Q: I’ve been training for about 10 years, so I consider myself advanced. Don’t I need more volume (sets) to continue growing?
A: At first glance, that seems logical. But there a few things that make the opposite true, according to hypertrophy researcher Chris Beardsley…
- A more developed nervous system means you can recruit more motor units and therefore activate and damage more fast-twitch fibers
- The inflammatory response to a workout increases with training status—more secondary muscle damage occurs due to calcium-ion-related fatigue
So basically, being advance means you’re taxing the muscles and nervous system more, creating more fatigue and damage at every workout…
Adding sets piles onto that damage—and could be the very reason so many bodybuilders plateau and can’t grow. Most add sets as they progress…
Kudos to Mike Mentzer, who was saying this back in the ’80s. He went from using more volume early in his career down to three or four sets per muscle in his bodybuilding prime.
And he got bigger, denser, and more defined…
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