Couple Basic Questions

pogue

pogue

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Got a couple questions for the pros. These are pretty simple for most, but I'm trying to make sure I understand the fundamentals so bear with me.

I'm trying to develop my own training routine for a bulking cycle and I want to get the most from it. These questions can be answered with opinion, scientific fact, or whats generally recommended or viewed as being correct.

  1. How many sets is generally viewed as sufficient? (This can be dependant on the excercise, or whatever)
  2. If doing more than one set, if you're trying to go to failure, should the weight be increased or stay the same?
  3. How many times per week should a workout be performed (keep in mind this is a natural cycle)? 3, 5, 7?
  4. How long should a workout be? 30 min, 1hr, etc
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    Like I said, I am trying to custom fit a routine that will work for me, and I have heard many different opinions on the matter. The most stable idea is that the reps for everything should be between 6-10 and go to positive failure. Weights would need to be heavy, and training should be moderate with no burnouts or supersets for a hardgainer.

    Any input, links, thoughts or anything else would be appreciated. Thanks in advance :cool:
 

DarCSA

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1. Personally I do no more than 20 sets per body part. I believe the max for a body part is 30 at the highest end. 12 is sufficient for maintaining and stimulating some growth.

2. Always try and increase the weight that way you are tearing muscle fibers and making new ones grow in their place. Remember you have to break a muscle down to build it up.

3. At least three to four times a week. That way you can at least come in and hit every muscle group. I go 5 but I do a different training style.

4. The rule of thumb for pure training is no more than an hour. The only time I spend longer than an hour is when I train 2 body parts in one training session. I usually end up in there for an hour fifteen or hour thirty max. If you are training with cardio as well I can see being in the gym longer than an hour.

JMO
 

pjorstad

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pogue. Eliminate pyramid schemes, drop sets, burnouts, supersets, and going to failure.



Do a broad range of reps(about 15-6) so that the higher reps(12-15) will pump you up with blood. Also it allows you to hit different fiber types. Find out how long of a rest it takes where you can use the same weight but drop in the number of reps in progressive sets. I know 2 minutes on compounds and 1 minute on isolations and my strength still drops readily. Ive noticed lately that as im starting to approach 18-20 sets its getting real close to the overtraining zone. Maybe start around 15 sets and increase volume until you find your optimum recovery rate :)



Most importantly start adding volume and if you feel like your overtraining then start slowly reducing until you notice optimum results. Trouble sleeping, tiredness, depression, lousy gains will help you know if your doing too much.
 

jweave23

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Originally posted by DarCSA
1. Personally I do no more than 20 sets per body part. I believe the max for a body part is 30 at the highest end. 12 is sufficient for maintaining and stimulating some growth.

2. Always try and increase the weight that way you are tearing muscle fibers and making new ones grow in their place. Remember you have to break a muscle down to build it up.

3. At least three to four times a week. That way you can at least come in and hit every muscle group. I go 5 but I do a different training style.

4. The rule of thumb for pure training is no more than an hour. The only time I spend longer than an hour is when I train 2 body parts in one training session. I usually end up in there for an hour fifteen or hour thirty max. If you are training with cardio as well I can see being in the gym longer than an hour.

JMO
Yep, that's almost exactly what I would have said. I happen to like:

Chest/Tri's, Back/Bi's, Legs, Shoulders/(Traps). I never do more than 4 exercises and 4 sets of each (16 total per bodypart).

I prefer pyramiding weight up to failure also, and try to get 10 reps. If I can't, I work up to 10 with good form, then add weight and go again back to 10. Also I think that unless you are doing GVT for hypertrophy, use 90-120 sec rests between sets. 

There are so many studies I've read over the years that point to every style, so when you find something that works well for you, remember it. I have always come back to this basic routine, even after GVT and HIT for some variety. Hope that helps a little.
 

Nelson

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There`s no magic answer

Pogue
Like almost everyone else I`ve spent countless hours reading up on different routines and the pro`s & con`s of them.
At times I felt like I was going round in circles trying to find "the best" routine.
At the end of the day you have to experiment & try some of them to find out what works best for you.
You may end up using a mix of some of the methods promoted by different styles of training to make your own routine.

