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Thread: Why do we do more than one set?

  1. #1
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    Default Why do we do more than one set?

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    Someone made a post in another forum that made me curious, but of course I'm rather skeptical. Are you familiar with any of the cited studies? Is there a good reason for doing sets across? Here is the post:

    Most of the evidence indicates that doing more sets of the same exercises is a waste of time if you want to gain strength, but not everyone agrees.

    Three sets are better than a single set:
    Kelly, S. B., Brown, L. E., Coburn, J. W., Zinder, S. M., Gardner, L. M., & Nguyen, D. (2007). Effect of single vs. multiple sets for strength. ACSM Annual Meeting New Orleans, Presentation Number, 2507.

    One set is better than three sets:
    Fincher, G. E. (2000). The effect of high intensity resistance training on peak upper and lower body power among collegiate football players. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 32(5), Supplement abstract 657.
    Fincher, G. E. (2001). The effect of high intensity resistance training on sustained anaerobic power output among collegiate football players. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 33(5), Supplement abstract 756.

    One is as good as three sets (and takes less time):
    Baker, J. S., & Cooper, S. M. (2004). Strength and body composition: single versus triple set resistance training programs. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 36(5), Supplement abstract 394
    Hass, C. J., Garzarella, L, de Hoyos, D., & Pollock, M. L. (2000). Single versus multiple sets in long-term recreational weightlifters. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 32, 235-242
    Thompson, J. A., & Terbizan, D. J. (2007). A comparison of single to multiple-set resistance training programs in males. ACSM Annual Meeting New Orleans, Presentation Number, 1785.
    Starkey, D. B., Welsch, M. A., Pollock, M. L., Graves, J. E., Brechue, W. F., & Ishida, Y. (1994). Equivalent improvement in strength following high intensity, low and high volume training. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 26(5), Supplement abstract 651.
    Starkey, D. B., Pollock, M. L., Ishida, Y., Welsch, M. A., Brechue, W. F., Grames, J. E., & Feignbaum, M. S. (1996). Effect of resistance training volume on strength and muscle thickness. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 28, 1311-1320.
    Hass, C. J., Garzaarella, L., De Hoyos, D. V., & Pollock, M. L. (1998). Effects of training volume on strength and endurance in experienced resistance trained adults. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 30(5), Supplement abstract 651.
    Wolfe, B. L., Vaerio, T. A, Strohecker, K., & Szmedra, L. (2001). Effect of single versus multiple-set resistance training on muscular strength. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 33(5), Supplement abstract 435.
    Wolfe, B. L., LeMura, L. M., Razzaghi, M., & Szmedra, L. (2002). A quantitative analysis of single vs multiple sets in resistance training. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 34(5), Supplement abstract 1123.
    Gomes, P. S., de Paula, A. M., Diogo, C. E., de Freitas, M., Rodrigues, F., & Pereira, M. I. (2003). Effects of single and multiple sets resistance training on strength gains of previously experienced adults. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 35(5), Supplement abstract 1621.

  2. #2
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    You'd have to read the studies themselves to understand how badly done the research is. They'll do a study on this subject using leg extensions, barbell curls, and every other sillyass exercise you can think of that has no systemic effect, on a group of 20 18-year-old boys, and then generalize the results across all exercises and all exercising populations. I don't care much about exercise science "research" because the majority of it is of such low quality. Shit research = shit conclusions, kinda like garbage in/garbage out, of which you've heard before. Suffice it to say that it has been my experience that one set is not enough and 5 sets across is to many, for a novice.

  3. #3
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    Scientists and researchers are typically underpaid and as such, are very much subject to being interested in paid research programs. Their research topics and methods of proving their employers point/ product or outcome are easy to manipulate, with the endpoint of another "Study" in support of whatever the payer wants it to be.

    In medical research, everyone has to disclose past or current affiliations with any supporter or agency that may be affected by the outcome. But, like anything else, smart guys have figured out cutouts to publicly insulate the two from each other.

    So, anytime you review a study or the latest Goggle paired down scientific factoid, read beyond the abstract, put on your cynical glasses and don your hip waders cause it tends to get deep.

  4. #4
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    Realize that the majority of the scientists has never lift a weigth, so they think that leg extensions and squats are the same, because both work the quads.

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    Besides you can't just make blanket statements about how many sets is optimal...optimal for what? and at what point during the training cycle? During an accumulation cycle, one set is not enough, during a peaking week or cycle it might be perfect. Is assistance work being done? My guess is that none of these issues were addressed in the studies or if the people conducting the study would even understand what the hell I was talking about...I get copies every month of the "peer reviewed" studies conducted by the NSCA and most of them are crap. Do a search for some of my posts on the subject if you want more info on crappy exercise science studies.

  6. #6
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    Do we know of any world-class weightlifters or powerlifters who train using one set? I don't. Also, it's not like weightlifting or the science of training is new. Can you imagine Arthur Jones telling Alexeev, "My good Russian friend you don't re-ally don't need to do all those sets. Here, I have the bar loaded for you at 500 pounds. Under my theory, you should be able to clean and press this without, um, wasting your energy with any warmups."

  7. #7
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    I bet at least one of those studies was done on lab rats.

  8. #8
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    Speaking of Author Jones, In some of his last articles he wrote before he passed away, he had this to say:

    Apart from a rather limited number of hardcore bodybuilders who are misguided enough to believe that they have a chance to compete against the outright genetic freaks that now dominate bodybuilding competition, just about anybody else in this country can produce nearly all of the potential benefits of proper exercise without spending much if anything in excess of about twenty dollars. You can build both a chinning bar and a pair of parallel dip bars for a total cost of only a few dollars, and those two exercises, chins and dips, if properly performed, will stimulate muscular growth in your upper body and arms that will eventually lead to muscular size and strength that is very close to your potential. Adding full squats, eventually leading up to one-legged full squats, and one-legged calf raises, will do much the same thing for your legs and hips. Using this very simple routine, when you get strong enough to perform about ten repetitions of one-armed chins with each arm, your arms will leave very little to be desired. Or, instead, you can do what many thousands of others are now doing and piss away thousands of dollars and years of largely wasted effort while producing far less results. The choice is yours.


    See, what I don't get here is that the man was on his deathbed at the time of this writing, and after a lifetime in the fitness industry ... he's saying one legged squats will lead to strength "close to your potential". He's mentioned nothing about weights, and given the budget is $20, I'm left to assume he's referring to some sort of weight free, workouts. Kudos for him backing away from the machine silliness, so I suppose its an improvement, but even so ...

    At what point did he jump the shark?

    Best,
    Flux

    (still, the dips and chins probably aren't a bad combo. Never met a man who could do ten, one handed chins. I've seen a few 150 lbs on youtube who could knock off a few reps ...

    Incidentally, while looking for a link, I came across this vid. It's amazing.

    [youtube]kKOKtnFOffE[/youtube]

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe View Post
    Suffice it to say that it has been my experience that one set is not enough and 5 sets across is to many, for a novice.
    Hi Mark,

    I was wondering if there were any qualifiers to that statement. Such as, "...for a novice that is training at the optimal frequency of 3 non-consecutive days a week".

    Or is five sets across always inappropriate for the novice, regardless of other factors such as the frequency of their training? Would there ever be any factors that might cause you to recommend 5 sets to a novice client?

    I understand that one/two sets would not be enough to consistently cause a training overload. And I understand that 5 sets would be too much for the novice recover from three times a week as weight on the bar increases.

    I do 3x5 three times a week, it works for me, and have no intention of changing. I am only asking for the sake of improved understanding.

    Cheers.

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    My thoughts on this are quite thoroughly discussed in PPST.

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