One of the reasons bodybuilders cite for cutting their workouts short or skipping altogether is that they don’t have enough time. Between school, work, and perhaps family responsibilities, many people just don’t have the time to spend two hours doing bodybuilding workouts. But guess what - you don’t need to! In fact even if you have the time, the human body only has energy reserves for approximately 60 to 90 minutes. After that you’ll be coasting and just going through the motions. What you need to do is use those 60 minutes or so wisely; and one of the best ways to do this is with trisets.

Trisets for quality not quantity!

As the name implies a triset is three (tri) sets in one. You pick three different exercises and perform them one after another with as little rest in between as possible.

Trisets offer the bodybuilder numerous benefits.

Reduced workout times – Because you’ll only be resting 10 to 20 seconds between sets, your overall workout time will be creased by as much as 50 percent.


Can attack the muscle from different angles – Unlike straight sets which only hit the muscle from one angle, trisets enable you to attack the muscle from a variety of different directions. This stimulates more muscle fibers and contributes to better overall muscle development.

Provides a partial cardio workout – Since you’ll be resting for shorter periods of time, your heart rate will be kept in your target heart rate zone. This will stimulate your heart ad lungs to a greater degree than if you were performing straight sets with the normal 60 to 90 seconds rest in between.

A boredom fighter – As much as we all love training, performing straight sets day in, day out, can lead to staleness and boredom. Trisets add variety and will put some much-needed fun back into your bodybuilding workouts.

The following are some great triset combinations that will add spice to your training and shock your muscles into new growth!

Muscle Exercises

• Thigh Squat, leg press, leg extension

• Hamstrings Lying leg curl, stiff leg deadlift, back etension

• Chest Flat dumbell press, incline dumbell press, flat dumbell fly

• Back Chin-ups, T-bar row, front pulldowns

• Biceps Standing barbell curl, incline dumbell curl, narrow chin-ups

• Triceps Lying triceps extensions, narrow press, bench dips

• Abdominals SWISS ball crunch, reverse crunch, lying leg raise

By Bob Howard

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