Admittedly I haven’t read the whole thread. I’ve read a good bit and a lot of it I’m having trouble tracking.
Also, I never mentioned high rep. I just wanted to know if I get my 4x10 set of C exercise, and there’s no way I could get a 5th set of 10, but could lower weight or get partial set… would it be worth it
I don’t know what “worth it” means.
Did you not stimulate growth with the four preceding sets???
That’s what I thought. There’s so much different information on the web and I was just curious about that. It’s hard now days to find what works, what’s good enough, and what’s too much. I’m guessing time spent in the gym and trial and error are the sure fire way to tell.
I’ve loved reading this whole thread. It’s great to hear the different opinions and passions.
So my take home message from this thread has been (I hope I’ve got this right) is that 1 set to complete failure is better than your 3 x 10.
There’s a certain programme called Guaranteed Muscle Mass that fits the bill of that methodology.
I think the whole point of the thread is to push yourself on your lifts and let that effort dictate how much you do vs. trying to presuppose the “perfect” amount of volume and then match your effort to that.
Probably what all of us would intuitively do if we’d never found the internet.
I remember a friend in college that could never run fast enough to do well on our various tests. He just kept running “more.” I went out with him a couple times and could tell him immediately he wasn’t working very hard. I ran probably 1/3 as much as him, but went hard. It made easy sense because we couldn’t analyze it from 600 angles.
Anyway, I’ve really enjoyed this discussion.
BTW guys, if I had to settle on a range for number of “growth sets” per week, it would be between 6-10. That’s per muscle in a given training week.
I think I said 8-12 earlier but the more I think about this, and the more I look at the research and talk to other advanced lifters, it’s probably 6-10, and yeah I think 8 might be the sweet spot.
Paul for additional clarity, when you say “group,” are you referring to major groups push/pull/legs or specific muscles i.e. quads, biceps, chest, etc.
Muscle groups, i.e. chest, delts, quads, hams, etc.
Does that line of thinking apply to all levels of lifters?
The answer to that is in this thread.
This thread is FULL of information and a huge pet peeve of mine is people glossing over tons of information, then asking questions.
Read the thread.
@Paul_Carter I’ve been reading through not all but most of the 450 posts in this thread.
I want to thank you, and all other participants in here. I’m going to go over my routine and slowly change it.
It’s hard to change it. BUT I will do it. Or at least try…
I was wondering have you worked with “old” people I’m 55 and I think I’m working hard (not really) and I’m not gaining any muscle. Last year I gained about 25 lbs of mostly fat, which I’ve cut away and is back to where I was.
With this I mean should I do something different? (if I was to answer it myself, I would say probably not, but you know your shit)
I’m lifting 4 times a week and I am using 531 for main lift I did BBB I’m ditching that and will do something a little different for muscle growth like rest pause, mTor, drop sets, forced reps, oh and your 350 sets love them and the 50% sets I like as well.
Hi Paul,
I am also going to adapt my training to reflect this information. I did a Back and Bi session today which I think adheres very well but was hoping if you could provide some feedback if you see any.
A) TBar Row 38 ramp then a 18-12 +50% set
B) Rack Chin 2 prep sets then a 1*AMAP + 2 rest pauses
C) DB Row 350 method
D) Circuit 3sets * 8-12. All to failure.
If anyone has feedback as to how this came better reflect the great info here I’m all ears!
What are your goals? And why did you chose those movements?
Today’s chest, shoulders, triceps -
Hammer Incline Press - 50% set x 1
Incline Side Laterals - 1 cluster set (5 sets of 4 reps, 10 seconds between each, then the 6th set was to total failure)
1 Arm Cable Crossover - 2 sets of 8 each arm
Supinated Rear Delt Row - 2 x 15 each arm
Press Behind the Neck - 1 x 8
Seated Db French Press - 1 x18
That’s it.
Hypertrophy is the number one goal for sure. I have a home gym and so I am limited in certain movements. Other than general barbell and dumbbell work I only have assistance exercises available via some bands (minus a sissy squat and 45 degree hyper I also own). I am looking to adding an actual lat pulldown/low row or functional trainer at some point to increase my options for low neurologically taxing movements.
Thanks Paul, I’m actually just reading the Maximum Muscle Bible you and Thib wrote but your feedback on here is extremely valuable as well. I think I can speak for everyone when I say we are fortunate and thankful for having you here. FYI, I made some of Chelsie’s protein bars from her recipe and they were great so please pass that along.
I started reading through my training logs after this thread has really made me re-think my training.
I’ve seen results (added mass) on an upper/ lower and bro split but I assume that’s mainly because I made sure I was in a calorie surplus and
I’ve always taken sets to failure (just not with any special techniques). So a lot of my 4 x8-12 ( using the same weight), so sets 1 I’d hit 12, set 2 was a hard 12, set 3 would be around 10 then set for was around 8. Then when hitting all 12a I increased weight. I’m sure many others have used this technique.
So that’s 3 sets to failure but none using beyond failure techniques. Is this the equivalent of doing one ‘balls out’ set with an additional technique.
I think I’m more confused the more I read on this thread.
I don’t understand how you’re confused. It doesn’t matter if those are equivalent to anything else.
Progress is all that matters. So if you were progressing in terms of loading and reps using that, then that’s fine.
The whole purpose of the thread is to get people to reevaluate their training so that it’s more productive.
I think I was just trying to over analyse everything I am doing to try and find the perfect training (which probably doesn’t exist as we are all different).
Thank you for taking the time to engage on this forum. I definitely think I’ve read too much information on the internet which has probably diluted down the truth of hard work and progression.
I’m looking forward to your hypertrophy book when it’s ready.
That quote right there is what I think almost every guy who is stuck, is doing.
Over analyzing every facet of training and trying to find what’s “perfect” rather than just working really hard, resting, and eating well.
Tnation was at it’s best back then. Then it swung over to the functional training side. I still don’t know what functional training is.