Do Ya'll have Anybody At Your Gym that Does Like 8 to 12 Sets of Bench?

[Benzi]

I do 12 sets, 3-incline,3-flat, 3-decline, and 3-wide(less weight for pump). I love it. It works for me.

you are overtraining your chest
sometimes less is more
keep your number of sets for large muscle groups such as chest under 9

 

[Blood&Iron]

Okay, so today at the gym I saw the guy I mentioned in my previous post. He was doing back so I asked him what his routine looked like. I knew he did high-volume but little was I prepared for what he told me. Here's his back-routine:

36 sets(!!!) lat-pulldown
15 sets seated row
15 sets seated row(on a different machine)
10 sets assisted pullups
11 sets rear-delt flyes

He admitted this level of volume probably won't work for most people but said that he had tried just about every approach imaginable and this was the only thing that had ever really worked for him. That's a bit hard for me to buy, but I can't argue with his physique. Personally, I feel somewhat overtrained just thinking about this routine. As a friend at my gym jokingly said of his volume "He makes Arnold look like a pussy."

 

[XAX]

crazy man...


Hmmm...not only does he do high sets, but also lacks exercises such as deadlift and DB/BB row

Makes me wonder if that is the reason why his previous rutines didn't work out...?!

 

[FitnessFrk]

Every one is different is this aspect. certain people body parts react differently to high vs low volume.

I know with me it takes forever for my chest to warm up. so when doing flat bb bench I may do 8-10 sets. sometimes at the end of a workout it's easier for me to knock of a final set of 405x8 then a warm up set of 225x 15.

 

[Guinness]

B&I,

Gotta be a genetic freak that guy....must be nice....I'd argue that he probably could get the same results with 1/4 the work, but if he's honestly saying that he's tried every approach and super high volume is the only thing that has worked for him, then I guess more power to him. God forbid that others use him as a role model, and start trying to keep up with the level of volume he does, because I'd say the vast majority would be grossly over training.

On another note going back to the original question, not sure how many sets this guy did the other day, but the Saturday after T-Giving, there was a guy at my gym that was on bench. Pretty big guy..not huge....had 225 loaded on the bar (more than I can do, and his physique is better than mine, so again, who the hell am I to critcize, at least at this point in time)....had the headphones working, and....get this, was reading the paper in between sets. I think I did my whole workout (I think I was doing upper arms that day..shoulders-bi-tri) and he was still on the bench....and the kicker was, I never actually saw him doing a set. I kept glancing over during my rest between sets, and all I ever saw him doing was reading the paper. He must have been resting like 5-10 minutes between sets....well, I wasn't about to wait around that long to try and watch him work. Luckily, it wasn't crowded that day...we only have 4 benches in our gym and he hogged one of them up for an entire hour..had it been crowded, I'm sure one of the diesel bro's would have jacked his ass through a window for monopolizing that bench so long, especially since he coulda done that much work in the friggin head or a library...

 

[Sebass67]

That's one of my pet peeves....You are sitting there waiting for some dude to finish and they are just chatting away. no regard to recovery time at all. People like that should get a little more educated about their programs or they are not going to get any results at all.

That is some mad volume....holy crap...36 sets!!!

WOW

 

[Island Son]

Just what does that accomplish. This dude has got big pecs but he really never does anything but bench maybe some curls and shoulders. But why do people do that many sets of bench?

welllll I've just started doing 7. 2 warmups, then 5x5. The weights are increasing but no big pecs. Yet.

 

[Blood&Iron]

crazy man...


Hmmm...not only does he do high sets, but also lacks exercises such as deadlift and DB/BB row

Makes me wonder if that is the reason why his previous rutines didn't work out...?!

Actually, the lack of deadlifts is, I think, due to the fact he had some major back problems--probably due to his lifting style, although he denies it. He actually had to have surgery. Not sure if he still has this problem, but for a while he said he actually couldn't feel his right leg. He showed me his right calf, and instead of the 2-inch thick slab of muscle he has on his other leg, it looked completed atrophied. This is also partly why he feels the need to so many warmups.

 

[Blood&Iron]

B&I,

Gotta be a genetic freak that guy....must be nice....I'd argue that he probably could get the same results with 1/4 the work, but if he's honestly saying that he's tried every approach and super high volume is the only thing that has worked for him, then I guess more power to him.

I'd agree. I think he has the best genetics of anyone I've ever met. Amazing calfs and chest. Great arms and good legs. And they all tie together in a very aesthetic manner. Frankly, he looks the way I would one day like to. There are a number of bigger guys at my gym, but none look half as good.

God forbid that others use him as a role model, and start trying to keep up with the level of volume he does, because I'd say the vast majority would be grossly over training.

As I mentioned there are a couple of little skinny guys I've seen who work in with him when he's lifting. It's hilarious.

 

[Grizzly]

Sometimes I do 8-12 sets of an exercise. Usually either bench, deads, squats, pull-ups or rows. I think high volume is good on occasion. Actually, I generally tend to do a rather high volume back workout. 6 sets deads, 6-8 rows, 10 sets pulls and then some other crap.