For those of you who train bi's and tri's on the same day, I got a tip off of Jeff Willets training journal that will help keep intensity high for both muscles.

I know when I train 2 body parts on the same day using Max-OT, I feel that the 2nd body part just doesn't get quite the same intensity as the 1st. Well I read that Jeff trains both bi's and tri's together. HUH?? What he does is a set of say barcurls (for example), rests, then does maybe a set of skull crushers. Keep in mind that he does not superset it. The same 2 to 3 minutes rest periods are kept between the 2 exercises. What this does is help train both muscles while keeping intensity levels rather close. Intensity has to diminish the longer you train, therefore, on your 1st set of curls you train at 100% intensity, on your 1st set of skulls maybe your intensity has dropped to 98% and so on.

If you train these muscles separatly, after a tough biceps workout of 5 sets, your intensity will not be 98%. More like 85%, so you start your tricep workout at 85% and not get as good a workout.

Makes sense to me.

This is similar to a training style known as auto-regulation.

The gist of auto-regulation is you pick out five exercises

Ex: Squats, Bench Press, Rows, Pull-up, Deadlift

Then, you say you are going to 8 reps per set (or 10 or 15), then pick a weight you can just do 8 for.

So, you do 8 squats, then you rest and move on to bench press, you do 8 there, rest, and move on. You simply repeat the workout over and over until you can't do 8 reps at that weight during a set. Then, you are done with that exercise for the day and drop it from the workout.

What ends up happening is that you rest 10+ minutes between sets of a particular exercise. So, instead of being able to only do 3x8, you may end up doing 6 sets of squats, 7 of bench press, 5 of rows, etc.

It's good for gaining strength.

I've worked out bi's and tri's on the same day for a few years now, and just this week I decided it was time for change. I should have realized exactly what you said. By the time I was done curling I wouldn't be at 100% instensity. My arms are one of my first focus points right now so I wish I'd done this sooner. Hopefully someone in the same position as me a week ago will pick up this info. Thanks, amigo. :)