Anyone who’s ever picked up a bodybuilding magazine has probably come across supersets, and you’ve probably included these in your routine now and again. Maybe you thought they’d be beneficial, maybe it was just to save some time, but most of us are familiar with the concept of performing two exercises back to back with no rest in between.

Tri-sets take this a step further, by grouping three exercises back to back.

Thinking of ramping it up a notch and going for four or more exercises? Well then you, my friend, have yourself a giant set.

The premise of a giant set is that you perform four or more exercises back to back, taking minimum rest between each. You can do all the exercises for one muscle group, have several exercises for a couple of body parts, or mix things up and perform a total-body giant set.

Weight training has an awesome metabolic effect. If you’ve spent any time reading about the iron game, you’ll know about the massive impact weight training has on EPOC (Excessive Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) – and how the damage caused to your muscle fibers by lifting weights raises metabolic rate and calorie burn to a greater degree than cardio training. Well, with giant sets, this effect is amplified further, as you’re combining the anaerobic element of weight training with the aerobic nature of cardio.

You’ll also burn more calories during your session than you would with a traditional weights workout involving straight sets and lengthy rest periods.

End result = faster fat loss.

As for muscle mass, giant sets not only increase your total training volume, but also raise your time under tension – a key factor in any program designed to build serious slabs of prime beef. Plus, if giant sets are a new addition to your training, this stimulus can be the catalyst for new growth.