Switching from straight sets to paired exercices/sets

[rokkstar2009]

Hi there!

I've been doing my custom upper body workout for quite some time, but as it evolved with time (sets, rest times, number of exercices, etc), I feel like this workout is taking a bit too long for me now (around 1h45~).

I've read about pairing push/pull exercices and sets so I would like to try it with my workout but I'm not sure to really understand how to switch to it nicely.

This is my current "straight" Upper Body workout:

Exercice - Reps - Sets - Rest time:

• Warmup (4-5 minutes)
• Pull-Ups => 7/7/7 - 3 - 210s
• Arch Scapula Pull-Ups => 12/12/12 - 3 - 80s
• Chin-Ups => 6/6/6 - 3 - 120s
• Top of the Bar Pull-Up Hold => 16s/16s/16s - 3 - 90s
• Jackknife Pull-Ups => 7/7/7 - 3 - 90s
• Declined Inverted Rows (chair) => 9/9/9 - 3 - 90s
• Pike Push Ups => 9/9/9 - 3 - 120s
• Pseudo Planche Push Ups => 6/6/6 - 3 - 120s
• Decline Parallette Push Ups => 8/8/8 - 3 - 90s
• Chest Dips => 8/8/8 - 3 - 80s
• Push Ups => 10/10/10 - 3 - 80s
• Glute Bridge => 20s - 3 - 30s
• Biceps Curls => 10/10/10 - 3 - 60s
• Pecs Stretch => 20s - 2 - /
• Lats Stretch => 20s - 2 - /
• Shoulders Stretch => 30s - 1 - /
• Butchers Block Stretch => 30s - 1 - /
• Chest and Legs Folding => 90s - 1 - /
• Straddle Legs Stretch => 90s - 1 - /
• Butterfly Pose => 90s - 1- /

So you can see a first part about pulling exercices, and a second part about pushing exercices, finishing with some random stuff and stretches at the end. It takes around 1h45.

The potentiel "paired" Upper Body workout I'm working on:

Exercice - Reps - Sets - Rest time:

• Warmup (4-5 minutes)
• Pull-Ups => 7/7/7 - 3 - 90s
• Pike Push Ups => 9/9/9 - 3 - 90s
• Arch Scapula Pull-Ups => 12/12/12 - 3 - 75s
• Chin-Ups => 6/6/6 - 3 - 90s
• Pseudo Planche Push Ups => 6/6/6 - 3 - 90s
• Top of the Bar Pull-Up Hold => 16s/16s/16s - 3 - 60s
• Chest Dips => 8/8/8 - 3 - 60s
• Jackknife Pull-Ups => 7/7/7 - 3 - 60s
• Decline Parallette Push Ups => 8/8/8 - 3 - 60s
• Declined Inverted Rows (chair) => 9/9/9 - 3 - 60s
• Push Ups => 10/10/10 - 3 - 60s
• Glute Bridge => 20s - 3 - 30s
• Biceps Curls => 10/10/10 - 3 - 60s
• Pecs Stretch => 20s - 2 - /
• Lats Stretch => 20s - 2 - /
• Shoulders Stretch => 30s - 1 - /
• Butchers Block Stretch => 30s - 1 - /
• Chest and Legs Folding => 90s - 1 - /
• Straddle Legs Stretch => 90s - 1 - /
• Butterfly Pose => 90s - 1- /

Seems to be around 1h25. I think if I play with rest time, I could go to 1h20 which is quite nice.

But overall, I don't know if I understand well the pairing method and if I'm doing it as intended.

My two main questions are about:

• Rest times: How to handle rest times using this method? Example: If I do a Pull-Ups straight sets with 3 minutes 30 rest and Pike Push Ups straight sets with 2 minutes rest, what would it be if I pair them?
• Are the exercices I plan to pair fine or am I pairing it badly? Please let me know...

I hope everything is clear. Thank you very much for any feedback or answers on this.

