Just read the "old school" workout, it doesn't seem like much..

[Fast Twitch Fiber]

The total number of sets per body part seems low. Can you really grow pecs from 5 sets a week of bench presses? Help me out. Am I missing something in my workouts? I normally train chest for 12-15 sets once a week. Am I doing too much?

 

[slobberknocker]

LOL

I grow from 1-2 sets/week of bench.

 

[louden_swain]

I only use 1 exercise per muscle group and 1 set per exercise. . .lol.

Growing is not caused from training. . .its what you do outside the gym.

 

[revexrevex]

2 sets a week here as well

 

[PolishHammer1977]

The only way for you to find out if you are doing too much is to cut down on the volume. Trial and error will bring you the results you desire.

 

[Fast Twitch Fiber]

Are you guys bullshitting me? I've been training for 15 years doing a lot of sets to failure. Maybe I need to cut back because I just don't fucking grow! I always thought it was because of bad genetics.

 

[bigguns15]

You've been doing the same thing for 15 years??

 

[louden_swain]

Are you guys bullshitting me? I've been training for 15 years doing a lot of sets to failure. Maybe I need to cut back because I just don't fucking grow! I always thought it was because of bad genetics.

High sets = stagnate gains

Intensity is good, but use low volume when you do it.

 

[revexrevex]

good post guldukat

 

[guldukat]

Are you guys bullshitting me? I've been training for 15 years doing a lot of sets to failure. Maybe I need to cut back because I just don't fucking grow! I always thought it was because of bad genetics.

Bro,

They ain't shitting you

Slobberknocker is an absolute MONSTER. He recently did 3 reps with 600 in squats--reportedly without as much trouble as he expected!

Louden is also a very strong guy. I remember a lot of his numbers rather well from the DC thread (which reminds me, I need to go back to it and thank Dogg again...I'm gonna try to get him knighted, sainted, or something; he deserves it, IMO).

How about:

355x8-10 for stiff-legged deadlifts
140x8+ reps of barbell curls
65's for seated DB curls
290x8 (?) for incline presses
315x8 for barbell rows
410+ for squats (?)

etc., etc.

I also do only one set per bodypart, per workout--occassionally two for quads, with one heavy set of 4-8 reps followed by a death set of 15-30. It works well for me, too, though it's difficult to relate some of the things I'm doing into barbell poundages (e.g., Hammer Strength equipment...but four wheels/side on the Hammer Iso-Incline is generally good, right? I'm getting close).

Think of the low set count this way:

Say you've got a nagging pain and need to take a pain killer.

Do you take 1,000 mg all at once, or do you spread the doses out, maybe 300 mg three times during the day?

You want to do the latter. It's better for relief.

Lifting is sort of like this. While you might grow a LITTLE more from 3 sets to failure (or 6, or whatever) in a single workout, it will take longer for your CNS to recover from that bout.

So, you might need a week to gear up for another workout of that magnitude.

If you'd only done 1-2 very hard sets, however, you'll be ready again in a much shorter time. You can go in and "dose" yourself that much sooner.

It winds up as something like this:

Scenario A, multi-set--stimulated 100 units of growth/wk.

Scenario B, few sets--stimulated 55 units of growth TWO times/wk.

In the long run, it's best to train each bodypart as frequently as possible. With many non-periodized, high set protocols, you can't train nearly as frequently as you could if you lowered the sets. And while you are growing a little more from the greater no. of sets, perhaps, it's imperative to think of gains over time, not just on a per-workout basis.

It works, trust me.