The Advantages Of Tri-Set Training For Muscle Growth

Tri-set training is something most athletes have dabbled with, but few use it consistently in their workouts.

It essentially consists of three different exercises all rolled into one set with minimal rest between each (usually no more than about 10 seconds). The idea is to target the same muscle group but with a slightly different emphasis so you're working all areas of the muscle.

Tri-sets are extremely effective at producing hypertrophy but also strength gains, probably for a number of reasons.

They generally increase time under tension, a critical factor in generating muscle growth. They are also an effective way to fully exhaust a muscle, which increases the amount of muscle damage a workout produces and influences the metabolic response our body has to exercise.

This in turn affects the synthesising of muscle tissue which takes place after your workout to create muscle growth.

Tri-sets are also fairly time efficient and are something that can be added to your workout easily to, hopefully, enhance results.

Examples Of Tri-Sets

If you’re looking to use tri-sets more often in your sessions, some classic examples can be found below.

Chest tri-set: Incline dumbbell bench press (8-12 reps), Dumbbell bench press (8-12 reps), Chest dip (8-12 reps).

Shoulder tri-set: Dumbbell shoulder press (8-12 reps), Dumbbell lateral raise (8-12 reps), Barbell front raise (8-12 reps).

Back tri-set: Chin-ups (6-10 reps), Reverse grip two-dumbbell row (8-12 reps), Standing dumbbell curl (12-15 reps).

Legs tri-set: Front squats (8-12 reps), Alternating dumbbell lunge (8-12 reps each leg), Dumbbell Romanian deadlift (8-12 reps).

You can also create your own tri-sets based on the exercises you like, but try to stick to the principle of targeting different areas of the same muscle.

For example, a calf tri-set could include calf raises with toes pointing forwards, calf raises with toes pointing out and calf raises with toes pointing in. This is targeting both the inner and outer parts of the calf.