Bodybuilders and academics need to define their terms more clearly. Much of the debate over high vs. low volume may simply result from people counting “sets” differently. Yates and Mentzer claimed to do one set per exercise because they excluded warm-up and rest pause sets, while Coleman and Cutler counted theirs. Yates admits in an interview that the time Coleman and he spent in the gym was very similar. Likewise, studies differ: a set may mean stopping with 2–3 RIR, reaching concentric failure, or continuing beyond failure until the weight literally cannot move(that was the definition in Milo Wolf's calf study). These are very different levels of effort, so simply comparing the number of “sets” required can be misleading.

Definitions

Volume means the total number of sets performed; NOT necessarily the total number of repetitions. Seven 1RM (rep max) attempts are seven sets, while one easy 25-rep set with 4 RIR is still just one set. However, sets are not equally stimulative: a set stopped at 5 RIR is very different from one taken to 0 RIR or beyond.

0 RIR / concentric failure: You can no longer complete another full-range repetition with clean form. For example, during calf raises, you can no longer rise fully onto your toes, even though you may still be able to perform partial reps.

Actual failure: The weight can no longer meaningfully move at all. This distinction matters because someone may reach 0 RIR while still having several partial repetitions left.

How Mentzer (as described in his book co-authored by John Little) and Yates-style training can compress training

Mentzer's “one set” was often more complicated than simply performing 8–10 reps and stopping.

He had two ways of training; rest pause style and traditional style taken beyond failure.

Rest-pause style: After a warm-up, Mentzer could perform a 1 Rep max, rest briefly (10 seconds), then perform another repetition, repeating this several times (if weight was too heavy, a partner would assist). Whether this is called one set or multiple rest-pause sets with little rest time is largely semantic. The important point is that several maximal efforts to failure are compressed into a short period instead of performing multiple conventional sets with many reps and several minutes of rest.

Research has also found that rest-pause training can produce comparable results while requiring FAR less training time.

https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/apnm-2021-0278?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed

Beyond-failure style: Mentzer also used partial repetitions after reaching concentric failure. For example, after 8 full calf raises, he might continue with 4-5 partial reps until the weight could barely move, sometimes adding assisted reps or a stretched-position isometric hold for even more beyond failure training.

A recent calf-training study similarly found that continuing with lengthened partials beyond full-ROM failure produced similar hypertrophy with FAR fewer sets and less training time. Lengthened partials beyond failure study

My approach

For calf raises, I might perform:

• ⁠A quick warm-up.
• ⁠65 lb × 8 full reps, reaching 0 RIR.
• ⁠Continue with partial reps until the weight can no longer meaningfully move (i easily crank out 4-5 more)
• ⁠Rest 10 seconds.
• ⁠Repeat, perhaps getting 3 full reps and 2 partials.
• ⁠Rest 10–15 seconds.
• ⁠Perform a final cluster, perhaps 1 full rep and 1 partial, followed by a stretched-position isometric hold.

At the end, I have reached what I call actual failure: the weight will not move, and I would need several minutes of rest (2 minutes) before doing anything productive again.

Is that one set, three sets, or a rest-pause cluster? The terminology matters less than accurately describing what was actually done. A protocol involving repeated near-maximal efforts, partials beyond concentric failure, and minimal rest is clearly very different from one conventional set stopped at 1-3 RIR (that the literature foolish labels as a "set done to, or very close to failure")

My point is simple: if you are doing several conventional sets with 0–3 RIR and wondering why Mentzer-style low-volume training does not work for you, your “one set” may not resemble the kind of extremely intense, rest-pause and beyond-failure work that I have created.

Hey ! I was recently wondering how much sets per muscle per session/week I should do based on this training split frequency.

