Fewer sets?

[Nathan]

I'm concerned I might be doing too many sets, even though I get stronger by about one rep in most exercises each week, and am wondering should I do fewer sets (I do about 20 each workout working back/bi's, chest/tri's, off, shoulders/traps, legs/calves, off, repeat) even though I don't get DOMS the next day if I do? What do you guys think?

 

[GenetiKing]

No, I doubt it. I've trained with slightly higher volume than that and still made good gains.

Are you looking switch something up? It doesn't sound like you've hit a plateau.

 

[bignate73]

i do maybe....MAYBE 12 sets for a big bodypart. back, chest. maybe 6 for small, shoulders, bis tris. this is if im doing alot. if you are preexhausting your bis, it would seem you need a basic exercise at the end of your back workout and thats it. so maybe 3 sets of str bar curls that are heavy but controlled. that should do it. same for chest, hit up your chest workout and then bang out 2 sets of pressdowns and 2 sets of skull crushers and your done. if you know your working weights it cuts alot down on your "experimenting" a few times with warmup sets. youre warm, grab the working weight, hit it! thats it.

legs are a different story. i do maybe 8-12 sets for quads, 6-8 sets for hams, 6 sets for calves. done.

 

[keiko]

Where have you been? What's up with your diet? Nathan--I'd been worried!

Anyway, I agree--if you're still making strength gains, don't change yet. But, do you sleep? Are you exhausted? Are your hands shaking?

 

[tommyNZ]

No disrespect, but ya gotta be brain dead to do more than a few sets per body part per workout.

Its a question of returns for energy expanded...if you can't get results with 2-3 sets then you ain't training at the right intensity or/and frequency.

In fact if your really clever(?) you can do ONE set per body part BUT get your frequency right first.

 

[goahead]

indeed a calculation of returns for energy expanded, however a lot of people can not get adequate returns from a few sets as they do not have favourable muscle type and/or ATP regeneration etc...

They HAVE to do more sets do create overall intensity.

This is however a catch 22 situation as you are more prone to cortisol etc...

These people should be very religous about recovery/replenishment/sleep etc... and double split their routine to train 2 sessions a day (if possible), one muscle groep per session in order to keep trainingsessions below 1:30 a session

 

[arabianphoenix]

IMO the best way to train is doing as less as it's possible.
If you're getting results with yoir actual training why do u wanna do more sets.

Moreover when u'll get to a plateau, I think the best thing to do is to decrease the # of sets per body part and to increase the intensity yet as the rest, between your work outs

 

[Nathan]

Thanks guys. Hey Keiko. Exams lasted for like a month, which was I assure you less than fun, and then I took a vacation. I try to get at least 9hrs of sleep a night.
It sounds liek so long as the strength is going up then there's no need to change anything. But, I was just wondering really if doing fewer sets might help my strength go up faster. I've heard of some lucky dicks who can do an intense workout once a week (or less) and make phenomenal gains. I guess it's mostly genetics though. I'll probably also try cutting the number of sets down for arms and see what happens - they're my most stubborn bodypart.