Competitive bodybuilders have been using pre-exhaust and other “advanced” bodybuilding techniques such as supersets and drop sets for years. Pre-exhaust techniques typically involve performing a single-joint exercise (such as the leg extension) prior to performing a related multi-joint movement (such as the squat or leg press). Supersets, drops sets may involve performing related or opposing exercises, one immediately after the other.
These training strategies are often performed in the belief that it will increase the overload placed on the working muscle (and therefore stimulate greater hypertrophy). Previously I reported that the pre-exhaust technique promotes fatigue that actually decreases muscle activation and performance during the all-important multi-joint exercise.
Just recently, Brazilian researchers utilized the dumbbell fly to pre-exhaust the chest muscles before barbell bench press and reported a decrease in muscle activation and performance.
The amount of overload used is the key stimuli that underlines all adaptations from resistance training. Any training technique that decreases the amount of overload on working muscle is short-circuiting your capacity to gain muscle mass. The research available suggests that pre-exhaust techniques reduce the overload placed on muscle, they do not increase it.
Max-OT detailed this concept long before the research bore out the reality.
Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 2010.
