am I doing to many sets

[jeff_hardy]

hey guys
I was wondering in your view am I doing too many sets?? right now, I'm doing 16 sets for the major body pars and 8 sets for abs and calves.
I train everything once a week. I get some good pumps for going that high but, I kinda feel that I'm going overboard. if you count the warm ups its up to 18+ sets per body parts. but to me, the crass is always greener on the other side. I do think about how other people train and what sets and reps they do.

I was thinking of going down to 12 working sets and 4 exerise for the major body parts.

what do you guys think?

thanks guys

 

[The Creator]

I would do a max of twelve working sets for major body parts (if you are a beginner I would even down that a few more). There is simply no need to do any more than that to induce hypertrophy and strength if you are training smart. I think eight sets for calves is fine since they can handle a little more stress and recover more quickly. I can guarantee you though that you could get just as much, probably even more, growth and strength by downing your sets and you will feel better and recover more quickly. Post up a sample routine of yours and lets see what we can come up with!

 

[jeff_hardy]

thanks for the advice

I do most of the compound movments

monday chest and abs
incline bb /db press 4x10-8
flat bench press 4x10-8
flyes incline/flat 4x15
decline pres 4x10-8

Tuesday back and traps
pulldowns under/ overhand 4x10
deadlift 4x6
bb rows under/overhand 4x10
db rows/cable rows 4x12
upright rows 4x10
bb/ db shrugs 4x10

wed. off

Thursday should and calves
bb/db press 4x10-4
side laterals 4x12
db/bb front raise 3x12
rear laterals 3x12
standing calf raise 4x20
seated calf raise 4x20

friday arms
close grip bench 4x10
lying/ one arm db extensions 4x10
dips 4x 20+
pushdowns one arm or rope 3x10
bb curls 4x10
db alt. curls seated/standing 4x10-12
preachers bb/db 3x15
hammer curls 4x10

saturday legs
squats back/front 4x10-4
leg presses 4x20
hacks 4x15
leg extenions 3x20
stiff leg deads 4x10
lying curls 4x10
seted leg curls 3x20
standing leg curls 3x15

thats it for me

 

[The Creator]

Personally, I think that five days is too many...I think you should throw either bi's or tris in after chest and the other one in after back. Thats another story though.
First off I would down your reps so you are doing more like 4-8. That seems to be a more hypertrophic and strength range.
For chest I would start off with 5 sets of a bb press going very heavy and low reps (4-5). Then I would move to an incline db press (assuming you started with flat) and do 3-4 sets still going heavy but maybe up the reps from 6-8. Following that I would finish off with some moderately heavy dumbell flies for 3 sets of 10.
I would suggest that same type of set and rep range for back and I would alternate your lat pull downs with some wide grip pull ups.
I used to have the same problem with sets. I would go in the gym and beat it up until I couldnt even press the bar or do a push up and surprisingly enough I saw little to no progress. Then, I left my ego at home and started doing deep and slow reps with heavy weight and downed my sets and I started seeing a great deal of improvement. Just make sure your form is spot on and I can promise you that this set and rep range will benefit you much more. Hope that helps!

 

[Daniel Andersson]

For the smaller musclegroups its to much IMO, unless you can recovery 100% from it.
Legs and back is harder to overtrain I think.

 

[TJ]

I would say it depends on your intensity level in the gym. Not so much regarding 1RM% but how close to max reps you get on your sets. If you experience any symptoms of overtraining (trouble sleeping, increased resting heart rate, etc) then you are definately doing too much. However, since you have come on here and asked if it is too much then it probably is.

 

[knight_rider]

way to much, personally i dont do more than 1-2 working sets for any exercise and i only do one exercise per bodypart on any given day, stength progression over a moderate rep range is most important, not volume

 

[philosopher]

I would say it depends on your intensity level in the gym. Not so much regarding 1RM% but how close to max reps you get on your sets. If you experience any symptoms of overtraining (trouble sleeping, increased resting heart rate, etc) then you are definately doing too much. However, since you have come on here and asked if it is too much then it probably is.

Second that, it depends on a lot of factors like intersity, volume and frequency. For example I squatted three times a week but I planned everything. Mo: Volume (5x5) Wed: Recovery (3x3) Fri: Intensity (1x5). This way I didnt get overtrained and I never experienced better growth in my quads.

