I may have asked this before but I want to ask again and go in more detail with what is the difference between three sets of Max reps and one set of rest pause with say 80% of your one rep max.
In both cases you are hitting failure three separate times. And recent Studies have shown that hitting failure three times is one of the main keys to muscle growth.
So if I did 185 for three sets of Max reps for 8, 7, 6 with 3 min rest between sets…
And compare that to doing 185 for one set of rest pause for 8,4,2 with 20 seconds rest between.
You may have asked this before? You asked this exact question literally within the last 24 hours to Paul Carter. He told you it would yield about the same results, and to pick one. The guy is really fuckin strong, he took the time to reply, I doubt he was bullshitting you.
I know I asked Paul. And I think I asked CT way back but wamt to go into more detail with it this time around. Flap if you don’t have an answer don’t reply to me
whichever you prefer. the second option produces more gains but needs to be prepped accordingly (ramping sets, full muscle activiatoin). straight (high rep) sets have been done since the beginning of time.
and they dont’ work for most naturals. lol. joking. sort of.
That is not 100% true. Not everybody needs to get activated. For example neurotype 3 get WORSE when they get activated… their CNS is always firing too fast (that’s why they are more anxious and overthinking) and that creates muscle tightness and underperformance. They need to DECREASE activation to perform better. Type 2B need “muscle contraction practice”, not neural activation before their work sets. 1A and 1B need activation, with 2A it depends on the structure of their workout.
I personally believe that a rest/pause set in the example you give might deliver slightly more gains BUT I strongly doubt that the difference would be significant or even noticeable.
Thank you for the answers. I just remember seeing the study you posted about 30% and 80% of 1rm for 3 sets to failure showed about equal growth.
And with my busy schedule I am looking for ways to have shorter workouts but still get results. That’s why I thought rest pause may have the same effect since you hit positive failure 3 times also, just with shorted rest.
The structure was only an example to illustrate a concept. If you want to use it, fine. Simply plug in good exercises for the muscles you want to train. Pretty simple. I can’t do everything for everybody.
