Mr. America Doug Brignole’s Training, Part 9

Researcher Chris Beardsley contends that short rests between sets can blunt the central nervous system…

In other words, you can’t reach as many high-threshold motor units on the next set or sets after only a rest of 1 minute vs. 3 minutes…

Doug liked longer rests between sets for the same muscle. He would accomplish that and save time by supersetting opposing muscle groups, like chest and back.

For example, he would do a set of dumbbell decline presses, then go to cable lat pull-ins—back and forth for 3 rounds…

That can work well; however, the central nervous system is just that—central. You still negatively affect your CNS to a degree if you train a different muscle…

So even though Doug was resting each muscle two to three minutes between sets, he was still blunting his CNS by immediately training a different muscle.

Like me, Doug didn’t like sitting idle for multiple minutes between sets. His solution was opposing-muscle supersets; mine was short-rest slow-twitch exhaustion, or STX…

STX has you use 20 seconds between the first two “sets”—quotation marks, because I believe a 20-second rest/pause is extending the first set. It’s not really a second set.

Also that second phase is done in Speed style—1.5 seconds per rep. That faster-tempo brings in the fast-twitch fibers from the very first rep.

You usually follow the STX sequence with a set of a specific add-on exercise—stretch- or contracted-position move (see Old Man Young Muscle and OMYM2 for complete STX workouts)

STX provides exceptional mass stimulation by quickly taxing an array of muscle fibers. You completely train a target muscle in five minutes, which means your workouts are short—around 35 minutes…

That not only builds plenty of muscle and allows better recovery, but moderate-weight STX training can help you avoid joint pain and/or surgery later in life.…

If you’re worried that you need mega-heavy sets to build muscle, that’s not the case. The latest research shows that lighter poundages produce just as much hypertrophy as heavy weights IF you push very close to muscular failure…

And the short rests won’t compromise your gains…

A recent study showed 20 seconds between sets produced slightly greater mass gains than 2-to-3-minute rests. (Enes, et al. PMD: 34260860. 2021. For more, see page 36 in Old Man Young Muscle 2)

And even if longer rests with heavy weights produce a bit more mass, Is doubling or tripling your workout time as well as putting your joints in jeopardy worth it?

I’m not saying that training heavy with longer rests doesn’t work. I am saying that it’s not the most efficient, safest way to train for more muscle.

Doug never tried short-rest STX; he liked his opposing-muscle superset method. Which meant that his workouts were much longer than mine; however…

He did eventually go to only three sets per muscle. He liked descending reps and ascending weight: 30 reps, 20 reps, 12 reps. That at least made his workouts more joint friendly.

To sum up his philosophy, here is a quote from one of his email to me a few months before his death:

I believe twice per week is the ideal frequency, assuming each muscle is worked with the “ideal” intensity (which I believe is 3 sets performed at 95% maximum effort, regardless of whether it’s a 30 rep set, a 20 rep set, or a 12 rep set). More frequency would require a compromised intensity effort, per muscle, per workout….and that would not be better.

Next up: Is the ideal exercise all you need for optimal mass development?

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.