Today was the final day of a triple split routine I’ve been following for the past month. 👉 Take advantage of the COVID-19 shutdown. It was a taper workout focusing on the chest, back, and shoulders.

I’ll walk you through what I did—but pay special attention to the warm-up.

The workout was structured around three pairs of antagonist (opposite) movement patterns. Normally, each pair would be trained in its own session. But with a reduced number of work sets, I was able to combine everything into one.

Fewer work sets doesn’t mean fewer warm-up sets. In fact, it’s the opposite.

Although the total number of work sets was cut in half, intensity (load) remained high. That meant a greater number of warm-up sets—especially at the start of the workout.
👉 Check out A Better Way To Deload for more on this smarter way to taper.

Here’s what the session looked like:

A1. Incline Dumbbell Press

A2. Wide-Grip Pull-Up

B1. Machine Chest Press

B2. One-Arm Low-Pulley Supinating Row

C1. Standing Cable Crossover

C2. Bent-Over Dumbbell Lateral Raise

You’ll notice no more than five reps per warm-up set. More than that would be counterproductive. You can learn why in my book, The Warm-Up: Modern Methods for Strength Training.

Triple split training was fantastic—it let me train more frequently with short, intense sessions, and I gained a few pounds in the process. Now it’s time to get lean and mean for the summer. And yes, I’ll make sure to taper properly again at the end of those routines!