Effect of exercise order on the number of repeats and training volume in the tri-set training method

Abstract

Although the tri-set system is widely adopted by athletes and experienced weight training practitioners aimed at optimizing the metabolic overload, there are still few works in literature on the effect of exercise order manipulation on this training system. Therefore, this work was aimed at investigating the effect of exercise order manipulation on the number of repeats and training volume using the tri-set system for lower limbs. This is a randomized cross-over design study. The experimental group consisted of 14 healthy men (23.53 ± 5.40 years; 24.51 ± 2.96 kg/m2). Subjects were submitted to two experimental sessions at different exercise order for lower limbs: Sequence A: squat on guided bar, leg press 45° and bilateral leg extension; sequence B: bilateral leg extension, leg press 45° and squat on guided bar. Three sets to volitional fatigue in all exercises were performed, with intensity of 75% 1RM. Superiority for sequence B in the total number of repeats (70.14 ± 13 vs 60.93 ± 7.94 repeats, p = 0.004) and total training volume (9129.64 ± 2830.05 vs 8238.29 ± 2354.20 kg, p = 0.014) was observed. Based on the above, the performance of single-joint exercises before multi-joint exercises in the tri-set system adopted for lower limbs induced higher number of repeats and total training volume.