 

[rukaria]

@rokkstar2009 So, that’s quite a lot of volume. Why not focus on fewer exercises?

 

[rokkstar2009]

@rukaria I'm doing this workout 2 times per week (usually monday / thursday, or tuesday / friday).

Indeed, reducing exercices could also be a solution to reduce time... but sadly I would feel like I'm not doing enough push or pull exercices if I start to remove some exercices... that's the "FOMO" effect I guess (fear of missing out).

I know it's stupid, but I feel like, all these pulling exercices (progressions) are nice to be better at Pull-Ups, that's why I incorporate them all.

For the push exercices, it's a bit the same, for me the classic push-ups and pike push-ups should always be there. But doing just them doesn't seem enough. Dips are basics too, that's why I would also include them. But I would also like to work on more "exotic" stuff, so I've included things like decline push-ups or pseudo planche push-ups.

This + this + this... yeah now it's a lot. But it feels good to me, balanced. My actual issue is more about the time... :/

I was thinking to remove the Biceps Curls at some point, or totally replace classic push-ups bydeclined push-ups for example, but then I would feel like it's an heresy to remove such classic and basic moves ahah

Maybe when I will be better at pulling, I could remove some of my current exercices too, yes (like, maybe the Jackknife Pull-Ups?). It's hard to balance it because I feel like all these exercices are important to me...

Sidenote: I also have a second version of this upper body where Pull-Ups are replaced by Negative Pull-Ups and Decline Parallette Push Ups by Diamond Push-Ups.

 

[cgdidymus]

@rokkstar2009 why on earth are you doing so many different exercises? Your just spreading yourself incredibly thin. So much of this is just useless junk volume. Theres literally no reason to be doing this much even if ur a pro & no pro trains like this so why are you doing all of this as a beginner???

Pick & narrow down your goals & sort your routine out. Or just do the rr.

As for your question, depends on what your training for. For strength, do ur push exercise, wait like 1.5/2.5m (half of the usual unpaired rest time for strength) then do ur pull & repeat (or vice versa). For hypertrophy just use less time or superset it.

 

[rokkstar2009]

@cgdidymus Thank you for this feedback. Indeed I need to sort it and cut some exercices. I will watch these 2 valuable videos, thank you

 

[cgdidymus]

@rokkstar2009

this video is also a good one on the topic. Sorry for being abit rude in my initial message but yea

 

[rokkstar2009]

@cgdidymus No problem at all, I think I needed this kind of feedback because I've been doing my thing in my corner and this highlights some issues

Thank you again!

 

[rokkstar2009]

@cgdidymus That was "eye-opening", thank you again. I already made some adjustments to my upper body workout (removed some exercices, adjusted sets, switched some exercices between the different upper body days, etc). I really didn't know much about this "max recommended volume per muscle group per week" (and per workout) and now it feels much better. And it also reduced workouts time

 

[cgdidymus]

@rokkstar2009 no problem man. im glad you found it helpful

 

[madbird]

@rokkstar2009 That's 18 sets for your back (not counting random isometric stuff) which is way too mich volume in one workout. Cut it down to 2-3 exercises per muscle and you will get more out of it. You can just do the cut exercises on the other upper body day so you will still do all of them.

Also don't get to hung up the rest times. If you aren't breathing hard and your muscles are recovered enough for the next high quality set get onto the next set.

 

[rokkstar2009]

@madbird You are right, there might be something wrong with my current volume... (also noted from another user).

I will spread the exercices between the 2 different upper body days so that I have less volume per workout. That will also reduce needed time to finish it. Thank you!

 

[rokkstar2009]

@madbird Ok so that's what I did, only 3 exercices for push, 4 for pulls, and switching exercices from a upper day to another one. It's better balanced I think

Thank you!

 

[madbird]

@rokkstar2009 I'd still consider that excessive volume, particularly for pulling, but as long as you are fine with it.