Brian Alsruhe fits strength and conditioning into one giant set. Here's how to program that for the client who says they have no time.
Most clients want to get stronger and fitter but only have three or four sessions a week to give you. Alsruhe's giant-set method is a direct answer: stack a main lift with an antagonist, a core movement and a conditioning movement, rest once at the end, and the strength work becomes the cardio. This breakdown covers his approach in our own words, adds our honest take for a coaching roster, and shows how to template a giant-set session once and reuse it across every busy client.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
the short version
Alsruhe's video lays out his conjugate powerbuilding style built on giant sets: a main strength lift paired with an antagonist movement, a core exercise and a conditioning movement, run back-to-back with a short rest (about 90-120 seconds) after the whole group. That short rest is what turns strength work into conditioning, so one session builds strength, work capacity and cardio at once. The one thing a coach should do about it: stop treating strength and conditioning as separate workouts for time-poor clients, and template a giant-set session you can assign and re-slice across the roster.
Brian Alsruhe - BEST CURRENT TRAINING VIDEO! also ONLY CURRENT TRAINING VIDEO!
Source: Brian Alsruhe on YouTube - "BEST CURRENT TRAINING VIDEO! also ONLY CURRENT TRAINING VIDEO!". Watch on YouTube. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words; the video, title and channel belong to Brian Alsruhe, and nothing here implies his endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Brian Alsruhe, and why coaches watch
Brian Alsruhe is a competitive strongman and gym owner best known online for making conjugate-style strength training practical, and for popularising giant sets as a way to fold conditioning into heavy lifting. He built his following on free, no-nonsense programming - his Dark Horse and 4 Horsemen templates are widely used - aimed at lifters who want to be strong and conditioned without living in the gym. For coaches he sits in a useful niche: he is the go-to name when a client wants both strength and cardio but keeps saying they don't have time. That is exactly the lens this page is written for: not "should I copy his template," but "what does his giant-set method mean for how I program a busy roster."
What Alsruhe actually argues (our summary)
This is our summary of the ideas in the video, in our own words - not a transcript. Watch the original for his exact examples, exercises and cues.
- 1
The giant set is the unit of programming. Instead of a main lift followed by isolated accessories, he builds a group of movements you run back-to-back before resting - a main lift plus an antagonist, a core exercise and a conditioning movement.
- 2
Short rest is what makes it conditioning. Resting only after the whole group - on the order of 90-120 seconds - keeps the heart rate up, so the strength session itself becomes cardio rather than needing a separate conditioning block bolted on.
- 3
Antagonist pairing keeps the main lift productive. Slotting an opposing movement next to the main lift means one muscle group recovers while another works, so you keep density high without the main strength work collapsing.
- 4
The goal is strength, work capacity and conditioning together. This is a conjugate powerbuilding approach - he still cares about the big lifts, but he wants athleticism and conditioning built alongside them, not traded away for them.
- 5
Time efficiency is the practical payoff. Because the accessory, core and conditioning work happens inside the rest of the main lift, a full session fits into far less time - which is the entire appeal for anyone with a limited schedule.
Coachway's take
We think the giant set is one of the most underrated tools a coach has, precisely because it solves the objection you hear more than any other: "I don't have time." A giant set lets you deliver strength, core and conditioning inside the window a client would otherwise spend on the main lifts alone. For a general-population roster that wants to be stronger and fitter on three or four sessions a week, that is a genuinely elegant answer.
Where we'd add nuance for a coaching business: Alsruhe is a strongman programming for himself and an audience that seeks out intense training. Your roster isn't that. The short rest and relentless pace that make the method work are also what make it easy to prescribe badly - a client grinding an antagonist movement to failure between heavy squats will bury their technique and their recovery. So the honest default is to keep the main lift as real, well-recovered strength work and use the antagonist, core and conditioning slots to raise density, not to turn every session into a puke-fest.
