As experienced in-home and virtual personal trainers, the Nielsen Fitness team knows that no two workouts (or bodies) are the same. That’s why understanding the different kinds of training sets can be a game-changer when it comes to getting stronger, building endurance, or breaking through plateaus.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to level up your workouts, knowing how and when each type of set should be used will help you train smarter. In this post, we’ll break down the different styles of training sets to help you understand what’s best for your goals, your schedule, and your body.

THE BASICS OF SETS

An exercise set is a group of consecutive repetitions (reps) of a specific movement, performed without resting in between. Our in-home personal trainers in Toronto, Collingwood, London, Hamilton, and Ottawa (and virtual personal trainers everywhere) use sets as a fundamental part of strength and resistance training programs.

Sets help structure a workout and provide a way to progressively challenge your muscles, and by adjusting the number of sets and reps, you can target different fitness goals: building strength, increasing endurance, or promoting muscle growth. Sets also help us track our clients’ progress and ensure they’re getting the right amount of work and recovery during each session. They give workouts a solid foundation and a clear framework for improvement.

THE ROLE OF REST IN BETWEEN SETS

“It’s important to time your rest between sets. If you don’t rest long enough and start with another set too soon, you may fatigue your muscles too quickly and risk injury. If you rest too long between reps, your muscles may begin cooling down and releasing tension before you start again” (Very Well Fit, 2024). Our trainers time rest periods for clients. We adjust the break as needed, depending on goals and intensity.

TYPES OF SETS: SUPERSETS

Supersets are perhaps the most popular training technique for our in-home and virtual personal trainers. A highly simple concept, it’s when you perform two exercises back-to-back with little to no rest in between. It’s a great way to save time, increase workout intensity, and keep the heart rate up.

Supersets can target the same muscle group to really fatigue it (as in a compound set, which we’ll get to shortly), or opposing muscle groups (like biceps and triceps) to allow one muscle to recover while the other works. They’re often used to boost muscular endurance, build strength more efficiently, or simply make workouts more dynamic.

TYPES OF SETS: COMPOUND SETS

A compound set is a type of superset where you perform two different exercises for the same muscle group back-to-back, without resting in between. This approach is designed to intensify the workload on a specific muscle, pushing it to fatigue and promoting greater growth and endurance. For example: doing a set of dumbbell shoulder presses immediately followed by lateral raises targets the shoulders from different angles, maximizing muscle engagement. Compound sets are especially useful for building definition and breaking through plateaus.

TYPES OF SETS: DROP SETS

A drop set is a technique where you perform an exercise until you reach muscle fatigue, then immediately reduce the weight and continue for more reps without resting. You can repeat this process multiple times, each time lowering the weight to extend the set and push your muscles beyond their usual limits.

Drop sets are a powerful way to increase muscular endurance and hypertrophy (muscle growth) because they keep your muscles under tension longer than traditional sets. They’re especially effective when you’re short on time but want to maximize your workout intensity. Drop sets can be done with dumbbells, machines, or even resistance bands, making them a great option for both gym, virtual, and in-home personal training sessions. Our trainers love using drop sets during our clients’ express workouts.

TYPES OF SETS: PYRAMID SETS

A pyramid set is a structured training method where the weight and reps change from one set to the next, usually in a progressive pattern. In an ascending pyramid, you start with lighter weight and higher reps, then gradually increase the weight while decreasing the reps with each set. “By kicking your strength-training workout off with lighter weights and progressively increasing the load during traditional pyramid sets, you’ll gradually warm up your muscles so they’re ready to tackle the heavier moves to come” (Shape, 2022).

A descending pyramid works the opposite way, starting heavy with low reps and decreasing the weight as the reps go up. Sometimes trainers even use a full pyramid, moving up and then back down again. This style is great for building both strength and endurance, as it warms up your muscles gradually and challenges them across a range of intensities.

FINAL WORDS

Regardless of your goals, understanding different types of training sets can completely shift the way your workouts feel. This isn’t about overcomplicating things, it’s about using the right tools at the right time to make your sessions more effective.

At Nielsen Fitness, we’ve helped clients swap out stale routines for smarter ones just by tweaking how their sets are structured. Next time you feel stuck in a rut or want to level up a familiar move, take a second to rethink your set style – or reach out to us and we’ll take the guess-work out of it for you. You’ll be surprised what a little strategy can do for your strength and stamina!