Minimum number of sets/reps to stimulate growth

[qbkilla]

What is the minimum number of stimulating reps in a workout that will cause hypertrophy?

Can muscle growth occur with only a single set to failure? And does this differ between untrained and trained lifters?

sandcresearch.medium.com

I found this article today and thought people may find interesting. Looks like the research says that 2 sets or 10 reps can be useful to stimulate growth. Obviously most people do more but when doing a search on bringing up lagging parts I see a lot of people "hit side delts every workout for a couple sets" or brought up arms by hitting them with a couple sets multiple times a week other than arm day.

Wondering if anyone has tried this? That part you really want to bring up, hit it each workout with a few sets at the end in addition to your normal routine.

 

[Lumpi]

Question I have is - is it the most optimal for growth?

It's one thing to see growth happening from just 2 sets, but is it the most optimal to build the most amount of muscle possible?

To reply to the article, I know a lot of people doing calves daily (6 times a week). And they swear on it. Same for arms. But I dont think this goes for every muscle.

 

[qbkilla]

Question I have is - is it the most optimal for growth?

It's one thing to see growth happening from just 2 sets, but is it the most optimal to build the most amount of muscle possible?

To reply to the article, I know a lot of people doing calves daily (6 times a week). And they swear on it. Same for arms. But I dont think this goes for every muscle.

If I were to do it I'd also have a traditional day for that muscle. So if weak biceps, have an arm day say 8 sets. But rather than try to increase it to say 14 sets over time to bring them up. Add 2 sets on leg day and back day at the end.

 

[Cerberus777]

I think hitting the muscle more often works better than just hitting it harder on the same day. Especially if it's a smaller muscle. How hard are you really hitting it on the 10-14th set vs hitting again when it's fresh with a higher weight a day or 2 later. I might add sets to quads or back if Im already hitting them twice a week, since they can take more but also take longer to heal.

 

[qbkilla]

I think hitting the muscle more often works better than just hitting it harder on the same day. Especially if it's a smaller muscle. How hard are you really hitting it on the 10-14th set vs hitting again when it's fresh with a higher weight a day or 2 later. I might add sets to quads or back if Im already hitting them twice a week, since they can take more but also take longer to heal.

This. A competitor on another forum told me he would run a basic bro split then pick one part he wanted to bring up and hit it for 2 high rep sets every workout day. But people questioned it 2 sets was enough to even help growth. This article makes it appear it is.

 

[Cerberus777]

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This. A competitor on another forum told me he would run a basic bro split then pick one part he wanted to bring up and hit it for 2 high rep sets every workout day. But people questioned it 2 sets was enough to even help growth. This article makes it appear it is.

If you do your regular exercises for a muscle on the main day. Pick a different exercise and progress on it on a different day It should cause growth even with 1-2 sets especially since you czn use a higher weight since the muscle is fresh. I'd do high rep on the odd days regardless of the muscle to reduce the risk of injury or overuse of a joint.

 

[qbkilla]

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If you do your regular exercises for a muscle on the main day. Pick a different exercise and progress on it on a different day It should cause growth even with 1-2 sets especially since you czn use a higher weight since the muscle is fresh. I'd do high rep on the odd days regardless of the muscle to reduce the risk of injury or overuse of a joint.

Agree. Or maybe a dropsets starting with 15 reps on the first part.

 

[fisther69]

Depends on the person..level of training..force exerted..etc

There is no answer to this question

 

[piehole2k]

Agree. Or maybe a dropsets starting with 15 reps on the first part.

I am always mixing it up Dropsets light heavy and hitting my weak parts with 2 to 3 sets on another muscle day.

 

[qbkilla]

I am always mixing it up Dropsets light heavy and hitting my weak parts with 2 to 3 sets on another muscle day.

Has it helped bring them up? I'm guessing your base routine is a bro split? Seems like that's the best split to use this approach

 

[piehole2k]

Yes its helped I do let them rest
For me its the back arm and upper chest legs run huge in my genes

 

[buck]

Depends on the person..level of training..force exerted..etc

There is no answer to this question

I find most every questions such as this is geared towards what works best for the majority of the people. Or what works most of the time. Other wise we could never have a conversation about hardly anything. Individuality is understood.

 

[fisther69]

I find most every questions such as this is geared towards what works best for the majority of the people. Or what works most of the time. Other wise we could never have a conversation about hardly anything. Individuality is understood.

The answer is a conjugate system then..and I’m not talking about westside.

the sets and reps don’t really matter as long as you are working strength, reps, and speed/endurance all at the same time..just don’t be one dimensional

 

[slayer37]

I can speak from experience in saying that extremely low volume (1-2 sets)/extremely high frequency (6-7 days/ week) can work unbelievably well to grow and gain strength.

 

[qbkilla]

I can speak from experience in saying that extremely low volume (1-2 sets)/extremely high frequency (6-7 days/ week) can work unbelievably well to grow and gain strength.

Do you do full body workout Ed or just hit lagging parts that frequently? Different rep ranges, failure every day? If I do it I'll go to failure I hate the idea of using rir but I'd keep reps 20 and up

 

[frankwhite]

One set, five reps to failure

that's all that's needed to stimulate muscular hypertrophy, according to Mike Mentzer, and who's gonna argue with the only competitive bodybuilder to ever score a perfect 10?!

 

[pickapeck]

You have totaylor your training to yourpersonal recovery curve, which takes experimentation and logging data over time.

 

[Bio]

One set, five reps to failure

that's all that's needed to stimulate muscular hypertrophy, according to Mike Mentzer, and who's gonna argue with the only competitive bodybuilder to ever score a perfect 10?!

There's never been a "one size fits all" routine in bodybuilding. That worked great for Mike Mentzer's genetics. Like someone else stated, there's things that work and things that are optimal. Optimal comes to each person differently and involves a lot of trial and error. I'm sure it took Mentzer years of trial and error to figure out which routine was optimal for him!

 

[KillerStack]

I think optimal would be something that most of us would view as low volume.

Just from what I've seen, increasing volume rarely helps. Increasing frequency maybe works a little better but most of the time, no.

I have never seen a bodypart prioritisation program "work." I hear everyone say, "that's crazy talk" but that is my experience. I've seen many cases on the net. Like the Hypertrophy coach training Terrence Ruffin. They prioritised arms but I saw no change in proportions. Arms grew a little but everything else grew just as much. Ok, I'll concede and say there are cases where it probably worked a little but mostly no. Most pros prioritise something but on stage there is rarely any difference - overall size is more likely to increase, change in proportions no.

 

[qbkilla]

Agree. Id guess most cases of guys bringing up lagging parts probably came from..

1. They were undertraing them to begin with then upper volume.

2. They were using bad form not hitting target muscle then changed to good form.