Are you looking for a set-training scheme which can reduce soreness, stimulate more muscle fibers, and give your joints a rest, all while hitting the muscle group with some high-volume training? If so, then the “Division of Sets” technique might be for you. Let’s check out a sample workout for chest, one day per week.
Week one – Incline Bench Press
Warm-up sets: 1 set of 15 to 20 repetitions
Actual training sets: 2 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions
Cool-down sets: 1 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions
Week two – Incline Bench Press
Warm-up sets: 2 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions
Actual training sets: 4 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions
Cool-down sets: 2 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions
Week three – Incline Bench Press
Warm-up sets: 3 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions
Actual training sets: 6 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions
Cool-down sets: 3 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions
Week four – Incline Bench Press
Warm-up sets: 4 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions
Actual training sets: 8 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions
Cool-down sets: 4 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions
Week five – Incline Bench Press
Warm-up sets: 5 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions
Actual training sets: 10 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions
Cool-down sets: 5 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions
As you can see, by week five, you’re giving your body a tremendous number of high-repetition warm-up and cool down sets, allowing the slow-twitch muscle fibers to come into play as you pass the 12th and 15th and 18th repetitions. However, the fast-twitch muscle fibers are also receiving a great deal of stimulation, with their own ten sets of heavy training.
Division of set training has many benefits. First and foremost, it is a high-volume training regimen. It allows the bodybuilder to pump a whole lot of blood into the muscle group, which is the goal of training. Second, it is low impact. Despite being higher volume, the routine doesn’t cause major stress to the muscle group being trained, due to the great deal of warm-up and cool-down sets. Third, and perhaps overlooked in many other places, this training protocol stimulates both slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers quite thoroughly.
Always train with a partner when embarking upon division of sets training. You’ll discover you keep one another honest on number of sets, reps completed, etc. Also, since you’ll be pushing your number of sets per movement a whopping 400 to 500%, having a spotter is a great idea for safety purposes. You have probably never completed twenty straight sets of the same movement for the same body part, and you might find yourself failing sooner than you’d like. Having a spotter there to cover you is a great idea.
You’ll likely want to bump up your protein consumption, and add 500 calories to your daily totals when training with division of sets. Sleep more, rest around the house more, and perhaps toss in a supplement like glutamine to help with the potential soreness.