The other coaching-specific point: a giant set only works if the client can actually run it. Four movements back-to-back demand equipment they can hold and space they can occupy - which is fine in a quiet gym and miserable in a packed one at 6pm. Part of prescribing this format well is choosing movements a specific client can set up and cycle through without losing the rest interval, and swapping them when their gym or their day won't allow it.
So our version of his advice is: reserve the heavy main lift for real strength work, build the antagonist, core and conditioning slots around it to make the session time-efficient, and keep the rest short only when conditioning is the goal for that block. Then - and this is the part that saves your evenings - build that giant-set session once as a template and reuse it, instead of hand-writing a new circuit for every busy client from scratch.
Build the giant set once, reuse it across every busy client
A giant-set session is only useful if you can deliver it without rebuilding a circuit for every client. That's what Coachway's workout builder is for: group the main lift, antagonist, core and conditioning movements into one block, pull each from a large exercise library, set per-set rep ranges and the rest interval after the group, then assign it to a client and tweak from there instead of starting blank. When a client's gym or schedule won't allow a movement, you swap that one slot in a couple of clicks rather than rewriting the session - and with client progress logging, clients record each giant set so you can actually see whether they're holding the pace and the loads.
If you want the strategy layer first, our primer on what supersets are covers the format a giant set extends, rest between sets explains the variable that turns strength work into conditioning, and our guide to programming for hybrid athletes shows where strength-plus-conditioning fits a real client.
Start your 14-day free trialGiant-set session template (strength + conditioning in one block)
A fill-in template you can copy for any time-poor client. Each session is built from the four-slot giant set - main lift, antagonist, core, conditioning - run back-to-back, then rest once after the group. The example below is a three-day week; swap the movements to suit the client's gym and level. Rest is kept short to hold the conditioning effect; the set and rep ranges are our coaching defaults, not figures from the video.
Giant-set session template
The four-slot giant set
| Slot | Role in the set | Default sets x reps | Your movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Main lift | Primary strength driver | 4-5 x 3-6 | — |
| 2. Antagonist | Opposing muscle - recovers slot 1 | 4-5 x 6-12 | — |
| 3. Core | Trunk / anti-rotation work | 4-5 x 8-15 | — |
| 4. Conditioning | Explosive / cardio finisher | 4-5 x 10-20 | — |
Run slots 1-4 back-to-back, then rest ~90-120s and repeat the group. That short rest after the group is the conditioning lever - lengthen it when the block's goal is strength or technique.
Example three-day week
| Day | Main lift | Antagonist | Core | Conditioning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Squat | Chin-up / row | Hanging leg raise | Kettlebell swing |
| Day 2 | Bench press | Romanian deadlift | Ab wheel | Sled push / bike sprint |
| Day 3 | Deadlift | Overhead press | Pallof press | Loaded carry |
How to use it: lock the main lift as real strength work first, then fill the antagonist, core and conditioning slots with movements the client can set up in their gym without breaking the rest window. Packed gym or limited kit? Swap the conditioning slot for something they can own - carries, bike, jump rope - rather than dropping it.
GIANT-SET SESSION TEMPLATE (via Coachway) - strength + conditioning in one block THE FOUR-SLOT GIANT SET (run 1-4 back-to-back, then rest ~90-120s and repeat) Slot Role Default sets x reps Your movement 1. Main lift Primary strength driver 4-5 x 3-6 2. Antagonist Opposing muscle - recovers slot 1 4-5 x 6-12 3. Core Trunk / anti-rotation work 4-5 x 8-15 4. Conditioning Explosive / cardio finisher 4-5 x 10-20 EXAMPLE THREE-DAY WEEK Day Main lift Antagonist Core Conditioning Day 1 Squat Chin-up / row Hanging leg raise Kettlebell swing Day 2 Bench press Romanian deadlift Ab wheel Sled push / bike sprint Day 3 Deadlift Overhead press Pallof press Loaded carry NOTE: Set/rep ranges are our coaching defaults, not from the video. Keep rest short (~90-120s after the group) when conditioning is the goal; lengthen it when the block's priority is strength or technique. Lock the main lift as real strength work; fill the other slots with movements the client can actually run in their gym without breaking the rest window.
