INTERRUPTED SETS
for Uninterrupted Muscle Growth
By Fabio Zonin, StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor
If you have ever watched an old school power bodybuilder closely, at some point you might have
witnessed a technique called “rest-pause.”
There are plenty of variations of R/P, but basically it is about performing a set to failure, resting a few
seconds, then doing more reps until failure is reached again. Oftentimes this procedure is done 2-3
times in a row, until the athlete can’t complete even a single rep.
While this technique is indeed effective for inducing muscle hypertrophy, it presents several downsides.
First, there is no way you can maintain a perfect technique while you are pushing yourself to failure,
especially several times in a row. Sooner or later bad things may happen.
Second, even if you are a “no pain, no gain” type of person, while you may enjoy the “burn” during your
set and the “pump” right after it, you may not want to be sore and unable to carry on your daily
activities for several days after each training session.
Finally, you are constantly exposing your body to an acid bath, which is not healthy in the medium to
long term.
However, there is a variation of the rest-pause technique that delivers great results without any
unhealthy compromise and complies with StrongFirst’s principles and training guidelines.
This method is called the Interrupted Set (IS) and it was introduced a few decades ago by Dr. Filippo
Massaroni, a former Italian bodybuilder and strongman. He won the Mr. Universe title back in 1981, has
degrees in Biology and Sports Sciences, and was a Motor Sciences teacher at the University of Tor
Vergata, in Rome, Italy.
Here is how Dr. Massaroni’s technique works.
INTERRUPTED SETS
1. Select a weight that allows you to complete 8-10 perfect reps (8-10RM).
2. Do 5 reps.
3. Rest for 30sec.
4. Repeat #2 and #3 until you can no longer complete 5 reps.
5. Rest no less than 3min before doing another set.
© MMXXII StrongFirst, Inc.
