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Always been curious about his approach. A clip from an interview below, but I don't think I've ever seen any semblance of scientific review of why giant sets of 4-6 exercises with varying relative weights is the optimal route for hypertrophy. Any Brothers here ever train with Milo?
CH: From previous discussions, you have mentioned that you are big believer in training in a giant set type fashion. Could you explain to our readers why you have found this type of training the most effective when it comes to hypertrophy and fat loss training and your theory behind it?
MS: I always ask my athletes “Why are you going to train?” They are often puzzled with that question. I then say “Are you training just to lift weights, accomplish your personal best, lift heavier, expend calories, sweat…or look good in front of the ladies?”
Or you are going to gym for right reasons… to maximally stimulate the maximal amount of muscle fibers? So how are you going to achieve that?
With a conventional method of training? I don’t think so. And don’t get me wrong… I am not saying anything bad about conventional methods of training but I am talking about MAXIMAL stimulation not any other kind. To do this I train using giant sets.
When someone designs a giant set rotation they should consider a wide variety of muscle stimulation through heavy, moderate and light loads, different stances, different grip, range of motion, tempo, type of contractions, angles etc. The more creative you are the better! Remember that you want to overwhelm that muscle group that you are training with everything possible that you can come up with.
The goal is to fail in each and every exercise, reaching momentary muscular failure regardless of the amount of weight you are using. This will bring even more blood to the area (increased hyperemia) and help reach your dormant muscle fibers that are usually not hit through conventional methods of training.
If we don’t shock the body it will not have a reason to change… it is as simple as that! That is as much as I need to say about the hypertrophy benefits of my training principles, however this type of training certainly also burns body fat as well.
How and why? First, if someone measures their RER (respiratory exchange ratio) during this type of training method they will realize that the primary fuel used will not exclusively be glucose but also fatty acids. The best way to understand this is to do a giant set workout yourself and you will soon realize what I am talking about. By the time you have finished your rotation you will be gasping for air as though you have just gone for a run!
CH: In terms of periodization of this type of training, could you give a brief 12-week example of how would one do this?
MS: I am not big believer in periodization simply because I have witnessed many ‘crazy’ adaptations of many old school bodybuilding champions who never backed-off in their intensity or volume.
I prefer to periodise my training blocks through changing the variables in the giant set routines I have my athletes use. So for example I would progressively increase or decrease the difficulty, amount of exercises, load etc.
But for sake of making a simple 12-week periodization program for you…
Weeks 1 through 4:
CH: From previous discussions, you have mentioned that you are big believer in training in a giant set type fashion. Could you explain to our readers why you have found this type of training the most effective when it comes to hypertrophy and fat loss training and your theory behind it?
MS: I always ask my athletes “Why are you going to train?” They are often puzzled with that question. I then say “Are you training just to lift weights, accomplish your personal best, lift heavier, expend calories, sweat…or look good in front of the ladies?”
Or you are going to gym for right reasons… to maximally stimulate the maximal amount of muscle fibers? So how are you going to achieve that?
With a conventional method of training? I don’t think so. And don’t get me wrong… I am not saying anything bad about conventional methods of training but I am talking about MAXIMAL stimulation not any other kind. To do this I train using giant sets.
When someone designs a giant set rotation they should consider a wide variety of muscle stimulation through heavy, moderate and light loads, different stances, different grip, range of motion, tempo, type of contractions, angles etc. The more creative you are the better! Remember that you want to overwhelm that muscle group that you are training with everything possible that you can come up with.
The goal is to fail in each and every exercise, reaching momentary muscular failure regardless of the amount of weight you are using. This will bring even more blood to the area (increased hyperemia) and help reach your dormant muscle fibers that are usually not hit through conventional methods of training.
If we don’t shock the body it will not have a reason to change… it is as simple as that! That is as much as I need to say about the hypertrophy benefits of my training principles, however this type of training certainly also burns body fat as well.
How and why? First, if someone measures their RER (respiratory exchange ratio) during this type of training method they will realize that the primary fuel used will not exclusively be glucose but also fatty acids. The best way to understand this is to do a giant set workout yourself and you will soon realize what I am talking about. By the time you have finished your rotation you will be gasping for air as though you have just gone for a run!
CH: In terms of periodization of this type of training, could you give a brief 12-week example of how would one do this?
MS: I am not big believer in periodization simply because I have witnessed many ‘crazy’ adaptations of many old school bodybuilding champions who never backed-off in their intensity or volume.
I prefer to periodise my training blocks through changing the variables in the giant set routines I have my athletes use. So for example I would progressively increase or decrease the difficulty, amount of exercises, load etc.
But for sake of making a simple 12-week periodization program for you…
Weeks 1 through 4:
- 5 rotations for each muscle group with 4 exercises per rotation
- In each rotation include one heavy duty exercise with maximal load
- 4 rotations for each muscle group with 6 exercises per rotation
- In each rotation include two heavy duty exercise with maximal load and make the last exercise have a heavy isometric contraction only
- 5 rotations for each muscle group with 6-8 exercises per rotation
- In each rotation include two heavy duty exercise with maximal load and one super heavy eccentrics only
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