 

[secondyearperry]

Second that, it depends on a lot of factors like intersity, volume and frequency. For example I squatted three times a week but I planned everything. Mo: Volume (5x5) Wed: Recovery (3x3) Fri: Intensity (1x5). This way I didnt get overtrained and I never experienced better growth in my quads.

yeah it depends on intensity you might wana talk to osmeone at the gym, if you train alone it might be difficult. also someone said 5 days a week training is too much, i disagree, i do the same. of course on saturday and sunday or whenever you rest, make sure you really do rest

 

[spacedirector]

hey guys
I was wondering in your view am I doing too many sets?? right now, I'm doing 16 sets for the major body pars and 8 sets for abs and calves.
I train everything once a week. I get some good pumps for going that high but, I kinda feel that I'm going overboard. if you count the warm ups its up to 18+ sets per body parts. but to me, the crass is always greener on the other side. I do think about how other people train and what sets and reps they do.

I was thinking of going down to 12 working sets and 4 exerise for the major body parts.

what do you guys think?

thanks guys

18+ sets are too much for most body parts, speacialy for delts, biceps and triceps, chest....

Going dow to 12 working sets will be good option.

 

[knight_rider]

actually not that im a Mentzer disciple HIT feak, but i recommend reading the book that got published near his death, i think its called ''High Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way'' it has a pick of him on the front doing a concentration curl! i personally think Mentzer got absurd with his decreased frequency training, but his book really helps put a large crack in the excessive volume obsession sold to us by the magazines!

Also consider that a lot of pro programs where they say 20 sets per major bodypart, the actual working sets that cause hypertrophy are often only 1-3 per exercise! and disregard everything i say if your getting stronger across your rep range week to week, because if your getting stronger with good form, your program is working!

 

[MetalMX]

Something Like 9-12 sets for larger bodyparts and 5-8 sets for smaller bodyparts works well for most people.

 

[jeff_hardy]

I have now gone down to 12 working sets. I feel that I don't sweat as much, which means to me that the intensity is not there. by my weights have gone up. I'm one of those OCD guys..that has to feel like I trained the creap out of a body part. I started to train abs and calvces twice per week to get that feeling of doing everything I could that day. I am notically thicker. I have really thick legs and trying to bring up the upper body.

 

[knight_rider]

maybe if you drop the volume again the weights may go higher, basically your strongest 6-10 rep for any major lift is going to be the biggest determinant of size, the volume is not the mosy significant factor, its weights progression, clearly some volume is need to produce a hypertrophic response, but its a lot less than you are doing, so why waste time on unproductive sets, that make inroads into recovery, but dont induce further growth!

 

[jeff_hardy]

the weight is not an issue with me. I don't care about the amount of weight. I just care that I'm putting new stress of the muscle.you know ' strength doesn't size'

I dont really like HIT or DC. I just feel that I need more stess of the muscle

 

[knight_rider]

the weight is not an issue with me. I don't care about the amount of weight. I just care that I'm putting new stress of the muscle.you know ' strength doesn't size'

I dont really like HIT or DC. I just feel that I need more stess of the muscle

ok i understand, but why bodybuilders use progressive weight increases is that high intensity contractions are needed to trigger growth, you need to get stronger over a rep range, over time, for the basic lifts in order to continue to grow, increasing volume of training will actually not influence hypertrophy unless it is coupled with increases in strength! strength is size, but its not powerlifting strength, its correct lifting form which hits your target muscle, then overtime you use that same form with increased loads to force your body to adapt!

stress is such a broad term, the type of stress which illicits hypertrophy is caused my lifting progressively heavier loads whilst keeping your form good in order to make sure the heavier loads are going to your target muscles!

observe any of the bigger guys on this forum like Braaq and Turk, they are only doing one or two working sets per exercise, they are huge, because their poundages are huge. their big because they worked upto benching, sqautting and dealifting huge poundages, they dont do lots of sets at these big weights, only a few warm ups and then game time, its the fact they can lift such big weights which deliver the specific stress to trigger hypertrophy, their volume is minimal.

you only need to get stronger with good form over time in a suitable rep range which allows you to hit the target muscle! only by subjecting your muscles to increasing loads will you continue to grow!

 

[jeff_hardy]

this is a big topic on volume vs HIT. I do use some of the DC style like supersets, drops,rest pause and pre exhaustion. I did HIT for a while. It was like more like Mark Dugdale style 2 sets per exercise and six sets total.

I feel that if you can trick the body to grow without killing yourself, than thats the best. its like train smarter not harder. I can tell you that going heavy just kills your joint.

I feel that contracting muscle and not worrying about the weight.

 

[JCVD]

def too much for small muscles, ok mayb for legs and back as they are much larger and require more work