I have read some coaches state that if total volume is the same, then all is equal. So my question to them would be, had Bruno stopped the set at 20 reps and did 3 sets of 20, instead of one set of 60, in their opinion would the resulting hypertrophy be the same?
Next, when it comes to frequency. I know Schoenfeld recently published a study that suggested that if weekly volume is the same, then frequency does not matter. Carter responded to the post and agreed with Schoenfeld. So in a typical bro split if you hit chest 1x per week and do 12 sets the results would be insignificant if you trained chest 2x per week with 6 sets per session (12 total).
Here is my rub with that and what I don't understand. If I train chest really hard 1x per week, I have 4 strong sets in me and then sets 5-12 my performance drops rapidly. So essentially, I have 4 strong sets and 8 less than stellar sets, albeit I am still giving my best effort. Whereas if I divide that up into 2 separate workouts I have 4 strong sets one day one, and another 4 on day 2. So I have DOUBLED the amount of top performance sets from 4-8. And I have lessened my number of lower performance sets from 8 to 4. This is why higher frequency, lower volume per workout makes sense to me. However, the study posted by Schoenfeld and endorsed by Carter do not necessarily support this logic. Not arguing, just trying to make sense of it. Perhaps as long as I am giving my best effort, the actual performance is inconsequential???