Giant sets for clients - FAQ
What is a giant set, and how does Brian Alsruhe use it?
A giant set is three or more exercises performed back-to-back before you rest, and it's the backbone of Alsruhe's conjugate powerbuilding style. His signature structure pairs a main strength lift with an antagonist movement, a core exercise and a conditioning or explosive movement, then rests roughly 90-120 seconds after the whole group. The point isn't to make lifting harder for its own sake - it's to develop strength, work capacity and conditioning inside one session instead of bolting cardio on afterward. For a coach, the takeaway is that a giant set is a delivery format: the same weekly work fits into far less clock time.
Can you build strength and conditioning at the same time with giant sets?
That is the whole premise of Alsruhe's method, and his answer is yes - with a caveat. Stacking an antagonist, core and conditioning movement around a heavy main lift keeps the heart rate elevated across the session, so the strength work itself becomes conditioning. But the main lift still has to be programmed as real strength work with adequate loading and enough recovery inside the giant set, or you end up doing tired cardio with a barbell. The honest coaching read: giant sets are excellent for building work capacity and preserving strength on limited time, and they shine for general and hybrid clients rather than for a lifter chasing an absolute one-rep-max peak.
Who are giant sets a good fit for as a coaching client?
The best fit is the time-poor client who wants both strength and conditioning and can only give you three or four sessions a week. Giant sets compress a full session - strength, core and cardio - into the time most people would spend on the main lifts alone, which makes them a strong tool for busy general-population and hybrid clients. They are less appropriate for a rank beginner still learning the main lifts (the fatigue and pace hurt technique) or for a client peaking for a powerlifting meet who needs fresh, low-fatigue heavy singles. For most of a normal roster, though, the format solves the number-one objection you hear: I don't have time.
How much rest do you take between giant sets?
In Alsruhe's method the rest comes after the full group of movements rather than between each exercise, and he keeps it short - on the order of 90-120 seconds - to hold the conditioning effect. That short rest is the lever that turns a strength session into a conditioning session, so shortening or lengthening it changes what the workout trains. As a coach, treat rest as a programmable variable: keep it tight when the goal is work capacity and general fitness, and give a client more room between the main-lift portion when the priority for that block is strength or technique.
More training-science breakdowns
- · Nick Bare on hybrid-athlete programming - the other side of building strength and conditioning together.
- · Mark Rippetoe on novice linear progression - how to build the main lifts before you complicate the session.
- · The full roundup: fitness YouTubers coaches should study.
Keep dialing in programming
all guidesHow to program for hybrid athletes and runners as an online coach (2026)
Programming for hybrid athletes and runners means balancing strength and endurance in the same week without one stealing from the other. A concurrent-training framework for sequencing, the interference effect, and tracking it remotely.
Read the guideWhat Is Hybrid Training? Strength Plus Endurance
Hybrid training is the deliberate pursuit of strength and endurance together. The interference effect in plain words, a sample week, and who the approach fits.
Read the guidePersonal Trainer Programming: A Coach's Framework (2026)
Personal trainer programming is the deliberate arrangement of six variables - specificity, overload, volume, intensity, frequency and progression - into a plan that drives one chosen adaptation. The framework behind good program design, run for clients you coach remotely.
Read the guideFree tools for this: Strength Standards Calculator · DOTS Calculator · Plate Loading Calculator
Build the giant set once, reuse it across every client
A time-efficient session only pays off if you can deliver it without rebuilding a circuit per client. Coachway's workout builder lets you template your giant-set session, assign it in seconds, and swap a single slot when a client's gym or schedule changes - while they log every set so you can see the pace and loads are actually being hit. Start your 14-day free trial and program your first client roster from one screen.
