One set to failure?

I have been doing one set to failure with occasional rest/pause reps following for added intensity. My strength is increasing at a steady rate. I believe I am gaining muscle size as well. I have also done volume training but I have not noticed the same dramatic results. I am wondering how many people are doing volume or HIT and what their results were. I find this subject interesting & look forward to your comments

Replies

wackyfunster

I use both. 1 set to failure gives you the most "bang for your buck" in terms of results per time-unit spent, particularly when doing isolation work. Volume work (in my case 6/8/10 or 8/10/12 reverse pyramid) is more useful when doing compound movements, and yields very good results there.

I am not a fan of 5x5, but have been told that if you are eating a huge surplus or using "prohormones" (wink wink nudge nudge) that high volume work is extremely effective.

nick1109

I'll give you my opinion based on my experience of over 10 years of training and a lot of reading.

I used to train 'high volume' approach albeit it on a well structured routine based on progression such as a push,pull, legs 5x5, 3 days a week based around big compounds (you get the idea)

After reading a lot of books and contemplating HIT I decided to give it a try over a year ago. I was very skeptical and didn't believe that one set would be enough, particularly as I was interested in gaining size and strength and was not looking for the anorexic rent boy look.

I said to myself I'd give it 8 weeks and if my numbers were increasing then it proves it works. I can honestly say my strength increased so quickly it was frightening. I'm not exaggerating but HIT worked like magic for me. My body was always tired and I had a niggle or two here and there doing high volume. Changing to HIT changed all of this and allowed me to do more productive things in my spare time. I still do HIT in a push pull fashion and improve on each and every single workout (sometimes only by a rep or 2 with same weight)

I have no intention of going back to high volume as it simply didn't work for me. Some people may respond differently but I would challenge everyone to at least try HIT and fully commit for a month or 2 before passing judgement.

On a side note my brother who is only interested in strength has decided to give it a go and he is bloody strong already so will be interesting to see his progress over the next few months.

I found the only hard things about HIT is getting your head around the fact that you are spending significantly less time in the gym. After you can accept this and you see the gains it gets easier as you know you're not wasting away. However it is true pain whilst in the gym

Hope this helps.

Z_I_L_L_A

Is it strength that increased or your fatigue rate is getting better. I did reps on the bench with 225 lbs. and increased a rep a week it seems like but how do you know true strength unless you go back to doing a single max?

FoxyMcDeadlift

My body was always tired and I had a niggle or two here and there doing high volume.

If you're body is always tired, and you always have a niggle or two, then you're overtraining. Your high volume was too high volume.

nick1109

When I say a strength increase I mean either the amount of slow controlled reps I get out with the same weight as last time has come up, the weight has gone up (due to me reaching my goal of 8 reps with a set) sometimes a combination of both.

I would imagine my 1 rep max on all lifts has gone up but to be honest I hardly ever do 1RM stuff so wouldn't know.

As for over training on HV. Yes the HV approach I did was far too much. But even so it was a lot less volume than some would do and it was still to much for me. I think using the same approach with volume did some good for me but probably the frequency was too high and I could have benefitted from keeping the same protocol but leaving 3-4 days rest between each workout.

That said I still feel the method I'm using now is the best I've ever used

stphnstevey

Guess depends on how much time you have to work out - if it works for you, keep doing it!

mikenahorniak

I am new here. I am 44 and finally got a professional to help with nutrition. One year ago, I was 300 lbs at 5"10. Lifting and energy levela had deteriorated signicantly. My weights were still pretty heavy, but I was exhauseted well within an hour. What turned things around for me was taking about 50 g whey protein powder about 5-8 times a day. I went from 30% fat to 10%. I took 10-11" off my waist and trained SLOW and strictly. Specifically, machines like the sled for legs, my strong point, doing about 5 sets up to 20 plates and slow negatives. I have done no cardio. When I started last spring, I was pretty tired all the time- and pretty weak. on most excercises I always go to failure, then get a spotter to get as many forced reps and negatives as I can. I just started on a pre workout suppliment-"Craze", which really helps the energy and motivation. Now I don't take energy drinks. I lost 50 lbs in about 7 months and built up alot of thick muscle all the way around, so I'm having alot of fun. Its been fun getting the looks and young guys wanting to know what I'm doing. I'd been stuck at about 255 for a month or more, but getting very vascular. Finally I got professional dieting help. I'd been ingesting under 2000 calories a day and some days, the excercising was just very tiring and weak. I know- I'm not a young kid anymore, but When I enter the gym, I like to GO! Fast and smart. Strict movements and heavy with lots of negatives. I just started on a plan where I use this app to monitor my nutritional intake and Its been immediately noticeable in energy and motivation. Just what I needed. My goal is 270 lbs at 4-7% bodyfat(Or, wherever I can get good separation and vascularity in my back and quads. Its starting to show so I'm satisfied I'm on track.

JeffseekingV

I'm not sure exactly what "One set to failure" means? You do one set until you can't and that's it? No warm ups or lower sets?

I'm back to volume as I've already stalled on my lower rep program and I want to burn more calories anyway. I think I'm getting stronger as the # of reps I can do at a lowe weight is increasing and becoming easier. Hopefully that means a higher 1 rep lift later on.

wackyfunster

I do 1 warm-up set of 12-15 reps at 50% working weight, then 1 set to failure (usually with a negative at the end) in the 6-12 rep range, depending. This works well for isolation movements. Compound lifts tend to respond better to multiple sets.