Full, Fast, Extended Method

This 5-day, full-body routine turns the intensity up a notch with a new version of extended sets.

Written By Jim Stoppani, PhD

Updated March 2, 2022

Building muscle and burning body fat requires high intensity in the gym. And two great ways to boost intensity in your workouts are (1) minimizing rest time, and (2) taking sets not just to muscle failure, but past it.

Hence, the next featured technique in my full-body #TrainWithJim series is the extended set. It is what it sounds like: a method for taking a muscle to failure – and beyond – for gains in both size and leanness.

If you have experience with other programs of mine here on JimStoppani.com, you’ve probably done extended sets before. But this time will be a bit different. Here, you’ll be doing nothing but extended sets for every muscle group for five days straight.

We’re talking about full-body, full-blown extended sets for maximal results in size, fat loss, and even strength. Get ready to extend yourself!

Technique Tutorial

Extended Sets are essentially a specific type of superset, or compound set. (Technically speaking, supersets train opposing muscle groups, while compound sets hit the same bodypart.) You do an exercise to failure, then immediately switch to a different version of that movement that allows you to complete more reps using the same weight. In other words, you start with a particular exercise, then switch to an easier version – one where you’re in a more biomechanically advantageous position – to keep the set going.

Because the second exercise is significantly easier than the first, you won’t need to rest between the two (like you would when doing rest-pauses) or decrease the weight (like you would when doing drop sets).

For example, rope triceps extensions are more difficult than standard triceps pressdowns done with a bar attachment and overhand grip. This is due to the biomechanical advantage you gain from being able to push the bar down with assistance from the shoulders and chest, which are mostly removed from assisting in the rope version. Therefore, one way to “extend the set” on rope pressdowns is to do a set to muscle failure, then immediately switch to a straight bar attachment and continue doing reps until failure using the same weight. Although it’s technically two different exercises, you’ve extended the work that the triceps must do.

In some cases, you may switch to a completely different exercise for the muscle group. But even then, the second exercise is done with the same exact weight and equipment as the first exercise. An example of this would be doing a set of dumbbell lateral raises to failure, then immediately switching to an upright row using the same dumbbells and going to failure again.

Program Rundown

In my Full, Fast, Extended program, you’ll be doing two exercises each for 10 different muscle groups – chest, back, legs, shoulders, traps, triceps, biceps, forearms, calves and abs – per workout.

For each exercise pairing, pick a weight that allows you to complete 12-15 reps on the first move. Take that set to muscle failure, then immediately switch to the second exercise (without changing the weight) and do as many reps as you can until hitting failure again.

Rest no more than 60 seconds and repeat – that’s two extended sets per muscle group. Feel free to repeat the process again for a third extended set, but since my program calls for training all muscle groups on five consecutive days, I’m going to stop at two extended sets per bodypart per workout.

I’ll be posting my personal Full, Fast, Extended workouts on my Facebook and Instagram pages for five straight day as part of the ongoing “Train with Jim” series, and these workouts are also posted below. You don’t have to do the exact same exercises I’m doing; those are just a guide. Plug in whatever moves you want that are comparable to mine and you’ll get the same effect.

Full, Fast, Extended Workouts

Workout 1

Workout 2

Workout 3

Workout 4

Workout 5

Download All Workouts Here

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