High Reps vs. Low Reps...

[SSAlexSS]

Re: can't

it violates basic physiology. there ain't no way to exaust all the motor unit pools in a given muscle with 1 set. This is not to say that 1 set to failure protocols suck.. they are just limited is all

I found one awesome set that if you do properly on a good machine, YOU GONNA FATIQUE YOURSELF that you will fall down after the set. And you are doing chest, mind you.


Use some good comfortable horizontal pec-wreck machine. Start at the highest weight you can. Do 2-3 repetitions. Then immeadetely let your partner drop the weight a bit. COntinue doing repetitions! WHen you fail. drop some more weight! Continue until you cannot squeeze another repetition using 10 freaking pounds (5 pounds per chest)! When I did this for the first time the pain was such that I felt down from the seagt in agony. Now do it and tell me if you exhausted your muscle! And you did exhaust you muscle because you can't move even tiny weight for even half an inch! You exhausted all
Slow twitch, fast twitch and all inbetween twirch muscles!

(When I figure out a good way to do this in other exercises I will occasionally do it).

 

[goahead]

Lets say that some individuals can get away with less sets due to superior neuromusculair pathways

 

[Edu]

Dorian yates makes only 1 set but he makes a lot of exercises, for example for back he makes something like 7 exercises.

 

[Jeremy21]

There is a marked difference between training to failure and exausting all of the available muscle fibers in a given muscle. There are a myriad of reasons why failure is reached and only a few have to do with muscle fiber exaustion.
We'll agree to disagree. Dorian MAY have gotten by on 1 set to failure (there is speculation as to what his actual training protocol was) BUT he did various different exercises per bodypart. If I do 10 different chest exercises 1 set each to failure, I wouldn't consider that the true meaning behind 1 set to failure.

take care,
jeremy

 

[The Dude]

Yates needs to be tossed out of the discussion since he is not a true "HIT" trainer. He did a lot of exercises per bodypart. And let's not forget the heavy warm-ups. Starts to look more and more like volume training when you get to the nuts and bolts of what he actually did. A hybrid of the two would probably be the most accurate description of his training.

 

[Tombstonealley]

The set you are refering to for exhaustion is what we call an extended set. There are many ways to extend a set as you all know (Rest Pause, Drop Set, etc, etc.), but in literal exercise terms these are not single sets.
Extended sets may (and I do mean may) fatigue all the available motor units of one aspect of a muscle group.
But the kind of one set protocols being researched in university setting definitely will not.
I have used one set protocols and I have been quite happy with the results-but I always see a better result when I vary the train styles and techniques frequently.