INFINITE SETS

It is a set with no defined end, which becomes increasingly more difficult and taxing. It is the most intense type of high intensity training you can perform in the short term and which then allows the body time to recover in order to avoid overtraining, a common mistake by many people who do too many sets and lift excessive weights over a period of weeks and even months.

Don’t confuse infinite sets with circuit training. With circuit training, you repeat every exercise several times. This is not like that: it starts and ends with one set. It also requires greater intensity because it takes every muscle group to the limit so the shock to the body is greater, which causes micro-trauma in the muscles, forcing them to repair before you can hit the next session with the same intensity. Exerting so much effort means your body needs a minimum of two days to recover between each session. You need to be fully recovered to once again be able to give everything.

You should do one set per muscle group, which comes to a total of 9 sets. Start each set with a load that enables you to do a minimum of 20 STRICT REPETITIONS in normal conditions. This means using about 50% of your one-rep maximum (1RM). The relatively light weight means you don’t have to perform a warm-up other than a fast-paced 4-6 minute walk at 5 or 6 km per hour on the street or on a treadmill followed by vigorous arm-swinging to the front and sides to warm-up the joints and make them more flexible.

Keep doing REPETITIONS until it is impossible to do any more without help; then continue doing PARTIAL reps with half of the movement, except in the exercises indicated specifically * – and finish by HOLDING THE WEIGHT for a few seconds in the position of maximum contraction. After letting go of the bar or dumbbells, move straight into a series of static contractions, flexing the muscles to the limit for 10 to 15 seconds, as if you were posing in a competition. Taking your muscles to the limit this way prepares the body for protein synthesis, which is the start of the process of muscular development.

There are 4 in total, all for the lower body.

1. CALF RAISES: Strap on a lifting belt attached with a chain to a 5 to 15 kg dumbbell, held by a pulley hook. This enables you to release the hook, get rid of the weight and continue doing reps when you have performed as many strict repetitions as possible with the initial weight. If this equipment isn’t available you can instead do single leg raises on a step (do one with the left leg then one with the right leg and so on) in order to take the movement to its limit once you can no longer perform strict repetitions with the weight.
2. DUMBBELL SQUAT: When you can do no more strict repetitions holding the dumbbell, release the weight, grab a lighter dumbbell and continue doing repetitions to failure then prolong the movement by doing un-weighted squats with your hands held in front of you in a push-up position.
3. ROMANIAN DEADLIFT: It’s important to remember to do this exercise with loose knees – do not lock them out. This will prevent spinal injury and damage to the quadriceps femoris. For this exercise, do a set number of high repetitions; never go to muscle failure at first and always work to strict form doing a full range of motion and keeping the hands in a prone position (palms facing the body).
4. ABDOMINAL PLANK: Maintain the correct position (tightly squeezing the abdominals, without allowing the midsection to hang or relax) until the point where the exercise stops being strict; then let your waist rest on the floor for about 10 seconds and begin a new plank. When it is no longer strict, rest again, this time for 15 seconds, and perform a third repetition. This is, in fact, a set that follows the REST / PAUSE Principle.