Declining Sets

Date: Tues, 12 February 2008

Hi,

Stamina training generally involves high repetitions, which can be a little boring.  One way to deal with that problem is by doing a“declining sets” workout.  You can do this with weights, body weight, or punch/kick drills.

Here’s an example – let’s say you want to increase the number of push ups you can do.  Start with a set of 15.  Most people can do fifteen push ups.  If you can’t, then start with 10, or maybe start with 15, but do them on your knees, or simply lower yourself down 15 times, and do an actual push up later in the routine.

The point is, we’re starting with a high number relative to what we can perform.  Now, your second set will be 15 again, then 14, 14, 12, 12,
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1.  Guess what?  You just did 146 push ups.  Of course, you may modify the routine so you only end up doing 100, or 75 or whatever, but you didn’t work your way up to it. You worked your way down.

You can do this at the gym with weights, or in your back yard with roundhouse kicks.  And you can mix and match.  Maybe you just want to do 8 sets of 8 reverse punches and in the intervals you do declining sets of push ups, or declining sets of crunches.  Or alternate with both.

Experiment with this and you’ll find that the declining sets keep you motivated because each one is a little easier.

Good luck, train like you mean it.

Rob LaPointe

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