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bigp3
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I think many people are confused and bewildered by the question of how many sets per body part should they do in a workout. I know I have asked myself this very thing many times. This seems to be the most common question that I hear from people that are beginner and intermediate bodybuilders/ weight trainers. Well, the more I thought about it, the more it became apparent to me that the answer is quite simple. You do enough to stimulate growth and allow yourself to recover in the shortest possible time so you can workout and grow again.
With this thought in mind, I found that it is possible to induce growth from just one set. Yes, I said it, one set. I know this is a taboo Mike Mentzer style of thinking, but it is the best way to train bar none in my opinion.
Let’s break this down for a second and understand the principles of why one set works. First off, I know that most of us experienced lifters have heard of the overload principle. This principle is key to my thinking. For those of you that have not let me explain. The overload principle simply states that all that is necessary to stimulate growth is an overload from the previous workout. I.E. Joe Blow benched 315 for 8 reps last week and he does 10 with it this week. This constitutes an overload and induces muscle growth. You say bullshit, right? Well hold your guns for a second tex, the overload principle has been scientifically proven and is accepted medically. It is also printed in many college medical text books. Go look.
Now, let’s go back to Joe Blow’s bench workout for a second. With the overload principle in mind and understood now, what is the point in Joe doing more sets of bench when he has already produced the stimulus to grow. I say it is pointless. What does Joe gain by doing more sets? Well let’s see, nothing. He has already produced the overload required to grow. What does Joe have to lose by doing more sets? Well for each additional set Joe does, he is increasing the trauma caused to the muscle and using more of his body’s resources to fuel the extra effort. What does this mean? It means that Joe has increased his recovery time from his workout. His body is going to need more time to repair than it would have with one set. This translates into Joe having to take an extra couple of days off to recover compared to if he just done one set. Well you say, so what, it is only a couple of days. You are exactly right a couple of days it is. Well over the course of a year those couple of days translate into months of lost training. Let’s say Joe can only train twice a two week span doing a high set workout as compared to being able to train 3 times in two weeks doing one set. Well that does not sound like all that much of a difference, but it is. Think about it, he can train 78 times using 1 set in a year as compared to 52 the high volume way. That is a 50% increase in his growth producing workouts per year. Yep that is right. 50%. You tell me which is more efficient. Remember this, bodybuilding is a game of detail and the small things you do each day or each week add up to major differences over the sum of a year.
An explanation on sets. When I say 1 set, I mean 1 work set per body part. I in no way expect you to come into the gym and put 315 on the bar and start benching it. Warm ups do not count as work sets. I say do as little as possibly needed to warm up, but don’t skip it.
Another note, one set per body part is not going to work if you are not giving 100% effort. It is going to be a waste of time. You have to put your balls into it ladies.
I know what I have just said is going to have a lot of you scratching your heads and saying I am an idiot. People are not receptive to change and never will be. They like to hold onto the things that they believe are true. Remember, it was a well known fact that the world was flat. People were chastised and locked away for life for believing otherwise. Keep and open mind and think critically about things.
Peace out,
P
With this thought in mind, I found that it is possible to induce growth from just one set. Yes, I said it, one set. I know this is a taboo Mike Mentzer style of thinking, but it is the best way to train bar none in my opinion.
Let’s break this down for a second and understand the principles of why one set works. First off, I know that most of us experienced lifters have heard of the overload principle. This principle is key to my thinking. For those of you that have not let me explain. The overload principle simply states that all that is necessary to stimulate growth is an overload from the previous workout. I.E. Joe Blow benched 315 for 8 reps last week and he does 10 with it this week. This constitutes an overload and induces muscle growth. You say bullshit, right? Well hold your guns for a second tex, the overload principle has been scientifically proven and is accepted medically. It is also printed in many college medical text books. Go look.
Now, let’s go back to Joe Blow’s bench workout for a second. With the overload principle in mind and understood now, what is the point in Joe doing more sets of bench when he has already produced the stimulus to grow. I say it is pointless. What does Joe gain by doing more sets? Well let’s see, nothing. He has already produced the overload required to grow. What does Joe have to lose by doing more sets? Well for each additional set Joe does, he is increasing the trauma caused to the muscle and using more of his body’s resources to fuel the extra effort. What does this mean? It means that Joe has increased his recovery time from his workout. His body is going to need more time to repair than it would have with one set. This translates into Joe having to take an extra couple of days off to recover compared to if he just done one set. Well you say, so what, it is only a couple of days. You are exactly right a couple of days it is. Well over the course of a year those couple of days translate into months of lost training. Let’s say Joe can only train twice a two week span doing a high set workout as compared to being able to train 3 times in two weeks doing one set. Well that does not sound like all that much of a difference, but it is. Think about it, he can train 78 times using 1 set in a year as compared to 52 the high volume way. That is a 50% increase in his growth producing workouts per year. Yep that is right. 50%. You tell me which is more efficient. Remember this, bodybuilding is a game of detail and the small things you do each day or each week add up to major differences over the sum of a year.
An explanation on sets. When I say 1 set, I mean 1 work set per body part. I in no way expect you to come into the gym and put 315 on the bar and start benching it. Warm ups do not count as work sets. I say do as little as possibly needed to warm up, but don’t skip it.
Another note, one set per body part is not going to work if you are not giving 100% effort. It is going to be a waste of time. You have to put your balls into it ladies.
I know what I have just said is going to have a lot of you scratching your heads and saying I am an idiot. People are not receptive to change and never will be. They like to hold onto the things that they believe are true. Remember, it was a well known fact that the world was flat. People were chastised and locked away for life for believing otherwise. Keep and open mind and think critically about things.
Peace out,
P
