Workout Sets: Why You Need Them

Workout sets are the building blocks of weight training.

In order to build muscle, one must overstress, or hypertrophy, the muscle. In order to do this, you need to work the muscle to exhaustion. You then let it rest for 48 hours, and then do it again.

Typically, people who work out with weights - and everyone should work out with weights - will work out three times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and take the entire weekend off. This allows the muscles to rest...and it is when the muscles rest that they grow.

Now, really serious bodybuilders break out their workouts even more. They spend 45 minutes on Monday doing a variety of arm exercises, using really heavy weights. On Wednesday, they'll do their legs, again using very heavy weights. On Friday, they'll work on back and abdomen. So in essence, the major muscles only get worked out in these workout sets once a week.  And for them, that's enough. Combined with a high calorie and high protein diet, they build huge muscles.

The average person doesn't need or want that kind of dedication. You don't want to look like a female Arnold Schwarzenegger, you want to look like a female Venus Williams or Annika Sorenstam. Slender, trim, toned.

And working your entire body, three times a week, can do that for you. You would do two sets of arm exercises - for example bench presses and lateral pulldowns, two sets of leg exercises - leg curls and leg extensions, and some situps or kneeups for the abdomen. Do that on Monday, vary the routine a bit on Wednesday, and repeat on Friday.

Gradually, as you become stronger, you'll increase the weights used in the workout sets. Typically, using heavier weights for a few repetitions builds muscles. Using lighter weights for longer repetitions builds endurance.

In an exercise, you perform it one time. That's a rep, or repetition. You do ten repetitions...that's one set. For each exercise you do, you should do at least two sets...giving your body a few minutes between each of these workout sets to recover. Usually, you'll do no more than three sets at a time, of each exercise.  Try such a regime for a month...you'll be glad you did.