Are Burn Sets Good For You? - Iron and Grit Fitness

You bet your ass they are.

Sometimes you need a little extra something to tickle those muscles fibers and make them grow.

Burn sets help you do just that.

What is a Burn set?

Burn sets are extra sets performed after your main working sets of an exercise.

The burn sets are done until exhaustion. Meaning you do as many repetitions as you can until you cannot possibly do another rep no matter how hard you try.

It’s common for burn sets to be 15+ reps. Sometimes over 50 or 100 reps.

Why would anyone do burn sets?

Because they want to maximize muscle building potential. Burn sets force your muscles to grow bigger and stronger by taking them to the brink.

Nothing is left on the table, and burn sets milk your workout for all it’s worth.

How to Perform Burn sets

Grab a weight that is about 25-50% lighter than the weight used for your working sets. Then do as many reps as possible until you can’t anymore.

First, you’ll notice that you won’t be able to complete a full rep, then your range of motion will get smaller and smaller. Keep doing partial reps until you can even get half a rep anymore. Now your burn set is complete.

One or two burn sets per exercise should do the trick.

Keep strict form, you can cheat a little if you can do so safely.

You should be careful and train intelligently so you stay healthy. That’s number uno.

If you’re muscle is pumped and quiver and shake you’re on the right track.

How often can you do burn sets?

I would do them once every 2-4 weeks for each muscle group. You don’t need to do them all the time but they are great for shaking up your routine when your muscles stop responding to your normal workout.

Are burn sets necessary to grow? No.

But they sure do work, So give them a try.

Oh, and yeah, it’s gunna burn.

But it’s a good burn. Enjoy.