In Old Man, Young Muscle, the rests are 20 to 30 seconds. Many told me that I needed to increase my rest between sets if I wanted to build muscle.
They said fatigue was a mitigating factor and that studies show a two-to-three-minute rest is better than one minute for hypertrophy…
My argument was that my rests were 20 seconds, not the one minute used in studies. I figured that with 20 seconds I was extending the previous set—more like a pause…
Then a study was released showing that 20 seconds achieved slightly MORE muscle growth than two-to-three-minute rests. And workouts took half as long. (Enes, et al. PMID: 34260860. 2021.)…
Unless you simply hate short rests between sets or you like spending hours in the gym, a workout similar to that in OMYM is very efficient at packing on mass and getting you out of the gym quickly…
Training to failure on all sets is another “it works for me” scenario. In OMYM, I took all sets to failure—three to four sets per muscle at each workout…
And I made good gains; however, after seeing research on failure training, I began stopping sets one rep short—other than the first 20-rep set, which I still take to failure…
My gains have been better and I began getting stronger. Interesting; however, I think part of the reason is that I have decades of experience, so stopping short is still close enough to bring in a majority of fast-twitch fibers…
Elite trainer Vince McConnell said that years of experience means we are better able to engage the target muscle and activate more fibers through a well-honed nervous system—more so than a beginner or intermediate. I agree…
Experienced lifters should stop most sets short of failure—if they want to continue growing…
Trainees with less experience may need to go to failure on every set to reach the majority of fast-twitch fibers toward the end of the set—because their “failure” may not be close to true failure.…
A new meta-analysis of multiple studies verifies that with some interesting conclusions. We’ll look at that research in the next training newsletter.
Your Efficient Mass-Building Handbook: For more mass-building tips like the above plus complete workouts that include the ideal exercise for each muscle and the best stretch and contracted add-on moves, get your copy of Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
Recommended
What Would You Do to Protect Your Family?
Mike Westerdal is a renowned personal trainer and national best-selling physical preparedness author, but he’s also a father and a husband… who would do anything to protect his family.
He used to get pushed around when younger and spent years building up his body and becoming stronger, getting mentally and physically tough the hard way. As he got bigger, he learned to handle himself, and working in security, he learned first-hand how violence really plays out.
Some of the other guys online who show off their self-defense videos and books need to get a grip. The level of skill needed to pull off their basic moves is CRAZY for most ordinary people.
If a defense system requires more than a few hours to master, it’s not a program.
The only techniques you will ever use are the simple ones.
They need to work for an ordinary person without prior training, technique, or ability.
So even if you think you don’t have time to learn how to defend yourself…
You don’t need to spend years training to be a martial artist.