Tom Venuto's BodybuildingSecrets.com - “Drop Supersets” and other “INSANE” Arm Training!

“Drop Supersets” and other “INSANE” Arm Training!

Tom Venuto, CSCS, CPT

Sunday, August 21st, 2005. Empire Fitness Club. Time for another chest & bicep session! The bicep workout today was INSANE! You have to check this one out… “Drop Supersets!”

CHEST

A1 Incline dumbbell Press: 2 warm up sets; 3 sets X 70 lbs X 12, 11, 9 reps X 5021 tempo (strict, slow negative)
A2 Flat Dumbbell Flyes: 3 sets X 40 lbs X 12-15 reps
B1 Decline Barbell Press: 3 sets X 185 lbs X 12 reps
C1 Incline cable flyes: Set 1: 60 lbs X 13 reps; Set 2: 50 lbs X 21’s (7 reps bottom half range, 7 reps top half range, 7 reps full range); Set 3: 50 lbs X 10 reps of 1 ½’s (one full range movement, then lower half way and back up = 1 rep)

BICEPS

A1 Dumbbell Hammer Curls, Alternating Cross-Body: 60 lbs X 11 reps
A2 EZ Bar Curl: 115 lbs X 6 reps
B1 Dumbbell Hammer Curls, Alternating Cross-Body: 50 lbs X 6 reps, 55 lbs X 6 reps, 60 lbs X 5 reps (ascending set)
B2 EZ Bar Curl: 115 lbs X 6 reps, 95 lbs X 6 reps, drop to 75 lbs X 6 reps (drop set)
C1 Dumbbell Hammer Curls, Alternating Cross-Body: 60 lbs X 8 reps
C2 EZ Bar Curl: 115 lbs X 6 reps
C3 Dumbbell Hammer Curls, Alternating Cross-Body: 40 lbs X 12 reps
C4 EZ Bar Curl: 65 lbs X 12 reps
B1 Spider Curl on Incline Bench: 3 sets X 65 lbs X 12, 10, 8 reps, strict 4023 tempo slow reps, hold it at top, squeeze biceps hard

FOREARMS

A1 Dumbbell wrist curl one arm at a time: 3 sets X 60 lbs X 12 reps

ABS

A1 Double crunch (crunch + pull knees in to touch elbows): 3 sets X bodyweight X 30 reps, strict
B2 Hip Lift (“toes to sky”): 3 set X 20 reps, strict
B2 reverse Crunch: 3 sets X 20 reps, strict

Workout Commentary

This session started out with chest on the incline bench with dumbbells. I’m still treading lightly when training the (previously injured) pec. So far so good, although I haven’t gone really heavy in over a year. Today, I used only 70 lbs on the incline dumbbell presses and dimply slowed down the reps to make it more difficult (a 5 second negative on every rep. With the 5021 tempo on a 12 rep set, the time under tension was 96 seconds, which makes it challenging even with the light weight). The incline presses were supersetted directly into flat bench flyes (no rest between the presses and flyes).

Next in the pec lineup was decline bench press. I did 185 lbs for three easy sets of 12 reps today. In all my years of training I’ve never done much decline benching with a barbell, but I’m liking them now because I feel absolutely no strain on that left pec with this exercise. I think it might be because the range of motion is a little smaller and there is not much of a stretch on the pecs on this exercise. With a partial pec tear, even a year old, it’s the extreme stretch exercises I have be careful about. I’ll stick with these over the next few workouts, bumping up the weight a bit and we’ll see what happens. It will be nice to find a pec exercise I can do heavy without a problem because I don’t want to lose size by doing only light/moderate weights.

We finished off pecs with three sets of incline cable flyes, each set using a different technique, including 21’s and one and a halfs.

The bicep routine today was a killer… It was INSANE!

We supersetted back and forth between standing alternating hammer curls (cross body) with EZ bar curls. Each set used a different technique, and the last set was a “drop superset” (combination of superset and drop set).

Posted 21 August, 2005 in Workouts

Comments

Jessica Britt said:

I'm not even close to your intensity yet, but these supersets and drop supersets are an awesome workout! Ive learned a lot from you. You're the best.Thank you so much, Tom and keep it up! It's incredible work.

Posted on Aug 30, 2005 05:19 PM

Diablo Rojo said:

Hello Tom, I am from Romania. It was a blessing for me your BFFM book. If i wouldn't have stumbled upon it, i would have ended like a mainstream dieter would. Actually i have read it more than four times until now. After 9 months of trial and error I can say that i know it very very well. I also read some of Ian King writtings also. You have done a Very good work with the BFFM book.

Posted on Aug 31, 2005 03:37 AM

Tiago said:

Hey Tom,
I LOVE your tempo and tension workouts. I've even used it on all of my workouts. However, I do have a problem when bench pressing. My current tempo is 3-2-3-0. When pausing at the bottom, how far off should the bar be from your chest? Should you keep it about an inch up from your chest or let it rest lightly on your pecs?

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE

Posted on Aug 31, 2005 02:18 PM

Tom Venuto said:

Inserting that pause at the bottom of the bench press makes the exercise a lot more difficult and will reduce the amount of poundage you can use. It prevents you from using the strength-shortening cycle at the bottom of the rep. Some experts say it takes longer than 2 seconds to completely dissipate the elastic energy, but I think two seconds is more than enough to simply make the bench a much "stricter" exercise. Unless you have shoulder/rotator cuff problems, in which case you may wish to restrict your range of motion to 4/5 or even 3/4, I would recommend lowering the bar all the way to the chest, so it is lightly touching the chest, but maintain the muscle tension. i.e., do not let the weight of the barbell rest on your chest, literally; just hold the weight with the bar lightly touching your chest.

Keep on experimenting with those tempo prescriptions, including the all 4 points: lowering, pause @ stretch pos, lifting, and pause @ contract position. You will discover many different and interesting effects by manipulating your tempos.

Posted on Sep 05, 2005 01:55 PM