I have found that FOR ME:
training 5 days is too much unless I`m enhanced on something;
4 days is ideal;
3-4 exercises for large parts @ 2-3 worksets is best;
1-3 exercises for small parts @ 1-3 worksets is best;
sometimes I leave the same weight on the bar for all the sets;
sometimes I increase it set by set;
40-50 minutes for a workout is best.

My favorite split is very similiar to jweave`s:
Back/Bi; Chest/Tri; off; Legs/Abs; Delts/Traps; off; off.
Actually, I taught jweave all he knows;)
 

jweave23

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Re: There`s no magic answer

Originally posted by Nelson
Actually, I taught jweave all he knows;)
About being a tool....yes you have :D

:saw:
 

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msclbldrguy

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routine

pogue,


cant add much to what has already been b/c i agree with it, esp about experimenting and seein what works for you.

i dont like to say i'll do 10 reps b/c when i reach that 10 th rep i have a tendency to stop. i'll put enuf weight on to struggle at about 6 reps and keep goin til i fail (usually the 8th rep). i also like to change up my routine every three weeks or so too. i also like to do arms on a seperate day...but l;ately i've been doin tris on chest day and bis seperately. i usually train 5 days per week. so i'll do something like this...back, chest/tris, off, legs, shoulders, biceps.

good luck man...
 

Biggs

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  1. How many sets is generally viewed as sufficient? (This can be dependant on the excercise, or whatever)
  2. If doing more than one set, if you're trying to go to failure, should the weight be increased or stay the same?
  3. How many times per week should a workout be performed (keep in mind this is a natural cycle)? 3, 5, 7?
  4. How long should a workout be? 30 min, 1hr, etc
    [/list=1]

    training should be moderate with no burnouts or supersets for a hardgainer.


  1. For Me:
    1 approx 10-12 sets, depending on muscle group
    2 heavy as possible, all the time. failure is failure and everyone recovers differently between sets. after pyramiding up for a few initial sets, I get about 8-9 real "working" sets to failure in the 8-10 rep range, and the weight generally does not have to decrease dramatically depending on rest period. reps per set may decrease slightly by the end.
    3 I am 20 yrs old, never used PH/AAS, and with proper sleep/nutrition can pound the **** out of my muscles approx every 5 days
    4 rarely do my workouts exceed 60 mins
 

pjorstad

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Pogue i take back what i said. I just did a real short workout. I say you should try starting off with workouts of AROUND
12 sets and then add volume from their if you like to see your tolerance. It seems like if im only going for hypertrophy theni don't need many sets. 12 sets will keep your workouts about 45 minutes or less if you only rest 1 1/2 minutes between excercise changes and rest 2 minutes for compounds about and 1 minute for isolations. I hear over 45 minutes is when cortisol rises so if your a true hardgainer like me then maybe keeping workouts to 10-14 sets is ideal to keep cortisol down. I only did 9 sets this last workout and lowered the weight to hhit higher reps and i feel like i progressed more in those 40 minutes then doing slighty more volume(around 16-18 sets) with low reps thrown in with the high reps that i had been doing in the previous 3 weeks before that. I was trying to get my reps up higher without decreasing weight but this last workout i just decreased the weight so i could do higher reps.. I know i was starting to overtrain too and i feel now less taxed. 9 is too small i think but it felt good this time as i was starting to be on borderline overtraining from the previous workouts :)


No one can tell you the perfect routine etc. Youlljust have tofind the perfect rep range and volume but i still suggest starting around 12 sets and finding your tolerance from their. Also start with high reps. For example do benc press with 14 or 15 reps to heavy fatigue, then 2 minute rest then 8-10 reps then 8 reps again for the last set. That would be IDEAL IMO. Then if you want to get some strength for a while AND/OR break your plateau then do the 8 to 1 rep range with longer rests. Other types like endurance(pump) can be done too and finally a 1 week or 2 week break is the ultimate plateau buster.
 

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