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Is one set enough for strength and size?


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I'm a great believer in heavy wieghts and low reps and I find that doing just one heavy set to failure is great for saving time and gives good results but I'm still not convinced that it's the best for what I want which is real brute strength and size! I find that when my reps were at 8-10 I was using a lighter wieght and I wanted to go heavier but once I got heavier and lowered my reps I don't feel like I'm doing enough in that one set, I've just started training for power lifting and I'm using the 3 basic excercises (bench,squat and deadlift) and I don't feel like I'm getting enough out of doing just one set, I find that with one set training you have to make sure you nail it in that one set and I find that it takes a lot of Practise to really nail it to the point where I can't do anymore in that one set when I use the heavy wieghts I want to use, I don't know about you guys but I like to walk away feeling like I've done something and while one set training served it's purpose when I was doing higher reps and lighter wieghts It's the lower reps I find gives me the best results and now I feel the need to do more! I worked out with my friend that has more wieghts than I do and I could finally go heavy and found that I was not satisfied with just doing one set because my reps was so low! I find that I like to train close to my max, I'm looking into doing 5 sets of singles or 3-5 sets of 5, I think I'm answering my own question here but would do you guys think? do you have any recommendations? Other that that I'm glad to say that I'm making good gains and I'm eating and resting well (I don't like training more than once a week) I just want to make sure I'm training to my full potential.

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What is the harm in doing X reps to failure, then doing the same exercise again to failure a bit later? You could do bench to failure, then squat to failure, then deadlift to failure, then do all three again. You will probably need to lower the weights 2nd time through, and then again 3rd time through, if you are only doing 3 reps or so. But don't follow my advice like I know what I'm talking about, because I'm pretty stupid

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I'd go with the 5x5 program. Increase the weight each set. I was doing that for months and made some great gains. Robert recommended it to me, and he knows his stuff However once you go to more reps it'll be harder, but thats a good thing. On the 5x5 plan i didnt notice phenomenal change in size, infact it was probably not that much at all, i got a lot stronger though.

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Hey big boy!

 

It depends:

- on your primary target - size or strength? Powerlifting or BB? Or powerbodybuilding

- on how often you work out!

 

If you want strength, do more sets with heavier weights and not to muscle failure, but more often. Like 5x5 for example.

If you're after size, use approx. the same weight and go for muscle failure (6-12 reps), do less sets, and less often. But i still recommend doing this more often than once per week, approx. 2 times per week or 3 times in 2 weeks.

 

Check out the "doggcrapp" program. It's a spin-off from HIT and i really like it. Google for it or wait, maybe it's here... www.intensemuscle.com (not sure).

If you can't find it, i can explain that program to you if you're interested.

 

Cheers,

Daywalker

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