How many sets do you do?

[massive]

Just a quick poll to see what set ranges you guys do to yield best bulking gains.
I used to do way little, and as ive upped my reps in the past 6month the gains have been rewarding.

Let us know what you all do anyway.

Again this will depend on genetics, but this poll is not for that superhuman bodybiulder who can grow on 5sets.

 

[BIGFOOD]

not counting warmups, (I usually do 2-3), I do 4-6 HEAVY working sets (4-6 reps). out of 4 weeks I do 3 heavy and one week for reps...this seems to pack it on for me with of course big eating and big gear.

 

[BIGFOOD]

^^^that's per exercise^^

 

[massive]

What are your stats?

I used to do just abit more than that, i grow alot but not as much as i would of liked, since upping my sets to 15 - 20sets im growing like a weed.

How can you grow just 6sets? Am sure you wouldnt stimulate all the muscle fibres or be able to hit the muscle from different angles.

 

[BIGFOOD]

What are your stats?

I used to do just abit more than that, i grow alot but not as much as i would of liked, since upping my sets to 15 - 20sets im growing like a weed.

How can you grow just 6sets? Am sure you wouldnt stimulate all the muscle fibres or be able to hit the muscle from different angles.

I'm 5'9" and as of Friday weighed in at 231lbs. I don't pay attention to bf but if I had to guess @ 15%

I think maybe we have a miscommunication here. I do 6 sets per excersise soo for example on chest day that'll be around 18 sets per muscle group. 6 sets bench, 6 for incline, 6 for flies, etc..

 

[massive]

Ha i was gona say what 6sets per body part. Ha glad you cleared that up.

I tend to keep all my body parts in 20set range and biceps and triceps in around 15set range.

I know a guy who no more than 10sets per body part and grows like a mo-fo.
Guys got potential

 

[rjx]

I didn't vote because for me, every muscle requires a different amount of sets.

Today for chest I did 4 total sets, and for triceps I did 3 total sets. Sometimes I might go to 7 sets for chest, and 5 sets of tri's.

For back I go up to 9 sets and as low as 6. Quads range from 4 - 6, Hams 4 sets, bi's 3 - 5, calves 4 sets, delts 3 - 6 sets, forearms 0 - 2 sets, traps 2 - 3 sets.

For me, I will only do a few sets for each muscle if I go high intensity. The lower my intensity, the more volume I do. Just depends.

My training style falls in between Mike Mentzer's and Dorian Yates training philosophies. As time goes on I keep eliminating sets Its not how much you do, its how you do it that counts. Great results.

 

[Skarhead1]

it varies depending on the day and the exercises

 

[Skarhead1]

ex: could you do 10 work sets of bench followed by 8 work sets of db benching? maybe, a lot couldn't though. however, could you do 10 sets of tricep push downs and 8 sets of cable cross overs? probably

 

[AngryMuscles]

5-6-8-10-20

 

[Slump]

I do DC, so... 1 set.

 

[AngryMuscles]

oH so it's sets. sorry!!! thought it was reps

sets would be 1-2

 

[JayC]

Just to clarify, I voted 15-20+ because that would be including all set's for the body part. I usually do at least 3-4 exercises per part and 4-5 set's per exercise. I like going to failure for at least the last two sets and also like doing drop sets/rest pause. All this coupled with true intensity and FOCUS = serious gains, for me! I have run this as a natty and been accused of juicing!..lol. Some would consider my routine over-training (and it might be) but I have GREAT joints, am not prone to injury, and recover fast. It's all in how were groomed, i guess. I adopted my method years ago when a vet took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. At the time I was running the basic "college sports" routine where you do 3 sets of 8, no more no less, etc., etc. and he introduced me to that high intensity, to complete failure style of lifting and now I can never go back!..lol ..it isn't for everyone and I realize that.

 

[pineapple]

Depends on the bodypart for me. The back is a large muscle group area, no like the triceps or biceps or calves. So the back and legs would take over 20 sets, reps would vary ofcourse. In winter I keep it heavy and around 6-8 rep range. Each bodypart ONCE per week.

 

[Starkraven]

I guess it depends on what exercises you are doing. I do only squats for quads and deads/SLDL for hams/back so for me 3-4 SETS is ENOUGH if I'm training really heavy. I vary my squat stance, reps, type (box, pause, etc). I never do leg presses, leg extensions or any machines for legs OR back (or any other bodypart). I guess that is why people do 20 sets, its probably stuff like lat pulldowns, cable rows, chest supported rows (for back) and leg presses, hack squats, leg extensions, leg curls, calves, etc. like a lot of hammer strength stuff which I never do. I also cant believe 15-20 sets for arms alone! I think if people did all free weights, they wouldnt do 20+ sets because deads and heavy rows would do half the work for biceps for you as an example.

 

[supaman61]

8 for bi and tri, 4 for traps, 7 for delts, 9 for chest, 10 for back and legs and 6-7 for calves.