The new meta-analysis by Robinson, et al. (2023) found that 12 ALL-OUT sets a week per muscle is the good top-end goal for hypertrophy…
You can go higher—around 20—if you pull back the intensity—stopping three reps short of failure. Gains will be about equal to 12 high-intensity sets per week…
If you train with high intensity and you’re older or recovery challenged, you may need fewer than 12 sets per week…
For example, in Old Man, Young Muscle, you train each muscle with three to four all-out sets per workout—six to eight sets per week.
That works very well for bodybuilders who have less-than-stellar recovery and/or are entering geezer-dom (old)—especially with the efficiency methods like STX on the ideal exercise for each muscle (you need fewer sets to get at all of the high-growth fibers).
Even so, you may need even fewer sets on some muscles. Why? Let’s talk arms…
Arms are one of the more important body parts for bodybuilders because, well, BIG ARMS are cool!
Should you do four sets per workout for both biceps and triceps? Maybe—but maybe not…
That’s because you’re training biceps with many back exercises—like the ideal lat exercise, cable pull-ins…
What about triceps? Well, the dumbbell decline press is your ideal exercise for chest, but it also trains your triceps.
So the indirect work you’re getting for many muscles is often a forgotten factor that can derail maximum gains in muscles like arms.
That’s why in the OMYM workout, you do a max of three direct sets each for biceps and triceps. And you may get better results with only two per workout.
There are a few other muscles you may want to de-volumize due to indirect work when you train other muscles. We’ll cover that in the next training newsletter.
Your Efficient Mass-Building Handbook: For complete mass workouts that include Speed Sets, 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
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