Q: The quote you provided from Paul Carter [IG: liftrunbang1] that after 1 set to failure, it takes 5 more sets to equal the growth stimulus of the first one, implies that all you need is 1 set to failure for maximum growth. Is my understanding correct?
A: Not quite. While one set to failure will give you a good hypertrophy response, superior to the ones following it, if it’s performed correctly, additional sets will add to the growth effect…
But those additional sets will be less than optimal, with reduced degrees of stimulation…
There is diminishing returns, which eventually can turn negative, as in overtraining and losing muscle with too much volume…
In other words, sets 2 and 3 may add to your growth response, but less than set 1. And sets 4 and 5 may not do much for added growth and could derail it…
It depends on your individual recovery ability.
Here’s more on that from Paul Carter, who is well-educated in biomechanics and physiology as well as a colleague of respected hypertrophy researcher Chris Beardsley…
Dose response to volume is NON-LINEAR; it’s very clear across all of the data that there is a reduction in stimulus in each set performed…
While multi-set routines ARE more advantageous than just performing a single set, the amount of ‘volume’ (sets to failure or close to it) that it takes to maximize hypertrophy is, and has always been, much lower than is often ‘reported’ behind the ‘data’—e.g. 20+ sets a week.
To add, the research has shown that as little as 3 sets every 7 days is sufficient to keep all gains made from [higher-volume workouts].
And as I’ve mentioned in the past, more advanced trainees appear to need less volume, not more, to continue to progress due to their developed nervous systems, pain tolerance, mind-muscle connections, etc.
So gradually adding sets may be ass-backward. In other words, you need less if you want to continue to progress in the hypertrophy department.
That’s especially true if you are using the ideal exercises and, in my opinion, the Slow-Twitch-Exhaustion method (STX). But I’m biased, having made good progress in my early 60s with around 6 sets per week per muscle—35-minute workouts three days a week…
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