The Utility of Top Sets
Incorporating top sets into your training can not only be a way to keep yourself engaged with training, but also offer a ton of great benefits from an adaptation standpoint.
Definition
Top Set: The heaviest set you’ll perform on the day for an exercise. Can be used to get a gauge of your performance and promote specific skill acquisition through an exercise.
Benefits
Top sets can be used as a way to gauge your readiness on any given day. Due to fatigue our strength can fluctuate up or down, thus incorporating top sets into your training first thing can give you an idea of where your strength is at for the day.
Top sets are fun for the client. Powerlifting and lifting as a whole can be very repetitive. Having top sets as apart of your training gives the client something to look forward to.
Top sets give you an opportunity to practice handling heavier loads. Maintaining efficient technique under heavier loads is a skill that must be practiced often in order to become proficient.
Application
Top sets have their merits for both powerlifters and bodybuilders, so I like to incorporate them into a lot of my client’s programs. Strength isn’t directly correlated with muscle mass increases, but it can be used as an indicator. For example, if I have a bodybuilder and their main compound lift for their hamstrings is a RDL, I can program top sets for them and over time I can compare those top sets to see if we’re getting stronger. If performance is increasing then I know we’re doing enough volume to stimulate growth which will lead to increases in muscle mass over time.
Specifically for powerlifters I always like to have top sets on their main strength days. I do this in order to get an idea of where their strength is under the lowest amount of acute fatigue. I like to align this day usually on the day they will be competing to make peaking a bit easier.
Top sets can be RPE or percentage based too. A great way to teach an athlete how to gauge their own RPE is by incorporating top sets at a higher percentage of their 1RM then ask them to rate how that set felt on the RPE scale.
I often like to follow most of my top sets I program up with backdown volume work as one top set isn’t going to give you much training stimulus. The backdown work can be based off of the top set or based off your 1RM. If you’re new to RPE training then basing the backdowns off the top set might be something to shy away from until you get a better grasp on the system.
In closing top sets are one of the many tools in your programming tool box. They can be of benefit, but also can be of detriment if they aren’t taken for what they’re intended to be used for.
Do you incorporate top sets into your training? If you do how do you utilize them?
Let me know in the comments down below.
