The Triple Shot is a training technique which allows the bodybuilder to stimulate each muscle group from the three most important angles. It’s not a super-set, which is designed for fast blood loading. And it’s not a giant set, designed for complete muscle annihilation. Rather, the Triple Shot is a technique designed to isolate the three largest parts of a muscle group, then delivering the three most effective movements for hitting these areas. The goal, of course, is the most possible muscle group stimulation leading to growth. Let’s check out routines for some of your muscle groups.
Chest
- Flat bench press, immediately followed by incline dumbbell flyes, immediately followed by decline bench press.
- Keep the weight heavy enough to challenge you for 6 to 10 repetitions on all sets.
Back
- Deadlifts, immediately followed by lat pulldowns, immediately followed by barbell rowing.
- Train very heavy on the deadlifts, and then move to a more moderate weight which allows you to hit 10 to 14 repetitions on the other two movements.
Shoulders
- Seated barbell presses using smith machine, immediately followed by bent-over dumbbell laterals, immediately followed by cable side raises.
- After a very complete warm-up, train using sets of 10 to 12. Going too heavy can place your AC and RC joints at risk.
Thighs
- Front barbell squats, immediately followed by seated leg press, immediately followed by hack squats.
- Train moderately heavy on the front barbell squats, being very cognizant of the risks placed to the neck and shoulder joints from this awkward movements. This would place your repetition range in the 10 to 14 area. The leg press and hack squats can be heavier, in the 6 to 10 rep range, since you are provided safety from these machines.
Hamstrings
- Lying leg curls, immediately followed by stiff-legged deadlifts, immediately followed by seated leg curls using Hammer Strength machine.
- Focus on slow, painful and heavy repetitions which stimulate the muscle fibers. Don’t jerk or swing the weight, as this can lead to a greater risk of injury.
Calves
- Smith machine calf raises, immediately followed by seated calf raises, immediately followed by leg press lockouts for calves.
- Keep the repetitions very slow and deliberate. Calves don’t need a great deal of weight to grow, but they do require much focused repetitions where you flex the muscle at the start and stop of every rep.
Biceps
- Standing biceps barbell curls, immediately followed by dumbbell preacher curls, immediately followed by standing alternate dumbbell curls.
- It doesn’t mean a thing, if it has that swing! You can’t repeat that enough times. Keep your back straight, and your upper arms locked against your body during the curls to ensure your form is correct.
Triceps
- Skull crushers, immediately followed by seated barbell triceps press behind head, immediately followed by cable pressdowns using rope or “V” handle.
- Train through the pain, baby! Use sets of 5 to 10 repetitions.
Abdominals
- Seated crunches, immediately followed by lying leg raises, immediately followed by roman chair sit-ups.
- Train by the minute, not the repetition, completing 10 to 15 minutes of this combination of movements.
Obviously, you can swap out movements to fit your preferences and available equipment. The key is to try to find three movements of the compound (preferable) or isolation variety which hit as many fibers of the major muscle group as possible.