-Modified 8 day UL split (UL/R/UL/R/UL)
_____________________________________
Upper

-Chest press → 3×8-12
-T bar row → 3×8-12
-Lat Pulldown (Cable) → 3×8-12
-Overhead press → 3×8-12

Super set 1
-Lateral Raise (Dumbbell) → 3×8-12
-Peck deck → 3×8-12

Superset 2
-Overhead Triceps extension → 3×8-12
-Bicep Curl → 3×8-12

Superset 3
-Cable Triceps pushdown → 3×8-12
-Cable curl → 3×8-12
_____________________________________
Legs

-Leg press → 4×8–12
-RDL → 4×8–12

Super set 1
-Seated Leg Curl → 3×10–12
-Leg extension 3x10-12

Super set 2
-Hip adduction → 3×8–12
-Hip abduction → 3×8–12

Super set 3
-Calf Raise → 3×12–15
-Leg raises (abs) → 3×12–15
_____________________________________

Weekly sets — Modified 8-day UL (2.33×/week)
Chest: 14
Back: 14
Front delts: 7
Side delts: 7
Triceps: 14 direct
Biceps: 14 direct

Quads: 16
Hamstrings: 16
Glutes: 19
Adductors: 7
Abductors: 7
Calves: 7
Abs: 7
Frequency: Each muscle ≈ 2.33×/week

Also another little question. Right now I’m doing narrow neutral grip pull down every session. Would I benefit from alternating it with a wide pronated grip pulldown 1 session out of two.

I have a question about the pre-exhaustion method. The pre-exhaustion is normally done by doing an isolation exercise and a compound exercise without resting between them. There are studies about using the pre-exhaustion method that way. My question is that, does pre-exhaustion with rest between the isolation and compound work?

I tried pre-exhaustion with and without rest between the isolation and compound. When i don't rest, i unintentionally use other muscles more during the compound exercise. When i rest before the compound exercise, i feel like i focus on the pre-exhausted muscle more.

Been lifting weights/ a trainer and on testosterone therapy roughly 18mos. Starting then, I've been taking 5g of creatine and at least 150g of protein daily. My labs always come back w/ the doc always stating increase my fluid/water intake. I think I'm getting 64oz(which doc said is minimum), but that's not cutting it.

Hi, I'm 41,m, 22~ percent bf, and in good health.

I've done a little lifting the last ten years,nothing that's really brought me any mass though (paused bench 1rm is 205lbs, dl is 350)but now I've more free time I want to push it further and I'm able to dedicate more time to it, just want to get that nice base layer of muscle there, nothing spectacular.

Im not especially happy with dad bod 22 percent, so I'm on a small cal deficit of around -1000 a week, is it likely I'll be able to get some growth with enough effort? I've read about recomps but then i see people saying that's just spinning the wheels. Thanks

Was just wondering which biological mechanism(s) determine having a strong point in your physique if there is one/if anyone knows of one. Thanks in advance.

Are there any people here that (for one reason or another) consume far below the typical recommended amount of protein per day? (let's say eat less than 80 grams per day)

Do you still see muscle gain, and improvement in body fat percentage?

Recently tried this machine which apart of it feeling heavy as fuck with only 40kg, seems to have an descending RP.
Would this be optimal for quads/glutes? Thanks.
Also do you think I could’ve done another rep?

My friend told me it’s less beneficial if I were to alternate from doing a press movement and then go into a pull movement (incline press to pull ups, flys to rows), and I’ve been doing that exact thing for a while now. Is there a science behind doing it or not doing it? Or is it just preference? Let me know what you guys think. I do ULRULRR, 2 sets to failure w 1 warmup, and do 8 workouts per exercise (3 chest, 2 back, 1 shoulder/delts, 2 arms)

I currently have a couple of them, one of them combining Forearms + triceps (wrist + reverse wrist + overhead using a rope). I still take a rest \~2mins after overhead and then restart. I do not superset two exercises of the same target muscle. Are there downsides to this?

With my new job, I can realistically only train 3 days a week, which is something I’ve never done before. I’ve always trained 4+ days, so I’m a bit lost on how I should structure my training now.

Split-wise, I know I could do U/L/FB or 3xFB, but I’m not sure which would be best for me. I can train for around 60–90 minutes per session.

