Question about supersets vspyramid sets

[Mandy Lee]

Hi Cathe,

I've been reading a book about weight lifting and it is confusing me. It talks about bodyshaping being a science and you have to do it a certain way, in certain sequence and at certain angles. They talk about super sets, speed sets, giant sets, tri-sets and pyramid sets. It is all so confusing! I thought that you just lift weights to failure and you will work the muscle completely. Could you please tell me what MIS, PS and BodyMax upper body weight lifting is? Is it supersetting? And do you think with these video's, I will be getting enough sets? Please share some light on this issue. Thanks!!

I was going to mention that with your Pure Strength tapes, I feel like I'm getting just the right amount of work for each muscle. Like with the PS Legs tape, there is no way I could do 3 sets of leg lifts for the outer thigh. I'm glad you give us only 2 sets of leg lifts for the outer thigh!

 

[Joyce Thurman]

To add on to that...

Mandy,

I hope it's okay to add on to your question for Cathe but I am wondering about something as well. I was recently questioning someone about lifting weights in a slower, more controlled motion versus lifting more quickly, almost to the point of momentum kicking in.

This person informed me that bodybuilders lift quickly, even if momentum is part of that lift! Is that true? Is it not better to do sets more slowly and feel the muscle working? Would I still see results if I did do faster sets? I'm confused too.

Thanks Cathe!!

 

[Daphne M]

Explosive power

Well, Mandy Lee, your question about supersets and pyramiding is beyond me. Although I could guess that they are just two different ways of stressing the muscle and forcing it to keep responding to the demands. Like Cathe keeps telling us: change, change, change. You know how good your muscles are to adapting to a set number of reps and sets -- unfortunately, when they adapt too well, you stop deriving the peak benefits of weight training. (You still get results, but they're smaller and longer in coming supposedly.)

And Joyce, I'm curious about the speed issue too. In my current issue of M&F, they address the issue of "explosive" strength. M&F said that when you're using explosive power on the positive part of the rep, you should still be moving slowly, because the weight should be too heavy to let you get any momentum into it. I tried that this morning with PS BBA. I really contracted the muscle and tried to explode up on the negative curls, for example. If anything, I think my speed was SLOWER than usual!!! It was interesting and added a little spice to the workout.

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Mandy Lee!

All of the methods that you mention above are simply different ways to work the muscles to keep them stimulated. Some people may find that their genetics tend to favor one approach over another but generally speaking your body will eventually get "too comfortable" with a particular workout rotation and continuously need some form of a change(whether its a tiny change or a whole new approach)to keep the muscles challenged. Thats where all of the methods you mention above can play a role.

In PS we work slower,heavier, and more specifically. In MIS we work a bit faster, medium to heavy poundage, and touch on a little bit of everything. In Bodymax, we go medium poundage, faster and higher reps, and target the upper body for more endurance. The focus of these workouts is not super setting. And yes, you will definitely be getting enough sets with these workouts.

There is no magic formula that gives you the results you want. You first have to work hard to find what works best for your body, then when you have keyed in on that, you have to work hard at finding ways to keep the results. It is an on going process

.

If you feel that PS is giving you the right amount of what you are looking for, then stick with it until it feels like the results are starting to slow down.

Good luck and hope you and the little peanut are doing fine(and your other little peanuts too

)!