One set to failure works

[coolcolj]

The fact that people burn out on it shows how effective it is!

Once it stops working then you would take 2-3 weeks off to detrain your body a bit and then get back into. The body would have softened up a bit and then you begin a fresh. That's my theory anyway. I'm gonna see if it works out for myself

 

[b fold the truth]

Would you mind posting exactly what you plan to do with your workout...sets, reps, exercises. I'd like to see it so that I can better understand it.

B True

 

[coolcolj]

Here's my low volume workout that I'm doing now

all concetric movements are done explosively and the negatives on a 3-4 count. All to failure where possible

general warmup

2x6 Jump Hang snatches - light bar
2x6 Jump Hang Snatches with Olympic bar

3 standing vertical jumps
straight after the jumps, Back Squat 1x8

3 standing long jumps
straight after the jumps, Front squat 1x8 (olympic grip)

Single leg standing leg curl 1x8

Toe calf jump - bodyweight x10
(using only your calves to jump into the air and going back straight up upon landing with minimal delay)

Toe calf jump - with dumbells x 10 - to build fast twitch fibres in my calves

Standing calf raise - 1x10 (not to failure, I hold thr top position for a 2-3 count)

toe ups - opposite of calf raise to build the shin muscles
2x15 (just using bodyweight for now and not to failure)

Dumbell incline with flye grip 1x10
Incline Flye 1x10

Single arm dumbell row on Bench 1x10
Chin 10 reps

Single arm dumbell shoulder press 1x10
Lying side laterals 1x10
Lying rear laterals 1x10
Lying L-laterals for external rotary cuffs 2x15 ( not to failure)

Dumbell curl 1x10
Incline dumbell curl 1x10

Dumbell standing tricep extension 1x10
Singel arm tricep pressdowns 1x10

Abs full range crunch 3 sets to 15 reps, with arms behind head, then no arms and then with weights.


That's it

Bare in mind this is a guide, reps are max, I will sometimes go as low as 5 when my poundages go up and then I work up to 10. If I hit 10 I will not do anymore, so in that case I don't go to failure in that exercise, and I will increase the poundage the next workout.
Some exercises such as snatches and abs are not done to failure for obvious reasons.

I'm still testing things out, but That's my current workout I'm using now. It is geared more for my athletic goals rather than straight out bodybuilding, but I do want a bit of size to go with it.

 

[coolcolj]

also the reason why I do the jumps before the squats is that it fires up my CNS, and gives me a reference point to lift as explosively as my jumps. It does improve my squating frame of mind for better transfer to jumping

Oh yeah I also do several bodyweight squat warmups and one 50% squat workout weight warmup set of 6 reps
I don't do a lot of warmup sets like most people. I tire very easily so I keep em brief and low in reps. I guess its probbaly because I have a larger ratio of fast twitch muscle fibres as in fast, because I'm not that strong

 

[Doktor Bollix]

The routine I got the best results from with this one set to failure business was modified from Mentzer's heavy duty 1 I think. The book he later recanted on and said was all wrong. This is a bodybuilding routine (obviously):

MONDAY

Leg extensions (1x15) supersetted with
Back squats (1x 20)

Leg Curls (1 x 15) supersetted with
Stiff legged Dead lift (1 x 20)

Seated calf raise (1 x 15)

Standing calf raise (1 x 15)

THURSDAY

Incline press (1 x 8)

Flyes (1 x 10) supersetted with
Bodyweight dips to failure

Dumbell pullovers (1 x 10) supersetted with
Bodyweight chins to failure

Deadlifts (1 x 12)

Straightbar curl (1 x 8)

There's a lot of pre-exhaustion stuff in there. I think you were supposed to alternate the deads with shrugs but I didn't bother. All sets are to failure, that doesn't mean that you stop when you can't move the bar any more, you strain at that bar for another 15 seconds as if your life depends on it. You move exercise to exercise quickly to keep the heart rate up. Each day takes 20 mins to a half hour.

Please note I don't train this way anymore as I said in my post above and don't recommend it, but i guess it's good if you like to experiment and don't stick with it for more than a couple of months. I did get good mass gains and my back did get pretty thick from doing deads last I'll give it that.

 

[coolcolj]

Ahh yeah that's more heavy duty stuff, My concept of failure is basicly concentric rep failure and not to total failure. Once you can't compelte a full concentric movement then you stop the set.

I can see why you would get burned out using that routine
And yeah that would results in better size than strength.

When I originally did my 1 set to failure routine at 19 it was taken from the book "Massive Muscles in 10 weeks"
Basicly you would do the 1 set to failure in a super slow fashion for 10 or so exercise and then after a few weeks, each week would be a superset specialistion for each bodypart in turn. And boy did these work! After each workout where a particular bodypart was specialised on, that bodypart's strength would shootup and size would just pile on after each workout! Not to mention soreness

this is the before and afters of the dude in the book - well teh 2nd book after Massive muscles in 10 weeks. In 4 weeks he gained 19 lbs! 173 to 192 with no fat increase.


this is the before and afters of the dude in the book

I later continued the workout without the superset stuff, just the plain jane super slow 1 set for 10 exercise 3 times a week and it worked well. Gained strength at every workout. Poundages went up every week.

 

[Doktor Bollix]

CoolCol, if your not going to absolute failure I don't see the benefit of using a one set protocol (if indeed there is a benefit); that's the whole point of one set to failure, if you feel you can do another set on that exercise you weren't trying hard. That's what Dorian said in the book if memory serves, if he didn't really nail it in a set he'd do another one, pissed Mike Mentzer off no end.
For an athlete especially, you need to tune up the synapses with higher volume with sub failure sets. As for super-slow don't even go there, for a basketball player! slow is what it'll make you!

 

[coolcolj]

It works that's all I can say!

I just push for one extra rep over what I did the previous workout and then milk the last negative. The last rep is a struggle, but it never fails to go up by one every workout. WHen I hit 10 reps I add 5% to the poundage aand that drops my reps back down to 7-8 and then I work back up. Week after Week, the weights go up like clockwork. It amkes me super keen to hit the gym every week.

It doesn't seem like it should work, but it does for me. And I'm still exhausted aafter my workout. I couldn't imagine doing more than one set.

 

[Doktor Bollix]

One more thing, I can't get enough of those before and after pictures, it was funny to see one from pre photoshop days. Everything got bigger except for his neck, which shrank! LMAO!

 

[coolcolj]

Well it is my belief that only olympic lifts have any transfer to my athletic goals. Since they are basicly a vertical jump with a barbell. Every other exercise I do is for strength - because no matter how fast I do my exercises they will never approach the speeds of my athletic movements. Most sports movements happen in 0.2 second. There are no weght exercises apart from jump squats and OL lifts that come within a third of that speed.
And if you lift explosively you have to slow down at the end of the movement, doesn't that teach one to slow down as well?
Food for thought

So its better when you think about it to do them in a controlled fashion to load the muscles and not the joints and risk injury.

I am training explosively at the moment and my joints and cuffs are taking a pounding, I think I'll go back to slower movements. The Olympic lifts and jumps exercises can be done fast safely, nothing else can IMO.