Most Personal Trainers will admit one of the most challenging parts of their job is writing an exercise prescription that will elicit the desired results in a reasonable period of time. Many trainers and clients become frustrated with the time, money, and effort devoted to reaching premeditated goals only to come up short. There are more reasons why a person may be unsuccessful at attaining fitness results than there are reasons why they would be expected to succeed; which explains most outcomes. Identifying the pitfalls before they occur is an intelligent way to avoid them. Compare hiking in the dark to hiking in the light, it is much easier to avoid problems when you can see what’s coming at you.

Walking blind can be synonymous with ignorance, a major contributor to unsuccessful goal attainment. The wide variety of needs identified from person to person by thorough screening and evaluation protocols would indicate many different methods of training be used to correct deficiencies, increase functional performance, enhance cardiorespiratory function, improve range of motion, and burn calories. But for some reason most exercise prescriptions are written using the “three sets of ten” training schematic. There are so many reasons why this approach is not likely to succeed for most clients engaging in physical activity for weight loss, muscle tone and the reduction of health risk factors (the 3 most commonly requested outcomes from physical training).

An exercise prescription is like a recipe. The end result is specific to what goes into to the mix. Ingredients, freshness, cooking method, temperature, and duration will all affect the outcome. So when exercise prescriptions are written the concept is the same. Three sets of ten repetitions can have many outcomes if implemented differently but when implemented the same way the outcome is the same. The reason most people fail with this strategy is they use the ingredients without the right recipe.

The premise behind three sets of ten stems from body building (hypertrophy) methodology. But there are some inherent flaws when applied to personal training. First, how many personal training clients are body builders. Secondly, how many train most days of the week using high volume, short rest periods (30-90 seconds), and moderately high resistance (70-85% 1RM). In fact, most people who use this method of training for hypertrophic response do not follow the recipe closely and therefore do not reap the benefits they desire. Most fail by using rest periods that are too long and weight that is too light. Routine moderately high intensity anaerobic training with controlled, short rest periods significantly increases anabolic hormone concentration, whereas moderate intensity anaerobic training with longer rest periods does not.

So what if the recipe is changed using the same ingredients? Can three sets of ten be used to effectively help a person lose weight and improve their health and muscle tone? It is very possible but the application of the stress must match the desired outcome. This is where the principle of specificity comes in to play. Changing the specific variables will change the environmental stress, consequently affecting the internal condition. Essentially the physiological disruption (stress) must create the adaptation occurrence that it is suppose to cause. The stress should be applied at a level that is not (physiologically) perceived to be too high or too low for change to take place.

Addressing each issue by identifying what causes the goal to be achieved is probably the best approach. Once the individual components have been isolated, their respective adaptation mechanisms identified, and their outcome resolved, the collective group can be placed into a matrix in an attempt to elicit multiple-simultaneous results.

Since the weight loss-muscle tone-health improvement scenario has been discussed it can be used as a case in point. Again, isolating the individual parts and analyzing the best direction to reach the desired outcome is the first step.

Goal: Weight Loss

Cause: Negative caloric balance

Key factor: Burn calories

Caloric expenditure is based on how much oxygen is used (1 Liter of O₂ ≈5 kcal). Therefore activities must emphasize a continuous movement philosophy. Due to the traditionally long rest periods and a relatively low amount of total work performed, only a small quantity of calories is expended. Based on this information it would stand to reason reducing the rest periods and increasing the total work would have the opposite effect. Performing supersets of two or three exercises with only transitional rest between each, followed by less than a minute of rest, before re-performing the superset will dramatically increase the total number of exercises and repetitions that can be accomplished in a single exercise bout. The more work accomplished, the more calories burned leading to an increased impact on weight reduction.

Goal: Muscle tone

Cause: Sarcoplasmic leakage of calcium

Key factor: Routine cell stimulation producing constant tension applied for extended periods of time.

Some level of muscle tone is inherent to the human body. It keeps the abdomen from bulging, the head upright and the maintenance of erect posture. Increasing muscle tone to the extent that the muscle has a visible mild contractility requires the application of repeated stress and enough stimulation to increase the percentage of motor units contracting out of phase. Resistance training that is performed to volitional failure with double digit repetition ranges is considered to be the primary mechanism to increase motor unit stimulation from neural impulses causing incomplete summation. This suggests that the three sets of ten can still be used, but that the resistance will need to be near maximal. Approximately 75% of 1RM is equivalent to a ten repetition maximum. In this case the intensity to repetition ratio is the key component.

Goal: Health improvement

Cause: Muscle balance and functional ROM

Key factor: Multidirectional resisted movement through full ranges of movement.

Three sets of ten can be applied to the functional continuum as well. Due to the fact that muscle imbalances and range of motion deficiencies are a significant impetus to functional decline it is important for the maintenance of good health to address these issues. Using the three sets of ten applied to multiplanar environments and variables that stress the different joint movements can enhance the function of the articulation. Rather than employing linear and stable exercises, the program components should consider agonist and antagonist relationship and actions that require all the joints of the body to move through full ranges of motion.

Once the individual components and the stressors that elicit the adaptation response have been identified the program matrix can be developed. In the case of the three sets of ten for weight loss, muscle tone, and health improvement the exercise sequence can be done rather easily. Sticking to the principles of adaptation, exercise selection and order, a simple exercise program will develop. Here is an example using a three exercise superset performed three times through before moving to the next group. The sets use 10 repetitions of each exercise (resistance ≈75%1RM) with transitional rest between exercises and one minute rest between supersets:

Superset 1-3	Superset 4-6
1. Front squat to single arm press	4. RDL to slow high pull
2. Modified Pull ups	5. Lunge to bilateral cable
3. Single arm alternating press on ball	6. Hip extension w/pullover
one minute rest between supersets	one minute rest between supersets

Superset 7-9	Superset 10-12
7. Lateral lunge w/rotation	10. Leg curl on ball
8. Low/High reach w/single leg extension	11. Reverse grip pull down
9. Box step to MB press	12. Cable triceps kickback
one minute rest between supersets

Thirty-six sets (360 reps) with a total of 12 minutes rest equates to a much greater caloric expenditure than a traditional program that uses three sets of ten with arbitrary rest and seven exercises (give or take). The exercise selection encourages functional performance improvements while the order allows for a control of local muscle fatigue. The sets and repetitions can obviously be manipulated to better meet the individual criteria and other training systems can be added, but for the purpose of making the point of the article the three sets of ten in supersets certainly applies. This same concept can be re-manipulated to focus on other goals such as hypertrophy, strength, and endurance. Although three sets of ten programming can elicit results when applied correctly it is a very antiquated model. Trainers today should be utilizing all the tools afforded to them to best meet the needs of their individual clientele. It is not uncommon for multiple training systems to be employed in the same exercise bout depending on the intended outcome. If you find your training programs uses the “three sets of ten” model you may want to rethink your exercise prescription.