The “Century Set”
The Century Set is exactly what it sounds like…
100 repetitions of a single exercise!
Sound insane? It is, and it’s a great way to warm up to get a ton of blood flow to the muscle(s) you are training that day, as well as a great way to do a “burn-out set” at the end of a workout to complete exhaust a set of muscles.
It works like this…
Pick up a weight that you think you can do about 20-30 times for a particular lift - let’s say, you pick up two 10lb dumbbells to do a century set of shoulder press.
Do as many reps as possible - for the shoulder press, say you did 24 reps.
Rest for as little time as possible*, and perform as many reps as you can again - perhaps you do 18 more for a total of 42 reps.
Continue performing maximum reps with brief 1-5 second rests until you reach 100 total.
*This type of rest is also called “rest-pause” where you only stop long enough to recover a little to keep going.
You can do the same with a century set on a machine, which is good because you are less likely to drop the weights on your head.
Pick a weight on a machine like the leg curl that you think you can do about 20-30 reps.
Perform as many reps as possible (to failure).
Rest for 1-5 seconds.
Repeat to failure.
Rest.
Stop at 100 total reps.
Half-century sets work just like century sets - except for 50 reps.
(50 = half of 100)
Why do century and half-century sets?
Because especially taxes the anabolic energy system leading to higher metabolic stress on the muscles. In other words, it makes you push through the burn of lactic acid building up in the muscle so that when you are in a game, you won’t stop and be able to outlast your opponents.
While there are plenty of reasons that these sets help build muscle size and endurance, the greatest benefit of adding century sets to your workouts is in the mind where you learn to push beyond what you think were your limits. You thought you could only shoulder press 20lbs 20 times? Well, you just did it 100 times. Next time you pick that weight, see if you can get to 100 reps in fewer sets. That, my friends, shows true adaptation and strength gains.
Your 1 rep max is great, but your century sets show you your mental toughness and translate to your athletic, on-court performance better when you consider how many times you have to give maximal effort in a game with little to no break.
Find out more on the Century Set with these resources:
