one set of the lower body movement. You would perform that circuit
for four rounds, equaling four sets of each exercise.
Research demonstrates that at least 3 minutes of rest before repeating an exercise
is recommended to maximize strength and muscle development (Schoenfeld
et al. 2016). Therefore, if you performed straight sets you would need to rest at
least 3 minutes between each of the four sets to achieve a complete rest period
(i.e., complete recovery). Let’s say your first exercise is a pull-up that takes 20
seconds to complete for each set. That means you’ll perform no activity for 9
minutes just to finish those four sets, as shown in table 8.1.
TABLE 8.1 Time Spent on an Upper Body Pull Exercise With Straight Sets
Movement
Upper body pull 00:20
Rest 03:00
Upper body pull 00:20
Rest 03:00
Upper body pull 00:20
Rest 03:00
Upper body pull 00:20
Rest: move to upper body push 01:00
Time spent resting
Time spent lifting
Total duration
Duration (min)
09:00
00:80
10:20
The problem of inactivity gets even worse when you look at the entire workout.
Let’s say you need 60 seconds to move to the next exercise. That means the
entire workout, from the first set of the upper body pull to the last set of the lower
body movement, will take 33 minutes, with 29 of those minutes being inactivity,
as shown in table 8.2. Put another way: Your workout lasts around a half hour,
but only 4 minutes are spent lifting. That might be good for your social life in the
gym, but it would be bad for your time management. Indeed, straight sets with
complete rest periods are a very inefficient and time-consuming way to train.