Pair Your Exercises

Here at PTS, we believe in efficient, intense workouts. To this end, we cannot have athletes sitting around for very long, especially if we only have them for an hour or so. During our workouts, we pair ALL of our exercises. This leads to a far more efficient workout than if everything was performed using traditional, "straight" sets. Even on out most demanding Max Effort lifts, such as Squats, Deadlifts, and Bench Presses, we perform our Neck and Ab work between sets. Once we get into the heart of the workout, we pair upper body "pushes" and "pulls," and all lower body exercises are paired with core movements.

I believe that the benefits of pairing your exercises include:

1.) A more efficient workout. Simply put, we do more work in less time.

2.) "Active" rest which leads to increased performance on additional sets. For example, say you are performing pushups and pullups. If you just performed 2 sets of pushups in a row, with minimal rest, chances are you would not perform very well on your second set. By pairing the pullups with the pushups, even though you are not "resting" you are taking a longer amount of time between pushup sets, and allowing for optimal performance on your second sets of both exercises.

3.) Increased Intensity. Pairing your exercises gives your workouts a tremendous amount of focus, and can help maintain an elevated heart rate, and enhance conditioning. I would be remiss if I said that we have never had an athlete "lose their lunch" during a workout. While I do not pride myself on this, and do not think it is overly healthy on a regular basis, it is an indicator that pairing your exercises certainly leads to a more intense training session. And more intense training sessions lead to GAINS.

Check out a sample PTS Upper Body workout:

SETS X REPS: i.e. 1-4 X 8-10 (1-4 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

1A.) Incline Bench Press- Work Up to a Max Effort Set of 4-6

1B.) Neck Extension- 1-4 X 20

2A.) Alternating DB Bench Press- 1-4 X 6-10

2B.) Pullups- 1-4 X 6-10

3A.) Trap Bar Shrugs- 1-4 X 8-15

3B.) "Arnold" Shoulder Presses- 1-4 X 8-15

4.) Upper Back Finisher- 1-4 X 12-20

Gun Show: 1-4 Rounds

This workout takes anywhere from 45-75 minutes, but performed in straight sets, it would take far longer than that. Give your workouts a boost and pair your exercises!