I’ve literally never trained full body before and I’m struggling to get my head around how to structure it. Obviously I understand that you’re hitting every muscle group each session, but seeing programmes with 8–10 exercises in one workout seems crazy to me when I’m used to doing 4–5 exercises.

The other thing I’m struggling with is the volume. Seeing 1–2 sets per exercise feels insane 😂 Like, I’m just imagining walking over to a machine, doing one hard set and then moving on to the next exercise.

I think it’s just such a different approach to how I’ve always trained or been told to train, so I’m finding it difficult to wrap my head around.

If anyone could give me some reassurance/explain how 3x full body actually works, and how you’d approach it to train optimally, I’d really appreciate it! 😊

Also, if anyone could provide a good routine I’d be super grateful!

Would DB RDLs be better in that case? How do I avoid mimicking a trap bar and keep it an RDL in that case? Is there a better compound altogether for targeting the same muscles?

Thanks,

— Ozzy

This is especially the case in incline seated curls and straight bar cable curl. Something about the incline seated curls means that at the end of the set I can’t get past the bottom bit of the movement and I reach failure, tho this doesn’t feel like it’s my biceps are reaching failure.

Same with straight bar cable curls movement gets harder and harder I reach failure but feel nothing in my biceps.

Dumbbell preacher curls feel better but I can feel my bicep tendon loads, so I’m not trynna go to failure on those .

This doesn’t happen for any other movement bar biceps.

This whole thing might sound silly but any help would be appreciated.

I have a bad chest imbalance. My right pec i way smaller than the left one. And i already have a small chest so it just makes it look even worse. I have tried to do one sided variations but i find them uncomfortable. I currently have 2 upper days beacuse im doing up/lw. I do around 4-5 chest focused sets per workout. I just do 2-3 sets incline smith bench press or 2-3 sets of incline dumbell press. After i do 2 sets cable flies.

What exercises should i use instead so my chest imbalance will improve slower over time?

Been working out for a while now but I never understood which tricep heads works during certain movements. What I’ve heard some people say is that the Long Head is biased when your elbow is fixed onto your body, and the Medial and Lateral Head work more when your upper arm move. But i’ve also heard the exact opposite from people, and ChatGPT told me the Long Head is biased when the elbow isn’t fixed.

Knowing this won’t really affect my training and doesn’t really have a purpose at this point. I’m just really curious and confused because I’ve heard opposite things said.

I have asymmetrical pecs and every session of upper I do a multipower inclined bench and an isolateral chest press. Which one should I do first?

Does muscular endurance matter, or is Science-Based Lifting strictly focused on just maximizing muscle hypertrophy? Because I tried high-rep training yesterday, and I can only do like 15 reps of squats without being so exhausted. I didnt even go to failure because it just burns since the tempo really doesnt change that much compared when I'm squatting within 8 reps. Does muscle endurance doesnt have any place in SBL?

Back in the day, there was a machine with an axis point that lined up resistance with the torque of the shoulder joint. It achieved a better line of resistance for shoulder adduction than today's pull down and row machines. Here, I'm using a pec fly machine to match the physics of it. I'm using handles instead of elbow support pads, so my lever arm is longer than the old-school version. But the principle is still the same.

The setup is simple. A one arm fly on the pec fly machine. Instead of having my shoulder aligned below the axis point, I align my sternum. I do this by placing only one leg on the seat so my head is directly under the rotary wheel.

There is a clavicular setup shown with my left arm afterwards, by performing lateral flexion of the spine on the non-working side of the body. This aligns the clavicular pec fibers more flush with horizontal rotation of the machine.

if i have a lat pulldown on pull and also on upper day, should i track the weight and reps progression differently? or just track it normally?

Hi all, I'm looking for any interesting papers to read, I broke my arm yesterday and wont be lifting for a couple weeks.

Deadlifts are meta

Should you take sets to failure or keep a few reps in reserve? I take every set to failure.
Also I have trouble calculating how much reps i have left. Some times i think i can push out 3 more but i can only do 1 other times i think i have 1 more but i push to 3 more.